Champagne taste on a Pepsi Budget!

March 25, 2009

Hydrangea serrata ‘Beni Gaku‘ (Hardy to Zone 5)

Hydrangea serrata ‘Kiyosumi‘ (Hardy to Zone 5)

Hydrangea serrata ‘Tosa Ryokufu‘ (Hardy to Zone 5)

Hydrangea serrata ‘Miyama Yae-murasaki (Hardy to Zone 5)

My Grandmother once said that I had a champagne taste on a beer salary… but since I am not fond of beer, I thought I would substitute it for my beverage of choice! Sad to say, it’s oh so true. What a wise woman she was, far beyond her years, and she lived to be 92!

Of course this ‘taste’ has also been translated into ’snobbery’, pending which gardening friend I may or may not have offended on any given day! Truly, I am in need of counselling! Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I am literally ’surrounded’ with wonderful plants for a third of my day, five days a week throughout late Spring right up until the end of October. I have to be ’selective’ as to which plants come home with me, while others are relegated to the sales benches. It’s not like we only have one delivery of plants, and only have one very limited list to choose from. Think of the multitude of garden catalogues that find their way to your house during the winter…. multiplied ten times over! The selection is endless, and with the web, and this has been my downfall of late…..’if you want it bad enough, you’ll be able to find it on the world wide web!’

Now what was this post going…. oh yes, the champagne taste on the Pepsi salary! I have never been a fan of the big popcorn-ball looking Hydrangea’s…. although if you were to look at the front of the house right now, there is one large bush (well twigs and the like at this very moment) that I am slowly trying to eradicate without the owner (my Sister) noticing. I hate when it rains and they end up flopping on the ground. Pretty to examine the globe of newly emerging flowers, tinged a wonderful green that can only be described as ‘Springtime’ green…. but otherwise, not on my most loved or admired list. I do enjoy the conical shaped flower stalks on the Oak leaf Hydrangea…. Hydrangea Quercifolia, rather immeasurably so, but still they come second fiddle to the beguiling Japanese shrub Hydrangeas…. Hydrangea serrata!

I’m all about lace-cap’s, and when you toss in a large number of this species also include true double star shaped flowers…. yowsa! The photos are but a small sampling of what is available for those who fall under the spell. I am most taken with Hydrangea serrata ‘Tosa Ryokufu‘ which grows to approximately 100cm x 100cm and appreciates a partly shaded location! As with many of the genus, the pH of the soil greatly effects flower colour, but what stands out about this cultivar, is the appearance of blue/green splashes of colour that appear on the sepals! Simply divine! And best of all is the fact that all of the above pictured shrubs have a hardiness that includes my Zone 5 garden! Of course if I am unable to locate it in commerce here in Canada, I would be close to as happy with Hydrangea serrata ‘Miyama Yae-murasaki, with its beguiling star shaped double flowers, which are actually fully double sterile florets that surround a large boss of fertile florets. Of note is the floating appearance of the sterile florets by means of long red petioles! I can hear the cash register chiming in the near future… and wait, isn’t that a can of Pepsi being opened at the same time. Note to self: Must buy electric can opener…. easier to prepare the never ending diet of Zoodles that mysteriously coincides with my gardening season!

Look Into My Nectaries and be Hypnotized!

March 25, 2009

What a pleasant surprise to come home and see my Prince’s buds opening to reveal wonderful chartreuse green flowers, with the slightest hint of a blush on the edge of the petals! I am anticipating weeks if not a month or more of continuous bloom from this latest addition. I have also noticed some new buds on the existing royal sibling in the garden, and am hoping that his reign will also be long and floriferous when the weather warms up! I feel so bad for my fellow blogger’s on the East Coast, what with the surprise dump of snow they received yesterday, so am sending these photos as a way to warm your frozen hearts. If you stare at the photo above long enough, you will surely begin to feel all warm and fizzy very soon!

Unfortunately, my seedlings haven’t been behaving themselves, and the three plugs that were supposed to be the Meconopsis betonicifolia have all shrivelled and given up the fight! I knew this would be the case, but there is something to be said for maintaining a strong fortitude in the face of inevitable failure. The Cleome are doing a good job at distracting me, with their bizarre foliage habit…. I have read that there will be seven leaves by the time they have finished, and then those amazing spider-like flowers. Of course, true to my amazement, I haven’t even stopped to consider what border will possibly be able to hold them! Alas… and germination of the Cerinthe major ‘Kiwi Blues’ makes me truly smile, as aside of the odd bright and brilliant blue Salvia, these are the only other annuals that get a chance to mingle with the snobbish perennials!

