All that Fluff...

I'm always touting foliage, foliage color and foliage shape. Of course the truth is it's the flower that most often takes our breath away. Blooms come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, colors and textures. When choosing a plant for a particular spot, the texture of the bloom can be very important.

In this shade planting I rely on the Hosta foliage to carry me through the season. Just look at how nicely the soft blooms on the Astilbe and the Alchemilla (Ladie's mantle) compliment the more structured foliage shapes.

Every year I moan over the fact that I don't get a good shot of Astilbe. I've got to admit that I'm pretty happy with this one even though I don't know the name of this specific variety. If I had to guess, I'd say it's 'Deutschland' but I'm really not sure.

Soft, fluffy blooms are hard to photograph. Out in the very front of my gardens is a nice big clump of Thalictrum flavum subsp. glaucum (wow, try to say that three times in a row). I've had this plant for many years, it gives me a few seedlings here and there. When I'm done typing this post I'm going to do a "plant profile" on this beauty on my Melanies Perennials blog.

Right next to the Thalictrum is a large clump of Filipendula. Another wonderful fluffy bloom, just about to burst open and such great foliage too! Last year I went crazy photographing this plant, if you type in "filipendula" in the search line at the top of this blog it will take you to that post.


Here's a pale pink variety of Filipendula further along in bloom, doesn't it look like cotton candy?

Spirea blooms and Heuchera blooms, more fluff-n-stuff... The bees were all over the Spirea but I just couldn't get a clear shot. We've got overcast skies right now so I'm heading back out there to take some more photos...

Step by Step

This past weekend I had the opportunity to watch my neighbors working on a great garden project. Cynthia is one of those fearless do-it-yourself ladies, ready to tackle anything. Well, this time she's decided to tackle quite a big project, a concrete walkway.

I've seen these molds for sale in the past and always thought about buying one. Thinking and doing though are different things. With Cynthia, thinking is doing and she jumped right in to the concrete making business.

As I watched her and her husband Rich mix the cement and fill the mold I thought it looked easy. To be truthful though there's still quite a bit of work involved. The site they were placing this walkway on had to be level, cleared and had landscape fabric spread on it. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of that stage.

While I was there, they were making additional stones to use to widen a part of the walkway. Cynthia explained that it only took minutes for the cement to set, at that time you can wiggle the mold and pull it free.

24 hours later the cement is hard enough that you can walk on it without making a mark.

Here you can see how you simply fit the mold into the previous piece and continue to add cement. One 50 lb. bag of cement basically fills one mold.

Now this is the photo you've been waiting for, here's what I could see when peeking over the garden gate. How cool is this walkway! I can't wait to see the finished project.

This part of the walkway was set into place. The pieces photographed above were going to be set individually along the edges to flesh out the whole design.

All told, Cynthia said they used about 50 bags of cement. The cost for them was about $150 plus the cost of the mold. What a fantastic do-it-yourself project!

Today's Blooms

With a enveloping fog upon us, I had to take advantage this morning and shoot some photos.

You've all seen Claus the garden gnome before, doesn't he look especially happy now that the Oenothera 'Cold Crick' is in bloom all around his head?


The Digitalis lutea is hard for me to capture with my simple point and shoot camera. It's a true perennial foxglove. Interestingly, it only blooms on one side of the bloom stalk, the blooms all facing the side where the sun is strongest.


The biennial Digitalis (foxgloves) are also in bloom all over the place. Mixed throughout them are lots of Silene (catch-fly) and Lycnhis (rose campion) blooms.


The dwarf Aruncus athusifolious (smack dab in the center here) is another plant that is hard to show off in a photograph. I just love this plant, there must be over a dozen throughout my garden and I could easily plant a dozen more.


Astrantias are just starting to bloom. I've bought a number of different varieties and they've also sent out a few seedlings so I no longer know which are named cultivars and which are not.

One plant that is rarely photographed in bloom is Alchemilla mollis. The ladies mantle is better known for it's lovely dew studded foliage but right now it's covered with clouds of simple yet elegant chartreuse blooms.

Here you can see the Alchemilla combined with a dusky Sedum and backed up by my beloved Hakonchloa 'All Gold'.


Fading into a dusty rose color are the blooms on the Physocarpus 'Diablo'. The flowers aren't very long lived but then again, I never selected this shrub for it's blooms. The foliage is the true star here along with lovely bark in the winter.


Right next to the Physocarpus is my one and only Rose, 'Westerland'. This rose has been such a beauty for me but last year I totally ruined it by cutting it back too hard too late in the season. It barely limped along and although it's not back to prime condition, I am so happy to see it blooming again.

