Greens: June

Anemones, Solomon's Seal, Geranium

I think one of the reasons I like to garden so much is because I just like being surrounded by all those calming shades of green. I love all the greens of my garden as much as I like the blooms. They are such a good backdrop to all the colors of spring--daffodils and snowdrops, larkspur and peonies-- and then they really come into play when the colors die down and the greens become the backbone of the garden for the rest of the summer. And greens are so fresh and cool in the hot days of our summer.  I have pockets of color coming in the summer--zinnias, asters, daisies, coneflowers--but really the garden is the greens.  I love to take photos of all the greens at different times of the year,  so here you go~~June greens.

Kousa Dogwood

Hellebores, Hosta, Japanese Painted Fern, Anemone

Styrax tree

Mini Hosta

Lady Fern

Euphorbia, Hosta, Sedum

Echinops

Variegated Alyssum

Hosta 'June'

Sorrel, Lime Thyme

Variegated Solomon's Seal

'Limelight' Hydrangea

My Garden

"My garden, with its silence and the pulses of fragrance that come and go on the airy undulations, affects me like sweet music. Care stops at the gates, and gazes at me wistfully through the bars. Among my flowers and trees Nature takes me into her own hands, and I breathe freely as the first man."
~~Alexander Smith

Friday Fleurs

Hoeing the Garden

St. Francis of Assisi was hoeing his garden when someone asked what he would do if he were suddenly to learn that he would die before sunset that very day.

"I would finish hoeing my garden," he replied. 

Sweet Tooth

I

I enjoyed this book by Ian McEwan. My book group at the library discussed it this week, and while most people liked it, a few did not, thought it was totally unbelievable, didn't like the characters, etc. Some people were expecting a spy novel, since the main character is working for MI-5. A spy novel it is not, although it takes place during the Cold War of the 1970s.   The story begins with  Serena, a young woman in her twenties, who works as a low-level employee for MI-5, the British domestic counterintelligence agency.  Sweet Tooth is the code name for an undercover operation that will pay long-term stipends to up and coming writers with an anti-Communist bent,  under the guise of a shadowy literary 'foundation.'  Because she likes to read fiction, Serena is tasked with recruiting a young author, Tom Haley. Of course there is romance, and the two begin a relationship, with all the expected complications of deception.

There are so many layers of deception and betrayal in the book, and many twists and turns. I liked the cleverness of the story, and I appreciate McEwan's writing.  I liked that it is a 'literary' novel, with lots of references to books and authors, to the relationship between writer and reader. Snippets of Tom Haley's short stories are included too, 'stories within the story.' No spoilers, but the book is worth reading for the last chapter alone.

In Bloom: Larkspur

The larkspur is the star of the garden right now.  I love everything about larkspur, its ferny foliage, the pastel colors, the ease with which it re-seeds itself.  When it is done blooming and the seed heads dry, I just sprinkle them throughout the garden and so far I have had luck with reblooming every year.  I used to try and grow delphiniums,  which I love for their deep blue colors and vertical interest, but they just don't do well with our hot and humid summers. Larkspur lets me have that look and those colors and it seems to like it here.  My garden never looks better than when the larkspur is blooming.

'The Cruel Winter' of 2014

Oakleaf hydrangea getting ready to bloom,  June 6

"I must start with a warning not to despair about plants apparently killed by the frosts, ice-rain, east winds, and other afflictions they have had to suffer. They may look dead now, but their powers of revival are astonishing. You may have to cut some shrubs down to ground level, but my recommendations would be not to dig anything up rashly until you are quite, quite certain that it has no intention of putting out green shoots again. This certitude may not come until the summer is well advanced. I remember the agreeable surprises we got after the cruel winter of 1940."
~~Vita Sackville-West, April 1947.

'Endless Summer' Hydrangea, June 6

Lacecap hydrangea, June 6

I have been enjoying reading Vita Sackville-West's book, In Your Garden, which is a collection of her gardening columns in the British newspaper The Observer from 1946-1950. Reading the passage above made me think about the hydrangeas and other plants which have suffered severe winter damage this year.  I love reading these old garden books, and seeing how much is the same. Here we are, 75 years later, fretting about the same things. Gardening is so timeless.

Lacecap hydrangea 'Blue Bird,'  June 6

This was a bad winter for the hydrangeas. And rosemary. Everyone I know lost their rosemaries.  And the really cold temps and the frequent snows did some major damage to the hydrangeas around here. The professional gardeners we met on our Pennsylvania garden tour in May all mentioned their winter-damaged hydrangeas, but made the same cautions as Vita Sackville-West--don't give up on them. Don't cut out the dead wood until July, they told us.  My oakleaf hydrangeas are fine and have flowers budding, as do the 'Limelights.'  It is the old fashioned mopheads (hydrangea macrophylla) and the lacecaps (hydrangea serrata) that are looking kind of sad.  I have two 'Blue Bird' lacecaps and a variegated 'Mariesii' lacecap that all looked pretty much dead well into spring (I've had them for years).  But in early May I finally saw leaves coming up around the base.  They all have pretty good growth now, but an 'Endless Summer' (a reblooming variety) is struggling. I think they will all be okay in the end, but there probably won't be many flowers this year.  Maybe in another 75 years people will be reading about the cruel winter of 2014.

Beautiful Baptisia

I am so behind in showing what's blooming in my own garden this spring. This baptisia australis has been in bloom for the past few weeks and is just now starting to fade.  It's a big plant, almost five feet tall,  probably a little too big for where it's placed but when it's blooming it sure is impressive. After the flowers fade and it sets its seedpods, I cut it back by about half and it fills in nicely to a smaller stature for the rest of the summer. I love its cool green foliage almost as much as the flowers.

And here are two other varieties of baptisia that I've seen this spring, a lavender/yellow variety at Dumbarton Oaks and this pretty yellow baptisia at Green Spring Gardens. Baptisia is an extremely long-lived plant and is one of the best perennials to plant in your garden. It's one of those plants that looks good all season, isn't bothered by any pests or diseases, and doesn't succumb to a hot Virginia summer.

Looking for Conifers

I have been wanting to visit this nursery in Boyds, Maryland, for awhile, and this weekend we finally made the trip.  Susanna Farm Nursery specializes in dwarf and unusual evergreens and Japanese maples. I heard about it from a gardener  here in town who has some really unusual conifers from this nursery. It's about a 45 minute drive, but through a beautiful part of Maryland and we really enjoyed the drive.  We even took White's Ferry across the Potomac to get into Maryland. Pretty amazing that a ferry like this is still operating. There used to be 100 ferries operating on the Potomac and this is the last one. It's been in use since 1786!

The nursery itself is part of a huge piece of property, acres and acres of beautifully landscaped grounds, a pond, the nursery, and several homes. They let you use little golf carts to get around, so that was kind of fun and easy to see the whole property.

I don't know the names of all these plants, a lot were spruces as it seems I gravitate towards those the most.

And the Japanese maples were of course gorgeous. I've never seen so many varieties, and absolutely beautiful specimens. If you want a Japanese maple, this is the place to come.

I really liked this variety (below) so much that I wrote down its name,  Acer palmatum 'Tsuma-gaki.' The colors were so beautiful.

And just look at the color on this maple.

One of my favorites conifers is the dwarf hinoki cypress. I love that wavy form and the color.

It was a little overwhelming, especially if you don't know much about conifers, but if you are looking for something specific this is the place. I did buy three small plants, all evergreen, a dwarf hinoki cypress 'Verdoni,' a dwarf oriental spruce (Picea orientalis 'Tom Thumb'), and a Daphne 'Rosetti.' Now I just need to find a place to plant them.