The AAA of Autumnal Adventure
If pushed to admit it, and without ranting too much, autumn is my favorite gardening season, maybe about two horticulture notches ahead of spring. It is a close call; a welcome spring does follow a long winter, but then basketball is over and I gotta start mowing the grass again. Fall wins my soul because it follows sweat-drenched summer.Come that first crisp, clear, sunny blue day I just want to hang around outside, wander and wonder, find joy in just being alive while anticipating the tumbling-down red, yellow and burgundy leaves that come with it. Hell, I even like to weed on those days; the soil often moist, the weeds easily yanked and the satisfaction in looking back at bare ground ready for spring planting. If you have a ginkgo tree – and play that first frost just right – you can stand beneath its magnificent limbs as its golden leaves shower down upon you, all of them suddenly released and falling that same day; a tree as impatient to get on with the cycle of life as your average gardener. So, OK, we gotta rake up them leaves and shove them into big, non-biodegradable plastic bags. My answer to that is go start a compost pile. Fall also brings three of my favorite flowers to life, the AAA of autumnal adventure, the allium, anemone and aster. The season brightens their colors—and they know it. Understanding they are among the last of the year’s flower parade makes them more appreciated—and we know it. The fact that each is easy to grow, versatile and fairly well behaved—the Japanese anemone a little bit of an outlier – just adds to their appeal. So, let’s take them in alphabetical order:ALLIUM—In common parlance the allium is a genus that includes hundreds of species, among them onion, garlic, shallot, leek, and chives, some available at Kroger. It allegedly symbolizes unity, good fortune, prosperity, humility and patience, although given its odor you might have to hold your nose in the process of reaping your good fortune. Ornamental onions are also great favorites in the garden, among then the giant spring and early summer monsters such as the ‘Globemaster” which rises an almost threatening two-to-three feet in the air with huge purple flower heads that declare victory over other puny perennials. But we speak today of early autumn and another ornamental onion, the Allium ‘Millenium.” I was aware of it but had never grown it, found a couple pushing up their clumpy, green grass-like leaves in a favorite nursery in northern Illinois in late September. They looked lonely, needing to be in the ground. Mission accomplished. Well, almost.Allen Bush was suspicious. He said his Allium ‘Millenium’ had flowered 6-8 weeks before in his Kentucky garden. Furthermore, the blooms didn’t look quite right. He suggested throwing the question to the clearinghouse on Facebook’s “Plant Idents” page. The plant cognoscenti gathers here to sort out taxonomic questions like this. The answer came back: Allium thunbergii, perhaps the late-flowering cultivar ‘Ozawa’. The result, regardless, was a late September push of very appealing, rose-purple, 12 to 14-inch florets that are very useful in fresh cut arrangements, albeit with an oniony smell and taste when cut or bruised. I have never tried one with a hamburger – I’m more a ketchup and mustard guy – but it should work for either ‘Millenium’ or Allium thunbergii. Either plant can easily be divided in late fall or early spring, guaranteed to bloom every year with sunshine and water and will be a star in the front of any perennial border or rock garden. JAPANESE ANEMONE—This is a plant, given enough time, that will literally rise above almost anything else in your fall garden. Actually a native to central and southwest China, it grabbed the name Japanese anemone – a-nem-o-nee- a few hundred years ago and never looked back. I love this plant. It will stretch four-to-five feet tall on slim but durable stems that way in the breeze, prefers part sun but must have continually moist soil. Its buttercup-like flowers come in pure white, all shades of pink, rose and bubblegum and will bloom for weeks, often deep into autumn. Can it be too tall and invasive? Yes. Do I care? No. I just let its thing every autumn, spilling up into our sidewalk, well-watered from overhead downspouts, and how often do you literally get to walk among your flowers, your fingers touching the petals on the way past. Next spring, I will take an hour, or so, and thin them out, perhaps starting anemone beds in other places. The bees love them. Other pollen-seeking insects adore them. I planted the first of ours about 25 years ago. They took their time getting started. Then they owned the place; their place. Well worth the wait. Aster—In autumn mums is not always the word. In fact, roughly 99.5 percent of those millions of mums now lined up for black-potted miles outside grocery and box stores will be dead by December. Tossed in garbage. Forgotten. Replaced, maybe, by Christmas cactus. Or not. Not so with asters. Which in one case – ‘Raydon’s Favorite,’ a purple-blue, very hardy lovely, comes with a local story. In 1991 a south Texas plant lover, Raydon Alexander, sent to Allen Bush, a ranting Louisville plant guru then operating a nursery in North Carolina, a pass-along aster that may have had its roots in eastern Tennessee but had done well in Texas heat and cold. The plant went commercial – with reason. Unlike those grocery store mums, Raydon’s Favorite is tough, lovely, shorter than many with proper pruning and always returns. Try teaming it up with ‘Woods’s Pink’ aster, a tough, pink dwarf that will bloom into late fall and has no interest in joining the compost pile either. Can spring be far behind?
