Each Little World

New for 2023

After last year's crazy amount of plants ordered online, I have tried to be more restrained this year. I've made a conscious attempt to think about what would work in the garden in terms of light and space and not just what interesting plant I want. Here are a few of my choices.

I have been growing Carex siderosticta variegatea for at least 25 years. It is a garden workhorse that requires little work from me. I ordered this new variety — 'Echigo-Nishiki' — from Plant Delights as it has much more white in the leaves than the straight variegated. Plus the white is described as 'frosted.' I am really looking forward to adding this to my garden. Zone 4, light shade.

(Photo by JLBG taken at Walters Gardens, MI)

Carex conica Snowline is another variegated Carex. This one is very fine textured with white edges on dark green leaves. The majority of my Carexes are solid green foliage and my shade areas need a bit of perking up which this should do. Z 5, supposedly can withstand tree roots which would be a real bonus. 

(Salmon Creek Photography via Digging Dog Nursery)

Plant Delights Nursery offered a few Lycoris for my zone that were more attractive to my eye than the typical pink Lycoris squamigera aka Naked Ladies. Though the bulbs are pricey, I ordered three Lycoris caldwellii 'Sky Over Sky'. Though this is a Z6 plant, I am hoping the fact that it dies back and can be heavily mulched will get it through our winters. 

(Photo from Missouri Botanic Garden website)

Lycoris incarnata 'Blue Pearl' looks different in every photo of it that I've found. Its blue tones should be a nice compliment to Phlox 'Jeana' and pink autumn Anemones. 

(Photo by Juniper Level Botanic Garden)

Filipendula 'Red Umbrellas' is smaller than the native variety and has this striking red veining as well. I probably don't need any more pink flowers but I am getting this for the foliage. So I am not going to worry if it never flowers. And it's Z3! 

(Photo from Digging Dog Nursery website)

In a pot on Monday

I rarely have house plants on display in the winter. Sometimes there's little ferns or pots of Cyclamen bought at Thanksgiving, but that's usually the extent of it. Last summer I did a couple of big outdoor containers with large Begonias as the centerpiece. I want to use them again this coming garden season, so I repotted them and brought them into the house in October. 

Begonia x ricinifolia is described as a large plant with large leaves and I have to agree. The newer leaves are very shiny

But it's the stems and the back side of the leaves that make this plant such a winner. It has tall wands of pale pink flowers that look delicate when contrasted with the red spikes — which are actually soft.

The red stems and backs of the foliage are the standout characteristics of Begonia 'Cotes de Castillon.'

The new foliage is a lovely bronze . . . 

that ages to dark green. I can picture this Begonia underplanted with Japanese painted ferns and Heuchera with red or purplish foliage next summer. Or maybe Geranium phaum with their purple splotched leaves and dark flowers.

I'm enjoying coming up with potential plant combinations to keep my mind off of the snow and frozen mix forecast later this week — after four days where we may hit 40°F.

Wordless Wednesday

Cleveland inspiration

Whenever we drive out east to visit my family, we always make an overnight stop in Cleveland, Ohio. We make our base at a perfect small hotel in an old mansion. It's across the street from the botanic garden and around the corner from the art museum. 

Last June we spent a day at the Cleveland Museum of Art. But I snapped these photos in the driveway and along the street at the Cleveland Botanical Garden when we strolled past it on our way to the museum. Since these plantings were not inside the garden proper, I didn't get ids.

I love these curbside plantings as they use swaths of tough plants and always give me ideas to try at home. These Alliums seedheads are the perfect counterpoint to the blossoms on the dark Ninebark behind them. I think the brown tones look even better with the Ninebark than the Alliums in bloom.

Lamb's Ears always seem to be used as an accent plant. This hot, dry driveway is the perfect situation to spread them out and let the velvet foliage contrast with the concrete.

This is a very unusual and quirky combination. The purple-leafed Redbud tree has so little trunk height that it's branches make it a ground cover plant; a rather fascinating sight. But I am not keen on the yellow Yews; I'd use a blue conifer instead.

Add a row of one plant — Alliums again — for contrast in a bed of large trees and shrubs. Then put a different plant with similar color flowers dow low at the front of the border. What an effect those two plants make in the midst of their much larger companions.

