Endless Summer, Endless Bloom

A recent vacation in Cape Cod renewed my infatuation with hydrangeas. Their billowy blossoms in shades of blue, violet and pink, decorated every garden that we passed. It was truly ‘Hydrangea Heaven’ and I started thinking about adding a few more hydrangeas to my own collection.

 When I first began gardening, I loved the lush look of hydrangea blooms, but growing the plants was baffling. My sparse garden had a sickly hydrangea bush that produced one or two blossoms, and then just sat there for the rest of the season until it dropped its leaves in the fall. Some years it did not bloom at all.  Did it need fertilizer? What about water – there was “hydra” in the name after all. Were you supposed to prune those dried branches or not? It was a confusing plant, and I certainly was not eager to add any more of them to my garden.

And then about 10 years ago, I bought my first ‘Endless Summer’ Hydrangea, and everything changed. Most blue hydrangeas are the “bigleaf” or macrophylla varieties, hardy in Zones 6-9. While the plants themselves may withstand temperatures below zero, their flower buds, which form at the tips of their stems as the days get shorter and cooler in the fall, are often killed when temperatures drop to near 0°F. This is especially true in winters with a stretch of mild weather followed by a rapid plunge to zero or below. When those buds freeze during the winter, there will be no hydrangea blooms the following year.

The breakthrough in macrophylla hydrangeas came in the mid 1980s, when a bigleaf hydrangea that formed flower buds on new shoots was discovered at Bailey Nurseries in St. Paul, Minnesota. This hydrangea was propagated and its offspring went through an extensive trialing process by Bailey Nurseries and Michael Dirr at University of Georgia. It was finally patented as ‘Endless Summer’. In the first year of its introduction in 2003, Bailey Nurseries sold 1.5 million of these plants across North America!

For those of us in Zone 6, ‘Endless Summer’ guarantees flowers even after a tough winter like the one we just had. This winter, all of last year’s buds on my hydrangeas froze. But thanks to the breeding of these new “remontant” (flowering more than once in a single season) hydrangeas, this year’s buds are just starting to open and I will have ample blue flowers for the rest of the summer.

If you live in Zone 5 or colder, you should provide winter protection for all your big-leaf hydrangeas, including the ‘Endless Summers’. A 4-5” layer of leaves or mulch should be applied after the ground freezes, and removed in May.

‘Endless Summer’ hydrangeas require minimal care once established. They prefer 6 hours of sun in our Northern climate, with dappled shade in the afternoon. I fertilize mine once in the spring with a 10-30-10 fertilizer to encourage flower formation. After the first year in my garden, I only water the shrubs in times of drought. Hydrangeas will form large leaves, lots of green growth and few flower buds if over- watered. Over-watering may also slow the formation of flowers considerably. It’s normal for plants to wilt for a short time in the heat of the day. You’re better off to water well and less often, than giving a little all the time. And I prune my plants in late spring, after the leaf buds have swelled so that I do not cut off any healthy branches.

The rest of the year, I simply enjoy the bountiful blue flowers that turn to purple and green as they fade in the fall, and provide winter interest when they dry in the winter. I have 12 ‘Endless Summers’ so far, and want to try some of the other remontant varieties such as ‘Twist ‘N Shout’, ‘David Ramsey’, ‘Decatur Blue’ and ‘Penny Mac’. They are truly hydrangeas with ‘Endless Appeal’!

10 Tips for Inviting Seating Areas

Now that the heaviest gardening chores are done for the season, it's time for us gardeners to enjoy relaxing in our gardens. We all spend so much time focusing on our flower beds and shrub borders that sometimes we forget to lavish our attention on our outdoor entertaining spots. Here are ten tips for creating jazzy seating areas that invite you to linger!

Tip 1: (Above) Paint your outdoor furniture a bright color that "pops" in the garden.

Tip 2: Create a rug under your dining table with contrasting paving. This owner's orange market umbrella complements the aged brick.

Tip 3: Add mirrors to enlarge and add depth to a small space.

Tip 4: Use rustic cedar logs to create a naturalistic feel, as in this "Teddy Bears' Picnic" hideaway at Brocoli Hall in Amenia, NY.

Tip 5: Surround yourself with flowers! These adirondack-style chairs backed by a white picket fence smothered with roses invite you to relax at a Cape Cod eatery.

Tip 6: Walls and hedges make a seating area cozier, as in this walled courtyard with a boxwood hedge.

Tip 7: Decorate your outdoor living room with accessories that complement each other in style.

Tip 8: Don't have shade? Create a wire "ceiling" for climbers such as clematis that will soon be large enough to shade this dining nook.

Tip 9: Mix furniture styles for a modern flair, such as these contemporary adirondack chairs matched with a marble table.

Tip 10: Add a touch of whimsy to the garden! This succulent-topped table illuminated by twig-ball candleabras adds a playful touch to an 18th century farmhouse in western Connecticut.

Garden of Artistic Delights

One of the highlights of the gardening season for me is the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program, and yesterday’s marathon tour of nine gardens in West Roxbury and Milton, MA did not disappoint! I came home exhausted and exhilarated, my head swimming with tips from garden owners, snippets of conversations with fellow visitors, and a plethora of the new design ideas, horticultural finds and plant combinations that I had seen throughout the day.

Although all the gardens were beautiful and interesting in their own ways, there is always one garden that really captures my fancy. Yesterday it was the West Roxbury garden of Christie Dustman, a professional garden designer, and Patti Ryan, a professional furniture maker. 

Their small garden, surrounding a historic home boldly trimmed in teal and purple, was packed to the brim with artistry, unusual specimens and fantastic plant combinations. The owners’ zeal for conifers (they are members of the Conifer Society) was evident in a collection of more than fifty unusual trees and shrubs, from towering weeping cedars to miniature yews.

