Each Little World

IVOM: Spring bounty

Frost was forecast for Friday night, though it only got down to 37°F, so the garden came through in fine fettle. Saturday the low was expected to be 39°F. but Weather Bug said it was 34°F. when I checked at 5 a.m. Sunday morning. Come on; we are at Memorial Day weekend. By the end of this week we will be in the mid-80°F. when it is not yet summer. The weird weather continues.

A couple of rainy days mid-week sent me to cut flowers before the frost arrived. Aquilegia 'Black Barlow' has seeded in so many places I no long remember where it was first planted. I also grow A. 'Nora Barlow' but she always looks a little fussy compared to this member of the Barlow family.

I cut a few broken fronds of Maidenhair fern and the native Thalictrum dioucum to see how they would work as foliage in a vase. After a few days the ferns were starting to fade and curl but the Thalictrum is perfect. This is a plant that seeded in the garden and I am going to start spreading it around as it is a great filler. 

'Bowles Golden' millet, a yellow Yew, a pale Heuchera leaf and two kinds of Euphorbia fill this little teacup. 

You really can't tell the flowers are from two different Euphorbias; but the difference in the garden in color and size is striking. One is Euphorbia 'Bonfire' which is about 10" tall and the other is Euphorbia palustris which is about 3'. I was totally surprised at the similarity when I put them together. 

Peony 'Burnished Bronze' is a real drama queen compared to all the soft colors in the garden at the moment. 

She looked lovely for a few days before she decided she was done. I love watching a Peony go to seed. 

I planted these Alliums at least 20 years ago and they got shaded out. But they have started to re-appear where I don't want them: at the base of special trees where it will be dangerous to dig deep enough to find the bulbs. I cut them all for a bouquet so they can't go to seed and make the problem a bigger one. I do love their ghostly beauty along with a shadow of the big Lohan sculpture. 

I have a serious amount of planting to catch up with after a couple of weeks of too hot and too cold temps, rain and very high winds. Hoping for a few days of rational weather to get some work done in the garden. 

Early May meander in the garden

Monday's rain has the garden in fine fettle. Things are popping up, opening up and standing up tall. I keep going out almost hourly to check on the progress of my plants. Here's a sampling.

Paeonia obvata var. alba

Dicentra spectabilis 'Valentine' has taken more years than I expected for her to finally attain some stature. (I know the plant has a new name, but I am not making the effort to learn it . . .)

Epimedium 'Lilac Fairy' is a very floriferous variety that bulks up fast, so you can get a nice patch of it fairly easily.

I've been growing Iris pumila 'Cherry Garden' since about 1990; a great plant with an equally great color.

Every time I notice one of these downy yellow violets in the garden — Viola pubescens — I dig it up and move it to a spot where they are slowly filling in. Just added a yellow-flowered Trillium luteum to the mix.

I have two different Ladyslipper Orchids about to bloom. It took me years before I found the right locations for them; places where they were happy, settled in to grow and finally produce flowers. 

I find ferns unfurling endlessly fascinating. (Say that quickly three times!) This is the Cinnamon fern, Osumunda cinnamomeum.

This Cinnamon fern is only inches away from the one above and yet is at a different stage of opening. 

I have a bad habit of always taking photos that are "plant portraits" and never taking wider shots. I am making an effort this season to take wide views every week; mainly to remind me of what is there that is an ephemeral or very late to arrive.

Good news for gardeners from Great Dixter

Readers of this blog likely know that many of the elements of our garden design were influenced by Japanese gardens. Thus, for the last twenty years, I've planted many treasures from Asia. But climate change and habitat loss have all gardeners looking at their garden with new eyes.

I'm happy to be able to say that I've composted kitchen and garden debris, mulched with chopped leaves and haven't sprayed or used many chemicals over the years. I have an old Bur Oak tree and a crop of seedlings that I'm nurturing (below), along with every fern native to Wisconsin happily romping around my garden.

But I am not a native plant aficionado nor do I want to give up all the lovely non-natives I've planted over the years. That's why I was thrilled with the information that Fergus Garrett, head gardener at the famed Great Dixter estate in the UK, shared with those of us who signed up for his webinar as part of Olbrich Botanical Gardens spring lecture series, "A Gardener's Call."

