Mid May Garden

 

I am finally posting these photos from mid-May, with 'Purple Sensation' alliums and 'Excelsior' Spanish bluebells in bloom above.

By the middle of May the 'Royal Raindrops' crabapple trees had dropped their petals and taken up their summer maroon color.

'Early Emperor' alliums in the foreground were a lovely contrast with the chartreuse leaves of a 'Sutherland Gold' elderberry at left and the 'Red Dragon' contorted filbert at right.

This chair has been a favorite place to sit and take in the view down both sides of the path.

The last of the tulips included 'Blue Spectacle,' 'Black Hero' and these unknown coral-red lily tulips.

In the white garden, 'Spring Green' viridiflora tulips bloomed along with the 'Popcorn' viburnum at back right.

The west garden was full of leaves if not color, with a few clematis flowers opening on the trellis.

The Grand Garden Show on Mackinac Island

Last month my husband graciously attended The Grand Garden Show on Mackinac Island with me.  It was a lovely experience all around.  The historic hotel was beautiful, the food was excellent, the garden classes were fun and the garden tours were inspiring.  As we approached the hotel, we experienced this long flower bed that was covered with hundreds of Monarch butterflies.  Unfortunately I waited to take a photo until the last day when it was raining and the butterflies were absent, but when the sun was out it was magical to see so many butterflies all together.

Here is a shot of a dozen butterflies on a single plant in one of the gardens on tour.  In this post I'll share photos of some of the gardens we toured in the afternoons.

Several homes on the west bluff featured bright annual gardens in front.  At the rear of the photo the Grand Hotel is visible.

This little flower garden was adorable.  I love the lavender salvia, mixed petunias and peachy-orange dahlias together.  The warm-colored petunias at bottom are Honey Supertunias, which I grew in pots this year.  They were good performers and you can see they add a new color to the assortment of petunias.

This garden featured many bright plantings of annuals among the green groundcovers, trees and shrubs.

As fun as the colorful annual gardens were, I found myself preferring gardens with shrubs, perennials, and plenty of green for a backdrop.  This hillside was lovely with several types of hardy hydrangeas.  Though we saw many smooth, panicle and oak hydrangeas, I didn't see a single bigleaf hydrangea.  I guess they have hardiness problems on the island as I do in my garden.

Here are some smooth or Annabelle hydrangeas with hostas at the entrance of one home.  Welcoming and relaxing at once.

This was one of the 'cottages' on the tour.  I kept expecting a butler to show up.  The architecture of the old homes was as enjoyable to see as their gardens.

Many homes had fewer flowers and more green space like this.  This garden was very peaceful.

Isn't this an interesting garden?   We were told there used to be a fountain in the center, but to simplify maintenance and keep the grandchildren safe, the homeowners filled it in and planted a garden instead.

A newly landscaped area featured impressive stone walls and stairs.  During the tourist season, no cars or trucks are allowed on the island, so landscaping is accomplished with horse-drawn quarry wagons and manpower.  During the brief windows when tourists are gone for the winter and the weather allows, larger construction equipment can be used for big projects. 

The perennial and shrub combinations at this garden were especially pretty.

I'll post next with photos of the many fabulous container gardens we saw at the hotel and in town. 

August Blooms

After years of slowing making room among the June bloomers, I finally have a decent August display of flowers.  'Millenium' allium, above, has been a beautiful long bloomer this month and well deserves all the attention it has received as 2018 Perennial Plant of the Year.  The honeybees agree, as you see above. 

I've realized that my northwest garden bed has become predominantly purple while the northeast area around the swings is mostly golden.  In the photo above the purple blooms of 'Thomas Edison' dahlias blend perfectly with the 'Miss Molly' butterfly bush.  'Millenium' allium makes a great, easy edger down at the bottom of the bed.

I planted eight 'Thomas Edison' tubers this spring, and it has been my most successful dahlia so far this year.  The TE plants started blooming early and have produced many large blooms.  I've learned to look closely at the flowers before bringing them inside as earwigs love to hide in the long petals, ew!

I really should have captured photos of the Lillium rubrum while they were in full bloom, as you see they're winding down in the photo above.   These lily bulbs keep making more flowers each year, and their fragrance is lovely and different from the typical Oriental lily scent.  This photo captures the hazy look we've been experiencing in recent weeks as wildfire smoke drifts through Spokane.  Last Sunday the air quality rating was 382, or hazardous, and we were all supposed to stay inside. 

Purple Dara Ammi (Daucus carota) has been so pretty in the garden and in arrangements this year.  I'll definitely grow more of this annual from seed next year.  In the photo above it plays nicely with 'Rozanne' geranium and 'Blue Chip' butterfly bush.

Some of my dahlias are in full bloom while others are just starting to make buds.  'Cutie Patootie,' above, is prolific with nice long stems for cutting.

Over in the golden northeast area of the backyard, Hypericum 'Magical Desire' is making really cool peach berries that blend well with the 'Chantilly Peach' snapdragons behind. 

