Each Little World

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. 

Favorite foliage

The growing season may be winding down but some things are keeping the garden looking like it's still summer. The foliage on my Tree and Itoh Peonies looks good all season. Given the size of these plants that's critical. Astilbe 'Fanal' and Brunnera 'Looking Glass' complete the trio. 

A friend who visited my garden in the spring noted that she is growing the same Hosta as I am (below), though both of us were at a loss as to its name. I finally realized it is the aptly titled Hosta 'Ripple Effect.' It's growing with an unknown Heuchera in the rear and Brunnera 'Jack Frost'. I love Heucheras and have divided and moved them so many times — to say nothing of adding new varieties — that I rarely can pinpoint specific plant names any more. 

I've photographed this Rodgersia henrici and Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' dozens of times. It is one of my earliest and still favorite plantings. The Rodgersia is planted in front of a huge rock that is slowly falling forward on it. Now the roots of the Rodgersia are buried under the rock and it is fascinating to watch the stems and leaves crawl out from under it in the spring. This was the first Hakonechloa that I succeed with — on my third try.

These two plants are growing in a wide sloping gap in the big rock wall in the front garden. It's a fairly sunny spot that also stays rather wet in the winter. Both the Ajuga 'Catlin's Giant' and the 'Lady in Red' fern (Athyrium filix-femina 'Lady in Red') are doing fine and don't seem to mind the challenging conditions. 

Tell the Truth Tuesday

This is the view from the deck to the hill at the rear of the garden a number of years ago. We've always called it the "Buddha Mound" in reference to the stone grouping on it.

This is what it looks like at the current moment. Not too bad from a distance, though the afternoon sunlight is making the evergreen trees look silvery and sick. Twenty years of increasing shade has put paid to all that lovely green sod in the image above; last winter's cold killed the Bloodgood Japanese maple.

The bird is standing on the rock that is in the pond. Look closely behind him and you will see what the hill looks like in reality. This hill and its partner across the path are perfect candidates for Tell the Truth Tuesday, the meme originated on Bonney Lassie's blog. 

I decided to take a black and white photo to help me figure out what was happening on this slope and what interventions were necessary. The four areas circled in pale green are the plants that can stay (from left): green Hakonechloa grass, a European ginger patch and groups of ferns.

When you take a closer look this is what you see. This patch with wild strawberry, violets and Aguga is as good as it gets on this hill at the moment. 

There's Virginia waterleaf (lower right), a plant that would be ok in a woodland setting, more violets and a grassy looking weed. 

The most prolific ground cover on this hill is this unknown weed which has tried all summer to take over my garden. Look closely and you will see it is present in many different sized generations. 

It's easy to pull out but keeps returning. I can't denude a slope without instantly re-planting it — which is what I've started to do on the back side of this mound. 

The back side of the Buddha mound is less steep and easier to work on since it is next to an accessible path. The green circles mark new ground-covering Junipers, the orange notes a patch of moss and the pink arrow indicates a swath of assorted ferns. All of these are keepers. The purple circle is a dwarf Mugo pine that died after two miserable winters. When I dug it out, I realized it was quite root-bound which is this gardener's fault. I am admitting partial responsibility but letting the weather also claim part. 

The ferns, central dark green moss patch and some of the shrubs are all clearly visible here. I replaced the Mugo pine with a boxwood from elsewhere in the garden. 

The whole curving top of this mound is covered in the same weeds growing on the front side. I am slowly pulling them out and replacing them with assorted varieties of Carex. 

I'm planting different Carexes on the adjacent Turtle Mound which is smaller, less steep and accessible on all sides. These are planted on one foot centers and I'm hoping a few of them will fill in enough by next season that we won't be stuck staring at bare dirt for years.

This is the reality that even many visitors don't quite notice let alone you folks who are looking at garden images on your digital devices. Proof that our garden is not as perfect as I sometimes make it look in my photos. 

Just before the tour: The Tsukubai and more

As you come around the west side of our house, you are standing on the stepping stone directly in the center bottom of this image. The path splits in two with one direction continuing along the fence around the back of the Tea House to the upper pond. This path turns left at the house taking you first to the Tsukubai. 

