Melanie's Perennials

Christmas in July

2010-07-24T17:06:00.001-07:00

While it might be July, this is the time of year to think about making those stunning bouquets of Lunaria (aka Money Plant, Honesty Plant).

Lunaria is a biennial that self sows itself quite nicely in my garden. It's actually one of the very few plants that I already found growing here when we first moved to this property.

In spring Lunaria has lovely purple blooms but now it has dingy brown seed heads.

The seed heads are actually three paper thin, translucent pieces. Only the two outermost layers are dingy in color.

If you gently rub your thumb and forefinger back and forth over the seed head the outer sheath will slide right off, exposing the seeds. There are seeds on both the front and back so make sure you get them all.

After you've removed both outer sides and collected the seeds you are left with a wonderfully luminous pod.

This photo was taken two years ago. It's so simple to just gather up a bunch of dried Lunaria stalks and put them in a vase for a flower arrangement.

The reason for my title "Christmas in July"? These arrangements will hold for a long time and look lovely with your holiday decorations.

For a similar post with more information you can visit me at Old Country Gardens and type in Lunaria in the search bar at the top.

Eye Candy

2010-07-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

Today's post doesn't have a specific theme. As I was going through my photos I found a few that I just wanted to share with you.

This is a close up of Ricinus communis (Castor Bean), a highly poisonous plant but oh so beautiful!

A shot in the herb garden at Bridge Gardens in Bridgehampton NY. Don't know how I missed this one when writing about it the other day!

Another close-up shot of an herb, this time it's Borage which I've grown in my own garden many times and miss desperately now!

What a great color combination! The bean is a Hyacinth bean (to see what I'm going in my own garden with Hyacinth beans hop over to my Old Country Gardens blog). The other flower is a Clematis but I don't know the variety name.

Final shot, another great color combination! I love the dusky purple Sedum combined with the hot bloom on the daylily 'Open Hearth' and the foamy chartreuse blooms on the Alchemilla mollis (ladies mantle).

Ok, out to the garden to water some more...wouldn't it be nice to have gentle showers from 2:00am until 4:00am? A gardeners dream :-)

Ciao!
Melanie

Crop & Stop

2010-07-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is going to be fun!

Now some people might think I'm a total nerd but I had such a blast sitting here playing with photos I took this past Thursday at Bridge Gardens. I usually just clean my photos up a bit, rarely do I play with any special effects. My favorite tool is crop, it's just too cool to be able to take a photo and make it something totally different by eliminating something and highlighting something else.

For instance, this first shot is a mass of Echinacea (one of my favorite flowers for photography). The color variations in this planting takes my breath away.

My first crop attempt was a simple horizontal one, it brings more cones into view and some nice bees too.

A vertical crop can be extremely exciting. I've made a number of bookmarks out of vertical shots like these. I know I had a post about it somewhere but just can't seem to find it...duh, I just remembered I have a search box.

If you want to see how I make bookmarks out of garden photos just go to my other blog Old Country Gardens and type in bookmark in the search box.

Echinops ritro is another great flower for photographs. I shot a few of them while standing in front of this clump.

Here's a crop from one of those photos...I'm so in love with this that I made it my screen saver! I think that's the rear view of that bee but doesn't it look like it's smiling?

Other plants are harder to photograph. This teasel was a toughie and cropping it made all the difference in the world.

Sometimes while cropping you find something totally unexpected. Years ago I took a photo in the Carolinas of a really cool looking insect. Although I didn't notice the insects while I was taking this photo, I found them while playing with my crop feature. Anybody know what these are?

Ornamental pepper blooms are lovely, I had to get down on my hands and knees and shoot upwards here.

Finally, I just had to add another Echinacea (cone flower). They are just so magical much fun to photograph! If you want to see more photos that I took at Bridge Gardens you'll find them at Old Country Gardens.

Today is sunny and HOT so no photos today...think I'll go jump in the pool instead.

SPLASH*************

Eat Bran...

2010-07-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

Backlogged! After being a total computer idiot, I'm finally back on-line here only to find that I'm totally backed up with images and thoughts I'd like to post (hence the title of this missive).

Here on Long Island we've been experiencing a brutal summer. Too much heat, too little rain (almost none for that matter except for the little coming down right now). Not even enough cloud cover to shoot many photos.

But having said all that, there's always something about the garden that just takes my breath away.

Hydrangeas are incredibly happy here on Long Island. My soil is very acidic so the blues are what I get. Who's complaining? Not me! By the way, the yellow bloom is Lysamachia japonica.

Skies so blue and a few wispy clouds. Great pool weather but we need rain!

Veronicastrum...so cool, so white, so pristine! The lavender variety hasn't even budded yet, something to look forward to.

Don't forget, even if the light conditions aren't perfect to take great shots, keep taking photos and add your notes on them. I always forget that this clump of Liatris is white. Now if I want to dig it up next spring and I actually have the forethought to look through my photos I'll be able to identify which clump is the white one.

Hope to be back regularly now ;-)
Melanie

Computer Woes

2010-07-11T11:31:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Wish I could show you some lovely photos of my garden...yes, I've been taking them. Just having some computer woes with my laptop (where I have my photos stored).

Only able to post right now from such an old desktop computer that I have to pedal it like a bicycle to keep it going ;-)

I'll be back as soon as somebody comes and rescues me!

Melanie

All the difference...

2010-06-26T16:50:00.001-07:00

Today I had the pleasure of visiting my friends Gianna & Rich up the street. Gianna is the most talented container designer ever. Rich is the most knowledgeable plants person ever. Together they've created a garden that tugs at my heartstrings every time I visit.

If you ever need some top notch garden advice you can go to Main Street Nursery in Huntington to talk to Gianna about container plants or to Rich at Zaino's Nursery in Old Westbury for info on the best shrub/tree/perennial for your Long Island garden.

What is most amazing about their garden is the way they showcase their collected pieces, accents, accessories and containers and use them as jewels to display their amazing plants.

Gianna has ducks and swans tucked into many spots, bunny rabbits too (even a few live ones).

See the swan in the larger container? It's so incredibly elegant I just wish this photo did it more justice.

This shot is my favorite, I'm going to try to recreate it exactly with my better camera and hope for more clarity and color saturation. If it works out I'd like to have it printed out and framed.

While the above containers were Gianna's, Rich has a few knockouts too. How's this trough? I'm in love :-)

Just the way it's set up on the boulder is enough to keep me salivating for days. I love gardening on this scale but let's be honest, you need a man if you want to do something like this!

This last container isn't even a container, it's just a wonderfully textured rock with pockets that are perfect for planting. I had to include this photo for my other dear gardening friends Kim & Paul because they are into many of the same concepts.

I've posted a number of other photos from this garden on my other blog at Melanie's Old Country Gardens...stop by and take a peek :-)

Melanie

Thalictrum flavum subsp. glaucum

2010-06-14T07:32:00.000-07:00

Today's perennial spotlight is on a plant that not too many people grow. Thalictrum flavum subsp. glaucum (commonly called meadow rue) has been growing in my garden for at least 10 years. It's one of those treasures I bought many years ago at Franks nursery.

I have it in a lousy spot, extremely dry, shade for most of the day except two hours of direct sun right around noon.

One of the mistakes I made with this lovely perennial is planting it at the edge of a border. In a shaded spot like this it wants to lean towards the sun and there's nothing much there for it to lean on.

I did put a metal structure there and have a few wires to help it stay inside the form but it really isn't the right spot at all for this perennial. The piece I've moved to a sunny area is much happier but too small to photograph right now.

Unlike the other Thalictrums I grow, this variety has blue foliage, hence the word "glaucum" in it's name. The blue foliage and the sulphur yellow blooms are a great combination!

If you leave your Thalictrums alone (that means leaving those ugly dead blooms on them for awhile), they will scatter a few seedlings. For some reason I've got a bunch of little babies growing right out of the cracks of the belgium block border of my driveway. The foliage is in the bottom left corner, the bloom is in the top right corner.

Other Thalictrums grow here too. Next to my telephone pole is a large clump of Thalictrum
'Elin'. I just did a quick search on this plant and was surprised to see that it is a cross between Thalictrum flavum subsp. glaucum and Thalictrum rochebrunianum (hmmm, a thalictrum I don't grow!).

Now this is a case of the right plant in the right location. It's at least 8 feet tall right now and stands up perfectly straight.

At the total opposite spectrum is the teeny tiny Thalictrum kiusianum. This dwarf Thalictrum is so small that if you didn't know it was here you'd mistake it for clover or some other little thing. Last year I planted a piece in a dish garden and it did better there than it does in the garden. Maybe it finally feels it has room to grow without any thugs taking over?

Oops, looking at the photo I see exactly that, a little piece of clover snuck right in the middle :-)

Most likely the most well known Thalictrum is Thalictrum aquilegifolium. As the name says, the foliage looks just like an Aquilegia (columbine) and many people mistake it for one, that is, until it blooms.

I find Thalictrums easy to grow, they have no pests that I'm aware of and require little extra care. Try one out, I think you'll love them!

Melanie

Oh Baby!

2010-06-03T05:33:00.001-07:00

This morning as I walked around the garden I noticed that the Hellebores are still looking quite nice. Wow, here it is June and I'm still looking at the Hellebores. I started photographing the buds on March 16th and by March 31st was taking shots of full blown blooms.

Upon closer inspection I realized that these babies are actually chock full of seed pods! If you look closely you can see that many of these have already released their seeds. I sure hope I find some little babies around later this summer.

The Hellebore foetidus near my shed is also full of seed pods. This plant is actually a baby I moved from one of my front beds. They seed very nicely, not invasively. One thing I've learned is to move the seedlings when they are young, once they are older they become leggy.

This dusky purple Hellebore still looks good, especially now that the Athyrium nipponicum (Japanese painted fern) has filled in next to it.

Last but not least, you can see the newest seeds in the garden. Only difference here is I have no intention of planting these seeds... I love peas. Today will be my first harvest, yum!

For those of you who like to stop by, please note that my garden will not be open this Friday (June 4th). I've broken my own rule and have been planting an English perennial garden for somebody else. She's given me free rein to choose the plant material and I so love the creative challenge.

Melanie

Play Day

2010-05-28T06:19:00.001-07:00

This afternoon I have a play date. Some garden friends are coming by with their children and we are going to split and replant the Sempervivum (Hens & Chicks).

We'll be selecting all the pots that are chock full, pulling the plants apart and giving them homes in new pots with room for those little chicks to spread out.

If you came by my house right now you'd see that I've been doing this splitting all month long. My front walkway has a number of these flats filled with all kinds of beautiful succulents.

Yesterday I picked up a few more trough containers. The place I get them from has very few left so I will only be able to get 3 or 4 more this season. These hypertufa containers are quite a bit more expensive than clay pots but so much more durable.

I have such fun looking for things to plant in the troughs. You'll always find a Sempervivum in the mix, this one on the left here is one of my favorites, it's name is 'Oddity'.

It's important to also step outside of the box and mix in some other material. The golden chartreuse of the Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea' (creeping Jenny) is going to be fun to work with.

One non-succulent that I've had wonderful success with is Allium senescens glaucum which is the blue flat leaf foliage in the top corner of this trough. It was planted last year and came through the winter with flying colors, doubling nicely in size.

There are a few containers here for sale. They make excellent gifts, they are low maintenance and will live much longer than any cut flower arrangement.

For less money, there are some that are planted in clay pots. I planted a few of these last year and surprisingly the pots all survived the winter without any chips or cracks but I can't guarantee that will always be the case.

Here's a shot of my front stoop. These three troughs were planted last year and are not for sale. I have them slightly raised and they look like this all year long except for when they were covered with snow.

We are going to have such fun this afternoon!

Melanie

Hardy Geraniums

2010-05-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

Each year at this time I find myself photographing and writing about my hardy Geraniums.

For those of you who are new to my writings or new to the world of perennials, there are true Geraniums that are hardy perennials here on Long Island (USA zone 6b). These Geraniums look nothing like the tender Geraniums people buy for their planters, those are actually named Pelargoniums.

Hardy Geraniums are incredibly valuable to the perennial garden. Probably the most common variety (certainly the first I ever grew) is Geranium sanguinium pictured here in the opening shot. The color of the blooms is almost impossible for the camera to capture.

One lesson that needs to be learned when growing hardy Geraniums is that they rarely stand on their own. They tend to be soft stemmed and much prefer to cascade, sprawl, lean and meander on and around neighbor plants. If used correctly, this tendency can be quite charming.

Unfortunately this trait tends to make hardy Geraniums look messy or leggy in pots and messy plants are hard to sell.

Once planted in the ground though it's a whole different matter. In many cases their growth is thick and lush, allowing no chance for weeds to come up. You can see how nice and tight this clump of Geranium sanguinium is.

An important thing to note when you go out looking for hardy geraniums is that there are varieties that require sun (the sanguiniums up top do best with a good amount of sunlight although they will tolerate lower light conditions) other varieties prefer some shade and a few require even more shade. The bloom you see here is from Geranium phaeum also known as the "mourning widow geranium". This is one that does well in the shade.

Interestingly, I just read on one web site that this Geranium also grows in sunlight but that website was a Brittish site. Keep that in mind when you research your plants, what takes full sun in England is very different than what might take full sun here.

Geranium pratense 'Midnight Reiter' is another shade Geranium. In my experience this one does not clump up as vigorously as other varieties but you can see it is certainly a most welcome addition to the shade garden.

One more shade Geranium that I've grown to love is Geranium nodosum. This beauty does not bloom as heavily as the other Geraniums but as you can see, it has beautiful lush foliage. Those of you who know me well know that I'm always on the hunt for plants with great foliage.

Foliage is definitely a plus on most of the hardy Geraniums. In a semi shade (morning sun) location, the foliage of Geranium 'Nimbus' is just wonderful.

Today I saw the first bloom on 'Nimbus', more are sure to come.

I guess I can't say I favor any one Geranium over another but can tell you that this Geranium 'Bevan's Variety' wins an award for growing into a lush clump in a location that is hostile to so many plants. Dry shade under a life-sucking Norway maple, this baby just keeps on going.

