Yay! Daniela sent in a second batch of photos! She says, “This is a different perspective of the path borders that I shared with you yesterday. I will be less consistent in the picture angles because I lacked an easy marker to stand for my shots. I guess I was distracted with what was blooming at the time.”
There are only a few bulb blooms at this time: Scilla siberica, Muscari armeniacum, and Anemone blanda and English primulas. The borders are painted with semi-evergreen or evergreen foliage of Asarum europaeum (z.4-7), Carex brunnea ‘Variegata’, and Euonymus fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’ (the white and green foliage z.5-8). The sedums in this border are very hardy and are always there with redish tones after the snow melts. Fresh emerging foliage of boltonia, brunnera, campanulas, hardy geraniums, lysmachia, forget-me-not, and pulmonaria. As I am looking at this picture I decided that the April borders need more blooms. I need some masses of daffodils, don’t you think? Photo/Illustration: All photos courtesy of Daniela Baloi
I’d be distracted, too, Daniela. If possible, it may be even more beautiful from this perspective! Thanks so much for sharing, yet again. ***Daniela has a blog! Visit it HERE!***
**** The push is still on–get outside and take some last minute shots, or compile a few you took earlier in the season. I’ll be eternally grateful…. Email them to [email protected]. Thanks! ****
In only three weeks, the border changes to a canvas of fresh foliage and textures. Stylophorum diphyllum (a native here) are blooming with yellow poppy-like flowers by the foundation of the house. Dicentra ‘Gold Heart’ steals the show with gorgeous chartreuse foliage and pink blooms. More chartreuse foliage is given by little hosta ‘Friends’ and Lysmachia nummularia ‘Aurea’, Doronicum orientale which repeats a few times and creates punctuation in the inside border. The burgundy or brown foliage is given by heucheras ‘Binoche’ and ‘Encore’ (to the left side) and Heuchera ‘Plum Pudding’ as well as Pentestemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’ (right side). The orange foliage is Heuchera ‘Caramel’.
Japanese candelabra primulas in shades of magenta and pink are starting to bloom. The burgundy blooming plant between the two clumps of Heuchera ‘Plum Pudding’ is Geranium phaeum ‘Samobor’. This plant got a lot of attention during the summer garden tour due to its beautiful foliage that maintains through the whole season if given a little whack after the blooms are over. It seeds itself somewhat so I am able to share it with friends and create repetitions in the part of the border not shown here. Mysotis (forget me not) are blooming at this time in this border and other borders around the yard.
The cedar trellis on the left was built this spring by my handy husband Nick for my new “baby”, Hydrangea anomala ‘Petiolaris’, which is a very slow climber. The border by the house is moist all day and only gets between 2 and 4 hours of sun. The right border gets between 4 and 5 hours of sun.
There are more blooms now in the border. The white creamy feathery bloom at the foreground is a new perennial for me called Filipendula ‘Flora Plena’ and it loves the wet conditions in this low point of the border. Japanese candelabra primulas, white Japanese iris, pink Geranium cantabrigiense ‘Karmina’, pink and creamy white Digitalis purpurea ‘Camelot Mix’, and the burgundy Geranium phaeum ‘Samobor’ are blooming. Far view shows a colorful patio border surounded by rhododendrons, ‘Knock Out’ roses, pink lupines, rose Oriental poppies, and Wisteria frutescens ‘Amethyst Falls’ on the arbor.
Yellow orange Trollius ‘Golden Monarch’, Heuchera ‘Caramel’, a giant woodland specimen of Arisaema triphyllum (or Jack-in-the-pulpit), Liriope muscari ‘Variegata’, a large clump of Chelone lyonii ‘Hot Lips’ (z.4-8), pink Geranium cantabrigiense ‘Karmina’, and pink Digitalis purpurea ‘Camelot Mix’. The Pentestemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’ is starting to bloom.