Tsukubai is a washbasin typically placed for visitors to purify themselves by ritual cleansing before a tea ceremony. According to Wikipedia, the name  comes from the verb tsukubau meaning "to crouch" or "to bow down." Guests attending a tea ceremony would crouch and wash their hands in a tsukubai set in the tea garden before entering the Tea House. We have a bamboo dipper that you can use if you actually want to perform this ritual.

Looking back the way we just came. 

This view of the house and deck is from the foot of the stairs leading up to the Tea House behind us.

The main color in this garden — no matter the season — is shades of green. 

Looking back to the Tea House from the deck. 

Our Buddha has appeared on the blog hundreds of times in all seasons and all kinds of weather. 

The re-sodded grass square looking pristine and lovely. 

Lichen-covered stepping stones lead past the deck.

Clematis and evergreens are the main plants at this end of the house.

The stepping stones take you to the bridge over the dry stream or the gravel path up the east side of the pond.

At the east end of the curving gravel (above) path is another water feature. 

If you turn right you sweep around the curve of the Turtle Mound; the name is a reference to the placement of the stones on this low hill. 

The more steeply sloping Buddha Mound is to your right while the Turtle Mound is behind you in this image. 

The gravel path continues behind the Buddha Mound to the gate to our neighbors' garden. Though we are on our fifth neighbors in the time we've lived here, we've always had friendly relations and never regretted the gate we created to join our garden with our first neighboring friends. 

The path changes to pine needles as it goes between my two heavily planted perennial beds. This more colorful area is barely visible from the house and deck. 

Looking back the way we came. The pine is doing its annual shedding of needles. This area is almost entirely evergreens which we hope will need less maintenance than flowers. The Japanese painted ferns are all self-seeded in this damp area. I have had great luck with this fern but not because of anything I've done.

WHPS inspiration

One of the benefits of membership in the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society is the chance to tour members' garden. I visited Alice Page's westside garden last month. I saw lots to admire in her garden but nothing apropos for my garden — until I was clearing out this space where a large shrub had died. Since the location is right as you enter the back garden, it really needed attention. As I stared at the fence I suddenly remembered how I'd loved the path at Alice's garden awash in Cimicifuga and Thalictrum. I decided to use Cimicifuga racemosa 'Brunette' as the backbone of my design to get a similar frothy, ferny feel. 

I have this Cimicifuga growing all over my garden as you can see in the image below; it allowed me to divide a few of them to come up with a row of five plants of varying sizes to get this new bed started.

I added a giant Japanese painted fern 'Godzilla' (center front in the first image) which needed to be moved from its current location anyway. It strikes me as a perfect complement to the Cimicifugas. The 'Godzilla' in the garden area below is starting to mature with vertical fronds that are almost 3 feet tall. It gives you an idea of how nicely the other one will fill in the space in front of the Cimicifugas. 

I already had this little treasure from Far Reaches Farm growing nearby in a holding bed, so I just "slid" it over to add to the mix. It's a Chinese false Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum henryi) that I planted late last autumn and have kept caged to save it from the rabbits. 

This is what it will look like (below) when it gets to its mature size of 36 inches. Plus it's fragrant! It's listed as needing "shade to part shade" but I've put it in a spot that  will get some sun. All of the plants here are shade plants, but I know from experience that my best Cimicifugas and painted ferns all get some sun. 

Far Reaches Farm

I've tried to grow this Umbrella Leaf (Diphylleia cymosa) more than once with little success. I've had it in moist and dry shade but nary a flower. So I dug out both clumps and added them to the left of the painted fern in the first photo. 

Far Reaches Farm

This is also supposed to get about 3 feet tall, with white flowers and large leaves that look a bit like giant Jeffersonia or Podophyllum, which is clear to see in the image below from Far Reaches Farm website. 

These incredible blue berries that are the real reason to grow this plant. I've never managed to get any flowers on either of my Diphylleias, let alone berries. But I'm hopeful that a little more sun is the answer.

Great Plant Picks Photo

While I wait for things to grow and fill in, I am going to add some of this Tiarella 'Running Tapestry' as a ground cover to tie everything together.