The cantabrigiense Geraniums (this one is 'Cambridge') deserve a posting of their own and I've done exactly that in the past. At the top of this blog and my other blog at Melanie's Old Country Gardens you can type "Geranium" into the search bar and find past articles on these wonderful perennials. This is my 104th posting on this blog but the other has 380 so if you are looking for lots of information, check that site out too.

Off to play in the dirt,
Melanie

Hakonechloa 'All Gold'

2010-05-17T18:20:00.001-07:00

While I'd never be able to pick a single favorite plant from my garden, I would have to include this Hakonechloa 'All Gold' right at the top of the list. It's not the first Hakone grass (also known as Japanese forest grass) that I've grown but it most certainly is the showiest.

I have 4 clumps now, two of them quite large and yet I find myself loathe to cut into them to divide them out. Still, I'm trying to get myself to do this before the sale days this coming Thursday, Friday & Saturday.

It has incredible value as an accent plant and as a combination plant. Here you see it mixed with the foliage of an Astrantia (Masterwort) seedling.

Backed by lavender blue blooms on one of the Veronica's, the 'All gold' continues to look stunning.

I find it most amazing that no matter what leaf shape you pair it with, you end up with a fantastic interweaving. Hosta 'Sagae' behind it with it's golden edge was a true inspiration that I'm so happy I had last season.

The foliage and blooms of the hardy Geranium maculatum also look amazing next to another 'All gold' clump.

So my advice to you is if you see this beauty for sale, grab it! Yet more advice, any pot I've seen for sale is the saddest creature ever. For some reason this baby just doesn't look good in a pot. Add to that the fact that the pieces are extra small and extra high priced, still it's more than worth it.

Hosta as Accent Plants

2010-05-13T05:14:00.001-07:00

A garden without Hosta is...well...just missing something! There are many parts of the world in which Hosta don't grow but if you live where they flourish, then you really should be planting these beauties in your garden.

In my garden I've learned to use Hosta as accent plants. While they are certainly spectacular on their own, planted in a mass, I can't help but use them singularly to add foliage accents to a planting combination.

Hosta will tolerate a wide variety of growing conditions but if you want them to shine, give them lots of compost and water. The darker colors, especially the blue ones require shade. The lighter leaves prefer more sunshine.

Even with nothing in bloom yet I have lots of color to look at thanks to the various Hosta and the purple leaves on the Ligularia 'Britt Marie Crawford'.

Probably the number one eye-catcher in this bed is Hosta 'Liberty'. It's a slow grower so I haven't had a piece to share out yet.

New varieties of Hosta are often sports of existing hosta (a sport is sort of a mutation). In the center of this photo is Hosta 'Sagae', one of the best landscaping Hosta in my opinion. 'Liberty' in the previous photo is a sport of 'Sagae'. They have the same upright growth, and similar leaf shapes but 'Liberty' has a wider gold edge. Pretty cool, huh?

Off to play in the garden, it's too bright out there to take any photos right now.

Melanie

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T06:42:00.001-07:00

What better way to celebrate Mother's Day weekend than by making lots and lots of babies? Yesterday afternoon was the perfect time to pot up some succulents.

The various creeping Sedums are really filling out so it was easy to pinch some stems from them.

I've learned that if I plant the Sempervivum (Hens & Chicks) in between the Sedums, they are quickly overrun. They are much happier being in pots and set in the Sedum this way.

Right now the pots still look a bit bare but give them a week or two of warmth and these babies will plump up quickly.

Surprise! Rounding the back of the pool garden I found one of last year's babies, merrily blooming along.

Happy Mother's Day!

Melanie

Random Thoughts & Photos

2010-05-04T05:31:00.001-07:00

This morning is perfect for taking photos in the garden. It's damp and overcast outside so no shadows thrown by early morning sun.

Here's some photos I took today with the thoughts that ran through my head as I took them:

I'll begin with my favorite gnome, Claus who seems quite happy to be resting under a clump of Symphytum.

The Cotoneaster in my front bed is doing so well. I love how it softens the edge of the walkway although I have to remember every now and then to cut back the longer branches. I really have to get after those perennial seedlings that pop up from underneath.

Heuchera 'Caramel' once again doing it's magic. Need to get those Digitalis (fox gloves) out of there before they hide everything.

I just love the blooms and seed pods on Lunaria (honesty plant or money plant). I just wish it didn't always seed itself in the front of the border and hide everything behind it...kind of like the Digitalis in the photo up above.

Zizia aurea, given to me by a friend who said it seeds around in her garden. I've had it here for three years and although the plant itself looks happy, I have yet to find a seedling...boohoo...

Couldn't get the colors right on this one so you'll have to add a bit of imagination to it. Wonderful golden hosta with the most amazing blue Ajuga bloom coming right up in the middle of it. Can't get much better than that!

Pulmonaria 'Little Star' has my favorite foliage of any of the Pulmonarias. The white spots are just enough.

Corydalis and Iris cristata really are the perfect companions. I only wish the Alium foliage didn't turn to crap before the blooms even emerge. Maybe I'll go out and cut the foliage back.

This morning I'm going to try to do a little digging. Mom might be doing the work while I play supervisor. Can't do much yet due to some complications from my surgery but I'm trying! We'll be open for business this Friday 11-4 and Saturday 10-4. Hope to see some of you then.

Melanie

May Day

2010-05-01T06:07:00.001-07:00

Happy May Day!

May 1st has always been such an exciting day for me. I think of gardens, May poles, warm days to come and my Dad's birthday.

This photo is one of the tulip beds at the entrance to Millennium Park in Chicago.

The weather here is perfect so I'll be out in the garden all day...what a great way to celebrate May day.

Melanie

Spring Containers

2010-04-28T11:08:00.001-07:00

Container planting has to be one of the most rewarding types of gardening. When it comes to containers, you can be in full control. Chose the ideal type of soil, the bloom season, the light conditions (after all, you can move those containers around) and of course, the watering requirements.

Just the other day I posted about ferns in the spring gardens. Ferns are wonderful in containers, this photo was taken the other day in the Lincoln Park Conservatory in Chicago.

For those of you who haven't read my other blog, Old Country Gardens, I've just returned from the most wonderful four days in Chicago. The plantings were amazing, street corners, parks, median strips, sidewalk plantings and of course lots and lots of containers.

I thought I was taking too many photos but as usual, I now wish I had taken twice as many!

Visible from the hotel room window was this amazing array of planters. Best of all was getting to walk past it several times a day.

The weather was quite harsh, cold downpours, gusting winds and bright sunny days with nights near freezing. Yet look how lovely these hardy spring plants look!

The color combinations were spectacular, I couldn't get enough of the blues and once you add some gold, wowza!

Color combinations don't have to be hot or cold, I found this yellow, green and white arrangement very pleasing.

Putting all those colors together was even better, you could hardly guess that it was so cold that my fingers were numb while pressing on the camera button.

Three cheers to the folks of Chicago for showcasing such a lovely city!

Melanie

Spring Ferns

2010-04-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

There's something about ferns that fascinates me. When it comes to the botanical names, I'm totally lost. Even the common name often eludes me but I just love ferns in the garden.

This top image is a fern that showed up here without me planting it. If I had to guess, I'd call it a hay scented fern. It does smell yummy when you pot it up and drive around with it in your car.

The Cinnamon Fern is another one that I've been adding here and there. I just adore this fuzzy stage as they first begin to grow and that cool cinnamon stalk that emerges in late spring is bonus.

Last year I saw a lone fern for sale at Fox Hollow Farm. It didn't have a name tag but I just had to add it to the garden. For some reason I couldn't find a photo of it from last season so I'll have to wait and shoot one this year. It formed a perfect whirl, round and round.

Probably the ugliest fern in the beginning of the season is the Japanese Painted Fern. It almost looks like it's dead and yet each day more of it emerges.

Here's one of the few shots I could find of a fern once it's totally unfurled from it's early spring stage. Not a great photo, I do know this is one of the Painted Ferns, possibly 'Ghost'.

Got Ferns? Let me know what does well for you!

Melanie

Delay in open garden...

2010-04-16T08:01:00.001-07:00

Please note that the grand opening day for Melanie's Perennials will be May 1st.

Much as I had hoped to open the garden tomorrow, April 17th, life has given me a challenge to overcome first. This past Wednesday I underwent a lumpectomy and will not be able to lift or dig for a while.

The good news is I can take lots and lots of photos in the mean time and plan on sharing them with all of you.

Hope to see you May 1st!

Melanie

Pulmonaria

2010-04-14T04:56:00.001-07:00

One can always find Pulmonarias in Herb books. They've been grown for their medicinal properties for hundreds of years and are more commonly known as Lungwort. Most books state that the young leaves can be added to salads but I can't imagine trying them as they are hairy as can be...

Supposedly Pulmonarias clear congested lungs, I've also read that they are an ingredient in vermouth. Perhaps that's why another book states that they can cause liver damage? As always, I'll remind all of you that just because a plant is an herb, I do not recommend eating them without knowing more about the plant. This is one that would not pass my lips.

Most Pulmonarias have spotted leaves, in the summer some will also get powdery mildew but since they are already white, it doesn't bother me much.

Quite commonly Pulmonarias have pink flower buds that once opened, quickly change to blue or vice-versa. There are quite a few varieties on the market now, not only does the flower color vary but the amount of spotting on the foliage is another distinctive trait.

The most vigorous Pulmonaria in my garden by far is Pulmonaria angustifolia. Surprisingly, this one has no spotting at all on the leaves. The blooms are the most heavenly sky blue color imaginable.

Out front near the street in barren soil I've been growing Pulmonaria 'Dora Bielefeld' for at least 10 years. As you can see here, it has quite a clear pink bloom. I wish I'd had the forethought to move it to a better location and see what it could really do when grown in rich soil.

There are also pristine white Pulmonarias. The name on this one escapes me, I do know that I've divided out some pieces and shared them with gardening friends. While white is not my favorite color in the garden, it is a most welcome addition to the shade corners that Pulmonarias seem to tolerate.

My recommendations on growing these lovelies is to give them a spot with several hours of sunlight (preferably softer, morning light), rich soil that has been amended with compost and water during dry seasons. Other than that, stand back and watch them bloom!

Kim's Garden

2010-04-11T18:00:00.001-07:00

The other day I met some gardening friends for a workshop at my friend Kim's home in Huntington Bay. The weather was perfect and of course, so was Kim's garden.

I was torn between working on making the hypertufa troughs (read more about it on my Old Country Garden blog) and taking photos of the most wonderful spring display of blooms.

Little vignette's were all over the place, this one was my favorite!

Kim's mother Joan has a garden on one side of the house. Joan was always such a talented gardener that it was no surprise to me to see how lovely her newest creation has taken off. Even with health issues Joan has done a great job here.

Looking down closely you can see how lovely the Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea' looks as it wends it's way around the stepping stones. This side garden is so stunning that it deserves it's own post in the future.

One last shot, a close up of the weeping Cherry tree. Isn't it breathtaking?

I thought I'd finish up today's post with some good news...I'm taking a hiatus from working retail, need to deal with some health issues but I will also be able to spend more time in the garden. So stay tuned, Melanie's Perennials will be open for business soon, maybe this coming Saturday, April 17th!

Can't wait to see all of you again,
Melanie

Hellebores - The Lenten Rose

2010-03-31T08:10:00.001-07:00

One of my constant goals is to give the botanical name along with a nickname in parenthesis. While the nickname of this plant is Lenten Rose, I do believe that many gardeners also know the botanical name of Hellebore.

Lenten Rose though is a pretty apt description for this wonderful perennial as it most certainly does begin blooming during Lent (that is, it does so here on Long Island in my zone 6b garden).

Hellebores can be quite expensive so one has to have either much money or much patience before amassing a large collection of them. In my case, it's patience, I've added one or two a year for about 8 years now.

Gardening books will tell you that Hellebores are shade lovers and will grow in lean soil. While that may be true, I've found that they reward me well for giving them a half a day of sun (morning is best) and lots and lots of compost.

Most often, Hellebores don't have single cultivar names but are sold as seedling lots. This white double is one of my favorites. If you leave the seed heads on your Hellebores they will reward you with seedlings near-by. I keep checking the ground near this beauty, no babies yet but I always have hope.

One of the reasons I heard for the down-turned blooms on Hellebores is to protect the pollen and reproduction organs from severe late winter temperatures. It certainly sounds like a good reason to me so I'll stick with that thought.

Every now and then you do find an upturned bloom. Hellebore hybridizers are working hard to get more and more varieties that do turn their faces upright. I love the freckles on this lovely seedling.

This last shot is the least artistic but the most exciting one for me. Last September I posted about dividing a large Hellebore in my garden. This is one of the divisions I planted out, each and every one of them is just chock full of blooms and buds! So much for thinking that they might sulk after division.

If you want to read the post about dividing your hellebores you need to visit my other blog, Old Country Gardens. Once there, you can type in the word "Hellebore" in the search field at the top of the blog and it will bring you to the post.

I've also added a search field to this blog and a list of post labels down the side.

Happy Spring!
Melanie

Meltdown

2010-02-23T13:40:00.000-08:00

With February almost at an end, and March just around the corner, we are experiencing the big "meltdown". Ok, maybe it's not so big, that is, it's not like temperatures are a balmy 50 degrees.

Still, with days 6-8 degrees above freezing and now lots of rain, we are finally getting some snow melt.

These photos were taken just over a week ago when we experienced our second blizzard of the season. While I can honestly say I'm tired of shoveling the walk, driveway and a path to the mailbox, I must also admit newly fallen snow is beautiful.

As beautiful as the snow is, it was quite a chore to go out and knock it off the branches. Many of my evergreen branches hang over the power lines here so leaving the snow on them isn't a great idea.

Take it from me though, don't throw your only snow shovel up in the tree to knock off the snow...also, don't throw the rest of your shoves in the tree to knock down the snow shovel. My advice? Find a ten foot long piece of PVC pipe and use it to get all those shovels and snow out of the trees.

