Red Leaves Ignite the Garden

Red….

….It draws the eye and gladdens the heart.

The garden beckons me every single day, but never is the pull so strong as during the month of April, when the trunks, stems and branches go from bare to brilliant. The pale green of spring is sublime, but it is the crimson hues that grasp and hold tight to our gaze.

The threadleaf Japanese maples make quite the splash, even more so when accompanied by golds and silvery blues.

But there are more reds out there glowing in the morning sunlight.

Backlighting on the steep slopes enhances them all.

Longer lasting than flowers, the sea of greens is punctuated with purply reds and pinky tones.

In the more level Woodland Garden, the rays of earliest light ignite the emerging fresh, young leaves.

Imagine if you will, the scene without the reds. Pretty, yes, but nowhere near as enticing.

In the Gravel Garden, spikes reign supreme….

….Rising up from the stony floor to burst forth with blooms soon.

Clipped to rounds with pointy tips dipped in flames, Spiraea ‘Magic Carpet’ skips hand in hand with Digitalis ‘Husker Red Faire’, (see number 8 for explanation of the name), down the lane towards May.

Red, it’s for gardens.

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The cast of characters:

1. Acer palmatum var.dissectum ‘Crimson Queen’ with Hosta ‘Sunpower’, a perfect match.
2. The long view from the lower deck.
3. Long view from the gravel path behind the main house up the steepest slopes, another Crimson Queen on the left side of the pond.
4. Acer palmatum var. dissectum ‘Atropurpureum’, Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Star’ and Heuchera ‘Citronelle’ in the front raised bed.
5. Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’
6. Heuchera ‘Brownie’ and the Pineapple Sculpture, story about that here.
7. Long view looking across the left slope.
8. Heuchera ‘Silver Scrolls’, Hosta ‘Sunpower’ and Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red Faire’, all of the Huskers here are seedlings of mixed parentage of Husker Red and Sour Grapes and maybe a few more whose names have been lost in the annals of garden tags. The flowers range from pink to pale lavender, very few are the white of the parent.
9. Persicaria microcephala ‘Red Dragon’ and Hosta ‘Halcyon’, among others.
10. Imperata cylindrica ‘Rubra’.
11. Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red Faire’, (see number 8), among others.
12. Spiraea japonica ‘Magic Carpet’ and more Huskers. Those Huskers have seeded all over the place!
13. Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis.

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It seems we are on a thing for red in April. Here are posts from the last two years on the same topic:

A Punch of Red 2011

When in Doubt, Add Red 2012

Frances

Wildflower Waterfall With a Friend

It is the place all visitors who stay the night at the Fairegarden are taken, weather and time permitting.

There had been heavy and steady rain the day before. The falls were full and raucous.

While it was too early to see the native Rhododendron and mountain laurels in bloom…

….There were surprises around the bend on this sunny day. Common Blue aka spring azure butterflies flitted and fluttered, resting on the stones, barely visible in their camoflauge.

The mist parted by the sun revealed wildflowers in bloom. Anemone acutiloba was waving white petals in the wind.

A cute little Antennaria solitaria held white globes above purplish foliage. The next day at a local plant sale, one of these was purchased to come live in the Wildflower Corner to help remember the wonderful wildflowers seen at the waterfall.

Sweet Betsey, Trillium cuneatum dotted red amongst the mossy slopes.

Ferns and fairy bells, Disporum ssp. joined the party.

As if seeing the waterfall itself was not thrilling enough, it was the wildflower discovery on the other side of the mountain trail that brought squeals of delight and the cameras to focus on the ground rather than the waters. It was a delightful day all around.

My friend and fellow blogger, Kathy Purdy of Cold Climate Gardening graced our humble abode with her presence in early April. Here we are digging Narcissus ‘Sailboat’ for her to take home. She used her tool of choice, a digging fork while I used my favorite, the Bulldog shovel. The Financier was the photographer, adding light hearted laughter to the proceedings. Thank you, Kathy for making the long journey from New York to Tennessee. It was a lovely visit and our door and garden are always open to you!

Of course Kathy was also taken to Mouse Creek Nursery, Click here for more info, open for its final year before closing the doors this fall for Ruth and her husband to enjoy a much deserved retirement. (Yes, that is the same church in the background of the image of Kathy and me that is mentioned in the post linked.)

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This story is to be included in my friend Gail of Clay and Limestone’s worthy wildflower feature for the month of April. Gail has been to both the Bald River Falls and Mouse Creek, too. Click here if you wish to know more about her visit.

Here are a couple more posts about the falls with more information about this magical place:

Nothing But Good (2008)

What Scares You? (2012)

And one more about Mouse Creek for good measure:

Mouse Creek (2009)

Frances

April Bounty

The garden is surging with abundance after the cool spring gave it a long slow start.
Above: Hosta ‘White Feather’

Suddenly it seems like summer, with sparkling effervescence hanging from stems and branches.
Above: Acer palmatum ‘Peaches ‘N Cream’ at center bottom, borrowed view of neighbor’s mature dogwood in background.