Alliums again! But the real star of this bed is Itea virginica aka sweetspire. It adds a lot of drama to the rest of the plantings; much more so than the dwarf varieties of it would do.

End of November/early December views

I am loving all the green still visible in my garden, despite snowfalls and temperatures below freezing. I am especially fond of the contrast between the green Carexes and flopped over ferns at the top of the slope and the swath of golden Hakonechloa grass at the bottom. When the Hakonechloa blows in the wind, it's perfect.

Autumn ferns (Dryopteris erythrosora 'Brilliance') are still looking good and standing up compared to many of the other ferns. You can see these in the first picture at the top left of the hill, if you click to enlarge the photo. If you don't grow Autumn ferns, it is worth pointing out that the autumn coloration is on the new growth of the fronds when they emerge in the spring, not in the autumn despite the name.

On the left of the hill in the first photo, the Carex sidersticha 'Variegate' (above the Hakonechloa) is all flattened and brown from the snow and cold. Meanwhile Carex plantaginea in other garden areas, though not on the hill, looks as spiffy as ever.  

Luzula 'Solar Flare' with a noid Hellebore. The foliage on this emerges very yellow green though it's less obvious in December. 

Moss always gets center stage when there is not so much other greenery competing for attention.

OMG! You can see the exobitant price on the name tag of this small fern — Cheilanthes lanosa 'Mighty Tidy' — out in the Moon Garden. Hairy Lip fern has made it through two winters and is slowly increasing in spread. Though only 6" high, it's ultimate width is supposedly 1'. I like it because it likes full sun in rocky, well-drained soil. Not the usual location for a fern.

Another rock garden fern; this one likes shade however. Dryopteris affines crispa — Dwarf crisped golden-scaled male fern — is a Z5 plant and should do well for me. I've been growing the full size version of this fern for more than ten years. Here's hoping this miniature version will do as well.

Polystichum setiferum 'Divisilosum' is new this year from Fancy Fronds. It has settled in nicely and still looks lovely. I am hoping this one makes it through the winter as I am pushing the zone here. I took a chance as this was nicely priced. It arrived as a good sized healthy plant well-worth the money.

A Week of Flowers: Day 6

Once upon a time this bed was full of Hostas. I removed all but two of them in 2021 as the loss of a neighboring tree put this area in too much sun. More light, coupled with hotter, drier  summers led me to fill the space with Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta and Allium 'Millennium.' The new planting looked fabulous all season and was an absolute bee magnet. 

I also put in a small plant of Geranium wallichianum  'Crystal Lake' which worked its way up and through all the Calamintha to add its small bright blooms. 

To see what other garden bloggers are sharing during this "Week of Flowers," visit the blog of our host Cathy at Words and Herbs. 

A Week of Flowers: Day 5

Oops! I am so used to posting on M-W-F that I completely forgot I was going to share my flowers every day for a week. Here are a few early summer drama queens to help me get back on track. Lilium 'Forever Susan.'

L. canadense

L. martagon 'Claude Shride"

To see what other garden bloggers are sharing during this "Week of Flowers," visit the blog of our host Cathy at Words and Herbs. 

A Week of Flowers: Day 3

Red candelabra Primroses shout across the garden to the blooms of Calycanthus raulstonii 'Hartlage Wine' which are even more intensely colored.

C. 'Hartlage Wine' was bred for large flowers. Alas, it lost its fragrance to achieve those big blooms.

To see what flowers other gardeners are featuring, visit Cathy at Words and Herbs who's hosting this meme.

A Week of Flowers: Day 2

Does spring get any better than the moment the Hellebores start to bloom? These are among my favorites for their unusual color.

H. torquata

H. 'Jade Tiger'

H. 'New York NIght'

To see what flowers other gardeners are sharing, visit Cathy at Words and Herbs who's hosting this meme.

Autumn perfection

The garden has never looked better in autumn than this year. This is the view from the spot I aways sit in our living room. Once I sit down, I've hardly been able do anything but look out the window at this glorious scene. 

Of course, the above photo is one I intended to post when Typepad started acting up. In the intervening days, that green tree turned red and now all of them have lost most of their leaves.

Gorgeous warm weather today, followed by rain and temps dropping into the 30s — if the weather forecast is to be believed.