But it was the whimsical use of cast-off items, like basketball hoops and organ pipes, that elicited the most “oohs and ahhs”.

The garden was a complex array of vignettes created from repurposed salvage store finds and hand-built creations masterfully laid out in a small space – a delight for the artist, designer and plant collector alike! If you have a chance to see this garden next year, don’t hesitate!

I am happy to support the Garden Conservancy as a member as well as a garden visitor. The Garden Conservancy was founded in 1989 to preserve exceptional American gardens for the education and enjoyment of the public.

The Conservancy partners with gardeners, horticulturists, landscape designers, historians, preservationists, and local organizations to preserve gardens; to share magnificent spaces and gardening ideas with the public through Open Days and other educational programs; and to raise public awareness of the important role gardens play in America’s cultural and natural heritage.

Since 1995, the Open Days program has spread the garden preservation message by providing access to some of America’s finest private gardens. Each year, hundreds of garden owners from coast to coast open their magnificent spaces to more than 75,000 visitors.

Next weekend I will tour the Open Day gardens in Hartford, Conn. and the Rose Garden in Elizabeth Park. Hope to see some of you there!

A Dozen Dazzling Spring Containers

(Poppies, lettuce and pansies grace a terrace at Longwood Gardens)

I recently came across a wonderful description of "pot gardening" by landscape architect Thomas Rainer, who writes a thought-provoking gardening blog called "Grounded Design":

"Pots are perhaps the purest expression of planting design. Composing a pot is like a chef creating a salad—all of the rules of design get stripped down to their essence. In a larger landscape, the hand of the designer can be lost, but with a pot, the artificial environment is a pure display of horticultural skill."

I saw a fabulous display of this horticultural skill during my recent visit to Longwood Gardens and Chanticleer. Need inspiration for your spring pots? See the beauties below.

Spring Containers at Longwood Gardens

Pitcher plants and ferns are an unusual choice for this bowl in part-sun!

A grand display creates a focal point in a long walkway.

Small redbud trees and dark pink foxgloves add drama.

A pot of wallflowers and burgundy heuchera is simple yet stunning.

Nothing says spring like English daisies, ranunculus, pansies, willows

Spring pots at Chanticleer

a formal urn of purple, orange, chartreuse and silver welcomes visitors.

The simple repetition of deep purple-black pansies accentuates the pink and purple tulips.

A large pot of edibles and flowers in the courtyard.

Blue fescue grass sets off the white poppies in a courtyard of raked sand.

The colorful branches of red-twig dogwood 'Midwinter Fire' combine beautifully with orange poppies, bronze fennel and golden creeping jenny.

Feel inspired? I sure did!

Spring Perennials Dazzle “En Masse”!

Like most novice gardeners, I began my gardening hobby by collecting one of every new perennial that I found. I was intrigued by the countless varieties of blossom, leaf shape, size and habit that existed in the plant world, and driven by the “plant lust” that many gardeners share. Weekends were spent digging new garden beds to contain the growing collections. While I enjoyed my new acquisitions, I was never really happy about the way that my garden looked overall. The wide variety of plants looked great in my friends’ small gardens, but somehow did not work in mine.

Tiarella under a Kousa dogwood at the  Brooklyn Botanic Garden

As my garden grew to encompass my one and a half acres, I realized that mass plantings were the missing ingredient in my overall garden design. Visiting other gardens, particularly public gardens, has shown me that massing perennials has terrific impact. If you have a large garden, the plants must be arranged in significant groupings because the garden beds are viewed from a greater distance. Garden books recommend planting perennials of groups of three or more, but in a large garden, that group may be 30 or more for best effect.

Erythronium at Carolyn's Shade Gardens, Wayne, PA

Now as I tour gardens, I am obsessed with the power of mass plantings. Spring blooming perennials are really well suited for this design technique. Many of them are small plants with delicate flowers that will look lost in a large garden. See how wonderful they look en masse!

Grape hyacinths at Chanticleer outside of Philadelphia

Solomon's Seal, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Primroses, Carolyn's Shade Gardens, Wayne, PA

Bigroot geranium at Margaret Roach's garden, New York

Epimedium roseum and bleeding hearts at Chanticleer

Pulmonaria at Broccoli Hall, a private garden in Dutchess County, NY

Ferns and forget-me-nots at Broccoli Hall

Trilliums at Broccoli Hall

Primroses and vancouveria at Stonecrop Garden in New York

Lathyrus vernus: A little charmer for the spring woodland garden

Every year there is at least one new plant that I discover and just have to add to my garden. Last spring, as my friend Joan and I were sorting through photos for our spring ephemerals lecture, a photo of her Lathyrus vernus caught my eye. Joan’s recommendation of the plant just fueled my “plant lust” and I was on the lookout to add this unusual perennial to my own early spring garden.

Also called “spring vetchling,” lathyrus vernus is a non-vining perennial sweet pea – a multi-stemmed, clump forming plant with a bushy habit that grows to about 12” high. It bears showy sweet pea-like flowers, which range from a rich reddish purple to bubble-gum pink, and become violet-blue as they mature. The flowers hover above light green leaves. In bloom, lathyrus looks like a charming bouquet of sweet peas in the garden.

Lathyrus blooms for three to four weeks in April– about the same time as mid-season Narcissus and hellebores. Since it prefers light shade, it is a perfect addition to a spring woodland garden and combines beautifully with primroses, pulmonaria, and early spring bulbs.

