What do you see on your garden walks? 2012

[Krish]

Lori your plants look very nice.
I have some pictures taken last week.Non-stop rain for the last two days.

[Lori S.]

Thanks, Krish!  Yours are very nice too!  

Papaver sp. ex. Tajikistan; Arenaria grandiflora:
   

Ranunculus platanifolium; Geranium pratense ex. 'Midnight Reiter' - nice that the seeds come true, at least in so far as having dark foliage; our native Geranium viscosissimum; Hieracium villosum:
     

An interestingly-coloured columbine, among the self-seeded multitudes; Adenophora remotiflora and Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Biokovo';
 

Erigeron grandiflorus; Erigeron glabellus:
 

[Lori S.]

Erigeron peregrinus ssp. callianthemus and Erigeron speciosus:
              

[Howey]

Lori:  You really must have a fabulous garden - those lovely pictures you post make me feel like I'm actually touring around with you looking at all the treasures there.  It must be a very large and "concentrated" garden and you must have great soil/tufa and weather (moisture) in addition to your obvious expertise.  Thanks for this almost daily treat - rain or shine.  Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

[Bundraba!]

Gentiana septemfida and Acantholimon make a pretty pairing. The Gentian is also nice with Silene schafta when they bloom together. The perennial 'plunk' is pretty much about Daylilies these days. The warm pastels sparkle.


A shrubby Hypericum from near Black Balsam in North Carolina and 'Brunette' bugbane with milkweed

[Lori S.]

It must be a very large and "concentrated" garden and you must have great soil/tufa and weather (moisture)...

Thanks for the kind words, Fran!  It is pretty large - just under 1/3 acre, with no lawn.  Well, I wouldn't say that the soil is great everywhere - when we first removed the grass to make beds in the back yard, we just piled a foot of organic soil/compost on the bed and planted (it was like planting in chocolate cake - no trowels or spades needed  ), then added fine bark mulch as a topping.  That was long ago, though.  If I was to redo some beds (which I should do), I'd be inclined to do that again to replenish things.  In the front yard, we just dug out grass in big swathes, then filled in the void with bark mulch immediately after (wanted to protect the many tree roots and not raise the soil level too much)... so there is lots of pretty lousy soil (clay and rocks) tool  The worst is at the far end of the fence line, where things get sparser and sparser along in that direction; the other reason for sparseness is that it's in the upwind, northwesterly direction and the seeds from the rest of the yard don't generally get blown out there to colonize things.  (Ha, there's the secret to my gardening, if there is one... complete randomness - the wind does most of my planting for me.    Unfortunately, the wind only has the same old perennials to work with... now if only there were some really interesting gardens upwind from me...).  
Re. moisture, we have been having wet springs the last few years, but the norm is to be pretty dry - I tend not to be able to grow moisture-loving plants well at all.

Michael, again I have to say that your garden is fabulous!!  Thanks for showing it to us!  I'd love to have enough space (and moisture) for a tract of queen of the prairie (and all the other delights you show)... wonderful!

[Lori S.]

Krish, do you have to support your Clematis recta?  It looks somewhat more upright than mine.  These recumbent, not-quite-climbing ramblers (C. recta, C. integrifolia) are always a problem for me - I never have the right support figured out or available (or am too lazy to get it out there at the right time  ). 

[deesen]

Good heavens, David, what horrible weather you seem to be having!  Maggi mentioned a little while back that there is nothing but unending rain in her area as well, and yet it continues.  It struck home for me how awful it must be when I saw in the local news that the Times of London published an editorial demanding that it stop raining!!

Yes, it's been a God awful Summer in most parts of the UK so far (apart from the Western Isles off the cost of Scotland who have missed it all and are crying out for rain.

Apparently it's all the fault of the Jet Stream which has been positioned to the South of the British Isles and Ireland and forcing out any high pressure systems moving in from The Azores and allowing in all the Atlantic low pressure systems. I live in the South West of England and we get all the prevailing south west winds and systems first. I live around 15 miles from the coast
 on the southern escarpment of Dartmoor and the moor also affects our weather. For example, today has been continual drizzle and a heavy mist and 14C whereas no more than three miles to the east of us the temperature was 22C and blue sky.

The forcasters tell us that Jet Stream is slowly moving north and we should be getting some better weather soon. But will they get it right?

[cohan]

David- they are talking about English weather on tv on account of the upcoming olympics.. hope some reasonable weather happens!

Great garden showings all!
Lori, do you find the Erigerons interbreed or stay distinct?
Michael, I have some baby Azorellas and need to figure out what sort of siting they need (exposure, moisture, soil and space) any tips?
and Lori, ditto to that advice re: Alchemilla mollis -I only have one plant bought for a dollar, so just wondering how much space to give it in particular..

[Lori S.]

Cohan, I can't say I've noticed any hybridization among erigerons in my yard. 

Alchemilla mollis is very large here (~4' diameter)... however, it takes some years to get to full size.  Not a fussy plant at all (I think that's what I always say, isn't it?) - I have them in full sun through to mostly shade, in what was once rather nice organic-rich soil through to unamended clay.  And it's normally pretty dry here everywhere (at least after the spring rains) and it doesn't mind.

