Tag Archives: Lenten Rose

Garden Bloggers Foliage Day – September 2012

Each month Garden Bloggers Foliage Day (GBFD), hosted by Christina of Creating My Own Garden of the Hesperides, is an opportunity to examine the contributions of foliage in one’s garden. It is 83F this afternoon, the first day of autumn, sunny with a gentle breeze.

Primed to focus on foliage I started out walking around the front of the house this morning where glossy leaves of Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’ (Winter daphne) shone in the early light. The anomaly of red-tinged buds was an unexpected sight.

Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’ (Winter daphne)

Along the north side of the house is a very narrow strip separating our property from the neighbors’ drive. Planted at the northeast corner of the house is a Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’ and just beyond are several gardenias (variety unknown) that have bloomed well this year.

Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’

Both the camellia and the gardenia are trouble-free but do require some light pruning to keep from extending into the neighbors’ driveway. I had to trim them last month which I think stimulated this new growth on the Sasanqua.

New Growth On Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’

Listed variously as fall-blooming and winter-blooming, this Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’ bloomed last year by November 1.

Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’

A friend rooted the gardenias that grow here now and presented them to me when they were just six or eight inches tall about ten years ago. This view is looking west toward the main garden.

Gardenia in Northern Border

Both the camellia and the gardenias are evergreen with nice glossy leaves. These shrubs serve to hide utility units from the street, but flowers, such as this creamy Gardenia flower, are a bonus.

Gardenia Flower in Northern Border

Next to the gardenias is a grouping of Helleborus orientalis (Lenten rose) which add deep green color and texture now and will enliven this area in winter and spring when they bloom.

Helleborus orientalis (Lenten rose)

Moving down beyond the Hellebores the rest of the north side strip is planted mostly with Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine) and Aegopodium podagraria(bishop’s weed) that took over. The Aegopodium can be invasive and I have planned for several years to remove it. It will die back in the winter.

Narrow Property Strip

The reddened leaves of Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine) suggest a sense of autumn.

Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine)

This variegated Aegopodium is a shade-loving ground cover.

Aegopodium podagraria(bishop’s weed)

Flowering Dogwoods are native here but this is not a good example of one. It turned brown during a three-week dry spell in July and never recovered. Flowering dogwoods usually have beautiful red foliage in the fall.

Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)

The dogwood is setting fruit.

Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood) Fruit

In front of the house near the street the Crape Myrtle that was blown over in July is rallying. I was unable to match the variety reliably for a replacement so decided to see how it works out to let the tree recover on its own. There are utility lines nearby so this is the easiest and least expensive approach.

Crape Myrtle

Thanks to Christina for hosting this look at foliage. For inspiration visit her at Creating My Own Garden of the Hesperides where you can find links to other Garden Bloggers Foliage Day entries.

Early March Garden Tokens

2 Replies

Low temperatures in the twenties for the last couple of nights seem not to have damaged the lovely blossoms on the Coral Delight Camellia.

Camellia 'Coral Delight'

The first flower stems are visible above attractive foliage of the Eastern Red Columbine.

Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine)

Blooms began in late December and Helleborus orientalis (Lenten rose) continues a charming display in several sections of the garden. There are lots of new seedlings this year.

Helleborus orientalis (Lenten rose)

Helleborus orientalis (Lenten rose) Seedlings

Hyacinth and Iberis Sempervirens (Candytuft) brighten a garden near the front sidewalk entrance.

Hyacinth and Iberis Sempervirens (Candytuft)

Hyacinth

A Camellia And More

1 Reply

Spied a pink camellia blooming just around the corner of the house the other day and today was the first opportunity to check it out. Though the past several days of rain have left this blossom wrinkly and tired, I still admired its interesting waxy, translucent skin. There will be many more blossoms soon, as the beautiful shrub itself is tightly packed with buds. For now the name of this camellia is lost, probably written down somewhere safe though.

Camellia

Here are a few other scenes from today’s garden:

: Echinacea (Purple Coneflower)

: Hedychium coronarium (Ginger lily)

: Hellebore and Caterpillar

: Hellebore and Eastern Red Columbine

: Lantana

: Lavender

: Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’

: Stachys byzantina (Lamb’s Ear)

Transitions

A Garden Highlight

An exciting highlight is the single bloom on the peony recently added to the garden, Paeonia ‘Pink Parfait.’ Although its planting tag indicated a June bloom, it was ready yesterday without regard to the calendar, as was the gardener.

Paeonia 'Pink Parfait'

Changes Bring Chores

As the focus transitions away from roses and irises there are many required tasks this week that will help keep the garden looking nice. The faded iris blooms and the bloom stalks need to trimmed back to tidy up, although the leaves need to remain for several months before being trimmed back to 6 inches in a fan shape. Is this the year the irises will finally get divided?

Rose Campion

The southern path is full of white rose campion, but none of the favored magenta-hued rose campion survived the winter. Deadheading is a must if they are to continue to look attractive and to keep them from self-sowing so heavily.

