Early May

The tulips are finishing up and the Royal Raindrops crabapple trees have passed their peak.  Although I've been enjoying the cheerful yellow of the cushion spurge (Euphorbia polychroma), looking at this photo makes me wonder if they don't look out of place with the other colors.  Perhaps I could transplant the spurge elsewhere.

We've been picking thousands of baby crabapple seedlings.  They just keep coming.

I sure love the pink flowers, though, and the birds love the tiny crabapples.  This spring we've had more songbirds in the backyard than ever before.  We've delighted in the robins and several types of finches.  Pine siskin finches built a nest in the dead honeysuckle twigs on the swing set, but we saw one of the parents get eaten by a hawk.  Peeking into the nest revealed a lone egg which might never hatch.  So sad.

Some of the poppies and peonies have fat buds that will open soon, depending on the temperatures.  Highs in the 60's and rain are showing in the forecast for the next week.

The last of the tulips are blooming in shades of purple and deep pink as the Purple Sensation alliums begin to open.  Lily flowered Merlot has remained in bloom for a long time.

A pair of windstorms knocked the heads off seven or eight of the Blue Spectacle tulips, but the ones that survived are looking gorgeous with Merlot.

Black Hero and Menton Exotic join Merlot, Blue Spectacle and Margarita in this shot.

This view looks different from last year since my husband graciously dug out one of the giant Katherine Havemeyer lilacs.  It was quickly replaced other shrubs from overcrowded positions.  Although I love lilacs, my six KH lilacs send out endless suckers up to ten feet away from the original shrubs.  They require a lot of pruning to remove dead wood, and their form is messy.  The two weeks while they're in bloom is glorious, but I'm happy to have more room for other plants in my small garden. 

The slightly crooked broken fountain is planted with Pacific Ice sempervivum (hens and chicks) this year.  It's been difficult to keep other plants watered in its shallow bowl during the past few summers, so I'm hoping the hens and chicks will require less supplemental watering.

Although shrubs and perennials are still in the process of leafing out for spring, there's a lot more green in this shot than there was a few weeks ago. 
I've been dreaming up new projects and figuring out how to squeeze more plants, especially new evergreen shrubs, into the landscape.  But projects will have to wait as I gave myself tendinitis in my hand after pruning too much.  Gardening teaches patience in many ways, eh?

Starlight Dogwood Tree - Sturdy, Beautiful New Hybrid

Dogwoods are my favorite flowering trees.  I was already growing a white Cornus florida, a dark pink C. florida, a 'Stellar Pink' C. florida x C. kousa hybrid and two 'Heart Throb' C. kousa dogwoods when the owner of a local nursery told me about a vigorous new hybrid called 'Starlight.'  This C. kousa x C. nuttallii hybrid came from Rutger University's dogwood breeding program, which also created 'Stellar Pink' and the popular 'Venus.'.   After hearing the enthusiasm of this experienced nursery owner (who has been selling plants longer than I've been alive), I found places to plant three of them.

And they have lived up to the hype so far.  My 'Starlight' dogwoods are vigorous, upright growers.  The Rutger's program reports that no insect or disease problems have been seen on the original seedling in nearly thirty years of growth. 'Starlight' can grow in USDA Zones 6A through 9.

The 'Starlight' flowers are gorgeous, large, plentiful and incredibly long lasting.  I observed flowers emerging last year in May when my crabapple trees were blooming, and the flowers were still beautiful on the dogwoods when my astilbes bloomed in early July.  We had a cool spring, but even so that's an incredibly long flowering time for a tree.  In contrast, my crabapple tree blooms generally last less than two weeks.  And my crabapples need a lot of pruning to keep a nice shape, while my dogwoods have a beautiful natural growth habit.

Here is a photo of the emerging blooms.  The flower petals are actually bracts, which helps them last longer.  As you see, they emerge green before maturing to white.  In fall small reddish fruits develop and the leaves turn maroon before dropping.