Any of you who've read my blog for a long period of time have seen photos of my garden bicycle. Even in the snow it looks adorable, doesn't it?

If anybody is home here, they're going to be awfully cold...

But for those of you with the winter blahs (and who among us doesn't have those blahs?) this photo was taken February 20, 2008 so potentially this what's waiting under all that snow.

So take heart, spring is truly around the corner!

Melanie

My Garden

2010-01-20T14:22:00.000-08:00

Each year I visit a good number of gardens. They are always inspiring to me, filled with ideas, new plant material, a wonderful expression of passion.

The feeling though of being in my own garden, is almost impossible to describe. There's passion for the plant material that is growing there. Joy for the successes I've had. Dreams are made each and every day and hope always abounds.

Maybe that's why the depths of winter are so hard on gardeners. Looking out at the bleak, dreary landscape, it's hard to imagine that it will one day be lush and green.

I didn't have the heart to photograph the dingy piles of old snow, covered with thrown bits of gravel. The mushy muddy ruts in the driveway are even less attractive, not much interest in the plant material that's out there either.

I'm so grateful for my photos, they are my window to what was and what will be once again. Yesterday I finally fulfilled one of my major "to-do's" and downloaded all my photo files onto a new external hard drive. I think that if I lost all my windows, my life would truly be dark.

So a reminder to all of you, I'm always encouraging you to take photos in your garden. Well, don't forget to back them up too!

Off to gaze out some more windows,
Melanie

Kniphofia

2009-12-01T16:04:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite photos is this one, taken in July of 2008 at the Herrenhausen Gardens in Hannover Germany. It was so far away from home and yet, at the same time, the gardens felt as if they could have been right here on Long Island.

In the center left of the photo is a large stand of Kniphofia, more commonly known as red hot pokers. While these plants are quite popular in England (and possibly Germany), they seem to be ignored by gardeners here in the USA.

Perhaps the problem is that most American gardeners are only familiar with the red hot variety, that is, the one with an orangish red tip and a yellow base. Yet this is only one of the colors available in this plant family.

This photo is an old scanned slide but it was taken in my garden and I've had this "red hot" Kniphofia for many years now.

Another Kniphofia that I've had for years (another oldie but goodie from Franks Nursery) is this lovely chartreuse variety. If it has a name, I don't have it labled in the garden. One thing I can tell you though is that the color here is not that far off, it truly is a chartreusse bloom.

True yellow Kniphofias are not difficult to find. I had this one in my garden for 4 or 5 years before it suddenly disappeared.

The same goes for this amazing Apricot variety. It was spectacular here for at least 4 years and then POOF it was gone. It makes me wonder if Kniphofias are short lived perennials. If that is the case then the solution is to divide them before their fourth year, something I will keep in mind in the future.

Doing some research online, I've found some interesting information on these plants. While I knew they needed good drainage, much to my surprise I read that you will increase your chance of overwintering them by tying the foliage together for the winter.

In past years I've noticed that when I cleaned around the Kniphofias in the spring that you could easily tug divisions out of the ground, as if they had rotted right at the soil level. Apparently by tying the foliage together, you keep the water and ice from getting inside that crown. Very interesting...

Anyway, my recommendation to all of you? Try this beauty in a full sun location. I don't think you'll be sorry you did!

Melanie

Heuchera 'Caramel'

2009-11-18T14:55:00.000-08:00

Today I only took five photos, I hadn't planned on taking any though so I guess I'm ahead of the game.

Walking up my driveway, I noticed how beautiful Heuchera 'Caramel' still looked. Well, maybe it's not as beautiful as it looks in May but remember, it's mid November!

I have 'Caramel' in several locations, this particular plant was the first one I had purchased and it's been in the garden for two full seasons. Hands down it's my favorite Heuchera so far.

Those of you who have been regular readers here or have visited my garden know how much I love this plant. Here's a photo taken back on May 24th. As you can see, it was pretty stunning back then too.

Just to the left of 'Caramel' is the hardy Geranium 'Katherine Adele'. Scroll back up and you'll see that the foliage is still beautiful too.

No wonder I chose a photo of this combination for my webpage.

Melanie

Too soft hearted

2009-11-09T06:08:00.000-08:00

This morning when I was photographing my troughs (not bad looking for mid November!) I noticed a recurring theme. Volunteers.

Volunteer plants are seedlings that pop up in your garden, whether you planted them or not.

In this pot you can see the volunteer Digitalis (Fox Glove) seedlings at the back. You can bet I didn't put them there but of course I don't have the heart to pull them. If they are still there come spring I will wiggle them out and give them a new home (maybe to you???).

How's this for volunteering! These Verbascum bombyciferum seedlings have volunteered to totally take over the large concrete planter. I doubt that the Sempervivum 'Oddity' that's planted in there is too happy about this new neighbor but soft hearted as I am, I leave these too until spring.

This trough has been one of my favorites. It won a blue ribbon at our flower show this past June and will soon be moving to a new home. My friend Kim asked me to donate one of my troughs for a wonderful charity called "Hope through Health". So this lovely trough will be on the raffle table this coming Saturday night. I'm so excited for it!

The other day when I showed Kim the trough, I saw these little seedlings growing in it. I think they are Isolepsis seedlings (Fiber-optic grass) and if I get the chance I'm going to wiggle them out and pot them up. Isolepsis isn't always hardy here so I'd bring these babies in and try to overwinter them on my super-crowded windowsill.

Off to rake some leaves and then to work.

Happy Monday! It's my favorite day of the week :-)

On the Road

2009-11-06T04:08:00.000-08:00

This morning I'm packing up my gear and heading west. I'm off to Pittsburgh where I will be speaking to a group of collectors. Daylily collectors, Hosta collectors, Iris collectors and Daffodil collectors too.

I wonder if when I'm done there if they will also be Sedum and Succulent collectors :-)

Got my program all set on power point but I do have to admit to being a bit nervous about that. Just not used to relying on my laptop in a public forum. Cross your fingers for me!

Melanie

Fall experiments

2009-10-27T10:21:00.001-07:00

If you live on Long Island (just east of New York city) or in a similar zone, you are probably in the midst of fall clean-up.

With 1.3 acres here at Old Country Gardens, it's going to take me right through to New Years to get the garden closed up. Some chores though need to be done sooner than that.

One of my experiments this year was to plant Hosta, Ivy and Lamiastrum in the two hanging baskets at the front of my breezeway. To be honest, I've had prettier plantings in there but these required little care at all and since I had an over-abundance of these plants, they cost me nothing to pot up. It will be interesting to see if these plants start growing again in the spring.

The breezeway still looks summery but even on warmer days I'd prefer to sit out in the sunshine now, not here in the shade. In the next week or two I'll have to pack up the cushions. Another thing I need to do (maybe later today) is take cuttings from my tender plants to bring inside.

This is also the first time I've ever grown Colocasia (Elephant ears) thanks to my neighbor Cynthia. I'm going bring this whole pot into my garage with the Phormium too and see if they'll overwinter in there.

So many things still to try. Tomorrow's my first day working at J.Crew. That's what I love about life, always another adventure waiting around the bend!

Late October Blooms

2009-10-25T16:55:00.001-07:00

Well, I certainly can't say this is a very attractive photo. Still, it does show something that's blooming in my garden today, October 25th. A beautiful single, white Anemone japonica, I believe the variety is 'Honorine Jobert'.

One consideration I should have had was to place very late blooming perennials in spots that would be more noticeable. So take note from my mistake, this beauty is in the back yard well behind the pool and I don't spend much time back there at all this time of year.

Here's a pretty pass-along Chrysanthemum given to me by my friend Gianna. It's name is long lost but it's beauty still shines. Thankfully I had a bit more forethought with this one and there's a clump along my driveway.

Of course the grasses are blooming like crazy. Today we had the most wonderful fall weather, tons of sunshine and the birds were everywhere. After yesterday's storm the ground was littered with branches and leaves and I spent at least 8 hours outside raking and cleaning.

Can't say my arms, shoulders or back are feeling that great. To tell the truth though, my hands hurt the worst. I'm not looking forward to doing the entire fall clean-up on my own. Believe it or not, I got my 16 year old daughter to help rake today! I don't think she's ever held a rake before so I was truly grateful for her help.

Melanie

Time flies...

2009-09-28T17:23:00.000-07:00

These photos were taken three years ago...not in some island resort, just a few miles away from here at Sunken Meadow State Park here on Long Island. They were taken at the end of September so the birds that were in these photos should be at the same stage now.

Tomorrow morning I am meeting a friend for my first spin class, I'm working on the "goodbye butt"...don't ask...it's a girl thing :-)

Anyway, after the class I hope to get to stop at the park and take a few shots.

I do hope the cormorants will be there, I've revisited this spot several times during other seasons but have never seen them there again. Perhaps they are migrating?

If nothing else, I will enjoy the quiet time, back to nature, a place I've missed in the past few hectic weeks.

Even if the birds aren't there it should be stunning, don't you think so?

Melanie

Butterfly kisses

2009-09-23T06:23:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I was extremely lucky to come home and notice quite a few Monarch Butterflies flitting about my Buddleias (butterfly bushes). I ran inside and grabbed my camera to try to take a few shots.

When I first came up to the bush, the butterflies flew away but almost instantly they got used to my standing there and as long as I moved slowly, I was able to photograph them.

One butterfly caught my eye right away. The interior section of the pattern on it's wings was a blur. I just couldn't get my eyes to focus on this spot. How cool is that?

Even in this shot where you can clearly see the antennae, you can't get a clear image of the spot where the body meets the wings.

I do so love taking photos of butterflies. They are just so ethereal and graceful.

Today is nicely overcast so I will head out there and try for more photos.

Melanie

Hosta in the fall

2009-09-19T05:53:00.001-07:00

Walk around your garden today and look at your hosta. It's amazing how different they look in the fall. Half of mine are ratty, covered with holes, ripped foliage and ready to be put down for the winter.

Looking carefully though there are still a few stellar performers in the garden. I believe this variety is 'Fresh', certainly well named! Obviously 'Fresh' is not only slug proof but it's not one that burns up in the late summer. I'll also add that 'Fresh' is in a part of the garden that has dry, root bound, crappy soil.

I know it's hard to find motivation to take ugly photos but maybe it would be a good idea to go around the garden now and document the good, the bad and the downright ugly.

I'll be out there looking closely as I divide Hosta and Daylilies today. It will also be the last day I'm officially open for sales. Next Saturday is homecoming at Walt Whitman High School so I'll be busy walking in the parade.

If you have a Hosta that looks good in your garden right now, let me know the variety!

Melanie

The 'Pearl'

2009-09-18T04:27:00.001-07:00

There's a plant in my shade bed that is just coming into full bloom. Earlier in the year I wrote a post about it, I don't know what it is (nor can I find the post but it's starting out as one of those days...).

My guess has always been that this plant is part of the Cimicifuga family which has for some reason be renamed as the Actea family.

It seeds around nicely and the seedlings don't seem to mind being transplanted. (I've still got more to share.)

Here you can see the whole plant. Although I tried a number of times, my camera just doesn't want to focus on the white blooms. The leaves aren't as finely cut as the Cimicifugas I see online or for sale. As a mature plant it gets quite large. A nice bonus is that the leaves don't seem to be affected by the slugs that have been ravishing this part of the garden.

There is a Cimicifuga named 'White Pearl'. I know that this plant is not that specific hybrid because these are all seedlings but it sure looks quite a bit like a strand of white pearls.

Out in front of my house I have Cimicifuga 'James Compton' which I bought last year. It caught my attention because of it's dark, almost purple foliage. As you can see here, the bloom is very similar but the buds are dark purple.

If I could bring this to you in smell-a-vision you would just swoon because the scent is heavenly! I never would have expected this simple flower to have such a strong smell and at first I looked around to see what else was blooming. As an afterthough, I think I'll cut a bloom and bring it inside to see how long the perfume lasts.

Here you can see the foliage of 'James Compton' when I bought it. So far I can't say the foliage has done much in the garden, I couldn't get a single decent shot of it yesterday and will try again today. As with most purple foliage plants, it's lost it's coloration this late in the season and now just appears to be dark green with hints of purple (squint hard and you might see it).

If you decide to plant this in your garden I would suggest buying 3 or 5 and planting them as a group unless you are a very patient gardener.

In truth I did have a second photo showing this foliage but there wasn't the adorable face peeping out from behind. Calie-the-wonderdoodle had to sneak her way into my photo shoot that day. It was a pretty amazing feat for this big lumbering 70 pound dog to slip into that corner and appear so innocent.

Lecture in Douglaston

2009-09-15T05:35:00.001-07:00

This afternoon I'll be lecturing in Douglaston to the Douglaston Garden Club. I just love lecture days!!! The program they booked is "Garden Junque" and it's one of my all time favorite programs. It's just such a fun program because it's chock full of all kinds of things people use to accent their gardens such as the blue bowling ball in this photo.

I have a huge collection of slides and digital images showing various garden accents. This potted man was the inspiration that had me make my own potted lady (she's a little sad right now and understandably camera shy).

As I posted on my other blog, there are lots of great ideas for garden seating areas, furniture, walkways and more. This program makes me itch to go on another garden tour. Most of my photos have come from convention garden tours, I haven't been on one in three years now. Maybe next year I'll be able to fit a few into my schedule.

The last Hoorah

2009-09-13T14:35:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend for gardening. Even though yesterday was a wet, drizzly day, I spent hours outside weeding the front garden. It was perfect conditions to take out perennial seedlings and pot them up. How cool is this double Platycodon seedling?

I have a small double Platycodon plant in the same area, it never grew as vigorously as the single variety but it has returned reliably for at least 5 years now. This seedling was found a few feet away.

Platycodon are hard to transplant or divide because of their tap root. A tap root is a long single carrot-like root. When dividing Platycodon, I get my long perennial shovel and make sure I dig very deep before trying to pry the plant out of the ground.

