Garden tour – 5/22/18

Posted on May 22, 2018 by jmarkowski Posted in Spring .

A lot of rain.

Not a lot of sunshine.

I’ll shut up now.

Companions

I didn’t plan this combo of Salvia ‘May Night’ and Packera aurea (Golden Ragwort) as they’ve never bloomed at the same time before. While I’m not the biggest purple and yellow fan, how can I not enjoy this color explosion?

Now this one I willingly tried to pull together. Unfortunately, the blooms of Clematis ‘Scented Clem’ are fading fast and the Baptisia isn’t there yet.

Here’s hoping these peonies bloom before the Lilac flowers are spent.

At least the lilac and the Baptisia ‘Carolina Moonlight’ are putting on a show together.

Here is my first container combo of 2018. I’m kind of proud of it. If the Sambucus ‘Lemony Lace’ really takes off, then this has the potential to look fantastic in a few weeks.

New to the Markowski collection

This is Lysimachia ‘Outback Sunset’. It will be an annual for me in zone 6B but I’m okay with that. I really like the leaf coloring as a one-season groundcover in a spot where I’ve struggled to grow anything.

Gold Leaf Tansy ‘Isla Gold’ has been added to a partially shaded location where I hope it brightens things up a bit. It can be aggressive through rhizomes so I’ll have to keep a watchful eye on it.

One of these years …

I think this is Cimicifuga ‘Brunette’ (Bugbane). For years now it has looked great in spring only to do nothing once the blooms emerge and never actually bloom. The leaves are greener than others I have in different locations but those have yet to ever grow beyond a foot in size.

I just removed a large shrub near this one and here’s hoping a little more sun will do it wonders. I know these take time to get established, but my patience is growing thin after five years.

I’ll save you

Before the deer could get to this Hydrangea ‘Little Lime’, I dug it out and put it in a container on my back deck. We’ll see if we can get this to thrive with those killer light green blooms.

This week in deer

They ate at least 6 of my Allium blooms clean off the stem. They’ve never done this before.

These are the only two I have left. Wah.

I mentioned previously that I’m all in on deer prevention and that still holds true this week. I’m going to try everything and will be diligent about it.

Two plants in particular I want to save since they’ve never reached the point of full development.

The first is Thalictrum ‘Black Stockings’. I friggin love the foliage of this perennial.

And the blooms are fantastic but I haven’t seen them since 2015 as seen in this pic below.

The other plant that needs my full attention is Filependula rubra (Queen of the Prairie). The deer and/or rabbits have nibbled it a ton this spring.

But if I could keep them away from here on out, just look at how damn sexy they are in bloom.

Ho hum

Your token Lady’s Mantle in spring photo.

We never tire of Amsonia

Amsonia hubrichtii further along in bloom than all of my other Amsonia plants.

Including Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’.

Just around the corner

Nepeta ‘Walkers Low’ (Catmint).

Astilbe ‘Amethyst’.

This week in weeds

Help. What is this? It’s everywhere this spring.

Allium ‘Blue Eddy’

I can’t get this perennial to grow beyond what you’re looking at here. But I’m anxious to see what it looks like in the right conditions.

Now to figure out those right conditions.

Grasses, transitions and a new destroyer of plants

Posted on August 25, 2016 by jmarkowski Posted in My garden, Ornamental grass, Summer .

A tour around my garden:

Ornamental grasses are the dominant feature right now as they round into their peak form. So why don’t we start there.

I’m sure you are well aware of my affinity for Panicum ‘Rotstrahlbusch’ by now but if not, here is some visible propaganda.

More Panicum love here as well.

Not only do the grasses put a smile on my face but they also serve a very tangible purpose. Here they are protecting the tomatoes from the deer and doing a bang up job I must say.

‘Karl Foerster’, kicking ass in John’s garden since ’07.

A recent addition to the grass collection, Pennisetum ‘Burgundy Bunny’ has phenomenal color right now. I am going to liberally add these wherever I can find the space for them. Love.

Soghastrum (Indian Grass) has announced its presence in a big way of late but I’ll hold off on photos until they are just right. By just right, I mean when all of the blooms have arrived. For now, here is a taste of one of those blooms. Love.

Speaking of blooms on the grasses. Here is one of the Andropogon (Big Bluestem) ‘Red October’ blooms. I now get why this grass is often referred to as Turkey Foot.

Yes, there are plants other than ornamental grasses that tickle my fancy right now and some of these newly emerged this week. Like seen here with the first blooms of Chelone lyonii. This plant truly loves my often waterlogged soil and for that I am indebted for life.

This Boltonia bloom could be heard yelling “first” this morning.

Sedum ‘Matrona’ is playing nicely with Veronica ‘Royal Candles’ and my little hide-it-from-the-deer-game is still going strong.

