Sweet Alyssum

Lobularia maritima

I love the scent of Sweet Alyssum in the summer sun. It self-sows abundantly in my garden. I usually pull out a lot in spring and trim with scissor during the summer. I didn’t do much of either this summer.

After hurricane Irene left us a little soggy but without any damage, we are having beautiful gardening weather so I decided to tidy the big patch of alyssum.
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As I started to pull up the plants, I realized how long they were - about 16 to 24 inches.

I ended up with a bale of hay sized pile and a little more room for the Dusty Miller.

Chesapeake Arboretum

Lake Hughes at Chesapeake Arboretum

Chesapeake Arboretum is located at 624 Oak Grove Rd., Chesapeake, Virginia. Forty-eight acres “dedicated to promoting horticultural and environmental awareness through displays, education and research.” It is a pretty spot with well-maintained trails in a beautiful area of Virginia just 10 to 20 minutes from Virginia Beach.

From a large River Birch, Betula nigra, with cinnamon colored exfoliating bark

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To a young Live Oak, Quercus virginiana, with its leathery, evergreen leaves, well-marked native trees and shrubs line wide paths.

A map and plant list to the Native Garden Woodland Walk can be picked up at the kiosk near the 18^th century farmhouse headquarters. The arboretum also includes a Camellia Grove, Holly Garden and Stewartia Grove.

Chesapeake is the second largest city by land area in the Commonwealth of Virginia with sophisticated shopping centers and excellent restaurants amid large fields and rural farms. With hurricane Irene bearing down on this beautiful area, I hope any damage is minimal.

See Clemson University Extension information on River Birch and Live Oak. 

The Bad-Tempered Gardener

The Bad-Tempered Gardener by Anne Wareham and Charles Hawes

The intriguing title caught my eye in Amy Stewart‘s post on Garden Rant.

Sometimes I feel like that. How about you?

Here’s a taste of Anne Warham’s writing (and a hint to why we love gardening) in ”Why I Hate Gardening” Article in UK’s The Telegraph

This sample is enough to make me want to read the book.
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I will be away for a couple weeks again. I’ll be checking on this blog and the other garden blogs from time to time. I hope you are all reaping from a bountiful garden.

Everything ends with flowers.
- Helene Cixous

(Fragrant Phlox ‘David’)

Silver Dollar Plant

Lunaria annu (Honesty)

The blooming Silver Dollar plant reminds me of garden phlox in a wild flower kind of way.  It blooms at the beginning of May in light shades of purple.
 

Sometimes the flowers are variegated.

The plant self sows easily guaranteeing plants for years to come. As a biennial the seed from this year will grow plants next year and flower in 2013. This little plant growing in May will bloom next year.

In the weeks that follow the plant forms flat seedheads that dry into papery, round, silver- dollar shaped seedpods.

The plants are often used in dried arrangements. By the beginning of August, when they are completely dry, gently rub the seed pod between thumb and forefinger to remove outer layer and seeds revealing a silver papery skin.

This plant is also known as Penny flower, Money plant, Moneywort, Moonwort. More information from Dave’s Garden here. 
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Liatris

Liatris spicata 'Purple Spikes’

(Gayfeather, Blazing Star)

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I’ve written about Liatris before but this is another plant I’m adding to my easy perennial list. They are also deer resistant as opposed to, say, tasty beans.

We returned home to find the pole beans chewed off at the bottom. The vines shriveled and died and made their contribution to the compost heap.

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Anyway, the erect Liatris, at about 3 feet tall, looks good as a stand-alone display or as a backbone among other annuals and perennials.

Liatris is slow spreading and comes in several shades including white. It is easy to divide in spring and makes a nice cut flower.

Liatris spicata ‘Floristan White’ (with Casablanca lilies)

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The plants are drought tolerant after established – a good thing for this hot dry summer - and bloom from July into August. They will need to be dead-headed at the end of their bloom.

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But, even if Liatris is deer resistant, it won’t prevent an animal from sitting on it.

(Doug Green has expert advice on how to grow Liatris here.)

Vacation – Party Time for Weeds

A quick post before I leave for vacation. I have a feeling the weeds will spread enthusiastically while I’m away.

Bonus plants.

In May, I planted three Super Elfin Lipstick Impatiens in front of Coleus Mariposa. All the other impatiens in the picture are self-sown from last year’s plants. I’ve had impatiens self-sew before but never in such profusion. I should have divided them but never got around to it. This part of the garden gets morning sun and bright shade in the afternoon. Must be an ideal spot for germination.

I’ll be gone for a couple of weeks. I think a little R&R will do us good – and give my sciatica a rest too. I’ll be checking in and reading my favorite blogs while I’m gone.

Let the weeds be damned.

Let’s Talk Vegetables

Bean flower (pole beans Burpee 'Kentucky Wonder')

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Every year, with spring enthusiasm, I eagerly place seeds and plants in pots and in the ground. I dream of fresh green beans steaming on the dinner table; solid cucumber slices in a tangy dressing and juicy tomatoes eaten right off the plant.

With spring enthusiasm, I forget that vegetable gardening takes work and time. Not to mention battling the mosquitoes and gnats that hide under the leaves. In spring I forget how hot 93 degrees with high humidity really is. I forget that vegetables will need watering.

Every year, in July, reality sets in as I pull weeds, wash lettuce, pick cucumbers and clean beans. Years ago I had a large garden with rows of vegetables. Freezing and canning went on all summer. Now as empty nesters, we have only a few vegetables among the flowers.

I’m happy with a few vegetables every year. I wouldn’t want to be without them. The taste of my favorite varieties makes the effort worthwhile. I’m sure I’ll be overcome with spring enthusiasm next year.
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My vegetables this year:

Potted cherry tomatoes - Burpee ‘Sweet 100’.

