The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Tag Archives: hypericum

Tour of the garden – 10/26/17

Posted on by Posted in My garden, Ornamental grass .

Ego boost of the week

After my daughter’s recent field hockey game, my parents returned to our house with us to watch the New York Giants football game. They live in Pennsylvania and don’t get the New York CBS feed. We fortunately get the CBS feed from both New York and Philadelphia.

Irrelevant info but I gave it to you any way.

As my mom got out of the car, it was approximately 4:21 PM EST. That is when the sun illuminates so many of my ornamental grasses.

Even she, non-grass aficionado, had to comment on the Indian Grass that greets you at the end of my driveway.

I won the day.

 

Panicum ‘Northwind’

Fun fact #1 – this native grass won Perennial Plant of the Year in 2014 by the Perennial Plant Association (PPA).

Fun fact #2 – the name “Northwind” is based on Northwind Perennial Farm, where its owner, Roy Diblik, discovered the grass after collecting its seed near a railroad track in Illinois in 1982.

Fun fact #3 – the fall color is friggin underrated.

 

 

 

 

More autumn grass love

 

 

 

 

This hydrangea sucks all year

‘Lady in Red’ hydrangea has been a disappointment ever since I added it to my garden back in 2007.

Virtually no blooms and the advertised darker foliage has yet to emerge.

This is it at what I’ll sarcastically call its “peak”.

 

The view

This is what I see when I immediately look right after walking out my front door.

Ninebark ‘Diablo’ basking in the autumn sun with a gold-soaked Panicum in the background.

I like it. A lot.

 

Amsonia, yet again

Another week, another Amsonia money shot. These were planted only two years ago and they’re already making an impact. This one is Amsonia hubrictii.

 

Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’, more of a groundcover, is just starting to strut its autumn hues.

 

Boring

But I like it.

 

I see dead flowers

I added Hypericum ‘Blue Velvet’ this spring because I love the blue foliage. The yellow flowers are OK but I look at it as a foliage plant.

Call me odd, but I really dig the dark brown seed heads that have recently emerged.

 

Speaking of dying plants

The slow death of the Mountain Mint is kind of … attractive in its own way. Very seasonally appropriate may be a more accurate description.

 

 

Grass reviews

This is Molinia ‘Cordoba’. The straw-colored panicles are way impressive even if the grass itself is kind of drab. I know I can improve upon its location in the garden and will be studying it all winter. Most likely I’ll look to hide the foliage behind taller plants so only the panicles are visible.

 

This is Pennisetum ‘Burgundy Bunny’. I’ve got 5 planted along a walkway and while the foliage color is fantastic, the blooms have been sporadic and they are taking some time to get established.

More wait and see for next year.

 

Don’t judge. I think this is Calamagrostis brachythricha which I know I ordered online a year or so ago but can’t account for its location. I have high hopes for this one based on its universal love from other grass enthusiasts.

If this is a different grass, this photo will be deleted and you shall never speak of it again.

 

 

Blooms, Blooms, Blooms (And no more peony talk)

Posted on by Posted in Blooms .
Just to prove that I am not completely fixated on my peonies (that didn’t sound right), here are some other blooms in and about my garden during this fantastic time of year.
Veronica just about on its last legs but hoping the periodic deadheading will extend it a bit further: 

Physocarpus (Ninebark) ‘Diablo’ just started blooming and looks OK; I still value it mostly for the foliage:

Geranium ‘Brookside’ which I’ve been rather critical of in the past, looks good now that it is allowed to roam wild a bit:

Itea ‘Henry’s Garnet’ doesn’t blow you away in bloom, but it is reliable and performs so well in my native bed where it is consistently moist/wet:

I know I am going to enjoy Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’ for years to come as six of these were planted just last fall as tiny plugs and they already look fantastic. Not to mention they are ignored by the deer and the rabbits and survived wet feet this past winter:

Blooms nice, the rest … not so much. I am losing it for Tradescantia (Spiderwort) ‘Sweet Kate’ so they better shape up soon or they are gone:

Penstemon ‘Husker’s Red’ just about to bloom in full; give it about a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10:

First blooms on Hypericum ‘Albury Purple’:

Spirea ‘Snow Storm’ … hmmmm … takes up space … blooms are “decent” … suppresses weeds since better than bare ground … guess she can stay:

Photos only a plant geek could love

Posted on by Posted in Blooms .

I got outside early this morning before it was too hot and too sunny and snapped some photos. It seems like we advanced two months in the last two days and dag nabbit (actually looked up the spelling) I am loving it. We reached the upper 80’s today with a nice breeze so it was the perfect day to be working from home with all of the windows open.

On to the photos: 

The Weeping Cherry is in full bloom and it rocks my world.

We got tulips and what a welcome sight out on the deck this early in the year. Seriously, there may be upwards of 50 tulip pots next year now that I know I can overwinter them easily in the garage.
 

An actual bloom from a bulb planted in the ground in Fall. Dreams do come true! This is a Snowbell and survived the wet winter clay as advertised. Consider me a fan!  

Here come the Crabapple ‘Prairie Fire’ blooms and we would like to offer them a warm welcome. You may stay as long as you like.  

There may only be one bloom on the Viburnum ‘Aurora’ but I couldn’t be more excited. Big expectations have been put on this one … she has two years to deliver the goods.    

Literally overnight, this Astilbe ‘Deutschland’ emerged. It is in one of the few areas that gets afternoon shade so will hopefully continue to thrive. I love the foliage on these and would keep them even if they didn’t bloom. The only issue is that they can crisp up quickly if let to go dry so you have to stay on top of watering these.    

Emerging Hypericum ‘Albury Purple’ (St John’s Wort). Wonder if I could just eat these leaves and get the effect promised by the over the counter stuff? Anyways, great green/purple foliage, yellow flowers and berries later in the season that for me, persisted into the Fall. Need to get me some more of these.  

More Viburnum buds (Shoshoni) that will soon explode. I’ve raved about these previously so won’t bore you again. But remember … these rock the party. 

Narcissus … enjoy them while they last … and remember to always let the foliage die down naturally as long as possible to rejuvenate for next year.

I kicked it old school and did the “Worm” when I saw this today. It is Eupatorium ‘Chocolate’ and planted it late last year and I am thrilled to see the return visit. Great/awesome/fantastic/killer foliage color that is a great contrast to all the green in the garden. I just need to remember to keep the Liquid Fence nearby these … they are prone to Bambi damage.     

Spirea ‘Goldmound’. I jumped on the chartreuse foliage bandwagon two years ago and have yet to drop off. The color just pops and works so well with almost any other color. Again, I don’t even care about the pink blooms on these babies, foliage is all I need.

Admit it … this stone RULES! Look at that texture and color and just all around awesomeness. I found a bunch of these when I was digging out our front bed and what a gem (other than the physical torture of getting these out – this is one of the smallest ones).  Just adds so much to a garden bed when interspersed with plants.   

That is all for now. I plan on getting outside later today to start digging out the sod where I am extending the back bed around the deck. I am so ready for some serious manual labor even if it is only for a short period of time. Photos of the experience will be included in tomorrow’s post.

Bye