Dogwoods grow as understory trees in the wild, so they generally don't grow as well in intense heat (like up against a west-facing wall).  My three trees are all growing in partial shade, and they seem very happy.  Dogwoods prefer rich, moist but well drained soil, so I have added compost to the surrounding soil and I make sure they get regular water.  Rutger's reports that 'Starlight' has decent drought tolerance once established, though it surely grows better with regular moisture.

I planted this 'Starlight' tree two years ago, and it has already put on a lot of new growth.  Eventually it should grow about twenty five feet tall and twenty feet wide, though I'll prune it to keep it narrower in my small yard.

I spent time reading about all the new dogwood hybrids released by Rutger's University (http://agproducts.rutgers.edu/dogwood/varieties.html) , and I'm glad I chose 'Starlight.'  The local nursery owner favored it over 'Venus' because of its vigor, though 'Venus' has slightly larger flowers.  'Starlight' is supposed to bloom one week earlier than 'Venus' as well.

Once again I find myself feeling very grateful for innovative plant breeders who create improved hybrids for me to enjoy in my garden.  I've been delighted with my three 'Starlight' trees already and look forward to watching them become even more beautiful as they mature.

Autumn Changes

Autumn is moving quickly this year, with our first frost occurring October 2.  My family has been helping to clean up but there's more to do each day as perennials give out and leaves continue to fall.  The photo above was taken a few weeks ago as the 'Shademaster' honey locusts trees turned yellow, then golden, then orange, and then the leaves fell.

A month ago the white garden was full of white flowers, green leaves and a few 'Karma Choc' dahlia blooms.

Now that area of the garden is going bare quickly.  The 'Spring Snow' crabapple trees lost their leaves earlier than usual this year.  Leaving their fallen leaves to rot in place last year led to a bad fungal scab problem this year.  They were dropping spotted leaves throughout the season, though our dry summers meant they didn't completely defoliate in midsummer as can happen in rainy, humid climates.  This year we're raking and removing all the SS leaves and I'll spray the ground and trunks with copper in the spring to reduce the scab problem.  Live and learn. The honey locust and 'Royal Raindrops' crabapple leaves will be left, though.

Here is the Northwest corner a month ago, with the RR crabapples still sporting pretty maroon leaves.

Now the area features orange tones on the crabapple leaves and fewer flowers along the path.  Last week I sprayed beneficial nematodes around the lilacs, peonies and roses in my backyard in hopes of controlling my root weevil problem.  I thought the chewed-up leaves were from carpenter bees or grasshoppers, but a mention of root weevils by one of the employees at a nearby nursery led to the realization that I had a big problem throughout much of my garden.  The adults don't hurt the plants too much by nibbling on leaves, but the larvae eating the roots can cause great harm.  I think that's why one of my 'Blue Angel' hostas grew much smaller this year than last year.

The 'Caesar's Brother' Siberian iris leaves collapse in fall despite the help of wire supports.  They'll turn completely yellow and then golden-orange if we don't drop too far below freezing in the next weeks.

Last month the west garden was still cheerful and full.  Tiny starts of 'Dazzleberry' sedum were planted along the edges of the path and finally matured enough to make a nice show this season.  You can only see a couple of them from this angle, but the blue-violet leaves, deep pink blooms, and rusty seedheads have added a lot of color and interest.  I'm slowly joining the sedum fan club.  In addition to 'Dazzleberry,' my collection now includes 'Angelina,' 'Matrona,' 'Lemonjade,' 'Cherry Tart,' 'Blue Spruce,' and 'Blue Pearl.'

Now the few remaining plants in the west garden are looking a little lonely and a trellis is begging to be straightened.  I know some gardeners leave dead perennials clumps throughout the winter and enjoy the textures, but we usually get enough snow to smash them flat.  And spring is always busy enough without adding fall chores to the list, so we're getting as much cleanup done as possible this month.

