Dirty Fingers Muddy Knees

Planning an Edible February

by Susan | Sep 10, 2016 | Plantswoman Design

And just like that it’s time to start thinking about the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. The theme for the show this year is “Taste of Spring – Garden’s that celebrate food”. As I start working through the design I thought I would share a few thoughts with you! I am always excited to start thinking and planning the garden.

This will be my eighth year participating in the show and let me tell you, a display garden at the Northwest flower and Garden show is quite a project. The build is done in just 3 ½ days with judging on the Tuesday before the show opens. Creating the illusion of a full sized garden in such a space has its challenges. Treehouses falling down in the middle of the night (if nobody is there does it make a noise), ‘a river runs through it’ but hopefully not down the middle of the aisle from a leaking water feature, and steam looking like smoke in the rafters causing the fire department to be called. All these things and more have happened on the show floor while setting up for the garden show. Fun and stressful at the same time and we garden designers come back for more every year.

This year, like last, I’ll have a display garden as
well as giving a talk at the show. After last year I can say speaking
is the more stressful of the two.

plantswoman design garden show inspiration 2017

The elements I’m thinking about this year are redneck hot tub, drink what you grow instead of eat what you grow, UP UP in the trees, and fresh water turned into wine. Ideas anyone? I welcome input if you have thoughts to share with me.

Here are a few pictures from previous shows to get you excited about what is still to be decided. Send me pictures, or ideas if you have any to contribute. Who knows, maybe you’ll see your suggestion at the show!

Am I behind?

by Susan | Sep 2, 2016 | gardening, plants

Sometimes you keep waiting for a moment to cut back, weed, move, etc. Then all the sudden it is too late. What to do? Should I just leave it or should I cut it back and just deal with the consequences? It is always a dilemma in gardening.

This year it has been the Lavender. It has needed to be cut back. Don’t get me wrong, it was pretty with bees everywhere, looking pretty good but just like a good haircut one day you wake up and it needs cut. This week was the time however, lavender can die if cut back too severely at this time of year. A Mediterranean plant like lavender needs to have a good root system, dry soil and the chance to go dormant before a wet winter hits. If they are pruned back too hard they will start to push out new growth extending their growth period while delaying their dormancy. Usually lavender should be cut back after the first full flowering, about end of June/July. If you keep the plant trimmed back tightly each year they will reward you with good shape, good flowers and a hardy long lived plant. If you don’t keep it cut back it can get woody, separate, and break off. Bad pruning will eventually cause your lavender to be ugly and short lived.

You can see this lavender has been tidy in the past. This time of year I only prune off the flowers and the top layer foliage. This is not the time to cut into the wood of the plant. I love saving the flowers to dry and use through out my home while the rest of the foliage and stems are tossed into the compost. The benches in the greenhouse are perfect for drying out the lavender flowers for use all over the house.

It is better to cut lavender back gently at this time of year rather than letting it get too out of control. The bad weather and snow can cause the plants to split out and have a hard time recovering during the spring.

Gardening Obsession

by Susan | Aug 27, 2016 | Plantswoman Design

Years ago I read a book that with a collaboration of several different authors. They shared their love of Gardening and why they do it. All with various reasons striking a cord of familiarity within me. I reflected on my particular obsession as I opened a box from England this week. Many of you may recall my blog post about Snowdrops. My collection grew this year and I even ordered some from across the pond. Unlike the ones I ordered from Turkey these bulbs came in plump and beautiful, full of promise.

I wondered then if I have developed an obsession for snowdrops. If so I wouldn’t be the only one and then I thought it wouldn’t be the only thing. Most gardeners I know are enjoying the lush wonderful summer, looking towards fall and some are even looking forward to spring again. The bulbs from England are, Galanthus ‘Primrose Warburg’, A rare yellow form, Galanthus ‘White Swan’ A double form, and Galanthus plicatus ‘Madelaine’, a yellow form with long petals.

If you check out the website where I purchased them you will see that they are sold out. In England they would usually sell them ‘in the green’. When you order them for the U.S. they send you bulbs in the fall. You should however still order them in the spring because they will sell out before fall.

Obsession continues with new plants. I love to try out new plants in my garden and if they are truly as wonderful as their advertisement goes I put them in a client’s garden. One that I’m particularly fond of this summer is the ‘First Snow’ Japanese Clethra.

