Monthly Archives: April 2012
All of the native plant sales in my part of the country are about to kick off and you can bet your bottom dollar that I am going to hit up as many of these as humanly possible.
Each year around this time, I get out my pen and paper and do some serious Internet research to determine which native plants will be added to my always growing collection. This year will be no different and I’ll be sure to share my purchases with you.
Speaking of natives, I’d like to share the experience I’ve had to date with a native perennial purchased a few years ago … Boltonia asteroides (AKA False Aster) ‘Pink Beauty’:
I knew very little about this perennial before purchasing it other than the fact that it “tolerates wetness and clay soil”. That was all I had to hear. Actually, that is my #1 criteria when plant shopping and if the plant fits that criteria, I’m giving it a whirl.
After three years, I have to admit I’m still not totally sold on this plant and will tell you why.
But first, some nuggets of info:
- Size is typically 6′ x 3′ so it is an imposing perennial
- Survives in zones 4-9
- Prefers full sun (where I have it) and can handle partial shade but has potential to flop without full sun
- Blooms from August to September and that has been consistent for me the past 2-3 years
- The blooms (about 3/4″) have pale pink florets and a yellow center as seen up close in the photo below:
Now I have to admit, I’ve spent a good amount of time trying to confirm 100% that what I have is truly ‘Pink Beauty’ as this flower color looks more lavender/purple to me. After consulting with many other websites, I’m fairly confident I have it right, but the jury is still out.
Boltonia is one of the first perennials to emerge for me in spring and as mentioned previously, has survived with wet feet over the past two winters. While I have read that it is deer resistant, I have had it nibbled quite a bit in early spring:
But in a way that’s OK, because the “deer (rabbit) pruning” helps control the ultimate size come late summer. Two years ago, I left this plant untouched and unpruned and eventually it flopped heavily when in full bloom:
Last year, after the critters pruned for me, the ultimate size was a foot or so less but I still had some serious floppage. This year, I plan to cut it back by 1/3 to a 1/2 in mid to late June and we’ll see if that makes a bigger difference.
Even with the issue of flopping, I still love how this perennial looks as it is growing through spring and summer. It provides an airy quality that contrasts well with other perennials, grasses and shrubs. Here they are in early August (between the two grasses):
Soon after this, they start to develop flower buds:
I love this phase as the buds and few blooms add an ornamental quality without yet reaching the point of toppling over:
And even with the toppling over, from the right angles in early fall, this perennial still looks good with its neighbors:
I’ll make sure to document my more severe cutting back of my Boltonias in June and the subsequent results in late summer. Until then, I’ll rate this plant as a B-.
This guy only has room for B+ and better.
We’ll see …
John
I was up real early this morning with the dog (she never seems to grasp that she is a “dog” and can sleep as long as she wants) so we spent some significant time outside. She got the fresh air, a place to take care of business and the scents of deer/rabbits/other dogs to contend with. I got to look at my beloved plants. A win/ win … even if it was just after 6:00 AM.
As I looked around my garden beds I realized (for the 387th time) how much I enjoy this time of year. Not only are the spring bulbs, viburnums and creeping phlox still blooming, but the growth of perennial and ornamental grass foliage is in full gear. In short; everything is in constant motion.
And that rules.
And that requires a new post.
And that requires corresponding photos.
And here it is:
Quick off-topic comment – take that Mrs. Falkenheim, I rerally can start a sentence with “And”. I just did it four times and no one cares. Ha.
Onward we go:
I’m not smart enough yet, to fully understand the sun and lighting and how to take advantage of it photographically, but some times I luck into it. Like with this Northern Sea Oats:
I love the slow and gradual march of two plants growing towards each other with the end goal of creating a sweet vignette. Here we have Spirea ‘Little Elf’ and Sedum ‘Red Carpet’ doing the deed:
So many heucheras want to remain interesting all winter here in zone 6 but they rarely accomplish this feat. The ratty foliage hits in late fall and carries into spring. But once the new foliage fights through, it reminds me why I like them so much:
Yes they require constant moisture, but it is worth it when we are talking about astilbes. I love their foliage first emerging a reddish in color in early spring and when it settles in all green in late spring:
This Spirea ‘Snowmound’ did nothing for me for three years and now this spring it explodes. Surprise and intrigue is such a huge part of why gardening is so appealing:
Ornamental grasses like Miscanthus, which start to really grow as the weather warms up in spring, usually aren’t of much interest this time of year but don’t tell that to this Miscanthus ‘Variegatus’:
My recently purchased Northern Sea Oats ‘River Mist’ has found a home and I already feel the benefit of it’s variegated foliage lighting up a partially shaded spot:
And that’s all I got for you today my friends.
John
I’m considering a blog name change to “Bee Balm and Baseball” or “Catmint and Curveballs” or maybe even “Dogwoods on the Diamond”.
