Annual Gardens at Spokane Temple 2017

Here are some photos of the Spokane LDS Temple annual gardens from August.  The spiral bed above (named for the spiral Juniper topiaries) features 'Lighthouse Purple' salvia, which was a new plant this year and a great performer.  It's always interesting to see which plants really take off, as it's different each year.  The 'Purple' superbena was also very vigorous this year.

I chose to use several foliage plants for season-long color, including 'Wasabi' coleus, 'Blackie' sweet potato vine, and silver licorice vine.  'Orchid Charm' supertunias and black petunias contributed blooms along with 'Profusion Double Cherry' zinnias.  I was not pleased with the performance of 'Summer Jewel Lavender' salvia, whose flower spikes looked washed out in bloom and quickly turned brown.

'King Tut' papyrus continued as a favorite at either side of the front door.

The front sidewalk beds outside the gates included deer resistant zinnias, salvia (which struggled due to watering issues early in the season), verbena, licorice vine, celosia and geraniums.  I also used lime sweet potato vines, which the deer like to munch, so we inserted several Deer Fortress canisters around the area.  They contain dried blood which humans can't smell but which does a pretty good job of keeping the deer away.

The northwest corner was planted in sunset colors:  'Lighthouse Purple' and 'Victoria' salvia, 'Double Deep Salmon' and 'Coral Pink' Profusion zinnias, and 'Arrow Orange' snapdragons.

I included several purple fountain grasses (Pennisetum), but they took a long time to grow to a large enough size to make much of an impact.

Here's one more shot of this area.  I love how this color scheme turned out.

The east rectangle raised bed was planted in 'Bermuda Beach' and 'Mini White' supertunias, 'Royale Iced Cherry' and 'Royale Cherryburst' superbenas, and silver licorice vine.  The warm pinks looked great together at planting, but then the 'Bermuda Beach' petunias seemed to revert back to a cooler pink.  Or perhaps 'Vista Bubblegum' reseeded from last year?  It's a bit of a mystery.

The south arc was planted less closely this year after I received feedback that it looked too overgrown last year (we had a hot summer in 2016 and the zinnias grew more vigorously than ever before).  In this photo I think it looks too sparse, but if our summer had been as long and hot as the last one, these plants would have filled in better.  That's the excitement of working with nature, as you never know what surprises are in store.

Here's one more shot of that area.  I already made the plan for next year's annuals and turned it in to our grower so she can order seeds for next spring.  It's fun to tweak the color schemes each year and try out some new plants.

Spokane Temple Summer Gardens 2017

The annual flower beds at the Spokane LDS Temple are full of cheerful color right now.  Above is one of the Front Door Beds featuring 'King Tut' papyrus at back with 'Victoria' salvia, 'Double Deep Salmon Profusion' zinnias, 'Royale Silverdust Superbena' verbena, and 'Orchid Charm Supertunia' petunias, plus a chartreuse sun-tolerant coleus and black petunia whose names I have forgotten.

A closer look at the bed reveals that the black petunias are really deepest burgundy.  It felt daring to include a black flower in this bed - would it be dark and depressing? - but it has acted as a nice foil for the other bright colors in the mix.

This year I used plenty of chartreuse 'Margeurite' and 'Blackie' sweet potato vines for season-long color without any deadheading.  The Spiral Bed above, named for the spiral topiary juniper shrub in the corner, includes more of the salvia, zinnias and petunias from the nearby Front Door Bed.

It's always interesting to watch the color schemes change through the season as different plants reach peak bloom or take a break.  Earlier in the season the 'Magenta Arrow' snapdragons added a lot of deep pink to these areas, but in the heat the snaps are taking a bit of a rest.  Now there is a peach, chartreuse and violet color scheme for the area.

The 'King Tut' papyri in the South Arc bed have exceeded expectations this year and might reach six feet tall by the end of the season.  Violet 'Royal Velvet Supertunia' petunias, 'Double Cherry Profusion' zinnias, 'Double Deep Salmon Profusion' zinnias, 'Margeurite' sweet potato vine, and 'Tango Dark Red' geraniums fill the base of the bed.

Sometimes Spokane summers aren't warm enough to elicit strong growth from heat-loving zinnias, but the warmer than usual growing season this year has led to especially vigorous zinnias.

A final shot from the Northwest Corner bed catches more happy zinnias along with verbena, snapdragons, licorice vine, salvia, and celosia.  This week I finalized planting plans for 2017 and sent my list of requests to Appleway Greenhouse so they can order seeds and plugs for the next year.  It's always an adventure to create to plant combinations in my head then see how they turn out in real life - not always how I imagined but sometimes even better.  I'm grateful to continue to be involved with the Temple grounds in this way.

