Each Little World

A moment to enjoy

Though I've probably spent too much time this summer complaining about our above-average rainfall, I well remember droughty years and know my garden is better with water that's not coming from a hose. Individual plants and the garden as a whole can only be described as lush.

I've been going out every few days to try to capture the same area from different viewpoints and at slightly different stages. Without this visual reminder I know that I will be hard-pressed come winter to remember what it all looked like — and if there really were any bare spots that needed even a tiny little plant that I should order in January!

The scenes above and below are at the back edge of the header pool that flows down the waterfall into the stream. The above view is to the left of a narrow Weeping Serbian Spruce (Picea omorika 'Pendula') while the view below is on the right side of the Spruce.

Come around the upper pool and this is what you see. Notice that open spot in the Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola'? A bunny has picked it as his favorite placefor a nap!

Continue to the left of the above scene and you can see it again behind the Ligularia stenocephala 'Rocket.'

The following images are in the big bed opposite the area above. This is the second summer for Astilbe taquetii 'Superba' and I am in love with it. It will make quite a show when all the orange lilies in this bed bloom. That's Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace' to the left and Kirengeshoma palmata/koreana group to the right of the Astilbe.

Agastache 'Blue Fortune'

Thalictrum 'Ankum' is only in its second year and is huge, though it's currently flopping from the various rainstorms.

Wisconsin summer

Mark belongs to a book group that meets the last Sunday morning of the month. I join in when the book interests me and I'm willing to give up time in the garden. I went along this week as the garden is too wet to work in. The drive was absolutely lovely and reminded me again of what I love about where I live.

Drive ten minutes outside of Madison and you're in the country. We saw fields and terraced hills of corn as far as the eye could see. 

This natural area, however, was almost as far as our friend's house about an hour from town.

The roads were lined with Queen Anne's lace and Chicory, a site that says summer in Wisconsin to me.

We also saw some low lying fields that were water-logged and the crops planted there had rotted away. A very sobering site. I may complain about my wet garden but it's not my livelihood like these crops are for farmers.

We could also see where the high winds had come through in the recent storms. Lots of huge branches and big old trees were down by the roadsides. There were a couple of downed trees where I hoped the vibrations from our truck driving by would not cause them to fall onto us.

It made driving on twisty and hilly roads with tree canopies meeting overhead a little disconcerting this time instead of its usual charming.

But our journey proved safe and uneventful. We arrived home to discover a little rainstorm had visited while we were gone. And we ended the day with a turkey play date in the garden. We've discovered the turkeys are nesting in the black walnut tree in the neighbor's yard. 

A pair of moms (yes, two of them!) came for an evening stroll in the garden with a hoard of little ones. I guess that's what happens when you spend twenty years creating a beautiful habitat around your house — there are always visitors stopping by.

 

In a vase on Monday: Prunings

I'm not a big fan of most Hosta flowers but after trimming a big clump of the plants, I couldn't bring myself to just toss perfectly good flowers. I plopped them in a big vase and kept adding things as I went around the garden pruning. 

There are stems of bamboo that were blocking the stone steps up to the Tea House and Spirea blocking a view. At the last minute I added a big stem of water baby's breath that had fallen intp the pond. 

Not much thought went into this display but the scale of the plants and vase give it a certain drama. Plus it was a nice addition to the deck on the night of the tour of our garden last Monday. Thus a Monday vase, just a week late. To see what other gardeners have put into a vase today, visit our host Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

Enough already!

Ok, enough is enough. Tornado sirens kept me in our basement Wednesday evening while Mark was in the basement at the PhotoMidwest meeting he was at. Given that my bother-in-law's house was at the epicenter of the Stoughton tornado and my sister's home got hit by Hurricane Irene, we take these storm warnings seriously.

We got 2.87" of rain overnight on Wednesday bringing the July total so far to a fraction under 9". More rain is forecast for today and tomorrow. 

The moss and lichens are loving this weather but all my lovely tall lilies and Thalictrums took a dive from the storm.

I went out into the middle of this jumble later in the day on Thursday to retie the lilies to see if I could get them back to a vertical position. 

Re-tied everything but I think it's only a temporary measure. Clearly I will need to get much taller stakes to keep them vertical as the flowers open, especially since it looks like we're not out of this weather pattern yet.  But I did get some souvenirs to show for my efforts.

