Each Little World

Ferns for fall

My neighbor has a swath of fiddlehead ferns that always look stunning in the spring when they emerge. But let a whiff of cold air touch them in the fall and they turn brown and crumple over in a minute. But there are an amazing number of ferns that can make it through light frosts and some that will look good as the snow melts off of them at the end of winter. Autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora), Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) and Hart's Tongue fern (Asplenium scolopendrium) are all still looking quite good. 

The group below includes Dryopteris crassirhizoma on the left and Leatherwood fern (Dryopteris marginalia) on the right.  These are both growing in dry shade under a Scot's pine.

Leatherwood in another part of the garden

This is one of the first ferns I planted in the late 1990s but I am not sure what it is: Beech fern, Broad buckler fern or perhaps NY fern. These days I try to keep better records of what I've planted where. This grows outward in such a way that I have cut chunks off of it with no harm. It is a good 3 feet tall and stunning. Nothing seems to bother it. 

Look (between those two tree trunks on the right) at the statement the above fern makes when perennials all around it are already done for the season. All of the other greens in this view are evergreen shrubs like yew and box.

Adiantum venustum with Carex 'Bowles' Golden'. So delicate looking and so tough.

The Dryopteris and Polystichum fern families have lots of different varieties and are a good place to look for ferns that can stand up to rougher weather. 

IVOM: Frost warnings

We had our first frost warning of the season Friday night. The temps got colder than I thought they would here in our urban garden. We went down to 34 degrees F. (1.11 C.), just two degrees above freezing. But I decided I was not going to take a chance that all my late bloomers would come through unscathed. I went out Friday afternoon to cut the first toad lilies (Tricyrtis) that had opened.

I divided and moved my clump of this toad lily — Tricyrtis hirta 'Lemon Twist' — in August. This variety only gets about 18 inches tall (45.72 cm.), has large yellow flowers and gray dots on the leaves. But as a result of moving it, I am not getting many flowers. I am, however, finding scorched leaves. Thus another move is probably on the list of early spring tasks. I added a few fronds of Adiantum venustum and a sprig of the last Thalictrum 'Splendide' flowers. 

The Thalictrum sprig started out in this arrangement of Tricyrtis and Cimicifuga. I have a number of clumps of Cimicifuga; all of them dark-leaved varieties as each newer and darker variety was introduced. But for this bouquet, I stripped off all the chocolate-colored leaves.   

Tricyrtis myazaki grows in quite a horizontal fashion. They are planted under a pine tree and growing out over our stream. Both conditions make them hard to get at for cutting but they always are the first group to come into flower. After I took these photos I decided I did not like that little spring of Thalictrum, so I pulled it out and added it to the yellow toad lily vase. 

As I was wandering the garden to see what was in bloom to cut for a Monday bouquet before this potential frost, I came across this stem of Epimedium 'Waterfall' foliage. 

The striking red veins on the yellow leaves seemed like the perfect partner for the drying flowers of Sedum 'Matrona.'

To see what other gardeners have gathered to put in a vase today, visit Cathy of Rambling in the Garden who hosts this Monday meme.

Not quite wordless Wednesday

One of my favorite groupings in the garden and one that looks as cool and refreshing in August as it does in the spring: Epimedium x youngianum 'Niveum,' Adiantum Venustrum and Carex elata 'Bowles Golden.'

Late summer plant splurges

I should probably never have signed up for email newsletters and alerts from from nurseries that sell online. There is nothing like getting a sale notice from Avant Gardens in Massachusetts or a list of new and restocked plants at Far Reaches Farm in the PNW. I recently pulled out the plastic to put in orders at both nurseries. Amazingly enough. Avant Gardens sent me a message that they had to postpone shipping because they were having a heat wave. But my little order has arrived now. 

I only ordered half a dozen plants, all of which I have had experience with and thus are likely to settle in and succeed in my garden. I was already growing a couple of Dryopteris x australis ferns from Plant Delights that I planted in 2016. They were $16.00 each and have proved well worth it. So I was more than thrilled to add three more from Avant Gardens at only $14.00 each and on sale for 20% off my total order. I also got a pair of mini 'Cameo' Hostas which are perfect for my circular front garden, a painted fern — 'Pearly White' — with no red markings and a slender and slow growing Ginkgo tree, 'Sky Tower.'

Avant Gardens always adds a bonus plant and imagine my delight when my prize turned out to be this beautiful Cyclamen purpurescens.

