Mid-Atlantic Gardening: "Sitting Deck" , 1 by rcn48

rcn48 wrote:
I didn't have much time this spring to plant but in the last month the push has been on to fill as many spaces as possible with all the plants I had been holding since spring!

I tried to get a panoramic view of this area but had to give up and just place the photos side by side to show you. There is a climbing Rose planted to the left of the arbor (not showing in this photo) which has grown well since planting last year and will hopefully climb up and over the arbor soon. There are two Clematis planted on either side as well. Unfortunately the original plan for double blooming pink Clematis failed when the plants I received had been labeled incorrectly. The purple Clematis on the right is DEFINITELY not the one I intended to buy :( It's hard to see but just below the purple Clematis I recently planted a new non-climbing Clematis recta 'Midnight Masquerade' http://www.edelweissperennials.com/largeview.asp?id=66. The plants are difficult to see in the photo - but I'll try to give you an idea of what's planted here.

Left - variegated Caryopteris 'Snow Fairy', yellow 'Julia Childs' rose, and Abelia 'Flat Creek' planted along the edges of the deck.

Center: The rock is situated where the beginning of another path will lead through this border and as soon as I get more rocks collected they will line the path. The shrub in the middle behind the rock is the new Harry Lauder's Walking Stick - Corylus avellana 'Red Majestic'. It has deep purple foliage early in the year but changes to green by mid summer and will have the same unique twisty branches of Harry Lauder. Several Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' have been planted in front of the other Abelia and there is a Lacebark Elm (Ulmus parviflora 'Frosty') planted in the middle along the edge of the deck. This is a lovely tree with fine white margins on the leaves and I'm attempting to train it to grow as a horizontal branching 'wall' on this side of the deck.

Right: In the middle is Crepe Myrtle 'Dynamite' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/38054/ which was gorgeous when blooming last month. I've left the branching for now but as it grows I'll prune out the lower branches to show the wonderful bark. Two other dwarf Crepe Myrtles are planted at the base - 'Cherry Dazzle' and 'Chickasaw'. When they bloom I might find that the colors don't work with each other, but for now they're staying! The three small plants are Dracocephalum which I'm hoping will quickly grow together and form a groundcover along the front border.