On the right the varigated plant with yellow blooms is Lysmachia punctata ‘Golden Alexander’. Nearby Spiraea japonica ‘Magic Carpet’ has a caramel foliage in the spring matching the Heuchera ‘Caramel’ nearby, but in this picture is almost green. Filipendula ulmaria ‘Rubra’ (or Queen of the Praire), about to bloom, gets very high (6′) by the time it blooms in July with airy pink blossoms that lean toward the driveway or sunset. At the end of the right border Malva alcea is blooming in long blooming foxgloves and geranium. The left side shows a lot of foliage color and texture that carries through the whole non-blooming season of this corner: white-edged Hosta ‘Fortune’, Asarum europaeum, burgundy Heuchera ‘Encore’, Hosta ‘Aureomarginata’, Heuchera ‘Caramel’, Japanese primula, Sedum sieboldii, Heuchera ‘Caramel’, large Hosta ‘Sum and Substance’, Matteuccia struthiopteris fern, and the beautiful Kirengeshoma koreana.
The borders get painted with the Echinacea ‘Pink Mist’, the red blooms of the Lobelia cardinalis (z.3-9), purple Lobelia gerardii ‘Vedrariensis’ (z.3-8), ‘Fireball’ hardy hibiscus (z. 5-9), and the shorter Lobelia cardinalis ‘Ruby Slippers’ flanked by a Athyrium ‘Red Beauty’ (fern). The yellow-orange bloom at the front is Ligularia dentata ‘Britt-Marie Crawford’ (z. 3-9).
The near-white -Joan Senior’ daylily is at the end of the blooming. The burgundy folliage is a pot with ‘Mississippi Summer’ coleus (annual here in z.5).
The white clumps are Boltonia asteroides (z.3-9), a favorite for the month of October. It is very easy to grow, doesn’t need staking and is less tall if I cut it in half two times before July 4. More cleomes (annual here) in the background with the last bloom of the roses. Purple aster and tall dinner plate dahlias are visible behind the firepit.
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Comments
more beautiful shots from a different point of view and it's just as nice as yesterday. AND a blog, how in the world do you find the time?!?!? but you do and it's all great.
not surprisingly, it's beautiful. I definitely vote for some daffodils. it's one of my "can't live without" plants. I even love the foliage. Thanks for sending more photos.
Daniela, thanks for feeding our addiction and sending in a second round of pictures. Everything looks equally amazing and beautiful from this angle. I always get an extra smile when I catch a glimpse of a piece of ornamentation that I also have...this time, it was the airy wire snail in the 3rd picture down. I think we are going to be counting on you through the winter to share additional photos and keep this wonderful perennial tutorial going.
I vote "yes" to the addition of daffodils...no reason you shouldn't be enjoying bright cheery yellow clumps throughout April. Maybe even include some super early bloomers that start their show of color in March.
Thank you for sharing additional photos and commentary. I also want to thank all the commentators. This blog shows that we are not alone. Sometimes those of us so interested in gardening don't have anyone to share it with. I also keep an excel sheet of my plants. So far it has my collections, daylilies, iris and hosta. A column includes color so that I will be able to re-identify any if markers get lost. You have inspired me to expand it this winter to all the rest. I also have been working on a season long photo shoot, but, alas, not as consistent in angle as yours was yesterday. You could keep consistency because every bit of your border is photogenic at all times.
Good morning Jeff, Tim and Michaele!
Thanks for your nice words!
Jeff: I don't know why I started the blog this fall! I really don't have time! Something always doesn't get done in the days that I garden or blog! I just have to pick something that nobody in the family notices! Oh well!
Good morning Harriet! I agree with your comments about the commentators! For the longest time I thought that my gardening addiction and obsession is somewhat unique and not understood by my friends and acquaintances. Since I discovered this blog and my local Gardening Club I no longer feel guilty or eccentric!
Daniela, you are a master of succession of bloom with perennials. I am so impressed particularly because your borders are not that wide. How much sun does this area get? You seem to have a mix of sun and shade plants here.You must specialize in long blooming perennials. My great new find is geranium Sweet Heidi which is blooming heavily now.