Alas, work at the nursery is a true and total joy! I’m not one who welcomes change in my life, but this has been a wonderful experience thus far, and I can only assume once the perennials begin to arrive, I will be able to shine and express my true gardening passion!

Climbing the Ladder

March 24, 2009

After yesterday’s humiliating escapade – tripping over a chain link barricade that I had only minutes earlier pulled across the entrance, and falling flat on my face, I could only hope that today was going to be better. Granted, I was sore, and after having broken the shank of the lock clean off, I was looking for anything to distract me from my inane clumsiness!

Enter the emptying of what will soon be the perennial greenhouse…. hurray! I was busily removing trees and shrubs that had over-wintered, when I came across a rather woody and twining vine like plant. Of course, as soon as I read the label, I let loose with a squeal of delight! I have been looking for this wonderful Japanese hydrangea relative for almost two years, and here it was, right under my nose!

Schizophragma hydrangeoides ‘Roseum‘ is a somewhat vigorous vine that closely resembles the climbing Hydrangea anomala. It differs in that it does not send out horizontal branches from it’s support structure. Ovate dark green leaves look handsome as it begins its rather rapid climb in mid to late spring. It’s 12-25cm wide cymes of small creamy white flowers are gorgeous in and of themselves, but it is the conspicuous heart shaped pink bracts that elevates this vine to entirely new heights. Hardy to Zone 4, it appreciates a moisture retentive soil in sun to partly shaded sites.

I have decided that I want to create a ‘living’ screen to better help divide the working space from the actual shaded walk between the two houses, and what more beautiful and elegant way than with this wonderful climber! Next one the list is a climbing Hops vine, whose chartreuse foliage will definitely help to brighten up the somewhat small space, while helping to create a somewhat impenatrable screen so that people aren’t assaulted with tower of pots that is a testament to last year’s plant purchases!

Spring has Sprung, the birds have Sung…..

March 22, 2009

Ahhh, the first blooms of Spring! It’s been a long, long time in coming, and unfortunately it isn’t the 15th, but I haven’t the patience to wait that long before posting! I adore these tiny Iris reticulata, and enjoy when they pop up amongst the green-blue tinted leaves of Euphorbia myrsenities, but have recently it back because of leggy and rather scraggly growth that occurred over the winter. There is something to be said for the longevity and tenacity of a plant that can continue to grow whilst covered by three feet of snow.

We have been blessed with clear skies and warmer temperatures over the past two weeks – a small blip on the radar with flurries last week, but more the ‘friendly’ type that reminds us that Mother Nature has final say…. she has a way of getting the last word in, doesn’t she?

The familiar sound of geese that reside at the end of the street, where there is year round access to open water, is yet another sign that Spring has finally sprung! In a few months, we will all have to keep a sharp eye out for the families of geese that cross the road in order to get to a clearing that is surrounded by majestic coniferous trees. I will try and remember to get pictures later in the season so that you can enjoy the sight of a family of geese that brings traffic to a total stand still! It’s quite remarkable.

Reading and Writing

March 21, 2009

Styrax Obassia

Styrax japonicus ‘Pink Chimes’

I am still not used to the idea of having weekends off – only for a few short weeks before the season actually ramps up at the nursery – and have had the time to get caught up on some of the more mundane tasks that I try and get out of the way before the gardening season hits full tilt!

I still have to find a new 2009 Gardening Journal, usually a scrapbook sized book with a spiral binding, ( a must for if photos or drawings are to be included) and then I need to have a supply of colour coded high-lighters and a box of fine point Sharpie markers at the ready! There is nothing more frustrating than needing to jot something very important down, and you can’t find the blessed pen! Alas…. let the organization begin!

