Each Little World

What I ordered: Perennials for my 2020 garden

I fully intended to keep myself well in hand and not order too many plants during the winter months. My favorite mail order nurseries will tell you I failed miserably. I did, however, mainly order plants that I have had good luck with over the years: Epimediums, Geraniums, Hellebores, a Primrose and Toadlilies. (These photos are all from the nurseries where I purchased the plants, as most of them have  not yet arrived at my garden.)

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I bought a few Epemedium 'Pink Elf' from Klehm's Song Sparrow Nursery that were on sale last fall. I planted them in a spot that is quite dry.  The Geranium cantabrigiense 'Biokovo' that has been there for years, has never liked this location. I am hoping this Epimedium and the next two are happier with this spot. 

E. fargesii (Edelweiss Perennials)

E. 'Shadow Dancer' (Edelweiss Perennials)

Geranium phaeum 'Langthorn's Blue' (Digging Dog Nursery/Salmon Creek photo). I've rarely met a "mourning widow" Geranium I did not like and this one is a beauty.

G. phaeum 'Raven' (Digging Dog Nursery)

G. 'Azure Rush' (Bluestone Perennials). This should be a star performer on the order of G. 'Rozanne', but I prefer this softer color. 

Priumula kisoana iyobenii (Edelweiss Perennials) This Japanese primrose is the reddest of all P. kisoanas and does not spread as fast as the species. I have had wonderful luck with this species and love the color. 

I grow four different kinds of Toad Lilies: Tricyrtis formosana, T. hirta, T. latifolia and T. macrantha. I have been growing most of them for years. I was a little disconcerted last month when local gardening legend, Frank Greer, said that T. formosans is the least hardy for us. Most of the varieties I ordered are T. formosana. On the other hand, I have a gorgeous clump of T. formosa that I've been growing almost as long as I've been gardening. So I remain hopeful. 

T. 'Taipai Silk' (Digging Dog Nursery)

T. 'Empress' (Digging Dog Nursery)

T. 'Autumn Glow' (Digging Dog Nursery). I obviously ordered this one for the foliage alone. 

March weather has been giving us a taste of spring, making me very excited for all these lovely plants to arrive at my house. But that won't happen until the end of April. I'm not taking any chances on early shipping dates and having my house filled with plants that can't go outdoors because it is too cold or snowy. 

A vase on Monday: No flowers needed!

The moment I saw this vase at Anthropologie I knew it was coming home with me. Though it has held flowers on many occasions, it really looks its best just being itself. That huge red flower exploding from the teal vase needs no competition to create a floral statement. 

The red bag held a holiday treat. It was such a lovely size and color that I decided to display it rather than stashing it to hold a gift for someone else. After I added the red bag, I needed one more item to fill that empty space on the red tray.

I found the wire full of coral at the local antiques mall; buying it with the intent of using it in some kind of jewelry project. At the moment, I like the way it looks as an object in its own right. 

I pulled the vase out into daylight for a moment so you could see its true tone. Taking a photo in the red room is always a color challenge. 

IVON: Bathroom bouquets

This little bouquet in Mark's bathroom is on its second week. I removed the faded flowers but the foliage is attractive enough to stand on its own.

I went out Friday afternoon as the temperatures were falling and the wind was rising to make a few bouquets before our anticipated first frost of the season. It got quite cold Friday night but most things were still standing Saturday morning. I couldn't resist this last stem of hardy Begonia, though I believe these are seed capsules and not flowers.

I moved this vase from my bathroom to the living room mantle for better light. Plus we just redid all the artwork in that room and I thought my bouquet would work with the infusion of red art. 

Mark bought this little folk art figure last year. He's perfect for Halloween.

The last Heuchera flowers added a lighter note.

The Begonia leaves are dramatic even without the sun shining through them to highlight the red underside.

Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Gard who hosts this Monday meme to see what other gardeners have put in a vase today.

In a Vase on Monday: Snatched out of the snow!

It started snowing fairly heavily about 10 a.m. on Saturday. It let up a few hours later and what was on the trees and the ground almost completely disappeared — until it started again! I wasn't too worried about the snow since I could go out and shake it off the plants where its weight was bending them down. The real problem was the frost warning overnight.

I spent a good two hours covering anything that I was not sure could make it through this radical temperature change. The garden was a mess of plastic pails, pots, cardboard boxes and garbage bags and old sheets draped over a network of bamboo poles on all the species Peonies and my tree Peony. Since I really did not know what would survive, I cut a random group of blooms for the house. 

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Trillium erectum in a vase by Richard Jones of Studio Paran. Note the red band around the opening of container. This one has a built-in metal frog. 

