Each Little World

IVON: Bathroom bouquets

This little bouquet in Mark's bathroom is on its second week. I removed the faded flowers but the foliage is attractive enough to stand on its own.

I went out Friday afternoon as the temperatures were falling and the wind was rising to make a few bouquets before our anticipated first frost of the season. It got quite cold Friday night but most things were still standing Saturday morning. I couldn't resist this last stem of hardy Begonia, though I believe these are seed capsules and not flowers.

I moved this vase from my bathroom to the living room mantle for better light. Plus we just redid all the artwork in that room and I thought my bouquet would work with the infusion of red art. 

Mark bought this little folk art figure last year. He's perfect for Halloween.

The last Heuchera flowers added a lighter note.

The Begonia leaves are dramatic even without the sun shining through them to highlight the red underside.

Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Gard who hosts this Monday meme to see what other gardeners have put in a vase today.

IVOM: Prunings

My fennel plants were spending more time on the ground than upright so I clipped a number of stems with seed heads for a vase. They're joined with a Cimicifuga seed head and those of Kirengeshoma palmata Koreana group. 

I love how the Kirengeshoma seed heads look like fat flower buds about to explode open. 

To see what other gardeners have put in a vase today, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this long-running Monday meme. 

Favorite foliage

The growing season may be winding down but some things are keeping the garden looking like it's still summer. The foliage on my Tree and Itoh Peonies looks good all season. Given the size of these plants that's critical. Astilbe 'Fanal' and Brunnera 'Looking Glass' complete the trio. 

A friend who visited my garden in the spring noted that she is growing the same Hosta as I am (below), though both of us were at a loss as to its name. I finally realized it is the aptly titled Hosta 'Ripple Effect.' It's growing with an unknown Heuchera in the rear and Brunnera 'Jack Frost'. I love Heucheras and have divided and moved them so many times — to say nothing of adding new varieties — that I rarely can pinpoint specific plant names any more. 

I've photographed this Rodgersia henrici and Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' dozens of times. It is one of my earliest and still favorite plantings. The Rodgersia is planted in front of a huge rock that is slowly falling forward on it. Now the roots of the Rodgersia are buried under the rock and it is fascinating to watch the stems and leaves crawl out from under it in the spring. This was the first Hakonechloa that I succeed with — on my third try.

These two plants are growing in a wide sloping gap in the big rock wall in the front garden. It's a fairly sunny spot that also stays rather wet in the winter. Both the Ajuga 'Catlin's Giant' and the 'Lady in Red' fern (Athyrium filix-femina 'Lady in Red') are doing fine and don't seem to mind the challenging conditions. 

Guess what?

Yes, it rained again. All night. Two and 1/2 inches this time.

That's rain every day since Sunday for 4.46 inches so far this week in our rain gauge. We were lucky that the heaviest rain went north of us, though some streets in Madison are closed from flooding.

Still, all that rain is a little worrisome. I just ordered some Epimediums from Song Sparrow on their end-of-season sale. Now I'm wondering if I will still have the dry shade they need if this weather is our "new normal."

Looks like I'm growing other things now.

These are in the strip of grass between our driveway and the neighbor's. You can see the force of the rain water washed lots of white pine needles down this path. The fungi clumps are big enough they stopped them from going all the way out to the street. 

"Officially, a record 2.4 inches of precipitation was recorded at the Dane County Regional Airport on Tuesday, beating the old record of 2.15 inches for Oct. 1 set just last year," according to the Wisconsin State Journal newspaper.

"Through Tuesday, Madison now has received 9.2 inches of precipitation since Sept. 1, 5.99 inches above normal, and 38.79 inches of precipitation for the year, 10.76 inches above normal."

Toad lily season

Toadlily (Tricyrtis ssp.) season! I'm loving this long, warm autumn and so are the toad lilies. A number of them are full of buds but haven't even begun to bloom. Since there does not seem to be a frost in the near future, I should still get to enjoy their flowers in October.

Tricyrtis formosana. This plant has a tall, narrow profile so I am trying to create a "hedge" of them along the back of a border. 

Tricyrtis hirta 'Lightning Strike' with striped foliage. It's another narrow, vertical form. Every time I went out to cut a few stems of this for a vase it was full of bees and Monarch butterflies. 

Tricyrtis hirta 'Tojen'. I thought this had died after our bad winter of 2018/19, but a stem has reappeared in the garden!

Tricyrtis hirta 'Miyazaki' has substantial flowers, less delicate and orchid-like to my eye. 

Tricyrtis hirta 'Miyazaki' has an arching form. The stems curve outward and don't flop like 'Tojen'.

Tricyrtis hirta 'Lemon Twist' is short with speckled leaves and lemon yellow flowers. The flowers are quite large compared to the overall size of the plant. Their size makes it hard for the stems to stay upright.

Tricyrtis macrantha has deep golden flowers with brown speckles on the interior.

Tricyrtis macrantha is a wonderful variety to grow where it can flow over a wall. Even when it is blooming, most visitors to my garden never guess it's a toad lily. 

Since rain was forecast for Sunday and much of this coming week, I cut some of the yellow 'Lemon Twist' toad lilies for a vase. 

Since they have short stems, this is an easier way to see the interior of the blossoms and to enjoy them. 