Former Louisville Courier-Journal columnist Bob Hill wrote more than 4,000 columns and feature stories, about ten books and several angry letters to bill collectors in his 33 years at the paper. He and his wife, Janet, are former guides and caretakers of Hidden Hill Nursery and Garden in Utica, IN., a home-made, eight-acre arboretum, art mecca and source of enormous fun, whimsy, rare plants and peace for all who showed up. Bob’s academic honors include being the tallest kid in his class 12 years in a row. The AAA of Autumnal Adventure originally appeared on GardenRant on October 6, 2021. The post The AAA of Autumnal Adventure appeared first on GardenRant. Via Gardening http://www.rssmix.com/via Blogger http://wendyimmiller.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-aaa-of-autumnal-adventure.html October 06, 2021 at 11:47PM
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Philly show to stay outside in 2022
You can thank COVID. When I was at this show last June (Wambui Ippolito’s Etherea is shown above), the few staffers I talked to seemed to indicate they’d be back in the Convention Center in March 2022. And when I talked to Sam Lemheney, PHS Chief of Shows, immediately afterwards, he said, “The original goal was to do one show outside to get through COVID and we’d go back inside, but we haven’t necessarily made the full decision. We will definitely go back inside eventually.” Last week, the official announcement was made: the 2022 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show “In Full Bloom” will take place in South Philadelphia’s Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park (FDR Park) from Saturday, June 11 through Sunday, June 19. I again spoke to Lemheney, this time at more length. “The main reason is the uncertainty around COVID and trying to keep everybody safe,” he says. Given the long lead time, the health situation is just not stable enough to be able to predict with confidence that a big crowded indoor event in March would be safe. “We want to make sure that the people who have been coming for decades can still come,” Lemheney states. There are mixed opinions about this. Gardeners in the US are used to indoor shows. My friend Sally Cunningham has been bringing groups to Philly for some years, including last year. She says, “While my two separate two-night trips there went well, in spite of one day at 94 degrees and another with rain the whole time, I still prefer the indoor venue and a March trip when we are dying for light and flowers.” But she’s already promoting the outdoor show and looks forward to bringing more groups next year. As someone who is still monitoring mask-wearing on all her trips, she notes that, “A lot would fear the crowded indoor one in the coming late winter, I suspect.” Lemheney speaks with enthusiasm about the possibilities of an outdoor show. “We are going to produce an amazing show,” he says. “’In full bloom’ is the theme, to provide more flowers, more color, and bring the park to life even more than we did before. We learned from the RHS (Chelsea, Hampton Court), the Singapore show, and others— we share with them on a yearly basis, indoors or outdoors.” The chief is honest about last year’s problems, which were mainly around traffic flow and parking and plans to work more closely with the nearby sports complex, the park police, and other official entities to make things run more smoothly. He also says that last year’s multiple food and beverage stations—many more than would have been inside the CC—help people stay longer at the show and enjoy more of the display gardens and vendors. Another positive change he notes: “The plant material looked so much better at the end of the show; that is so different from the indoor show.” He also stresses: “June is the beginning of the gardening season; you can take what you learn and go right out and put it to work.” I have only been to last year’s show and I loved it. As someone who’s tired of the forced bulbs and short list of shrubs that often fill indoor display gardens—as well as the goofy themes that try to make up for the lack of interesting plants—I loved seeing such a full range of plants in sunlight. And it’s impressive that a nearly 200-year-old institution was able to do such an about-face. We all know it will be back inside eventually; that makes me look forward to the second outdoor iteration all the more. Philly show to stay outside in 2022 originally appeared on GardenRant on October 5, 2021. The post Philly show to stay outside in 2022 appeared first on GardenRant. Via Gardening http://www.rssmix.com/via Blogger http://wendyimmiller.blogspot.com/2021/10/philly-show-to-stay-outside-in-2022.html October 06, 2021 at 02:47AM