The hardy Begonias are still blooming like mad. Not too many seed pods yet, they are even prettier than the blooms! I potted up a few of them, they don't seem to mind being moved at all so I will try to get a few more out of the ground in the next day or two.

Besides these beauties I've been potting up a few Corydalis and Digitalis (fox gloves). This coming Saturday will be my last hoorah. A big plant sale day and then it's time to close for the season. On Friday I will be digging and dividing Hosta like crazy. Stop by in the afternoon if you want to see how it's done.

Melanie

Trial vs Display Gardens

2009-09-11T05:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, after finishing a horticulture course (you can read more about it at my Old Country Gardens blog) a few fellow club members and I headed over to Eisenhower Park. We decided to visit the trial gardens that are planted there outside the Cornell Cooperative Extension office.

Most people don't realize there is a vast difference between a "trial" garden and a "display" garden. In a trial garden you will often find new plant material or even unregistered (unnamed) seedlings of plants. There are also often rules that state the plant material cannot be given special attention (such as extra fertilizers or pinching or staking).

Trial gardens are often unattractive, plants are planted in rows, right next to something that does not combine well. But, a trial garden is well worth your time to visit because it is a learning tool.

The Celosia 'Fresh Look Gold' in the top photo was the best looking plant in the All America Selections trial area.

This fall blooming Allium was in the herb garden but I did not see a cultivar name.

The best garden by far (in my opinion) was the butterfly garden. It was incredibly full and lush. My only regret was that I could not find labels with plant names. That's not to say there weren't labels there, it's totally possibly that at the base of the plants there were small labels but none were visible to the eye and with the multitude of pollinating insects that were on these plants, I had no intention of disturbing anything.

This soft orange Agastache (hyssop) had the most delicious scented foliage. Kim and I really liked the color too, especially against the lavender blues that were in the garden. I'm pretty sure I've seen this plant for sale around here under the name 'Apricot Sprite'. It's not a perennial Agastache in our zone.

Here's one landscape shot of the butterfly garden. The tall lavender Verbena bonariensis was just all over the place, waving in and out with the strong gusts of wind. The wind was actually making it quite difficult to get clear photos.

Another landscape shot, this one has a nice Sedum in the foreground. If you've been reading my blogs for any amount of time you know I love Sedum. This time of year they really put on a show and who could complain about something this lovely that blooms in September?

I couldn't help trying to get a close up of the orange bloom that had snuck it's way into a sea of Rudbeckia.

Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly weed) has finished blooming and now it's incredible seed pods are popping open. There's three or four Asclepias growing here in my garden but for some reason I have no seed pods this year. I do think it's because there were lots of insects munching on the plants but hey, that's why I grow them!

Isn't it cool how this single fluffy seed pod was caught up on a Verbena bloom? It made me want to take a handful of seeds, blow them into the air and make a wish.

Whoa, just heard a big rumble of thunder and it's starting to pour. Yesterday when I came home I found my entire patio table in my swimming pool. It still had the 9' umbrella with cast iron base attached. The umbrella spokes were shattered and one spoke had punctured one of my new lounge chairs. What a bummer...and what a hard time I had getting it out of the pool without getting into that freezing cold water myself!

I'm feeling a cleaning frenzy come upon me. Rare as these are, I'd better take advantage of it while the mood strikes me. Hope I can remember where my vacuum cleaner is......

Today's Combinations

2009-09-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

Today was a bit bright for photos but I keep pushing myself to collect more late summer/early fall images. Once the fall really comes upon us it's easy to be inspired to shoot those amazing colors but is always seems that this time of year I tend to neglect my photography.

This is the standard view up one side of my driveway bed. I meant to take the photo from the second floor window for more depth. Hopefully I will remember to do so tomorrow.

I really like this combination of the bright yellow Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' and the variegated Cornus alba 'Ivory Halo (variegated dogwood shrub).

I've shown photos earlier of the hardy begonias in my garden. This one spot has a white variety that I bought many years ago. Unfortunately it is not at all as vigorous as the pink variety and all I have is this little piece. I will have to watch carefully that the Sedums don't bulk up too much and crowd it out.

Here's a nice little corner. Lots of pretty foliage, Sedum 'Frosty Morn' is just about to come in to bloom and the amazing chartreuse Liriope "Pee dee gold" is also just sending up it's simple flowers. If you ever see this Liriope for sale, grab it! I've only seen it once and never have I seen it in any other garden other than mine.

Just so you can see how lovely this Liriope is, I zoomed in a bit closer. Here you can see it paired with Ajuga 'Burgandy Glow', one of my most favorite planned combinations this year.

Remember, don't stop taking those pictures!

Melanie

Bumblee Magnets

2009-09-03T18:39:00.001-07:00

Bzzzzz, this is a two part post. First of all, there are bees all over the garden! This is good news to me (and to all the rest of you too). Tonight I could have counted over 100 bees in just a few minutes by visiting some of the Sedum blooms.

Now here's a question. I'm quite familiar with the big fat bumble bee, is the smaller (less fuzzy) bee here a honey bee?

Another plant that has been a total bee magnet is Agastache (anise hyssop). There's actually two varieties in my front border. This one is 'Black Adder'. It has a darker bloom and the most delicious peppermint scented foliage you could imagine.

What's most interesting is how very long these Agastache bloom. I took this photo on July 11th.

This photo was taken on July 30th. This is a clump of Agastache 'Blue Fortune' which has been more floriforous in my garden but the foliage isn't as scented as the 'Black Adder'.

Here's another view point, looking up the garden bed. I planted these hyssops last year, for some reason I don't think they are long lived. I have been reading that they self seed and I do hope that it the case. If not, I will be buying them again and again because I really do love them.

Here's 'Blue Fortune again'. What's the difference? I took this photo today, September 3rd. Now that's what I call "bloomability'. Best of all, not one single stalk on either of these plants has flopped.

Still weeding like a lunatic out there, starting to finally see some results. I will be open for business on Saturday so tomorrow I will really be going insane. Hope my hands hold out! They are pinched, sore, cracked, dirty and now I've got mosquito bites to take my mind off my wasp sting. Don't-cha just love this gardening? I do!!!

The picket fence

2009-09-01T17:47:00.001-07:00

Would it surprise you if I told you I don't know that much about annuals? Well, the truth is I probably know more than any non gardener but I don't know nearly as much about them as I do about perennials.

This photo was taken on Sunday, it's a sidewalk in Cold Spring Harbor, New York. Anybody who has read my old posts would know that I loathe white vinyl stockade fence but give me a white picket fence and I'm in heaven.

The good news is these are fairly simple annuals for me to identify. There's impatiens, vinca and on the far right is the lovely Persian shield (with the horrendous botanical name of Strobilanthes dyerianus).

Oh no, I'm having a total senior moment. I know the name of this annual, I knew it when I took the picture, I knew it when I put it in my computer and now of course I can't for the life of me remember it. Any clues???

Here's a view taken closer to ground level. Isn't it a lovely color combination?

Finally, a close up of the Strobilanthes. I've never grown Persian shield in any of my planters but I'm totally sold on it now and will have to remember to get some next year.

For the past three days I've been a weeding fiend, filling huge barrel loads of weeds and hauling them off to the woods. This morning I was stung by a wasp, it was the first sting of the season (I never wear perfume specifically for this reason). Phooey, it itches like crazy right now.

Off to work on my website, if you haven't seen it yet it's at www.melaniesperennials.com
Melanie

Do you do Annuals?

2009-08-30T17:59:00.001-07:00

This morning was nice and cloudy so I grabbed my camera and headed out in hopes of shooting hundreds of photos. As it turns out the day quickly cleared up and become a spectacular late summer day. Wonderful for all the people spending time outdoors but too sunny to continue my photo tour.

Still, I managed to get a few good shots in that first hour.

We are lucky to be surrounded with charming villages. This time of year the annual plantings are really hitting their stride.

How do you like this photo of the pink petunias, blue scaevola and the amazing yellow tropical Hibiscus?

Here you can see the full planting in front of the Cold Spring Harbor Fire House Museum. Ever since I was a little girl my mom would bring me to Cold Spring Harbor during the holidays. It's as charming as any town can get.

Here's the simple planting of petunias and scaevola. How simple and yet how delightful they look spilling out of the stone walled bed.

Up close you can see how neat and clean the Scaevola is. The Petunias had dead blooms that needed to be pinched off but the Scaevola was just perfect.

Across the street I found the same pink petunias planted in a whiskey barrel full of ribbon grass. Another simple yet affective combination. I also found another beautiful planting across the street but that is going to be my next post.

If you know of a spot with great annuals on Long Island, let me know as I need to take more photos.

Melanie

Who's that sleeping in my bed?

2009-08-27T05:58:00.000-07:00

Out early with camera in hand on an overcast morning, this is what I found...

Sedum 'Matrona' has been growing in this upside down birdbath base for three years now. It's just beginning to bloom.

Thought I would take a photo of the bloom from the top when my eye spied something through the view finder (yes, I use the view finder, not the screen on the back of the camera).

Look who I found fast asleep in my bed of 'Matrona'! Bzzzzzz, dreaming of pollen, bzzzzzzzz.

Melanie

Egyptian Onions aka the "walking onion"

2009-08-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

There's a perennial plant in my garden that is way cool but for some reason I have the lousiest photos of it. It's nickname around here is the Egyptian onion, I've also heard it called the walking onion.

When I searched google for the botanical name I came up with Allium cepa yet as I continued to search that name, it seems to cover all common onions and this onion is not common at all.

One thing I found out while looking up Egyptian onions is that they are rarely offered for sale. If you want one you need to find a local gardener willing to part with some. One site recommended visiting local garden club sales in hopes of finding them.

Egyptian onions are a wonderful addition to the garden. They are extremely well behaved, they don't wander here and there like the onion grass that plagues so many people. The nickname walking onion comes from their trait of growing little bulblets at the top of the stalk. These bulbs grow larger until they become too heavy for the stalk to hold upright. At that time the stalk bends down until the bulbs are on the ground where they root and begin a new plant.

I wish I had taken some real photos of my Egyptian onions. Instead, I searched through my files and these photos are all crops taken from larger shots.

This weekend I spent a few minutes gathering up all the tops that had bent down. They are just about to start rooting and I decided that I would pot some up for fall sales plus put a few in the garden where I want to add the wonderful spikey structure of the stalks.

All parts of the Egyptian onion are edible, there is an onion bulb at the base, onion foliage that can be cut as you would cut chives and even these little bulbs from the top can be pickled or used in your various recipes.

I found a recipe online for Butternut Squash soup with Egyptian Onions. Since I love butternut squash soup, I have to admit that my mouth waters every time I look at the photo. If you want to take a peek, click here on Waldeneffect to see the recipe.

Want some onions for your own garden? I'll have them for sale in a week or two. Right now I'm planning on opening for the month of September beginning on Saturday Sept. 5th. Stay tuned for more news.

Melanie

Begonia grandis

2009-08-22T05:40:00.000-07:00

Today's perennial spotlight is on a wonderful plant for late summer into fall. Begonia grandis is more commonly known as the hardy begonia. Yes, it's a begonia and yes, it's a perennial here in my zone 6b garden on Long Island.

My perennial begonias are just starting to bloom now, they will continue to bloom until we have a frost, even prettier than the blooms are the wonderful seed pods that follow. I was sure I had a photo of them in my files but just spent 10 minutes looking and couldn't find one. (Note to self, start organizing those thousands of photos so you can find things!)

Here's a closer shot of the blooms, I'd like to take some more photos but right now we are experiencing strange weather. The sun is shining and casting shadows and it's raining at the same time, very odd...

Anyway, as you can see here, the blooms are typical for a begonia. What's even more exciting about this plant is that the underside of the leaves are more beautiful than the topside. They have the most beautiful red veining and when the wind catches them and them moves them about you can see their true value.

Here's one of the combinations I have in the garden, the hardy begonia and the very late daylily 'Royal Jestor'.

Those of you who read my posts often will know that my favorite garden tip is that if you want your garden to bloom through many seasons, you need to shop for plants through many seasons. Some plants just wouldn't sell in early spring, certainly the case for this begonia as it doesn't emerge from the ground until at least late May and doesn't look like anything in the pot until June.

The good news though is that it seems to be quite easy to transplant if you move it in June. This year I only had three or four for sale, next year I plan on having more. I've been moving it to different locations and if you leave those lovely seed heads alone, they will scatter a few seedlings around for you. One word of caution, leave yourself a reminder in spots where you've planted this beauty, otherwise you might disturb the area while in the frenzy of early spring gardening.

Over the next few weeks I'll try to get more photos as the seed pods emerge.

Off to see what's blooming today,
Melanie

Mint, perennially yours...

2009-08-20T05:37:00.000-07:00

No, this is not a very glamorous photo. I always try to select the best shot and put it up first so I catch your eye. Today's topic though doesn't really call for beautiful photos, if only I could send this to you in smell-a-vision :-)

This little bed is under a red maple tree on the far side of my pool. It was the only bed that was here when we moved in 13 years ago. Pretty funny, 1.3 acres of amazing property, one bed, maybe 8 feet across. In this bed was the oddest collection of plants, there was mint, chives and dicentra eximia (old fashioned bleeding heart), that's about it. It is shaded most of the day, only getting sun in the late afternoon.

The chives were taken out years ago, up until this spring it was filled with mint in the front and Polygonatum (solomon's seal) in the back. The Solomon's seal was dug and sold so now the mint has plenty of room to roam.

All together I have 5 different mints in my garden but there are still more varieties available. The leaf you see with the white edge is Mentha suaveolens 'variegata' or more commonly known as Pineapple mint. Just to the right of it is the unknown variety of mint I found under the red maple tree.

Mints can be agressive growers in the right conditions. They prefer some shade and damp soil and will run around like crazy if you plant them in those conditions. Still, when using mint in your kitchen, you will need large quantities so it really doesn't hurt to have a large planting of mint.

