Each Little World

Late summer plant splurges

I ordered a few plants online in the middle of July when the heat was dreadful. The first week of August I went out to K&A Nursery (both locations) to get a couple of Dramm hose nozzles and came home loaded with plants. In other words, during the hottest part of the summer, I found myself with a worktable loaded with work.

I'm happy with my purchases and am getting them in the ground at a reasonable rate. The prices were great since the season is winding down. With the recent rain and temps in the lower 80°F range, I'm good to keep going. Here's a look at a little of my hauls.

This Helleborus argutifolius variegated seedling is from Dancing Oaks nursery and is listed as a Zone 6 plant. However, I've had great luck with other Zone 6 Hellebores. I don't care if this ever flowers; I bought it for the foliage. It was so reasonably priced that I think it is definitely worth taking a chance on it surviving. 

This is Athyrium 'Crested Surf', a painted fern variation. I bought this to do a version of a plant combo I saw on a recent garden tour. 

I sent for Astrantia 'Vanilla Gorilla' from Avant Gardens in 2017. It has great foliage and flowers and no problems — if you don't count rabbits. I've never seen it to buy locally until now. So I got two. Once this is planted and settles in, the pale color becomes more creamy white than yellow.

Someone posted this photo (below) on the WHPS FB page. I made a note of the names of the Clematis but not the person who shared the picture. When I discovered both varieties at K&A I was a goner. 

Clematis 'Samaritan Jo'

I've had mixed success with Ajugas but I am ready to try again with some varieties that are new to me. Ajuga 'Parrot Paradise' should be a perfect ground cover under 'Amber Jubilee' Ninebark.

I put a pair of Geranium 'Perfect Storm'' with a pair of Geranium 'Crystal Lake' near my Calamintha and Allium 'Millenium' mix at the end of the driveway.  

I also got three each of Aconitum fischeri and Digitalis 'Dalmation Peach', a Eupatorium 'Chocolate', Geranium phaeum 'Margaret Wilson' and a few shrubs. But that's another story.

PR humor

This tag was on one of the shrubs I recently purchased. Someone at the nursery was having fun.

Back from the dead

We planted our 'Forest Pansy' redbud tree, 22 years ago this month. It's a tree with big gorgeous leaves summer and fall (below). We had a lot of winter dieback the first few years which made us nervous about the tree's survival. It also leafed out later than any other Redbuds in the neighborhood. 

When we checked with Peter Moersh at Stonewall Nursery, he gave us this advice: "If it hasn't leafed out by the 4th of July, it's probably dead." Though he was joking, we took that concept to heart and no longer worried. It was always so full and gorgeous by the 4th that we often had to prune it. This is what it looked like on June 10th of this year. 

It seemed pretty clear that last year's drought and the lack of snow during the winter had put an end to this beauty. We were too busy to do anything about it right away, other than half-heartedly talk about replacement trees. But then something happened. The two lowest branches started to leaf ou — and not just with a few scattered leaves. Still, the tree looked more than a little sad with only those two branches covered with leaves. 

By the time the 4th of July arrived, the tree was sprouting new growth all over.

New foliage was on most of the main trunks and branches.

One minute I think it looks silly; the next sublime.

It seems as though the tree is going to survive after all, though it's probably too soon to count our blessings. But two things are clear. (Double click to clearly see the live and dead branch mix.)

One: That Peter's humorous advice is spot on. And two: We're lucky we were too busy to cut the tree down.

Crossing my fingers

Last weekend temps got up into the 80s followed by overnight lows hovering at frost levels. Day time temps have been chilly with mostly gray skies. We're supposed to hit 60°F. today and tomorrow and then drop back into the 50s for the next ten days.

The good news is that the overnight lows are all expected to be in the 40s, so I can plant the four mail-order shipments of perennials that are sitting in the living room, front hall and basement sink. 