Delaware Botanic Garden Update, and How its Meadow is Managed
Five years after my first visit to the not-yet-open Delaware Botanic Garden (which I blogged about here) I returned recently to be utterly wow’d by its progress and the breadth of the vision of its creators. Not to mention the apparent fund-raising success on display. Hard to believe the garden just opened in 2019. Here’s its story. For example, the impressive stormwater management garden for the parking lot, above and described below. The MeadowThe crowning achievement of the garden – so far! – is the highly acclaimed meadow designed by Piet Oudolf and installed by dozens (or hundreds?) of volunteers. My photos are from mid-September, just before the Amsonia hubrichitii turns orange for dramatic impact and even better photos. I may return later this fall, for the Amsonia alone. For plant names, try this link. Paths through the meadow are nice and wide, and easy to walk on. I emailed the garden’s Director of Horticulture, Stephen Pryce Lea, to ask how they manage the meadow, especially weeding and editing out of overabundant spreading by some plants, and he responded:
More to Experience at the DBGSigns like this throughout DBG crediting major donors don’t bother me at all. In fact, I may be especially drawn to public gardens that are supported by their local breweries! And the signs in this garden are handsome amenities that are perfect for the setting.
The tiny beach overlooking Pepper Creek. Throughout the woods there are large habitat nests (if that’s the right name) and apparently they inspired Marianne. Go visit! Become a member! Enjoy. Delaware Botanic Garden Update, and How its Meadow is Managed originally appeared on GardenRant on October 1, 2021. The post Delaware Botanic Garden Update, and How its Meadow is Managed appeared first on GardenRant. Via Gardening http://www.rssmix.com/via Blogger http://wendyimmiller.blogspot.com/2021/10/delaware-botanic-garden-update-and-how.html October 01, 2021 at 11:47PM
RELEASE: National Young Farmers Coalition Comment on the House Reconciliation Package
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Lytisha Wyatt, National Young Farmers Coalition [email protected] Washington, D.C. (September 29, 2021) – The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) commends House and Senate Agriculture Committees for their investments in the current reconciliation package to help farmers, including young and BIPOC farmers, tackle the climate crisis. Via Gardening http://www.rssmix.com/via Blogger http://wendyimmiller.blogspot.com/2021/09/release-national-young-farmers.html October 01, 2021 at 01:47AM
The Brisk Chill of Autumn Has Arrived. Time for….Crotons?!?
I’m not opposed to a great Summer Romance. Temperate gardeners who have acted upon one of the many blatant hints I have dropped this season and picked up a copy of my new book Tropical Plants and How to Love Them, know that I downright encourage them. After all, if a $5.99 one-quart dipladenia purchased in early May (yes, I paid that paltry sum this year) turns into a pot-of-gorgeous for June, July, August, September, and at least part of October, even the most frugal among us can admit we got our money’s worth. Especially if profligates are apparently dropping $549.99 on a 4-inch ‘Albo Variegata’ monstera, and celebrating that incredible bargain with a $5.99 organic nitro cold brew with sweet cream cold foam for the ride home.
Saying a fond goodbye to the dipladenia in October may be tough, but hey, five months is five months baby. Which is why I get so annoyed when I see frost-tender crotons show up en masse at garden centers in September for the autumn season. Particularly at the BigBox garden centers. A Summer Romance is one thing. A one-night stand is altogether different.