The "call" refers to the idea that gardeners need to "recognize and respect all beings’ contributions to healthy garden ecosystems." If we do that, then we will be able to support all life in the garden. I totally agree with that concept which is why I sat up and took notice when Garrett showed us that ornamental horticulture does that very well. 

Photo by Andrew Montgomery/Gardens Illustrated magazine

Garrett decided that Great Dixter needed a comprehensive biodiversity audit that would then provide the knowledge that he felt was critical to managing Dixter in the best way. It wasn't really news, he noted, when the survey showed the meadows, ponds, pastures and woodlands on this old estate were extremely rich. 

Photo by Andrew Montgomery/Gardens Illustrated magazine

The big surprise — and what excited me — was the fact that the survey found the richest part of all was the ornamental garden (above). The survey clearly showed the garden, even with its fancy floral displays, supported an extraordinary amount of wildlife. Though Garrett hadn't specifically gardened with biodiversity at the forefront, it was there as a by-product.

That means I don't have to tear up my garden and start over. I can leave my non-natives in place and add more if I want. The big lesson is having as much diversity as possible. The things I've ordered online, or plan to buy locally, range from grasses to shrubs to bulbs and perennial plants; all of which means I am moving in the right direction for diversity. Add in the fact that almost half of them are native and I no longer have to feel guilty for wanting a garden that showcases non-native plants.

IVOM: Nearing the end

With the weather getting colder and windy, I decided not to wait to cut some fall foliage while it still was suitable for a vase; actually a low bowl with 3 different size metal ikebana frogs in the bottom.

This annual arrangement tends to be my last one of the growing season. I am endlessly fond of playing with an armload of foliage, thus at this stage of the game, if I cut it I use it. I wasn't  sure how long the golden Cinnamon ferns would hold up; but they were too beautiful not to use. I put this together on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

There were still plenty of lacy leaves left on the assorted Thalictrums to cut. 

I'm not sure what fern this is, but it had curled and dried in this elegant fashion in an earlier bouquet. When that arrangement was discarded, I moved the fern into this new display.

The Hakonechloa grass add a touch of lightness and brightness, but it dried up within a very short time.

The Cinnamon ferns crinkled up quickly but they paired nicely with the dried Hydrangea flowerhead. 

Cimicifugas, with their long wands of tiny pink or white blossoms, have a delicate air in flower that is quite a contrast from their dramatic purple-black seedheads.

Hosta flowers also produce unexpectedly dramatic seedheads as these green clumps demonstrate.

A week later, I added some golden Thalictrum foliage to go with the yellowing Hosta leaves and ferns. 

A few days later, I decided it was time to pull out the dying green and brown ferns and the Hakonechloa grass that looks like string draped in the bouquet.

Ten days after I put this grouping together, I added some fresh greens to perk it up.

A few stems of Oreganum l'Herenhausen' repeated the dark coloring of the Cimicifuga seedheads. 

The majority of Epimedium foliage is still green but I found these bronzed leaves on the E. 'Lilac Fairy.'

Almost all of the Hostas in the garden are visibly suffering from drought followed by cold and wind. But the foliage of Hosta 'El Nino' was in almost perfect condition. Thalictrum 'Black Stockings,' a June bloomer for me, is the only one with beautiful foliage still standing. 

I'm hoping I will find more foliage in the garden to keep refreshing this bouquet, but the next four nights our temperatures are dropping down into the 20°F., so I will just have to wait and see what happens.

Ferns still going strong

The temperature is taking a downward dive this week but the ferns are still looking lovely. Dryopteris felix-mas 'Parsley' with Hepaticas, probably H. acutiloba 'Silver Leaf'.

Dryopteris felix-mas 'Linearis polydactyla' is sometimes called fishbone fern which is an apt description of its toothy fronds. I bought my first one in 1995 and added a second in 1997. As they grow and age they often send out another crown which I remove and plant elsewhere. Using that method, I easily have a dozen of these ferns scattered around the garden. 

Dryopteris crassirhizoma, Adiantum venustum aka Himalayan maidenhair fern and a Hellebore peeking into the picture. Nothing looks so delicate as Himalayan maidenhair but no fern is tougher. If it's happy it spreads into large clumps faster than one might expect.

First fall color

The garden from the ground up is still mostly green, but a few things are starting to indicate it's October. Autumn fern just has the slightest hint of the changing season.