A friend and I went window shopping for trees and shrubs at our fave nursery, K & A, on Tuesday. We bundled up, but we were still freezing. Here's the reality of our weather: All the perennials at the nursery were under covers and many had to be moved back into the greenhouse as we all wait for Spring to decide to stick around.

Two pots of tender bulbs on the left. First time I've tried to grow these and I'm nervous about how long it's taking for them to appear; as well as how long they've been stuck in the house. On the right are Orchids and Cyclamen: house plants waiting to go outdoors for the summer. In the middle are a mix of plants ready to go in the ground today.

I was expecting this small package of Cyclamen and Primula from Edelweiss Perennials but had not noticed the alert that I was also getting a package from Broken Arrow Nursery. Actually two big packages from them filled with evergreen and deciduous shrubs. Both nurseries sent beautiful plants wonderfully packaged. Can't wait for it to warm up a couple more degrees and then I'm off to plant and play in the garden. 

Looking for inspiration

Visiting other gardens is considered one of the best ways to be inspired with ideas for our own gardens. I find I get as many great ideas and bits of information trolling the web as I do visiting a garden in person. Here are a few online images that have recently sparked my imagination. 

I love Carexes and discovered this photo on the website of Plant Delights Nursery. I think this is a brilliant combination of color, form and texture. The grass is Carex retroflexa 'Bonnie and Clyde' but the Heuchera is not identified since the point of the picture is to sell the Carex. This image proves that two plants — the right two plants — can create a show-stopping moment. 

I have been growing bronze fennel in my garden but it doesn't do much visually for me. Nothing like this giant fennel in the garden of Dan Pearson in the UK. It went on my wish list the moment I saw this photo in the British House and Garden magazine. I am in love with plants that will tower above me. 

This is Rodgersia podophylla in the gardens at Cady's Falls Nursery in Vt. But it's surrounded by Barberries and Peonies, plants that like the sun. Rodgersias like the shade. But this image suggests they may be able to take more sun than I've been giving mine. This one looks so happy and healthy that I am probably going to move my slowpoke plant this spring. 

Author Matt Mattus has plants and ideas and information galore on his blog, Growing With Plants. In this photo of his early spring garden, he's done something it never occurred to me to do. He's put at least three different varieties of Fritillaries in three different colors around this urn filled with pansies. I've always put my Frits in different areas of the garden far away from each other. No more.

I saw this garden image on the blog of The Frustrated Gardener in the UK. Like Matt Mattus, he's another obsessive gardener sharing tons of advice, ideas and information. I grow a lot of Toadlilies (Tricyrtis sp.) and Heuchera but I've never seen them used as ground covers like this. The angle of the photo is a bit confusing because my Tricyrtis like this variety are at least two feet tall. What a thrill it would be to turn a corner and discover swaths of these plants that you could walk between.

I've planted the most floriferous area in my garden with a lot of pink, lavender and purple flowers. I wold love to add this plant, Lysimachia purpurea. It could be tucked in anywhere and would give a wonderful burst of color without overwhelming its neighbors. I've yet to find it for sale anywhere but I hopeful.

Have you got a blog, magazine or Youtube video channel that is your go-to source for ideas?

Spring meets winter

There's still snow on the ground and it's cold outside; only 19°F. (-7° C.) at noon and supposedly only feels like 9°F. But my snowdrops "in the green" from Carolyn's Shade Garden in Pennsylvania arrived in the mail just now. 

I potted them up and will plant them out next week when it's warmer. I can see snowdrops, planted in the garden in years past, poking through in the sunniest spots.

I should have some flowering blooming next week. I can't wait. That's Galanthus 'Wasp' on the left and G. 'Mrs. Macnamara' on the right. 

New plants for 2022

Yes, I am ordering online again, long before local nurseries will open. It's possible I'll discover I would have been able to buy some of these locally, but I am not going to wait and see. I've ordered very few perennials; concentrating instead on ferns and Carexes that will be happy in my mostly shady garden and some shrubs that will help me cut down on maintenance. 

Here are a few of the plants I've ordered, though I know that ordering things early doesn't always mean you will get them. Fingers crossed.

