Each Little World

IVOM: Japanese containers

A perfect Peony in a pickle jar! I put this Peony in the bamboo vase-within-a-vase that is intended to hold the water and a flower and fits inside one of my Japanese Ikebana baskets. Alas it leaked. So the flower enjoyed this temporary home until I jerry-rigged a solution.

Ikebana basket + Peony = Tea House arrangement.

Despite both doors and windows of the Tea House being open, it was cloudy enough outside to make it a bit difficult to get a good picture. 

The Peony spent the rest of its days in the living room. 

This is a contemporary interpretation on a traditional flower holder by Madison artist Richard Jones. 

The flower is Geranium phaeum 'Joan Baker', a mourning widow, which makes a substantial clump.

We bought this wall container many years ago at a Japanese emporium in Boston. Both this one and the one above are perfect for narrow end walls and corners which makes photographing them awkward. This one hangs on the wall between a hallway to another part of the house and the stairs leading down to our front door. That space has a cherry display shelf currently holding a small Japanese chest. 

The flower is Clematis 'Guernsey Cream'.

To see what other gardeners have put in a vase this morning, join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to share our creations from our gardens. Cathy is the creator of this totally enjoyable meme. 

The best of the rest

My day-late posting for GBBD was so long that I cut it in two. Here are some of the other things having their moment in the May garden. 

. . .

None of my other Brunnera varieties put on a display like B. macrophylla 'Alexander's Great'. This year it is living up to its name.

Iris cristata is just beginning to put on its show. The sun needs to come back for the blue river to start flowering. The weather forecast is rain for the next few days.

A successful experiment: Euphorbia palustris will grow in up to 2" of water. Last summer I planted this one at the edge of the upper pool and it made it through the winter and is about to bloom.

Neither of my Dicentra spectabilis 'Gold Heart' are as big as they usually are at this point in May, nor are they putting out many flowers. That leaf color still adds a big jolt of drama.

Dicentra spectabilis 'Valentine' has suddenly grown into an impressive specimen. Up until this year, I've always found it to be a disappointment. 

Viola labradorica looking lovely. 

The last flower on Glaucidium palmatum. As the petals fall and age, they turn almost blue. 

My neighbor's Pulmonaria is invading the street side bed where I have Narcissus 'Dreamlight,' a very late blooming Daffodil. Though I am not crazy about Pulmonaria's invasive tendencies, it does go well with this daff. 

Just planted this foxglove, Digitalis x 'Goldcrest', a couple of weeks ago and it has settled in nicely. Since it is a sterile hybrid, I am hoping it will grow big enough to divide. I'd love to have a group without having to buy multiple plants. 

What I learned from this week's weather

Ignore the calendar. 

I have decided that it is no longer possible to judge what the garden or weather should be doing based on past experience. From here on out I need to simply pay attention to current weather reports and hope for the best. April is always a changeable month here in southern Wisconsin. But late snows and frosts may be our new normal, given the big snow storm we had last year on April 18th.

If frost is predicted, I always cover a few plants. But with Saturday's heavy wet snow and possible frost, I covered many more things knowing the weight of the snow could break stems and flatten a lot of tender plants. It was a one-two weather punch, but everything seems to have come through OK. 

The following photos show what I mean about April being a changeable month. 

April 26, 2019

April 26, 2018: The pink Peony and Hellebore from above looked quite different last year on the same date (two photos below).

Stay calm and let the plants carry on. 

I covered a ridiculous amount of plants last Saturday working a couple of hours outdoors while it was snowing. I used 19 containers including a cardboard box to put over plants. I threw two bedsheets and four huge contractor bags over a series of 25 bamboo stakes, mostly covering my tree peony and species peonies. A few kitchen garbage-size bags went over wire cages that were in place to protect plants from the rabbits. And I piled shredded leaves on a few emerging plants.

