Continuation Of A Theme-less

Since the last post, click here here-A Walkabout For No Reason to read it, was so much fun, and we are tuckered out from pulling weeds, watering and moving plants, let us continue in that same vein. Above can be seen the standard trained Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora being overwhelmed by Buddleia ‘Potter’s Purple’. There needs to be some pruning done in that arena.

On the difficult to get the design pleasing but main view from the lazyboy in the addition from whence all posts emanate daylily hill, (Rose, is this okay, if weird?) an epiphany of sorts has occurred. In the beginning, three Hosta ‘Sunpower’ plants were borrowed from another area of the garden to flatter the feet of the Japanese maple Crimson Queen. That was good. The next year two more plants were borrowed from the same shady space to make a total of five. That was better. Last year a whole bunch more were borrowed, good thing the other planting area is so generous, to fill in to form a nice swath. (Just a question, why is it swath in the US and swathe in the UK? Is it like ou becoming o? ) There has been some slight rearranging this year of these bright, mid size hostas, placing them closer together and moving the Dixie wood ferns out of the group to stand behind since they are taller. This is the best it has ever looked and helps combat the Little Leaf Syndrome that plagues the garden.

Bowling Red Okra, Abelmoschus esculentus ‘Bowling Red’ was planted in the veggie bed this year. We dumped the whole packet of seeds into a trench in a fit of lazy, poor gardening technique. There has been no thinning by human hands and the crop, which is not for eating, has been bountiful and beautiful. One could eat the pods if they so desired, but we grow them for ornamentation. Later the pods will be dried in the shed, which is so warm an egg could be fried in there on a metal sheet on most days. The vision is a wreath, several bare wreaths hang at the ready in the same exact shed, made from grapevine, honeysuckle and willow trimmings, fastened jauntily with dried okra pods. Possibly the pods will be painted. Or not. There are a few pods from last season, five or six, waiting to join their brethren. That scant number is one reason that the entire contents of the seed packet was used, for more pods.

This is the okra flower, quite attractive.

Seedlings were shared from our good buddy over the mountain, Christopher of Outside Clyde of Clematis stans a couple of years ago. The seeds originated from our co-buddy Chuck in San Francisco of My Back 40(feet) fame. This non climbing Clemmie has grown larger each year and believes itself to be a climber, without the curving leaf stems. I have helped it achieve that dream by braiding the longer stems up the trunk of the standard pruned PeeGee hydrangea.

This is what the flowers look like in a close up glamour shot. Sweet.

Deadheading pays off. For the first time, the Echinaceas were given the guillotine treatment to extend the bloom period. The cut was made along the stem where tiny rosettes were visible on either side. There will still be seed heads for the finches and for seed scattering to increase the swaths. Or swathes if you are British.

The Monarda didyma cultivars were not deadheaded but some are producing more flowers below the seedhead.

Should the brown parts be cut now? Will they grow baby plants if scattered about? We would love to have a swathing good group of them.

There is a raised box planter along the path that leads past the flat garden up to the black garden and the arbor. Dahlias were planted in there and some returned for a couple of years without being dug up. Not so this time around. Dahlias are off the list of Plants We Grow. Some new things were planted in the space including Eremurus which seemed to do well. If those return and bloom, the whole box might be filled with them. But for now there are some Zinnia seedlings getting close to blooming and two volunteer pumpkin plants. One fruit is a small round orange about six inches in diameter. The other turned out to be a bumpy, pale apricot. Fetching.

There is one other raised bed lined with lumber up behind the shed at the top of the property. At one time it was the veggie space with tomatoes, peppers and lettuce grown successfully. As the surrounding trees and shrubs have grow taller, funny how that happens, it became too shady. Three blueberry bushes reside there now. The extra space is used for seed starting, with the seeds covered by overturned openweave black plastic flats in which four and six packs of annuals are sold. The bed was recently mulched with bags of composted cow manure. This curving line was noticed whilst on watering duty with the hose at the end of the bed. It looked like someone had dragged a hose across the neat and tidy compost topping. But wait!!!! There was an opening at one end where the boards had seperated over the years, about two inches wide. At the other end of the impression was an opening where a knot in the lumber had fallen away. Yikes!!! This is a Snake Path. You might remember how I feel about snakes. If not, click here-A True Story to find out or refresh your memory. Sharp edged rocks have since been piled at both ends mentioned above as a deterrent, but there may have to be stronger forts built at the site of encroachment.

Since we prefer the Fairegarden posts to end on a high note rather than scary thoughts, let us share the vision that is Calla lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica ‘Naomi Campbell’. It seems a good tie in to what has been shown on every newscast lately. It was noticed that the official name of this calla has been changed to simply Naomi, but we will continue to label it as it was sold to us by the now defunct Wayside Gardens.

Frances

~ by fairegarden on August 9, 2010.