Daniela, just jumping in to say that your blog is a treasure trove of fabulous pictures. I encourage everyone to click on over and pay it a visit. The only problem is that you will find it hard to not stay a long time and just soak in the ambiance. Your children are adorable and look like they love the outdoors just like their mom.
I saw that the blog Fairegarden is on your blogroll...doesn't she have the most amazing pictures and beautiful text? Yes, I join Jeff in wondering how the heck you do all that you do...hmmm, have you secretly perfected cloning?
During the warm months that crowd of plantings is quite the cornucopia, I couldn't keep up with remembering so many, especially where one mob begins and another riot ends, a melee of greenery. When everyting is growing it looks happy but to me for half the year during Ohio's winter when everything has melted back into the ground it's the saddest of paths. For me it cries out for some evergreen perennial shrubs and small trees to break up the the winter monotony of nothingness... especially along the stark brick wall with its security lights that sans life looks so penitentiary... perhaps a stainless steel sculpture of razor wire on the roof would be apropos. It's very nice but definitely needs some plantings for winter.
Good morning Nancy the Queen of Part Shade (HellofromMD)!
You have to share the "crown" of Queen of Part Shade because 80% of my gardening is in part shade. The closer to the house foundation, the less hours of sun. The closer to the woods the less hours and sun and less moisture. That left border gets in the sun only at 12:00pm and by 2:00pm, half of it is in shade already. The rest gets between 3 and 4 hours depending on position. I guess you can say that I specialize in long blooming perennials or plants with foliage that look good for a long time. I've been trying for years various Salvia varieties because I love the blooms and deer don't touch..but the blooms flap and the foliage is devoured by slugs! My focus for the next years is more flowering shrubs with good form and foliage and slug and insect resistant plants that don't look like shredded cheese at the end of the season. That will be my next "specialization"
Michaele: thanks for checking out the blog and encouraging others to look at it. My latest posting lacks plant names and commentary because it was done late last night. It will improve as the week progresses (:)
Fabulous from every angle. The slightly closer up shots, show this garden is also maintained to perfection. I vote for daffodils. May I suggest some of the smaller divisions of narcissus: triandrus , cyclamineus, tazetta, or true miniatures. With everything still so low to the ground in April, they will still pack quite a punch, plus they are so cute, and a little out of the ordinary. There is also the added bonus, that the foliage is shorter, so it gets hidden more quickly by it's neighbors in May/June. Small species tulips could be fun, too. You will have to excuse me, I love to get the creative juices fIowing. I feel a little silly giving you advice. You clearly know what your doing. I love your garden.
Daniela, I need to echo the "How do you do it all?" comments. I only have ONE kid, and I can barely get my garden started in spring. Then it gets pretty much ignored for the rest of the season. You are Wonderwoman!
That's what it's all about.
Just wonderful.Really enjoyed both days over and over again. Really envious as I am in Zone 10.
Your blog is great! You are a good photographer too. I see many of my favorite plants in your garden. One I don't have is persicaria painter's palette. I saw it at a clearance sale two days ago. Should I buy it? Do you like it? Is the Astrantia still in bloom? To many questions, sorry. P.S.- you have a beautiful family.
I watched a special on 'SuperHeroes' last night and was surprised that you weren't there. You truly are incredible. Such a lovely garden and I adore all the pops of color. I, like you, have to contend with the long, cold winter months when my gardens look grey and dreary. I'm always trying to figure out how to improve my winter beds. I've added evergreens and grasses, but it's still pretty dreary. A challenge to the GPOD-ers....
PS: I missed your blog site address...and I MUST see it. Could you repost? Thanks WonderWoman
Annek, it's http://gardenerswithkids.blogspot.com/.
Good morning Carla, Michelle, tractor1, briandowns, jagardener, annek!