Baseball and gardening have sort of merged into this hybrid “past time” for me. I’m watching baseball on TV as I write this post. I find myself sneakily pruning shrubs while I’m pitching to my son. I’ll shop for seeds online while using my phone at my son’s baseball game. Hell, I even wrote a post on how baseball and gardening are very similar.
And guess what? More of the same today.
Saturday was “Opening Day” for both my son’s baseball team and my daughter’s softball team:
Not only did they have both have their games at different times and locations, but also had their team photos at different times. The dreaded team photos are not too unlike herding a bunch of hyenas on Red Bull. I pity their poor coaches.
My daughter’s game was first and it couldn’t have been more entertaining. She actually wore a helmet into the field at one point and still gets confused as to which hand the glove goes on. But damn, I’ve never seen someone who enjoys being out on the field as much as she does. And she LOVES her uniform, and posing while in it.
Here she is in her first at bat. Take notice of the fact that her eyes are completely closed before the ball even reaches the plate:
Amazingly, she made solid contact AND knew she had to run to first base. Maybe I’m underestimating her interest.
And no one could match her “ready position” out in the field (Also, I guess cutting the lawn for opening day wasn’t in the plans):
When her game ended, it was time to shift to another field for my son’s first game.
He was pitching for the first time ever and so that explains why I have no pictures of him or his team. My wife and I were an emotional mess the entire time and photography was the last thing on my mind. He had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time and we were so friggin anxious to see him succeed. And home boy did. Four strikeouts over two innings and only one run allowed. I’m already pushing thinking scholarship.
It was a long day out in the sun and we were happy to finally return home. And guess what greeted me in the driveway?:
Real shocker, huh? Yes, another delivery. I ignored the rest of the family and dove in.
There were only three plants inside but they are damn solid ones. Check out this packaging, the best I’ve ever seen:
First, we have a Tsuga canadensis ‘Moon Frost’:
Next up is Hydrangea paniculata ‘Little Lime’:
And finally, the one I am most pumped about, the Chasmanthium latifolium ‘River Mist’ (AKA variegated Northern Sea Oats):
Good times for me. Each has their future home marked out and will be planted soon.
The long awaited and desperately needed rain arrived on Saturday night and continued on throughout the day on Sunday. I managed to jump outside at the only break in the rain in the late afternoon to snap some photos of the garden.
The Viburnum ‘Shoshoni’ started to bloom this weekend and I couldn’t miss out on capturing it:
The Hawthorn ‘Winter King’ is about to bloom as well:
A few of the Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ are in full bud for the first time and I am super psyched to see the impending blooms:
Call me crazy, but I love Iris foliage and this Iris Versicolor looks as clean as a whistle:
The Pesntemon ‘Husker’s Red’ are emerging from their ratty old foliage and the world is a better place as a result:
And I never miss a chance to photograph Hypericum ‘Albury Purple’ during or after a rain:
It was a great weekend and I’m ready for more of the same for the next month or so.
Play ball!
John
It was THAT kind of box sitting on my front steps.
You know what I’m talking about. Box a little worn around the edges. Slightly damp. Well taped all around.
A box of friggin plants baby! And this one wasn’t expected. Boo ya!
I opened that box like a man possessed and was thrilled to see what was inside.
The delivery came from Skagit Gardens out of Washington and there were six different perennials inside. All new releases that I had never seen before. Good times!
Here is what I received, including a link to the plant description and photo on the Skagit Gardens site:
Campanula ‘Ringsabell Mulberry Rose’:
Coreopsis Big Bang Mercury Rising (couldn’t locate this one on the Skagit site, but did find a great photo on the Great Garden Plants site):
Lavandula angustifolia Violet Intrigue;
Phygelius CandyDrops Tangerine:
Scabiosa columbaria ‘Mariposa Violet’;
I’ll be sure to track the progress on each one of these throughout the summer and into fall. I may need to “raise” some of these in containers because of my poor draining soil but that’s OK. The fun is in the journey.
Big thanks to Skagit Gardens for sending these!
John
 |
| Narcissus (Daffodil) ‘Double Beauty’ |
 |
| Ajuga (Bugleweed) ‘Chocolate Chip’ |
 |
| Viburnum carlesii ‘Aurora’ |
 |
| Narcissus (Daffodil) ‘Kokopelli’ |
 |
| Phlox subulata (Creeping Phlox) ‘Emerald Blue’ |
 |
| Lonicera (Honeysuckle) |
 |
| Iberis (Candytuft) ‘Snowflake’ |
 |
| Narcissus (Daffodil) ‘Mt Hood’ |
 |
| Malus (Crabapple) ‘Prairie Fire’ |
 |
| Leucojum aestivum (Summer snowflake) ‘Gravetye Giant’ |
Me and my clan spent the weekend in Washington D.C. and I’m happy to say we survived the trip:
Now that the kids are 6 and 9, it is a lot more fun, not to mention a lot easier, traveling with them. They even sort of understood the appeal of visiting our nation’s capital. My son demanded certain photos that he could put in a PowerPoint presentation for school (I kid you not) and my daughter hasn’t stopped talking about the hotel pool and her “awesome” roll away bed. Good times.
