Each Little World

Potted and pleased

I have a lot of lovely pots in my garden but I rarely fill them with plants. For a few years I put a big pair on the deck on either side of our British bench. Each one held a boxwood; then I swiped that for a big blue Hosta in each. But this year, I somehow seem to have filled at least a dozen pots with plants. Some were intentional and some happenstance. Initially I fell for a number of Begonias and wanted a way to display them for the summer. 

A pair of large wood fired stoneware pots are on opposite sides of the path in the area with most of my flowering plants. Each features a Begonia and a deeply colored Geranium. 

I was thinking of these plants as annuals and did not save most tags. This one is getting more sun than it wants and is showing some leaf burn. 

I grabbed this one at a nursery recently to pop into a hole before a tour. Once the tour groups left, I moved it to the deck. 

The flowers were lovely waving in the wind. But it's the stems that are the noteworthy part of this plant.

I needed a home for my last Begonia; a silvery leaved variety. I put it in a big pot with a number of plants that were so crowded elsewhere in the garden that I pulled them out and added them to the pot. i am particularly pleased with the Begonia/Hosta color combo.

The plants that wouldn't fit got pots of their own. Note that I used native Penn Sedge as a filler/mulch throughout this big pot. 

Herbs are on the nearby steps. 

I used little pieces of tree bark as mulch. I kept finding it on the ground after windy days and decided to see how it would work in small pots.  

I often put a shrub in a pot until I find time — and the right location — to plant it. This is Thuja orientalis 'Franky Boy.'

This one has white shells and flat stones used as mulch.

I saw Gladiolus murielae in a friend's garden last summer and fell in love with the flowers. I put my two pots of bulbs up on bricks which has deterred critters from digging in them — at least so far. 

I decided my Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis 'Sugar Shack') was not happy where I planted it last year. So I put it in this big pot while I decide on its new home. I was hoping it would provide a bit of shade to the nearby plants as the Pagoda Dogwood that sheltered them died. 

I pick up the biggest pine cones and save them to use as decorative mulch in pots where they are visible. 

There are always pine cones on the paths and in the beds in my garden so I set out a pot where I can collect them when I find them. I just added a second pot for sticks and weeds. That way I don't have to keep taking debris down to my work area every time I pick something up. The pot of weedy bits may not be the most attractive container but I am thrilled with what a step-saver it is. I'm also amazed at how quickly I keep filling it up.

I'm not sure whether all these pots mean I am about to become a container gardener, but I've been having fun. They're mostly in two locations so it hasn't even been a big task keeping them watered. All the pots, except for the ones made of terracotta, are wood-fired stoneware by Mark Skudlarek of Cambridge, WI.

Opposite effects

Two orange lilies just opened across the path from each other. They could not be more different or create more opposite moods.This is an Asiatic lily, 'Forever Susan.' I personally call her 'Suddenly Susan.' When she opens, the garden is suddenly transformed. The word 'forever' makes me think of something old and delicate which 'Susan' definitely is not.

Across the path is Lilium canadense, a very delicate beauty. This one is in its first season and is not very tall. I have a small group of this lily in red, yellow and orange. Once you discover these lilies you will be hooked. 

Back soon

I've been frantically trying to cope with the weather to keep my plants alive and the garden weeded and prepped for the Garden Bloggers Fling group coming to my garden this weekend. Two days in the 90°s last week and more of the same Monday and Tuesday. I was out just after 5 am yesterday morning to weed and water while the temps were bearable. I went in by 8:30. 

Leaves on many plants are turning brown and crisp from the heat. Other plants are bursting in and out of bloom in a matter of days. Hoping my Martagon lilies last until the weekend but I have my doubts.  

I'll be back next week when the temps should be lower and I can relax and play in the garden.

Pond re-design: Getting started on the big pond

The big pond was pretty sad looking this spring, which made it easier to say goodbye. 

Once the Upper Pool was redone, Mark began by emptying the big pond. He used a diverter valve (white section) on the pond pump to send the water off to the side, instead of up to the top pool as we'd been doing for 24 years. 

The water could then be sent wherever in the garden we wanted it via this 75' long blue hose. 

Once most of the water was gone, it revealed all the oxygenator plants, potted water lilies and goop. We were able to give lilies and oxygenators to friends with water gardens. 

Once the pond was empty of water, the faithful pump was pulled. It could move 5,400 gallons of water per hour.

At this point Mark was working in waders or Wellies in the pond trying to get everything out that was revealed as the water disappeared. 

Mark pulled out all kinds of edge rocks and small stones that he wanted to reuse and made piles of them outside the pond edges. He piled muck on the top "shelf" of the pond interior so he could begin to cut out the rubber layer. The rubber and the carpet layer underneath it took a tremendous amount of time and effort to cut through and remove. 

This top of this wall ended just under the surface of the pond water, separating the main pond from the bog. The wall let water into the bog and kept the soil from washing into the pond. These two rocks were standing in the water. 

This shows the limestone wall around the pond. Some rubber has been removed and the carpet layer has been revealed. 

Now the carpet layer is gone in part of the pond and Mark is piling dried out debris in the deepest level of the pond — 3 feet below ground level. 

This is the sand layer hard-packed after being under 7,500 gallons of water for 24 years. The lowest layer is full of organic debris. The area at the bottom of the photo is the former "Pebble Beach" which was just slightly under water at the end with the round stone. 