Croton 101Here are a couple things to know about crotons besides – “Hey, they’re orange. What a great decorating opportunity.” Crotons are extremely frost sensitive. They’re not excited about drafts, and cold nights mean dropped leaves. Frost means blackened leaves. And then dropped leaves. Naked stems. Ugly plants. Disgust and despair. Contempt from your gardening friends. Compost piles. Autumn 101Here are a couple things to know about autumn besides – “Hey, it’s time to decorate. What a great croton opportunity.” Nights are getting colder. Days may be warm but bonfires officially light up cool evenings. Fleeces are being dug out from under cargo shorts. If you’re in cooler climates like Wisconsin or Nova Scotia (Erin Schanen, Niki Jabbour I feel your pain), you could be 24 short hours away from “Holy hell I forgot to bring the houseplants in.” Autumnal Decorating with Plants 101Buying a seasonal mum or a flat of pansies or an ornamental kale is one thing. Boring – particularly displayed on their own – but perfectly valid. They’re frost tolerant and will give you a decent display for weeks – months even. Years, if you’re a mum martyr. But a CROTON? You’ll literally get two weeks if you’re lucky. It’s like buying a bouquet of lilies for the front porch. Aaaaaaaaand, having spent a decent sum late in the game on a plant that is actually worth that money due to the growing time it takes to put on those tough stems and surprisingly fragile, waxy, multicolored leaves, once the inevitable inevitably occurs, you are more than likely to want to take the blackened, frost-injured sticks with four pathetic leaves into the house to overwinter. Call me a cynic, but this will 100% end badly for all involved and possibly put you off of tropical plants forever. Which would just. Be. Wrong. Give a Crotons a ChanceWhat a missed opportunity for garden centers! Instead, why not celebrate the incredible versatility of this incredible genera (Codiaeum) from the moment the growing season begins? There are well over 150 landscape varieties (mostly hybrids of C. variegatum), and choices go WAY beyond the ubiquitous ‘Petra.’ I keep a shoestring-leafed ‘Zanzibar’ alive, along with a ‘Mammy’ and a ‘Sunny Star,’ just got a cutting of an oak leaf hybrid, and am always on the lookout for ‘Dreadlocks’ whose long corkscrew leaves are so freaking cool I hardly have words to describe them.
In late spring, they all emerge from the torture chamber that is my dry house looking like they need a stiff drink and a ticket to Florida, but within a month they are perked up and adding incredible color and texture to plants like autumn fern and bog-standard begonias (which can go meh if you’re not careful). Crotons appreciate dappled shade, lots of moisture in well-draining soil, and a sheltered position from wind if you’ve got it. At the end of a long, lovely and lusciously colorful season, you can bid this Summer Romance goodbye, knowing that you got your money’s worth; or cave to base desires, and share your winter life with a High Maintenance Partner that demands humidity, bright light, and moisture. Damn I do it every year. This Fall, Don’t Fall For Cheap TricksThere’s only one gardener who has any business matching containers of crotons with mini-pumpkins, #Harvest signs, and sprays of faux berries – a gardener who moved to the tropics and can’t reconcile himself to the fact that he doesn’t live in New York anymore.
For the rest of us – resist the autumn temptation. If you succumbed during a trip to [ostensibly] replace your thermostat, I get it. But for Heaven’s sake bring the poor thing inside at once and treat it like it’s a celebrity on an extended spa vacation. A celebrity you like. There are so few these days. – MW ______________________________ One last blatant hint: There’s still time to let Tropical Plants and How To Love Them help you navigate the panic and/or process of the fall plant migration season. Or to simply offer absolution if you’ve had one too many wicked Summer Romances. Available at your favorite booksellers, and the other one. The Brisk Chill of Autumn Has Arrived. Time for….Crotons?!? originally appeared on GardenRant on September 30, 2021. The post The Brisk Chill of Autumn Has Arrived. Time for….Crotons?!? appeared first on GardenRant. Via Gardening http://www.rssmix.com/via Blogger http://wendyimmiller.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-brisk-chill-of-autumn-has-arrived.html September 30, 2021 at 07:47PM
LECA? No like-a!