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Asplenium-scolopendrium-Furcata, a hart's tongue fern with lots of fascinating splits. I've had mixed luck with these but plan to add this to the two that have been in my garden a long time.

PLANT DELIGHTS NURSERY

I have had excellent luck with Dryopteris ferns and am always interested in adding more. Dryopteris-cambrensis, aka log fern, can supposedly deal with more heat and humidity than many ferns. It gets 30" x 3' which should be quite a sight eventually. 

PLANT DELIGHTS NURSERY

I've been successful with autumn ferns, making it sensible to try this one: Dryopteris erythrosora var. prolifica (prolific lacy autumn fern). PDN says it's drought tolerant and that the fronds emerge cinnamon red. 

PLANT DELIGHTS NURSERY

This drama queen looks too good to pass up, so I ordered three. Dryopteris wallichiana 'Jurassic Gold' hails from the Jurassic coast of England. Will it really look like this? I'll let you know. 

WHITE FLOWER FARM

I also ordered three of Dryopteris affinis crispa 'Congesta', a dwarf crisped golden-scaled male fern. I tend to have more large ferns and don't find many small ones that appeal to me. 

KEEPING IT GREEN NURSERY

I've had a lone Osmunda claytoniana, Interrupted fern, growing in the front garden for years. I decided it was time to give it some company, so I'm adding two more. It's a Wisconsin native. 

PRAIRIE NURSERY

I ordered five Carex exurbina, Ivory sedge, to put around the big tree off the deck. At 6"-1' x 1' they will be small enough that I can slip a shrublet in between, but big enough to make a statement. 

PRAIRIE NURSERY

I planted one Carex morrowii 'Silk Tassel' last summer and like it so much I'm adding five more this summer. At 1' x 2' they will make a lovely contrast on the Tea House berm with evergreen shrubs, blue Hostas and Hakonechloa grass. 

PLANT DELIGHTS NURSERY

I have been lusting for a ruby muhly grass for years and finally found one listed for Zone 5, Muhlenbergia reverchonii 'Undaunted'. Really looking forward to giving this a try.

WHITE FLOWER FARM

Before I ordered anything I determined where the plant would go. Then I made my usual id cards for each plant and noted its exact location on the back side of the card. At first I grouped the cards by the nursery where I ordered them.

Later I decided it made more sense to group them by the location where they would be planted. That way I can mentally go through what is already growing, what I'm adding and whether I need anything else.

I'm not ready!

My work table/desk is piled high with my garden notebook, garden magazines with sticky notes and dozens of Latin words scribbled on scraps of paper, written anytime I saw a plant whose name I wanted to remember for the future. It's all a big jumble that needs to be sorted out.

I figured I had until the new year to get that done. At that point I'd have a list of the things I want to order for the garden. But a list that was well-thought out and included plants that I have a place and a plan for already. No more impulse buying.

Primula 'Oriental Sunrise' from Odyssey Perennials

So I was not as happy as I might have been when Russell Stafford of Odyssy Perennials sent his 2022 catalogue on Friday Nov. 26. The very next day I got an email from Carolyn's Shade Gardens announcing that her 2022 Snowdrop Catalogue would be sent out Dec. 4. Then I got a notice that another favorite source was taking orders for 2022. In the past, I've always jumped on these websites the minute plants were available. 

An order of Snowdrops from Carolyn's Shade Garden (above) waiting for spring in my living room a few years ago.

This time I looked at the sites but did not click. In truth, I went back again to look at the plants I could not get out of my mind. Sold out! I guess I'm not alone in my plant lust.

But I really wanted a break to enjoy the holidays and get ready to think spring and gardening after January 1st. I'm glad I held off then as it's helped me remember that I need to add more low maintenance plants to the garden; that means shrubs rather than perennials. Plus I need to be looking at more natives than exotics. January in the wintry midwest is a dangerous time for online garden shopping. 

