In case you were unable to stop by for a visit on my last Open Day, the garden will be open briefly this Saturday at 10 am until noon . About 30 clematis vines are in bloom and the summer perennials are starting to shine. if you need more info or directions contact me using the CONTACT link above.

This time of year, especially in one that we gets plenty of water , the garden behaves like a ginormous beast. In order to have a cottage garden that looks like it effortlessly grew together in the perfect blend  of annual , perennial, shrub,  herb and vegetable , the exact opposite of “effortless’ is required.

Some self-seeding plants like the hummingbird favorite Husker Red’ penstemon gets a little overzealous and must be weeded out where they are too prolific,

Some plants that line borders decide instead the pathway is EXACTLY where they meant to grow  and they must be trimmed or staked and  tied.

Some plants never cease coveting their neighbors space and must be ruthlessly reminded to keep to themselves

 

Some “great ideas, like letting ox-eye daisy ( a weed)  stay just until it is done blooming because I love it ( it must be deadheaded immediately to prevent seeding) or letting the violets stay in the Pink Garden because they are larval food for butterflies, prove to be very bad ideas indeed. Now the weeds must be reckoned with so in the end there will still be a Pink Garden and not just violets and daisies.

Trying to remember where I seeded what is forever a challenge, I think I go through twice as much seed as I truly need due to inattention  and forgetting to water, or mistakenly weeding out all the zinnias. Every year I swear I will use markers, and this year I even did in a few places, but coincidentally those I placed have just served as skinny plastic  tombstones for plants that did not make it.

In a good year all the clematis I usually adore becomes a nightmare of growth, seemingly feet a day that must be tied

in and trained.

When huge flushes of bloom happen, huge amounts of time must be spent deadheading so the garden does not look like a big brown mush ball.

 

It ain’t easy making it look easy 😉

But looking at all the beauty that surrounds me, I guess it is hard to  complain

 

 

 

 

 

A random comment on someones Facebook page this morning got me to thinking about how much garden knowledge swimming in my brain I take for granted that the whole world knows. The post was a photo of a butterfly on what was described as “late lilacs” and I know for a fact the poster knew full well what she was referring to was a particular variety of lilac that blooms late in the season, but the person who commented   took it to mean that like many plants here in the Northeast the lilac was “blooming late”  because of the long winter.

That lead me to the notion that I should write a little about the many differences between  plants that all share the same name.

First off , in a little trip down botanical latin lane, a plant gets it’s name from a combination of first; its genus name, then it’s species name, then if applicable it’s cultivar name. ( Let me be clear that is an oversimplification as there are more names that can get added on but this is meant to be a quick lesson to clarify a specific point)

So for instance, the lilac of most peoples childhood that is the true harbinger of spring in the colder parts of the country ,and blooms light purple  and spreads it heady fragrance around the ‘hood is syringa  vulgaris or common lilac  and it’s white companion is syringa  vulgaris  ‘Alba’ So syringa is the genus name , and all lilacs share this as their “first name” if you will, then they may have different species names and/or different cultivar names.

The common  plant is so regular in it’s bloom time it is often used as an indicator plant to let us know figuratively where the garden stands in it’s waking cycle in spring.

From there the lilac world explodes and many species, interspecific hybrids, and cultivars of species with colors that range from the white and purple we are familiar with to the darkest of the dark purples, pinks, mauves,  some with yellowish tints and even one that sports flowers that are white and purple together. These all bloom at various times and are usually classified as early , mid-season and late with regard to when they flower.

They all have defining characteristics that separate them from their family members, like syringa x lacinata that has finely cut leaves, or  syringa’Charles Joly with its dark dramatic flower color, or ‘Sugar Plum Fairy’ that is very short and compact. If you choose carefully, and you live in Z7 or lower,  you can have lilacs from late April/May to September and in can also find ones that will fit in any garden large or small.

Here in the burrow I grow a number of different lilacs that stretch my lilac season from early spring until September. Impossible! you say. But yet, true.

The earliest to bloom are the straight species, syringa vulgaris. This one and syringa vaulgaris  “Alba” I use so I can pick and smell lilacs when my winter weary gardener’s body is ready for a dose of  spring. Despite that ,they are definitely not may favorites because their leaves are prone to get that icky white coating called powdery mildew as the weather heats up.

Right on their coat tails appears the lovely and mysterious ‘Charles Joly’  which I love to see arranged in silver vessels, and blooming simultaneously, the bi colored ‘Sensation’.

 

Next in the show is the very compact lilac I use to hedge in the front garden called ‘Tinkerbelle’. It stays relatively short, maybe 3 or so feet and blooms with deep pink buds opening to paler pink highly fragrant flowers weeks after the common lilac. I just cut off the spent blooms this morning and this delightful shrub will send forth the odd bloom here and there throughout the rest of the summer.

Another great re-bloomer is a newer introduction called ‘Bloomerang’. It looks very similar to the common lilac only grow a bit shorter topping out at 5 ft or so and blooms  along with ‘Tinkerbelle’ then again in August and September.Lilacs in the late summer is a gift  every gardener who can grow them should take advantage of!

After that begins the show of the beautiful syringa x prestoniae ‘Miss Canada’  a taller lilac ( 8-10 ft) that is covered in rosy pink buds and pink flowers.

Right next to it grows two more later bloomers ,’Donald Wyman’ and ‘Miss Kim ( syringa pubescens supspc. patula..…I told you there could be more names!)  ‘Miss Kim’ has the added benefit of beautiful foliage color in the fall when it turns a deep reddish-burgandy.