Another Trillium and another Richard Jones vase.

Trillium sessile with Fritillaria ruthenica. Note the red dot on the front of the vase, which I decided meant it had to have red(ish) flowers. The Frit is quite a bit darker than it appears here. 

Helleborus 'Sympathy' and Paeonia mairei in a vase that belonged to my late mother-in-law. That red tray was just too strong a color contrast for this delicate vase, so I changed locations. When Mark saw where I'd put his mother's vase, he snapped this photo. He liked the fact that my bouquet reflected the floral theme of my collage hanging on the wall above it. 

Helleborus 'Sympathy' is my most impressive and longest-flowering variety while P. mairei is the first of my species Peonies to flower. 

To see what other gardeners have put into a vase today, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this addictive Monday meme. 

Art for lovers: 2.14.2019

This lovely couple are snuggled up at the moment, but she easily slips out of his embrace whenever she's feeling independent. 

Origamai figures by Rumi O'Brien of Madison. 

Wednesday vignette

I spent quite a bit of time in the red room over the weekend. As I was photographing a few of the design changes I'd made in there, I glanced down. I could not resist this shot of all the red details.

Pretty in pink

Back in the 1960s my paternal grandparents had an aluminum Christmas tree with a gizmo that bathed it in changing colors. All of us grandkids were struck with the shock of the new, though I never really warmed to it. But last year in December, after my tree was up and decorated, I stumbled across my equally glitzy dream tree. 

If you asked me, I never would have said I was searching for a pink tree made of twisted metallic paper (as near as I can tell). But at only about 4 feet tall, it was the right size to put on the drop leaf table in the red room. 

It is way too intrusive a color and material to be at home in any other room in the house. The red walls in this room, however, are the perfect backdrop and actually seem to tone the color down a bit. 

I store all my Christmas ornaments in two big cardboard boxes that each have three trays divided into many small sections to keep all these precious pieces of glass from rolling around and knocking into each other. One bin has all the green/blue/silver objects and the other holds red/pink/purple/gold colored decorations. So it was easy to match my ornaments to the color of my new tree. 

Among my early personal splurges is the Christopher Radko quirky, slightly creepy face on the left above. I love Radko's early ornaments which were strange and unusual compared to his much larger, later pieces that focused more on traditional Christmas motifs.

I've always gravitated to pink and red ornaments so it was no problem to decorate this tree, though I did add a few new things like the cherry red pine cone or the pink sphere with blue daisies. I can't believe how much I am enjoying this silly pink tree. And Mark loves the fact that it is not out in the living room staring him in the face!

In a vase on Monday: Early August

Our bookclub held its monthly meeting at our house yesterday morning, so I put together this trio of vases Saturday afternoon. I tend to think of my late summer garden as mostly green so I was surprised at how much color I discovered as I walked around, clippers in hand.

I designed this to be a small but colorful display for the coffee table. Thus Sunday morning, all six of us were clustered around said coffee table arrayed on the couch and assorted comfy chairs. The table gave all of us a convenient place to set our books and cups and plates of food. But a glass table top is not the best place to photograph anything, so I move the flowers to a different spot to snap this photo. 

Unknown Heuchera flowers with a leaf from Heuchera 'Lava Lamp' (left), Black Beauty lily with a leaf from Heuchera 'Gingerale' and a bud from Hemerocallis 'Little Grapette' that opening perfectly overnight and a few Astrantia flowers barely visible behind it. To see what other gardeners put in a vase today, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this marvelous Monday meme.

A post of its own

Those of you who grow all those dramatic Chinese mayapples are used to the unusual foliage and gorgeous flowers these plants are known for. Not me. I planted Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty' in 2016 and was worried that it might not return after our bad winter.

Not only did it reappear, but it's flowering as well! I really thought the plant would have to be a bit older before it started producing blooms.

These flower buds really don't give you a clue as to the size, color and all-out drama of the flowers. Despite the fact that they dangle below the leaves they are visible even if you're just glancing at the plant as you walk by — which is how I discovered it was flowering!

Even though tomorrow is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, I decided Dotty deserved her own moment in the spotlight.

Double duty decor

Since I still had my bowl of red pears and pomegranates from Christmas on display in the red room, I decided to recycle them into a Valentine's arrangement. I brought them out to the dinner table and added a runner that was bright but not meant for any holiday or season. Then I twirled a glittery vine decked in shiny hearts around the bowl. Voila!

Sometimes I've wrapped this bit of Valentine's decor around my Xmas wreath at the front door. I've had it so long that hearts keep dropping off ever time I unroll it. One of these years it will be heartless and that will be the end of my Valentine's decor.