Mark added the carpet layer when we built the pond as extra protection so tree roots would not puncture the rubber liner. It was clear that all kinds of big roots had been stopped just as he hoped. You can see some rubber still in place under the walls and big bog rocks.  

Emptying the pond was the first step of this project. It was much harder and took longer than I think Mark had hoped. But all through the summer he wore protective clothing and boots, drank lots of water and was as mindful and careful as I hoped he'd be. 

Next up: Filling it in. 

Something soothing

At this point in the growing season, I see bright colors everywhere I look: Asters, Dahlias, Zinnias, sunflowers and goldenrod. Not in my garden. With a summer that has been both hot and dry, I want a visual break; a sip of something soothing to cool everything down. The following are a few favorites that provide that experience in my garden.

Astrantia major  'Vanilla Gorilla' tends to throw out a number of solid green reversions in midsummer. As long as I cut them off, the plant quickly perks up with new variegated leaves. It is a different shade of green than every other plant I grow. 

Hedra helix 'Glacier' needs light to full shade which makes it a treasure in my shady garden. I've been growing this since 2017 and have not lost any of it to polar vortex weather. So far it has not spread more than I want it to nor have I seen any kind of flowers or seeds on it. 

I discovered a small clump of unhappy Brunnera 'Dawson's White' and moved it to a sunnier and more moist spot where it has quickly started to spring back to life

The pond re-design necessitated pulling out a big sweep of Carex siderosticha variegata. I moved it to the slope that I am reclaiming from dying grass and weeds. I love this Carex but don't see it for sale anymore. 

I am absolutely in love with the way Carex pennsylvanica flows down this slope like a waterfall.

Hope your garden is helping you to stay cool.

Wordless Wednesday

In a vase on Monday: This and that

As often as I spend time and effort putting flower arrangements together, I spend an equal amount of time creating something on the fly. These bouquets are all the result of storm damage, or damage from a careless gardener. One of my tall lilies came down during a windy night and brought a few stems of Thalictrum with it. The lily was past its prime, but the Thalictrum still had enough life left that I couldn't just compost it. 

I broke off this little Coleus stem when I was moving the big pot it's in. As I was taking it indoors, I passed Clematis 'Guernsey Cream' which has gone to seed. I love its wiry golden pods that look like jewels. They definitely added a glalm note to the Coleus. 

The seedpods were recently replaced by a broken stem of unknown Sedum. 

I picked this Sedum up at the grocery store and did not notice it was missing an id tag. It appears to be similar to the classic 'Autumn Joy' variety, but is a wonderful combination of delicate pink buds opening to pale yellow flowers. If you know the name of this variety, please put it in the comments. 

Wet and wild

Saturday night's storm dumped 1.36" of rain on us in about half an hour. The garden was absolutely gleaming the next morning.

Pennsylvania sedge (foreground) and Adiantum x tracyi growing in the moss. 

. . .

Monday, 6:30 a.m.: Just woke up to booming thunder, followed by rain. So I guess we won't be getting the last load of quartzite chips put into the pond this morning. Looks like this storm is going to be over us for a while, so I'm going to settle in with a cup of coffee and a garden book.

Garden quirks of 2021

We began the 2021 gardening season with frost right up until the end of May, followed by temperatures hitting 90°F. in early June. So plants growing like crazy and blooming ahead of schedule should come as no surprise to this gardener. But I admit that I am a bit taken aback.

. . .

The flowers on my Kirengeshoma palmata began opening yesterday, July 21st. Last year they started to bloom exactly a month later on Aug. 21st and on Aug. 14th the year before that. 

I planted Angelica gigas last year, having bought a small plant at Flower Factory's end of season/retirement sale. I let it self seed as it is a biennial. It came up this spring in the same location and nowhere else that I've noticed. It looks like it is about to bloom again this year. I am so unfamiliar with this plant that I don't know if these are flower buds or even if it typically behaves this way. 

A few of my Epimediums, like E. 'Domino', are having growth spurts and even flowering in July. This one is ten years old and suddenly has leaves floating at 24" above the ground. See that stem rising above the rock?

This one and a few others are also sending out large and oddly misshapen leaves like those round ones that are reminiscent of the foliage of native wild ginger, Asarum canadensis. When a variegated stem pops up all green, I know to cut it off. But I am unsure whether I should remove these stems with odd leaves or just ignore them. 

It's always new and different and a learning experience in the garden. 

GBBD: 7.15.2021

Some plants seem a little behind this year while others are a couple of weeks ahead of their typical bloom date. By midsummer, much of my garden is green but there are a few things in bloom like Astilbe taquetii 'Superba' with Hemerocallis 'Lady Inora'.

I am an obsessive Thalictrum lover and added two more of the tall summer bloomers this year.  

Thalictrum rochebruneanum 'Lavdender Mist' (above and the two photos below) with Vernonicastrum virginicum 'Fascination'.

T. 'Lavender Mist' has the largest flowers of all the ones I'm growing which makes them visible at a bit of a distance. 

Astrantia 'Star of Fire' and a flowering wand of an unknown Heuchera.

Ligularia stenocephala 'The Rocket' with the end of the orange-flowered Lilium canadense.

My Lilium leichtlini keep disappearing on me. I'm down to one plant from the 10 I planted in 2014.