Each Little World

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. 

Solstice weekend

As a Wisconsinite I wouldn't dream of complaining about the official start to winter arriving on a sunny weekend with temperatures hitting the 50s. As a gardener, I am a little less thrilled as it is one more sign that we may be about to have our third unusual winter in a row. But when the temp is 56°F. there's nothing to do but grab the camera and document the garden.

There are leaves and honey locust pods everywhere you look. They're half frozen to the ground and are going to stay there until spring. 

If you are looking for "evergreen" plants, I am always amazed at the number of things in my garden that bounce back after being buried under snow and brutalized by cold temperatures. When we got up one morning last week, the temps were in the single digits and barely rose beyond them during the day. This is Dryopteris 'Brilliance'.

Polystichum makinoi

Arum italicum 'Ghost'

Epimedium

Helleborus

Definitely looks like it's going to be a green Christmas!

Weather report

I went out into the garden mid-afternoon on Sunday thinking I would cage a few shrubs or start to clean up the now-dormant plants. It was so slippery with all the wet leaves that I never got beyond taking these photos to document the aftermath of our two late-October snow storms. We broke a record for the snowiest October since 1917. Fluke or part of climate change is what we're all wondering, given the hundred years separating the prior record from the new one.  

Merely stepping onto the deck required caution. 

We hadn't even stacked up our chairs, folded the table and moved them to a more protected spot for winter. We both assumed we had plenty of time to deal with all of the end of season tasks. 

The paperbark maple never even began to turn color before the weather changed and it dropped its leaves. 

Still a fair coating of snow along the north side of garden by the fence; it melts quickest off of the gravel paths. 

The pond has been freezing overnight but partly thawing during the day. Given the cold temperatures for the next ten days, I think it is going to stay frozen. 

Some plants are still looking amazingly good after about nine inches of snow piled on top of them and overnight lows dipped into the 20s. Hellebores and Heuchera villosa 'Lava Lamp'.

Epimedium x youngianum 'Niveum' and Adiantum venustum.

Dryopteris affinis cristata 'The King'

Polystichum makinoi

Arum italicum 'Ghost' is the star of my cold weather garden. It's the last plant standing in November and sends up new growth as soon as the snow melts in the spring. 

A few of the Acer still have leaves clinging to them. 

One wand of Rosa  glauca is still in perfect condition. 

The last hurrah from Stewartia pseudocamellia. 

When the stipe bark maples lose their leaves, I always rake them off the garden beds. They are so large they will smother anything they land on. 

Our neighbor's sugar maple finally let go of its leaves. Impossible to see the dry stream, the stone bridge or most of the rocks in the dry stream which runs through this area. All currently buried. 

This view from inside the house shows some of the same area as the photo above. The rock-filled dry stream runs under the wooden bridge and its companion stone bridge is out of view to the left.