I am no superhero and my garden didn't always looked as good as in this year's pictures. Last year in August we found out that we were selected be part of the local garden tour for 2013. After I panicked for a few days and nights I pushed my self to a higher gear I didn't know I carry (:). While the kids were in school and me no longer carrying a day job (that is how I do it Michelle and Carla!) I worked in the garden until my butt and legs were hurting! Then I cooked, did laundry and then smiled when family was home (notice I skip organizing and cleaning the house here). I use rainy days like today for shopping and indoor work. I stopped watching TV during all days of the week but Fridays when is family movie night. All year while others watch TV, I work on my hobbies (photo organizations, reading garden books and blogs and , keeping my plant database, take notes in a garden journal and planning my next changes/additions to the garden. I take care of the indoor plants, propagate annuals from cuttings and start veggies and perennials from seed under lamps.
My kids are no longer so small and in the spring and fall they help with chores around the garden. My daughter now 11 planted all veggies and herbs seeds in the garden and she waters my pots occasionally. She also learned to mow grass and likes to weed in dry shade areas (?!) My son likes to weed the driveway and patio weeds (safer there from pulling a real plant out) and blow leaves in the fall! My hubby does all the heavy work as paths building, fences, trellises, leaves, and cleaning the mess the rest of us create in the shed and garage.
Beautiful, as expected! I too vote for narcissus of all kinds. Maybe you already have snowdrops, crocus and Iris reticulata - they, along with Helleborus, get me going in our early spring days.
Carla: Astrantia in my opinion is the PERFECT plant in my part shade garden. It has a gorgeous deep green foliage that no insect, slug or disease touch. Significant foliage presence was visible in April's pictres. It has an interesting and very long bloom starting mid June and looks better and better every year. It then grows faster so that you are able to divide it and multiply it. It likes the rich semi-moist composted new beds that we created. If you remove the spent blooms it may re-bloom in the fall as you can see in my blog pictures taken yesterday in the garden. I will say that Astrantia was THE FAVORITE during the June garden tour this summer. By day two we had to label it 'cause we were tired of saying and spelling the name for visitors.
I say BUY Persicaria Painter's Pallete or stop by my garden! It has a gorgeous foliage that complements hostas, heucheras and lady's mantle. It tolerates heavy clay and dry soil by the woods and it seeds giving you a few new plants each spring. Some gardeners hate the seeding part. I don't. I had it for 10 years and haven't run out of places to use it in nor did I run out of interested gardeners to give the seedlings away to.
GrannyMay: Thank you for your suggestions! In the summer I added a large patch of iris reticulata received from a neighbor by the climbing hydrangea. I have snowdrops somewhere by the stairs...I will definitely start shopping for narcissus of all kind and short tulips.
tractor1: I am not worried about the winter look because the last three winters either I didn't even step in the garden using the path or the garden was under over 1 ft of snow from November to end of March. The views from the house are pretty decent because I see the trees, hemlocks and evergreens by the woods. I had tried evergreens in these borders at my husband's insistence few years back but then kicked them out because I needed the real estate for more perennials(:)
Isn't it funny how we always manage to find time to do the things we love? Daniela, your gardens reflect what makes you happy... playing with plants! I think we've all learned a thing or two in the last couple of days wandering your amazing path, and seeing it through your eyes. It's been a pleasure!
Daniela- you are so right that garden clubs (not all, depends on the group) can be a wonderful source of like minded people. Plant societies are good, too. CWheat: Painter's Palette is a nice plant. If you know anyone who has it, it's the ideal passalong plant. I got mine as a tiny seedling from a fellow plant lover. Another friend discovered that cuttings easily root. After all, it's a polygonatum. Daniela- Can't wait for a rainy day to check out your blog. Now it's back to the garden: leaf collecting for next year's veg mulch and selected veg and perennial cut down is on the agenda.
Just chiming in to affirm everything everyone has said. What an inspiration! I'm all fired up to go evaluate my beds. Unfortunately we've got to trap the copperhead first. Always something. I've been thinking about Astrantia for 2 years now, and it will be on my purchase list for spring.