The many Eastern Red Columbine is done for this year and needs to be cut back severely; it will maintain a nice green mound all summer.

Tradescantia is pretty now but needs to be thinned, as it has spread too widely. Many were sheared heavily ten days ago. The daylilies, the sweet peas–all overgrown. The spirea finished its bloom weeks ago and should be pruned back hard to maintain its size. Other chores abound. The fence installation was completed last week and paths to the gates need to be improved.

How to finish planting the meditation circle is still an interesting problem to solve, something to ponder while working on these maintenance tasks this week and contemplating transitions.

End-of-Winter Beginning-of-Spring Inventory

4 Replies

March 20, 2011. Today in this Northern Hemisphere town of Chapel Hill, N.C., the vernal equinox occurs at 6:21 pm. This seems like a good time to inventory the garden.

The newly planted Blue Point Juniper hedge is doing well, but will not be providing much screening for several years.

Hyacinth

The earliest of the daffodils and the burgundy hyacinths are at the end of their bloom cycle. Iberis sempervirens (candytuft) and Muscari (Grape Hyacinth) are opening slowly. Several sedums are emerging (the rabbits must be pleased).

Tradescantia (Spiderwort) is coming up in various spots and a few echinacea (Purple coneflower) have returned.

The first flower is open today on the White Flowering Dogwood, while ‘Flower Carpet’ Narcissus have been lovely for a week or more.

Coral Delight Camellia

A nice surprise in the garden today.

The spring-blooming camellia ‘Coral Delight’ popped out when I was not looking. I missed checking on it yesterday and today discovered several blossoms had opened wide.

Daylilies attract the deer so I am trying to pull out many of them. I must hurry to finish the job before they grow any larger or they will be too tough to dig out. Some of the resulting space freed so far was used to transplant a few Shasta daisies.

Hellebore- Lenten Rose

Hellebore (Lenten Rose), which opened one month ago, continue to bloom profusely in their charming manner.

The newly planted Sweet William is doing well and the evergreen ~~Heuchera~~Penstemon is recovering from the long winter. Digitalis Purpurea ‘Alba’ or ‘Camelot White’ (Foxglove) looks promising.

Small pink yarrow, tansy, lamb’s ears and rose campion (shown here), all rather aggressive growers, are coming back strong.

The old-fashioned spirea is the star in its section of the garden, brightening up the entire space of the western border. (A pink saucer magnolia behind the spirea is a fortunate example of a borrowed view.)

Spirea

Nearby the Eastern Redbud competes for attention, deservedly so.

Redbud

Just one week ago the Jackmanii clematis had new leaves, but was still largely brown. Today it is lush with green.

Echinacea

Several ~~black-eyed Susans~~ echinacea (purple coneflower) seem pleased with their new location along the southern path. They were transplanted last year from an over-crowded spot where they did not have have enough sun.

Russian Sage and Bee Balm

Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage) is another transplant to this section of the garden; Monarda (Bee Balm) is just starting to emerge in this and several other sections of the garden.

Phlox subulata (Creeping Phlox) has been blooming all over town but started opening only today in this garden.

Creeping Phlox

Phlox divaricata (Woodland phlox) has been a favorite in this garden, but it has not bloomed well in several years.

Woodland phlox

Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern Red Columbine) is quickly unfolding in several spots around the garden.

Eastern red columbine

Salvia (Meadow Sage) has started to form buds.

Meadow Sage

An iceberg rose should have been pruned earlier, but it is now getting its leaves. The deer find it delicious. There are several perky mounds of catmint. Sword-like leaves of these bearded iris seem to grow inches daily. The garden also has German, Japanese and Siberian iris and a couple of Dutch iris.

Catmint, Iceberg Rose and Iris

In some ways the garden appears bare but there are many other plants not even mentioned. The inventory will have to be continued later. One last thought for today though.

As I go about renovating this garden, I do recognize that improving the overall design and structure (or “bones) will make the garden more interesting year-round. I have read that just having a collection of plants does not make a garden. But at this time of year seeing my particular group of plants develop and mature provides immeasurable delight and satisfaction. It is like having old friends come to visit. And it feels like a garden.

Hellebore Treasures

2 Replies

After several days of preoccupation with pruning and planting, today’s walk around the garden yielded a nice surprise. The hellebores are blooming!

When did that happen? Went back and checked yesterday’s pictures. As it turns out the camera captured hellebores in bloom yesterday, but their flowering status was unnoticed until today. So some time between February 14 and 19 the hellebores began their extended blooming season.

The redbud shows some winter damage, but nevertheless appears ready to put on a show in a few weeks; spirea is greening out; daffodils are forming flowers; the lemony scent of Daphne odora sends a welcome greeting as several blossoms open.

pbmGarden

Sense of place, purpose, rejuvenation and joy