Each Little World

May bows out

i finished planting my last few plugs of Penn sedge (Carex pennsylvanicum) and a few Farmers Market purchases over the weekend. The weather was so nice that I kept walking around taking pictures of plantings that caught my eye. 

I love that this grouping is in a raised bed so I can enjoy everything without bending. 

Tiarella 'Elizabeth Oliver' with Carex 'Beatlemania,' a sprightly little ground cover Carex. 

'Axminster Gold' Russian comfrey with all those little bug holes that I am learning to love. 

Weeping yellow Beech tree with Japanese painted ferns.

One of my favorite Wisconsin natives, Thalictrum dioicum or early meadow rue with an ancient Peony that is in too much shade to flower.

Native Bird's Foot Violet. The rabbits like this as much as I do. 

Primula japonica with Trillium sessile.

Calycanthus 'Hartlage Wine'

The edge of the Upper Pool in its reincarnated state.

Big guys getting bigger

A big garden needs some big foliage plants for contrast with delicate ferns and ground covers. A number of the ones I've planted are finally making their statement.

Rodgersia 'Rotlaub' emerges a rich chocolate brown but quickly turns green. This plant is in its third location in my garden and is finally happy. It has quickly tripled in size in the last year or two and has its first flower stem this year. 

Rodgersia pinnate is the first one in this family that I planted a number of years ago. I put it front of this big rock to make an equally big statment.

It continues to do just that, despite the fact that the rock has been slowly falling on top of it for a number of years. Hasn't slowed it down at all. 

I've had Rodgersia 'Bronze Peacock' for five years and moved it twice trying to find its sweet spot. It sent up four stems this spring instead of the usual one. I expect they will get a little larger this year. Can't wait until next year. 

I've tried growing American umbrella leaf (Diphylleia cymosa) a couple of times with no luck. After seeing a photo of it in Bill Noble's book about his Vermont garden, I decided to ry again. It emerges looking like a Podophyllum to my eye. 

The leaves quickly turn solid bright green. If you're lucky you get these little white flowers that will turn into blue berries in the fall. 

This year I have three clumps instead of two like last year and all the plants are taller. We're finally on our way!

New kids in the garden

I planted my first Auricula-type Primula last year in the rock garden. P. auricula 'Argus' is a delicate bit of drama in the front garden that thrilled me when it sent out flowers this spring. I planted four different ones and nothing has touched them in a year. Fingers crossed.

At the far end of the garden — almost to the back lot line — is the polar opposite flower and plant. I have one Itoh intersectional hybrid Peony and I've always wanted another. This year I found it at K and A Greenhouse in Madison.

I was lucky to find a three year old plant with one bud on it. P. 'Creme a la Orange' is already a winner in my book. A pricey plant and worth every penny.

Vases and vases

This spring seems to be rushing by faster than in recent years. Every time I look around something has burst into bloom and something else has disappeared. I've been cutting flowers and plopping them into vases like mad. The best way for me to enjoy the bounty of my garden at the moment is indoors. I have enough daffodils that I can pick a lot of them without it being obvious. The Tulips grow in the Traffic Island bed in the street. Since it will disappear when the street is redone, it made sense to bring them indoors while I still can. 

No ids on these images. Just pretty flowers to enjoy.

Variation on the above theme.

A small offering in the Tea House.

Pleasing placement

Some times I put a lot of thought into which plants are next to each other and other times I look at pleasing combinations and wonder if I did that or it's a lucky accident. Here are a few current favorites. 

Bloodroot seeded in a patch of Vancouveria hexandra. Bloodroot is a spring ephemeral whose flowers are here for a brief time. The foliage continues to make its presence known. 

Enimion biternantum is a spring ephemeral that leaves a big bare spot when it disappears. I planted some Syneilesis there last summer thinking what a great plant that would be to fill the space in the summer. I pictured how lovely it would look coming up through the false rue anemone. I did not think about the fact that the density of the anemone in the spring might keep the Syneilesis from ever appearing. Only two little plants have managed to break through. 

Pinus 'Louie' with European ginger. 

Pennsylvania sedge with self-seeded Trillium. 

Primula kisoana with Trillium grandiflora. The Primula is a pretty little thug. 

Adiantum venustrum (Himalayan maidenhair fern) is trying to eat this Epimedium. The gardener needs to get in there and do a rescue operation. 

Epimedium 'Domino', Japanese painted fern, Tiarella ''Timbuktu', Helleborus hybridus 'Pine Knot Selected Foliage Forms' and more Himalayan maidenhair fern. 

Heuchera 'Green Spice' with Tiarella 'Elizabeth Oliver'

Helleborus 'New York Night', Tiarella 'Spring Symphony', Primula kisoana and more Himalayan maidenhair fern. 

Hakonechloa macra and dwarf Iris, a gift from an artist friend/former co-worker and garden mentor who just died at age 93. Since I no longer remember the name of the Iris, I will re-christen it after my friend: Iris 'Doris Lang.'

Heuchera 'Palace Purple' and Geranium phaeum. 

Garden fireworks

Love the way the foliage from Iris reticulata shoots up like fireworks after the flowers are gone. 

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Danger, old gardener at work

Despite temps into the low 90°s last week, I worked in the garden three to five hours every morning because I have so many plants that I need to get into the ground. Saturday the weather changed to a perfect May day for gardening. I was thrilled and got right to it. I had just planted two shrubs and was getting up off my knees when it happened. I put my hand on our Chinese lantern which was next to the spot I was working. Not a smart move.

The lantern is composed of six separate pieces that stack: A decorative base, the column, a platform that supports the open cube for a candle, the roof and a finial that tops it off. I tipped it over with the pressure from me pushing on it as I stood up. The good news is that it fell away from me. If it had fallen on me, I would not be writing this post. In fact, it could have killed or crippled me at the very least. 

Since nothing fatal happened — it even missed hitting my lilies as it fell — it's merely a good story. And a major wake-up call. I am putting it down to a temporary brain block from working too many hours in the heat. Lesson learned. 

I never thought twice about weeding and working next to that lantern since it has stood there without moving for twenty years. I have to admit that I am a little spooked to work near it again. 

GBBD: In a Vase on Sunday

A week of temps hitting 90°F or above had me in the garden cutting flowers for the house.They bloomed and faded so fast outdoors that this way I got to enjoy them for a little while longer. 

I love photographing floral bouquets on my tall Japanese display stand against the gold Japanese screen. After photographing, I moved the tea cups to the fireplace mantel where we could easily see them from our favorite reading spots.

To see what's blooming in other gardens, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens who hosts this long-running meme.

Shakkei

Shakkei is a Japanese term that refers to incorporating views of a neighboring landscape into one's garden. We've enjoyed our neighbors' huge old Forsythia 'Beatrix Farrand' for as long as we've lived in this house.. Some years the branches have come right through the fence and we've told our neighbors not to prune them on our account. This is the view along the fence path approaching our hoses and faucet  — and the gate into their garden so we can enjoy their plants up close.

Their Magnolia stellata is always a wonderful sight. Usually our trees are more leafed out and the line between the properties is not so obvious. 

Next up will be their hot pink and orange Rhododendron shrubs. A perfect pairing of colors from the 1960s.