I'm such a sucker for mophead hydrangeas, even though I have trouble getting them to bloom during our short gardening season.  I recently planted several new mopheads from Monrovia's Seaside Serenade Series, including 'Cape Lookout' above.  I also planted a blue or pink (mine is lavender right now) 'Cape Cod' mophead from the series.  They're gorgeous right now, but the real test will be whether they bloom well next year.  Despite transplanting my 'Let's Dance Big Easy' mopheads to more protected spots and giving them plenty of water and high-phospate fertilizer this year, the six plants have only produced a couple of flowering stems.  And my 'Endless Summer' and 'Blushing Bride' mopheads were relegated to the green waste bin years ago.  Fingers crossed that breeders have finally created a mophead hydrangea that can stand up to my climate!

Columnar Trees and Shrubs for Privacy

Since my lot is only a quarter of an acre, I have planted many columnar plants (and placed my basalt column, above) to add height without taking up too much space on the ground.  And since we can see parts of sixty-three neighboring homes from various points in our backyard, I use columnar plants to add privacy.  There is an ever-growing list of columnar plants available, especially for milder climates than mine.  Monrovia's website plant finder (under Advanced Filter, Growth Habit) allows you to search for columnar plants for your hardiness zone.

I planted columnar 'Spring Snow' crabapples (20-25' T x 15-20' W) on the east and west sides of the backyard to screen the view of the neighbors while leaving sunny beds where my flowers can grow.  In addition to their oval crown, these trees have beautiful, sweet smelling white flowers in spring and no messy fruit.  Unfortunately, here in Spokane we have a long season where these trees are leafless and don't provide much screening.
Although I love my eight 'Spring Snow' crabapple trees, my local nurseryman - whose nursery has been open as long as I've been alive, so he knows a lot - told me that these trees are falling out of favor with growers because they are susceptible to fire blight.  This fungal disease can strike in spring and causes twigs and leaves to look as if they've been burned black.  Infected trees should be sprayed immediately with a fire blight-rated pesticide, and infected parts should be pruned out, wrapped in plastic and put into the trash to avoid spreading more spores.  I haven't had a problem with this, fingers crossed.

Recently my husband caught this photo of Santa laying eggs in our neighbor's yard.  We endured this view for several weeks from our bedroom window before Santa left his eggs behind and went to rest for a few months.  As my trees and our neighbors' trees grow, this scene will be blocked during the growing season, but I wish I had planted more tall evergreens to cover it year-round.

Two years ago, I talked my husband into pulling out some boxwood shrubs and planting two columnar Norway spruce trees (Picea abies 'Cupressina').  These columnar trees are said to reach thirty feet tall and five to six feet wide at maturity.  Both are strategically planted to block views of the neighbors - especially their windows - when they reach full size.

The spruces have put on decent growth each year, and they'd surely grow more quickly in climates with a longer growing season.  I can think of several spots where I'd like to plant more of them, but that would require removing other beautiful plants.  It's so hard to balance functional evergreens with favorite beautiful plants.

This photo includes the young columnar spruces plus 'Green Tower' boxwoods (9' T x 2' W) and 'Fine Line' buckthorns (7' T x 2-3' W).  I have ten of the GT boxwoods and seven of the FL buckthorns planted around the yard.  Both shrubs are easy to prune to the height and width you desire, and they can be planted singly or in a row to create a hedge.  Some types of buckthorn are invasive, but FL is not.

This GT boxwood in the front yard greets visitors as they come to the front yard.  Kind of like a plant butler.  I should call it Jeeves.

A 'Caesar's Brother' Siberian iris at center is columnar in spring and vase shaped later in the growing season.  Many grasses have a lovely columnar form, like 'Karl Forster' feather reed grass, but I avoid ornamental grasses since they give me a rash and make me sneeze.  To the right of the photo above, two of my 'Fine Line' buckthorns add height to the bed.  This spring I decided they were too tall, and it was quick work to trim two feet of height off the top.

Last year I found room for a fifth dogwood - wish I had room for a dozen more - and planted this columnar 'Starlight' tree (Cornus kousa x nuttallii) at the corner of the dining room addition.  It's reported to bloom heavily and grow vigorously to a height of thirty feet and width of twenty feet.  Yes, it's obviously going to require pruning in this spot.  Good thing I took a pruning class in college.  Eventually it will give late afternoon and evening shade to the patio in midsummer.

At right is a columnar apple tree from White Flower Farm.  I don't grow a lot of food, but I had the idea that a columnar apple would be fun.  We'll see how it works out.  Meanwhile, the upright shape is lovely.

If you live in a crowded suburban neighborhood like mine, screening views is important even if you don't have a large yard.  Columnar plants - especially evergreens - are a good option for creating privacy without taking up too much room.  Please learn from my mistake and plan for privacy so you don't have to look at your neighbors' junk or allow them to peer at you through second story windows.  Let Santa lay his eggs in private.

