If my memory serves me, there used to be an alka-selzer commercial along those lines... now that I think about it, I haven't even heard alka-selzer mentioned in a great many years! I guess the point is that many years have come and gone since I started this garden. I will turn 62 on July 1st... I really don't consider myself old, but as my doctor said at my last physical... "your body is shot!" My response was by no means one of shock... "Tell me something I don't know" and we had a good laugh. The time has come for changes and in some cases that means adding new gardens of a different style than in the past... as I've mentioned a number of times recently, texture and a more subtle color palette have become a necessity. Actually, that is a sign of a distinctive garden... a garden tastefully designed... but I like color... a lot of color and annuals have been a big part of that routine.
A couple days after my physical I went to see my chiropractor and happened to mention what my doctor had said... 'You're kidding... how unprofessional!' Then I said... "Doc I've got a pain here... is there anything you can do? "
His response... "no, your body's shot!" Another good laugh... laughing is good for the soul... makes you forget your aches and pains for awhile at least!
Getting back to the garden... I did plant every plant on these two acres, with the exception of many of this year's annuals that is. My wife did most of that because of bouts of herniated disks and a dislocated rib. This post could easily be about the benefits of a happy marriage and a like-minded, ambitious wife... but alas I "bird-walk" (teaching expression from 33 years of students trying to get me off topic!)
Speaking of teaching and associated terminology, my gardening life has reached the top of the infamous 'bell curve' but that definitely doesn't mean it's all down hill from here on out. It's just time to "sophisticate" a bit. Start to rely on all those techniques that make a garden really special... back-off on perennials (which I've been doing for some years) and cut-back on annuals. Now, I'm not bad-mouthing either one of these plant groups... life is just easier with a few specimen perennials and touches of annual color.
Let's take peonies for example (the one pictured above happens to be in bloom just now). Of course you know that there are peonies that actually stand up of their own accord? Often referred to as peonies of 'landscape merit' they require a minimum of care... a little deadheading and cutting back in the fall. So I say... off with all you bombastic blossoming varieties that end up lying on the ground without the individual staking of stems every year... I'm too old to mess around with you any longer, except of course my one plant of Tinka Philips which is just too much of a rarity to depart with... and let's not forget the tree peonies and intersectionals... there is just more to life than staking!
And how about clematis vines... no more type twos for me! Type threes only require a whack at 8" inches in early spring and one good rip to clean up the trellis as in the case of viticella Betty Corning above which is just coming into bloom... much easier on the aging gardener's back.
And what of irises... we still have many in bloom, including the siberians pictured above and the yellow pseudata, now up to almost five feet in an earlier photo in this post. Then too, the spurias that I posted on a couple days ago and pictured below. I love growing them all in waves of color and their care couldn't be simpler... they grow too thick for weeds to intermingle, as with the bearded varieties, and they accept a thick layer of weed suppressing mulch about their perimeters as they like growing moist ... and above all no disease or borers to contend with! Then too, they work beautifully when grown amongst conifers and add a Bartzella intersectional peony here and there amongst the siberians and you've got a display that knocks the socks off!
One more thing regarding irises... we had one area that got way ahead of us this season... by the time I got to the intermediate iris planting next to the highway, the lawn had grown into the rhizomes and dealing with the situation had to be put on hold until the plants had bloomed. The day that the state peony society visited, some of the members started heading in that direction and I heard my wife loudly proclaim... "don't go there... it hasn't been weeded!" The group totally ignored her admonition but didn't seem too shocked, as I heard one comment... "hmmm... looks like my garden when I'm done weeding..."
At any rate the time came this past weekend to deal with the mess and had it been according to my newly developing gardening philosophy, all the irises would have been gotten rid of. I didn't really have a say though since I had a dislocated rib and was unable to take on the task myself. In the end, my Sarah cleaned up the entire area and gave away hundreds of iris... yet we still of enough to make a weed-free display next spring. the results of her efforts are pictured below, awaiting a good mulch layer... still not really fitting for the changes I have in mind, but pretty for a couple weeks each spring when mixed with phlox subulatas.
Speaking of phlox subulata... I planted 72 new plants this season as ground covers amongst the conifers... while mulch is effective, spreading 25-50 yards each season is hard on the back. In the areas where I'ved used the phlox, I have no weed problems, beautiful spring bloom and a nice, short groundcover that I find attractive when not in bloom for the remainder of the season.
Imagine how much more attractive a green mat will be about these Montgomery spruces... we've planted white blooming subulatas here...
This mostly dwarf conifer bed has new underplantings of beautiful pink phlox subulata that has a very rich green and small textured foliage... In about five years, this two year old planting will be a sight to behold, especially in spring. Last year I used spreading petunias and was plagued with earwigs eating the foliage and blooms... this won't be a problem with the perennial phlox. The second photo is of an area that will be blooming in white phlox amongst the trees and evergreens...
Well, enough ranting about preparing for the future... at least for the moment. Here's a bit more of what the garden looks like today. As noted in an earlier post, June is a "calm" month in our gardens, not unlike the chosen goal for the future garden of this arthritic gardener.
This first view involves flower color only during peony season with the use of several intersectionals and and a heavily pruned wisteria. The remainder of the year textures and colors of the conifers combine with a lone focal point in the form of the large pillar. I've identified a number of the conifers in the second photo...
