TWO CLASS SESSIONS FULL OF YOU visited yesterday to talk about container gardening, but for those who didn’t take the workshop in person, a recap seemed in order since it’s that time: everything into the pots! [read more…]
ornamental plants
Even in my cold Zone 5B climate, I aim for a 365-day garden. Selecting the right plants is a key. The ornamental plant archive includes reliable, beloved garden subjects that I grow here, many with multiple seasons of appeal, from annuals and groundcovers all the way up to shrubs, vines and trees.
missed the workshop? container-garden 101
May 21, 2012 at 11:17 am
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garden-tour aftermath: the asked-about plants
May 14, 2012 at 9:48 am
I AM ALWAYS FASCINATED to hear what visitors comment or ask about on Garden Open Days, the first of which was Saturday and bought 275 new and old friends. I make a bet with myself on which plants it will be that rate the most, “What’s that?” or “I love it” reactions–but this year there were a few new ones on me, even after 15 years of hosting visitors. Want to see what got the most attention (besides the cat)? [read more…]
punctuating the garden: columnar evergreens
May 10, 2012 at 8:15 am
SOME PARAGRAPHS NEED PUNCTUATION, and my garden’s like that–in need of the occasional exclamation point, specifically. So for the first time in 30ish years of gardening, I’ve gone and done it: adopted an evergreen “!” to help me state the case. My choice was a columnar American arborvitae, Thuja occidentalis ‘Degroot’s Spire,’ but there are others (especially if you garden in a slightly warmer zone than my 5B). That’s it doing improvised temporary duty in a pot, above, while I figure out where it will really go. More on the topic of vertical accents, in print or podcast: [read more…]
a plant i’d order: stylophorum diphyllum
May 5, 2012 at 6:55 am
I BROUGHT THEM HOME (WITH PERMISSION!) from Wave Hill, the public garden in the Bronx, a couple of decades ago: a few delightfully fuzzy, fat seedpods of celandine poppy from plants that brightened the perimeter of their famed Wild Garden. Stylophorum diphyllum has been a bright, shiny companion ever since in my shady and semi-shady borders, a native American wildflower that animals don’t eat; pests don’t chew, and that doesn’t get diseases. [read more…]
must-have (for you and the birds): crabapples
May 1, 2012 at 10:43 am
IT’S HARD TO THINK OF ANOTHER TREE that gets more appreciation here from me and the birds. (And don’t forget: I know what birds like, even beyond crabapples.) This last week has been crabapple time on my hillside (above), and it made me think about how much I love these extra-showy members of the genus Malus, and not just in flower. [read more…]
more frost and freezes: minimizing damage
April 28, 2012 at 4:24 pm
I DON’T RECALL A STRETCH of weather as erratic as the last year: nonstop 2011 rain; violent storms; nearly 2 feet of October snow but no winter precipitation; a dry-hot-extra-early spring, and now, the final blow–multiple freeze warnings, the first last night. My way-advanced garden, and the way-advanced natural landscape around it–all those tender leaves that are out too early for their own good–now what? Most is beyond my control, but I decided to try to protect some big-leaved perennials–hostas, and Astilboides tabularis and such–figuring even a few victories would feel better than doing nothing. A timely review of what to do, and a little slideshow of my latest madcap garden decor. [read more…]
2 becomes 200: how to divide trillium
April 22, 2012 at 9:41 am
I DON’T RECALL HOW I FOUND THEM—maybe it was while fixing something, or painting the house all those years ago. But for some reason I was down at ground level, peering under the floor of the front porch, and there they were, in near-darkness: two tiny trillium plants. I rescued them, and you know how it goes when a plant thanks you for your help: Now I have hundreds, thanks to those first two, and to a tip handed down from a great gardener about dividing them when they’re in flower. Yes, like right now. [read more…]
a plant i’d order: jeffersonia diphylla
April 18, 2012 at 3:58 pm
IT PUSHES UP OUT of the ground all crazy-colored and not green, the way some of my favorite early-arising native woodlanders do presumably to disguise themselves from hungry awakening herbivores. And then Jeffersonia diphylla, or twinleaf, proceeds to distinguish itself in other ways, too. Put it right alongside the pathway so you can appreciate all its aspects up-close: [read more…]
beloved conifer: prostrate japanese plum yew
April 15, 2012 at 10:06 am
I KILLED, OR AT LEAST MAIMED, ITS UPRIGHT COUSIN. TWICE. But the prostrate-growing Japanese plum yew, Cephalotaxus harringtoniana ‘Prostrata,’ just keeps happily stretching its legs—and arms—on my back hillside. A handsome, heat-tolerant conifer that creates a sprawl of semi-glossy green groundcover in the shade…even though it’s many times wider than any book or other reference promised. More of a good thing, I guess you could say, and also deer-resistant. [read more…]