After blooming, the flowers turn to dark seedheads, and once the seeds drop, they become coffee-colored spirals. The foliage remains on plants planted in shady, moist locations, but may die back in sunnier and drier settings. Once established, lathyrus is fairly drought tolerant. It’s a plant that does not like to be moved, so choose it’s home carefully before you take it out of the pot! Hardy to Zone 4, lathyrus is a low-maintenance perennial that plays well with others, and does not ask for any attention from the gardener.

Once I had lathyrus vernus on my radar, I knew I had to add it to my own garden. But this perennial can be hard to find. Like many other early spring beauties, lathyrus doesn’t look like much in a nursery pot, especially when not in bloom, so it is not sold in many nurseries. Last May, as I was touring gardens in the New York, I started seeing it everywhere –at Stonecrop Gardens, at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and at private gardens of the Hudson valley. And to my delight, I found an unlabeled pot of it at a delightful nursery called Rudolph Gardens in Carmel, owned by a wonderful gentleman whose love of gardening grew into a home-based business for his “golden years”.

Now that spring is finally here, I’m on the lookout for those bright pink blooms in my own woodland garden!

If you cannot visit Rudolph Gardens (www.rudolphgardens.com) this year, you can find lathyrus vernus at Arrowhead Alpines, www.arrowheadalpines.com.

There’s More to Red Than Roses: 10 Outstanding Red Flowers for the Garden

As Valentine’s Day approaches and we are surrounded by endless bouquets of monotonous red roses, I long for the beautiful red flowers that grace my garden throughout the year. Red has always been my favorite color, and I was quick to incorporate it into my garden. One of my first flower beds was a “hot colors” garden that I could see from my kitchen windows – a large kidney-shaped island of fiery red, orange, and gold perennials set against a background of my neighbor’s lush green arborvitae hedge. These sunset colors define “summer” for me, and I use the perennials in endless bouquets for my home.

As time went by, my passion for red outgrew the perennial bed, and found its way into a shrub border that complements this part of my garden. Red rhododendrons, red-leaved Japanese maples and crabapples, and the bright red berries of winterberry carry on the theme. I now have red in my garden through most of the year.

When using red in the garden, keep in mind that there are “warm” reds with a touch of yellow that combine well with oranges and yellows, and “cool” reds with a touch of blue that are better with blues and purples. Silver-leaved foliage is a perfect foil for both shades, and softens the brightness of the blooms.

Here are ten outstanding red flowers for your garden:

Tulip Darwin Hybrid ‘Red Impression’

This classic red tulip never disappoints! Unlike other tulips, the Darwin Hybrids have exceptional perennial qualities, and mine have bloomed for at least 10 years! A mid- spring bloomer, 22” high with large, bright red flowers atop sturdy stems.

Rhododendron ‘Henry’s Red’

This rhododendron has the deepest ruby-red trusses that I have ever seen. With funnel-shaped flowers that have a dark red throat, it is a stunning sight in the May garden. Henry’s Red is a Mezitt hybrid, prefers full sun to part shade and grows to about 5’ tall.

Azalea ‘Hino Crimson’

A dwarf, low growing, compact shrub with brilliant red flowers in mid May, this azalea is one of the most popular and reliable evergreen azaleas in New England. As a bonus, its foliage turns a handsome dark red in autumn.

Bleeding Heart: Dicentra spectabilis ‘Valentine’

With deep red flowers gracefully suspended along arching burgundy stems, Valentine is a sophisticated new variety of a beloved garden classic. Plants are vigorous, with plum-colored new growth and bronzy, gray-green foliage. They make a handsome show in large containers.

Daylily: Hemerocallis ‘Lusty Lealand’

Lusty Lealand sports huge (6.25”) flowers on tall sturdy stems. The deep red flowers have yellow throats and last for several weeks in July.

Bee Balm – Monarda “Cambridge Scarlet’

Bee Balm sports brilliant red frilly starburst heads atop strong upright stems. The tubular florets are very attractive to bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. A hardy plant that blooms in mid summer, 4-5’ tall.  

Begonia ‘Dragon Wing Red’

This begonia, with its angelwing-like, shiny green leaves and large drooping scarlet flowers, is my favorite annual for shady containers. It is a compact, bushy, fibrous-rooted plant, 15-18” tall, with fleshy, semi-trailing stems, and flowers that bloom until first frost. I have good success overwintering these begonias in my house.

Canna ‘The President’

 ‘The President’ Canna is known for its extremely vibrant, large red blooms, and lush, green leaves that are edged with a fine line of burgundy. Cannas add a tropical look to the garden, are perfect for containers, and prefer moist garden soil and full sun.

Cardinal Flower: Lobelia Cardinalis

This native clump-forming perennial features erect spikes (racemes) of large, cardinal red flowers on stalks rising to a height of 2-4 feet. It blooms in August to September, and its tubular flowers are very attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds. Since it grows naturally in along streams and springs, it is a perfect plant for a Rain Garden or moist location.

Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’

This classic dahlia cultivar is enjoying a resurgence of popularity, and no wonder! Its semi-double scarlet blooms are carried above foliage so dark it's almost black. Bishop of Llandaff grows to 36” in height, and blooms July-October.

Blue Star Glitters in the Winter Landscape

inter is the season when conifers really come into their own in the garden. They provide much needed structure, form, texture and color at a time when the landscape can look so bleak. One of my favorite conifers for year-round interest is the “Blue Star” juniper, a slow-growing dwarf evergreen shrub with an intense silver-blue hue.

When you mention junipers to a gardener, the name often conjures up images of a sea of boring groundcover in the mall parking lot. A self-described “plantaholic” friend of mine was recently looking for plants for a large sunny slope that she had just cleared. She needed plants that would hold the soil, tolerate sun without supplemental watering, and require minimal pampering on this steep terrain. When I suggested the Blue Star juniper, she looked at me with disbelief. What does a juniper have to offer the experienced plant collector?