This introduction from Monrovia is amazing. From the variegated foliage to the racemes of fragrant flowers in mid summer to the tricolored bark and seed capsules in the winter, what’s not to love? Needs partial to full sun, regular water, and shines in a shady woodland garden. It could even take wet feet. What’s not to love? Right?

plantswoman design crazy color combinations

Sometimes color combinations come around by accident. This year the rain in the summer had many benefits. Usually the primroses in the garden are finished flowering by the time the Astilbe comes out but not this year!

This is Astilbe ‘fanal’, a lovely red flower that glows in the shade garden. The combination of that with Primrose bulleyanna is pretty shocking. I’m liking it because of the way the red sets off the orange. Funny enough the primrose buds start out red and burst into orange. My neighbor, a great gardener in her own right, gave me the seedlings from her garden. They tend to have lots of various colors when the seedlings bloom so some pulling or transplanting of various colors does have to happen when in bloom.

In a different area of the garden the cool colors reign.

plantswoman design cool color combinations

The Tradescantia ‘Sweet Kate’ throws its blue flower out into a shady spot. The variegated foliage of the Lamium maculatum ‘Aureum’ adds some texture to the combination. The beesia would be better with out the slug interest. The dark green fern fronds from neighboring Blechnum chilense also play with texture. Epimedium and Hellebore play a minor role at this time of year but a major role in the spring.

Lastly and lovely is the combination of hot and cool together. The agapanthus ‘storm cloud’, with hot colors of orange Crocosmia and soft rounded cool leaf of Lotus in a pot shouts ‘SUMMER’ to me. Lots of plants, lots of watering, pruning, harvesting, moving, planting, and planning for the spring. It may look like ‘Summer Chaos’ to you but that is summer to me.

Agapanthus (another lily by another name)

by Susan | Aug 20, 2016 | Plants I Dig

I’m not quite done with my lily theme. Enter Agapanthus…

Lily of the Nile, Agapanthus, is another wonderful summer plant. Many new cultivars are proving more and more hardy which is good for us who live in zone 7 on the edge of zone 8. Nothing says summer quite like Agapanthus. Use with a mixture of blue and orange crocosmia, heads of blue waving in the breeze in combination with grasses, or tall heads standing proud against a background of shrubs, so many ways to use them in the garden.

One of my favorites is Agapanthus ‘Storm Cloud’. Reliably hardy in my garden the dark blue flowers with dark stems produce every year without much effort. These are in morning sun with afternoon shade. The color stays consistent and blooms stay a little longer out of the hot afternoon sun.

Another good dark blue is the Agapanthus ‘Blue Leap’ which has lighter blue blooms with a color variation. Full sun is where these hang out and even though they don’t get much water they make good clumps.

Xera Nursery in Oregon developed this cultivar. The lighter blue is happy and fronts well with the tropical plants in good sun with afternoon sun and morning shade.

Right next to the Xera agapanthus is the new one with variegated foliage. The bloom is great too with light blue held high above the striped leaves. Agapanthus Summer sky, (not to be confused with Agapanthus Summer skies) is a strong cultivar from Hines that is reliably hardy. The contrast of the leaves with the striped blue flowers is a combination that can’t be beat.

Blue is not the only color the ‘spider lily’ comes in (yes there are many common names for agapanthus). The tall agapanthus arendsii ‘white form’ comes to me from Windcliff plants. The lovely open form flower in the light breezy flower head is different that most of the blue forms. More delicate with dark stems they seem to dance in the wind. Great with a grass like Stipa Gigantea they mix well and add interest to the garden with alternate forms of flowers.

Not to left out the Agapanthus ‘Silver Baby’ is also white but this time small and sweet with a touch of blue at the back of the blossom. I’m looking forward to seeing this one bulking up in the garden and creating a mass of low blooming white.

Saving the best for last I came across the amazing Agapanthus ‘Queen Mum’. Unable to resist the siren call of clear white with a deep blue in the base of the flower it found its way to the back of the car. It got to hang out at the front door with other special things until I finally planted it, no, not in the ground but in a pot. Reading about it I came across an article by Dan Hinkley stating a problem with hardiness in our area. A quick email confirmed that it would likely not be hardy at my place. Such an impressive flower will deserve a place in my greenhouse this winter. The size of the flower is the largest I’ve seen at almost 24 inches across.