Lots to do in the garden today...hope you are enjoying your gardens too!

Melanie

Succulents Don't Suck...(revisted)

This weekend (and much of the future season) I'll be playing with my succulents. I can't help it, they just call to me.

Earlier this morning I posted on my Melanie's Perennials blog, it too was about succulents and some of the plans I have with them.

There are so many different varieties of Sempervivum and Sedums. I don't claim to be an expert on them, I'm not even super careful about keeping their names. If I have a name, I put it in the pot. If I don't, I still grow them and love them. Many varieties were sold to me without names. They are as beautiful as the named varieties so I really just don't care.

This one I've had for 4 or 5 years now. It's been divided each and every year and makes these soft little tufts. The name on the pot was TBA, probably just stood for "to be advised".

One of the reasons I love these plants so much is because they are so forgiving of harsh conditions and so darn easy to grow! This Sedum acre is in a small, cracked plastic pot. It's grown out of the pot and along the ground, rooting in tiny cracks in the concrete.

Here's the same plant, it just crept it's way along the concrete and wound around a nearby planter. You would never know that there's no soil under here.

Every now and then an escapee finds a foothold. This is a tiny Sedum, I'm pretty sure it's name is Sedum dasyphyllum. I have no problem with it having caught hold in the cracks here, in fact I'm going to encourage it to grow!

Pots of these babies are for sale, there's not than many potted up yet and each and every one is different. The watering can is not for sale, I just adore it and can't part with it!

This afternoon friends are coming over with their children. If you do any gardening with kids you have to try these Hens & Chicks. Kids love them! I've done programs at schools and brought in pots of Sempervivum (Hens & chicks). They are so touchable, not thorny or prickly but soft and fuzzy.

The kids especially love the cobwebbed ones and love the fact that they can take them in their fingers and tease the plants apart. The whole idea of the mother plant (the hen) and her little babies (the chicks) appeals to them.

Here's a close up shot, these are just about to send out little babies and we'll be making three different pots from this one piece.

Here's one that was divided out a week ago. You can see how I left room for it to fatten up and for any babies that pop out to find a place to root.

I always add in a few non-succulent plants. This is a Saxifraga 'Cloth of Gold' that I bought yesterday. I haven't had luck with them in the past but this is a new variety for me. It's going to be paired with a beautiful blue foliaged Allium (you can see it in the top photo in the right side of the hypertufa trough).

Off to play,
Melanie

Symphytum - Comfrey

I try to do a perennial spotlight every few weeks. Yesterday I wrote one for my Melanie's Perennials blog, it featured some of the hardy Geraniums in bloom right now.

Another perennial that is deserving of the spotlight is Symphytum which is commonly known as Comfrey or Borage. Any book on herbs contains a page on this hardy perennial. Throughout history it has been used for many different ailments, unfortunately it has come to light that internal use of this plant causes liver cancer.

While I grow quite a few herbs in my garden, I rarely use them in any way other than ones specifically grown for flavoring foods (fennel, basil, mint, rosemary and so on). I have no problem keeping this lovely plant in my garden.

The tallest of the three comfrey's growing in my garden is this purplish/blue one.

I would love to have the full botanical name for this plant but I never purchased it with a tag. My friend Kim and I each rescued a small piece that had been planted at a local historical house. I am just crazy about it and look forward to seeing how it grows in future years.

Another Symphytum in my garden is this pale white/pink variety. I actually purchased this one at a local nursery but none of the pots had labels in them. I have it planted in full sun and part shade, it appears happy in either condition and has been blooming for almost a month now.

In one of my front gardens we had a telephone pole that had broken. The phone company simply cut it off at ground level and put in a new pole. I was worried that nothing would grow near the rotting base of the old pole so planted Symphytum in that spot.

I had read that Symphtum is an invasive plant but so far I have yet to experience any type of invasiveness from any of these varieties. Maybe that one reference was wrong?

This pink blooming one is the only one I have the full name for, it's Symphytum 'Langham's Pink'.

The leaves on Symphytum are rough to the touch and have been used (and still are used) to make a poultice to help knit broken bones. Another use I've read about is to add them to your compost pile to speed up decomposition or to make compost tea with them. I have tried the tea, it stinks to high heaven so I haven't tried it again. If any of you make compost tea with this plant I'd love to know about it.

Over the years I've seen another Symphytum for sale, it's name is 'Goldsmith' and it has foliage that is marbled with yellow & green. Although I did buy this and plant it in my garden in semi-shade it is not here now. I would try it again if I saw it for sale but put it in a sunnier location.