Of course before I did much of anything, I had to catch up with my three most favoured gardening magazines: Horticulture, The English Garden, and Gardens Illustrated. I was most anxious to read an article in the latest issue of Gardens Illustrated on Beth Chatto who remains my favourite plantswoman bar none! It was sadly a disappointment as it was only the equivalent of one page, filled with information that most avid gardener’s are already aware of. There was also a wonderful article in The English Garden on Great Dixter, entitled, The Future Unfolds. After Christo’s death, a charitable trust took over running it. Fergus Garrett , head gardener, sought and won Heritage Lottery funding, but mentions that, ‘an almost equal amount of money has to be raised by the Trust itself for the garden to move on into the future. It is a wonderful read. Meanwhile, over at Horticulture magazine, Daniel Hinkley is focusing on the genus Styrax
as the subject for his monthly Collector’s Choice column. There is something about the pink flowering species that causes my plant senses to tingle!

Alas, now I have no excuse but to get down to the task at hand: One that I have been putting off for months! I already have a paper copy of all of the plants in my garden inventory. It’s almost six pages long and is often the subject of much consternation whenever I have to add or remove a listing. I have devised a plan to use 3″ x 5″ index cards, one for each plant, and then store them within easy reach for future access! It won’t be near as difficult having to edit a page every time something new is added or removed, rather it will be as simple as adding or subtracting a card. This is the type of behavior that has most friends shaking their heads at me, but I like to have every possible thing in order before the gardening season catches me off guard.

A Prince-in-Waiting and a Pink Princess!

March 21, 2009

Helleborus x hybrida ‘Party Dress Pink Improved’

My gardening friend called me last night to let me know that she was able to find one of my requested items, a prince-in-waiting if you may, a companion for my already existing Helleborus x nigersmithii ‘Walhelivor‘ - commonly known as H. ‘Ivory Prince.’ There is something outer-worldly about a plant that has close to 20 buds on the first day of Spring!

Helleborus x nigersmithii ‘Walhelivor‘ possesses outward facing ( a true rarity within the genus) creamy white flowers flushed with pink which are also streaked with green. As the flowers mature they take on more of a pink hue. The buds are gorgeously streaked with this same pink before they open. (See photo below) The foliage is equally impressing, evergreen, with a decidedly blue-green tint with toothed margins with a dazzling silvery veining atop wine tinted stems. It is decidedly hardy to Zone 5-9, with a height of approximately 30cm, and a spread closer to 45cm. A well drained humus rich soil in partial shade is it’s ideal abode. Prices tend to vary with some plants still fetching in excess of $30 (CAD), but if you look around, many, albeit somewhat smaller, but equally bud filled plants can be found for around $20 (CAD).

H. ‘Ivory Prince’ covered with buds

I can only judge from the number of buds that this handsome ‘Prince’ will be strutting his stuff for the entire garden season!

Helleborus x hybrida ‘Party Dress Pink Improved’

Robin and Sue White from Blackthorn Nursery bred this dazzling beauty using Helen Strangman’s double flowering Helleborus torquatus ‘Dido’ crossed with Helleborus x hybrida blood, which resulted in a plant with an improved vigor. ‘Party Dress’ plants feature attractive foliage, often flushed crimson and or bronze when young. As the plant matures the foliage is notedly finely divided, reminiscent of it’s H. torquatus parentage. When in bloom they display lovely double flowering blooms on well branched stems.

Now, I have only to wait for the elusive Hellebrous thibetanus to arrive in late April, and then my trio of new additions can keep me company until the fear of frost has dissipated. In the meantime, today was the official FIRST DAY OF SPRING! Bright blue skies in this neck of the woods, but still rather cold. While the snow has completely melted from atop the gardens, the shaded garden between the houses is still frozen rock hard in all places except at the very front. There the first Iris reticulata and Nectaroscordum siculum ‘Bulgaricum‘ have shyly began peeking forth from within the ever-warming soil.

… and in celebration of Spring, a poem by David Herbert Lawrence

The Enkindled Spring

This Spring as it comes, bursts up in bonfires green,

Wild puffing of emerald trees, and flame filled bushes.

Thorn blossom lifting in wreaths of smoke between

Where the wood fumes up, and the flickering water rushes.

I am amazed at this Spring, this conflagration

Of green fires lit on the soil of the earth, this blaze

Of growing, these sparks that puff in wild gyration,

Faces of people streaming across my gaze.

And I, what fountain of fire am I among,

This leaping combustion of Spring? My spirit is tossed

About like a shadow buffeted in a throng

Of flames, a shadow that’s gone astray, and is lost!

