Hi all,
I am starting a thread of my garden in an effort to duplicate Lincolnitess's chronological posts. I already missed daffodil season, but here is a partial picture of what my garden looked like in April. I'm not sure why I didn't take more pictures!
The daffodil in the foreground is 'Notre Dame' and the house in the background is my neighbor's.
Suzy
This is more of a landscape shot. The lens was dirty, or the sun was really bright ,because the daffodils don't show up well at all. :( In any case, it shows them growing in English Ivy, the bane of my garden.
These pictures were taken in April, BTW.
Suzy
More, please? Pretty please?
Suzy~ Vey pretty, even the ivy. You are right, clumps of the same flowers together makes the most impact. Please continue...:0)
Suzy, so glad you started this thread! As problematic as the ivy is, at least it is quite attractive with clumps of daffs arising from it. I have an area of ivy here at the new place that is not very large, but is giving me concern. It must have been there for several years (this house sat empty for a couple of years), so its curious to me that it has'nt taken over more.
Looking forward to more pics!
Neal
Oh you guys -- I am so frustrated! I have the pictures taken and can't get them off the camera because the software is corrupt. We have a way of getting them from the laptop to my desktop, but I don't know the way. I have to wait for Mr. Clean to do it for me tonight. Grrrrr.
Suzy
I am almost sure I saw Autumn crocus (colchicum) blooming in a large bed of ivy at the Chicago Botanic Garden last fall. I don't completely trust my memory but I'll check with them to find out. It was some ground cover and I'm about 90% sure it was English ivy. I'm sure about the colchicums. It made a beautiful picture. I'll try to get a photo this year. Actually, I should go there soon and see if I can find the colchicum foliage. It should be easy to spot right now.
Suzy, you might not need a program to download it - are you running Windows? It has it's own Wizard, or you can use something like PIcasa (free from Google) too.... lemme know if there's anything I can help you with.
Phew! I got the pictures off, but they aren't any good and I'll have to retake them in the morning or afternoon - the hot sun is just too bright.
Here are a couple that made the cut.
I generally take all my pictures with the garden shed to my back. This is one from the patio looking *toward* the garden shed. It shows a giant Allium, Iris 'Stepping Out' and the tree is a Sweet Bay Magnolia.
Suzy
This shows just a couple of pots with a small lilac behind them. Hardly worth posting, but since I don't have much else... ...
The Lilac is probably a Korean Lilac, 'Miss Kim'. I go back and forth on whether it smells good or stinks. The Swallowtails never gave it the time of day, though I have read that they can't resist a Lilac.
Suzy
Here is a pictre of a deciduous azalea. I had 3 of these, but they ripped one up when they put in the driveway, so now I only have 2. They "get as tall as a tall man and as wide as a fat one." according to the old White Flower Farm catalog. And indeed, they do.
Suzy
And this is a fancy kind of Linaria...I think I have that right. Usually they are plain yellow. I wintersowed these and broke the batch into 4 pieces because someone said they need each other to hold themselves up. I shoud have planted the whole thing in one place because this is a very small "plant".
Suzy
Love that azalea, what is the name if you can remember, and do they still carry it?
Is Linaria the same thing as Toad flax? They are very pretty, I wonder what a whole bunch of 'em would look like...
Thanks for the wonderful pics, Suzy!
PG5 - I bought it locally. The WFF catalog was talking about deciduous azaleas in general, well, they were talking about Exbury Azaleas which they carried in various colors. This is the newer kind,,,the tag is probably buried with the plant, but I can probably resurrect it to get the name.
(I bury all plastic plant tags with the plants. It's the only way I know to keep the name with the plant under any circumstance.)
PC - Yes, I wondered that, too. I wonder if I sowed the whole pack of seed or if I have more of them. I will definitely let this baby reseed to its heart's content! I have a feeling they are a short lived annual. Will die once they bloom, or else they die because it gets too hot (like Bachelor's Buttons) I might try to keep it deadheaded, but I have a feeling it won't really make it bloom all summer.
Suzy
Suzy
Thanks for the info - I tried to let Toadflax reseed one year- only got one more plant from it, clear across my yard! Might be one where it has to be eaten by a bird, and then, and then.....>smile< ... where'd ya get the seeds, do you remember?