In this pot is spearmint. I've found that mint overwinters very well in plastic pots so if you don't want to take the chance and plant it in your garden, leave it in pots that won't shatter over the winter and you will have it again next year.

I could put up lots of photos of the mints in my garden but they all would look pretty much the same. The peppermint looks just like the spearmint and I make sure I keep a label with them so I can tell them apart. Of course if you pinch a leaf you will smell the difference. Just like life savers, there's a big difference between peppermint and spearmint (give me the peppermint please).

This last photo actually shows Melissa officinalis (common Lemon Balm) which is in the mint family. Quite a few plants are related to mint, they all smell wonderful to me.

There's many ways to use your mint. One easy way is to cut a bunch of stems, pluck off the leaves, boil water and let them steep for 20 minutes, strain the water into ice-cube trays and freeze. Add these mint flavored ice cubes to your summer drinks, if you really want to be fancy, slip a slice of lemon or lime or even a raspberry in the tray before freezing and your guests will think you are amazing!

Today or tomorrow I'm heading out to the Peconic river herb farm, I think I need to add to my mint collection. I'm just watching the weather as ideally I'd like some cloud cover when I head out there so I can take some photos to share with all of you.

Melanie

Back to Business!

2009-08-12T07:25:00.001-07:00

Just have to share some good news with all of you. Melanie's Perennials will be back in business!!!

I'll be in this location for two more years and have been thinking of all kinds of ideas for future lectures and sales. This fall I'd like to hold some classes here in the garden. Topics such as how to make cut flower arrangements from your own garden, making flavored oils and vinegars using garden herbs, fall division of perennials, planting bulbs for spring beauty and more.

As the weather cools down I will be able to get out there and really attack the garden.

The next few days are packed solid with meetings and appointments but I will be bringing my camera with me and will be looking for hot summer perennials to showcase here.

Oh, I almost forgot, the photo is a huge bloom on one of my pumpkin plants (thanks to my neighbor Cynthia). Can't wait to see if there will be some pumpkins growing!

Melanie

Writer's Block?

2009-08-02T19:06:00.001-07:00

Most of my posts center around the flowers in my garden. Some are geared towards design others point out individual plant favorites. Every now and then I add in a photography post although I'm always quick to point out that I'm not a "professional" photographer.

The past week I have had to force myself to sit here and think about something to write. Is it writer's block? No, I don't think so. Writer's block is something that probably would never happen to me. Give me a keyboard and stand back, I'll type circles around you before you know what hit you.

This is Calie-the-wonderdoodle-dog watching me out the living room window this afternoon.

People often think Calie is little, in real life she is 70 pounds and incredibly strong. Of course right now you'd think she's just a big mush, she's just fooling you though.

On one of the garden lists that I write to, I posted that I feel like my life is like a roller-coaster ride. Now I have to admit, I love roller-coasters! Strap me in, flip me upside down, throw me around a curve and drop me down a peak, I'm in heaven the whole way. Sometimes though I think I've just gotten used to the ride when a whoosh, the car turns around and I'm heading backwards around the bend. Quite the opposite of the look on Calie's face here.

My posts might be a bit erratic over the next few weeks but they will get back to normal. As always there is light at the end of the tunnel. Calie might look bored to tears but if you just turn around, you'll see that she actually has the most amazing view just in front of her.

So my advice to you (and to me too) is if you don't like the view, strap on that safety belt and turn around. You might be surprised at how different things suddenly look.

Melanie

The Visit

2009-07-30T04:20:00.000-07:00

This past Monday I had the pleasure of hosting garden writers Felder Rushing and Darrell Trout in my garden. While I have met Darrell a number of times in the past, I knew little about Felder so made sure I checked out his website before the visit.

Seeing that Felder was into garden "junque", I made sure my "junque" was in tip top shape. The golf bag that is always out on my front lawn quickly got a companion although I do think I need to dress her in something more appropriate than my old nightgown.

The garden was just past peak bloom but close enough that it made little difference. This is what one of the front borders looked like.

Quite a few daylilies were still strutting their stuff. My garden is mostly filled with spider daylilies or ones with unusual forms like this 'Murphy's Law'. I find that they compliment the garden as a whole while the round ruffled tetraploid daylilies seem too stiff and formal for my country style of gardening.

The Helenium 'Mardi Gras' was just beginning to bloom. I look forward to two months of glorious color from this fantastic perennial.

The Stokesia (Stokes asters) are also at their peak and multiple photos were taken of them. I missed out on this shot, the lighting wasn't right.

Still, the tour was glorious. At the end we sat in my garden swing and talked about gardening on a whole. We were surrounded with waving blooms, daylilies, Lysimachia clethroides (gooseneck loosestrife), Mondarda (bee balm), Echinacea (cone flowers) and more. It was heavenly!

I'm going to cut this short right now since the clouds are thick and I want to run out and take some photographs this morning.

Wishing all of you a wonderful day!
Melanie

Garage Sale Today!

2009-07-26T04:31:00.001-07:00

We are having a garage sale today. Cross your fingers, a monster storm just blew through here and we're heading out there now to set-up.

Lots of garden related stuff, birdhouses, toys, games and girls clothing. I'll be pulling stuff out of the attic and basement all day.

Say "Hi" to my mom and to Emily who will be manning the table. All proceeds go towards a computer that Emily needs for school this year.

Melanie

Slug Bait

2009-07-23T12:56:00.001-07:00

One thing that's for sure during a rainy season is lots and lots of slugs. My garden has never had a slug problem in the past but this year I see quite a bit of damage from those nasty creatures.

Slugs love shady spots and Hosta are like candy to them. Yet, some varieties of Hosta are slug resistant. I don't know if it's that they don't taste good or that the leaf is thick enough to make it difficult for the slug to eat.

One thing it's not though, is location. As you can see in this photo, the dark Hosta 'Grand Marquis' is hole free while the white variegated Hosta above it looks like swiss cheese.

There are a number of remedies to rid your garden of slugs. I save egg shells and put them around delicate plants. Slugs will also crawl into bowls filled with beer and then drown but I have an aversion to emptying bowls full of dead slugs. One organic product that I've had excellent luck with is named 'Sluggo'. I think I'd better pick up a box or two!

What's my name?

2009-07-21T05:16:00.000-07:00

I always have a tough time when people ask me for a plant name. You see, plants have more than one name. They have a true botanical name and many of them have nicknames. Some people only want the nickname, others use the botanical names and some people don't care either way.

Most of the time I use the botanical name although some plants have such charming nicknames that I can't resist using them. This photo shows Lysimachia clethroides but its nickname is Gooseneck loosestrife. You can easily see why this is its nickname as it looks just like a big gaggle of geese with their heads sticking up.

Besides their true botanical name, specific plants also have cultivar names. Daylilies are one of the few plants that I break the rule on, their botanical name is Hemerocallis but I just don't want to be bothered calling them that (or typing that over and over again). The true name of this plant would be Hemerocallis 'Raspberry Goosebumps' but I'll just call it a daylily. It happens to be one of the top performers in my garden this year.

Echinacea purpurea is nicknamed purple cone flower. I really don't know why it's called that as the cones are orange and in real life, the petals are more a dusty pink than purple.

Platycodon grandifloris is another name I rarely use in the garden. The nickname of Balloon flower is easier to say and certainly understandable when you see how the buds blow up like little balloons.

Yesterday I saw this unusual bloom on a balloon flower and just had to grab my camera and take it's picture!

If you want to be a good gardener, I really recommend that you make the effort to learn the botanical name besides the nickname. When you use nicknames, you can end up with the totally wrong plant. For instance, many people call daylilies "lilies" and yet there's also bulbs that are called lilies. If you are shopping for plants and ask for orange lilies, you could end up with Asiatic lilies which will stay in one spot or the orange roadside daylily which will run all over your garden.

As for being able to pronounce those names correctly? Don't worry, you don't have to say all those names, just have a good idea of what they are. The spelling doesn't even matter that much, you can always google the name and it will tell you the correct spelling.

Off to see what's in bloom today,
Melanie

Tropicals in Pots

2009-07-20T04:45:00.001-07:00

Last month I had the pleasure of touring the learning gardens at SUNY (State University of New York) Farmingdale. They are known for their tropical plantings but it was still early for those tropicals to shine.

I just love the structural form of these containers. At first I used to buy cheap containers that looked like real ones but over the years I've learned to save up and buy a few good ones when they go on sale. There are containers in my garden that are 25 years old and they're in perfect condition. The cheap ones look cheap and I get tired of them very quickly.

This afternoon I have an appointment at Farmingdale. I hope to enroll in their ornamental horticulture program beginning late August. Imagine that, me in my late 40's becoming a college student!

I'm going to try to get there early so I can take more pictures. The tropical plant material should be twice as lush as it was last month.

Wish me luck!

Melanie

Final Days

2009-07-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today is one of our final sale days of the season. Temperatures are just getting too warm for gardening. We've still got lots of daylilies in pots, many are in bloom.

The garden is in the middle of a color explosion, there are so many things in bloom that I couldn't begin to list them all. Very few shade plants are blooming so I'm really enjoying this 'Red Volunteer' daylily planted as a single specimen in the Hosta bed.

Out front there are many varieites of cone flowers, balloon flowers, Monarda, Phlox, and so much more. The Sedums that weren't pinched back are putting out buds, the butterfly bushes have the largest bloom tresses ever!

We'll be open for buisiness today but please park in the street as we have a dumpster in the driveway. Next Sunday (July 26th) we'll be setting things out by the curb for a massive garage sale. It will be our last sale day until late August or early September when we start some serious gardening workshops here.

Stop by and say "Hi"!

Melanie

Take a look!

2009-07-16T05:10:00.000-07:00

The gardens continue to explode with blooms but sometimes it's the foliage that grabs you. One of the best Hosta here is 'Dream Weaver'. It's grown to a large specimen size and this year (well maybe this week) it is my favorite Hosta.

Another shade plant that has foliage which stops everybody in their tracks is this Brunnera. I'm guessing this is the variety 'Jack Frost' although it could also be 'Looking Glass'. The foliage is rough and hairy so the slugs seem to be staying away. Unfortunately this has been a banner year for slugs.

Those alliums I've been photographing in the last two weeks are really putting on a show now. I love the pink heart on this one.

Another phenominal hardy Geranium is this varitey 'Jolly Bee' which has been blooming non stop since I bought it in May. What a delightful plant.

Last but certainly not least, the incredibly bright yellow blooms on Ligularia stenocephala 'Little Rocket' which is doing a great job of settling in here in semi-shade.

Off to run a multitude of errands, I'll be back to update the sales info asap.

Melanie

Hydrangeas

2009-07-14T03:52:00.000-07:00

When it comes to gardening I'm definitely a perennial expert. Shrubs are a foreign language to me. I've worked hard over the last few years to add a large variety of shrubs to my garden so I would gain experience with them but still have lots of learning to go!

I took the photos of these Hydrangeas at Planting Fields Arboretum this past Sunday. Unfortunately I couldn't find the names of the specific varieties. I liked the blue and white combination on these blooms.

Hydrangeas come in blues, pinks, whites and purples. If there are other colors, I haven't seen them yet.

When it comes to growing Hydrangeas, their name says it all. They need to be hydrated, that means lots of watering. Since we just went through one of the rainiest springs on record, the Hydrangeas here should be fantastic this season.

Up close against the house they had pink Hydrangeas. You can change the color of your Hydrangeas by changing your soil. If you have acidic soil like we do, you could add lime. One word of caution though, many other shrubs like acidic soil. If you have Rhododendrons or Azaleas next to your Hydrangeas, you should be prepared to keep your Hydrangeas blue because those other shrubs do not want to have lime near them at all.

Melanie

Creatures great and small

2009-07-11T19:30:00.000-07:00

Look carefully behind the Monarda stem. Do you see what I see? Yes, the hummingbird is still here, now it visits the stands of Monarda in the back and the front yards. If I knew they'd come for the Monarda, I'd have let it grow out of bounds years ago.

Another hunt and seek here. I have such fun looking for small things through my lens. The blooms here are Veronicastrum, just beginning to bloom.

These drumstick alliums have been featured in my blog before. Obviously they are well loved by other creatures too.

Standing by the Echinacea, there are so many butterflies and moths flying around that it's a wonder they don't tangle in my hair. I could stand there for hours and hours watching them.

Yes! It's a Monarda and Yes! It's not red! Now just how cool is that ;-)

Off to bed, tomorrow (today for most of you readers) is a long day. I'll be at Planting Fields arboretum and Martin Viette's nursery for most of the day.

Melanie

Daylily Close-ups

2009-07-10T19:16:00.000-07:00

One of the newer focus of daylily hybridizers are "teeth". They are sharp edges on the petals. This daylily 'Double Pompon' has some wonderful teeth on it, the funny thing is it's from 1972 so I guess those teeth have been around longer than anybody realized.

'Curly Cinnamon Windmill' has to be in my top 5 favorites. When you've grown hundreds and hundreds of different varieties, that's saying quite a bit! I am going to have a hard time leaving this daylily behind and will have to gift the whole clump to somebody nearby so I can visit it.

Karol Emmerich's 'Cast Your Net' has the most romantic pattern etched in Lavender. I don't really collect patterned daylilies, they look amazing when you stop and stare but I tend to choose plants on their overall design value in a garden.

Another Karol Emmerich's (the name escapes me right now) has been opening perfectly every day. Karol lives in Minnesota and if you want to collect daylilies that are hardy here on Long Island, then try some of her beauties!

One of my favorite hybridizers is Tom Polston of Dayton Ohio. Tom's daylilies are rock solid hardy and beautiful to boot. This is 'Raspberry Goosebumps', what a delicious name :-)

'Frosted Amethyst' is another older variety, I find that more and more often I fall in love with the older, tried and true varieties instead of the newest creations.

'Try It' was on the wish list of all three visitors today. These lucky ladies were first to sign up to reserve plants that will be dug in the next few weeks. Just about everything here will be up for sale so if you get a chance, stop by and put your name on some true collectors plants.