These cute autumn crocus flowers are reminders that spring will come eventually.  I've started planting bulbs but still have more to finish after my last order arrives in the mail.  This fall I'm adding 15 lilies, 30 alliums, 166 tulips, and about 50 other bulbs.  I've also planted 3 'Chocolate Shogun' astilbes, 8 'Prairie Dusk' penstemons, 6 'Moody Blues' and 2 'Hocus Pocus' veronicas, 3 'Harlem' poppies, 2 'Berry Awesome' hardy hibiscuses, a 'Lemon Chiffon' herbaceous peony, 2 'Mini Mauvette' hydrangeas and a 'Little Quickfire' hydrangea.  I thought my garden was mostly full but apparently there's still plenty of room!

End of May Color

After years of head scratching and transplanting, the Northwest corner is finally looking pretty good this year, and I think I've got enough later-bloomers to keep it in color throughout the growing season.

'Medallion' Oriental poppies are the stars this year.  I nearly gave up on them when they were so floppy while growing in a more shaded site.  I'm so glad I found a place for them in the sun and gave them a second chance.  'Caradonna' salvia, 'Totally Tangerine' geum and 'Caesar's Brother' Siberian iris are in the background.

Here is a broader view of the area with a pink 'Rivida' peony in bloom at bottom right.

The 'Ambassador' alliums are still my favorite large allium, although their great height (4-5' for me) makes it harder to place them in the garden.  I never thought of purple as my favorite color, but it must be my favorite garden color since I have so much of it.  Me and the bees.

This is the current view while standing at the entrance gate to the backyard and looking north.

And here is the view looking south toward the garden gate.  I have the 'Firestorm' geum and 'Dusseldorf Pride' armeria planted in zig-zags across the path. 

The peonies come and go so quickly.  This is an early red that I received from a friend.

I have two small 'Buckeye Belle' peonies that have such deep color.  Luscious.

My 'Stellar Pink' dogwood has recovered from transplanting two years ago and looks better than ever.  It had to be moved to accommodate our remodel, and it gets a little more sun in this spot at the northeast corner of the house.  That extra sun has paid off in extra blooms this year.

Sweet 'Stellar Pink.'  This is one of the excellent new dogwood hybrids from Rutger's University.

Spring Petal Shower

The 'Royal Raindrops' crabapple trees are coming into bloom this week as the 'Spring Snow' crabapples drop their petals.  I have been busy in the garden with all the spring chores.  It's so nice to be outside again after a long winter.

Creeping phlox and Euphorbia polycroma add color at ground level along with a few tulips.

Long blooming 'Margarita' tulips are finishing up as 'Black Hero' begins to open.  I really need to plant more tulips this fall!

By fall I have less energy for planting bulbs, but in spring I always wonder why I didn't plant many more of them.  In this main sunny bed, I'm planning to add more double tulips for next year, like 'Orange Princess,' 'Abba,' 'Miranda,' 'Black Hero,' and 'Menton Exotic.' 

Allium leaves have been providing green color for over a month, and the earliest allium bloomers are starting to open their buds.  My alliums increase each year and have been divided and transplanted around the garden.

On warm days we've been enjoying the new bench swing.  Soon this corner will be shady when the honey locust trees finally finish leafing out.

My six 'Katherine Havemeyer' lilac shrubs are blooming now.  I wish I'd planted six different types instead, but in the past couple of years I found space for deep violet 'Yankee Doodle' and reddish-purple 'Charles Joly.'  These aren't blooming yet.  Maybe next year.

I planted annual verbena, euphorbia and dichondra in the bottom section of my broken black fountain.  The sprinklers reach it, though I might have to supplement water in the hottest part of summer.

I'm happy to finally look out the window and see so much green.

May is a magical time in the garden.  There's even more color coming next month, but I have to remind myself to fully enjoy what's happening now.