Suzy, I really liked your 'Notre Dame'. While looking for it, I discovered another money pit for me.
http://www.daffodilsandmore.com/catWO.htm as I went to Daffseek ( thank you for the link) to check ND out and saw that it was a Brian Duncan daffodil and then I found the David Burdick site and that he sold some of the Duncan's, but not ND and that led me to the ADS and the other US sources they list. Oh, my! I think I will join today. Hooked. I never found a source for ND, but lots of other gems to buy. Thanks. I enjoy seeing your garden. Patti
This message was edited May 19, 2007 7:30 AM
Dave Burdick is in your neck of the woods, isn't he? ROAD TRIP! Well, I know it would be a long trip, b not that long -- now like driving to Oregon!
BTW, his bulbs (Daffodils and More) are great quality and grow well. Cascade Daffodils is no longer in business.
Suzy
Suzy, I have enjoyed the pictures so far. Keep them coming, you really have some beautiful gardens! I know you will have so much more color come June and July.
toofew
Suzy, I just looked up Dalton, Ma and found it to be in the far western part of the state, but about an hour from my Vt house. So a visit to Dave Burdick is easy. I notice you have a Miss Kim Lilac. The (what I think) Miss Kim growing in Southern Vt a few feet from my house, but on my neighbors property, is a very late, much smaller with more rose than lilac colored blooms that are quite upright rather than droopy than the good old fashioned Syringa Vulgaris that it is planted along side it. They are blooming now and the Miss Kim (?) won't bloom until June. I have been thinking of planting one in Nantucket because it would most likely not bloom until June here too. It is suppose to have some fall color, burgundy tones, but I can't say I have ever noticed that, but in Vt, I am not looking for subtle, so maybe I will check it out for color next fall. I have looked for some suckers to snag to drag back to Nantucket, but I haven't found any yet. I also need a white one here in Nantucket. I planted a white one in Vt a couple of years back on my neighbors property (we are great pals) next to my pale yellow shed ,so I will bring a sucker back from it this year. This is a great article on lilacs, which I have printed out to take to the Arnold Arboretum next week when we go to take in their amazing lilac collection. I will use it as a check list for future lilac thoughts. The trip is olfactory must which we try to do every few years. Patti http://www.co.allen.in.us/images/stories/Purdue%20CES/Horticulture/ach206.pdf
Patti,
Sounds like you could definitely go past his place on one of your trips up north, and yes! I would love to get to Arnold Arvboretum during Lilac time!!!! Just one more thing to put on the old to do list. This is the "to do before I die list" LOL!
Thanks for the link. I didn't know that about liliacs -- thought they were native -- at least the big vulgaris. I have 2 large named unusual lilacs and would love to dig them up to put in the regular vulgaris. One of mine is a purple-plum double and not worth the space it's taking up.
Toofew, I might have made a teeny tiny mistake by getting rid of all my perennials last year in favor of annuals....I sort of forgot about having to plant them all. LOL! Sunday I just bought a couple flats of perennials to put back in. I was sick of the old ones and not sorry I got rid of them. Sometimes they just don't look like the pictures in the catalogs and it's trial and error.
Here's what the garden looks like today. Off to the side and on the patio are more flat and pots of plants still yet to plant. On the left were the daffodils and now it's the "red bed" for Hummers.
I don't think I'll be finished planting before frost at this rate. Part of the problem is I am waiting on daffodil foliage to senesce. The other part of the problem is I have too much to do :)
Suzy
I'm not sure that picture showed the daffodils on the left....
try this one.
Suzy, I can't believe the "tiny" mistake you are admitting. I am on the floor. What was the problem with the perennials? I like some annuals, mostly in my containers which may soon take over this end of the Island and some old, not to be without favorites to plant in my beds including snapdragons, nicotiana, cosmos, petunia, larkspur, nasturtiums, zinnias, marigolds, impatiens, verbena, saliva, etc. But I think too many annuals is like just eating the frosting on the cake without the cake. But I am guilty of planting caladiums, cannas and calla lilies this year, so maybe I am going over to the 'other side' . Mt Auburn, Arnold arboritum, Daff festival in Nantucket, Dave Burdick, plus Garden in the woods in Framingham is all an easy do. I have a tomtom, so I don't even get lost. I am game. The biggest problem is that daff weekend is in late April and Lilacs Sunday in Boston was yesterday. Hummer bed? sounds like I need one! Patti
Yeah, well, they were big, old and ugly and I was happy to see the last of them, although as luck would have it, I am finding pieces and parts of them all over the garden.
