Based on how the official summer season is starting, Jeff has a very busy summer ahead: Deadhead, Cut Back, Plant, Repeat!
"First day of summer and everything is growing full force and flowing over the bed edges. From now until frost will be deadheading, cut backs and more planting…there is always more to plant."
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Comments
Your gardening genius never ceases to amaze me Jeff! I still love your wheel and washtub containers. Superb plant combo in the fourth the last photo - is that Coppertina?
Thanks, Cherry! and yes, that is Coppertina
Awesome awesome awesome, Jeff. It must be great to sit and relax in the garden. Wait, I bet you rarely do that. Always something pulling you in. It's the little garden chores that provide the relaxation I'm guessing.
Love how you mix the tropicals in. Looks like everything is holding up nicely with this heatwave. I assume it's pretty toasty where you're at?
it is searingly hot here with HIGH humidity but it's summer every year. i don't spend nearly as much time working in the garden as people think, as i do walkabouts i pull weeds as i see them but i really don't have many. thanks for the compliments and if you're ever in the neighborhood drop by,,i;ll save some weeds for you
Diane, that hemlock is at least 25 years old the Skylands is well over 30 i got it as a 6" tall 2 qt plant from Bob Bullington
I feel like I just got my passport stamped at the entrance to a tropical wonderland...so many lush and exotic leaves and colorful stems that make me go "Wow". Remind me again what the red "limbed" beauty is in the second picture? All those afternoon rain showers have made for a very happy garden...your plants are practically smiling with healthy exuberance.
Mike, the red limbed plant is Chard Bright Lights, it's colorful, durable, showy AND very delicious
So, next spring, would I look for it in the vegetable section or is it an ornamental that is not likely found at the big box stores?
i have seen it at lowe's,,,,,,,,,,,,,bonnies grow them but i dont' know if all lowe's stock them. i usually get mine from a local greenhouse just because i know they have them every year
Should also be easy to find in the veggie section. Very easy to grow, cut the outer leaves to eat (young ones can go raw in salads) and it will continue to put out new ones in the middle the entire year, even over the winter in zone 7!
Wow, even stays alive over a zone 7 winter!? Does it eventually just peter out from exhaustion? or is it truly a perennial in your zone, Marsha?
Chard is not a perennial. The next spring it usually blooms and the leaves are then a bit bitter. I always plant new ones in the spring. They come in several colors, the green with magenta stems and veins like Jeff's, green with bright yellow stems, dark red leaves with red stems... Try to get a mixed 6-pack; it's not too late! Jeff's are the Bright Lights, but there are also some called Rainbow Chard. Not much difference between the two.
I'm glad to see that others also grow edibles in amongst the flowers; they're every much as pretty and colorful! I would like to know what the lovely yellow-blooming spires in the photo third from the bottom are though???
I believe that is Senna, but don't know anymore than that. A friend gave me the plant. It completely dies back every winter then pops up with all those pretty leaves and flowers in early June here in zone -5. Bees love the flowers, too.
Hi Eddi-I think your Senna ID is correct, but I had no idea is was perennial here in our fair city! Although maybe there are some more tender varieties with which I am familiar. cheers!
I just googled the cassia didymobotrya to find that I am, amazingly, correct. "Senna"it is.
This is one plant that is a lot more beautiful than it's fruit, a bean which is a natural medicine used as a laxative. I haven't noticed it in pharmacies here but in England it is very common. There is a strong following for natural remedies over there.
I can really vouch for the hardiness, Tim. Mine is five years in the ground and you know what the last few winters have been like!
it is Cassia didymobotrya,,,,,,,buttered popcorn plant. It is a fun annual and kids love it because of the smell. I tried to find Meelianthus that smells like peanut butter but no luck this year
Well Jeff, your garden is definitely a wonderland. I am so crazy about your tire-rim planter and the tub with the Agave. (A. americana? I have trouble with the big green ones!) Did you have the stand for the wash tub custom welded? I am crazy for Coppertina. Ninebarks have become pretty amazing these days and I wish I had more room for them. All I have is a seedling from Diablo, whose parent I killed trying to move it. I might try to squeeze in some of the smaller varieties that have been released lately. Everything looks amazing. I sure wish that purple oxalis in the first photo would grow like a weed in my garden. Love it and it is a great foil for so many things.
Tim , I bought that as Agave americana 'Silver Surfer' it's gonna outgrow my housing capabilities soon and those spines do not stop till they hit bone. I did not have that stand custom made, a client was throwing it away and it just happened to be the right size for that tub
I love the weeping hemlock. Your garden is beautiful in all seasons. What is the plant on the left in photo #6?
