5/3/2013

I usually think of March as Pieris japonica month but it is one of those plants that blooms for a loooong time. Here’s some photos from May 3. From a distance it still looks in bloom, albeit in a  dingy get-it-over-with kind of way. An up close look shows the reason for the dinginess. Go here to see my original post on Pieris japonica.

5/3/2013

This pairing caught my eye because the buds of the wallflower (Erysimum ‘Apricot Twist’) perfectly match the leaves of the Heuchera (regretfully cultivar unknown). Plus I like burgundy, be it bright or dusky like these heuchera leaves, with orange. Also,  ‘Apricot Twist’ is one of my favorite plants even though it often dies off over the winter or comes back all puny and useless if it survives and even though it is just an ugly blob without the flowers. It flowers for a long time in spring in cheery orange and the flowers make me happy whenever I see them. I may admire other plants, like hostas, for their amazing foliage but they don’t make me smile and for some reason ‘Apricot Twist’ does. Really, what more do you want from a plant?

If you’re going to try this pairing, wait until next year. It is nearing the end of the season for ‘Apricot Twist.’ Next year in March buy your ‘Apricot Twist’ and match it up with the heuchera and plant them in the sun. A pot might be a great choice for these two and you can toss the ‘Twist’ when it’s done (or plant it somewhere out of the way to see if it will come back) and put something else in with the heuchera (at which point I’d probably be thinking part-shade for the pot for the summer).

May 1, 2013

Aren’t the little pink cones adorable? Of course, they won’t stay pink, they’ll eventually turn brown but this would still be a nice plant to have in the garden. Dwarf conifers add great permanent texture; the needles act as a great foil to larger-leaved plants and contrary to popular belief, some conifers clearly display some great seasonal color.

I haven’t grown ‘Pusch’ but it apparently showed up as a witch’s broom on Picea abies ‘Acrocona’. A witch’s broom occurs when something (generally a disease causing agent like a fungus) causes the plant to go nuts in one area, producing a slew of shoots. If you look up into the tree from below you see a dense mass like a bird’s nest or yes, a witch’s broom. People collect the broom and propagate it. Naturally, there are folks out there who are hunters of witch’s brooms because you never know when one my turn into a cool plant like ‘Pusch.”

Information on size and hardiness of ‘Pusch’ varies. One site said ‘Pusch’ can be expected to reach 2.5-3.5′W and 2.5-3′H in 10 years but eventually gives up its bun stature and grows taller. The same site put the hardiness at Zones 4-7. A different site had the plant at 1′H x 2′W and hardy to -50 (Zone 2).  Regardless, it should be safe around here and you can expect it to stay low and bun-shaped for quite a while. Realistically, I’d expect something more along the lines of the first size in the Puget Sound area as the one I saw was in a landscape that looked like it had been planted in the last 5 years and it already exceeded the 1′x2′ size. Grow this Picea in well-drained soils and sun. I wouldn’t consider it drought tolerant and definitely not a water hog. Some summer water. If anyone has first hand experience with ‘Pusch’ and its water needs let me know.

May 1, 2013

Problems with using landscape fabric/plastic as a mulch:

• Plastic prevents water infiltration and inhibits air exchange so it is bad for all the good things living in the soil. Landscape fabric can also inhibit infiltration of water and gas exchange. (Btw, gas or air exchange, all the things living in the soil respire, giving off CO2 and most of those things need oxygen so there needs to be exchange with the atmosphere – out with the bad (CO2 that is built up) and in with the good (oxygen)).
• The mulch put on top doesn’t usually stay in place so the the ugliness shows through.
• Weeds eventually grow in the surface mulch, which is usually what you were trying to prevent with the plastic/landscape fabric.
• Both fragment with time and neither are ideal soil amendments
• Getting it up and out with weeds growing on top, roots stuck to the bottom and pieces coming apart is a real pain. I speak from experience. You hook it down with those little u-hooks and you can’t always find where they are so you pull and little pieces pull off and the hook gets left in the ground …

Positives of landscape fabric/plastic mulch

• Temporary weed reduction

What to do instead?

Weed well, apply a thick mulch (arborists wood chips are best for weed suppression), plant things you want to cover the ground and out-compete weeds and stay on top of weeding until the plants fill in. Try like crazy to get to weeds BEFORE they set seed. (Go to to one of my old Gardening Basics tips here for more on difficult perennial weeds.)

4/20/2013

Okay Puget Sounders, if you are headed to Portland between now and Mother’s Day, plan on a brief detour in Woodland to see more lilacs in one place than you ever dreamed of – the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens.