Today was a tiring day so I think I'll get to bed early. I never got to live-head the daylilies this evening, that means getting out there right after dawn tomorrow morning.

Sweet dreams,
Melanie

Two is better than one!

2009-07-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, I couldn't help it, I just had to play with last night's post. This morning I revisited those glorious Allium in the garden. The drumstick varieties now have these darling little tufts coming out of the top!
As for the unknown Allium, there was this set of "twins" growing into each other and shedding their papery husks together.

In the middle of the night we had torrential rains that totally decimated some of my plants such as the Monardas. It was nice to still have something to focus upon this morning.

Melanie

Just one

2009-07-07T19:10:00.001-07:00

How many blooms does it take to stop me in my tracks? With these drumstick Allium, just one is enough.

Actually I have about a dozen of them in total and in real life they are only about the size of a quarter. But it's enough, enough to stop and just stare with amazement at the beauty in a single bloom.

My intention was to just post one photo tonight, just one. Those of you who know me well are probably laughing pretty hard right now. I guess that for me, flowers are like tortilla chips, I can't stop at one!

But come on, look, here's another Alium, I don't know the botanical name, it was a pass-along plant many years ago. What I can tell you is I've spent quite a bit of time in the garden just watching them slowly emerge from their papery shells.

Ok, I'm going to sign off quickly before you have to sit through a whole compendium of Melanie's latest Allium blooms :-)

Hope to see lots of you this weekend here in my garden or on Sunday at Planting Fields Arboretum. I plan on shooting hundreds of photos there if the weather cooperates.

Melanie

Echinacea - Purple Cone Flower

2009-07-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

The common name of Echinacea is Purple Cone Flower. I really don't know why it's called that because in my eye, the flower is closer to a dusky pink and the cone itself is definitely orange. Whatever the reason, I just couldn't have a garden without this wonderful perennial.

If the name Echinacea is familiar to you, it's because they use this plant to make a herbal product to help when you have a cold. I've never tried it so I can't tell you more about what it exactly does.

At first the flowers open very flat.

Quickly the petals begin to relax and curve downward. The cone becomes more pronounced. (How do you like the daylily 'Primal Scream in the background?)

Before you know it the petals are all the way down. The plants grow quite large and are covered with blooms in various stages so you can see many different flower forms on one plant.

Echinaceas turn me into a touchy feely person, I just can't resist feeling these cones over and over again. They apparently are quite attractive to a host of other creatures such as butterflies, bees and best of all, come autumn they bring flocks of bright goldfinch to the garden.

This year I have a new variety blooming in my back bed. I had tried one of the fancy yellow varieties there a few years ago but it died. Somehow it must have cross pollinated with the pink ones there because this year I have these luscious white blooms.

I've seen the white varieties in other places and grew them myself many years ago but they tended to limp along. This one is quite different, to begin with, it's chin high on me and I'm 5'7" so that's pretty high for an Echinacea. I'll be keeping my eye on this beauty!

One more note, Echinacea make great cutting flowers so if you have the, include a few in your bouquets.

Melanie

Daylilies are blooming!

2009-07-03T18:16:00.001-07:00

Ok people, no choice, for the next week or two I'm going to inundate you with daylily photos. After all, for many years they were my favorite perennial.

This opening photo is 'Spotted Fever'. A stunning double daylily with stippling on the petals but unfortunately, not the best choice for a name.

'Jeanne Fitton' was hybridized right here on Long Island, by Mr. George Rasmussen. It's an oldie but I still don't know another daylily with the color of this one. These photos are as accurate as can be.

Another look at 'Jeanne Fitton', just a little closer. It is unbelieveable compared with the bloom blooms on the Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant' (cat-mint).

Finally, 'Delta Force' from Jamie Gossard of Ohio was putting on a show today. Actually at least 50 varieties were in bloom but unfortunately I spent all morning putting together flower arrangements for Lauren and forgot to take photos before the sun was shining on the blooms.

For those of you who are new to plant photography, don't take your photos while the sun is shining on the plant, the sun washes out the colors and casts shadows at the same time. If possible, wait for shade or a passing cloud.

Off to read a good book,
Melanie

What's in bloom today?

2009-07-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

Just a few photos tonight. The weather here has been on and off again, rain, sun, clouds, and then rain. Today I took a few photos, the Campanula punctata has begun to bloom. I love this plant because it's so unusual to see it in any garden but it is as invasive as can be. Still, I can't live without it.

A few years ago I tried a new Thalictrum, this variety is 'Elin'. The tag said it would grow 6' tall, it's well over that this year.

I'm not sure I'm sold yet on this photo but this is a cropped/zoomed photo of the bloom on Thalicatrum 'Elin'. Maybe tomorrow I'll get a better shot.

One of my favorite daylilies (when you have over 400 different varieties that's saying quite a bit) is 'Radiation Biohazard'. I don't know what I like better, the bloom or the name ;-)

Of course my garden wouldn't be complete without Monarda 'Jacob Kline'. It must be my destiny to only grow red monarda because I keep buying different varieties and they always turn out to be red. I've seen so many pink and purple ones growing in other gardens but here... nope, they're red. Guess I shouldn't complain, they are just stunning right now.
One last shot for tonight, Lady Luck was on my side as I caught the buds of an Alium bloom unfurling from their cover. In the next few days I expect quite a few of these to open up.

Off to bed now, my head's not in the right place to post more tonight. Hope to see some of you here in the garden!

Melanie

Adenophora lilifolia

2009-06-30T04:43:00.001-07:00

Adenophora lilifolia has been with me for many years. I know I brought it from my old house where I had a nice little clump growing near the back door. What I don't remember is where or whom I got this plant from.

Adenophora is very similar to a Campanula. It grows a tall stem that is very upright and in early July (in New York) it is covered with lavender blue bell shaped blooms.

In another day or two I should have quite a few of these beauties blooming.

This morning I did a google search to see what information I could find out about Adenophora. According to my research, they like sun to semi-shade, are slow to establish, need excellent drainage, rich soil and resent being transplanted.

Much of that information is accurate with my own experience in growing them for 20 years. I have them in full sun with lots of compost (but they are slower there) and I have them in very filtered light with very lean soil. In the shady spot they are much more numerous, although it's taken years for them to fill in.

In the last year or two my Adenophora have self seeded into the gravel of the driveway. I was amazed at how many seedlings were there this year. Unfortunately the information on-line was correct when it said they resent being transplanted. I've worked hard to get them while they are very young.

Last year I managed to get a few seedlings out of the gravel and put them in a pot. They overwintered extremely well in the pot and filled it with growth in early spring.

If you have the chance to grow these beauties, I would advice you to give them a try. Today I'm going to cut one off and see how they hold up as cut flowers.

Melanie

Time, Thyme, never enough in the garden...

2009-06-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

There never seems to be enough time to work in the garden. Nor does there seem to be enough time to post!

This is just a little note to say that I'm still here but working furiously in the garden. I've been playing with lots of new container ideas and hope to finish them up in the next day or two and start posting some photos of them.

If you're looking for more to read, hop over to my other blog Old Country Gardens to see some of the things I fell in love with on a recent garden tour.

Back soon, I promise!
Melanie

Blooming succulents

2009-06-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

May 27th I potted up this square trough. Although I knew the Sempervivum 'cobweb' (hens & chicks) was putting up a bloom spike, I really didn't think about it as a beauty feature.

Today though I was totally struck by the charm of the bloom in this container. You can see it poking up in this photo.

Getting a bit closer, you see more and more of it's delicate beauty. By the way, those are the plant name tags tucked in behind that small rock.

From right above, it stops me in my tracks and makes me look once more.

One final zoom shot. This is where I wish I had a macro lens. If memory serves me correctly, these semps bloom for a long time. I'll be taking notes this year to see just how long.

Melanie

Jigsaw pieces

2009-06-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I have a few spare minutes (not this time of year) I visit a Jigzone and do a jigsaw puzzle online. They let you upload a photo and make a puzzle out of it but I've never done so yet. So here's my version of cutting up a photo. The idea came to me when I was cropping and zooming some photos for my other blog, Old Country Gardens.

Growing along the top of the rock wall here is a little piece of Sedum acre. People are always groaning when they see this plant and tell me that's it's invasive. Well, it's not invasive in the shade but here it is, creeping along the wall in a dry shade location. Can't ask for more lovin' than that!

The Hakonachloa (Japanese forest grass) has a few solid green reversions that I need to get in and pull out. They'll get moved to another place, even as solid green pieces they're well worth growing. The dark purple Heuchera 'Palace Purple' has been there for years and is just fine in this hard to grow location.

At the base of the rocks is a lovely little stand of Asarum europeam (European ginger). It looks better than it's parent which is at the top of the wall and squeezed in on both sides. I've been sneaking out pieces every few days.

Here's the whole photo put together. Isn't it cool! I just love playing with my garden photos.

Off to try to ease my aching back. A hot soak and some muscle cream is in store for me.

Melanie

Picture perfect

2009-06-18T07:10:00.000-07:00

Rain rain, go away... yet another rainy day in this incredibly wet season. I don't think I remember a spring being as wet as this one in many years.

Thankfully I took lots of photos in the past few days so here's what's blooming at Old Country Gardens.

Don't you love this arrangement? It would never win a design award but I'm perfectly happy with it just the way it is.

Newly arrived hardy Geranium 'Jolly Bee' is putting up lots of heavenly blue blooms. I'm really excited about this geranium and hope it's just the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

What could be wrong with waves and waves of hot pink Silene Armeria?

Well, when your waves of Silene armeria totally hide the teeny Astilbe 'Darwin's Dreams' then a decision has to be made. Time to thin out the Silene.

The blue flowers on the Amsonia work very nicely with the Lysimachia punctata 'Alexander'. I have no idea why this variety of Lysimachia just limps along instead of taking over the world like the other Lysimachia's do. I wouldn't mind having a bit more so I could share it with friends.

Just couldn't resist these bronze Sedums. I bought some for me and some for you.

Centaurea dealbata. The buds are lovely but the blooms are exquisite. Unfortunately all the open blooms have been decimated by our rains and it looks like a few more days will go by before I get to photograph an open bloom.

Why am I cultivating a huge pokeweed? You have to go visit Old Country Gardens to get the full story.

I just couldn't resist this close up of an Astilbe bloom. For years I ignored this plant family. Even though I grew several varieties, I could never find a photo of one. This year I plan on taking lots and lots of Astilbe photos.

Thank goodness for blogs, rainy days would be so boring without them. What do you do on rainy days?

Melanie

Lychnis 'Vesuvius'

2009-06-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

Last year I bought Lychnis 'Vesuvius' at the Agway out in Riverhead. I didn't know where I was going to put this plant but I didn't care.

Garden writers always advise to never buy anything without a plan but in reality I rarely have a plan when I see something that strikes my fancy. This Lychnis with it's purplish foliage and hot orange bloom was a must have.

I really like where I place it, right in front of a Salvia verticillata 'Purple Rain'. There's just one problem, I need more! Lots and lots more of Lychnis 'Vesuvius' to play against the larger clump of Salvia.

Maybe it's time for a trip out to Agway. Hope they have it again this year!

Melanie

White blooms

2009-06-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

While I don't consciously seek out white flowers, there were a number of them blooming in my garden today.

The first was this nice Astilbe, white flowers, dark green foliage, unknown name. I've promised myself to photograph every Astilbe this year and note it's location in the garden.

The blooms on the variegated Kousa dogwood are still going strong even with all the rain we've had. They are as pristine white as can be.

The saxifraga just started blooming and although the top of the bloom is pink, the petals are white. I have tried to move starts of this plant to so many different locations but the only spot it thrives is this one, near the entrance to my shady compost area.

Oh heavenly beauty, the white blooming Baptisia is one of my all time favorite flowers in the garden. I wish, I wish, I wish I could find a way to propagate this darling.

One more White Astilbe, the same unknown variety I have in the back bed but this one is out front near the mailbox. Two Astilbe down, only 20 or so more to go ;-)

Open Garden!

2009-06-13T18:11:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is open garden day here. Right now I'm so tired that I've just posted the same photo here as I did on my other blog. This is me at my sales booth today, thankfully most of the plants had already sold by the time this photo was taken.

The foxgloves are in peak bloom here along with a number of other perennials. I hope you can stop by and see us, bring an umbrella and wellies if it's raining, I'll still be out there :=)

Come any time from 10:30 - 4:30!

Melanie

Rambling thoughts

2009-06-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight my brain is all discombobulated, there's just so many thoughts tumbling around it after spending the day setting up for our big flower show that opens tomorrow. Rather than form something cohesive from it, I thought I'd just continue to ramble around through some photos I took yesterday.

Cute little birdbath here but I was actually taking a photo of the teeny weeny Aruncus athusifolius seedling just in front of it. So far it's the only Aruncus seedling I found this year.

Want to learn more about Aruncus? After all, it's one of the most perfect perennials for Long Island Gardens. Just click here on Old Country Gardens (after you finish reading this post) and you can see why you need to grow this beauty.

Here's a new little planting area I'm working on. The brown bun at the bottom is a new Sedum I just bought. Hopefully I'll have enough energy to get out there and get the name of it and also remember to post it here someday.

Never be afraid to cut foliage. In order to take the above photo I had to trim back some of the daylily and iris foliage. It was worth it!

Calie the wonder-doodle (with dirt covered nose) is asking me why I'm such a softie that I let that silly Foeniculum vulgare seedling grow right in the middle of her path.

I MUST work on dividing that Hakonacloa macra 'All Gold' clump because it's just breathtaking and I need more, more more!

Hello, I thought I was taking an inspired photo of how these two beds flow together. What the heck is that old pool slide doing stuck in the back of the pool house?

Lamium 'Pink Nancy' (I think), this is what foliage is all about!

Hey, the shade border is filling in nicely. If I squint, I can almost not see the mold covered white vinyl fence at the back...almost...

Ok, time for some paperwork for tomorrow's big day. Hope you get the chance to stop by our flower show and say "hi".

