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| 'Bartzella' intersectional peony with Siberian iris |
Today I'm airing a second post concerned with garden changes and conifer additions. The picture immediately below shows an area behind a stone wall at Oak Lawn where I grow a large number of 'Joel' daylilies which are a favorite of Sarah's and mine. This area also has a row of Acer griseums (paperbark maple) which have unfortunately sustained major damage from this past winter. Since the wood is still green and there is some foliage, I have elected to save them for the time being and see what comes of their 'issues'.
Last fall I decided to terrace the area adjacent to the area pictured in summer above. Falls rains arrived and made it impossible to continue the work until late this spring...
Below are photos of the terraces now completed...
In the photo below, you can see what was the view towards the southeast of our building and the area referenced previously.
Here is the progress I'd made just before winter of the same area...
Here is the area as it looks now...
While working on the terraced areas, I realized that the area to the right in the photos above and below would easily help meet the preferred conditions needed by many of my new conifers... those being drainage and afternoon shade. To accomplish the drainage side of the coin, I removed all the soil from the right side of the path, brought in and amended my own new compost(y) soil with large amounts of peat moss and pine bark nuggets, and installed the retaining wall with the amended soil behind...
That said, I thought I'd share some of the plant material I've installed...
The following photo shows two somewhat uncommon cultivars of what are traditionally better known weeping conifers...
Just to the left of center is a cultivar of Norway spruce called Picea abies 'Cobra'. Like its more common Picea abies 'Pendula' parent, this plant will eventually create a thick 'rug' laying about it on the soil... however, from this rug, new growth will often project vertically, giving the appearance of snakes being charmed. Unlike 'Pendula', 'Cobra' stays very narrow with lengthy new growth as in Picea abies 'Virgata'. The plant will need to be staked to its desired height and that portion will remain thin and sparse, adding to the overall effect.
To the front right of center is what may appear to be Pinus strobus 'Pendula' (weeping white pine). It is in fact, Pinus strobus 'Angel Falls', named after the world's highest waterfall. It is considerably more refined, staying very narrow when trained upright and eventually creating a marvelous skirt...
Sharing the tier with 'Angel Falls' is another large growing plant... Pinus parviflora 'Fukuzumi'. This is a Japanese white pine that grows long leaders at 45 degree angles to the soil. It will become large eventually and shows a lot of character, as if windswept... I don't have a photo of my small plant at this point.
The following photo was taken just as I started to plant the terraces... I spent a lot of time and inquiry trying to decide just how to best site Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Ogon' ('Gold Rush'). I really hope this will be hardy here but it may have difficulties if we experience another winter like the last. This cultivar of Dawn Redwood was first introduced out of Holland in 1993. Scientists consider Dawn Redwood to be a living fossil, descended from ancient trees and claiming existence on earth 50,000,000 years ago. It was thought to have gone extinct in the miocene epoch, which was from twenty to five million years ago... then it was rediscovered... surprise! Hence the term 'living fossil'... I can't add any 'cred' to this info, as I even have a hard time believing I'm turning 65 in a few days...
Now I'll turn my attention to some of the miniatures and dwarfs planted along the retaining wall...
Picea orientalis 'Tom Thumb'... The American Conifer Association's '2007 Conifer Collector's Plant of the Year'... a sport off of 'Skylands', this remains a smaller bun shape and is categorized as a dwarf...
Abies koreana 'Silberpearle'... this miniature Korean fir had branches decorated with resinous white buds in fall and winter, hence the name... perfect for this location as intense sun can bleach the lovely green needeles with silver undersides.... eventually will become somewhat pyramidal in form...
Abies nordmanniana 'Golden Spreader'... (Caucasian golden spreader fir) The first and only time I'd seen one of these was at The conifer gardens of the Chicago Botanical Garden... I knew then I'd have to have one some day... the late season gold color was almost overwhelmingly beautiful! This is a highlight of the winter conifer garden which appreciates partial shade.
Abies koreana 'Cis'... a flattened sphere Korean fir from Holland around 1989 that will develop brown buds at branch tips... aminiature with a very bright green that stands out in the gardens...
Abies koreana 'Oberon'... I love the needle and branch texture on this Korean fir which was named for Shakespeare's King of Fairyland. This is a dwarf rather than a miniature that will be decked out with white buds over winter... it will become even more interesting form-wise as it develops some size over time...
Abies koreana 'Golden Glow'... an intermediate growing 6-10" a year, bright color is contrasted with purple toned buds in late winter... another bright spot in the landscape...
Picea glauca 'Rainbow's End'... just starting to show its second flush of lighter lemon yellow colored growth in this photo, which gives value in the area of seasonal interest... a dwarf growing narrowly upright up to 6" per year...
Picea parviflora ' Tanima no yuki' ... (Snow-in-the-Valley' Japanese White Pine)... this quite rare conifer intrigues me and scares me all at the same time! A very slow growing dwarf, it is late to complete its candle formation of curvy cream colored variegated needles which sometimes carry a touch of pink. It eventually matures more upright and broad in form.
I've also used some Juniper 'Lime Glow' as spreaders in the terraced area and 'Jantar' there as well, which was mentioned in the first of these two conifer posts in reference to the west rock garden.
With that I return to the gardens where I've been installing more large growing conifers such as Picea glauca 'Pendula' (a favorite) and Picea omorika 'Gotelli'... as I complete this post, I realize that it's about time I do an inventory of the conifers in the gardens... but first, The delphiniums really need staking!!
Take care, Larry
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