The three-flowered maple (Acer triflorum) is looking gorgeous . . .

but this color is nothing compared to the show it will be soon putting on.

See what I mean? Twenty-four hours later and it's almost sold red foliage.

The sugar maple had been the only tree in the garden that was shouting the news that autumn is here.

This tree was planted when our house was built in 1954 and is having serious health problems. This is the last autumn we will see this colorful exhibition as the tree will come down this winter.  

Given the fact that there is a large Oak seedling, a small Hemlock and a Witch Hazel all growing under the maple, we don't feel as bad as we otherwise might to see it go.

Foliage and more foliage

By high summer, flowers and color have been banished to the very back of my garden. I want green and serene when I look out from now on.    

Clockwise from left front: Hosta 'Spritzer,' Cornus 'Golden Shadows,' Adiantum pedatum,  Tiarella 'Running Tapestry,' Carex Divulsa, Brunnera macrophylla 'Alexander's Great,' Deinanthe caerula and Heuchera 'Autumn Haze'  

Acer tegmentosum 'White Tigress,' Athyrium hybrida 'Ghost' and Hosta 'El Nino' 

Astilbe 'Garnet,' Hosta 'Shade Fanfare,' Brunnera macrophylla 'Sea Heart,' Melica unipolar f. albida  (grassy foliage) and Paeonia veitchii (The black hole in the center is probably more  Heuchera 'Autumn Haze')

Athyrium niponicum var. 'Pictum', Hostas 'Spritzer' and 'Abiqua Drinking Gourd'

Kirengeshoma palmata, Geranium phaeum 'Samobor' and Heuchera 'Palace Purple'

Paeonia japonica, Hakonechloa macra 'All Gold,' Athyrium niponicum var. 'Pictum' and Epimedium 'Lilac Fairy'

Polystichum acrostichoides aka Christmas fern, Carex morrowi 'Ice Dance,' Hosta 'Inniswood,' Heuchera 'Green Spice,' Tiarella 'Elizabeth Oliver,' Carex caryophylla 'Beatlelmania/Mophead' and Epimediumx youngianum 'Baby Doll Pink'

The next two photographs offer close-ups of the grassy foliage in the above picture. Polystichum acrostichoides, Carex morrowi 'Ice Dance' and Heuchera 'Green Spice

Tiarella 'Elizabeth Oliver' and Carex caryophylla 'Beatlelmania/Mophead,' which is much more yellow in person

Ferns of a feather

The area along our back fence is just moist and shady enough to make it the garden bed of choice for self-seeded ferns. The gardener, however, is always trying to keep this area clear of plants in order to weed the garden from the this side and to protect the fence. This flock of ferns suggests they are in control and not the gardener.

Front garden vignettes

This lovely Lilium (probably L. mackliniae) would not show her face to me.  

Geranium wlassovianum is just starting to creep down the wall. I am curious to see if it will make to the Japanese painted fern and Allium 'Summer Beauty' that is just peeking in. The Alliums in this shady location are just starting to bloom. 

May foliage

The garden is absolutely bursting with floral fabulousness at the moment. But there are still a few foliage plants that demand to be noticed.

Late last summer I started transitioning our garden slopes from dying, weedy lawn grass to Carexes. They way they are filling in tells me I made the right decision.

Syneilesis palmata 'Kikko' has stained glass patterning when it first emerges. It doesn't last, but what a dazzling sight for a while.

Trycirtis hirta 'Lemon Twist' is one of the shorter toad lilies. It has large yellow flowers but they tend to pull the stems over with their weight. This is the moment i like it best.

I am growing Lily of the Valley in a spot where I have managed to contain it. I do usually have to cut back the edges but no dramatic escape has happened so far. I think it's worth the effort for foliage this attractive, Convallaria majalus 'Hardwick Hall'.

For the second year in a row, I've had two plants come up with solid-colored acid yellow leaves. I'd love to move them elsewhere, but I am afraid of letting a monster loose. Plus it will be impossible to dig this one out from under a rock!

I have had wonderful success (luck!) with Maidenhair ferns (Adiantum pedatum). So much so that I am using them more and more. I've decided that there's no reason not to repeat a garden success. 

Thus I've started a patch to echo the one above on the opposite side of the garden.