2008 - The Year of the Hydrangea in My Garden

The hydrangeas have been stunning. No doubt the record rainfall is responsible. I took this snap of Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' this a.m. It is about 125 cm tall (4 feet) and I have it wedged between a Persicaria polymorpha (225 cm & white) and a Rudbeckia 'Herbstsonne' (200 cm & bright yellow). It really looks nice and limey - far more this year than in the past.

It can be a bit bare at the bottom, so it is ideal to combine with perennials and woody plants in a mixed border. It gets sun & shade in my garden - and apparently can handle full sun providing it has enough moisture.

Fingers Crossed - Cold Weather on the Way

Double digit weather that we enjoyed last week will be replaced by single digit highs and potential for snow. The bad news is that so many of my perennials really took off last week and the early ones that set buds may be injured. The good news is that I've decided to postpone any more garden cleanup - hoping that the last bits of leaves will protect the smaller tender crowns.


Looking for photo fodder this a.m. - and aside from the usual suspects - found this lovely Quince - Chaenomeles in bud. It's one of the original plants to the property and I suspect is about 50 years old. I love the coral colour of the blossoms and its shiny green leaves. It is shoved up against an enormous ash tree - which works well. I checked out my Dirr reference on Woody Landscape Plants and think he was a bit harsh saying, "as a landscape plant it is intolerable for the 50-51 weeks when it isn't blooming". I usually have a month of pretty buds, several weeks of bloom; nice shiny leaves during the growing season and great yellow quince in the fall - however, it is definitely not a "showcase" sort of bush - its form is a bit wild - so squished up against the ash and fence it will stay.

Carex - A great group of Grasses for the Shade

A number of years ago, I had grass envy. You know, those lovely tall billowy grasses that provide strong vertical form and spectacular interest? Well, I wanted them. Unfortunately I had 10 big beautiful trees - Beech, Pine, Spruce & Maple - and as you might know, you can either have fabulous grass, or you can have big beautiful trees.

So I thought, until I discovered Carex. This is a cold weather grass, and just like my lawn, puts out its growth in early spring. Unlike other grasses, it often is evergreen - a feature that really doesn't count for much when it's covered with a meter of snow, but heck, sometimes it's just nice knowing that it's there.

One of my favourites, introduced to me by Belinda Gallagher of Triffids, is Carex muskingumensis (palm sedge). It is taller than any of my other Carex and has a lovely tropical bambooish look. For me, it grows about 80 cm tall and 60 cm wide. It does self-seed, so weeding is a must. And, it isn't bothered by pests and diseases; is drought tolerant; and strangely enough the bunnies don't appear to fancy it. Providing the snow is shorter than the plant - it holds its shape and would be considered as winter interest. It also combines well with other plants in the perennial border and keeps its green colour throughout the summer.

The only word of caution is to be careful when you cut it back in the spring. Palm sedge sends up shoots just as soon as the soil begins to warm, so if you're not careful, you'll end up cutting off this year's growth!

A Tender Perennial for the Shade

If you are looking for a pretty, low care plant for the shade - Fuchsia 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt' is the one for you. It takes all sorts of abuse - dry, wet, dark (in my basement right now!) - and for the most part really holds onto its lovely orange/red flowers. The leaves are a lovely dark green tinged with maroon and as a bonus, the stems are the same dark maroon colour as well. While it is classified as a hardy fuchsia - I beg to differ! Those left in the garden to overwinter had absolutely no pulse the following spring. So, each year, I drag one plant in, pay very little attention to it over the worst of the winter and then in February take cuttings. I'd classify it as an easy plant to propagate - my success rate is about 90% with these cuttings.

Starting Seeds for My Shade Loving Containers

I always like to start a few plants (well, probably over 100) to add to my shade loving containers. My second seed order arrived today from Stokes Seeds - and the growing instructions on the package of Alternanthera 'Royal Tapestry' says that they need to be sown 11-12 weeks before they are ready for sale in 4" pots. (Stokes do a large commercial business.) I'm using my frost free date of about May 12th to count back from so, I must sow them this week. The germination temperature is between 64 to 75 degrees F or 18-24 degrees C - about the average temperature of my basement. I noticed that these seeds require light for germination. So I'll put them in either a zippered plastic bag or put the pot in a tray covered with a clear plastic hood.

This is a trailer that can be used in either sun or shade. The colour will be lighter in the shade, but I'm hoping will still be vibrant enough to show off the other annuals and tropicals I hope to mix it with in my containers.

The Wonderful World of Coleus

Here is a great display of coleus (now called Solenostemon scutellarioides - doesn't that roll off the tongue nicely). Another photo of the snow outside would be pretty, but today I'm turning my attention to my light table and the coleus cuttings I took last year. If you like the look of this photo, you think like I do - you can never have too many varieties or colours of this great plant.

Every year I pick a few of my favourites that I've grown in the garden, cut a few stems off, then stick them in a couple of pots filled with moist potting mix. I'll put the pots inside a couple of plastic bags and zip them shut. As soon as I've got good roots after a couple of weeks, I'll take them out of the plastic bag and treat them rather cruelly for the next 4 months or so - watering when I remember. It is about this time in February that I get serious about propagating more, so I'll begin to fertilize with water soluable fertilizer so that they'll start to really grow. Once I have nicely bulked up plants, I'll whack off a bunch of stems and root them. These cuttings will be ready to plant and a good size for my pots by the second week of May. Added to these old favourities will no doubt be a few new special coleus that I'll find at the garden centres. It's only a matter of time, until I have a lovely colourful display like this one.

Yikes, What's that Bright Light!

It has been so dark and miserable - see the photo from a couple of days ago - Hercules (the cat) and I could barely focus when the sun came out this a.m. I tried to get a couple of shots of the light sparkling off the tree branches, but it seems it was just too much for my camera as well.

This is just about the only time when the light is so harsh in my little back garden. As you can see from the shadows, I've got a wonderful patch of shade to play with. There are three large trees - an Eastern White Pine, an ancient Beech in my neighbour's yard that is wrapped in ivy and a poor old Ash tree that I fear will be nailed by the Emerald Ash Tree Borer, just as soon as they find it.

I have about a hundred different types of plants growing back here. When I designed the garden five years ago, I decided to choose plant material that had either flowers or leaves in combinations of white, yellow and blue - fortunately these are colours that are easy to find in plants that enjoy shade. Eventually I added more clematis in colours of purple and pink just because I love the way they look on the fence, and am always pleased to have more bloom to mix with all the lovely leafy shady plants.

Shade Perennials from Seed

Over the years I've started a number of shade perennials from seed. Here is one of my favourities: Symphyandra hoffmanii. It grows to 60 cm in height and width, has lovely white bell-shaped flowers and simply blooms its little brains out. In fact, the plant may act like a biennial and die at the end of the second year, but fear not - there will be a tonne of seed that you can let fall, or share with friends. Symphyandra grows in either sun or shade and also can handle very dry and hot weather without looking the least bit wilted. It is almost annual-like in its period of bloom - once it starts at the end of June, I have blossoms often right into September. I got my seed from Gardens North outside of Ottawa and see that they still offer it. Its an easy germinator and will reward you with lots of flowers with hardly any effort at all - what could be better?