Visions of Spring '08! - Part 2

Thanks for the link Patti.

Thanks Patti. I would love your stream. I would really love to have property with a stream running through it!

Wow--loved the new stream--water really brings in the birds--& the frogs! Our relatives have a home on Mascoma Lake In NH, & you would think the birds had plenty- of water---but they were watering a new piece of lawn (recycling lake water) & the birds came to the sprinkler in droves, I would love water--even a fountain, but I have dogs that will get into anything! Patti--your hostas will probably come back--every year I dig up a few & if only a small piece is left, up they come. Just read an article by Tovah Martin who lives here in Litchfield County about how good & necessary change is in a garden. She wrote about all the gardens she's ripped up, & done completely over--I wish I had that kind of nerve(money, too). One garden she is doing in reds, yellows, & oranges i.e. one that Gertrude Jekyll did. I had that combo of cosmos last yr. with deep purple angelonia, & white wax begonias. I may do it again.

Robin, Thanks, our dogs are on the other side of the deer fence so this is mostly out of bounds, But one of our dogs is a total water rat. She will go down and just lay in it.

I have been moving some of my big hosta to behind the deer fence too. As long as we spray it is OK in this unfenced part until early fall, then they wipe the hosta out in a night.

Victor, Mine Nantucket stream is only about 40' long, but it has been fun so far. I can't wait to plant the edges. Not quite as significant as my Vt brook. Now that is a stream. Patti

Beautiful! I would be sitting near it all the time.

Patti, your endless stream is going to be gorgeous. One day I'd like to visit. I'll bring my gloves and help with whatever you need.

Harper

What kind of dogs, Patti? I'd like to be in that VT stream also--on a nice hot day! When we were 1st married, we rented an old colonial with a stream (small) along the property--very nice. Our dogs--rescued both--are a really naughty airedale, & a lovely German shorthaired mix--one of these days I'm paying for a DNA test to see what her other half is---or maybe just buy some more plants! We also occassionally babysit for our son's wirehaired pointing griffon--the big lug who broke my hip!

Back to my Victor List. So with the warm weather, I started to tackle my old abandoned veg garden. It was a slow go, but I did manage to clear a lot of huge vines and all the bramble from half of it plus a large area outside of the old. fence. Taking the old fence out is going to be tough, but DH will help. He got out the chain saw to start clearing years of broken branches from old pitch pines beyond where we have cleared in the past. There is one huge one down which with take time to cut up. Not good for anything. We found some nice large shrubs and trees to save and incorporated into the landscape.

Of course I got another doss of PI, not pretty now, but my body seems to be less affected by in it than in the past. Really puffy and eyes all goopy and itchy but I am not too broken out. Strange.

But my big news is that I have ordered a nice list (16) of Viburnums for some of my newly cleared property. Many will be years before they put on a show, but I will be happy to watch them grow. I also ordered a few small syringa and crape myrtle too. I will be able to utilize a couple of the old raised beds in the abandoned veg garden to use as nursery beds for the small shrubs for a couple of years so they can grow out if they arrive as tiny starts. I will be able to cut up the old fence to use for cages for all the new shrubs. I will get this done this spring. Patti

Wow - great Patti! Lucky you've had weather to work in. Tale photos before you plant anything so you can keep a running record. You should start a dedicated thread for it. When you get a chance, please let me know your final viburnum list. Just got my Dirr book the other day. I love his wife's illustrations.

I loved her illustrations too! Here is the new list. I will take pictures and try to note milestones in my journal. It took me much longer to figure out my list after I got the book. I took off four others at the last minute as I thought I was crossing the line of sanity. I will have to run this by V.V. to see if I did good. I figure if I have enough of them they will have to cross pollinate. Thank you too for your help. I think I have a couple that you like. Patti

Viburnum acerifolium
Viburnum dilatatum 'Asian Beauty'
Viburnum dilatatum 'Michael Dodge'
Viburnum rufidulum
Viburnum setigerum
Viburnum x burkwoodii 'Anne Russell'
Viburnum bodnantense Dawn
Viburnum cassinoides
Viburnum dilatatum Erie
Viburnum hillieri Winton
Viburnum opulus Xanthocarpum
Viburnum sargentii Onondaga
Viburnum trilobum Wentworth
Viburnum plicatum toment. Lanarth
Viburnum edule (2) for jelly
Viburnum pragense 'Decker'
Viburnum opulus aureus 'Park Harvest'


Have already in garden

Viburnum burkwoodii 'Mohawk'
Viburnum carlesii Koreanspice
Viburnum dentatum
Viburnum lentago
Viburnum nudum brandywine
Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides Winterthur
Viburnum nudum 'Winterthur'
Viburnum opulus ' Redwing'
Viburnum opulus
Viburnum opulus aureus
Viburnum plicatum tomentosum 'Shasta'
Viburnum sieboldii
Viburnum trilobum

Plus some NOID's in my garden.