Searching on-line I found some great information at Wikipedia The article states that comfrey grows back quickly after being cut back. This is something I have had first hand experience with, I've cut mine back hard after flowering, put the foliage on the compost heap and had a new flush of growth and bloom.

One thing I haven't tried yet is to divide any of my comfrey. Let me know if you have!

Melanie

Size Counts!

What an incendiary title but oh so true. When planning your garden, size most certainly does count. There's a wealth of dwarf perennial plants and giant perennial plants too but most often it's the trees and shrubs that gardeners miscalculate when it comes to size and space.

This is Lilac 'Miss Kim', saddled with the horrendous botanical name of Syringa pubescens subsp. patula 'Miss Kim'. You can see how I broke my own rule and just stuck with the nickname this time :-)

My 'Miss Kim' Lilac and my Physocarpus 'Diablo' (Ninebark) are both in bloom today. 'Miss Kim is just finishing up while 'Diablo' has just begun to burst into bloom. Both are specatular shrubs and wonderful additions to the home landscape.

There's just one problem with these two shrubs. I totally miscalculated the size they would reach upon maturity. 'Diablo' is lucky, it's in a spot where although larger than I expected, I can forgive it's vigorous growth and just hack it back when needed (as soon as it's done blooming it's in for a serious haircut).

Unfortunately for 'Miss Kim', she has to go. Here you can see the bed where they are, Physocarpus 'Diablo' to the far left, Lilac 'Miss Kim' front and center, totally obliviating the entrance to the garden!

Last year I took a similar photo, maybe you can see that on one side of the lilac is a charming mailbox. That mailbox is totally hidden from view now. I also have to add that I've cut this Lilac back quite a bit in the past two years.

Way back in 2005 I took a photo of the garden as it had just been replanted. My design was a square garden with a circular path in the center. It's my favorite plan, one I hope to recreate in future locations.

When looking for photos this morning to see the progression of size, I finally made my mind up. This week the Lilac will go, I'll cut it back hard and if somebody comes here in the next week and is willing to dig it up and transport it, they will be welcome to it. First come first serve!

Heartbreaking Beauty

Yes, that title is correct, "Heartbreaking Beauty" not "Breathtaking Beauty".

Today was a tough day in the garden, it's that time of spring where the plantings all begin to meld and you realize that all of your creative designs have come together. Unfortunately for me today it was also a day where many of my hearts desires have come crashing around me.

While my garden did little to ease my mind, it did keep my hands busy as I puttered around and took photos.

I've worked for years on this corner of my garden, it took my breath away to see how everything finally came together.

Here's a shot just a few feet closer, you can see Claus, my garden gnome where he is quite happily surrounded by an explosion of hardy Geranium and Symphytum blooms.

Up closer still, you can see the Geranium cantabrigiense 'Karmina' just beginning to go wild, behind it is an iris that has long ago lost it's name but certainly not it's beauty. The backdrop of blue is Centaurea montana (also known as Bachelor's Buttons).

The opposite corner of this bed is almost as much of a work of art. Hosta 'Sagae' dominates in the center (only planted there last year) along with the fantastic gold of the Hakonecloa 'All Gold'.

These two plants will put on this show from now until autumn. Romantic woes aside, who could ask for more?

Misty rain

Ahhh, there's nothing like a long misty rain to rejuvenate the garden. Much as I dislike being cold and wet, I know just how much the garden appreciates this weather.

A big bonus to misty rain is that it's a great photo opportunity!

In this opening shot you're looking at my variegated Ginko, the variegation is just starting to appear on the leaves.

The succulents are wonderful rain drop catchers. They look as if they're studded with jewels. I am so enamored with these babies, I hardly want to work any where else in the garden right now.

Up close and personal, see how the fine little hairs (officially called cilia) catch the mist? These little babies are not sharp like cactus, they are soft to the touch and while I wear gloves out in the garden, when I play with my succulents, I need to feel them with my bare skin.

The Hosta are starting to put on their show, when they first emerge the colors can be quite muted but give them a little time and they really start to shine!

Of course the all time favorite for catching mist, rain or dew is Alchemilla mollis (Ladies Mantle). I love this plant so much but have given up potting it up for people as I just can't get it to sell. (If you want some, I'll dig it out of the garden for you.)

One last peek, in this combination photo you can see how different foliage catches water. On the far left is Nepeta musinii (cat mint) which has some water on it, mostly around the edges of the leaves. In the middle is Oreganum aureum (Golden Oregano) which doesn't look wet at all. On the right side is the star of this photo, Sedum 'Lynda Windsor' with her smoky colors and huge diamond-like drops of moisture.

It's still chilly here but the sun is shining now so I'm off to play with my hens and chicks. Hope you are all reveling in your late spring gardens!