In the window boxes on the patio - Agway parsley ‘Forest Green’ and lettuce ‘Black Seeded Simpson’. The lettuce is ready for its third cutting.

Happy cucumbers - Burpee ‘Straight Eight’ - crawl up the hydrangea and holly and over the daylilies and mums. Picking cucumbers will be quite a challenge.

Pole beans - Burpee 'Kentucky Wonder’. I’ve had the seeds since 2007 and planted a few seeds every year. This year I planted a few extra thinking they may not all be viable but it looks like they all germinated. I should have pulled a few when they came up. They are one of the best tasting beans I have ever planted.
Green tomatoes on Burpee ‘Early Pick’

Summer Garden

July is the reward for the work of April, May and June. Hot days make gardening slow work. I tend to follow the shade around the garden. It’s a time when I really appreciate the reliable perennials.

The tall lilies ‘American Dream’ (at top) purchased in 2003 from White Flower Farm bloom every year and only require dead heading. They will be cut to the ground after the first hard frost.

Lavender ‘Grosso’ is planted close to a path. It releases its pungent scent as you bursh against it. It gets cut back once in a while when I get around to it. It’s been there for 7 years.

Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ planted in 2005 sends up its red blooms every year without much fuss – unlike its canna bed-mates that need to be dug up every fall and replanted in spring.

Sweet smelling alyssum and snapdragons self sow in the same area every year. The liatris (Liatris spicata 'Purple Spikes’) is beginning to bloom and only requires deadheading. It has been divided and added to other parts of the garden since 2001.

What are your reliable favorites?

Independence Day

The Flag
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by Kelly, age 10
Submitted June 26, 2002
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The Flag that waves through hard tough times,
the flag that sparkles with light,

and hope flows through that flag

in the sun rain or at night

that is our flag shinning bright

(Posted by http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/more/poetry.html )

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HAVE A GREAT FOURTH OF JULY!

Prickly Ash Tree

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(Xanthoxylum clava-herculis L. or Xanthoxylum americanum or Xanthoxylum hirsutum)

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Another unusual tree at Bartram’s Garden and one I have never seen before is the Prickly Ash.

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Sometimes called the toothache tree, we were told the leaves have a numbing effect and were used by Native Americans for toothache pain. This thorny, small tree is a member of the citrus family and is sometimes used as a natural fence.

The lumpy bark is quite distinctive. I can see why it is also called “Hercules Club”

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More information through Google books from Mississippi State University Extension here.

The Franklin Tree

Franklinia alatamaha

Discovered in 1765 by John and William Bartram growing near the Altamaha River in southeast Georgia, this understory tree was named for John’s good friend Benjamin Franklin. The Bartram’s saved it from total extinction. It is extinct in the wild. Bartram’s Gardens in Philadelphia has several specimens (pictured here) of this rare tree.

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Grown for its late summer, fragrant camellia-like flowers and brilliant red-orange fall color, Franklinia requires even moisture, slightly acid, well-drained soil rich in organic matter, and full sun to part shade.

I have heard from other gardeners that Franklinia is difficult to get started. The Franklin tree has a reputation as a fussy tree. Some say the northern winter’s freeze/thaw cycle adds to the difficulty.

Here, in its third year, a Franklin tree is planted in the Miller’s House Garden by the Bethlehem Garden Club in Historic Bethlehem’s Industrial Quarter.

It grew to about 4’ last year but died back for the second time. This year it is starting out again. All 6” of it is nestled in its wire cage under a blanket of pine needles. It would be wonderful to have this specimen tree in a public garden for all to enjoy. Time will tell.

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More information from Virginia Cooperative Extension .

Bulb Sale (part 2)

In May, I planted the 12 for $25 bulbs I bought at the Philadelphia Flower Show – 6 Casablanca and 6 Stargazer Lilies. (See May 4 post.)

When I bought the bulbs, I didn’t mark them so “Since Casablanca blooms white, I rationalized that the bulbs would be white.” I planted the white bulbs with the other beautiful Casablanca lilies from Breck’s (3 for about $20).

As you can see the 2 foot lilies are not white next to the 4 foot Casablanca lilies. In fact they barely resemble the Stargazer lilies pictured here at Dave’s Garden dot com. I can’t detect any scent.

This is one time when buying on impulse didn’t work out so well. I can’t wait to see what the other 6 lilies look like when they bloom.

They should be Casablanca. They are now about 1 ½ ft. tall and have a few buds.

Meadowbrook Farm

J. Liddon Pennock a floral artist, landscape designer and former chairman of the Philadelphia Flower Show started this little jewel of a garden center in the 1970’s. The 25 acres includes an English Cotswolds style house, display gardens and garden center. After his death in 2004, the property became a non-profit affiliate of Philadelphia Horticultural Society.

The house, with a beautifully manicured garden view from every room, is a testament to Mr. Pennock’s eclectic decorating talent. A few of the garden’s gazebos were used in displays at Philly flower Show.

It was difficult to get the exact name of plants in the display gardens. We were told this stunning grey/green edging shrub was called “Curly Top”. I’m guessing Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Curly Tops' and the delicate 2 foot plumes “Feather Grass” (Nassella tenuissima?)

The garden center greenhouses force thousands of plants for Philadelphia Flower Show. If you admire a plant in the PHS display or one of the displays that Meadowbrook supplies at the show, you can usually find it in the garden center in spring.

Don’t miss the begonia and fern greenhouse. Meadowbrook has over 150 varieties of stunning begonias including a large silver and red leaved plant that caught everyone’s eye. The greenhouse also contains exotic ferns, extraordinarily colored elephant ears, and much more. It’s worth a trip to see Meadowbrook Farm. You most likely won’t come away without a new plant or two.