You're probably wondering what they were -- Sedum Autumn Joy, Japanese Anemones; ugly varieties of Irises, Daylilies, Mums, etc. Daisy 'Becky', Bapptisia. Just gigantic perennials that were a yard across or more. They were stifling my creativity LOL!
I did keep some new perennials I bought last year...they were smaller and newer.
Here was my idea for the Hummer Garden, except for some reason I remembered more annuals in it. Oh well, will be interesting to see how mine will do from seed. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cottage/msg112001373040.html
I thought I'd like frosting better than the cake. Only now I am sick of it and want to puke. LOL! And I have so many more seeds to sow (like celosia and red sunflowers) and so many more yet to plant out!
Did you see this picture? I have about double that yet to do.
Suzy
Suzy - Lovely gardens, so full and lush. Do you have plans to go to the race this weekend?
Suzy, I can understand better. I love big masses, but if you get left with no space for the new ideas then I can agree with playing the queen, "off with their head" I spent the day playing with my sorry seedlings. I didn't do a good job this year. Lots of spindly, puny and weak seedlings. I went to a nursery to replenish my needs. I have lots of herbs coming but as they are so small it will be a long tasteless wait, so I picked up some bigger, dill basil, parsley and sage. My rosemary 'arp' which dies every few years, did so this year, so I got a replacement. I even failed at growing good marigolds, but I didn't like their varieties either. I have lots of nasturtium, hollyhocks, zinnia, digitalis and a few other annuals plus some veggies. But I picked up some snaps, and a few new perennials for me and got them in before hitting the wall. My knee holds up pretty well for having had a new ACL put in in Jan, but I think I over compensate for it and get tired more easily. But I was not even sure I would be digging with it this soon, so I am trilled with the results. I loved that red bed, and I immediately downloaded her list into my diary for future ref. Thanks, Patti
This message was edited May 24, 2007 7:01 PM
Illoquin--love the photos of your garden borders. And the idea for the red bed.
Ault Park here in Cincinnati has a similar looking mixed flower bed featuring reds that was written up last month in the American Horticulture Society Magazine. A beauty, too, and some good ideas. If you are a member of the AHS the article is available online "Exuberant by Design" by Michael Cunningham.
Sorry to hear you dug up your Japanese Anemones. (I just bought some an hour ago in the Bluestone sale!) I thought they would be nice late summer color, but I guess not?
Your wintersowing looks quite abundant--I can't wait to see pics in August. Try Picasa or your Windows program for loading pics, it works great for me (when I take decent pics!).
Hey PG, No, no race. We go to a party at the Slippery Noodle Inn with high school buds, tho, if that counts ;) This year the daffodil dig in Niles, Michigan takes place on race weekend. Not a great weekend, but the folks from Minnesota refer a three day weekend because they have a 12 hour drive time. If you can imagine 20 idiots from Nashville, TN, StL, Cinty, Indy, & Chicago sweating and digging bulbs in 25 acres -- they're grown in rows from seed like corn! -- that's us! We bring home so many that most of us drive separately so we can fill our cars/SUVs to the top and have to have a dedicated "dig suitcase" because it will be covered in dirt -- well unless we put it in a trash bag, which no one has thought of, I guess. :). We never know for sure what we'll get until we arrive and the hybridizer tells us what we're digging that day. It's a hoot! ALL of us are digging for our respective daffodil societies, but if there is something good, naturally we take a few bulbs. The hybridizer also knows which each of us loves, really loves, in terms of daffodils and makes sure we go home with some choice bulbs which are usually unavailable in commerce. I always get the really bright yellows and reds and also miniatures. Our local socieites foot part of the bill -- gas & hotel, or a part of it, so we're out the time and about $100.00 or so. It sounds like a scam, but we're happy.
Patti, Youch! That is hard to believe you can plant and kneel at all! I am just a few years behind you, but it might be my hip instead. Not sure 'cause they both hurt! LOL!
You know what the real problem is with those big plants I got rid of? I couldn't add anything small to my garden -- small like from Bluestone or a seedling I might have wintersowed because all those giant plants just grew over those little bits. Or in the caseof the Anemone, fell over them! I was having to pass on a lot of choice things just because I had ugly behemoths. That didn't make any sense!
Tabasco, No, Not an AHS member, so can't access.
