My favorite things - late June

I was stumped about what to write about this week.  I've been disappointed with many plants.  They don't seem to have much "oomph" this year.  And there is a part of my garden that is vapid.  Lots of pretty colors that don't stir my soul.  I need to think about these problem areas, and what I am going to do about them (perhaps leave them alone and see if they come into their own?)  Instead of writing more fully about these issues, I will showcase what makes me happy right now.

First is my "miracle" amaryllis.  This flower is at its peak.  Soon it will have a rest in the shade of my liriope patch before dispatching it to the garage for some much needed neglect.

This picture shows one of my favorite summer places - on the slider you see in the middle ground, watching the bees visit my ancient, late-blooming rhododendron.

I have a spectacular filipendula that is blooming with the most glorious coral pink flowers.

This plant has really nice foliage, seen on the right, that looks great after the blooms are spent. Perhaps the plant is getting too big and taking up too much space.  A pruning decision will have to be made.  This picture  also includes Heuchera 'Molly Bush' and Yarrow 'Moonshine' (which responded well to being divided several weeks ago.)

We have a very old climbing rose that looks heavenly.

 
This rose was climbing up our garage when we moved to Wellesley over thirty years ago.  It has survived beautifully, despite losing the garage when we added on to our house.

Finally, my "hot" area has come through for me, despite my trepidation.  The brilliant orange asclepias tuberosa looked, for several weeks, like a large animal was using it for a bed.  The plant prefers poor soil and little water - both of which I have provided this year.  In the last few days, though, I have been very happy with how this area looks.

From left to right, the plants are blanket flower, yarrow, and asclepias tuberosa.

Plants need vacations, too

Lots of us have houseplants that we put outside during the summer.  Some of mine are real troopers - they bloom indoors in less than optimal situations.  Some are stuck in my garage without any love at all for several months.  All they seem to need is some fresh air, sunlight, water, and a bit of fresh potting soil, and they are off to the races.

My geraniums ( the ones we think of as geraniums are actually pelargoniums, also know as storksbill according to Wikipedia), usually do well once they are on my front steps.  First, I cut away all of the dead leaves and stems, add some potting soil and water, and wait.  For bushier, fuller plants, I need to do some pruning.

I usually lose one plant a year.  In addition to losing a plant, I also lost a lot of soil around the plant.  Evidently, squirrels and other varmints were determined to find nuts and seed pods in the pots.

My amaryllis bloom inside in the winter, unless, of course, a plant that I decided was dead suddenly shows life, unwatered and unlit, in my garage.   This amaryllis is joined by orchids that have bloomed stoically all winter in my parched house.

I water the orchids with three ice cubes whenever they are dry.  I expect that they will bloom again before the summer is out.

The amaryllis that did bloom this winter are getting a rest in one of my borders.  I will bring them inside - either to my garage or basement - once summer starts to wind down.  There I will do my best to ignore them.  I think the key to getting amaryllis to bloom again is to wait until you see new growth before re-introducing them to water and light.

 The pots are partially hidden by liriope leaves.

My husband had luck with keeping a fuschia going all winter.  It is blooming nicely on our front porch.

We keep two hibiscus in my third floor studio all winter.  Skylights and a western window provide the most light in the house.  Each year the potted plants are hauled downstairs and placed on our front porch, where they will bloom all summer.

We are keeping our fingers crossed with two other plants - a lemon tree and an agapanthus.  They both live in our sunny den during the cold months.   The lemon tree has flowered several times, and it always looks like fruit is forming - but the fruit always falls off. 

 My sad agapanthus has yet to bloom.  Maybe it is waiting to be placed next to an infinity pool - we can all dream - even an agapanthus on vacation.
 

Natick Garden Tour

Last Sunday a  friend and I went on a garden tour in Natick, MA.  When people think of Natick, they often picture the Natick Mall, or the Hopper-esque downtown.

(The above is a watercolor I painted of a Natick street in 1995.)

The town is more diverse than that, as we discovered on our tour of four beautiful and diverse gardens.  Before I write about them individually, I need to talk about the special qualities of gardens that are on tours.  First, they usually are quite large.  My quarter acre lot would most likely not be on a tour.  Second, each garden reflects the unique vision of the owner; some are very formal, some use lots of specimen plants.  You therefore need to look at these sites thoughtfully; their ideas may not work in your space.

The first garden we toured was quite large and had many specimen plants, which were used well.  You have to be careful with exotic types - use too many in one area and you lose the impact of a single plant.

This garden, as well as the other three, had paths and water features.  Again, not appropriate features for all gardens.

What I liked about this area was the color combination of yellow and purple.  These colors balance each other because they are complements.  I also liked hearing the frogs croak.  Gardens can always use frogs as they catch lots of insects.

The second garden had, for me, the ultimate luxury - sculpture.  The artist Karin Stanley (KarinStanley.com), lent several pieces to the garden for the tour.

This garden had some lovely paths that effectively transitioned from a sunny, formal area to a shady, wilder area.

The third garden was just outside of Natick Center.  This one was the most formal of the four and was distinguished by the owners' decision to design outdoor "rooms".  They achieved a relaxed and liveable yet formal landscape - quite an accomplishment!

The background space was built first, and is often used for pre-dinner cocktails.  The foreground space is used for dining.  I don't think that I would ever feel the need to go to a bed and breakfast if I lived here.

The fourth garden was tucked away in a section of Natick that I did not know existed.  The owner has created a garden on the smallest of the four properties.  This one has been inspired by Japanese gardens and design concepts, notably Notan, the balance of light and dark (I wrote about Notan in a 2013 post.)

The above picture shows a "riverbed" made of stones.  I saw a similar, though larger, one, at the Cleveland Botanical Garden's Japanese garden.

More sculpture was to be found; I imagine that the owner created this one:

Going on a garden tour is a delightful way to spend an afternoon.  You get to talk to other people who are just as passionate as you are about plants and design, and who usually add useful insights.  I recommend that you go on one if you get the chance.

Do you Believe in Miracles?

I am not sure whether I believe in miracles.  A recent observation made me think about miracles in the plant world. An anaryllis bulb that I had been too lazy to discard over a year ago (because I would have had to wash the pot it was in) was left in my garage.  A few days ago, I looked at it, and said to myself "hmm, that thing has growth - I guess I should put it in the dark basement."  WRONG.

You put amarylllis bulbs in a dark space, like a root cellar or basement, after the bulb has produced flowers and rested in the garden for the summer.  This plant was sending up shoots, and, most happily, a tip with a potential flower.

 
You can see the tip in the foreground.  The leaves are reddish instead of green because they have not gotten much sunlight.  They should green up on my covered front porch.  The plant seems to be thriving; it has grown about an inch in the last week.

I moaned and groaned about how the awful winter had killed off my two  Windflower Anemone 'September Charm' plants. So, a few weeks ago I bought a Japanese Anemone Anemone 'Queen Charlotte'.  After putting the new plant into the ground, guess what I found?  One of last year's resurrected windflowers (really, an anemone).

Do I believe in miracles now?  Maybe.  And maybe, a miracle is just the result of my laziness, and natures' mysterious ability to survive.