One of the biggest trends taking over the houseplant culture these days is going soilfree. Wait—did I just say growing houseplants in no soil? Yup, sure did. Plant tubers and influencers everywhere are encouraging plant owners to ditch the dirt, falsely suggesting that soil is the root of all their problems. Currently there are two main mediums on the market that people are choosing over soil: LECA (lightweight expanded clay aggregate) and Lechuza Pon. This rant covers LECA. LECA-lovers are very quick to tout all the reasons one should switch to LECA: a reduced risk of pests, plant care is easier, and there’s less maintenance. None of those things are true. First off, LECA is an expensive endeavor. A 50-liter bag of LECA costs $42.90 on Amazon. The same amount of soil would be anywhere between $5 and $20 depending on how fancy you want to get. Additionally, you generally need two pots for a LECA planting: one without drainage and one with. A nursery pot could suffice for the inner pot, but some like to purchase net pots, which are a little extra. Once LECA is acquired, both the LECA and the plants need to be prepared to transition from soil to LECA. Imagine a plant growing its entire life in soil only to go through the traumatic experience of being unpotted, having all its soil washed away, and maybe even having its roots scrubbed so all organic matter can be removed before putting the plant into LECA. If one can’t remove all the organic matter, it is suggested to just cut off all the roots and treat the plant as a cutting. This is crazytalk. In addition to LECA itself being expensive, one requires special fertilizers to keep plants growing, because LECA itself has zero nutrients. One must continually purchase different fertilizers and use them in almost every watering to make sure the plant is getting what it needs to grow. There is no “one size fits all” nutrient and LECA-lovers’ cabinets are generally stuffed with dozens of different types. All those nutrients build up over time, as do water minerals, so that requires flushing the LECA. Which leads us to our next myth-bust: LECA is most definitely NOT less maintenance (or easier) than plants planted in soil. It is advised by LECA experts to flush LECA frequently to avoid the white specs of mineral buildup on the LECA balls. If one has many plants (and houseplant collectors can have hundreds), this is a messy and time-consuming process. Often those little coco-puffs end up all over the place and boy do they hurt when you step on them. One of the LECA methods suggests keeping plants with a reservoir. This allows the LECA balls to stay moist and encourages roots to grasp onto the balls as they grow. The problem with this, though, is that eventually the roots will seek out the water. Often, people don’t switch out the water in the reservoir frequently enough and this leads to root rot and plant death. The last myth I am going to bust with LECA is the claim that there are little to no pests when using LECA. Again, this is not true. Even though there is no soil, one can still get all the houseplant pests, even fungus gnats—which seems to be a driving factor to people switching away from soil. One can still also get mealybugs, scale, aphids, and, well, all the pests (see above). I think one of the reasons why LECA is popular is that many feel it has a cleaner, “nicer,” appearance than soil. And in a houseplant culture where appearance is more important than actual plant care, trends are everything. Hopefully, some of these folks will realize that plants have been growing in soil just fine for centuries. Here’s a plea to stick with what works. LECA? No like-a! originally appeared on GardenRant on September 29, 2021. The post LECA? No like-a! appeared first on GardenRant. Via Gardening http://www.rssmix.com/via Blogger http://wendyimmiller.blogspot.com/2021/09/leca-no-like-a.html September 30, 2021 at 01:47AM
Goldenrod has its place in the civilized garden
In recent years, I have found even more reasons not to bother with the standard autumn plantings of mums one sees everywhere—stiff bunches of them on front porches, usually surrounded by pumpkins, gourds, and maybe some corn stalks and/or hay. These displays can be quite effective, and I’d like them more if not for the mums. Mums can’t even be decent enough to provide any kind of longtime bloom; many immediately begin showing brown areas almost as soon as they’re planted. They also have a tendency to fall (stiffly) apart. Since many of the annuals I already have in pots or elsewhere will bloom through most of mum season, I just stick with those; the increased rain of fall helps with their maintenance. And recently I’ve begun to add more fall-specific perennials. Like Anne, I am a big anemone fan and have a small stand of them. First, I had to learn that they wanted more sun than I had realized. (This lesson will be a lifelong and never-quite-absorbed process for me.) Much less picky are the many varieties of solidago. I had always enjoyed goldenrod along the sides of highways or romping through abandoned lots; often, I’d grab some to take home. However, as many gardeners and naturalists know, there are more than a hundred species and dozens of hybrids, most bred to be shorter and less aggressive. I have the ‘Fireworks,’ which looks exactly like its name, with golden