Perfect end of September weekend

The weather has been less than perfect, but I had a busy and satisfying weekend. It began Friday afternoon when a friend and I went to the Back to School Alumni and Friends Event sponsored by the UW's School of Human Ecology (where I received my grad degree in textile design).

We saw two widely differing fiber exhibits in the galleries of Nancy Nicholas Hall, followed by a fascinating look at the history of reusing textiles by Prof. Marina Mosokwitz — just for starters. I managed to get to two mini lectures before Mark picked me up at 5 pm for an opening at our favorite local art gallery. 

My first stop Saturday morning was the Westside Farmers Market where this trio was performing. After watching all 8 episodes of Country Music on Wisconsin Public Television, they reminded me of all the country music stars who began at this age.

Then I spent two hours at a WHPS free workshop "An Accidental Arboretum," where one of the members talked about all the trees and shrubs in her garden. As we walked through her garden she point out various specimens as well as sharing information about pruning practices, tools, and sources for plants. She topped it all off with cookies, lemonade and a handout with every one of her trees and shrubs listed by their botanical name.

I came home all excited about possibilities in our garden but went to work in the kitchen instead. First I roasted a couple of pounds of Roma tomatoes and froze them for winter soups and bruchetta. Then I made a batch of ginger broth, one of our personal pantry mainstays. Next up is Daikon and red raddish pickles. 

I took the photo above during the morning garden workshop. This is a Korean fir that died unexpectedly and the gardener left it for a snag. I love the pattern the critters who are using it are making.

We spent a rainy Sunday reading, listening to music and dealing with paperwork. Then Mark went off to a new photography book club while I settled in with the last season of Poldark. 

Mark blew our roof and gutters clear of leaves on Thursday just in case the rain was one of those gushers that doesn't move. Luckily it was gentle for the most part. But what a wet month. According to our rain gauge we got 1.48" (3.75 cm.) from Friday through early this morning, bringing our total for the month of September to 8.95" (22.73 cm.). Don't know if this is the new normal or just an unusually wet September.

September scenes

Tuesday was such a beautiful day that Mark grabbed his camera and went for a stroll in the garden. 

In a vase on Monday: Soggy September

We had another two inches of rain yesterday morning, so I was not able to go out and cut a bouquet for Mark's bookclub who were meeting at our house. I did, however, manage to make Anna Thomas' "Cheese and Onion Pie" from an old favorite cookbook, "The Vegetarian Epicure."

This morning it was still too wet to do more than cut a few things hanging over the path or fallen onto the ground. This little bouquet has been in my bathroom for a week. This morning I just refreshed the stems of Italian parsley and Toad lilies (Tricyrtis). 

Toad lilies bloom so late that some years we have a killing frost when they are still in the bud stage. This year we are having perfect temperatures for me to be able to enjoy them. 

This is T. formosana which grows with a nice vertical stem that is quite narrow. Though the flowers look like delicate little orchids, this is a workhorse plant and well-worth growing if you are able.  

This arrangement includes a big fuzzy leaf from Bergenia ciliata, a maple-shaped leaf from Kirengeshoma, fallen oak leaves from the driveway and a stem of Cimicifuga whose flowers are going over to seeds. 

Be sure to visit Rambling in the Garden to see what other gardeners have put in a vase today. 

Foliage Follow-up: 9.16.2019

Even if Pam Penick at Digging no longer hosts Foliage Follow-up, I am too much of a foliage lover not to continue posting on the 16th of the month. But this time I have a foliage question rather than a display. I planted Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty' three years ago and it has come through two bad winters with flying colors. It has even sent out some 'Spotty' babies (below).

As result of this success I added P. delavayi in 2018, and  P. versipelle and Sinopodophyllum hexandrum last June. 'Dotty' and delavayi have looked good all season. P. versipelle settled in a bit and then went dormant. 

But look at P. hexandrum (above and below). The largest leaf is one of the original ones on the plant when it went into my garden. This weekend I suddenly noticed it has sent up new growth. 

Is it confused by our on again/off again weather or does it always respond to autumn rain and cooler temperatures with new growth? If you are familiar with this plant I'd love to hear your experiences. 

GBBD: 9.15.2019

Our up and down temperatures and too dry/too wet weather have put my fall-blooming plants on hold. Lots of buds but few flowers yet on Tricyrtis or Anemone japonica.  Since there's no frost on the horizon, I should be able to enjoy those flowers for quite a while as soon as they open.

The turkey-foot flowers on the star fruit (Penthorium seloides) are just starting to turn orange as the foliage changes to yellow. This plant has its roots in the edge of the upper pool.

A number of my Heucheras have bloomed on and off all summer. I can never decide if this one is 'Caramel' or 'Marmalade'.

Haven't a clue as to the identity of this Sedum using the Hakoechloa grass for support. 

My big clump of Tricyrtis 'Tojen' died in the miserable winter of 2017/18, so I moved some Tricytris formosana into the empty spot.

Here we are a year after I thought T. 'Tojen' died and suddenly a stem of it pops up amidst the replacement plant! This is a lovely flower but the plants tend to flop, unlike T. formosana; so now I will have to decide which one gets to stay. 

Visit May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming in gardens elsewhere.