Ok, so I just wanted to chime in that I am one of those folks who banished persicaria "painter's palette" from my garden.....Although it is not like the banished nicotiania sylvestris, from which seed that must be 10 years old keeps sprouting all season long......
what i have learned from the past 2 days other than the garden is beautiful is that i NEED to develop an Excel spreadsheet because my brain is vanishing fast.
and tractor i just have to say (penitentiary? stainless steel razor wire????) such a belittling statement for an area so full of beauty, hard work and devotion. i was always told growing up that nobody ever looks big by trying to make others look small and to never be 'that guy'. i'm sorry you missed that lesson , i had to say that but i won't respond to your negativity again, it's predictable and i don't see it ever changing.
Tim- Maybe Painter's Palette is more aggressive in some climates than others. I noticed in your time lapse youtube video posting (which I loved) that you don't have the solid months of snow cover some of us enjoy (and yes, I do enjoy it, for all sorts of winter sports and a rest from active gardening). As for conifers for winter interest, some of us have a few feet of snow for winter interest. Not all garden styles are alike. That is what is fun about this blog. I'm with Jeff. Comment on what you like, and leave unspoken the parts you don't like.
What beautiful borders. Thank you for the inspiration. Something we do here when the ground is bare is have some nice pots and fill them with evergreen boughs, holly or any kind of berry,or variagated stems for example Portugese Laurel. Really anything you want that is evergreen. Just stick the stems in the existing soil. They last until Spring and then you can put in bulbs that are already potted into a pot and are ready to go. When the pots are ready to be potted up for summer you simply remove the existing pot of bulbs and redo the soil.
Can't help myself for adding in more compliments...
Have been taken in so, with full delight viewing these 2 days
of photo's. Without any doubt, I'm very impressed with your
superb borders and super fine garden work! Placing it to-
perfection! It has provided me with other perennial plant
considerations, to incorporate in my own yard, if not in other gardens I work for.
A very high Thumb's Up to you, Daniela!!
GrannyCC: at first blush your suggestion to stick evergreen branches into the ground sounds like a solution but I know when I trim evergreen branches this time of year by new years they've lost all their leaves and needles. In fact I just had stumps ground and I pruned lots of spruce boughs and hauled them out to the woods to add to my brush piles for the critters, and since I do that each year I know that within two months they are bare branches. I would definitely plant evergreen shrubs in those beds, there are lots of dwarf plants to choose from. I know I'd not like looking at bare bleak soil for half the year, I'd plant lots of small evergreen shrubs and I'd also add organic mulch to hide that barren soil... some years there just isn't a lot of snow in the north country to hide that bare ground. I think looking at six months worth of bare bleak dirt is depressing. There are many shrubs with interesting bark and colorful berries one can have all winter until spring when those other plants pop up. And I'd much rather see the snow mound on some shrubs than have nothing but flat white ground. I'd have azaleas and espaliared firethorn on that brick wall rather than nothing. I'd definitely not be trying to fake it with dead branches, plastic flowers make more sense.
Daniela, thank you for answering my many questions. It is always helpful to get advice from real gardeners. I think I will trying painter's palette with a watchful eye in my zone 5 garden. I will probably try more varieties of Astrantia, too. I only work about 18 hours a week outside the home. It is still hard to stay on top of the garden. Kudos to you again. Keeping a beautiful home and happy family is a more than a full time job if done right. My house suffers also, during the height of garden season. You are right about TV. It is a time killer. I am down to just watching a the news, after dinner. Your time management skills are inspiring. Thanks also mainer59 and vojt for your feedback.
Well said Jeff!
GrannyCC, I too use branches from my evergreens and other shrubs and trees in creative ways to add temporary interest in bare spots and in containers. Sometimes they last for months, sometimes they even take root and I am blessed with a new plant to keep or share.
i use the branches as well and also have had them to take root. BIG difference between putting them into moist soil as opposed to a brushpile.
How well the evergreen boughs hold up over winter in my experience depends on whether they are long-needled or short-needled. For whatever reason, boughs cut from short-needled evergreens here in MT will barely stay green until Christmas, while boughs from long-needled evergreens (in my case Ponderosa pine or Austrian pine) will stay green and soft until spring, and look lovely in outdoor pots with some mountain ash berry (we're one zone too cold here for holly, unfortunately).
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