This bed does not look like much at the moment but I'm hoping it will begin to make a statement by next year. I am pleased with it on two counts:

First, that I got the inspiration in a garden not far from my own;

Second, that I got all the plants by shopping my own garden. This year I've been able to refine a number of sparse areas with large divisions from elsewhere in the garden. I love being able to instantly fill in an area without having to shop anywhere but in my own garden. 

Small garden details

The Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society has a FB page for members. We typically post photos of our gardens, ask for design help or aid to id plants and weeds. We also have the ability via official group email to let everyone know when members open their gardens for an evening. We have scheduledl open garden events but these are just spontaneous moments when a gardener thinks their garden has something worth sharing. 

This was a small back garden I visited in early spring with a wood fence/gate separating the garden from the drive and garage. I liked the design that made the area private but let you look out when you were standing. 

But the best part was this little fountain on the other side of that short wall, right outside the back door to the house. Add rocks and ferns and you have a perfect garden in a very tiny space. 

When is a fern not a fern?

That's the phrase that caught my eye when I saw this charmer on the Far Reaches Farm website last year. Pteridophyllum racemosum is a Japanese plant that looks like a fern that flowers.

It made it through its first winter and bloomed! I am thrilled as it is even lovelier in person than on-line.

I planted it by this mossy grindstone thinking that the growing conditions would be right; but it turned out to be the perfect photo backdrop as well. Far Reaches is not offering this plant at the moment, so I am even more pleased that I splurged last year. 

Fern fronds unfolding

There is so much happening in the garden at the moment that it is hard to keep up with the changes from hour to hour let alone overnight. Among the best sights are the ferns making their first appearance.

Polystichum retrospaleaceum 

I planted three of these in 2017 and the following hard winter killed off one of them. But the other two look like they are settling in for the long haul

If you did not know this was how a Cinnamon fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum) looks at it emerges, you might think it was a fungal growth and pull it out of the ground. 

Dryopteris crassirhizoma is so brown and fuzzy along its stipe that it looks like its draped in fur. 

This fern's fronds at this stage are so big and flat and hairy they look like animal paws to me. 

The fernery: Vases and pots on Monday

A fernery is a specialized garden where one grows and displays ferns. My garden is filled with ferns but they are scattered hither and yon, so it doesn't really fit that definition.

For a long time I've though about making an indoor fernery where the plants would grow inside a terrarium so it is easy to keep them moist and meet any other conditions. But even if I had a terrarium I don't really have a good spot to put it. Lack of the proper location is the reason I don't do houseplants in general. But a year ago, just before Christmas 2017, I decided to buy a big Boston fern for the holidays instead of a Poinsettia. It's doing nicely a year later. It sits atop a plant/sculpture stand in front of our south-facing window wall. But a translucent curtain keeps it from getting too much light or cold air. It gets watered once a week on Sunday afternoon. 

While grocery shopping on a warmish day last month, I spied a pair of ferns too lovely to resist. The pair of them cost less than a bouquet of cut flowers and have held up quite well — once I realized how often their tiny pots needed to be watered. They should be re-potted but that means a trip to a local nursery and our wintry weather has limited my driving. So they will remain in their cramped containers a while longer.

I brought one of them out into the living room for enough light to take a photo. Otherwise they've been happily living in my bathroom where the light and moisture level seem jut right. And I can easily water them daily which is what I've discovered they need due to their tiny containers. I've been surprised to discover they are putting out new fronds which are a pleasure to watch as they grow upward and outward in fascinating twists and turns. 

A day or so before my January 19th workshop, I ran out into the garden knowing that I should be able to find a bit of greenery to bring indoors before the snowstorm that was forecast arrived. I cut a leaf from a Hellebore that is one the plant put out last spring. And a fern frond, most likely from the autumn fern, Dryopteris 'Brilliance.' 

The water in this container has evaporated and both plants are looking a little worse for wear. But it is not often that I can bring foliage from my garden indoors in January so it will have to get a lot more bedraggled than this before I am ready to be rid of it!

To see what other gardeners are able to bring indoors for a vase this week, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this much-loved and much-visited Monday meme!