Fall bulb order

In late July, a Wisconsin garden blogging friend reminded her readers that it was time to order spring-blooming bulbs for the best choice. Having missed out on some special bulbs I wanted for the last few years, I did not take any chances this year.

I put in my order to Van Engelen on April 30th, as soon as their re-designed website went live. I ordered more Martagon lilies from Solaris Farms on June 13th. I ordered more Lilium canadensis (below) as soon as they were available, since the ones I got last year were so lovely.

I feel like I ordered a lot of bulbs — around 225 — but I am guessing I am quite restrained based on the size of my garden. But I knew that come October, my energy for planting would be waning. So I tried to be realistic. I planted most of them on October 18th, 19th and 20th, a trio of warm, sunny days that could not have been more perfect for working outside. Here are a few of the flowers I'm most excited about. 

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Lilium martagon 'Slate's Morning' from Solaris Farms. I have had great luck with Martagons and decided it was time to spring for a few  more. When I say "a few more," that's exactly what I mean. At $16.00 each, I only ordered three. I planted them in a spot in the garden where there are no other Martagons; nor many flowers except for early bloomers like snowdrops and Hellebores.  

I have a love/hate relationship with Alliums but I keep being struck by mass plantings of them, so that's what I am going to attempt. I got 10 Allium 'Summer Drummer,' a very tall variety, to mix with the next Allium below. (A garden friend who lives nearby, said she has not had good luck with this 'Summer Drummer'. We'll see how I do.)

I ordered 25 of Allium purpureum which gets 2-3' tall. These were mixed in with lavender Thalictrums and Veronicastrum.

This beauty, Allium 'Silver Spring', was planted among Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta, Geranium 'Crystal Lake' and Penstemmon 'Dark Towers.'

Fritillaria raddensa is rock hardy and long-lived according to Van Engelen. But I had no luck with it when I tried it a number of years ago. But a tall, pale yellow flower in April would be so lovely in the garden that I'm trying again. I just have to replicate the conditions of NE Iran to Turkmenistan!

Muscari are one of those "no fail" bulbs and M. comosum looks like a fun one to add to my other ones. It gets 6-12" high so it should make a visible statement almost anywhere it's planted. 

Now I just have to wait six months to see what happens!

First year sleep . .

You don't have to garden very long before you hear the old adage about plants: "First year sleep, second year creep, third year leap." When I plant something in May or June, I think that concept holds true.

But I am never sure how one counts when plants don't go into the ground until late August or September. That can be pretty dicey in my area, hoping that those late plants make enough roots to get them through the winter. 

. . .

I put in a pair of Agapanthus 'Galaxy Blue' in June 2020. The one in the slightly shadier spot came up but did not send up any flower stalks, unlike its partner. I've already moved it to a sunnier location. Though this is a variety hardy to Zone 5, I had my doubts. So I am thrilled they returned and I got flowers; great progress for year two. 

I planted Phlox paniculata 'Jeana' in mid-to-late August last year. This is a new variety that is supposedly less susceptible to mildew. It's the first time I've had Phlox in my garden in years. 

To my eye, it is a much more elegant plant than most Phlox, with its tall willowy stems and upright panicles of tiny lavender-pink flowers. I am considering this as the end of year one. So I am definitely impressed with this plant's performance.

I planted Angelica gigas last August in full bloom. It was one of my last purchases from our wonderful local nursery, The Flower Factory, before it closed for good. Since this is a re-seeding biennial, imagine my surprise when it showed up in the same location as last year and sent out flowers. 

I am absolutely enthralled with the way the flowers unfurl

I am making trips to check on what this plant is doing multiple times a day.

Every time I've gone to look at it, it's been covered with flying critters. Half of them took off when I came near the flower to take a photo.

Given that this plant can reach 6 feet tall, I am considering the fact that it is nowhere near that height proof that it is in year one. I let it go to seed last year, but did not see any progeny. I even took a photo of the leaf so I would recognize babies and not pull them, thinking they were weeds. We'll see how it goes this year.