ge - tell me more about the martagon lilies. I've always been fascinated by them. I have 'Blue Falls' as well, cascading over a retaining wall. They're blooming great this year.
huggergirl - we have to make a decision soon about taking out a couple of trees. Really hating to do it as I can tell that the original owner of our house tried to keep as many native trees as possible during the building. Have one large oak by our back patio that has a lot of dead wood on it - more dead than live I'm afraid. And then there's the oak that really had to stretch for the sun as it grew and is leaning pretty far over the utility wires. I'll really have to talk DH into the $$.
Have chipmunks too and they usually get their fill of seed under the bird feeder. They do tend to dig a little when I plant something new so have to keep any eye on new additions for a week or so.
Shade garden inspiration II
I bought BackHouse on Brent and Beckys.Thats all I know about them.They were a height I needed for that spot.
ge... Are the martagon lilies for part shade? I looked into them once and really loved them but there was a reason why I did not purchase them. Very beautiful. All my other lily bulbs do great where I have them. Geourgeouse actually this year! Ronna
Mine are in Sun in the AM and mid afternoon,if that is considered part shade.I never checked to see if they require full sun.
Check plant files to see zone And sun.I think they are good in part shade to full sun
A random assortment of what's in bloom today in my shady yard.
First up, hydrangea serrata.
Bletilla striata.
It's hard to get a good picture, since flowers face down.
Kaffir lily
Another hydrangea serrata
Finally a deinanthe caerulea.
Another aggravating down-facing flower.
My wife was amused watching me try to take the picture.
I just love the Campanula Porchenskyia Blue Falls.I will try to put some in a planter.Its growing here into a Hosta
This is Camp BlueFalls with Coleus Kingwood Karnival
Hi, Cindy.
I like the serrata hydrangeas because they're usually a little smaller and have finer texture to leaves and flowers. They come in a whole host of cultivars like bigleaf hydrangea, including double-flowered varieties. The purple one pictured above is called Purple Tiers and the white one is Shirofugi.
I've got some single ones also, but they're not as far along, for some reason.
Here's a single one which starts out perfectly white, but the flowers last for weeks and weeks,
and as they age, they gradually turn pink then red on the outsides. This is from last summer.
Oh - that one is another cutie! In general, are some the double flower buds hardy enough to zone 5 or bloom on new wood? I'm thinking H. serrata's bloom new wood? I could conceivably have a spot for a new Hydrangea after tearing out some lily of the valley and wintercreeper and building a small retaining wall.
I've been working on a project that started three years ago and just now realized after catching up on all the posts that I wanted to include some Mayapples in the planting! Thankfully I've still got room, now I just have to hope they're not completely dormant so I can find them to dig :( Now, let's see if I can catch up on this thread!
Cindy, have you bought Microbiota decussata yet? I've wanted this for a long time and it's hard to find! Like Weerobin, I'm not sure how it's going to perform here but I've got a cool, shady spot that should work and the nursery in Maine I'm going to be visiting in a couple of weeks supposedly has it :)
Dick, love the "walk through your forest" :) I've got two Podophyllums in the gardens. I supposedly bought Kaleidoscope AND Spotty Dotty but I suspect the vendor got them mixed up because they both look alike :( I need to move one of them because this year it's only sent up one small leaf and obviously isn't happy!
killdawabbit Lovely gardens! I've got one Schizophragma 'Moonlight' planted that's finally taking off this year and getting ready to plant another. I foolishly planted Wisteria 'Amethyst Falls' to climb up the copper arbor I finally finished but it's in way too much shade so I'm going to replace it with 'Moonlight'.
ge1836Your new Giant Hosta garden is wonderful and the contrasting colors of foliage look great :) I'm always looking for gold and burgundy to brighten up the garden! After seeing the pictures of your Martagon Lilies I had to go looking for mine. Last year they were blooming around the end of May but I didn't see any blooms this year? I thought I had lost them but they're still there just suffering, only about 6" tall :( I suspect the moles/voles who hang out in that area may have something to do with it and I'm going to move them so I won't lose them entirely! I love seeing the pictures of your Goat's Beard - just planted this on a slope and hope it looks as nice as yours in another year.
Noreaster I never tire of looking at your gardens :) My Misty Lace Aruncus has grown a lot and was beautiful this year too but I didn't even take the time to get pictures!