spires arcing out in all directions and the Blue-stem (Solidago caesia), which provides a totally different flowering pattern later in the season. I do need to pull out some of the ‘Fireworks’ every season, but it’s not a big deal. There are some who prefer goldenrod in wild or cultivated meadow settings, and I get why, but, with limited space to devote to late-season bloomers, goldenrod is perfect for me. It makes its presence known when presence is needed. Goldenrod has its place in the civilized garden originally appeared on GardenRant on September 28, 2021. The post Goldenrod has its place in the civilized garden appeared first on GardenRant. Via Gardening http://www.rssmix.com/via Blogger http://wendyimmiller.blogspot.com/2021/09/goldenrod-has-its-place-in-civilized.html September 29, 2021 at 06:47AM
Putting Words of Wisdom into the Mouths of Strangers
Over the years, I have found that putting words into other people’s mouths can be a lot of fun. And it can get one into big trouble. But I’ve never really let a bit of trouble stop me from much. The epitaph on my gravestone should read: “He learned all of life’s lessons the hard way (if he learned them at all).” So why not make a bunch of shit up and have famous people or fictional characters comment on some of my favorite plants? Just remember, the opinions and views expressed in this blog after this sentence finishes are solely someone else’s and do not necessarily express the opinions and views of the author, GardenRant, GardenRant’s legal team, GardenRant’s internet service provider, or that of the entire internet. Sombrero Series Echinacea, David Marsh of Rolling Stone Magazine “I have seen the future of gardening, and it is called the Sombrero Series.” Additional commentary by me: I tend to be one who believes that bigger is usually better. Think of the big voice of Bruce Springsteen bellowing big anthems over the big sound of the big E Street Band in a big arena filled with 50,000 big Americans who all somehow bought their tickets sometime in the five minutes before they sold out. Hard to beat. But sometimes just a street smart organ grinder with a monkey does just fine at getting everyone’s attention. Just takes gumption, loud colors, and some rude jokes. The Sombrero Echinacea are tough, tidy, loud, and little. They bloom forever and a crowd of pollinators always seems to find them. And they never throw their poo at people. Ornamental Onions, Yogi Berra, formerly of the New York Yankees “All these new, exciting ornamental onions is getting old.” Additional commentary by me: While not every new Allium selection is a grand slam, all of them are at least base hits. Easy, compact, floriferous, pollinator friendly, and deer-proof. Some might present a bigger strike zone, some a smaller strike zone, some might be starters, some middle relievers, while other are closers, but none of them go into a slump after bloom. Don’t go down looking. Swing for the fences and try a few of them. The Kodiak Series of Diervilla as described by John Wayne “Listen to me straight mister while I tell you what I’m gonna tell you. If you’d a told me five years ago I’d be as giddy as heck about Diervilla, well, pilgrim, I’d a told you to lay off the hooch.” Additional comments by me: There’s a lot to like about regular, old Diervilla. It’s a pollinator favorite, an Eastern U.S. native, and, like a villain in a John Ford movie, really hard to kill. But, until this new series came around, the species lacked anything resembling box office star power. That has changed. Now offering foliage the color of a big sky sunset throughout the season and staying fairly compact, the townsfolk are no longer forced to relegate Diervilla to the back forty as an oblation to the ecosystem and can now freely plant them in the front yard without fear of a posse of HOA do-gooders showing up. A tough plant with an effeminate walk, the Kodiak Series rides high in the saddle. Sedges, the Big Lebowski “The Dude abides. Sedges really tie the garden together and all I want, man, is a little grass.” Additional comments by me: Perhaps the first group of plants one should consider for filling in between other plants. In fact, if I were more like Walter I might even declare sedges are the secret ingredient to making “matrix plantings” work. And those “new naturalism” gardens too. The only problem with sedges is there are a million of them and it is the absolute, God’s honest truth that no one on planet Earth can tell 999,900 of them apart. But, oh, that other hundred! Some are aggressive like nihilists, some form tight clumps like a fresh set of bowling pins. Some like it wetter than a white Russian while some like it as dry as Donny’s ashes. As the Stranger said, “Dude, I don’t know about you but I take comfort in knowing sedges are out there. Sometimes there’s a genus, well, a genus for this time and place. And Carex fit right in there. Like some of that good sarsaparilla.” No doubt, sedges will become a more integral part of horticulture and many new varieties are coming but, in the meantime, these are some great ones that you can buy right now. Don’t hedge, go plant a sedge. Carex flacca ‘Blue Zinger’ I wish I had time for more, but I’m having a bad day and I really hate the Eagles. And, yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, my opinion, man. Chow.