Junipers are not all the same, however, and as with other plant species, there are many new cultivars available to the home gardener. I have come to love “Blue Star” juniper in my own garden because its intense blue color complements so many plants. For a striking color contrast of opposites on the color wheel, you can plant this juniper with gold threadleaf cypress or other gold colored plants.

In my own garden, I use ‘Blue Star’ in the sunny beds around my home, where a color palette of blues, silvers, purples and pinks complements my blue-gray house. Blue Star looks fabulous with deep pink azaleas and Geranium sanguineum, alongside the variegated Euonymous ‘Gaiety’ and fuzzy Lambs Ears, at the base of my bright blue ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangeas and intereplanted with Heuchera ‘Silver Scrolls’ in an area of partial shade. The key is in the plant “marriages”, and Blue Star is the perfect companion for so many perennials and shrubs!

Blue Star juniper (Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Star’) is slow-growing and has a low, mounded habit. It grows only to about 1 foot tall in five years, but will eventually mature to 2-3’ high. Its dense, awl-shaped foliage provides an interesting texture in the garden. The upper silver-blue surfaces of the leaves add brilliant color and a star-like sparkle. It is commonly called “singleseed juniper” because each bluish, berry-like, female cone contains but a single seed. Like other junipers, it is cold-hardy, thrives in full sun to part shade, and requires good drainage. Once established, this shrub tolerates droughts, and dry, shallow rocky soil. Horticulturalist and conifer collector Adrian Bloom calls Blue Star “arguably the best dwarf conifer ever raised.”

Blue Star’s dwarf size and neat appearance make it an ideal shrub for foundation plantings and small gardens. It is perfect for the front of a shrub border, in rock gardens, or showcased as a focal point plant to be admired for its color and shape. It also provides erosion control on slopes. It's a no-maintenance evergreen ground cover for sunny areas and a well-behaved companion that will not invade and overpower its neighbors. And for those of us in northern climates, Blue Star provides beautiful foliage that glitters in the winter garden.

Nine New Perennials for Your Spring 2014 Garden

January is a great time to peruse plant catalogs and choose some new perennials to bring pizzazz to the spring garden. After a long winter, I am outside every day in early spring, watching the rapid changes in the garden as the perennials start poking out of the ground. And every year I wish that I had more plants for this delightful season!

Here are ten intriguing plants to add to our Zone 5-6 gardens this year:

From White Flower Farm

(whiteflowerfarm.com)

Pulmonaria ‘Silver Bouquet’

A silver-leaved Lungwort that shines in shade, this new pulmonaria is mildew resistant with lance-shaped silver foliage and flowers that change from pink to blue.

Blooms in April-May, height 7”, full or part shade, deer resistant

Polygonatum odoratum ‘Double Stuff’

Just what you need to brighten up a shady spot! This variegated Solomon’s Seal has foliage with very broad white margins, and fragrant white blooms in early spring.

Blooms in May, height 18”, full or part shade

Helleborus Winter Thriller ‘Ballerina Ruffles’

A hellebore with fluffy 2-3” double-petaled blossoms in gorgeous shades of pink with purple speckles. This vigorous cultivar features exceptionally large, outfacing flowers and thick, sturdy stems.

Blooms in March, height 18”, full or part shade

From Bluestone Perennials

(bluestoneperennials.com)

Heuchera ‘Paprika’

Heucheras, also known as Coral Bells, retain their brightly colored leaves throughout the winter, so they are wonderful plants for the spring garden. This variety has spicy, hot paprika colored foliage with silver veining that will add bold flair to your garden. White flowers hover above the blazing leaves.

Foliage color all year, blooms in early summer, height 8”, full sun to part shade

Helleborus Winter Jewels Amethyst Gem

A hellebore with amethyst-rose double flowers margined in opal. The finely sculpted blossoms brave cooler temperatures to become one of the first gifts of spring.

Blooms in March, height 12”, full or part shade

From Plant Delights Nursery

(plantdelights.com)

Glanthus nivalis ‘Flore Pleno’

There are more than 70 varieties of snowdrops in cultivation, but only a few are sold in the US. This award-winning snowdrop has a dangling white bell composed of several floral layers, each green edged in white. A delightful addition to the early spring garden!

Bloom in early March, height 6”, sun to part shade

From Arrowhead Alpines

(arrowheadalpines.com):

Beesia deltophylla

I saw this plant for the first time on a garden tour in Boylston in July and was really impressed! Another specimen brought to the US by Dan Hinkley from Sichuan, China, this is a beautiful groundcover for the woodland garden. Glossy, heart-shaped purple-tinged evergreen leaves form dense rosettes, and are topped with spires of white flowers.

Blooms mid to late spring, height 18”, full to part shade

Lathyrus vernus

Lathyrus is a non-climbing, clump-forming perennial sweet  pea with showy pink flowers and light green leaves. A low-maintenance plant that dazzles in the shady border!

Blooms in April, height 12”, full to part shade

Primroses

Arrowhead Alpines features a stunning 57 varieties of primulas (primroses). These are not the primroses that you find in the grocery store and that rarely return year after year. Primroses are a huge, diverse genus with flowers in every color of the rainbow. Although some species prefer cool, moist conditions, there are quite a few that can take the heat and dryness of the summer. It is worth browsing through this large collection of varieties and choosing a few to try in your own garden this spring.

I hope this list inspires you to add a few new varieties to your spring garden!

October Pleasures in the Garden

October is a month filled with fall garden chores - from cutting back dying perennials, to planting bulbs and the last new acquisitions still in pots, to preparing the houseplants for their return back into the house. It's easy to get caught up in the activity and not notice all the fleeting beauty that this month offers. Beautiful blooms, rich foliage and dramatic seed heads abound. In a few weeks it will all be gone, so take some time to enjoy the warm October afternoons outdoors in your glorious fall garden!