Rhonda, that is Acalypha Fire Dragon grown as a tree form standard
Wow, what an incredible array of foliage. I'm also intrigued by the yellow flowers with the interesting leaves. The writeup doesn't say what zone this is, but I suspect it's warmer than the 4-5 zone climate I live in.
Roberta, I am in Zone 6b altho the "new" map says 7a,,, the yellow flower is Cassia,,,,,,,,,,,smells like popcorn when touched
Beautiful as always! I enjoy walking through your gardens! My favorite is the plant in the galvanized tub! How cool is that! But what is the yellow flowering plant in picture three from the bottom? It looks like your ornamental rhubarb looks like its doing well! Thanks for giving us a glimpse of your gardens!
Jeanne, that rhubarb is amazing, I am almost afraid of the size it will be next year. that yellow flowering plant is Cassia didymobotrya,,,,,,,buttered popcorn plant and the leaves when touched really do smell like popcorn
Always love the eclectic mix of plants, containers and hardscaping in your garden Jeff. No limits to what you will try! The neat thing is that it works beautifully and leaves the rest of us wondering how you do it.
May, most of the time I just throw it in the Earth and hope for the best
Your garden is full of interesting plants and "stuff", Jeff. You really prod me into thinking more imaginatively. Great garden and. I'm really envious of the fact that your jungle has LESS WEEDS than my jungle. Thank you for today's treat.
Eddi, I crossed the line of too much stuff so long ago that now I just do whatever I want and let it be
Well yes, I'd like to know what that yellow flower is too. It looks like a mullein transplanted onto the top of a baby mimosa but that seems somewhat unlikely.
Cassia didymobotrya,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,smells like popcorn
Stunning Jeff! It wasn't hard to find the Agave this time.The "cramscaping" is working well with all your wonderful combinations of colour and texture.
yep, i am a cramscraper here at home
Hey Jeff, couldn't you just for once send in a photo of something ugly? Geez...
As always, you've got that texture/color combo thing down pat! You've got the 'eye' and the magic 'touch' when it comes to beauty.
trust, Sheila, there are some crop failures here and many times a container that I "see" in my head does not turn out at all as I had envisioned. maybe we should do some ugly plant posts kind of like the ugly christmas sweaters
OOOH. I'm totally in with the ugly plant post. Epic plant failures happen regularly in my garden!
Now that's the reality check! It's the 'but it looked so good in my mind' moment ;)
I am particularly fond of my dead morning glory pic I posted on Gardenweb last year as everyone posted these luscious vines full of glorious blooms
-> If you are interested in getting extra paycheck on the side averaging $50-$300 each day for freelancing on your computer from home for 3-4 h a day then this may interest you -> <-
Jeff, fabulous as always. The weeping hemlock is a "WOW!" specimen! Everything looks great; love your combinations and interesting plants. And the ornamentation, of course! Cool stuff! SOMEDAY, I MUST visit!
open door here, Margaret, come by anytime,,,,,,,,,where are you?
Thank you much! I'm in NY. A visit will probably need to wait until next year. You're on my bucket list!
Is that Wild Sienna? (the Yellow flower with the fantastic leaves). I have to study your wonderful photos again, and again - there is much to learn here. If this isn't cut back then my garden has definitely gone wild - it looks perfectly mannered to me - emphasis on perfectly!
i have always bought it as Cassia didymobotrya. i keep a few here in pots to flip the kids out with the smell
Hi Jeff, Hope discus sends this to you as I am a day late getting to my email. Do you have trouble with the pests on the hemlock. Wooly adelgid I think it is. Haven't planted a hemlock because of this so would like your input. Thanks, Nancy
nope, i have never ever found any adelgids on the dwarf or weeping hemlocks but they are wreaking havoc on the standard hemlocks. even on a property with standards and dwarfs i haven't seen them attack the small ones or weepers
Very unusually pretty !!!!
is that chard with the red stems ?
Please ! Advise ; my Pecan tree, that provides fabulous west shade : 1. Is covered in tent worm ( what do you call them .. Clouds of ill icky stinky nasty yucky ) nests. 2. Drops tassels that ANIHILATES creeping Jenny, creeping Charlie, hostsa - 3. Is a MAGNET for voles, squirrels, chipmunks that DRIVES MY DOG CRAZIEST; 4. Can't sit on my porch, walk in my garden. Without freaky catipillars falling in my drink, crawling up my leg ... I say CUT THE BITCH DOWN. Your thoughts ???
So lush and beautiful just gorgeous!
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