Friday, October 31, 2008
Cyclamen Statement
While I love the little wild cyclamens that unfurl their leaves in the fall, I don't exactly think of them as a "statement plant"; that is a plant that stops you in your tracks as you amble down the garden path. However, Cyclamen hederifolium 'Nettleton Silver' comes close; its leaves are huge (the largest almost cover my palm)! They also have a nice silver wash, which lights up in the clear late fall sunshine. My plant was just a tiny tuber two years ago; I can see this plant being the size of a small hosta eventually.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monkshood Riddle
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
A Good Gardening Year
One of the main thrusts of my gardening year was to improve the pathways and edging in the garden to make it easier to maintain; it has up to now been sort of an equal opportunity site for both weeds and flowers. Our garden paths roughly form a "wheel", with a long circumferential path, with "spokes" radiating out from the center of the garden on a slight hill, where the life-sized statue of an angel serenely gazes out over the pond. The above picture is of one portion of the circular path, with what will be (if I ever get it trimmed) a long yew hedge on the outside, along a deep, wooded ravine. It's quite nice now to be able to amble along, looking at the flower beds without keeping one eye looking out for low hanging limbs.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
A Small Garden Straggler
Crocus kotschyanus is a little vagabond that seems to be born straggly; admittedly I have it in too shady a spot, but gardening books all comment that a single drop of rain or puff of wind seems to make it look like it used a leaf blower for a hair dryer.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Letting Go...
We've had an unusually mild autumn... until now. Today the wind has roared and blustered from the north, blowing through the dry fields of corn, rattling and shredding the stalks and sailing brown chunks across the roads and lawns, bouncing along as if they are trying to follow the warm air to the south. Low 20's tonight, they say, which means the abrupt end of much of the garden for this year. I used to rush about frantically, covering plants with all manner of blankets, pots and buckets. No more; I say that I've just matured as a gardener, and now live with the seasons. However, it may be that I just would rather sit in front of a toasty fireplace and eat chips... I may live with the seasons now, but I spend a good part of the winter in Mexico.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Toad Vs. Toad
So, what is my pick for the overall best garden toad lily? This year I'm going to go with Sinonome (with a silver medal to Tojen). I have Sinonome growing in a rather unfavorable spot, in a dry area under a large black cherry tree, yet it is almost three foot tall, with dozens and dozens of flower buds on each stalk. The pictures above show it at present, having already been in bloom for a month; not really a flattering pair of photos, but just to show how many still-unopened buds are present. I can't imagine how long it must bloom in a milder climate than ours, where freezing temperatures didn't cut it down.
So cue the national anthem; Sinonome takes this year's gold.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Toad Vs. Toad
Friday, October 24, 2008
Another Nice Thing About Cyclamens...
One of the nice little bonuses of having a variety of hardy cyclamens in your garden, is that you get oodles of interesting little seedlings; above you can see half a dozen seedlings in the center of a Cyclamen hederifolium plant (close-up in lower picture). They are different than Mom but still nice. These little babies will be plucked out and put in pots for the winter, then planted out in the garden in the spring; hopefully in a few years all the Japanese maples will have patches of cyclamens growing under them.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Late Fall Rush
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Christmas In October
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Better And Better
Tricyrtis Taipei Silk just gets better and better as the nights get chillier, with its flowers becoming deep, glowing purple in the fall sunlight.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Money In The Garden
Sunday, October 19, 2008
The Empress Has Spotty Clothes
Tricyrtis Empress is a striking toad lily with dark green, and rather narrow leaves that are deeply pleated, with markedly spotted flowers. Unfortunately its flowers also show color blotches, indicating that it's another of the toad lilies infected with a virus. It does seem to me that the tricyrtis that have very heavily blotched flowers (like 'Raspberry Mousse') tend to get a lot of browning of their leaves late in summer, while those with light blotching (like 'Empress') continue to look healthy. Perhaps it's a question of virus load?
Friday, October 17, 2008
Pretty Under Any Name
Hungry In The Garden
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Joy Of Life
Our fall weather so far here has been unusually mild; we have yet to see a frost. Yesterday, the rain clouds cleared out about noon, and a bright, clear afternoon followed, with chilly readings predicted for last night. The migrating songbirds though, know that this fall is on borrowed time. We feel so fortunate to be a popular (and, I'm sure important) little waystation for birds passing through; nicely sheltered, with lots of cover and tall trees, an ample supply of berries and seeds in our woods, and sitting next to a clear pond for drinking and bathing.
Yesterday afternoon the garden was alive with flocks of cedar waxwings; flitting from treetop to treetop, swooping out for insects or just for the sheer joy of flying in the clear air, excited to be on their long voyage. Later, as the sun settled in the west, they sat in groups in the highest trees, catching the last of the warmth, their pale yellow breasts and dark masks beautiful in the waning light.
God, I love this place!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Baby Boom
Soon there will be the pitter-patter of little jacks around here.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Even More Montreal
More views of the Montreal Botanical garden; this time the Chinese Garden, which was just ravishing. I especially liked the entry gate as seen in the top picture.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Lovely Toad?