My wife and I are nodding off as I write this so I’m going to proceed with as few words as possible and just show you the photos from our trip. You get it right?
We had hoped to time the trip perfectly for the cherry blossoms, but they were mostly “spent” due to the warmer than expected weather. I did manage to find one:
But most of the blossoms were enjoyed like this:
We hit the Air and Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of the American Indian. They were all fantastic but I’ll spare you the details.
Since this is technically a “gardening” blog, I’ll show you some pics of the United States Botanical Garden. We visited on our way to the U.S. Capitol Building, as seen in the photo below:
There were a ton of tulip blossoms out front:
And while it was still early in the season, there was still a lot to see:
While the blooms were small in number, there were still some to be found:
We then headed inside to the …
Dad got his plant fix so it was on to the U.S. Capitol Building:
Amazing how I always find flowers wherever I go:
Then it was the Lincoln Memorial:
And then the Arlington National Cemetary where my son was anxious to see the JFK gravesite and the eternal flame:
He just completed a project in school on JFK so he was educating us on a lot of the details.
We also made sure to visit the Tomb of the Unknowns and actually witnessed a changing of the guard. It was incredibly moving to witness and admittedly did not know that it was guarded 24/7 and 365 days each year:
I also made a point to visit the memorial to those who died in the Challenger space shuttle explosion of 1986. I remember that day well, as I was home sick from school when it happened. I believe I was watching the Price is Right when they broke the news. It still haunts me today:
To see the sheer number of headstones and how they were all perfectly aligned, representing how the soldiers operated in both life and death, was difficult to truly grasp. Some day I would love to go back for an entire day to really get to understand all of the history of this place :
Time for bed.
I love my kids, but it is time for them to go back to school so we can all get a little break from each other.
John
I’ve been a “hardcore” gardener for about twelve years now.
“Hardcore” meaning I eat, sleep and drink all things plants and dirt.
I’m not sure if I’m more amazed that it’s been that long or that it has been that short of a stretch of time. It seems like it all started a long time ago yet it has gone so damn fast. Sorry, I am consumed with time and my age of late, as the big 40 approaches. But enough about me …
… actually, more about me. What I now find fascinating about my gardening self (narcissism anyone?) is that I never took as much as one photo of any of my gardens until I started this blog a little over two years ago. What was I thinking? That is ten years of my history that can never be recovered. The world is missing out.
OK, truth is, most of those old garden photos would make me cringe in embarrassment. I still remember planting a bunch of Verbena in a perfect line, like a group of soldiers, thinking “This gardening thing isn’t as difficult as everyone makes it out to be”. If I had documented my early gardening days, I could have easily lead a class on how not to create a visually stimulating garden.
So what’s my point for today? I’m not really sure … I actually have forgotten as I type this. Oh yeah, I wanted to talk about how obsessively photographing my garden has allowed me to enjoy it in ways I never imagined.
My dopey friend had recently asked me “Seriously, haven’t you run out of photo opportunities in your garden at this point?”. I may have agreed with him before I started this blog but now I clearly realize you can never run out of photo ops. Plants are changing/evolving week by week or even day by day and that alone gives you an unlimited pool of photo options.
What I’ve also realized now, more than ever, is that when taking into account unique and different viewpoints/angles at which a garden can be photographed, the garden gains so much more “depth”. These viewpoints/angles not typically viewed by “Joe Passerby” have opened the door to so much more and keep me coming back for more.
So though we are technically still in early spring, there is no shortage of interesting and captivating plant activity. Even if I have to lay on my stomach or climb a tree to view it. Here are some recent samples:
Spring bulbs at their peak, emerging perennial foliage and evergreens fully recovered from the winter, look good as I walk up my front walkway (actually as I lay down on my front walkway):
Creeping phlox just coming into bloom and falling over a copper colored stone I dug up on my property a few years back (taken while holding on to a tree with one leg):
Color me crazy, but I love the simple contrast of vibrant green foliage and a textured stone (some how taken while lying on my side and avoiding squashing multiple plants):
Loving the temporary color contrast between the Catmint and Astilbe foliage (which will change to a deep green in a few weeks). Skillfully snapped while performing a full blown squat:
When I step out of my garage, this is what I see directly to my right (photographed with one foot in the garage while in a yoga pose). I love how the Calamagrostis ‘El Dorado’ grasses shine so early in the spring. I need more “cool season” grasses. Also love observing the foliage change from bronze to bright green/chartreuse on the Thuja ‘Rheingold’:
I’m knee deep in a blue foliage obsession right now and for whatever reason, I like this blue juniper as a backdrop to the Leucojums (snapped from deep in my garage). Also loving that the juniper is not quite hiding the propane tank behind it. Nice touch of orange, eh?:
Have a great weekend and garden your ass off!
John