Some Agapanthus is particular about their position in the garden, they like good summer water to bloom and sometime protection in the winter to keep the crowns from freezing. Many times after a hard winter they are slow to recover. The foliage will die back but push out again as late as may. If the summer stays warm and wet they will be fabulously in bloom by end of July. Agapanthus ‘Graskop’ and Agapanthus ‘two times blue’ are also in my garden with Gaskop having unusual pendulous deep blue flowers that hummingbirds love, and ‘Two times blue’ having bi-color flowers with an open head much like the white Agapanthus arendsii. The buds on ‘Two Times Blue’ are like little rounded pouches before they open.

Let me know if you other gardeners out there are growing these and what your experience is with them. I’m excited to keep growing new hardy cultivars.

A Lily By Any Other Name…

by Susan | Aug 12, 2016 | Plants I Dig

Maybe because Susan actually means ‘Lily’ do I feel a connection with lilies. They are usually bold in colors and fragrance, tough and durable in the garden. Humm…

Many types of plants are called lily, from Agapanthus to Voodoo lily. Here are a few of my favorites that are in the lilium family.

Lilium ‘Black Beauty’ is a lovely dark pink/red with black stems. Some variations of pictures online show more pink with green stems. It is robust, and long lasting. Loves full sun or part shade and is hardy to Zone 3. Available in bulbs but I would try and choose one in flower so you can see if the stems are lovely and black.

Lilium rosthornii is an uncommonly interesting lily from China. Three foot stems carry large, vivid orange flowers whose narrow petals are recurved into an impossible backbend. The exposed faces of the petals fairly bristle with polyp-like papillose projections while the revealed open throat displays a small dark green star. The bumps are intriguing and the color is amazing. Hardy to zone 5a, Sun or part Sun with 3 foot stem.

Lilium taliense came to me this year from Windcliff plants. Originally from Fanjingshan, China it is happy in my garden. It has a beautiful form with strongly reflex yellow petals spotted in dark red. Likes even moist soil, and will form colonies over time. Full sun, looks to be hardy to zone 5.

Tall and bold is the double flowering Lilium lancifolium ‘Floro Pleno’. Originally purchased because of its double-ness I now love it because of its boldness in the tropical garden. It can look a little strange and congested but it really doesn’t care. It simply grows and ignores attempts by snails to eat it. It grows about 4 ft tall in full sun. It likes good moisture but can take a little neglect. Zones 4 – 9.

Here are the lilies in the Tropical garden. They will mix well with other perennials also but I love them with the fat juicy colors of tropical plants.

Garlic Harvest

by Susan | Jul 29, 2016 | LB Tutorial: Growing Food

As the pumpkins start to take over the garden bed I know it is time to harvest the garlic. You may remember that I planted garlic last fall. I can tell it is ready to harvest because the tops are starting to turn yellow. Some gardeners wait until the tops are completely brown but I don’t like to take a chance that they will start to flower. This will break up the head and sometimes makes the garlic bitter and very strong in flavor.

A handy hoe that I got as a gift works wonders for digging the heads. Running it along side the row loosens the roots without damaging the head. There are two different kinds of garlic but I don’t really care to keep them separate. The plant tray is a good thing to put the harvest on so they can be cleaned easily letting the soil and water falling back into the bed.

The greenhouse is mostly empty right now so the plant tables are available to dry out the heads. These have been drying about 2 weeks now. A final brush of the remaining soil and clipping off the roots and they are ready for storage.

You can still make a braid of garlic at this point in time if you want. The ones I made while the tops were still green had some problems with rotting. A beautiful head of garlic is better than a beautiful braid with moldy garlic. Store them in a dry spot until ready to use. The garage is a great place for my storage. Not too hot and dry.

Cheers to a lovely garden harvest!

Fragrance in the Air

by Susan | Jul 15, 2016 | plants

Summer is here. No not the blazing sun and hot nights of last year but the soft warmth with cool breezes and clouds blowing by that we in the Pacific Northwest are used too. With the summer winds comes fragrance from the garden.

Sometimes the fragrance comes from known sources and sometimes it surprises you from the unknown. I have a flowering tracleospermum jasminoides blooming near my bedroom door to the patio. A hardy Jasmine it has a sheltered spot near a wall with mostly shade. Its evergreen leaves are soft, glossy and dark green all year long. The blooms start in early spring and get better and more fragrant with the warmth of summer. Nothing is better than falling asleep with the soft fragrance wrapped around you.