Annual Gardens at Temple in July 2014

It is especially nice to dig out summer photos in December when the temperature is down in the teens and the sky is grey.  Here are some photos from July of the annual gardens near the front entrance of the Spokane Temple.  Above on the left you can see 'King Tut' papyrus, which has been a great performer for us for several years.

Above you see the 'Bordeaux' supertunias are just getting started with their rambunctious growth.  I can't remember the exact cultivar of coleus that we planted, but you can see how interesting it is with touches of maroon at the base of the lime leaves.  Tall 'Senorita Rosalita' cleome is a sturdy performer and attracts butterflies.  In summer we often had sulphurs and cabbage whites fluttering about.

We use a lot of mauve in the annual beds to tie in to the permanent Liatris plantings at the back of this shot.  Clouds of 'Diamond Frost' euphorbia, purple alyssum and light blue lobelia add airiness to the annual design in contrast to the chunky petunias and lime green sweet potato vine.

Last week during a blessed thaw we planted the tulips and other bulbs in these beds, and we dug up several sweet potato tubers from these 'Marguerite' vines.  My husband and another volunteer tried a slice.  Hmmm . . . interesting, they said.  We didn't take them home to add to the Thanksgiving table.

This area is becoming more lovely each year as the permanent shrubs and trees mature.  In this shot the berries on the large 'Wentworth' cranberry bushes at right are just starting to turn cheery red.  By December many of them have turned to brown mush after single digit temperatures, but they were pretty for several months.

Above silvery licorice vine (Helichrysum) and the sweet potato vine clamber happily over the front wall of the 'Spiral' beds.  By the time the annuals were removed in October, they had grown large and lovely.  We didn't plant any along the other edge of the bed since they crawl over the sidewalk and have to be cut back frequently.

This is a final shot of the area just outside the gates.  Deer or rabbits munch on the petunias if we plant them farther away from the gate, but the lights deter them, so we have a few on each side.  Silver dusty miller and plum '3D Purple' African daisies (Osteospermum) stretch out in front of the mauve daylilies.  It's nice to look forward to the beauty awaiting next year while taking a break from gardening chores for a few months.

Annual Gardens in South Arc and East Rectangle of Spokane Temple

 

Here are a few photos of the annual beds on the south and east sides of the Spokane Temple.  We use bold colors in the south arc because soft colors look washed out by the intense sun bouncing off the white granite walls of the temple.  Above is a 'Double Cherry Profusion' (or Zahara?) zinnia with a 'Big Green Leaf' begonia on the left and 'Dakota Gold' helenium on the right, plus a touch of parsley at the bottom right.  Marilyn and I noticed parsley in some of the annual gardens at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, so we decided to try it here.

 

This wide view of the south arc garden shows purple fountain grass (Pennisetum) reaching above the other annuals.  I had high hopes for these grasses but they didn't grow tall enough to create the effect I was imagining.  We had to buy two types of fountain grass to get enough for the different gardens, and the plain old Pennisetum purpureum that we used here didn't grow nearly as vigorously as the hybrid 'Prince' fountain grass in other beds.  Deep violet petunias, red zonal geraniums and single flowered orange 'Profusion' or 'Zahara' zinnias add to the mix. 

Marilyn and I have already submitted a list of requested plants to the grower for next year, and the plan for this area is to simplify a bit and use just the two colors of zinnias, violet supertunias, red geraniums and lime sweet potato vines. 

The south arc may not have turned out quite as good as planned, but the two pots outside the south gates turned out better than I imagined.  The 'Prince' purple fountain grasses here grew like mad.  You can't see it well from this angle, but a 'King Tut' papyrus is planted next to the grass and also did well.  Since we have deer and rabbit pressure out here, we used violet 'Imagination' verbena instead of petunias and some red Celosia and red ivy geraniums. 

Here is a final photo showing the east rectangle.  This little garden is completely surrounded by pale concrete, so I thought it would be nice to use dark, dramatic colors.  We keep the plantings here short since wedding photographers often pose groups on one side and shoot from the other side, and we don't want the plants in their way.  'Blackie' sweet potato vines and 'Dakota Gold' helenium did well in this area.  Unfortunately, we couldn't find the rusty-orange 'Sedona' coleus I had selected, so we used Persian shield instead and it turned out boring.  I had planned to use 'Sangria Charm' supertunias, but we couldn't get those either, and these trailing petunias didn't grow nearly as large as supertunias would have.  There are challenges each year with finding the right plants and that requires last minute adjustments, but that's just part of the adventure of gardening.  A plant combo that worked well one year could be a disaster the next year if weather conditions are very different.  You just hope for the best and wait to be surprised!

Snapdragons, Verbena and Zinnias in a Vibrant Bed

Snapdragons - some planted, some volunteers - are blooming cheerfully among zinnias, verbena and African daisies (Osteospermum) in the northwest corner garden at the Spokane Temple.  Last year the flowers in this area were kind of blah - I can say that since I made the design - but this year we used more colors, watering issues were solved, and the area looks better.