Hoping to be tickled ‘Pink’

March 19, 2009

This weeks heralds the arrival of Canada Blooms which is as close as most Canadians come to the wonderful flower festivals that are so prevalent throughout the United States and Europe, specifically Great Britain. With work starting to ramp up, I felt it best to make myself available at the nursery and to fore go joining the local bus trip provided by our local hort society. I have attended in the past and was less than impressed with the plant selections that were made available for patron’s to purchase. Of course this didn’t stop me from giving one of my gardening
friends an envelope with instructions to see if she could locate the beautiful pink Arisaema candidissimum to add to my selection within this stunning genus. I had one but did not see it return last year, and rather than be disappointed for a second year running, decided to see if I could locate another one. Worse case scenario is that I will have two of them vying for attention in the garden this year! They are a somewhat temperamental beauty, resenting container culture and often not appearing until later (June-July) in the garden season. I have heard many people comment on their fragrance, but have not personally been able to detect one myself…. now that in itself might border on over-kill! Imagine. Stunning to look at with a wonderful fragrance to boot! What I do know, is that this is stunner is completely and undeniably shy! It would seem as though the plant ‘turns away’ from people when it blooms. As silly as it sounds, very rarely are the spathes facing outwards – rather, you have to position yourself behind them in order to capture the perfect shot….. who would have thought, a camera shy beauty queen!

Hopefully Mother Nature will realize that, with Canada Blooms finishing this weekend, many gardeners will be waiting for her to herald in the warmer, sunnier weather so that we can start planning what plants to add, not to mention lots of new garden trends that will have been brought back from the show. In the meantime, I have a warm and cozy greenhouse complete with close to 1000 Pelargonium to keep me company! ( My most beloved perennials can’t be too far behind, can they?)

A Little Frizzle Sizzle on a Snowy Day

March 19, 2009

With new shipments arriving daily, I am already feeling that familiar ‘twitch’ that accompanies the desire to own one of everything that should happen to attract my ever-roving eye. With the weather taking a u-turn and bringing with the cold winds large snowflakes, I decided that I needed to add another bloom to my solitary Cyclamen persicum, which has started to show tell-tale signs that it’s bloom fest is winding down. Meet Viola x wittrockiana ‘Frizzle Sizzle Blue,’ a wonderful double flowering beauty complete with a ruffled skirt for the Spring Cotillion – coming to my garden in about a month’s time!

A smashing beauty that will be planted out when the weather allows. I am hoping that it will make a wonderful companion planting with the Cerinthe major ‘Kiwi Blues’ that are only now showing signs of germination!

I’m projecting another week at tops before I have to remove the deadened flowers and leaves from this beauty. I am confident that by following the guidelines, I will be able to provide optimum conditions to allow for a summer dormancy, followed by a resurgence of growth next fall and winter. It’s crazy how far ahead gardeners are willing to project in order to ensure that a prized possession might have a chance to bewitch and beguile down the road.

A Few of my Most Favourite and Coveted Plants

March 17, 2009

Erythronium Hendersonii

It’s the time of year when I look forward to another season at the nursery. It seems that over the winter, lots of new and exciting plants have appeared on the scene, and pending on the current catalogue, they are all vying for my undivided attention. He, with the attention span of a fruit fly, is sometimes overwhelmed. It is at times like this that I revisit some of the plants that have, and will always be my most favourite coveted plants.

The genus Erythronium makes me smile, every time I hear the name. ‘Trout lilies,’ and ‘Dog’s Tooth Violets,’ are names that are most common, but regardless, they are one of my most cherished ephemerals in the spring garden. I grow the native Erythronium americanum, with it’s yellow and brown spotted petals and magnificently mottled foliage, but I literally ache to grow this pink beauty! It all goes hand in hand with my unintentional habit of choosing plants that are less than tolerant of container life. Most within this genus have the tenacity to fail miserably within the first year of purchase, which has left me somewhat skittish when it comes to spending money on something that doesn’t give at least a 60-40 survival ratio! Then again, this is the thinking of one who says that Grow Zones are merely numbers tossed arbitrarily, and whether we as gardeners find ourselves encased within their boundaries, is totally up to us individually. I remember reading where someone commented that a certain plant wasn’t supposed to grow in such a cold zone. The bemused gardener responded with, ‘Please keep your voice down…. you and I might think alike, but obviously the plant hasn’t yet been made aware of it!’