Hulda Klager, born in 1863, was a farmer’s wife and mother who fell in love with hybridizing lilacs. Around the turn of the century she ordered some nice Lemoine lilacs to work with; the cows stomped on all but 3. Using those 3, she developed 14 new varieties within 5 years and around 1920 began opening the garden for people to see.

Helda Klager was clearly one tough lady. Her house is located near the confluence of the Lewis and Columbia Rivers and one year a mighty flood came through, leaving Hulda’s house and lilacs under water for 6 weeks and destroying most of the garden. She set about re-planting and in two years the garden was once again ready for visitors. She was 85. There’s a photo of her with her wheelchair, she’s probably in her 90s, working in the garden. She lived to be 96, gardening is good for you.

In addition to 141 varieties of lilac, many on sale, the property holds a variety interesting plants. You are greeted in the parking area by a strangely out-of-place monkey puzzle (Araucaria araucania) – is there anywhere that a monkey puzzle doesn’t look out-of-place? When you walk into the garden the front yard holds a giant (state champion), shapely variegated box elder (Acer negundo ‘Variegata’). Azaleas, tulips, viburnums, magnolias are all to be found so it is a garden that is interesting for more than just its lilacs but of course, it is the lilacs you should come for.  On my visit on April 20th this year most of the lilacs (and everything else in the garden) were nicely in bloom but at the beginning of the bloom cycle. It was a cool, damp day and I was only able to smell the lilacs by sticking my nose in them. On a warm day I expect the scent might make you do nothing but lie in the grass and breath.

Syringa vulgaris ‘Maiden Blush’ 4/20/2013

HULDA KLAGER LILAC GARDEN

• About 5 minutes from exit 21 of 1-5 at 115 S. Pekin Rd, Woodland, WA 98674
• More info at the Hulda Klager Lilac Garden website.

Syringa vulgaris ‘Lacinata’ 4/20/2013

Acer negundo ‘Variegata’ (Variegated Box Elder) at Helda Klager Lilac Garden

Pine candles, 4/14/2013

These pine candles are about as long as they will get but still soft enough to perform candling. Check out how much they lengthened in a month. Interested in the art of pine pruning via candling? Go here for more info.

Same pine as above, photo taken 3/12/2013

• yellow flowers, far left and bottom right – Aurinia saxatilis, basket-of-gold, evergreen
• blue flowers, center – Rosmarinus officinalis, quite possibly ‘Tuscan Blue’ based on how deep a blue the flowers are, evergreen
• chartreuse, short, right – Euphorbia myrsinites, donkey tail spurge, a self-sower so beware.

Veronica peduncularis ‘Georgia Blue’

Blue flowers still wow me. I’ve been gardening in Seattle for 20+ years and every spring I still marvel at the Lithodora diffusa. I can’t believe I live in a place where a common rockery plant can have such jaw-dropping electric blue flowers – and it’s not alone. Less common but with blue flowers that are just as wowsome isVeronica peduncularis ‘Georgia Blue.’

Like Lithodora ‘Georgia Blue’ blooms in the spring and is a groundcover but it is somewhat smaller and more delicate than Lithodora. ‘Georgia Blue’ is a true herbaceous perennial whereas Lithodora is a a subshrub – the older parts are woody but this year’s growth is herbaceous. Lithodora is big (6-8″ x 4′+), works well draping over a rockery and tends to run over things that are in its way. The Veronica is more of a traditional groundcover plant that you can safely place among perennials without worrying that it is going to take them over. When Veronica ‘Georgia Blue” flowers in spring, it FLOWERS. The plant essentially becomes blue.

Blue can be a tough color to meld into the garden. i like it with yellow and chartreuse, especially in the spring. The yellows show well in our gloom, contrasting nicely with the blues which mellow them out. For something more subtle you could pair the little pillow of ‘Georgia Blue’ with the spiky steel blue leaves of blue oat grass, Helictotrichon semperivirens, or any of the many sun-loving gray-leaved plants that are out there.

Veronica peduncularis ‘Georgia Blue’ Fast Facts

• likes sun about 6″H x 3′W
• evergreen foliage that turns reddish in the winter, delicate appearance
• Listed as drought tolerant but on my sandy soils I’ve found that it needs some summer water. It might survive with no water once established but it won’t thrive.

For more on Koelreuteria paniculata go to this post and this one.

Pine candies?

It’s easy to get caught up in the glory of big. blowsy flowers, especially this time of year when everything is blooming, but don’t forget some of the small delights that are out there. Sara Malone and Janice LeCocq of the Form and Foliage blog have some photos of glorious treats left by the Easter Bunny up on their website.

New growth on pines occurs in “candles”. Some, P. thunbergii for example, have particularly showy candles.

Up close they appear to be neither candies nor candles – pine tails perhaps? Check out one of my old Gardening Basics tips on the cool art of pruning a pine via “candling.”