The west garden is cheerful as usual.  Spring is so great. 

Privacy in Suburbia

In my last post I wrote about using columnar shrubs and trees for privacy.  I want to continue on that topic since privacy in the yard has been on my mind a lot lately.  At this time of year I want to be outside working in the garden, but I feel very exposed since the trees haven't leafed out yet.  I have mentioned before that I can see parts of sixty-three houses from various points in my backyard.  This is the view of my NW corner from my bedroom window, and you can see quite a few of the neighboring homes in the scene.  I'm usually careful to crop the photo of this view, but here is the full disclosure.  However, the columnar Norway spruce at left will eventually block the view of Santa (from my previous post) on the neighboring rooftop.  Supposedly it can reach 20' tall and 5-6' wide in ten years.  Grow, baby, grow!

From ground level, one neighboring home is still very apparent at this time of year.  Thankfully these neighbors have planted quite a few trees in their yard to help screen the view.  When my columnar Norway spruce and their blue spruce (to the right of this shot) are mature, they will block part of the view between our houses year-round.  The thicket of deciduous branches at center will get thicker as time goes by and eventually provide decent screening.

The view of the same area from another angle features another neighboring home.  Again, my thicket of deciduous branches ('Royal Raindrops' crabapple trees) and two maples planted over the fence will block more of the view in coming years.  These neighbors have an oak tree planted in their yard that will also contribute to the thicket of branches in ensuing winters.  Slowly, this view will be mostly blocked.

The winter screening in my NE corner (viewed from my window) isn't going to get much better than this.  The honey locust trees leaf out late and drop their leaves early.  Their branches will thicken somewhat, but not enough to really block the view of the neighboring white house and the items that are usually stored on their back deck.  That house had a flowering plum tree planted in their neighboring corner when I planned my landscape, but the tree has since died.

Now that my backyard garden has year-round interest, I like looking out my window every morning and evening.  In winter the snow makes a lovely addition to the bare branches, evergreens and boulders.  I'd like the view to include fewer neighboring houses so I can focus on what's happening in my yard.

Here is the NE corner from ground level.  The trees across the fence are mostly quaking aspens, which leaf out early and drop their leaves later than my honey locusts.  On a side note, our new bench swing is wonderful to sit on but is shockingly bright white.  Hopefully it will get a little dirty in time and blend better with our dirty white fence, ha.

This shot of the NE corner from farther back inspires me with how much screening a thicket of bare branches (lilac, crabapple and honey locust) can provide.

In the very corner of my NE area, a 'Shasta' doublefile viburnum is filling the space as it matures.  A 'Shademaster' honey locust is planted eleven feet from the corner, and three 'Green Mountain' boxwoods are growing on either side of the viburnum.

There is not enough space to plant evergreens (columnar Norway spruce or even Arborvitaes) unless I rip out the viburnum.  I don't have another spot in the yard with enough space for that large shrub (10-12' wide at maturity), and I'd be sad to lose it completely.  But dogwood trees are understory trees in the forest.  They grow underneath other trees and close together.  I'm tossing around the idea of snugging two 'Starlight' dogwoods on either side of the viburnum, next to the boxwoods.  I'd have to plant them right next to the fence and plan to prune off lower branches to leave room for the viburnum and fence.  But eventually the thicket of branches above the fence would provide more screening for this area, plus the dogwoods would bloom and leaf out a month before the honey locust.  I could increase my dogwood total to seven trees, which is always a good thing.  Would I rather have this corner a little crowded but more private?  Yes.  Do I mind pruning?  No.  Hmm, this idea has merit.  I'm going to mull it over a little more.

I'll finish with this shot of the SE corner of my yard.  A dogwood planted across the fence in my front yard will someday screen the neighboring windows a little better.  Building privacy with trees in a climate with a short growing season requires patience.  I wish I had done a better job of planning for privacy a decade ago, but better late than never, eh?