A comfortable chair, a lilac for fragrance, Japanese maples and European beeches to break up the many tones of green... not a lot has changed since my last post other than a softening within the gardens, as blooms fade and foliage develops... this is a period of time that I dreaded as a younger gardener... "not enough color... lacking pizzazz... the dead time between bloom seasons"
Growing older ( not entirely old yet, but getting there) changes one's perspective tremendously. I wonder if the gardens were always this beautiful during the "quiet season" that is the end of May into the beginning of June... or is it just me.... have I grown to understand what my older gardening friends told me when I was a kid... (35 and under?)
Woodlanders such as Dodecatheon meadia excite me as much, if not more, than a blast of hot colored annuals in my youth. Don't misunderstand... I still like lots of color, but there are times when I get tired... one can't be hopped up on brilliant blooms full time... I need a bit of rest and calm in my garden world here and there...the blast of spring two posts back was amazing but also gets to be a bit overwhelming with time.
It's a pleasure to now be surrounded with the whites of the late flowering crab apples as in this 'Firebird'...
Throughout the gardens alliums are coming into bloom in cool shades of purples...
Magnolia bloom has all but subsided with the exception of a few late buds and 'hangers on'. That is, except for two of the very best now blooming along the birch walk... Yellow Bird blooms less precociously than many and it's flowers are perfection, particularly when paired with the amazing Rose Marie...
Rose Marie is becoming much more available, and with its month or longer bloom period, it is one of the best... the color is to die for and one must take care to place it with other plants that do it justice...
It is here along the birch walk that I want to dally, for despite the youthfulness of this shade garden planted just last spring, I am finding great joy in its aspirations to greatness in the future.
The pink and lavender shades among evergreen azaleas combine well with young red Japanese maples. Clumps of Primula sieboldia are beginning to form and are contrasted by clumps of golden Hakonechloa and the chartreuse and yellows of mature hostas such as 'Liberty' and 'Jimmy Crack Corn'. A Calycanthus 'Harlage Wine' is in bud and also holds promise for the future. Tiarellas and astilbes abound as do you ferns of many varieties...
Tiarella 'Sugar and Spice" grows here as well as many other places in the gardens...
As one approaches the south end of the birch walk, a fence delineates a change of mood as more sunlight enters the scene...
On the right, a picoteed lilac called 'Sensation' blooms in less than full sun...
On the left an older full grown specimen of Aesculus carnea 'Briottii' shelters a wealth of plant material under its spreading branches... an unhealthy Japanese maple has been replaced with a white azalea and purple lepidote rhododendron. A newly installed Cornus florida from its northern range limits in Michigan will hopefully eventually provide an amazing show at this time of the year...
With a week of much cooler temperatures, 'Briottii' has returned to its normal rich colors...
From here there is an area that houses my Lewisias in hyper-tuffa...
Beyond several of these containers of Lewisia, the Gallium odoratum blooms in season under the large old white pine so compromised by this spring's ice storm... and this in turn leads to the rock garden and its miniature conifers and alpines, including a large display of many miniature dianthus cultivars that are in full bud at this very moment.
It is behind the hyper-tuffa and the odd rustic fence that supports them, that I have recently installed what I consider to be a truly amazing recent cultivar of Cornus. This is my second attempt to grow Cornus 'Venus', a cross by Dr. Orton at Rutgers University, involving Cornus Kousa or Korean Dogwood with Cornus nuttallii, the Pacific Dogwood. Last year's plant was about three feet in height and it simply couldn't take on enough moisture to deal with the terribly excessive heat and wind we experienced last summer. This time I purchased a seven foot tree and it is in bloom... it is absolutely stunning with its huge pure white bracts in contrast to its lustrious green foliage. I love that it is in bloom coinciding with the white flowered bleeding hearts that surround it and the sweet woodruff with the white late flowering crab apples in the distance...
Alas, I hope my excitement regarding this Cornus is well deserved over the long term... it is said to be hardy in our zone. I also have or will be soon adding a few more new plants that are quite exciting as well, but will hold them for a future post.
Syringa 'Ludwig Spaethe' is still in bloom as you saw in the first photo of today's post... it becomes even more beautiful when accompanied by the blooms of Camassia as seen here...
Elsewhere, the earliest of the large leafed Rhododendrons are coming into bloom... here is 'Ken Janeck' and following a red that may be 'Holden', although I'm not certain of that...
You may have recalled my expressing how much I enjoy the new foliage on the conifers each season... sometimes, as in the case of this Picea pungens' Procumbens', the new cones can be amazingly beautiful as well!
Here Picea abies 'Little Gem' is in full flush of new growth... despite being extremely hardy, I have learned the hard way to protect this cultivar over winter by covering with an old burlap bag until the frost is well out of the ground and it can receive the moisture it needs to prevent desiccation...
Also new last fall is the area of the garden I am calling the azalea walk. The azaleas are all of the Northern Lights Series, and the most prodigious has always been "White Lights" in my gardens.
The thirteen plants that I congregated from other areas of the gardens have done very well over this difficult winter, despite their transplanting. Orchids light has faded but the others in the collection are in full bloom. They will be followed in this space by peonies, daylilies, roses and orienpet lilies, this assuring summer long color...
I'll close this post with images that further make my point regarding this quiet couple of weeks in the gardens... here Hosta 'Sagae' serves as a necklace about the head which is Picea omorika 'Nana'... this is a design technique that I am finding valuable as the need to remove lower branches from older conifers becomes more necessary... to the left is a newly installed Picea glauca 'Pendula' with Sieboldii magnolias behind and lots of Pulmonaria...
The next and pretty much last flash of color here, though gentle in spirit, will be the intersectional peonies and Iris spurias...
Here, additional Tiarella plants combine very well with Pulmonarias and Dodecatheons... the area to the front of the hostas has been planted to Elephant Ears or Calocasias...
This area of the gardens features a great many cultivars of Siberian Irises and 'Bartzella' intersectional peony... a later season blast comes from seven foot orienpet lilies. It is not a boring wait however as the textures and foliage colors provide wonderful late May interest...
And here... a better view of Fagus sylvatica 'Tri-color' which adds so much to the composition of this area...
The garden on the left has traditionally been annuals only, but this year I decided to try something different. In the fall we installed a large number of my daylily hybrids and between them we've planted a couple hundred 'Moonstruck Yellow' marigolds whose claim to fame are blossoms fully four inches in diameter in all directions, and said to be so effusive as to completely hide the foliage... we'll know soon enough!!
The latest of my flowering crab apples in full tour de force... "Tina"
However... 'Mary Potter ' in the distance, is still looking good as well...
From the Gazebo Path... I bid you farewell until next time...
Larry
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