Above: Miscanthus and bloodgood Japanese maple.

Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

Hydrangeas 'Limelight' and ' Annabelle' with miscanthus zebrinus and dogwood

'Oregold' rose

Rhododendrons 'Patriot' and 'Album' with Siberian cypress

Variegated tricyrtis

Hydrangea 'Endless Summer', faded from blue to rose and burgundy, with Juniper 'Blue Star'

'Karl Forrester' grass with gold arborvitae, viburnum 'Winterthur' and variegated sedum

Montauk daisy with sedum 'Autumn Joy'

Winterberry holly 'Shaver'

Clematis 'Comtesse de Bouchaud' scrambles through 'Aloha' rose

Chanticleer's Fabulous Fall Containers

I discovered Chanticleer Gardens last spring, and now that my daughter attends school nearby, I plan to visit this fabulous garden as often as I can. Last weekend I was once again inspired by the dozens of fabulous containers found throughout the garden. Each pot is a spectacular blend of foliage, color and texture, and most do not use flowers at all!

Many of these beautiful arrangements are made of tender tropicals - or houseplants for those of us in the Northeast. Now that I will be moving all of my houseplants back inside for the winter, I am thinking about creating a few Chanticleer-like pots to decorate the inside of my house!

A grouping of containers surrounds a cozy seating nook tucked in at the side of the house.

Pepperonia and a variegated agave are beautiful in a bronze urn.

A miniature container garden in a cement leaf.

A grand display on the mantel of a porch fireplace!

A banana tree creates a towering centerpiece in the garden!

A second outdoor fireplace is festooned with succulents.

Last but not least, a chain of small succulent pots adorns a rustic column.

Creating a Jewelbox Entry Garden

Entry gardens are a challenge to design because they need to be interesting in all seasons. But they also provide a wonderful opportunity to showcase tiny interesting specimens that would be lost in a distant landscape.

We were delighted when our friend Deborah asked for assistance in designing a new entry garden for her suburban home. In addition to new foundation plantings, Deborah needed help with a small entry garden bed that is the focal point of her front yard.

The entry bed is a highly visible triangle bordered by the driveway, the walkway to the front door, and a winding brick path that Deborah installed herself. Mounded in the center, it has good drainage and dappled sunlight for most of the day. Deborah likes Asian-inspired gardens, and wanted to incorporate her ‘Crimson Queen’ Japanese maple, creeping phlox, hostas, and an unusual collection of geodes inherited from her grandfather.

Above, Deborah’s previous garden had included mostly sun-loving perennials that bloomed briefly and then blended into a mass of green. We wanted to give her garden interest throughout the seasons with fabulous colored foliage, different textures and a variety of plant forms.

Because the garden is so highly visible at close range, we came up with the concept of creating a “jewelbox” entry garden – a collection of small specimen plants with intricate details that delight the eye upon close inspection.

We decided to incorporate plants that would evoke an Asian garden. We chose a color scheme of yellows and maroons to complement Deborah’s house colors. And we came up with the concept of a large tufa trough that would serve as a focal point for the bed and unite several groupings of geologic specimens.

Hypertufa troughs look like stone, but are actually made of peat moss, perlite and Portland cement, so they are much lighter than they appear. Ours is filled with hens and chicks, mini hostas and a miniature carex.

Small objects in a garden, like these geodes, are more effective when grouped.

Although newly planted, the new garden already has interest from the variety of forms.

Our plant palette consists of spiky plants such as daylilies, dwarf iris, and blue fescue; low creeping plants such as sedum ‘Angelina’, creeping wooly thyme and Irish moss; large-leaved plants such as hostas and coral bells; and feathery plants such as Japanese painted fern and miniature conifers. As the plants mature, they will create a complex tapestry of colors and shapes.

Shades of maroon from the Japanese maple, red fountain grass, heuchera ‘Stormy Seas’ and the winter color of bergenia complement the home's brick façade and maroon shutters and doors.

Glimmers of gold from hosta ‘Great Expectations’, hanoke ‘All Gold’, heucherella ‘Sunspot’, yellow dwarf iris, and ‘Happy Returns’ daylilies echo the creamy yellow siding.

Four season interest will begin with miniature conifers and hellebores in winter; snowdrops, mini daffodils, creeping phlox, epimediums and bergenia in spring; alliums, irises, Astilbe ‘Key West’ and daylilies in summer; and hanoke grass, blue fescue, black mondo grass and ground-hugging sedums in fall.

Unusual miniatures include alpine lady’s mantle, carex ‘Beatlemania, and mini hostas ‘Stilleto’. 'Kii Hime', 'GinkoCraig', ‘Lakeside Cha Cha Downsized’ and 'Lakeside Baby Face'.

​The jewelbox garden is grounded by a simple foundation planting of ‘Green Lustre’ hollies, hydrangea ‘Quickfire’ astilbes and epimediums, along with a hosta hedge that was already on the property.

Shady Partners

Garden tours provide a wonderful opportunity to view private gardens, discover new plants, and meet the garden owners that have created these beautiful retreats. Sometimes the most interesting gardens are the smallest, such as this Sterling garden that I toured on the Garden Conservancy's Worcester, MA Open Day in late July.

The owner, who had served as a docent at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, had accumulated an intriguing collection of plants for her mostly shaded garden. My friend Julie and I were stumped by some of these rare beauties, and had to research them once we got home and add them to our own wish lists.

The real success of the plantings came from her artistic eye, as she grouped these shade plants for wonderful effect. Here are a few glimpses of her shady paradise:

A show-stopping mass planting of hakone grass (Hakonechloa 'All Gold') in the front yard.