Hostas are at their best in late June, and as I mentioned the other day, the moisture this season has really encouraged growth. With all the shade from my plantings over the years, they find many spots within the gardens to perform. I am starting to notice earwig damage and am not sure of the best way to deal with that, although my wood mulch probably contributes to the problem. Here then are several photos in the birch walk area of the gardens, where I'm combing hostas with ferns and japanese maples to really ramp up the effect of varying textures.... by the way... did I warn you that this was going to be one of my long posts? Sorry about that!
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| Touch of Class on left and three Junes to the right |
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| The 6' white blooming plant is Crambe cordifolia... I've read how many find this difficult and short lived, but this one has grown is this spot for 25 years. It's a bit thin this year because of storm damage that broke off several stalks. |
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| Seiryu dissected maple with hostas |
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| Hosta Paradigm |
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| Hosta Tokadama Flavocircinalis |
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| Sherwood Flame maple and hostas |
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| Hosta Brother Stephan |
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| Hosta Mount Tom |
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| Hosta Satined Glass with acer Tamukeyama |
The birch walk has slowly become a hosta walk and now a maple walk as well with the recent addition of five maple cultivars...
Another area of the garden abounding in texture is the tree peony garden which includes numerous conifers, magnolias, and hydrangeas. I will be adding about 75 helebores next spring which will eventually take care of any weed problems that might occur here.
Clematis integrifolia is in full bloom this week...
This is one of only two trandescantias that I allow in the gardens...
The only petunia that I'm growing this year is Supertunia Vista Bubblegum, shown here with Linda Campbell rugosa rose...
The sweet william area may be on the chopping block later this season... a bit messy for my liking while waiting for the seeds to ripen...
I wish I knew what this lily is that's blooming in front of the Samaritan dogwood... it's definitely not what I purchased...
My delphiniums are small this year as I started them from seed purchased from New Zealand last summer. They are of the millennium series and are supposed to be much longer lived than other cultivars in this part of the country...
Here is one of my self-seeded clematis that grows and blooms for a few years, then disappears for a year or two, only to return and do well for a few more years... strange but true as it has happened twice...
As far as all the changes taking place in my gardens in it's maturing years, or is that my aging years, the one area that has been the most difficult for me to change is the arbor. In the past I grew twenty-six 14" hanging pots and the arbor was smothered in bloom by midsummer. I'm missing that 'blast' of color already as I have gone to nine pots of ivy geraniums. They need much less frequent watering and I'm not anticipating the problems of chlorosis I had with the petunias... I was constantly treating them for that. I also miss the many shrub roses that I removed from this and other garden areas, but I don't miss cutting them back to the ground every spring. The arbor in the future will be surrounded by conifers and acers and a whole lot less work.
If you've managed to get through this ramble, I'll close with a few more thoughts on this topic of growing old in one's garden. I no doubt will reference this in the future... it's on my mind as it needs be. How many gardeners have I known through the years who didn't plan for the future of their garden lives... when the future arrived all of a sudden, it was too late and the gardens fell into decay. My goal is to plan so that I may still be enjoying my gardens in my seventh decade and beyond, Lord willing. I don't want the gardens to become a painful chore nor do I want to have to depend on others to manage them in the coming years. Yes... I can't believe I planted the whole thing, but I'm glad I did... my wife says we could have traveled the world with the money I've spent on these two acres, but they have been a constant in our lives... a joy that we've been able to share with countless visitors through the years... and they are a part of who I am as a person... until next time.... Larry
This is one of only two trandescantias that I allow in the gardens...
The only petunia that I'm growing this year is Supertunia Vista Bubblegum, shown here with Linda Campbell rugosa rose...
The sweet william area may be on the chopping block later this season... a bit messy for my liking while waiting for the seeds to ripen...
I wish I knew what this lily is that's blooming in front of the Samaritan dogwood... it's definitely not what I purchased...
My delphiniums are small this year as I started them from seed purchased from New Zealand last summer. They are of the millennium series and are supposed to be much longer lived than other cultivars in this part of the country...
Here is one of my self-seeded clematis that grows and blooms for a few years, then disappears for a year or two, only to return and do well for a few more years... strange but true as it has happened twice...
As far as all the changes taking place in my gardens in it's maturing years, or is that my aging years, the one area that has been the most difficult for me to change is the arbor. In the past I grew twenty-six 14" hanging pots and the arbor was smothered in bloom by midsummer. I'm missing that 'blast' of color already as I have gone to nine pots of ivy geraniums. They need much less frequent watering and I'm not anticipating the problems of chlorosis I had with the petunias... I was constantly treating them for that. I also miss the many shrub roses that I removed from this and other garden areas, but I don't miss cutting them back to the ground every spring. The arbor in the future will be surrounded by conifers and acers and a whole lot less work.
If you've managed to get through this ramble, I'll close with a few more thoughts on this topic of growing old in one's garden. I no doubt will reference this in the future... it's on my mind as it needs be. How many gardeners have I known through the years who didn't plan for the future of their garden lives... when the future arrived all of a sudden, it was too late and the gardens fell into decay. My goal is to plan so that I may still be enjoying my gardens in my seventh decade and beyond, Lord willing. I don't want the gardens to become a painful chore nor do I want to have to depend on others to manage them in the coming years. Yes... I can't believe I planted the whole thing, but I'm glad I did... my wife says we could have traveled the world with the money I've spent on these two acres, but they have been a constant in our lives... a joy that we've been able to share with countless visitors through the years... and they are a part of who I am as a person... until next time.... Larry
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