Moving along the path by the front door, the fragrant, subtle, White Gardenia blooms. Breeding in the past several years has given us northerners a chance to experience the lovely gardenia scent in the garden. A gift from Monrovia at the garden show this past February it has bloomed prolifically through spotty summer showers and cool temperatures. As the summer has warmed so has the scent. Lovely evergreen leaves and creamy white flowers would earn a place in the garden even if it didn’t have an amazing scent.

Of course, summer isn’t summer without the beguiling scent of nicotiana. Once I planted it for a client who was trying hard to quit a long established nicotine habit. We laughingly joked that this was the only tobacco allowed on the property from now on. The scent increases at night with its white flowers glowing in the evening garden. Often included in ‘moon’ gardens they are amazing for their night scent. They are an easy to grow annual and come in different shapes and sizes. Not all are fragrant so be sure to get the scented version.

Lilies have a wonderful fragrance. Some are so overwhelming that you want to throw them out of the house. Lililum taliense from Dan Hinkley’s garden is tiny, soft yellow with purple dots and knock-your-socks-off fragrant. One tiny bloom in a bud vase fills up the bathroom with powerful lilyness (I think that is a word!). Placed next to a pathway they add so much with their structure, unusual in form and fragrance they can’t easily be passed by without a look, a smell and a stop.

I love tropicals and one plant I overwinter from year to year is the burgmansia. The trumpet shaped flowers bloom with such little provocation they seemed to be born to flower. The peach blooms hang down from often misshaped branches letting their mysterious scent waft on the wind. Most parts are poisonous and breaking off a leaf or stem may cause an adverse reaction to the sap on your skin. They grow into a large shrub when given adequate water so they can be placed far away from lots of people and still enjoyed for all aspect of flower and fragrance.

I’m away to wander about the garden again. I’m sure I’ve missed some flowering scents still. They show up in weird places on weird plants. Until next time…

Happy Gardening. Happy Summer.

Shady Characters

by Susan | Jul 9, 2016 | plants

Most of you know I spend a lot of time creating shade, or at least trying to. Real shade is necessary for some plants. They like to hide out in the leafy glades under big trees. Traditional shade plants can have very different structure, giving an otherworldly look to the garden. Arisemas are such plants. They like moist soil with good shade. Leaf mould and humus rich soil help them preserve their delicate blooms and leaves. Protect from slugs when they are just coming up.

Arisaema inflorescences (flower heads) consist of many parts, but the two most prominent are the spathe (pulpit) and spadix (jack). The spathe is the pitcher and/or hood, while the spadix is the “stalk” inside the inflorescence that holds the sex organs. These plants are considered to be bisexual and are able to produce both male and female flowers on the spadix. In some species the spathe develops a long threadlike tail, while in other species, it is the spadix that copies this habit.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Arisaema Sikokianum was one of the first I grew. It is now a reportedly extinct Japanese native and truly one of the most popular plant imports from Japan for a reason. The 18″ tall pseudostem is clothed by two pedate leaves, which can be either solid green or highlighted with central silver blotches. Atop the pseudostem is a stunning black-purple pitcher contrasting dramatically with the club-like white spadix. Arisaema sikokianum is one of the few arisaema species which never offsets. Despite Arisaema sikokianum being virtually extinct in its native haunt on Shikoku Island, Japan, the abundance of imports and seed producing plants have brought the price into a more affordable range. (Hardiness Zone 4-8)

Last year at a plant sale I picked up a sweet little Arisaema flavum. It is a unique species with an equally unique native range, found from Sichuan, China to Africa. As mentioned earlier, Arisaema flavum is a bisexual species and consequently regularly sets seed. Although the pseudostems of Arisaema flavum can reach 2′ tall, it is completely out of proportion for the small inflorescence which at best can reach thumb-size. The bright yellow spadix is wonderfully attractive…only small. For me Arisaema flavum is one of the later emerging species, usually flowering in mid to late June, and one of the few species that prefer more sun than shade. (Hardiness Zone 4-8)