I've decided it was worth it to cover the Peonies given the number of big heavy buds and the height of the plants. The only Peony I did not touch was still less than a foot high and has already recovered from being flattened by the snow. I covered emerging plants that were new last autumn and not totally acclimated to their new climate having come from nurseries in the Pacific Northwest. But all my native Trilliums, the Epimediums, the Hepaticas, Hellebores and Martagon lilies did not need any special care. I covered the Trilliums because I did not want them flattened by the snow, but the ones that were not covered are just about back to where they were. 

In retrospect, I'm sure that part of the reason I crazily covered so many plants is that our garden is part of a big tour this year. I did not want to start the season with the potential loss or damage to major plants. Now I have to clean up all these containers and get the mud off the bamboo stakes — once the rain stops. Somehow I always forget about all the cleanup from covering plants!

What a difference a day makes

I was out in the garden at 10 a.m yesterday as the snow fell trying to cover any plant that I consider too valuable, too new or too much a favorite to take a chance on losing it to a late spring frost. The snow was heavy enough that I went out again a couple of hours later to clear it off of the Peonies and Martagon lily foliage. 

I used plastic buckets from the big box store to cover a number of plants. This one is over a Glaucidium palmatum that was just beginning to flower. It looked lovely next to the clump of Trillium and the little species Tulip. 

The Martagon lilies are too high and wide for me to find a good cover for them. They've come through some cold spring weather when they've been up like this before, so I am hoping they can do it one more time.

Plastic garbage bags are draped over wire cages that were already in place protecting Tulips that were just beginning to bloom. I surrounded my tree Peony with bamboo stakes and then carefully slipped a big contractor's garbage bag over it. 

Paeonia japonica waiting to be covered with a sheet. 

Paeonia mairei's flowers were all open on Friday. I'm hoping a big sheet draped over the plant will let them live a few more days. It will be soooo frustrating to have waited a year to only be able to enjoy them one day. 

Erythronium 'Pagoda'.

The snow was about an inch deep at 6:30 p.m. when I took this photo. 

The sun was shining and the snow was slipping off the trees when we got up this morning not long after 6 a.m. Mark checked Weatherbug and said it appeared the overnight low only dropped down to 31 degrees. I don't know where he's set his reading, but my West High School location said 28 degrees. I'm waiting until it warms up a bit more before I go out and uncover anything. Time will tell who made it through what is hopefully our last snow and frost.  

The same but different

Location, location, location! That's the mantra of realtors but it's a concept that holds true in gardening as well. Obviously where you live in the country or the world has the major influence on your garden. But then it becomes very personal and intimate. Plants growing near each other can look or perform quite differently depending on soil, moisture, light — any number of factors.

This is Caxex siderosticha 'Lemon Zest' growing in rather dry shade under a Redbud. It is actually turning more yellow as fall advances. It typically turns a limey green in summer in this shady location.

Here is the same plant in more sun so it holds its yellow color through most of the season just starting to turn brown from cold weather and a few dry weeks. 

My newest patch of Epimedium rubrum are a bright green during the growing season and are turning a warmish red orange at the moment. 

The mother planting (below) is across the driveway from the group shown in the photo above. This group has been growing many years longer than the first group with much darker green leaves and more mahogany fall coloration. It has surprised me how different the two groups look even during the growing season. I would not have thought the amount of light they get was that much different as I am guessing that is the main reason for the variation. 

The foliage of Epimedium x youngianum 'Baby Doll Pink' has turned a lovely yellow unlike any of the other Epimediums I grow.

This group of three Epimediums, including E. 'Red Queen', are growing under a big old Arborvita tree and never color though they get plenty of flowers. 

 

Fall color lower down

If you count all the leaves on the ground, then we have lots of fall color on the lowest level.

I don't have a lot of perennials that get great fall color but there are a few that never fail to look good as cooler weather arrives. The star must be Bergenia, most likely 'Bressingham Ruby.' Its shiny leaves stand upright again at this season to make sure you don't ignore it. Plus they change from bright green to red and bronze to almost black.

Growing right next to it is Bergenia ciliata aka Himalayan Bergenia. This one has large leaves that are very fuzzy, similar to African violets. Not quite as attractive as the prior image, but enough fall color to be noteworthy.