  

Avant Gardens ships their plants via UPS and I had an email giving me the date and a time window when the order would be delivered. On the delivery day I forgot all about watching for my box of treats until after dinner.  When I opened the front door I found a massive box on the bench. Even though it had started to lightly rain, I left the box right there. I carefully unpacked everything and put all the plants in the basement laundry sink where I could give them a drink if and as needed. 

Notice how well-labeled this box is. And note that the size is because I got a very large Ginkgo tree and ferns whose fronds were at least a foot tall. Everything was wrapped in unprinted newsprint, given enough room so as not to crush the neighboring plant and swathed in what we always called excelsior. 

I wondered if I could use the excelsior in my compost bin, so I emailed Katherine Tracey at the nursery. She told me that's what they do. 

So that's what I'm doing as well. I just took big handfuls of the stuff and pulled it apart as I stood over the compost bin, letting it fall in as it came apart. There were some big pieces almost like mats so I put them down on the dirt in front of the compost bin. Now I can step onto something other than mud  every time I want to empty the kitchen compost bucket.

. . .

PLANT UPDATES: All these things were put in the ground a couple of days before our ten inches of rain and came through with no problems. However, on further reading i discovered the Cyclamen likes it dry in the summer so it has already been moved to a new spot that will better meet that condition. When I went out to check on everyone I could only see one of the tiny Hostas. I knew I'd planted them right near each other and eventually I saw the fat neck of the 2nd plant. Our bunny brigade clearly was busy. I immediately caged both the tiny Hostas and the little Cyclamen. I had forgotten that the rabbits attacked all my mini Hostas when they were first planted. Now they are generally ignored.  

Tour prep

On Tuesday, The Outlaw Gardener gave blog readers a mini-tour of a few areas of his garden as he prepares to open it for visitors this weekend. On that same day I worked with a professional garden assistant in an attempt to ready my garden for a tour in mid-July. I decided I would use the upcoming tour as the impetus to find some help and to tackle a few of the jobs that I could manage but a pro could do faster and better.

So my front garden that slopes down to the street has had the daylilies, Hostas and Japanese painted ferns removed. The best Hostas — 'Guacamole, 'Janet' and 'Spritzer' — were moved to the top of the slope where they won't block our view when we exit our driveway. The ferns were replanted elsewhere and the daylilies were labeled and potted up prior to me deciding where they will go.

All of the resulting bare spaces were filled in with Geranium macrrorhizum from the path at the top of the slope. I'd just been letting them spread until the path was almost closed up, knowing that I would want them once this project got underway. It's unlikely that this area will look like anything other than what it is by tour time: A garden bed under reconstruction. By I am thrilled to have this big job almost finished. 

The Japanese painted ferns went into an area where I had planted Carex morrowii 'Silver Scepter' in a long curving swath that was nicely filling in until last winter's wicked weather wiped most of it out. I saved what managed to survive and plonked it into this ceramic bowl which I put in the empty spot where my gorgeous Saruma henryii bit the dust last winter as well. One tiny bit (left of the bowl) of the massive Saruma survived and I am letting that grow on for the moment. 

Not necessarily the perfect solution but it filled the glaring bare spot without a lot of time, thought or money expended, so I consider the result a success. But the big success of the day — at least in visual terms — was this row of shrubs that were beautifully pruned and reshaped by Mark.

A pattern language: Natural motifs

As expected Mark took lots of photos on our trips. We traveled a little over 1,400 miles and Mark took more than 1,000 pictures. As I looked through them I noticed a number of images that suggested patterns, both man-made creations and natural wonders. Here are the natural motifs that caught Mark's eye and then mine.

End of the month views

I used to publish end of the month views of specific areas of the garden as I was designing and planting them. They were an effective record of what I had done and how well it was working. I've gotten out of the habit of taking garden photos with these kind of broad views and they are really important documentation. They help me remember in the dead of winter if I need to add or subtract anything when I am making plans and ordering plants.  

Obviously I missed the end of the month, so perhaps I will start an "almost mid-month" posting. This post includes photos taken from May 22 to June 6. They are all of the Tea House garden which has had a lot of attention in the last few years. I am standing on the west edge of our deck looking at the bottom edges of the Tea House garden.

Essentially the same view as above just closer in and taken two weeks later. The empty spot at the edge of the little stone border is where one of the dwarf Ginkgoes is growing. Its branches touch the ground so I don't let anything grow under it to obscure it.

I've just moved a few feet and am standing against the back of the house with the Tsukubai in front of me. I am standing behind the ferns and Hostas on the right side of the path in the first photo. The Hellebores in this area performed very poorly, leaving a number of holes that I expected to be filled with luscious big clumps of deep green Hellebore leaves. 