Adding Chartreuse to the Garden

Flowers are the reason I garden, but I've slowly come to appreciate the season-long color provided by foliage in shades of chartreuse, purple, blue, and silver.  In this post I'll share some of the ways I've used chartreuse in my garden.  Above you'll see (L-R) an unknown chartreuse hosta from my grandmother's garden, frothy Lady's Mantle in bloom, and an 'Ogon' spirea in my east backyard garden.

A true blue Siberian iris ('June to Remember') and mauve allium (probably 'Gladiator') look well against yellow-green foliage and flowers.

This is a different view of the same area from earlier in the season.  I really love the way soft mauve and pink play off chartreuse.

Fern-like 'Ogon' spirea at the base combines well with a 'Comtesse de Bouchaud' clematis up top.

Deeper pink, like this 'Maggie Daley' astilbe, really pops against a yellow-green background.

Add a little orange, maroon, and steel-blue to the chartreuse and pink and you have an especially vibrant color scheme.  The photo above includes 'Dusseldorf Pride' armeria, 'Elke' hardy geranium, 'Evergold' carex, 'Eola Sapphire' hosta, 'Dickson's Gold' campanula, 'Firestorm' geum and 'Chocoholic' cimicifuga.

Later in the season, this western backyard bed gets by with just the chartreuse, steel-blue and maroon foliage.  In addition to the plants listed for the previous photo, you can see a 'Diane's Gold' brunnera at bottom left.  I love brunnera, and this cultivar has deeper blue spring flowers in addition to the green-gold leaves.

I've been impressed with the months-long bloom season of this 'Blue Haze' euphorbia.  I need to get more of these plants.

Finally, a lacy 'Sutherland Gold' elderberry shrub (Sambucus) at left adds pop to this scene with a young 'Shasta' doublefile viburnum at right center and some 'Early Emperor' allium at center.
Does chartreuse clash with any colors?  It would be great with deep violet and crimson red.  Salmon pink or white would go well with yellow-green.  This color brightens dark corners and shines in sunny borders.  It's a good thing there are so many chartreuse options available to gardeners these days.

Early Fall Fullness

Recently my husband and I spent a couple of days on the western side of Washington, and I felt so happy in the lush forests that I came home wanting to plant more trees in my eastern Washington backyard.  But after taking the photos for this post, I realized I probably already have plenty of trees (my husband is sighing in relief since he digs the tree holes).

It has only been four and a half years since our newly landscaped backyard looked like the photo above.

Now this shot from a similar angle shows the growth.

I'm not done planting, though.  There is room for many little filler plants among the large trees and shrubs.

This is so much better than plain lawn.

In another view of the same bench as the previous photo, you can see the new post of our patio cover.  In a couple of years it will be covered with a climbing hydrangea (H. anomala petiolaris).

This shot from the second floor shows my efforts in using different foliage colors for contrast when few flowers are blooming.  Baby 'Boulder Blue' fescues at bottom left look like polka dots now but should fill in well next year.  'Obsidian' heucheras were also planted this year to bring maroon leaves down to ground level and echo the 'Royal Purple' smoke bush at center and the 'Royal Raindrops' crabapple trees at top.

Some foliage colors are unintentional, like the iron deficient hydrangeas above.  I'm about ready to give up on these unblooming 'Let's Dance Big Easy' hydrangeas.  After a rough winter and long spring with plenty of late frosts, not a single bloom appeared on my six bushes.  Our late frosts just don't mix well with mophead hydrangeas.

Because of those late frosts, all of my butterfly bushes had to be cut down nearly to the ground in spring.  You see at the right of this photo that they bounced back just fine.  Tall, showy 'Ava' agastache is visible at the top center.

In this picture 'Shasta' doublefile viburnum in the northeast corner is just starting to turn maroon for fall.  Last weekend I fought a battle with aspen roots in this corner.  During the landscaping project years ago, we had a 5' deep Plexiglass barrier installed in the ground to keep the neighbor's aspen tree roots out of my garden, but we piled the bark too high last spring and the roots jumped right over the barrier and colonized all the way out into the lawn.  My son and I have been working to pull out the shallow roots and move the bark away to uncover the top of the barrier.

In the opposite corner, the foliage of 'Caesar's Brother' Siberian irises is very dramatic this time of year.

The whole corner is filled with a sweet fragrance from the 'Black Negligee' cimicifuga plants in bloom at center right.

The west side of the backyard is filling in so you can't see all the neighboring houses very much anymore.

At the base of these crabapples I've planted more plants with interesting foliage, including 'Diane's Gold' brunnera, 'Eola Sapphire' hostas, 'Dicksen's Gold' bellflower, 'Chocholic' cimicifuga, and 'Evergold' carex.

I'm going backwards today, as this is the view of the backyard as you enter through the gate.  The contorted filbert at right put on a lot of new growth this year.

I'll end with this photo of the front yard.  You see it's the time of year for 'octopus arms' on the roses.  Soon the fall colors will be on display before another long Spokane winter, so I'm soaking up the green views while I can.