Each Little World

Cleveland inspiration

Whenever we drive out east to visit my family, we always make an overnight stop in Cleveland, Ohio. We make our base at a perfect small hotel in an old mansion. It's across the street from the botanic garden and around the corner from the art museum. 

Last June we spent a day at the Cleveland Museum of Art. But I snapped these photos in the driveway and along the street at the Cleveland Botanical Garden when we strolled past it on our way to the museum. Since these plantings were not inside the garden proper, I didn't get ids.

I love these curbside plantings as they use swaths of tough plants and always give me ideas to try at home. These Alliums seedheads are the perfect counterpoint to the blossoms on the dark Ninebark behind them. I think the brown tones look even better with the Ninebark than the Alliums in bloom.

Lamb's Ears always seem to be used as an accent plant. This hot, dry driveway is the perfect situation to spread them out and let the velvet foliage contrast with the concrete.

This is a very unusual and quirky combination. The purple-leafed Redbud tree has so little trunk height that it's branches make it a ground cover plant; a rather fascinating sight. But I am not keen on the yellow Yews; I'd use a blue conifer instead.

Add a row of one plant — Alliums again — for contrast in a bed of large trees and shrubs. Then put a different plant with similar color flowers dow low at the front of the border. What an effect those two plants make in the midst of their much larger companions.

Alliums again! But the real star of this bed is Itea virginica aka sweetspire. It adds a lot of drama to the rest of the plantings; much more so than the dwarf varieties of it would do.

A Week of Flowers: Day 6

Once upon a time this bed was full of Hostas. I removed all but two of them in 2021 as the loss of a neighboring tree put this area in too much sun. More light, coupled with hotter, drier  summers led me to fill the space with Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta and Allium 'Millennium.' The new planting looked fabulous all season and was an absolute bee magnet. 

I also put in a small plant of Geranium wallichianum  'Crystal Lake' which worked its way up and through all the Calamintha to add its small bright blooms. 

To see what other garden bloggers are sharing during this "Week of Flowers," visit the blog of our host Cathy at Words and Herbs. 

A Week of Flowers: Day 3

Red candelabra Primroses shout across the garden to the blooms of Calycanthus raulstonii 'Hartlage Wine' which are even more intensely colored.

C. 'Hartlage Wine' was bred for large flowers. Alas, it lost its fragrance to achieve those big blooms.

To see what flowers other gardeners are featuring, visit Cathy at Words and Herbs who's hosting this meme.

Late summer plant splurges

I ordered a few plants online in the middle of July when the heat was dreadful. The first week of August I went out to K&A Nursery (both locations) to get a couple of Dramm hose nozzles and came home loaded with plants. In other words, during the hottest part of the summer, I found myself with a worktable loaded with work.

I'm happy with my purchases and am getting them in the ground at a reasonable rate. The prices were great since the season is winding down. With the recent rain and temps in the lower 80°F range, I'm good to keep going. Here's a look at a little of my hauls.

This Helleborus argutifolius variegated seedling is from Dancing Oaks nursery and is listed as a Zone 6 plant. However, I've had great luck with other Zone 6 Hellebores. I don't care if this ever flowers; I bought it for the foliage. It was so reasonably priced that I think it is definitely worth taking a chance on it surviving. 

This is Athyrium 'Crested Surf', a painted fern variation. I bought this to do a version of a plant combo I saw on a recent garden tour. 

I sent for Astrantia 'Vanilla Gorilla' from Avant Gardens in 2017. It has great foliage and flowers and no problems — if you don't count rabbits. I've never seen it to buy locally until now. So I got two. Once this is planted and settles in, the pale color becomes more creamy white than yellow.

Someone posted this photo (below) on the WHPS FB page. I made a note of the names of the Clematis but not the person who shared the picture. When I discovered both varieties at K&A I was a goner. 

Clematis 'Samaritan Jo'

I've had mixed success with Ajugas but I am ready to try again with some varieties that are new to me. Ajuga 'Parrot Paradise' should be a perfect ground cover under 'Amber Jubilee' Ninebark.

I put a pair of Geranium 'Perfect Storm'' with a pair of Geranium 'Crystal Lake' near my Calamintha and Allium 'Millenium' mix at the end of the driveway.  

I also got three each of Aconitum fischeri and Digitalis 'Dalmation Peach', a Eupatorium 'Chocolate', Geranium phaeum 'Margaret Wilson' and a few shrubs. But that's another story.

Is this really August?

I've been working non-stop in the garden because the weather has been beautiful. Hot, but not enough to note the actual temperatures in my garden journal. What I am tracking is the rain. Sunday afternoon we had measurable rain for the third time in four days.

Amazingly, our rain total for August — as of yesterday — is a glorious 5.31". I can relax and be pretty confident that all the plants I am adding, moving and dividing will survive. I hate to even mention this wonderful weather knowing what so many of you are experiencing elsewhere. But, in truth, I'm looking forward to another week happily spent outdoors.

Wordless Wednesday

IVOM: Are flowers necessary?

"Are Flowers Necessary?" is the title of an upcoming garden walk at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. I've been thinking about signing up for it, but haven't decided if I really need it. My most recent bouquets suggest perhaps not. 