An informal path leads the way to a shady backyard retreat filled with arresting combinations of perennials and shrubs.

The round, waxy leaves of Ligularia are set off by the delicate fronds of Japanese Painted Fern

A rough-hewn granite column markes the entryway to the back yard, surrounded by hosta and sineilesis.

he glossy marbled leaves of bessia calthifolia complemented by ferns and epimediums. Bessia is a Chinese native of the Ranunculus family, brought to the US by Dan Hinkley in 1996 and introduced to the American market through Heronswood Nursery.

he large maple-like leaves bearing red fruits of Golden Seal (Hydrastis canadensis) stopped us in our tracks. Golden Seal is native to the Northeast, and is extensively used in herbal medicine.

n unfailing trio for the shade: any combination of heucheras, hostas and ferns. The plants in this garden were incredibly robust thanks to the owner's annual application of a thick layer of home-made leaf mulch.

A trio of young Paw Paw trees intrigued me as I had just received a pair of Paw Paw sapplings last summer. Paw Paws are native to North America and produce a large fleshy fruit with a flavor similar to mangoes and bananas.

For more information about the Open Days program, visit The Garden Conservancy's website: https://www.gardenconservancy.org/.

Hydrangea Heaven

I love the lush flowers of hydrangeas both in the garden and in bouquets for the house. As a novice gardener, I had mixed success with growing hydrangeas and getting them to bloom every year. There are dozens of tantalizing hydrangea varieties, and the key was finding the best ones for my mid-Massachusetts location.

Planting several types of hydrangeas ensures color in your garden from June through October. Here are the hydrangeas that are blooming in my garden right now:

Hydrangea 'Annabelle' has been in bloom since late June. This hedge is five years old, and has provided me with more than 20 new plants. Annabelles are very easy to propagate via layering.

Annabelle's flowers fade from pure white to a soft chartreuse.

Hydrangea 'Endless Summer' is the most reliable blue mophead for my area because it blooms on both old and new wood. It is lovely paired with blue hosta and blue shrubs such as Juniper 'Blue Star' above.

Hydrangea 'Pinky Winky' has loose panicles of flowers and is blooming well in the shade of two dogwood trees.

Pinky Winky's rosy flowers are highlighted by the pinkish new growth on Leucothoe 'Girard's Rainbow'.

Hydrangea 'Glowing Embers' is a new addition to my garden. I could not resist the deep pink and chartreause color combination of the flowers.

Hydrangea 'Fuji Waterfall' has white double florets tinged with pale blue and thick, shiny green foliage.

Hydrangea 'Wedding Gown' also has pure white double flowers that fade to a deep red in autumn.

Hydrangea 'Pink Diamond', in its second year in my garden, is a robust grower. Its flowers open in white and fade to a dark rose color by fall.

Hydrangea 'Little Lamb" was a rescue plant from Lowe's 50% off bin last year. It's growing well in a pot on the patio, and sports flowers that are similar to a PeeGee but much smaller.

Hydrangea 'Limelight' is just starting to open its buds. The flowers on this strong shrub will be close to 18" in diameter when they are fully open. They are a glorious contribution to the fall garden.

July is Perfect for Dividing Bearded Iris

Bearded irises are relatively easy garden plants to grow, and will give good results with a minimum of care. My collection of irises came about through the generosity of a fellow gardener – an elderly gentleman from the Historical Society. We met at a Society function during my first spring in town, and found that we shared a common hobby. On a sultry, hot day in mid-summer, he dropped by with several trash bags filled with iris rhizomes. His mother had been an Iris Society member and avid collector, so the irises that he inherited and then shared with me were heirloom plants and unusual varieties. Twenty years later, their dazzling pale pink, frosty blue and midnight purple blooms light up my garden in late spring.

Here in Massachusetts, July and August are the best months of the year to plant new iris rhizomes and divide overcrowded clumps. The irises have finished flowering, and are usually dormant during the heat of the peak summer months. Iris rhizomes that are planted now have plenty of time to have their roots well established before the end of the growing season.

Bearded iris should be divided when they become overcrowded, usually after three to five years. At this point, their bloom will decline. Dividing them is not difficult, since the plants have fairly shallow root systems. I follow these steps:

1.     To divide a mature clump, carefully lift the entire plant out of the ground. I like to use a spading fork for this job, as it does not cut the roots.

2.     Next, rinse the soil off the rhizomes so that you can see any diseased areas.

3.     Separate old, exhausted, unproductive rhizomes from new, young growth.

4.     Cut off any portions that are brown inside and discard.

5.     Slice the healthy portions into chunks about 3” in length. Make sure each piece has its own roots and leaves.

6.     Prepare a planting site in full sun where the soil has excellent drainage – raised beds and slopes are ideal for this. Amend the soil with compost.

7.     Space the plants 12-24 inches apart. Clumps of three plants set in a triangle with the rhizomes facing into the center makes an attractive grouping.

8.     Lay each rhizome horizontally in its own shallow hollow. It needs to be half-buried so that the back of each rhizome is visible (like a floating whale). Tamp the roots firmly into the ground to anchor the rhizome.

9.     Trim the leaves to about 6”. This will reduce transpiration while the plant is becoming established.

10.     Keep well watered. Newly planted rhizomes need moisture for their root systems to develop. Once established, irises should be watered when the top three inches of soil dry out. Over-watering irises is a common mistake once and will lead to rot.

11.     Fertilize with superphosphate or a well-balanced fertilizer with an N-P-K ration of 10-10-10. Avoid fertilizers high in nitrogen as they encourage soft growth that is susceptible to disease.