Putting Words of Wisdom into the Mouths of Strangers originally appeared on GardenRant on September 26, 2021. The post Putting Words of Wisdom into the Mouths of Strangers appeared first on GardenRant. Via Gardening http://www.rssmix.com/via Blogger http://wendyimmiller.blogspot.com/2021/09/putting-words-of-wisdom-into-mouths-of.html September 27, 2021 at 02:47PM
My New Video of Lakeside Garden in Spring
I recently wrote about the Horticultural Society of Maryland visiting my garden and two others near me, and included the link to a video of one of them. Well, I’m happy to say I’ve (finally) finished my video of the other one, which covers the April 2021 party in the large lakeside garden of Mary Lou Williamson. She’s best known in my town as the long-time editor of the weekly newspaper. Here she is during the party chatting with neighbor Mike Bordelon, the retired manager of the Smithsonian Institution’s Research Greenhouse. Plant geeks always find each other, don’t they? Also shown is one of the dozens of azaleas, both deciduous and evergreen, that make her garden so colorful in spring. Greenbelt Lake can be seen in the distance. This is my favorite image from the party, which I co-hosted. By Mykel Krizztoffer, it shows me (center) chatting pond-side with two friends. Garden and Plant Notes from the Gardener – Mary Lou WilliamsonWe moved here in Thanksgiving weekend 1998. There were limited number of azaleas around the base of the house, some bluebells and a yucca, plus the deck in back. Also in back were some hostas – nothing else in either the front or back yard. FrontThe streetscape in mid-April shows a variety of plants and flower forms predominantly in yellow, white, blue and purple for as much of the year as possible, to look nice for the passing traffic and especially this year with so many people walking by. The trees are Magnolias Jane, purple, and Butterflies, yellow, and Pink Chimes, Styrax. Note the very tall silvery gray Cardoon that sports purple flowers in August. It is the landscape version of the artichoke. The equally tall gaura blooms are like small white butterflies. Close to the house, the garden features bird’s nest spruce, Asian azaleas, a Goshiki Osmanthus and a Chinese fringe tree and, more recently, 2 cold-hardy gardenias that bloom in late June. In front is a collection of colorful annuals within a color range – this year a variety of pinks, a few reds and purples backed with lime and purple coleus. At the far edge is a stone retaining wall with white flowering Deutzia Nikko spilling over. Upper BackThe back yard or lawn was originally designed as a play area for small grandchildren. At the bottom of the slope I planted shrubs and small trees to block the young ones from running into the pond rocks. The lawn is surrounded by colorful plantings, sweeping curves and occasional paths to give access. Low stone edges help keep feet out of the plantings. I look for a variety of colors, shapes and sizes and especially for year-round interest. Snow drops are long gone by mid- April as are most of the daffodils and small groups of winter aconite. The height of color in April is from the azaleas in varying hues of purple, red, pink and some white. Lower BackIn the lower island are two deciduous swamp azaleas that flower white and pale yellow. They are fragrant. The island starts the season with February Gold daffodils, yellow primulas and then geums in orange and red, and some yellows all surrounding a purple gazing ball set low to the ground for safety as deer are frequent visitors to the garden. POND The frog pond is 20 years old. The depth is just under two feet at the deepest end in order to avoid the requirement of a locked fence. The pond features an underwater shelf all the way around for pots whose plants need shallower water. Deutzia Nikko spills down over the rock walls on one side. Special plants include Golden Club; both dark red and rich purple iris, donated by Sandra Lange; yellow waterlilies that will bloom mid-summer; and self-seeded corydalis in yellow, along side the waterfall. The corydalis bloom early and stays all summer. Helping to make the pond patio cozy are red azaleas backed by a variety of viburnams, including some natives that came with the property. Trails to Lake PathThree trails bring visitors down the woodsy hillside to the lake. In the center is a collection of deciduous azaleas in blends of yellow, orange and red. Further over is a