Arctic Blast! Not at Planting Fields Arboretum

This past Autumn we spent a wonderful afternoon at Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay NY. While all the outside plant displays were magnificent as always, it was the greenhouses that took our breath away.

This morning we awoke to a fridgid 4 degrees, talk about cold! It's one of the coldest winters I can remember, the salt water bays of Northport, Centerport, Cold Spring Harbor and Huntington are frozen solid. One place though that I know is warm is inside the greenhouses at Planting Fields Arboretum, I can't wait to get there again.

The plant displays change in the green house from season to season although the large main-stay plants are always there. I'm not going to try to list the plant names, tropical plants are not my expertise.

The best lesson I've learned from tropical gardens is how important foliage color and form can be. Who needs flowers with a combination like this?

I couldn't resist it, this is the same shot just a little closer. I'm in love with all these patterns, colors and textures.

Being that this was fall, there were quite a few Chrysanthemums in the display. I'm not complaining.

There are benches and ledges scattered around, it's easy to find a place to sit. I keep promising myself to come back here with a book and just relax for a few hours. It's something I've put on my bucket list.

If you have time, there's side rooms with different temperatures and air conditions. You'll find a dry room with cacti, an orchid room and a room filled with begonias. There's probably even more rooms, I haven't made the full tour in a number of years.

There's no reason to sit inside and complain about the snow and ice, get yourself over to Planting Fields Arboretum and soak up some plant life!

melanie

The picket fence

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

Portulaca Envy

Ok, so my blog is titled "Melanie's Perennials". Sometimes you just have to break the rules.

Every now and then I come across an annual that I just have to grow. Some of them reseed around here like crazy and become like perennials in the garden. Others need to be bought once again each spring.

Waiting for the weather to warm up a bit outside I decided to browse through some old photos for some inspiration. I saw this photo and it just stopped me short.

Wow, I'm green with envy!

Here's a walkway with lots of cool succulants, sedums and right in the bottom left corner is a yellow Portulaca. Oh to have a walkway like this...

A close up shot taken here, shows a pale peach Portulaca. I don't know what I want the most in this photo...actually... I'll take them all!

Yowza! Bicolored orange and yellow Portulaca.

None of these photos were taken in my own yard, they were taken on a tour 4 years ago. What's wrong with me? Why haven't I been putting some Portulacas in my own garden?

Note to self: BUY PORTULACAS THIS SPRING!