My Garden

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

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'

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