group of pinkster azaleas that grow along the southwest side of the lake. Later in the season large hydrangeas will add a different mix of blue and white hydrangeas. Some winter-early spring specials are the witch hazels in yellow, orange and red and two winter hazels with drooping yellow flowers and some early native white flowered spirea, bridle wreathe. Today on the west tail in bloom is Hartlage Wine, Carolina Allspice, a few jacks and lots of self-seeding English bluebells. A dry run carries storm water down the hill to a double rain garden in order to not wash out the trail. A path of large, flat boulders takes me to work on the steep hillside – weeding or just picking up sticks. Another similar path on the other side leads to my Teak chair to rest before climbing back up to the house. A curved rock retaining wall at the edge of the Lake Park Trail, built three years ago, helps keep the soil from washing onto the public lake path. The gate and fence keep out the local beavers who five or six years ago cut and carried off 30 trees from the wooded hillside, including a rather expensive Appalachian Red redbud and a full-size native redbud and all the forsythia. Also in this area are some Mountain Laurel with white flowers that came with the property, and Clethra alnifolia, summer sweet, which is very fragrant in August. Both grow extensively on this side of the lake. My New Video of Lakeside Garden in Spring originally appeared on GardenRant on September 24, 2021. The post My New Video of Lakeside Garden in Spring appeared first on GardenRant. Via Gardening http://www.rssmix.com/via Blogger http://wendyimmiller.blogspot.com/2021/09/my-new-video-of-lakeside-garden-in.html September 24, 2021 at 09:47PM
Japanese anemones taking a starring role.
A celebration of a flower which is being a total delight at Veddw just now: Japanese anemone or Anemone hupehensis.Japanese anemones often get identified as weeds in the UK, making people afraid to grow them, and it’s true that they are wonderful spreaders. So for those who can’t have them, or won’t have them, here’s a load of them just for your pleasure. Then I’ll tell you what I’ve been doing with them and what I hope for… They start like this, and this is beautiful. Then this wonderful bud…. We’d never just settle for a bud though. (why not? It’s not terribly different from a berry.) A glimpse of the flower appears. How did it get so furry? And, no, I’m not sure which one this is. Or any of them, for that matter. Sorry. Just celebrating beauty here… How about this!? Sweet… So what do I do with them at Veddw?Mass them, of course. I have a bed of Felicia roses, and although they do reflower in August and September, they are not as exuberant as in their first flower. (like most of us, I suppose). So I have added the floral madness of anemones, in pale pink at first. Then I decided the whole thing needed a bit more edge, so I added a clematis. Next, of course, I realised that wasn’t enough contrast and added some crimson anemones, (Pamina and Prinz Heinrich) and bronze fennel. and I came across a beautiful Eupatorium, (Eupatorium cannabinum ‘Flore Pleno’ ) and being in love with Eupatoriums I added those as well. I also added some Persicaria Fat Domino for some sticky up crimson. Take this view and you get a globe too.. (those are a little way away, in the meadow.) And from the opposite end you see some more anemones on the adjoining bed. Why didn’t I do the whole Felicia bed in crimson ones??? I think I love them best. Here’s a view from above to help you get the picture. And – As ever, this is still a work in progress.The crimson touches and the Eupatoriums have not been planted long enough to really do what I’m after, but I can see how it ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ may be in the end. Perennials seem to take between three and five years to mature, so not long to wait. (!) It’s not too bad in the meantime, apart from the roses needing deadheading. Shall I add Clerodendrum bungei maybe?? We have it already and love it and it might muscle in there amongst the pale pinks? And then…… Japanese anemones taking a starring role. originally appeared on GardenRant on September 23, 2021. The post Japanese anemones taking a starring role. appeared first on GardenRant. Via Gardening http://www.rssmix.com/via Blogger http://wendyimmiller.blogspot.com/2021/09/japanese-anemones-taking-starring-role.html September 23, 2021 at 03:47PM |