Bearded iris are a great addition to the garden with their beautiful flowers in spring, and their bold, vertical foliage throughout the growing season. Dividing your plants regularly will keep them vigorous and healthy and provide you with years of enjoyment!

Invasive Vine “Swallows Up” Your Garden

I came home from a week’s vacation to find that my garden had virtually “exploded” while I was gone. The heavy rains of June followed by the July heat wave turned my garden into a lush jungle of towering lilies, heliopsis, and hydrangeas. The explosion of flowers was coupled with an explosion of weeds, including the invasive black swallow-wort vine that I battle every year.

Also known as Louis’ swallow-wort, Cynanchum nigrum is a member of the milkweed family imported to the U.S. from its native Europe as an ornamental vine. It was first noted in Ipswich, MA in 1864, “escaping from the botanic garden where it is a weed and promising to become naturalized.” Since then, black swallow-wort has become an invasive nuisance in the Northeast and Midwest, crowding out native plants in fields and forests. It is also a deadly host for the monarch butterfly, which lays its eggs on the vine, but its larvae do not survive feeding on this plant. Conservancy groups throughout the country are trying to educate the public about the threat of this plant to the environment.

The vines emerge in the spring, and can literally grow a foot overnight in wet weather. They quickly wind around your precious peonies, pulling the heavy blooms down to the ground, sprawl over entire shrubs, or grow right through the center of a rare epimedium that you bought from a hybridizer for a tidy sum. These vines thrive everywhere, from sun or shade, rich humus or heavy clay, alkaline or acidic soil.

Black swallow-wort sports glossy oval-shaped leaves with pointed tips, 3-4 inches long, that occur in pairs along the stem.

The small, dark purple flowers are star-shaped and borne in clusters.

The flowers are self-pollinating and quickly produce a bounty of seed pods that dangle from the stems. The seeds are equipped with their own downy parachutes that aid in wind dispersal, which begins in late July and continues through fall. The plants also spread through underground rhizomes that form large clumps.

So how do we control this thug in the garden? As with all invasive species, early detection and removal is the best approach. There are no biological controls for black swallow-wort available in the U.S. Mowing will not eradicate the plants, but will at least prevent them from forming seeds. Once seeds have formed, the plants should be carefully cut down and bagged so that the seeds don’t disperse. The vines can also be dug out, but care must be taken to remove the complete root crown, which is difficult to do. Even a tiny piece of white root left behind will soon sprout into a new plant. Dug plants should be burned or bagged and disposed of in the trash.

Although I dislike using herbicides in the garden, chemical control is recommended as the most effective means for large, established infestations. Glyphosate (Roundup) is effective if sprayed on when the plants are in flower (prior to that, the plants do not have enough leaf surface area to deliver a killing dose to the roots.) If the black swallow-wort is twining around desirable plants, the glyphosate can be applied with a sponge or brush. Another alternative to spraying is to cut and dispose of the stems and apply a 100% solution of the herbicide concentrate directly to the cut stem surfaces with a small brush.

Unfortunately, once black swallow-wort appears in your garden, you will be battling it for several years. So don’t wait – if you see even the tiniest sprout of this tenacious vine, pull it immediately! Or you may return from vacation later this summer to find your favorite plants “swallowed up” by this insidious creeper!

Photos courtesy of Marie Brown

Vigorous and Carefree Climber: Clematis Viticella

Given that there are over 300 species of clematis and several thousand hybrids, it is no wonder it can be difficult to choose the right ones for your garden. If, like me, you prefer plants that are fuss free and easy to care for and bloom over a long season, then look no further than the vines in the clematis viticella group.

Clematis 'Betty Corning'

The  Viticellas  all share certain attributes that make them outstanding garden plants; they are highly tolerant of both sun and shade, they are disease resistant ( never succumbing to the dreaded clematis wilt), they  bloom profusely for many weeks in the summer, and are all extremely winter hardy ( most to zone 4 ,some to zone 3).

Clematis 'Albu Luxurians'

Many viticellas, like the pale lilac ‘Betty Corning’ sport delicate nodding bell- shaped flowers. This beautiful vine grows 10-12 feet very quickly and can easily bloom 16-18 weeks non-stop. Some other great viticella cultivars are ‘Alba Luxurians’ with its green tipped white flowers and dark purple stamens that put on quite a show , the vibrant red ‘Madame Julia Correvon’ , the aptly named  ‘Abundance’ that is continuously  smothered in reddish- pink semi nodding blooms , and the funky double flowered ‘Purpurea plena elegans’ .

Clematis "Purpurea Plena Elegans"

The viticella group are all perfectly suited to growing through large shrubs and small trees including viburnums, lilacs, hollies and forsythias and crab apples, giving these spring bloomers another season of interest when the clematis flowers hang down from their branches. Here in my garden I grow ‘Kermesina’ through my willows, and the dark dramatic purple ’Etoille Violette’  (an RHS Award winner) through my holly bushes,  and ‘Betty Corning through more shrubs than I can count!

 They are equally at home on a large trellis or fence where they will brighten any corner of your garden with their carefree blooms. All clematis in this group get hard pruned, meaning you cut them back to 8-12 inches from the ground in late winter/early spring.

Like all clematis they will benefit from deep planting, placing the crown of the plant 2-3 inches below the soil line and close attention to watering in the first year after planting to ensure their root system gets well established.  Once these gorgeous vines get going their profusion of bloom will be matched only by the profusion of compliments you will receive from your garden visitors. Feel free to take them all in and never ever tell how very easy this stunning vine is to grow.