Melanie

Flower Show Prep

2009-06-10T03:48:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the local garden club I belong to held a meeting. We are hosting a flower show later this week and all kinds of last minute preparations are going on.

I belong to the Nathan Hale Garden Club, it's a federated garden club located in Huntington NY and has been around for about 77 years!

My job was to cut and bring in some examples of horticulture. Since our show will feature petite plants and designs, I had to choose petite/miniature/small/dwarf plant material.

Here you can see three different Geranium cantabrigiense varieties in flasks.

What might end up being the hardest challenge for us is finding the bottles and containers we need to exhibit our plant material. The rules tell us we must use clear glass containers and they must be in scale with our plant material.

These tiny bottles were given to me by a friend who works in a hospital. They are the perfect size for little bits of horticulture. The flasks in the top photo are the ultimate container, unfortunately I only have 4 of them. We wish we had found a source for more of these containers, many of our members are on the hunt today looking for something similar.

I hope you get the chance to stop by and see our flower show. I'll be entering my troughs in the dish garden category, right now they are overgrown from all the rain we're experiencing and I need to get out there and give them a haircut!

Perennial bloom

2009-06-09T04:00:00.000-07:00

Blooming in my garden today are the final blooms on the white Siberian Iris, I'm madly in love with them!

The Sedum senanense is just covered with tiny bright yellow blossoms.

All three varieties of Aruncus are blooming today. I've photographed all of them and will put together a post highlighting this great perennial.

Ooh look... the Kniphofia (Red hot pokers) are just about to start opening.

Still going strong are the Thalictrum aquilegium in the back of the border. Remember, if you are going to grow this variety of Thalictrum, it will take a while before you get enough plants to give you bloom that you will see. I've let my Thalictrum go to seed so there's probably a dozen plants in this spot.

Right now I'm waiting for a line of thunder storms that the radar shows will come barreling through Long Island. I need to cut blooms for a horticulture demonstration so I'd better get going!

Melanie

Gesundheit!

2009-06-07T18:24:00.001-07:00

Aaaaccchhoooo!!!

Gesundheit.

Somehow I feel like a huge giant sneezed on my Rhododendrons.

Last week my Rhododendrons were amazing.

In fact, last week my Rhododendrons were fanstastic!

Even the white ones that have taken a bit longer to settle in, decided to put on a show.

Today though I'm not so in love with them. Can you believe that somebody told I need to deadhead my rhododenrons? I think it would take a month for me to do that.

Still, each year I can't wait for them to bloom.

Melanie

New Stock

2009-06-04T05:52:00.000-07:00

We've got lots of new stock here today. I've got a few morning and early afternoon appointments but I will be in the garden from 3:00 until dark if you would like to stop by.

Punch up your foliage beds with this amazing golden Hosta 'Sun Power'. They're just about ready to burst into bloom.

Although the Brunera is just about finished with it's forget-me-not like blooms, it has such lovely foliage that I had to pick up some pots for you.

While the large Dicentra spectabilis (old fashioned Bleeding Hearts) are just winding down, the smaller fern leafed Dicentra eximia's are in full bloom right now. Even though they do just fine in shade, they can take quite a bit of sun too.

Working on that tapestry effect? We've got lots of foliage combinations to weave together. These two Astilbes show that even the same plant family can have very different foliage.

Hope to see you later. Remember, we'll be open for sales on Saturday but I won't be here so no questions allowed :-)

I've also picked up troughs for those of you who ordered them.

See you soon!
Melanie

Schedule Changes

2009-06-03T04:47:00.000-07:00

The next two weeks are just chock full of events here at Melanie's Perennials. Right now we are experiencing the calm before the storm. There's so much green in the garden but the late spring/early summer perennials are about to explode!

This Friday evening I'll be driving down to Maryland with my daughters to attend a wedding shower on Saturday. We will be home again late Saturday night so I won't be here if you planned on stopping by. My husband will be home and will sell plants but won't be able to answer questions about them. So if you want to purchase things while I'm here, we'll be open on Sunday June 7th and just possibly Thursday (tomorrow) late afternoon and evening (check here first).

As for the weekend after this one, I will be open for business but in a different location! I belong to the local garden club, the Nathan Hale Garden club to be exact and we are holding our flower show in Huntington village at the Kissam House on Park Avenue. I'll have a sales booth there with all kinds of cool plants. You can visit me there on Friday June 12th 1:30 - 7:00pm and Saturday June 13th 10:00am - 2:00pm.

That same weekend we'll be open here on Sunday for tours, bring a friend, bring a cooler, bring your camera and note pad. By then the hardy Geraniums (first photo features Geranium nudosum) and the Tradescantias (second photo is Tradescantia 'Little Doll') will be in full swing!

Placing perennials

2009-06-02T05:32:00.000-07:00

When you look for the perfect spot to plant your new perennial what do you consider first? Do you look at the bloom or do you look at the foliage?

As a beginning gardener I only looked at the bloom but as I've gained experience, I've learned to consider the foliage first and then if possible also look at the bloom.

Since perennials bloom for a shorter time period than annuals, my goal is to form a tapestry of foliage color, form and texture so that even if the plants aren't in bloom, they create a pleasing picture.

Some plants are just so easy to work with. If I had 100 pots of the bright Hakonechloa macra 'All Gold' I could find 100 great combinations. Unfortunately this plant is hard to find and when you do find it, it tends to be very pricey.

The hardy Geranium sanguinium at the bottom of this photo is a bit easier to find and quite a bit less expensive but just as easy to make wonderful combinations with.

An excellent foliage plant that is not at all expensive is Lamium. A gardening friend Joan found a six pack of these beauties at one of the local box stores. I might have to go and get some more for myself.
When working with the succulents in my little rock garden, it's easy to mix and match foliage colors and forms. While there are blooms here it's easy to see how the foliage is the big picture.

Off to play in the garden ;-)
Melanie

Dividing newly purchased plants

2009-05-29T04:38:00.000-07:00

Many times people ask me if they can divide newly purchased plants. The answer is "yes" in some cases and "no" in other cases. Sempervivums (hens and chicks) like you see here in this photo are easy to divide. To read more about this specific case, click on Old Country Gardens and you'll see what I did with these new babies.

Some plants aren't as easy to divide. This newly purchased Symphytum was just exploding out of the pot but it didn't look like it had an easy place to cut it apart so I planted it whole.

With this pot of Astilbe I tried an experiment and took a sharp knife and cut it right down the middle. Both divisions grew just fine. One tip I can give you is that this plant was not yet blooming or in bud while the Symphytum in the previous photo was in bloom. I'd be less likely to cut apart a plant in bloom unless I was willing to also cut off all the blooms.

Hosta are one of the plants that you can divide most times during their growing season. Just take care to water your new divisions well, especially if you've planted them in a spot where they are going to get a few hours of direct sun.

Daylilies can be divided just about any time too. I've been to many a daylily nursery where they've dug out a fully blooming plant like this 'Monterrey Jack' and just handed it to me. The right thing to do is to cut back the foliage and bloom scapes but I've even planted them with the blooms and they've done just fine. Again, you need to give it a little extra care until it's settled in but in the long run it was worth the extra work.

This works especially well if you are buying pots chock full of little 'Stella D'Oro' and want to divide it before planting.

This summer I'll have the garden open during daylily season which is the month of July here on Long Island. While I won't dig every single plant in the garden, I will be willing to dig many of the clumps that are here if they are in a spot that is accessable.

We'll be open this weekend as usual on Saturday, May 30th. We usually put our sign out around 10:00 am and stay open until 4:00 pm. We have lots of new Hosta for you to buy along with the ferns, and sun perennials. If the weather allows, I'll be digging up that 'Monterrey Jack' daylily and potting that up too.

Heucheras are here!

2009-05-26T15:11:00.001-07:00

The Heucheras are here! Today I went out and picked up two kinds of Heucheras, 'Miracle' and 'Pinos Gris'. Although 'Caramel' was available, I didn't think the pots looked that great (they were quite dried out).

The Hosta 'June' was available too but the version I saw today had almost no blue in it at all so I passed on those.

Here's a closer look at those Heucheras, aren't they darling?

I also bought lots of different herbs and of course I couldn't resist picking up more hypertufa containers. Herbs do well in containers so I think this will be a natural.

On Saturday afternoon I did another run over at Fox Hollow Farms and totally stocked up on the darling little Hosta. The dark one in this photo is 'Allan P. McConnell' and I think it's the cutest thing ever.

Here's hoping we get a nice, soft, soaking rain tonight and tomorrow morning. Then back to the garden we go :-)

Tomorrow I can always plant up hypertufa pots while standing in my garage.

Off to cook dinner,
Melanie

Garden Talk

2009-05-24T05:59:00.001-07:00

One of the things I like the best on sales day is getting to talk to other gardeners. Whether they are beginners or have been gardening for years, there's always something new to learn.

Yesterday Bonnie and I were talking about websites that are helpful. It's taken me years to learn that some plants require specific conditions and that I need to do a little research before choosing their spot in my garden.

Google is always a great place to start. For instance, you can simply type the name of this plant 'Cotula squalida Platt's Black' in Google search and you'll find different website that will tell you more information about this plant.

When it comes to Hosta, I have a favorite website too. I go to the Hosta Library if I want to check out photos of hosta. It's almost impossible to identify your hosta if you have no clue of the name but if you have a name you can do wonders here.

I was lucky to have made a list one recent winter with all my Hosta names. My crazy doodle-dog Calie went through her puppy year and ripped out most of the name tags on my hosta out back. Since I had the list of names, I was able to identify many more varieties.

For instanace, my list tells me I have Hosta 'Sweet Home Chicago' but I didn't have a hosta with that name on a label. I knew it was in the back bed, so by going to the Hosta Library, I looked at their photos of Sweet Home Chicago and was able to identify that the large Hosta in the upper left corner of this photo is it! Hooray!!!

Sedums are another passion around here and I have a great website for them too. You can visit Sedum Photos and find more pictures of Sedum than you could imagine. When it comes to Sedum, I was actually able to identify a cultivar in my garden without knowing it's name at all.

Sometimes I just want to go to a site to drool over plant material. Squaw Mountain Gardens is one of those sites. It's not a place to go to for pretty pictures but for me with my passion for sempervivum, I like to go there and window shop :-) I've never ordered from them but some day I finally will.

The sun keeps peeking in and out today, very good conditions to take photographs. I think I'll go photograph my hardy geraniums that have started to bloom.

Enjoy your weekend!
Melanie

Teaching Gardens

2009-05-22T03:53:00.001-07:00

Chandrika asked a question on my last post. It reminded me that so many people are new to gardening. One of the things I worry about is people who try gardening, end up making a mistake and then decide they aren't "gardeners".

I've made hundreds of mistakes over the years I've been gardening and I still make mistakes today. After time though the mistakes are fewer and the successes are greater.

One of the best ways to learn about gardening is to visit other gardens and talk to other gardeners. I've belonged to a number of gardening clubs but in today's hectic world, their schedules don't always work with mine.

Don't worry though, there's plenty of places to go to learn about gardening. The first photo here was taken last week in my back shade bed. I have many different growing conditions here, dry shade, moist shade, rock garden, sun perennial border and so on. My ultimate desire is to make my garden a teaching garden, a place where people can come and learn about plants that do well here on Long Island.

By visiting other gardens, I've been inspired to think outside the box and try new things. Chanticleer Gardens are in Wayne Pennsylvania. Their growing conditions are very similar to ours here on Long Island. It is an easy day trip from here, I would love to get there again. This photo I took of succulents growing on a rock wall inspired me to make my own little rock garden.

Stonecrop Gardens in Cold Spring New York is another great teaching garden. While they are known for their rocky outcroppings and amazing alpine plant collection, I was totally enchanted by their potager. A potager is a formal (or semi-formal) vegetable garden. It was so incredibly beautiful that I'm still drooling over the thought of having a little vegetable garden of my own (working on it this weekend!).

You don't have to leave Long Island though if you want to see some great gardens. Planting Fields Arboretum has an amazing array of trees and shrubs. They have perennials too although I wouldn't list them as the top teaching garden if you are looking for flowers that are easy to grow.

On the other hand, Old Westbury Gardens has a fantastic collection of perennials, I haven't been there in a few years and hope to get back there soon.

With this Holiday weekend ahead of us, we have temperatures that are cool for the beach, too cool for the pool but perfect to tour a garden. Maybe this Sunday I'll hit one of the local places. Who knows, I've never been to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and only went once to the New York Botanical Gardens. Will I run into you there?

If you know of a good place to go see plant material, leave a comment here for us all to share.

Of course, we'll be here tomorrow, Saturday, if you want to stop by and say Hi!

Melanie

Soils for the garden and for potting

2009-05-20T03:56:00.000-07:00

No glamorous photos today. In the last two days I've had enough conversations about garden soil to convince me that many people are confused over what to use and where to use it.

I'll begin by letting all of you know that I do not have a degree in horticulture and have never taken a formal class in soil science. What I do have is 23 years of experience as a home gardener.

The soil you need for pots and containers is greatly different than the soil you need for bedding plants in the ground. In containers plants need soil that won't dry out too fast, is heavy enough to keep the pot from falling over on a windy day, is light enough for the roots to grow and will also feed the plants. That's a pretty tall order!

For my pots, I mix 2 parts of potting soil with one part of compost. I also throw in a good sized helping of shredded leaves and most importantly, try to mulch the plants to keep the soil from drying out too quickly. The added weight of compost (top soil works too) keeps the pots from being too light. You can also add fertilizer to this mix, a slow release fertilizer works well, I add milorganite to my pots here as a bonus.

Buying large bags of potting soil and adding them to your garden is a waste (in my opinion). You are much better off buying bags of compost or having a yard or two of compost delivered to your home. Last year I ordered a mix of compost and aged horse manure. I made the mistake of ordering too much at one time (in order to save on the delivery charge). This year I'll order less and take my chances.

If you can find aged horse manure, go for it! Here on Long Island horse manure is readily available from local horse farms. Cow manure is not readily available in my neighborhood but if you have it where you live it's just as good as horse manure.