Foliage Follow-up: July 2017

Saturday and Sunday were perfect days to garden, so that's what Mark and I did to the exclusion of most other things including blogging. I took these pictures before our last major storm so there are no hail slashes in all the large leaves in this image. The morning after the storm I thought I must have imagined hearing hail during the night. It took a few days before the cuts and slashes dried out and started to turn brown making the damaged foliage very obvious now. Don't know when's the last time the garden has had hail damage. 

From left: Tricyrtis hirta 'Variegata', Glaucidium palmatium, Trillium similie (?) in the back row. Helleborus foetidus 'Dunham' and Carex socialis 'Cohoma' in front.  

The monster Hosta 'Krossa Regal' fighting for space with Paeonia rockii, Carex siderosticha 'Banana Boat' and Aquilegia 'Nora Barlow' seedheads. At the far right of the photo below you can see the clump of Toad Lilies in the picture above.

Saturday night we had yet another rain storm bringing our July total to just over 6 inches (15.24 cm.) and that's on top of June's 8.50" ( 21.59 cm.). If you enlarge the photo you can see the wet foliage. 'Orange Rocket' Barberry and Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta are the two main plants in this photo; different size plants but similar size and shape foliage. The Heuchera and Sedums are bits and pieces scrounged from around the garden with no id's attached any more. This group is at the top of the new driveway wall at eye level which makes it easy to enjoy.

Though I'm a bit late joining this meme, you can see lots more lovely foliage if you visit our host Pam at Digging. 

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: 7.15.2017

The rain has had the garden in overdrive for days and there are lots of lovely blooms to showcase today. But my iPad, gmail and Typepad seem to be mad at each other and I can't get anything to import properly. Thus this lone image from a few days ago must suffice as my GBBD July offering. Aaaargh!

Wordless Wednesday

Polar opposites

I am always amazed and amused at how many serious gardeners live next door to their polar opposite. You know what I mean: one house is planted from side to side and front to back while the neighboring property hasn't much in the way of greenery other than grass.

We saw another instance of this pattern on a recent tour of gardens of members of the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society. Before we enjoyed the garden we'd come to see, Mark could not resist a few shots of the next-door neighbor's property.  

Mark managed to sneak a peek at the person's back yard and discovered a tiny vegetable garden well-caged against critters. Personally I was surprised that someone with that much grass would have had a gravel driveway rather than one with a sharply edged concrete surface.

Don't know when I've seen that much mown grass that wasn't a golf course! Maintaining a garden is a lot more fun.

Not quite vases on Monday

On the 4th of July when our coffee group was gathering in our garden, midges and mosquitoes made sporadic appearances. Not enough to send us indoors but a bit frustrating to keep swatting them away. That's when I remembered that I'd made a summer arrangement out of my collection of hand-held fans. I grabbed the basket full of them and offered them to our guests. 

Just about everyone took one and kept it nearby for the rest of the morning. 

I've downsized my collection a couple of times but still have a boxful of fans and a tin can filled with folding or small fans. I have them made of all kinds of fibers, fabric and papers. 

They make a great display and come in useful in summer. I began collecting them years ago when I lived in apartments and houses without air conditioning. I still keep a little folding fan in my purse to cool me off at concerts and lectures where the room turns out to be warmer than anticipated.

My bouquet from the 4th is still looking pretty good. Nothing like Astilbes and Alliums for long-lasting beauty indoors and out.

To see what other gardeners are featuring in a vase this Monday, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this weekly meme.

Martagons on Monday: In a vase and out

To my eye (and taste) Martagon lilies are not blooms that work well as part of a mixed bouquet. Their tall stature and sculptural shape shine on their own.

'Mrs. R. O. Backhouse' had been in the house in this vase for five days when I took this photo and is beginning to drop the lower petals.

Fading beauties

My clump of Lilium martagon 'Mrs. R. O. Backhouse' is so large that it is visible across the garden. See that peachy blotch to the left of the tea house?

Approaching from across the stream she's the dominant plant in mid-June.

Approach from the other direction and she's part of a mixed border echoing Berberis 'Orange Rocket'.

As the Bowman's Root directly in front of 'Mrs. Backhouse' loses its white flowers they turn into peachy-orange seedheads. Accidental perfection. 

The only spot where you catch a glimpse of her long stately legs is from this side path. By next summer, the Thalictrum 'Splendide' which is just visible will no doubt dwarf 'Mrs Backhouse' and change the appearance of this view.

The driveway border is home to Lilium martagon 'Claude Shride.' Last year I added 'Russian Morning' which, alas, is not noticeably different from Claude. 

To see what other gardeners have selected to put in a vase this Monday, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this eminently enjoyable meme.