Strolling the pathways, I bask in the essence of scents intermingled.
Above: Syringa vulgaris

The succession of glamour, be it from flower or foliage continues as later bulbs take the stage.
Above: Not considered glamourous by some, Star of Bethlehem, Ornithogalum umbellatum and Acorus gramineus ‘Ogon’. It looks like a star to me.

What was just a short time ago bare earth has exploded in floral and leafy bounty.
Above: The repurposed wheelbarrow planter.

Buzzings and birdsong are conducive to tranquility.
Above: Fothergilla gardenii

Translucent leaves enhanced by backlighting feature dramatic color.
Above: Heuchera ‘Citronelle’ and Heuchera ‘Faire Piecrust’, a chance seedling that was grown on in containers and divided for a couple of years before being planted in the ground this April. Bounteous, indeed.

Frances

Perfect Match-Hellebores and Daffodils

The combining of plants happens naturally in the wild. Those things that enjoy the same growing conditions, light, moisture and soil type find each other without an online dating service or even well intentioned relatives.

So it is with hellebores, Helleborus orientalis which have seeded and spread themselves in the Fairegarden for over a decade, now carpeting the steep slope behind the main house and the daffodils, Narcissus ssp.

The beauty of this combo is that the hellebores have such a long bloom period, with the flowers remaining intact and still attractive for several months while the daffodils flower and wane, with the bench warming reserves taking up the baton as early, mid and late season cultivars go through their time in the limelight.

Both the hellebores and the daffodils are tough troopers, able to withstand close quarters and the competition for nutrients, moisture and light caused by living cheek by jowl together with no ill effects. In fact, that very closeness will allow the large, leathery hellebore leaves to disguise the curing daffodil foliage as it passes through the unsightly yellowing stage that is necessary for future blooming.

The partners begin their dance here in USDA Zone 7a in February in most years, with the pale pristine flowers of the white hellebores, those seem to open the soonest, joining the very early Narcissus psuedonarcissus. Click here to read about this very special daffodil. The yellow and white color scheme brightens a garden and the mood of the gardener as winter still is delivering its chilly oratory.

As the early daff recedes into the background, mid and later season Narcissus come into play. H. ‘Blue Lady’ featured in the opening image of this post entertains the delightful N. ‘Sailboat’ in the Woodland Garden. N. ‘Mount Hood’ with its large trumpet and sepals of purest white continues beautifying the composition over on the steep slope.

The double daffodil, N. ‘Tahiti’ escorts the hellebores as those flowers fade and the large seed pods form that add even more interest and texture, not to mention oodles of offspring. Some of the seed pods are nipped off with nimble fingers to prevent germination. A post about that maneuver can be read by clicking here.

As with nearly all of the pleasant pairings of plants here, I can make no claim of clever clairvoyance. Holes are dug and bulbs are thrust into any open ground, to be sorted out later, if needed. It just happened that the Helleborus orientalis and Narcissus spp. hit it off so well. Spontaneous serendipity.

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More Perfect Matches:
Perfect Match-Heavy Metal and Summer Wine
Perfect Match-Echinacea and Rudbeckia
Perfect Match-Crimson Queen Maple and Sunpower Hosta

Frances

Bloom Day Tulips

It’s Bloom Day again, that day mid-month when garden blogger’s all over the world share what is in flower in their gardens, the brain child of my friend Carol of May Dreams Gardens. Did she imagine what this event would become when she first proposed it back in March of 2007? Anyway, this April 2013 sharing features tulips growing here in the Fairegarden. We love tulips and keep searching for those that will reliably return year after year. We are still searching, but some are better than others about it. The image above is merely a hook for the rest of this post. While out with the camera this sleeping bumblebee was spotted nestled inside of the daffodil, Narcissus ‘Fidelity’. It was too wonderful not to include here. Sorry. Onward.

The species tulips are the best at gracing the garden year after year without replanting. Tulipa ‘Little Beauty’ has been here over ten years. It is a little thing, as the name implies, shorter even than the grape hyacinths and blooming at the same time.

Tulips were planted in the lawn/meadow for a punch of early spring color. This is species Tulipa orphanidea flava, a pretty reddish orange. We need another kagillion of these in these beds to meet the vision in the gardener’s psyche.

Tulipa greigii ‘Toronto’ is sprinkled on the slopes behind the main house. There is a color echo with the daffodil that blooms at the same time, Narcissus ‘Tahiti’. It has proven more perennial than T. ‘Oratorio’ that was planted with it in each hole. That one has been a no show since year one.

Efforts were made to capture the pink glass fiddlestick in the same frame as the species Tulipa clusiana ‘Lady Jane’ on the Daylily Hill. This is the best of the lot. Lady Jane is perennial here. Need more.