Weerobin This must be a good year for Hydrangeas! The selections we have of Hydrangea serrata in the gardens are finally looking gorgeous this year. We have a pink one similar to yours and it was a weak plant to begin with but we've finally got a few blooms this year. I love your white one!
I've been having problems with my camera this spring and haven't taken many pictures but I have a few to share. Here's one of Hydrangea serrata 'Bluebird' blooming. From our front door this one almost looks fluorescent along the driveway!
I really love the lacecaps.Yours is in just the right place.Great looking garden.
I wish I had taken this picture the week before - this was a beautiful Arisaema tortuosum :( At almost 4' tall it was spectacular but DH was pruning a few limbs in the area and broke the flower off and almost snapped the whole plant!
ge, I knew you'd be hanging out early here :) LOL I've got more to share but I'll probably run out of time this morning!
Right next to the A. tortuosum is Arisaema consanguineum - thankfully it was just emerging when DH was cutting the limbs so this one didn't receive any damage.
It's really hard to capture in a photo but the foliage has long, thin "tails" that extend over a foot! Hopefully you can see them a little better in this shot.
I've got some pictures of the gardens I've been working on this spring but not enough time to post all of them this morning. I'll be back tomorrow morning to post them but in the meantime I'll leave you with these to give you a morning chuckle. I had posed a question on the Water Gardening forum because I have a "pest" who keeps taking a dip in the little pond I put in the gardens last spring. See anything in this picture that shouldn't be there?
Why do they just LOVE the center of a plant?
She's been taking regular dips in the pond this spring and I was never able to get a picture. I was taking pictures Sunday morning when the "pest" returned to take a dip after running through the field - Lucy!!! I tried to discourage her earlier in the spring but this is one of her favorite places to cool off. There used to be a gorgeous clump of Maidenhair Ferns along the edge but she's trampled them :(
For some reason I thought she ws a cat.
She found a nice bed.
rcn - No, haven't gone for the M. decussata yet. I'd have to tear out the 30-year old yews first in the front of the house. I wonder if I'll ever get to that project. Don't even have a plan on what to plant there. Would definitely have to bring in fresh soil since the area is full of roots and build a short retaining wall to replace timbers.
Beautiful Arisaema!
I did hear a Ken Druse podcast over the weekend about gold foliage, one of things I really rely on for brightening shady areas. You can go to his website - http://www.kendruse.typepad.com/ - and get a list of some great plants.
Too sweet,cant blame her it looks inviting...Iam waiting to stain my new birdbath,Willie decided it was a good spot for birdwatching on the porch
Ive been trying to introduce new color to my shade areas,thanks for the link
Cindy, I tore out our yews a couple years ago and it wasn't that bad. And I'm glad I did it!
RCN, that is the cutest pic of Lucy in the pond! How could you ever discourage her when you know she must just love it. Thanks so much for the recommendation last year for 'Misty Lace'. I really love it and it's nice to have something bloom so early. You always know about all the cool plants!
Willie in the birdbath is adorable, too!
This pic is from the other day, in the rain. It's one of my favorite combos in the garden. That grass never seems to grow, but that's actually fine with me...getting kind of crowed in there anyway.
Noreaster ,Beautiful area you have there ,hostas ,astilbes,coralbells . i missed out on some hostas at the r-up,Ive never been into them ,well now Iam seeing them in a different light ,now I want more...
huggergirl, Willie looks just like Lucky and I love that birdbath! If you're now seeing Hostas in a "different light", look out it doesn't take long to join the ranks of a Hostaholic :)
Noreaster, what's the Heuchera in the bottom right corner of your photo?
It's Dolce Peach Melba. I have it in several spots. It doesn't really thrive in my garden, but it does the best in the spot in the above picture, which is bright shade with some dappled sun all day.
cindy,I have glowing embers , I need to get iron sulfate I have yellowing leaves,cold wet spring.What does phosphate do for them ,and what form did you use ????
I used a little super phosphate - you don't need much. Highly recommended on another thread last year to encourage blooming. Maybe Snapple suggested it? I think there's also triple phosphate but don't know the difference. Anyway, turns 'Endless Disappointment' into 'Endless Summer'. You should be able to find it just about any garden center.