The big brown area below is where our bamboo died back. We are digging that out since it takes about 3 years to completely recover. In a spot that visible we need something more reliable which is why I'm replacing it with an evergreen ground cover: Juniperus 'Blueberry Delight'. There's a non-performing Hellebore in front of the blue Hosta which will fill that space eventually.

The area in front of the mica rock and the Cornus alternifolia 'Golden Shadows' is where the ivy I brought from my grandmother's garden died. I'm going to dig this out one of these days. I'm still deciding what to put in there. Maybe a Hosta with some yellow patterning. And I'd like a few Geums at the right front and side of the rock. More thinking needed here before plants are purchased or moved.

Even though I feel like some serious attention needs to be paid to this area where the ivy died and the dwarf Solomon's Seal is encroaching, I must admit this area has come a long way from this view of the same location in May, 2015 when the dominant plants were Sweet Woodruff, the dwarf Solomon's Seal and ivy.

What I think of as the back edge of this garden is the area that runs along the fence path. But as one walks there and looks back down at the Tea House slope it is a lovely view — if I do say so myself. This photo was taken on May 25th this year.

Here's what it looks like this week. 

And here's the view from 2015.

The Lilium martagon 'Mrs. R. O. Backhouse' will be opening any day now. They are a peachy pink that echoes the color of the Tea House's stucco walls. 

I'm standing on the steps that go up to the Tea House and looking back toward our house with the dead bamboo making that nice brown spot on the right. Hostas and Hellebores should fill the other open areas if they ever recover from the winter. 

This is a view toward the Tea House across the length of the pond. This is the area where we moved the bench that used to be on the deck. Now we can sit here and enjoy a different view of the pond than the one we see from the house and the deck. 

New growth on evergreens

Despite having a lot of dieback and even losing some evergreens this spring, the ones that made it though the winter are growing gorgeously. There is nothing quite as lovely as the new growth on evergreens. This beauty is a weeping Norway spruce (Picea babies 'Pendula').

Just across the driveway from the recently planted spruce is this 'Golden Splendor' Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis 'Golden Splendor'). Got this gem from Heronswood for $6.00 in 2002 and it clearly suffered no damage from the winter. It's growth habit is quite airy and it's about 10 feet tall or so. Those are yews in front of it and just to the right of the Hemlock is a golden Dawn Redwood that is out of view. 

Virtually all of the Hemlocks came through the winter with no problems as you can see from this 'Ashfied Weeper'. This one drapes over the waterfalls between the upper and lower ponds. More yews on the right and some glorious marsh ferns (Thelypterus palustris).

I have three of these lovely dwarf Japanese Hemlocks (Tsuga diversifolia 'Loowit') planted in varying amounts of sun and shade; all happy and healthy. Theses have an irregular shape and will be about 18 inches tall x 2 feet wide in ten years. 

Calm, cool and collected

The Maidenhair fern, that is. Definitely not this gardener. I'm hot and bothered and trying to prepare myself for whatever unusual weather hits us next. 

According to the National Weather Service, temperatures in Madison hit 90 degrees F. (32.22 C.) or above on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Four straight May days have not reached the 90-degree mark since record-keeping began in 1869, according to the weather service.

Two of those four days surpassed the previous highs for the dates and one tied the record:

• Madison recorded 90 degrees on Saturday, short of the date’s record 91 degrees set in 1978
• 95 degrees on Sunday, beating the date’s record 94 degrees set in 2012
• 93 on Monday, beating the date’s record 92 degrees set in 1991
• 91 on Tuesday, tying the date’s record set in 1991

It's supposed to rain today and temps are expected to drop down closer to normal for the next ten day, which will be a relief. I know I'm not the only one experiencing weird weather but it is getting more than a bit demoralizing. 

Foliage Follow-up: 5.16.2018

Fresh foliage emerging in the spring is just as lovely as any flower and often, more so. But I am limiting myself to two plants whose leaves are perfection at this point in the season. As the weather warms and the sun gets stronger and the soil drier, neither of these will look as good as they do this week. I am savoring and sharing their moment.

Athyrium niponicum (Japanese painted fern)

Cornus alternifolia 'Golden Shadows' (Variegated dogwood 'Golden Shadows' above a carpet of dwarf Solomon's Seal)

To see what kind of foliage is catching the eye of other gardeners, visit Pam Penick at Digging who hosts this marvelous meme.