Bergenia cordifolia 'Pink Dragonfly' has long skinny leaves that again aren't very noticeable during the growing season. But I stop to look at them now, each time I use the front stone steps as they are located in the bed right at the top. The thin green leaves are Muscari making a brief autumnal appearance.

The cooler weather has all the Huechera looking good, especially those with strongly patterned leaves. 

The same is true for the Tiarellas like this one, T. 'Crow Feather.' 

It also has brought out the markings on my Geranuium phaeum. Those dark splotches often seem to get much less obvious in hot weather. 

Surprisingly G. phaeum 'Sericourt' has sent out new leaves which are the lovely golden golden color this variety is known for, but which my plant has rarely displayed. In fact, I have moved this plant multiple times trying to get it to survive, let alone look the way it does in the catalogs.

Geranium macrorrhizum usually has a lot more red and orange leaves than anything I'm seeing this year. The lively green leaves belong to lemon balm, Melissa officinalis.

Not typically what one considers fall color, but I was thrilled to discover all these bright berries on my Ilex verticilata 'Berry Poppins.' This was just planted last year and came through our bad winter beautifully. If it looks this good its first year, I can't wait to see what it will look like once it achieves some size. 

Moisture madness

After our torrential August rains, I was hoping for a little drier autumn. Autumnal moisture is good preparation for trees, shrubs and evergreens before we head into the next season. But it seems like frequent rain is our new normal; or at least that's the case this year.

It rained Saturday night, Sunday night and most of Monday for a total of almost 3 inches in the last three days. Of course, it filled up all our stone basins (above) which is lovely for the birds and other creatures. But all this rain has filled up other containers that have always drained properly after big rains. 

One of the pair of big pots that hold large Hostas near the front entrance has gotten plugged up. What you see in the above image is standing water in the top of the pot. I use a layer of pine cones as decorative mulch in these big containers. It takes two of us to tip the pot and pour the water off.

I had hoped to leave these plants in place until the end of the month. But the fact that this pot keeps filling up every time it rains, means I need to get these Hostas out of their summer home and back into the ground before they rot. Just one more sign of a strange gardening year.  

Olbrich: Gardening in the paving

A few years ago a friend and I went to a talk on reducing maintenance in the garden. It was given by Jeff Epping who is the director of horticulture at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. That evening Jeff showed images of a garden in England where a lovely paved patio had bricks removed to allow plants to be plunked directly into the dirt rather than in containers. 

It enlivened the space but kept everything in check. Nothing could spread rampantly and it was easy to pull any seedling out between the paving stones. Examples of that very idea can be seen in two locations in the gardens surrounding the Rose Tower here at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. The planting below, adjacent to a long water feature, keeps the paving and geometry from feeling too austere.

This planting takes advantage of the reflected heat and dryness that keeps these plants happy and flowering. Note how the pavers are removed in an asymmetrical pattern. The pale pavers in the background acknowledge garden donors. In a home garden, you could adapt that idea by using patterned paver or tiles to visually break up the space. 

This type of planting pocket need not be restricted to a particular type of plant as these photos show. These openings in the pavings are also an easy way to add tropical or tender plants to the broader garden without resorting to containers. 

Wordless Wednesday

Thalictrums high and low

I love Thalictrums. There's nothing better than a plant that looks delicate but isn't. All of mine made it through our miserable winter and every other kind of crazy weather that's come along so far. This little gem is T.  kiusianum aka Kyushu meadowrue.

You can tell how small it is by comparing its leaves to the brick edging of this bed and to the mini Hostas nearby: H. 'Dorset Blue' (?) and H. 'Blue Mouse Ears'.

My queenly Thalictrums are all in the Sacred Grove where they are blooming in concert with various orange lilies. This is T. rochebrunianum 'Lavender Mist' in the background.

This is Thalictrum 'Ankum' which Digging Dog Nursery says "shows amazing vigor." I would have to agree given it is well over my head and has reached its mature size of 6 and 1/2 to 7 feet in only two years. 

It is so tall that its flowers are getting tangled with a low branch of the nearby striped maple. That could be a problem should we have any high winds. But for the moment it's glorious.