Wow - nice. I have four from your new list - plus some other cultivars of the same species - and six or seven of your existing ones.

Victor, I have been reading all the posts on Viburnums and some names just kept coming up over and over again, Erie, Michael Dodge, Asian Beauty, and then I wanted some that Dirr was seemingly high on. It seems that there is a consistent group of posters who verge on being preachers for the genus that have a great sense of humor, but real knowledge and are willing to answer my questions. I include you in this group. I will be on the sidelines cheering, and reading. Thank you.

I am very excited about Viburnum edule for making jelly. I think it is the berry that my Dad talked about that grew in the Aleutians that they picked as a treat when he was there during WW!!. He died in 1981. It is funny, he didn't seem to care or know much about plants, but when he saw a Viburnum opulus at our old house in the 70's, he said it looked very similar to a bush that he ate berries off during the war. I didn't think anything about it until I started ready about V.edule. I think I have a bingo. He didn't eat enough, because in his 40's due to some dietary issues from his years there, he had to have all his teeth removed. I am not sure I have a moist enough spot for them, but I will plant them out near the run off for my stream in part shade at the base of a nice hill that will send any rain run off their way. I do water the shady garden more too.

I just read that the Dirr's daughter who was an interesting women in her own right, has died of Cystic Fibrosis. Patti.

I have 'Erie' and 'Dodge'. What a cool story about your father. Did you verify that edule grows in the Aleutians? Yes, many people on the T & S forum have been very opinionated - which often ended up in trouble. That's the main reason I stopped hanging out there last spring. But many do like the viburnums, as I do, with good reason. Good luck!

OK, Viburnum Guru's --- point me to few links that would bring me up to speed on these oh-so-loved plants? I'd like to learn more but not have you repeat yourself because of my laziness. ~ Thanks for all your help and wellness to share! ~ Pat

Can of worms! Ask victor. I love my Viburnum carlesii for the sweet, almost over powering smell in the spring. It doesn't do a lot the rest of the year. Some have better to great fall color while some none. Many are very important to the birds. But, How big and in what application are you wanting to plant a shrub? Some do well in sun others in more shade, some like 'blue muffin' are malodorous, some no scent and some heavenly, while some are small, others huge. There are many leaf shapes and textures and colors too. Very confusing. Patti

WHOA!!! hehehe... maybe I need to just list what I'm hoping for and let you "experts" decide for me!!! Something that will survive my zone, bloom time is not terribly important, I simply need to know it so I can plan for it. Not over 6 feet tall mature, white, pinks, purples and other vibrant colors are good. A GREAT scent would be desirable but not necessary. I'm not into traditionally "fall colors". I enjoy the really chartreuse green colored foliage for variety, or variegated colored leaves. So I'm open to hearing anyone suggestions. A link to a picture & write up would be even BETTER!!!

Patti, is Nantucket big enough for all those Viburnums?

Pat - that still leaves lots to choose from! 'Shasta' viburnum gets to about 6 feet tall, but about 12 feet wide. There is a fragrant carlesii 'Compactum' that only gets a few feet. You really have to decide exactly what you want. Fragrance, fall color, berries, leaf type and texture, etc.

Oh goodness... I can see that among other things I would end up high-jacking this thread with all that! Maybe I'll have to start a new thread when I'm remotely more informed about WHAT exactly I want! Thanks for the heads up! ~ Pat

Sue, what is funny is that I have countless wild ones on my property. This is viburnum land. We are suppose to have
V. venosum ( which one book lists a var.of V, molle another a var. of dentatum )and V.Lantanoides (formerly alnifolium) V.dentatum which are referred to as arrow wood and hobblebush. All way too confusing for me. But I wanted to add some others to the gang. Get out the DNA tests. Patti

Patti - I was disappointed to see all of two lines in Dirr's book describing pollination!