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This long row of lilacs is frequented by many butterflies who enjoy the nectar  they provide, and because they bloom later in the season these lilacs are  available  to  many more butterflies than the earlier bloomers who may be out when the butterflies are not.

By the way, Lilacs are also a caterpillar host plant for our Eastern Swallowtail butterfly… in the interest of biodiversity I plant a number of host plants for Lepidopteran species, and was ever so pleased to find out a few years ago that the genus syringa is a host plant to over 20 of them.

So there you go, a little min- lesson in choosing plants for your garden. Remember all plants that share a genus name are not alike, and if you explore those differences when planning what you will grow your garden will be all the better for it.

 

 

 

 

 

It is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, when loads of bloggers post what is blooming in their neck of the woods and share the links on May Dreams Gardens hosted by Carol. It is always fun to see what is going on elsewhere and maybe get some ideas for your own space too.

Walking around yesterday after Wil and I arrived home from a few days visiting Chanticleer and Longwood Gardens in PA, I was struck but just how much I rely on woody plants to give this garden lots of oomph throughout the season. The chief woody plant hands down is clematis, and many are in bloom right now, but the shrubs and trees here more than pull their weight  too providing long seasons of interest asking very little in return.

This small tree, Aesculus x carnea ‘Briotii’ is the most asked about plant in my garden . It is sited on the front corner of my yard and when in bloom is a show stopper. It is  a cross between the horse chestnut a. hippocatanum ( a tree which grew in my yard as a child ) and the red buckeye  a. pavia. The panicles of flowers are from 5-8 inches long and a stunning color that is certainly unusual for trees around here. This year for the first time those flowers are producing the conkers  associated with the horsechestnuts and I find that very cool and can’t wait for them to mature.

Philadelphus ‘Snowbelle’ is a compact growing Mock Orange that perfumes the area in the Dog’s Garden for at least a  couple of weeks . This year I have been battling aphids on it , and with the help of the lady bugs seem to have them under control now and the shrub is blooming beautifully.

Another highly fragrant plant is calyacnthus florida. this suckering shrub has beautiful glossy green leaves and for weeks is covered in brown lotus looking flowers that are highly fragrant and on a warm afternoon you can smell their pineapple-strawberry perfume from the porch 20+ feet away.

Weigelias are a shrub that I use in just about every garden here . There are now available in nurseries weigelas that grow from 3 ft to as large as 10 ft, weigelas with gold, white or tri-colored variegation, and many with deep burgandy colored leaves. Flower colors range from pale white, to pink tinged, bright pink, to dark red. There are certainly enough choices for every gardener to find a few to fit in their landscape .

 I use the straight species , Weigela florida in the back 40 where it’s graceful arching branches look lovely as a backdrop in bloom or not, but when they are over a long period of early summer they are stunning. This is a shrub you want to let fill out to it’s natural form so give it plenty of space. I do get a little die-back here in the winter but it is minimal and requires only a quick pruning to take off the few small twigs that don’t leaf out in the  spring. This shrub will also bloom well in partial shade, a bonus for those of you who need bloomers there.

“Midnight Wine’ and ‘Wine and Roses’ are the two the many  burgandy -leaved weigelas I grow here and adore, and I grow several of the variegated versions as well..

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The  lilac hedges are still providing loads of flowers, scent, and butterfly action as ‘Miss Canada’  ‘Donald Wyman’ and ‘Miss Kim’ are still in full bloom,.

 

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The roses, although they got off to a rough start ,are starting to delight visitors with their blooms.Rosa glauca, Captain Sam Holland,  the rosa rugosas growing wild out back, and Sunny Knockout,  are blooming and the new hedge of Rosa de’l’hay  ( a highly scented rugosa) will stop you in your tracks before you even get within 10 feet of it the fragrance is so strong.

 

 

All of the ninebarks, or physocarpus are blooming as well including this bright colored “Dart’s Gold’ .

It is funny that when I was writing this post all I could think of is how appropriate it was that it fell on Father’s Day. Often it is the  showy perennials that  get all the glory, the sentimental  poetry ,and  the real credit for making the garden what it is. But just  like the dads in the typical nuclear family, the workhorse trees and shrubs  give the garden it’s strength and backbone yet often get none of the sappy cards or taken out for a nice lunch. Here’s to you shrubs and  Here’s to you dads….thanks for all you do 😉

 

The first week of June means peony, always and forever. That is the rule, the gospel, the way things work in my little world and why I planned a garden Open Day yesterday. Well, for the first time in the history of this garden, there were no peony open on June the 8th ( well except one, Red Charm, and one out of 50 does not count). Also failing to show up to the any were any of the multitudes of roses and only a handful of the clematis were open. At last count on the clematis bloom charts 18 are in full bud and ready to go, but they decided it would be best to wait until the crowds cleared thank you very much.

Oh well, that is the nature of a garden , and there were still some things to look at and it didn’t rain so I will not complain anymore.

…..and as always the people who visit are wonderful and charming and a delight to show around.Thank you all.

Here is a little vase parade of the clematis who were out and got to come with me to my lecture at Tower Hill Botanic Garden that was yesterday as well……….

How do you know it is going to be hot? I am having an Open Day in the garden! Put on your sunblock and hat and come for a visit 9-11:30 and 3:30 to 5:30