Tall salmon-colored 'Senora' zinnias (above) and shorter 'Zahara' Cherry zinnias are happy about the hot summer we've been having.  In cool years zinnias don't grow as well.

'Magenta Ribbon' snapdragons reseeded last year and were welcome surprises this year.  'Arrow Orange' snapdragons are the main filler in the bed.  I love their sunset shades.

'Imagination' verbena provides the purple color you see above.  This area experiences deer pressure, so we are limited in what we can plant.  Last year voles ate many of the plants, but this year we've avoided that damage so far.  Sometimes rabbits nibble here as well.  Deer seem to leave geraniums alone, but we learned a couple of years ago that rabbits seem to like them.  So there aren't any geraniums in the mix this year.

'Purple Prince' fountain grass (Pennisetum) adds some linear texture toward the back of the bed.  I was hoping for a darker purple grass, but this is what the grower had.  Designing flower beds at the temple always involves last-minute substitutions when requested plants aren't available.

We planted a bunch of vibrant orange African daisies, which made a great addition to the color scheme, but they stopped blooming right after planting and many haven't started again.   You can't see any in the shot above.  I know they don't enjoy hot temperatures, so perhaps they will perk up and start blooming again in September.

Here is a last shot taken just before sunset.  I don't plant hardly any annuals in my home garden - just cosmos ('Cranberry Double Click') and laceflower (Ammi visnaga) this year - so it's really fun to get to work with annuals at the temple.  I have more photos of this year's annual beds to post over the next few weeks.

Celebrate Spring with Double Red Tulips - Oh, Miranda!

Spring bulbs are peaking over at the Spokane Temple right now.  Thousands of perennials daffodils outside the fence and tulips inside the fence - safe from deer - are in bloom.  The flower beds at the front doors are full of bold color, including peony-flowering 'Miranda' tulips, above and below.

Isn't Miranda fabulous?  Hooray for the breeder who came up with this gem.  Grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum), dwarf 'Tete-a-Tete' daffodils and deep pink 'Jan Bos' hyacinths form the underplanting.

We are expecting delightfully warm temperatures over the next few days - possibly up to 80 degrees F - which will emphatically spell the end of winter but also the quick end of any bulbs that happen to be blooming. 

 

 

Ah well, the uncertainty of gardening adds to its allure.  At least I dragged myself over to the temple grounds to grab photos before this flush of blooms finished.

 

 

There are a few more waves of tulips yet to bloom - orange lily-flowering 'Ballerina,' giant red 'Cashmir' and orange 'Temple of Beauty.'  The warmth won't be enough to do in the pansies, which will keep blooming their cute little heads off until we pull them out next month to plant annuals here.

 

Double orange 'Princess Irene' tulips are just coming into bloom and probably won't last long in the heat, but they'll be gorgeous for a few days.

 

 

There is a different feeling to spring in areas like Spokane where winters are so long and harsh.  When we lived in California, winter wasn't so bad so spring didn't feel so amazing.  But now we feel a great relief that we survived another long grey frigid yucky winter and we need to celebrate.

 

 

What better way to celebrate than with fluffy red tulips?  Thanks Miranda!

More Spring Temple Blooms

 

Yesterday I caught some more photos of the spring bulbs at the Spokane Temple.  Last fall I wrote about the planned bloom progression here, and things are going mostly as planned (though the bulb company was out of 'Romance' crocus and sent 'Cream Beauty' instead).  I expected that the different bulbs would overlap less, but the warm weather has them all bunched up together.   



Next to the front door the first of the 'Showwinner' Kaufmaniana tulips are already opening with 'Yellow Mammoth' crocus in the background and a few 'Cream Beauty' crocus peeking into the bottom of the shot.  

 

 

In another area just inside the front gates, crocuses that were planted in fall 2012 have already expanded into small clumps.  Last year the individual blooms looked puny, but we crossed our fingers that they would multiply quickly and they have.  These bulbs are planted among daylilies, so the emerging daylily foliage camouflages the bulb leaves when they start to die back.  That means no extra maintenance, since the bulb foliage just comes out with the daylily leaves in the fall.

 

 

We're going to add more small bulbs to this area in the fall.  I'm looking forward to a brilliant spring meadow of blooms in a few years.  Hopefully we don't have a family of voles move in, as has happened in the past.

  

Here are a couple more shots of the front door beds.  Pale blue Chionodoxa and deep royal blue Iris reticulata 'Harmony' mingle with the red tulips and yellow crocuses shown in the first photos.  Very cheerful.  'Harmony' is a beautiful true blue, though I couldn't figure out how to get my camera to represent it correctly.  These miniature iris are a great addition to the early spring repertoire of bulbs.