Victor, I didn't read any of the sexy parts. Patti

I went right to the centerfold.

Victor - how far apart did you space your JM's? The ones you planted under your larger JM. I have 3 dwarf varieties and am thinking of placement.
I like the idea of an endless stream, but not sure I want to do the work, so also am thinking of some type of fountain that would be in the same area.

This message was edited Feb 18, 2008 1:36 PM

Of course it depends on the size they will get, but mine are approximately 3 or 4 feet apart, in a circle under my large tree. You have many options with water features, Deb. A statuary type of fountain, a small pond, a bubbling urn like I plan to do, a bubbling millstone, etc.

Speaking of spring, I spotted my first bloom - snowdrop.

Oh how nice! I looked around today but the yard is just frozen ice after yesterdays melting snow.

I've been looking at millstones, and rock fountains. I'd like to see them in settings to help decide.

Thanks Victor.

A snowdrop!!! I love it!!!!

I put some snowdrops in this past Fall, and lately have been checking on them - nothing yet!

Really nice Victor. No signs of new life here yet but it won't be long now I hope. I need some snow drops to announce the new season I think.

I did too - things are popping up, but just green for now

Had a great day outside working on the "Victor List" Did another major burn pile today from lots of brush clearing I have been doing over the last very weeks. We have a friend here visiting and I got him hooked on using the chain saw, so we will get another day of work out of him before he leaves.

Now Victor has just written another article that has me drooling over Japanese Maples. I do have room for some at some point. But I will have to get the the area really cleared and live with it for a season before I can even think about planting it with a few JMs. The area around the endless stream is certainly going to get a couple, but I think I will wait until fall. Patti

Don't blame me, Patti!! Thanks.

Victor, Who should I blame? I know, Dave, for starting DG so the picture could be posted and the camera company that sold you a product that happened to be able to take a picture that focused on a pond with two JM's prominently featured. Oh, and the realtor who sold you the property and Fairweather who sold you those JM's. and maybe the company that made the shovel that you used to plant them. Sorry, Victor, you are obviously an innocent pawn.

Spent another day in the brush, the area is getting better. But my body is screaming for a break. My friend from NYC has gone wild with the chainsaw. All the work is needed to be done, but it has meant an enormous amount of brush hauling to the burn pile. I feel like a over used Mule tonight. We have 2 more huge pitch pines that have come down in the woods and we want to chop and burn those too. Endless.

I was hoping to watch the ellipse, but it is clouding over. drat. Patti

Funny, Patti! I could have told you about New Yorkers and chainsaws. I'm surprised you're allowed to burn piles like that. They may think they're under siege in Boston! Sounds like you're doing too much! Slow down. It won't go anywhere.

This is the first time I can remember the town allowing burning. We must start by noon and no additional wood added after four and a size limit. No construction debris. You must have a hose set up as well as be a min distance from any structure or trees. This is why we have so much to burn. Normally we rent a giant chipper every few years, but this is 25 buck for a three day permit instead of 300 dollars for two days of deafening chipping and getting only a fraction down compared to the burning. They may not allow us to do this again for years. It is going to stop by April, so I must get this major clearing down asap.

The only reason they are allowing this was that there was a serious fall storm that brought down so many trees that the dump would be overwhelmed if everyone tried to take the debris there. We can't burn the pine in our wood-stove or fireplace so this is a great deal for us. Just exhausting. The sad thing is that most of the work is almost invisible or would be unnoticed by any one but us. But for us, it is allowing visual expansion into some of the natural wild parts of our property and at the same time giving some of the trees and shrubs in there a better environment with more air and sun. We have been pruning them all and removing all the choking vines so they should thrive. It will mean more maintenance to keep it clear of weeds and the regrowth of the invasive choke cherries and some viburnums as well as the Virginia creeper and PI. But worth it. I hope. I need to transplant many little cedars and pines to better spots come spring. Patti

It does sound like all the effort will pay off in the long run. You will have a great place to be proud of. Wish I had that kind of space.

Yup, so long as you're healthy to be around to enjoy it Patti. Take a rest when you need one.

Victor, get your camera and scatter the clouds.....nice eclipse out there right now!!!!

Yeah, it's really cool. Couldn't get a shot of it, though. Too cold and lazy to get the tripod all set up.