Last but not least is mulch. Mulch is an organic (hopefully!) product that you put on top of the soil to help slow the germination of weed seeds, help water retention in the ground (keeps it from drying out), add nutrition to the soil and just to help the garden look neat and clean.

I'm not a fan of the huge deliveries of mulch, in many cases it's died and I can smell the chemicals while I'm walking past a house that has freshly mulched beds. At our house we save our leaves in bags over the winter and then shred them to use as mulch. From past experience I can tell you that the worms will love you for mulching with leaves. Worms are great for the garden, they help aerate the soil and add more nutrients (worm poop is a great soil booster).

One last tip on mulch, for spring mulching I wait until the soil has warmed up (not yet in our area) and for winter mulching I wait until the soil has frozen. The reason is that in summer you want to use the mulch as a blanket to keep the soil temperature consistent and in the winter you want to keep the plants from heaving during frost/thaw periods. If you mulch a winter soil while it's still warm, you will invite lots of burrowing creatures (voles, chipmunks, moles and so on) to your nice warm beds.

Today looks to be glorious outside so I need to get dressed and get out there to start digging and potting. Also have to plant some veggies :-)

Happy gardening!
Melanie

The Good, The Ok and the Downright Ugly

2009-05-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

Today was a perfect day for some garden photography. There was a light, misty rain, enough that I used an umbrella to protect my camera. Overcast days give you the perfect light to take photos in the garden. Bright sunlight washes out the colors and will give you terrible shadows.

While taking photos I always think I'm taking way to many but now as I sit at the computer I wish I had taken more. This first photo shows the spot I was working on yesterday. The Hosta 'Liberty' is just to-die-for. There was a sickly looking daisy in front of it, the spot only gets morning sun and the daisy wasn't happy. To the right was a daylily that was there for 12 years and it never really thrived.

I decided to stop trying to fight the shady afternoons and go with shade plants. Isn't this a great combination now?

The shade beds in the back are really starting to put on a show. I just love all the different textures and foliage colors. Photos like this remind me to keep looking for great foliage, perennials just don't flower long enough to rely upon their blooms.

Ah ha, here's a spot that needs a bit of oomph. I've cleared out a large Astilbe and decided to add another spectacular Hosta 'Liberty' in this location. The other Hosta here look amazing but are getting too crowded. Just last week I was thinking that there was too much space between them.

Uh oh, a hole! This spot out front is where I stuck my pitchfork through the sprinkler line last year. Time to think of something to fill that area but it's going to take some real thought. I need to chose a low growing plant that has a shallow, easy to remove root system since I never want to stick my pitchfork there again.

One more uh oh spot. The cinder block in the bottom right corner is to hold my shade trough up and out of the plant material. If you want to see more about the troughs, click here on Old Country Garden and you'll see the post about them.

Two more problems are visible here, there's a ton of weeds just popping up and the Hydrangea in the top left corner had quite a bit of winter kill and needs to be cut back while I can still get in there.

That's it for today's post. See how helpful those garden photos were!

Melanie

Can this plant be saved?

2009-05-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

Earlier today I noticed the bloom stalk on a Aquilegia vulgaris (black columbine) was broken.

Later on I noticed that a few leaves of the Hosta 'Spritzer' next to the columbine were pushed over.

This evening as I was doing clean-up I walked by and noticed that the Dicentra spectabilis Alba (white bleeding heart) just behind these two plants looked "funny". I stepped into the bed to inspect and it looks like somebody (more likely someTHING) had a good romp through my garden. The center stalks of my prime bleeding heart were broken off.

The first thought that came to mind was "can this plant be saved"?

Upon closer inspection I noticed that the stalks broke right at the crown and that there were little fine roots at the base.

Being ever the optimist (gardeners are always optimists!) I cut off the tops of the broken stalks.

Right now they are potted up in my premium potting soil and taking a nice long soak. I've got my fingers crossed in hopes that they put out new roots and grow.

Before typing this post I went into my blogger account here and changed some settings. Hopefully now it will be possible for many of you to post comments. There was a safety catch that only allowed members to comment but I've switched it to allow annonymous comments (but will still moniter them to filter any spam).

Try to drop me a line so I can see if it works.

Wishing for a bit more heat and sun but I know the garden is loving these cool damp days.

Melanie

Friday and Saturday, May 15th & 16th

2009-05-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

There's lots of beautiful plants blooming in our gardens right now and a few new beauties in pots. Our Galium odoratum (Sweet woodruff) and our Convalaria majalis (Lily of the valley) are both in bloom this weekend. Both are the sweetest things (take a sniff if you don't believe me).

Also in it's full glory is our Mazus reptans path. Mazus is a little, creeping ground cover that is just perfect to fill in the bare spots between stepping stones. Don't have any stepping stones? Well we know of other great spots for Mazus too.

How incredible are these hypertufa troughs! My friend Kim and I found a great source for these wonderful containers and I've purchased a few for me and a few for you. Stop by and watch me pot them up. I'll be working on several different sizes on Saturday.

Some of the containers will hold sun plants and some will hold shade plants. Hypertufa is a mixture of cement, peat moss and sand. Containers made from hypertufa look and feel like concrete but are not as heavy. Filled with soil they certainly aren't light either but at least I can lift them and move them to different locations.

There's a nice selection of Hen's and Chicks here to fill your own containers with, they are really starting to plump up now. Also, we now carry shade perennials from Fox Hollow Farm so if you are looking for some of the best mini hosta and ferns on Long Island you will want to stop by while we have lots of stock.

We'll be open Friday afternoon (after 2:00 pm please) and all day Saturday (10:00 - 4:00 pm). Hope to see you soon.

Melanie

Perennial images

2009-05-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

What a joy! Our old desk top computer had died and although I thought I had diligently kept copies of all the photos on our external hard drive, I had missed several files.

Thanks to some expert advice, it's up and running again and I quickly copied over all the folders I thought I had lost for good. It's like going to a high school reunion, so many faces to look at again.

The first photo is Helianthus 'Lemon Queen', a true beauty and I'm so glad I don't have to wait until fall to take a photo.

Sedum 'Matrona' is one of my all time favorites and I came across some excellent photos. This first one shows the lovely blooms.

This next photo shows Sedum 'Matrona' earlier in the season with her lovely foliage accented by that cool purplish stem.

Last but not least, here's a daylily 'Isold'. I just noticed there was a good sized clump of this cultivar and I wondered if I should dig it up and pot up a few divisions. What do you think? I think it looks pretty good!

Melanie

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

2009-05-10T19:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, today I cheated a bit and posted the same photo on both blogs. It is Mother's Day though and I wanted to show off my wonderful mom.

Not too many mom's would show up every mother's day and dig in the garden all day long. Me, I'm so crazed right now that I never remember to get her a pretty card or a lovely wrapped gift. Aren't I lucky to have such an amazing mom!

We just have until Tuesday before she heads back to Florida, I plan on enjoying her company all day tomorrow.

Happy Mother's Day mom, thanks for being so good to me.
Love,
Melanie

The Mini's are here!

2009-05-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

We've got mini's in pots. Miniature solomon's seal (Polygonatum humile)

And most excitingly, we've got mini hosta! Thanks to Larry at Fox Hollow Farm, we'll be carrying some of his select stock here. This morning I chose some beautiful pots of minature Hosta and jumbo pots chock full of spectacular ferns.

We'll be around until 2:00 pm today, and we'll try to open up one afternoon/evening this weekend. Of course we'll also be here next Saturday.

Can't make it? Send me an e-mail at melaniev@optonline.net and we'll work out a time.

Happy Mother's Day! I'm going to spend the rest of my day planting ferns!!!

Melanie

Evening Primroses

2009-05-07T17:44:00.000-07:00

Some perennials have been around forever. They're those plants that when you first begin gardening, somebody will gladly share a plant or two.

After gardening for years many of us tend to turn our noses up at those beginner plants. That too is a phase, it's taken me many more years to realize just how valuable those old fashioned perennials are.

A nickname I love is pass-along-plant. A plant that is easily passed from one gardener to another, or if you are lucky, one generation to another.

Since my parents and I are immigrants, I don't have plants that have been handed down in my family but I do have many pass-along plants that have been given to me. One of the first plants shared with me was evening primroses, more formally known as Oenothera tetragona.

Some parts of the country use the nickname "Sundrops" for this plant family, that's the danger with using nicknames instead of learning the botanical name.

The photos you see here (number 2 and 3) are actually a hybrid form of Oenothera, one that goes by the name 'Cold Crick'. If you've grown the old fashioned Oenothera (evening primrose), this variety is quite different. It doesn't travel by underground runners, instead it stays nicely in a small, compact clump. It also is shorter that the old fashioned variety but when it blooms, well put on your sunglasses because it's just as bright as it's family member.

There's also a pink variety of Oenothera, it's full name is Oenothera speciosa. This plant does have the underground runners and in my garden it has run a bit. The funny thing though is it all ran in one direction (south) and ended up butted up against the Belgium block border of my driveway.

It really is a lovely little perennial, I keep forgetting to slip out a few pieces and add them to different parts of the garden so I can have some to share. Actually, there might be a few extra pieces, it's not an early emerger so I have to go take a careful look tomorrow morning.

We'll begin our big Mother's Day plant sale tomorrow afternoon, around 1:00 pm. That gives me time to dig out a few more perennials in the morning. The weather has been so uncooperative here this week.

We'll also be here all day on Saturday and for a few hours on Sunday morning (unless we're sold-out by then).

Stop by and say "hi"!
Melanie

Perennials in Pots

2009-05-06T03:34:00.000-07:00

People usually put annuals in their pots or containers. Impatiens, Petunias or some of the newer fancy annuals. When it comes to pretty foliage, the choice tends to be Coleus or those little Dracena spikes.

Yesterday I had so much fun making up some small perennial pots for our PTA. Instead of using those annuals, I chose small perennials. Isn't it nice to know that you can leave your plants in these pots and they will come up again next year. I've left Hosta and Astilbe in Pots for 3 years and then divided them out and let them continue again in pots.

This pot is for a shady location with a Hosta and Galium odoratum (Sweet woodruff). I just stuck in an impatiens to fill in the spot until the two perennials fill out.

Half the pots I made up are for sunny locations. They have different succulents, Sempervivums (Hens & Chicks) and Sedums in them. If we ever get some more sun they will fill out quickly.

Instead of wasting my money on a spiky plant that will die in the fall, I chose to use a lovely little blooming grass called Sisyrinchium or blue-eyed oat grass.

These pots were so fun to make, I can't wait to get out there and make some more.

Melanie

How wet was it?

2009-05-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, enough! Sheesh, time to turn off the water works. The garden is green and lush, my plants are happy as can be but webs are starting to grow between my toes. This morning I even found ducks in my pool!

Some lovely primula poking up through the foliage of Alchemilla mollis (nothing like Ladies Mantle covered in rain droplets).

I couldn't resist this shot, check out these hosta eyes!

Just one last spring shot taken between raindrops. I'm too tired to post an inspirational post tonight. Tomorrow and Wednesday are booked solid, hope to be back on track soon.

Keep paddling,
Melanie

Plant Sale!

2009-05-01T18:44:00.001-07:00

Yes, it must be the weekend because it's Plant Sale Time! Today was one of those wet and drizzly days that is so perfect to dig and divide perennials. My goal was to pot up 100 pots but I think I fell short of that number (not by much). I haven't taken an inventory lately but must have over 400 pots right now.

We've got pots of the pale pink Stachys monierri (just try to find this for sale, I only see the purple one at local garden centers) and the hot pink annual Silene armeria that self seeds around the garden to return year after year.

Sedums are a passion of mine, many are here on display and others have been potted up for sale. This photo shows 'Sedum' Matrona' which is one of my favorites.

Of course with over 400 daylilies, you'll find lots to choose from like this lovely 'Regency Masquerade with it's luscious purple eye.

The palest orchid pink (lighter than this photo shows) with a lovely green throat is 'Prague Spring'. It's blooms like the energizer bunny is running the show.

Phlox are potted up too. Remember, we do not sell plants that have been grown in another weather zone or in greenhouses. Our plants have not been forced to bloom so if something is in flower now, then it normally flowers now.

Most of the perennials are not in flower yet and they won't be in flower here in the pot. Wouldn't you rather have them flower for you in your garden than at the nursery?

Hope to see you tomorrow, we'll be open 10:00 to 4:00. If you can't make it this weekend, don't worry, we'll be open three days in a row on Mother's Day weekend.

One last note, we love to give back to the community so 10% of the gross sales are donated to a club at our local high school. Stay tuned and we'll let you know the club of choice this month.

Off to rest up for tomorrow,
Melanie

Praying Mantis at our schools

2009-05-01T03:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I did another program on the Healthy Garden at Maplewood School. Maplewood is one of the two intermediate schools in the South Huntington School District with grades 3 through 5. The entire third grade came to the assembly to learn about gardening and beneficial insects.

The day before that I had done a similar program for a single class where we were able to make pots and plant them (scroll down for more on that). With such a large group, a hands on workshop wasn't feasible. Since I had already brought a praying mantis egg case to Mrs. Labate's class, I thought it would be fun for the students to have a second case outside the school.

Can you see the egg case attached to the branch? I used twist ties to put it on the limb of the Andromeda just near the entrance of the school. It will be interesting to see if the baby praying mantis emerges at the same time inside the building and outside. I hope somebody lets me know if they see the babies start to crawl out.

Mr. Roemer's garden is right at the entrance of Maplewood. I thought it was very fitting that it was filled with Myosotis which has the nickname Forget-me-not. I think Mr. Roemer would be happy to know that there is going to be praying mantis in his garden.

For those of you planning on stopping by here today or tomorrow, the showers in the forecast won't be slowing me down. I'll still be out there in my boots and slicker. The garden needs this rain desperately after being shocked with our heatwave earlier this week. These are perfect conditions to split and divide perennials. If it gets too wet I can always spread mulch.

Bye!
Melanie