Arisaema consanguineum plantswoman design

Arisaema consanguineum is the most common Asian jack-in-the-pulpit, being found throughout much of China as well as into India, Thailand, and Taiwan. I was surprised to see them offered this year at a wholesale nursery I purchase from regularly. I purchased a flat in March and saw nothing appearing through all of April or may. I assumed they were bad and tucked them in the corner of the greenhouse. I planted a couple in the garden and when I tipped them out of the pot found nothing but a small potato like pseudobulb. No roots, nothing. Without a lot of confidence, I planted them anyway. The picture above is this beautiful plant last week. It does take a while for them to be warm enough to appear but well worth the wait. Arisaema consanguineum is quite variable, ranging from wide ruffled leaves to straight and narrow leaflets atop pseudostems that can reach between 2” and 5” in height. An interesting trait is the length of the leaf drip tips. In order to shed excess moisture, some of the leaves end with a narrow thread which can reach several inches long. This is also a variable trait between clones. (Hardiness Zone 5-8)

This species is becoming more available all the time. Prices are coming down and varieties are getting to the common people instead of just hardened plant collectors. Check them out and put some in the ground.

Available at Plant Delights, Far Reaches farms, and Windcliff plants.

Plants I Dig: Summer Hydrangea Madness

by Susan | Jun 24, 2016 | Plants I Dig

The beginning of Summer marks the beginning of hydrangea season. Still in my minds eye is a picture of the long hydrangea border at Martha Stewart’s house. I have long loved Hydrangeas and each year there are new ones introduced. Several in the past couple of years have made it into my garden and they are fabulous. Here are some of my new favorites.

Hydrangea ‘Zorro’

Zorro is a vigorous rounded but upright deciduous shrub with deep purple-black stems, dark green leaves that color well in autumn and flattened lace cap flower heads bearing ultramarine ray florets with occasional white centers. The key word here is vigorous. In the past there have been introductions of black-stemmed hydrangeas that have not lived up to their hype. But the color of the flower of Zorro is beautiful and consistent, not given to reverting to pink (in my experience).

Hydrangea ‘Zebra’

This hydrangea also has black stems. Instead of blue flowers the glowing white flower heads and lush green foliage provide a brilliant contrast to the near-black stems. A mop-head style of flower instead of the lace cap of the Zorro it is a beautiful addition of white to a shady bed. Zebra has a long blooming season and a tough but undemanding nature. The leaves also color well in autumn.

Hydrangea aspera ‘Plum Passion’

This lovely Dan Hinkley introduction has great dark purple leaves. Being an aspera cultivar the growth is rangy and the leaves textured and fuzzy. The foliage alone is worth a place in your garden. When the delicate white lace cap type flower comes out of a tight purple bud you will fall in love all over again. The contrast of Plum Passion’s wispy flowers floating above the robust heavy textured purple leaves is amazing.

Hydrangea ‘Lemon Daddy’

This is an amazingly vigorous bright yellow-foliaged seedling (not a sport) of Hydrangea ‘Big Daddy’. Lemon Daddy grows 3′ tall and about 5′ wide and is adorned with huge mophead flowers that open white and turn either blue or a light pink. They should turn blue in our acidic soil. The foliage alone is worth growing it, simply cut off the flowers if they offend (yes I really would). I’ve tried Hydrangea ‘lemon wave’ in the garden and it was so wimpy I finally took it out. This one stands proud and bright green.

Hydrangea ‘Quick Fire’

Standing at the back of the bed is hydrangea ‘quick fire’, a beautiful paniculata variety with red stems, turning a fiery hot pink/red in the fall. The flowers are not a big clumpy head that can get damaged in our sometimes-rainy summers. This flower shakes off the rain and doesn’t brown out like some of the paniculatas. They have a combination of sterile and non-sterile flowers like a lace cap but are cone shaped like a paniculata.

This last photo is a hydrangea that was removed from a garden that came to live in the woodland two years ago. It was pink when it first came and it would be re-homed if its color didn’t improve. The threat was heard and this year it is a luscious purple color. No special amendments were used; the native soil must have a low (acid) PH. I sometimes put fine fir bark around all plants that love acid PH.

Hydrangeas need part shade for best foliage and flower color but a blast of sun through the day is not a bad thing. Full shade will decrease flowers. All of these are fully hardy in zone 7 and will be happy with good water.

Hydrangea Tips:

Water : Good summer water
Site : Part shade with some direct sun.
Soil : Loose, rich, leafy soil with acid PH. Many cultivars do not change with soil PH.
Zone: Zone 7