The leaves of Hardy Begonia (B. grandiflora) are green on the front and red on the underside. They look perfect in a vase all by themselves. They're best in the garden in a location where the foliage gets raking sunlight that emphasizes these colors. 

This is another vases by local artist Richard Jones of Studio Paran. Love that red stripe.

The table runner and tray are still in place on our table. But this time, they're the backdrop for my trio of Heath vases. 

Carex siderosticha 'Variegata' with a stem of Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow' centers the display.

Foliage from Heuchera 'Pinot Gris' and a stem of Caryopteris divaricata 'Snow Fairy'

Astrantia 'Vanilla Gorilla' leaf with a Heuchera flower stem.

There are enough flowers in the garden that I could have easily made an arrangement with them. But I've definitely enjoyed skipping the flowers to concentrate on foliage. 

Mystery behavior

Like many of you, my garden has suffered from higher than normal temperatures, starting last spring. Add sun and periods of dryness and you are left with a lot of foliage plants that are unhappy and showing it with crisp, curling, drooping and brown leaves.

But not necessarily the plants you would expect. Consider my Brunnera.

B. 'Emerald Mist' is in rather a shady spot and doesn't have all that much white or silver in the foliage and yet it looks miserable. 

B. 'Looking Glass' is quite silvery and is partly under a big Tree Peony but still unhappy.

Just a few feet away from the above plants is B. 'Dawson's White.' It is finally getting a bit of brown along some leaf edges but nothing problematic. These leaves are huge and have looked beautiful all season. 

Brunnera 'Alexandria' has had a browned leaf now and then but generally looked good. This plant gets eastern sun but is never in any deep shade. It's getting enough sun for Calamintha to flower.

All four plants are Brunnera macrophylla and in locations that I would consider moist enough and shady enough. But clearly this summer showed me that may not be the case. I don't plan to move anyone until I see what next summer is like. What I'd really like to do, is to divide B.'Dawson's White' as it is clearly a a plant that doesn't need babying. 

I've had it for a long time and had forgotten all about it until last summer. I re-discovered it then as a small fading plant in a very shady spot. I moved it to this sunnier location and was thrilled when it came up this year and put on a lot of growth. We'll see if it's big enough next year for me to try dividing it.

August abundance

In Wisconsin we wait every year for August. We've spent weeks and weeks driving past farm fields watching and calculating. And now it's here: The moment when local corn and tomatoes arrive at the farmers' markets. And not just arrive; we are awash in the food we dream about all year.

We've had corn on the cob, off the cob, as the main dish or a savory side. The same with tomatoes: grape or cherry, beefsteak, heritage, organic. We enjoy them every way and every day that we can. They are the glory of life in the Upper Midwest.

Fresh tomato sauce for pasta is a long-time favorite. Seed and chop tomatoes, add minced shallots, diced Kalamata olives, a splash of balsamic vinegar and one of olive oil. Pile on assorted herbs, but especially lots of basil. 

You can heat this melange a bit or serve it at room temperature as soon as you've finished slicing and dicing. I've put it over long spaghetti, but my favorite way is with farfalle — bow tie pasta. Grate a little fresh Parmesan cheese over it and voila! Dinner is served.

GBBD: 8.15.2022

My garden is in transition. These are all late summer blooms with fall Anemones, Cimicifuga, Tricyrtis and mums all budding up but not yet flowering. The August stars have been a few new plants among old favorites that have kept me engaged watching their progress.

I fell in love Gladiolus murielae when I saw it in a friend's garden last summer. I bought a dozen bulbs to try it out in my garden. I'm going to attempt to overwinter my bulbs and will definitely add more next spring.

My two Agapanthus 'Galaxy Blue' made it through the winter, though one is much happier than the other. The plant that is getting a bit more sun has 5 flowers while its partner only has one. But even one of these blossoms is a beauty. 

From the way the flowers emerge between a pair of leaves to the way the spent flowers twist themselves up, I've been fascinated by Belcamda chinensis 'Freckle Face.'  Plus it's a butterfly magnet.

My Phlox paniculata 'Jeana' got beaten up when I knocked this lantern over on them earlier in the season. But they've bounced back. 

'Jeana' is tall and willowy with heads comprised of small flowers compared to most Phlox varieties. 

Geranium 'Perfect Storm' is a new purchase. Initially I thought of putting it with the Phlox, but eventually planted a pair of them with a pair of Geranium 'Crystal Lake' if you can picture that. 

Astilbe chinensis 'Delft Lace' is a mid-size Astilbe that performs well for me. But it never looks, to me, like the picture that all the nurseries use in their catalogs. 

Hosta 'El Nino' is one of the rare Hostas that I let flower. 

I have big patches of Heuchera 'Brownies' all over the garden. Neither the flowers nor the foliage is showy but it is a problem-free Heuchera. Plus the flower stems are very tall making them useful for bouquets. 

Great Blue Lobelia is one of the few natives that I've planted that is doing well. I'm hoping the flowers last until the yellow and white fall flowers around them open. 

Visit May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming in a host of other gardens.