Transition of seasons. It is coming.

Look at what we have here. The seedheads of Baptisia are slowly opening and that makes me think winter is around the corner and that makes me cold which in turn makes me both mad and sad.

Speaking of a transitional period, I just noticed this week that the stems on the Redtwig Dogwood are well, red and that also is freaking me out a bit. I love the red stems in winter and it is welcome winter interest, but for god’s sake, not yet.

This Rhamnus (Buckthorn) ‘Fine Line’ was inundated with Japanese beetles just a few weeks ago and looked nasty. Now I know how resilient and tough she is and that will be noted on the trusty plant spreadsheet.

This spring I ordered a massive quantity of small plugs of Packer Aurea (Golden Ragwort) from Izel Native Plants and while they all initially struggled with the heat and the humidity, they have all bounced back like a champ. I love the foliage. And I’m banking on mass blooms in early spring next year and post bloom, I plan on it being the plant to hide the ugly legs of others like Bee Balm and Sneezeweed.

I cannot for the life of me successfully grow Cimicifuga (Bugbane). It is official now. I’ve tried in full shade, mostly shade, partial shade and full sun. I’ve left alone for years and remained patient with no success. I’ve kept them consistently moist and no dice. It may be time to move on.

One last one before I go. I spotted this bloom of Hydrangea ‘Little Lime’ just laying in my front lawn this morning and thought it curious since it wasn’t actually eaten by the deer.

Upon closer inspection, there were Bee Balm plants knocked to the ground near it as well.

Upon closer inspection this was not the act of deer or any other animal.

Upon closer inspection, a certain 14 year old boy seemed awfully nervous around me this morning.

Upon closer inspection, said 14 y/o boy likes to hit a baseball across the front lawn and this area happens to be right in the way.

QOTD: How should I appropriately handle this situation?

Plants I’m bullish on this year

Posted on March 25, 2016 by jmarkowski Posted in Blooms, My garden, Perennials .

Here are 9 plants I’m hoping show big improvement this spring/summer over how they performed in my garden last year. 8 are relative newcomers, 1-3 years in the ground, so time alone should aid their jump in prominence. And 1 has been around my parts forever but only last year managed to avoid the wrath of the deer herd. Here’s hoping this is a new trend.

Coneflower ‘Sunrise’: Full disclosure – I’ve moved this three times in three years. And to the shock of no one, it finally bloomed last summer after a full year in its current spot. The flowers arrived later than all of the other coneflowers (late July) but that is OK. I expect taller and fuller plants this year, assuming the itch to move them is fought off successfully.

Abelia ‘Bronze Anniversary’ – Another oft moved shrub but one where I’m happy with its current destination. I love the golden leaf color, especially in partial shade and especially in spring as the foliage emerges, but I can do without the clashing white blooms. In fact, the plan is to immediately remove the flowers for fear of ridicule from the neighbors.

Daylily ‘Little Grapette’ – This is the oldie I referenced above that always suffered at the hands of the deer in summer. For whatever reason (my intimidation factor?), they were ignored last year. While I’m not a big daylily guy, I do like how these combine with other dark leaved plants (As seen with Penstemon ‘Husker’s Red’) below.

Ninebark ‘Amber Jubilee’ – No, not an exotic dancer or My Little Pony character, but the best foliage color of any plant I own. But as you can see in the second photo below, the deer get it each winter and in effect, prune it back hard for me which ultimately compromises the size of this shrub. If I can remember to defend her better this year, the sky is the limit. Remember though, “remembering” is not a strong suit of mine.

Allium azureum – I blew it with this one. I mistook these for wild onions and yanked them out without much thought last spring. This is the only one that actually bloomed. Luckily for me I was lazy when pulling them so the bulbs remained in tact. No such error will be made this spring.

Peony ‘unknown other than it is white’ – This is as good of a lock as any. First flowers appeared last spring after two years in the ground and we all know that the peony is indestructible once established.

Baptisia ‘ Carolina Moon’ – Based on the success I’ve had with my other Baptisia plants, I’m counting on this one to fall right in line. Big, big things this year from this one. I cannot wait to photograph it and share it with you all.

Clematis – This appeared out of nowhere last year after I stuck it in the ground and completely forgot about it. There appears to be new growth this spring so I remain optimistic for a repeat showing. And this time, I’ll even use a real trellis to maximize the show.

And last but not least, the fickle …

Cimicifuga ‘Brunette’ – For three consecutive years, this perennial has looked great in spring only to fall apart when the weather really heats up and when it attempts to bloom. I’ve stayed on top of the watering and it, along with its 7 other siblings (I’m way invested at this point) get plenty of afternoon shade. The pessimist in me says, “wrong plant for you John” while the optimist says, “give it time to get established”.

Cheers to optimism.

The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Tag Archives: cimicifuga