Campylotropis macrocarpa
This is a false bush clover, a wonderful sub shrub that covers itself during the summer months with racemes of pea like flowers that begin a wine coloured purple, and fade as the season progresses to mauve, pink and white. This was located at a nursery here in Canada and is on the I think I should purchase list for 2010. I would like to find out a bit more about it first. I have a feeling that like most lupine relatives, it will need lots of sun and lots and lots of space…. probably more than I can afford.

Cortusa matthioli v. pekinensis
This is one of my favourite woodland perennials, and oft reminds me of the neighboring Primula. This demure perennial, is native to the cool, moist stream-sides and woodlands of Japan and Northern China. Dainty umbels are held on nine inch stems, where pendant bell shaped, rosy purple flowers, with white ringed centres create a wonderful, delicate burst of colour. The basal foliage is low growing,broadly rounded and incised as well as being somewhat tomentose (downy) in texture. My aim is to have a clump of this wonderful woodland beauty between each of the stepping stones in the shaded garden.

Helleborus x ‘Ivory Prince’
Easily, the reigning crown Prince in my garden is this handsome, stalwart that has quickly become one of the best selling Helleborus species in the past three years. It is always the most requested at nurseries, perhaps because of its alluring merits – the almost upright habit, resulting in blooms that face upward or forward, as well as the somewhat mottled or veined foliage that remains attractive year round.

Acer palmatum ‘Mikawa Yatsubusa‘

I have hummed and haw’d about this little beauty for three years now and seriously think (and we must whisper here, because I don’t want to curse the potential of actually succeeding with a you-know-what kind of maple tree!) that this will be the year that I finally break down and make the purchase! He is small, a true dwarf, but ohhhh, once you have laid eyes on him, its as if the image is permanently burned across the retina! I kid you not! All other ‘Japanese’ maples are compared to him, and from my perspective, there is only one other than compares, but unfortunately, it also comes with a 15 foot height potential! This dwarf has outstanding structure, colour and dense foliage, that unfolds a bright yellow green, and are so densely overlapped that they truly resemble shingles on a roof! It’s bright red stems and branches literally scream ‘drama’ to any unsuspecting viewer! The thin textured leaves turn to a medium green throughout the growing season before changing to dramatic shades of golden orange with bright red tips in the fall! Many bonsai artists dream of owning one of these beguiling beauties! Hardy between Zone 5-9, with heights of 4′-5′ when planted in the garden, they also appreciate a well drained siting in partial shade.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of my GREEN friends here at BLOTANICAL!

Seedlings and a new pet…..

March 16, 2009

GBBD for March is here and I have narry a bloom to submit! I do have some healthy looking seedlings that have been making a steady progress since they were first planted three weeks ago! In the background you can see a covered tray — this is the much anticipated Cerinthe ‘Kiwi Blues’, that were started later, in response to last year’s ‘leggy’ fiasco. I so look forward to adding them to the edges of the shade garden this year (the first four feet receive an adequate amount of sun to ensure they will flower)

The seedlings have all germinated, including the elusive Meconopsis betonicifolia, but I was happy to see that we have ordered in some of these wonderful gems from one of our distributors. Of course, the trick will be keeping them alive and healthy so that we can share them with other anxious gardeners who are always asking for them!

I decided that I would add a small desk top aquarium to my room – there is nothing more relaxing than watching fish swim! I have always been partial to the Betta, but have serious issues with the way they are shipped and displayed in stores. How would you like to live in a Dixie cup your entire life? Needless to say whenever I come across one, it becomes a moral issue as to whether they should be harvested purely for our entertainment. The sales person thought I was crazy for purchasing such a ‘large’ tank, with a filter and aerator to boot. He is a lovely shade of…..BLUE isn’t he? Seriously, what other colour could he possibly be?

It was another gloriously sunny and warm day here today (+10 C) and once again I was out pulling aside leaves and shovelling those last pesky clumps of snow off of my ‘children,’ to see what else was awakening. I am looking forward to another week in the greenhouse…. once the aroma of damp soil enters my being it becomes something like an addiction!

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