I am not sure if an appearance after more than ten years of no show counts as being perennial, but a couple of Tulipa ‘Ballerina’ are blooming in the Black Garden in 2013. Persistant patience presents a pay off for the gardener.

Originally planted in the same hole with the Lilium ‘Royal Fantasy’, (click here to read about these fine lilies), more than a decade ago on the path edge of the Daylily Hill, Tulipa ‘Silverstream’ has sent up at least a few blooms faithfully. More of these should be ordered and planted in single family dwellings.

Another species that has proven perfectly perennial no matter the chill hours of any given winter is Tulipa vvedenskyi ‘Tangerine Beauty’. The color echo with the small fragrant cup of Narcissus ‘Geranium’ was a lucky coincidence.

Absolutely returning year after year is the white Tulipa ‘White Emperor’, aka Tulipa ‘Purissima’. More of the emperor types should be tried here.

Up in the knot garden Tulipa viridiflora ‘Spring Green’ is the focal point in each of the four quadrants in April. Some years see a better performance than others, but it is always a joyful sight. They are just beginning to open now, later than normal, but what is normal anymore?

Last fall another experiment was tried to better understand the habit and bloom time of the tulips. Three different colors of varying heights were planted in pots. Tulipa ‘Prinses Irene’, an orange with purple flames had been beautiful when planted in the Black Garden the year before. Tulipa ‘Couleur Cardinal’ sounded to be similar in height and bloom time.

The text explained the heights explicity in the Old House Gardens catalog, twelve inches, fourteen inches and twenty four inches. So why didn’t I envision this height difference of the purple Tulipa ‘Demeter’ to the others?

There was a surprise with one of the Demeter tulips, however. This *broken* bloom showed up unannounced. Is this an example of the cause of Tulip mania in Holland back in the day? Hmmmm…

Frances

Is Narcissus Willkommii the Smallest Daffodil Ever?

The article said this was the very smallest, the tiniest, the most microscopic of all the daffodils. The name and provenance of said article was not written down, but the name of this rare specimen was noted in the gardening journal, Narcissus willkommii.

Years passed by but that name stayed etched in the memory banks, always on the lookout for it to appear at a nursery or more likely, in an online catalog. So it was that last summer, as the bulb orders were being assembled, a quite willy nilly process actually, that the elusive most tiny was seen for sale at Brent and Becky’s Bulbs.

Upon arrival the five little bulbs went into a special place, the raised box planter where the Dahlias overwinter in the ground. Duly planted at the proper depth, a piece of hardware cloth was positioned on top, secured by landscape pins, to keep digging varmints from ruining my preciouses. Even with those security measures, some evil critter dug a large hole right next to the edge of the metal wire square. A large rock was placed over top after the soil was returned and patted down as we hoped for the best possible outcome when spring finally arrived.

The foliage showed early on, like blades of grass. Other small daffodils already growing here had similar leaves, Narcissus jonquilla simplex and Narcissus bulbocodium ‘Golden Bells’.

The first flowers of N. willkommii opened today. A slug was chomping on one of the flowers, caught in the act by the gardening photographer. Flicked off with the mighty thumb and middle finger maneuver, it was noticed that another bloom was totally eaten down to the stem. These flowers are quite small and it seems quite tasty to the nasty slimeballs. Coffee grounds will be added as a deterrent, today. Onward.

Using my thumbnail as a measuring device, I could not tell which of the tiny daffs we grow was the smallest. Wanting verification and possessing a six inch ruler, and loving experiments, each of the smaller daffs, and some larger ones just because, were noted in pixels.

A last minute bulb purchase at the end of 2012, N. ‘Minnow’ was measured first. It is too cute!

Next came the hoopskirt daffodil, N. ‘Golden Bells’.

N. jonquilla simplex suddenly did not seem quite as small as once was thought.

N. willkommii is a clear winner as the smallest daffodil flower, growing in the Fairegarden, and maybe the whole world. But they are all winners, of course, and we love every single one of them!

Frances

What Looks Good Now-Early April 2013

Things are really speeding up around here.
Above: Narcissus ‘Geranium’

One could say the garden has been slipped into high gear….
Above: The most perennial of tulips, species Tulipa vvedenskyi ‘Tangerine Beauty’.

….With the accelerator depressed to the floorboard.
Above: Fido, a goldfish who has survived all but the first incarnation of the pond. Click here to see those incarnations.

The mid and late season bulbs are peaking.
Above: Grocery primroses, Heuchera ‘Silver Scrolls’ and grape hyacinths

Fritillaria ‘Uva Vulpis’ is having a fine year.

Hyacinths and grape hyacinths continue to glow in the Black Garden.

Tulips planted in containers last fall might meet the vision. More on that when, or if the purple, red and orange flowers open together. I hope.

Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphureum’ carpets the woodland garden.

Borrowed views frame the emerging foliage of Acer palmatum ‘Butterfly’.
If you are interested in the cattail sculptures, the post about them is here.

Frances