For more information on growing and caring for clematis visit me at my website www.gardenintheburrow.com

Guest Post by Cheryl Monnroe, Garden in the Burrow. Cheryl is a licensed adult educator, master gardener and lecturer. She "follows the science," reading constantly and taking classes to stay current with the latest in plant research, new plant introductions and design trends. She grow dozens of ornamental vines, perennials, trees and shrubs in addition to almost 100 clematis varieties on her one acre plot in central Massachusetts.

Wakefield Estate Featured in Open Days Program

In the effort to increase public knowledge about the importance of historic landscapes, hundreds of exceptional gardens nationwide are selected to participate in The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program. This year, the Mary M. B. Wakefield Charitable Trust has partnered with the Conservancy to organize “the Greater Boston Area Open Days” on Saturday, June 8, from 10:00am – 4:00pm. Five distinct Milton gardens will be showcased, offering visitors a diverse range of designed landscapes. 

The Wakefield Estate is the former home of Mary “Polly” Wakefield (1914-2004), a trained horticulturist, landscape designer, plant propagator and collector, and an advocate and leader on many environmental issues of her day. Her vision for the purpose of the Wakefield Estate was to “organize to re-establish the contact between the land and the people.” An active member and trustee of many garden and volunteer organizations, Polly was especially passionate about the revival of the Public Garden in Boston. As a founding member of the Friends of the Public Garden, Polly was instrumental in restoring one of Boston’s most beautiful landmarks to its original glory.

One of the strong themes in Polly’s life was her avid interest in science and nature, both observing and studying it. Polly continually augmented her knowledge, accumulating a broad understanding of arboriculture and propagation methods, ultimately leading to her development, selection and naming of eight patented dogwood cultivars, including “Greensleeves” and “Fanfare”, two of the most highly praised dogwood cultivars today. She strived to create a formal garden that defied formality and convention, tested nature’s limits and embraced whimsy and a bit of the wild. An innovator when it came to sustainable gardening methods, she deliberately “crowded” her plants, remarking that “nature prefers it this way,” adding that “it eliminates much weeding … while giving it a more natural appearance and retaining a more even degree of natural moisture.”

The Open Days program coincides with the kick-off of the Wakefield Estate’s annual “Dogwood Days” – a week-long celebration of the estate’s hundreds of flowering kousa dogwood trees. Dogwood Days, which runs from June 8–14, 10am – 4pm daily, features tours, open gardens, and a tree and plant sale including kousa dogwoods, Japanese maples, river birches, eastern red buds, paper bark maples, metasequoias, and larches. New this year is “Dogs and Dogwoods,” a day to bring your canine friend to the estate for dog-friendly events, including a fun and informal dog show.  “Dogs and Dogwoods” is scheduled for Sunday, June 9th, from 10am-4pm.  The dog show will start at 1:00pm.  Dogs must be leashed. 

The Wakefield Estate in located at 1465 Brush Hill Road in Milton. For more information visit www.wakefieldtrust.org or call 617-333-0924. To see a list of the Open Days selected gardens and directions, see The Garden Conservancy’s website: www.gardenconservancy.org.

Guest Post by Erica Max
Program Director, Mary M.B. Wakefield Charitable Trust

A Bouquet of Spring Containers

After a long, snowy winter, I can't wait to fill my containers with spring blooms! Here are some ideas for fun spring container plantings.

Above: Violas, creeping jenny and heart-shaped stones adorn a small wire basket welcoming visitors to a lovely private oasis.

Purple and orange tulips, purple heather, miniature daffodils, variegated vinca, accented with pussywillows in a classic iron urn. (courtesy smallspacegardening.com)

Orange and maroon tulips underplanted with english daisies and red lettuce. 
(courtesy gardeninggonewild.com)

A Victorian-style white wire basket planted with heather, trailing variegated ivy, pansies, white tulips, and  lily of the valley. (courtesy gardeninglife.ca)

Scarlett tulips, yellow, orange and burgundy primroses, and creeping jenny are fabulous in these dark crimson pots. (courtesy gardeninglife.ca)

Bright orange tulips are set off by blue grape hyacinths and heuchera, and complemented by 'Midwinter Fire' dogwood. (courtesy finegardening.com)

'Golden Hearts' bleeding heart in a beautiful jade-colored pot complements spring bulbs. (courtesy blackgold.bz)

In my own garden, pansies in shades of burgundy, yellow and pink with golden lamium highlighted by gold hosta and hanoke grass.

​I like to experiment with a mixture of plants in a large container - shrubs, perennials, annuals and veggies. Above, a PJM rhododendron is set off with blue salvia, violet wallflower, purple and white pansies, and red-tinged lettuce.

Davidia Tree – Worth the Wait?

When I first read about Davidia trees, I was immediately fascinated. Imagine finding something that satisfied both my love of flowering trees and my love of unusual plants! It seemed the perfect choice for the long shade border I was creating across my backyard.

So, when I found a Davidia involucrata at an end-of-season sale at Weston Nurseries, I immediately bought it. It was small, only about five feet tall, but I had high hopes. I planted it, nurtured it and awaited the grand show.

After five years had passed with not a flower in sight, I did some homework. I found that not only was it border-line hardy in my area, but it typically did not bloom for twelve years after planting. It was a good grower and created nice shade; its leaves were attractive and it had lovely bark; I consoled myself as I waited for Year Twelve.

Year Twelve came and went. Finally, after thirteen years, I was thrilled when one branch produced some of the most intriguing flowers I had ever seen: fuzzy brown spheres with two white bracts, the larger one nearly seven inches long! This continued for the next couple of years: a branch here and there with a smattering of flowers. But this year, nearly the entire tree is blooming. As the white bracts of each flower flutter in the breeze, I can see why its common names are Handkerchief Tree and Dove-tree. It is just as fascinating as I had imagined.

And, yes, it was worth the wait.

By Joan Butler