The Japanese Anemone I got was Robitussima and would NOT under any circumstance, no matter how hard I tried, or what mechanics I used, stand up without falling over! I will also say they require part shade -- really sulk in the hot sun. They take a very very long time to get going...it was almost 5 years before it took off, and then, WATCH OUT! LOL!
I think you told me about Picassa, but I haven't gotten into it yet -- time to dig daffodils and the bulbs seem very small this year. I am covered with mud because sweat + soil = mud, not that the soil has any moisture. It is bone dry! And then on to Niles, so you can imagine.
If any of you want to come to Niles & dig this weekend, drop me a D-mail and I'll give you the skinny.
Suzy
Suzy ~ Finally had time to look at the "Red Bed", Girrrrlfriend!! That's an amazing idea, I absolutely love red! I have red flowers out front, with purple and yellow, so I guess I have a primary color thing going on. We have been working on the yard, Joe has been helping me a lot.
I have some comments about Japanese Anemones. I have several varieties in my garden, including Robustissima. That one does get very tall flowering stalks that arch forward. In a couple of locations in my garden it looks great and I am glad for the size. I removed it from another spot because of the same qualities. There it was too big and the arching branches encroached on my pathway so that I had to run a guantlet of bees to get past it.
Though they are listed as part shade plants, in my garden they do best in sun and even seem to be drought tolerant. And they don't get so tall in the sun. Robustissima is the best one for blooming in part shade in my experience. I haven't tried it in the sun as I have a limited amount of sunny area and didn't want to lose so much of it to such a large plant.
I have one named "Pamina" that stays a nice size and I have put divisions of it in several places. Some need support and some do not.
The picture is Pamina growing in full sun in my front garden. I also have Whirlwind out there doing very well.
I have so often found that I read the requirements for a certain plant and think I have planted it in the perfect location and it does poorly. Then I start moving it around until I find a spot it likes and it takes off like gangbusters. Of course I have had many plants over the years that simply did not like me or my yard and I finally gave up on them.
It's a mystery to me how plants behave differently in different gardens. There must be other factors at work that we are unaware of. I am zone 5a and Suzy is 5b - shouldn't make a difference, yet for me they thrive in sun - for her, better in part shade.
Well, that's part of the fun, I guess.
Suzy, your gardens are looking wonderful. I think half the fun is ripping things out and doing it all over again. "Pamina" looks like a very nice Japanese Anemone. I've tried a few that did too well for me and some that just died. May have to try that one. Keep the photos coming Suzy.
Chris, Interesting observations about the Japanese anemones. (And beautiful garden pic, too!)
I am happy that you found them valuable garden plants. A box full of them arrived Friday from the luestone sale and I just returned fromt the Ohio River Valley RU this afternoon with even more of them. I have high hopes for them, although I don't think I ordered 'Pamina'.
OK Illoquin, let's see some more of your flower garden! Are your daylilies starting to bloom?
Chris, thanks for sharing your experience with your anemones. I've been trying to decide where to use them here at my new garden and you've just given me some great insight.
The lilies are in bloom! Here is 'Manhatten', Martagon 'Backhouse', and the far back is Martagon 'Claude Shride'.
Suzy
This is another lily, an LA Hybrid with a Show Tune theme -- 'Kiss Me Kate' and the annual poppy 'Falling in Love'. They really match well -- too bad they are in the middle of what is now my 'Red bed" -- if I had been smart I would have cropped them out and none of you would be the wiser. hahaha.
I am plucking the poppy plants with flowers that are too white or blah looking to keep them out of my seed pool. :)
Suzy
Ooo- pretty, pretty.
I have 3 something-or-other lilies in my front bed (from previous owners) that aren't blooming.... any ideas? They're getting about 6 hours of later afternoon sun, the soil in that area doesn't look so hot. I've not grown them before so I've no idea as to their sensitivities...?
No, I'm sorry I have no idea. The Lily Forum might be able to help, tho.
Suzy
My daughter gave me a Petit Pink Asiatic lily for Mother's Day, plus I have Garden Party Oriental lily, a dwarf white. Although the pink lily was in bloom when she gave it to me, it says on the tag that it flowers from June-July. I'm hoping for a repeat performance! Garden Party doesn't bloom until July-August. I plan to stick both of these in the late-blooming flower bed, they're relatively short at 24" (16-24" for Garden Party), any suggestions for shorter companions?