If you don't mind me commenting on this one too, there's probably no need to allot too much space initially to Azorella trifurcata in our climate.  It's hardy but not a fast spreader and you can always move things out of its way with time as needed.   My old original plant (which I bought, and used to think of, as Bolax gummifera but eventually ID'd) got to 28" x 22" in 8 years... though about a third of it died in last winter's strangeness.  (It is coming back though.)  Full sun, and nothing extraordinary in terms of soil quality (i.e. regular garden soil - I've never grown it in the rock garden) or moisture, seems to suit it fine here.  You can cleave off chunks easily and plant them elsewhere as the mother plants grow.

[Krish]

Krish, do you have to support your Clematis recta?  It looks somewhat more upright than mine. 

I have a metal obelisk hidden under the plant.The support is not great. For the last two years I am trying to find some good support that has the top open for the vine to come out naturally .No luck. Looks like tomato cage is the one I should use

[cohan]

Cohan, I can't say I've noticed any hybridization among erigerons in my yard. 

Alchemilla mollis is very large here (~4' diameter)... however, it takes some years to get to full size.  Not a fussy plant at all (I think that's what I always say, isn't it?) - I have them in full sun through to mostly shade, in what was once rather nice organic-rich soil through to unamended clay.  And it's normally pretty dry here everywhere (at least after the spring rains) and it doesn't mind.

If you don't mind me commenting on this one too, there's probably no need to allot too much space initially to Azorella trifurcata in our climate.  It's hardy but not a fast spreader and you can always move things out of its way with time as needed.   My old original plant (which I bought, and used to think of, as Bolax gummifera but eventually ID'd) got to 28" x 22" in 8 years... though about a third of it died in last winter's strangeness.  (It is coming back though.)  Full sun, and nothing extraordinary in terms of soil quality (i.e. regular garden soil - I've never grown it in the rock garden) or moisture, seems to suit it fine here.  You can cleave off chunks easily and plant them elsewhere as the mother plants grow.

4' for Alchemilla! then I will need to give some thought to where to put it- I may give it a spot I'm developing at the end of a semi-woodland bed, where I can give it a whole end to itself!
For Azorella, I was thinking about an area I have at the foot of my semp bed , where there are some Crocus and Galanthus- or would it be too dense for the bulbs to push through? if so, then maybe among stepping stones in a walkway- to- be between the Eurasian rock bed I made last year and another 'ridge' to go behind it.. I don't have enough South Americans to have their own area..lol my batch of Patagonian seed yielded very little I do also have a couple of bits of Acaena (have to look- antarctica, I think) already in ground, but they look to be slow indeed- though to be fair, I only planted the seedlings in ground last year, so its not much time to get going..)
On a more positive seedling note- Waldheimia tomentosa has a bud

[cohan]

Krish, do you have to support your Clematis recta?  It looks somewhat more upright than mine. 

I have a metal obelisk hidden under the plant.The support is not great. For the last two years I am trying to find some good support that has the top open for the vine to come out naturally .No luck. Looks like tomato cage is the one I should use

I've seen designerish things that could be obelisk shaped and made out of some sort of solid metal struts, but openwork- could be a much nicer look than tomato cage, though much pricier, probably..

[Tim Ingram]

There is too much to keep up with in the summer garden and it still looks quite good despite all the rain that David mentioned - we have probably been a bit drier in Kent. Summer growing South Africans like Dierama pulcherrima must appreciate the rain; these are such delightful plants. Teucrium ackermannii looks nice on a raised bed, especially at this stage with many more buds to open. And finally a mix of plants on the patio steps - the astonishing almost black Aeonium 'Zwartkop', with Viola 'Molly Sanderson' and variegated Alonsoa; and behind the curious origanum-like flowerheads of the annual Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens' - this plant caused quite a stir when it first appeared on the horticultural scene a decade or so ago; it flowers over a very long period and sets a lot of large bullet-like seed which is easy to pick up from around the plant on paving. It is a Mediterranean annual from southern Spain, usually not quite hardy enough to overwinter in British gardens from autumn sowings. Behind are a couple of cycads which were completely defoliated in the cold greenhouse last winter, when temperatures dropped very low. It's pleasing to see them grow out again as both were raised from seed!

[Lori S.]

4' for Alchemilla! then I will need to give some thought to where to put it- I may give it a spot I'm developing at the end of a semi-woodland bed, where I can give it a whole end to itself!

Well, again, I think it's completely workable to plant more for the mid-term, not the longest term... otherwise the bed will have plants with big gaps in between for years and years. I think a perennial garden takes 5 years to look established anyway... and a garden is never done in any case.    There is always lots of moving around of plants to be done.

There are a few crocus (or other small bulbs; I'm forgetting what) in my Azorella, so, no, it's not too dense... (not sure any plant is ever too dense to be pushed through by bulbs).  Please let me know how the Acaena do after the winter - I've only ever had little bits come through.  I will certainly try it again, needless to say, if it works out for you.
Well done on the bed construction - sounds like it's going great guns!  You'll have to show us some time!    

Great news on the Waldheimia too!