The garden looks very different from last year at this time. We lost our Magic Carpet spirea hedge out front, which succumbed to root rot and died over the winter. I lost all my foxgloves and several deep purple salvias, which dominated the main perennial bed last year. And I coppiced our purple smoke tree, so its height is missing in the landscape. I also had to take out about a third of my roses due to disease.
When workers installed our new roof last fall, they managed to damage several foundation plantings. Several Sky Pencil hollies in the same area were languishing (not enough sun), so I ended up replacing half the foundation plants on the north side of the house. Even so it will take time for those holes to fill in.
But the peonies and iris are just wonderful this year, loaded with blooms! All the replanting gave me ample opportunity to try new things. There’s still plenty to see. Come along for a virtual walk-through!
Along the driveway, petite cranesbill Max Frei is blooming its head off in bright magenta, complimenting the supertunias, soft-touch hollies and dwarf spruce. This area benefits from their color until the hollies merge.
Along the rock border by the neighbor’s driveway, sedums bask in baking heat along with yellow yarrow and white and yellow bearded iris.
New this year is a dark-foliaged heuchera called Glitter. I am replanting and rearranging everything in this “meadow bed”, so most vegetation is new, small or re-establishing. There’s very little to see until later.
If all goes as planned I’ll have annual ranunculas, black cow parsley, dark penstemons and lots of both new and established meadow plants.
On to the roses!
My roses have been loving the cool nights and low humidity, just bursting with growth and buds. Of course it’s been incredibly dry with no appreciable rain the entire month of May, so I’ve had to water them regularly. They are doing really well. They doubled in size just since April.
This spring for the first time I gave them a systemic drench. So far, it’s paying off. They’ve never looked healthier. I want to avoid the disease issues that plagued most of them the past two years. We’ll see.
Below, Carefree Beauty (bright pink) leads the display, with pale pink Quietness buds following in its wake. A Knockout blooms behind.
The peonies have more buds than ever, promising a massive display. Here, earliest-to-bloom Sparkling Star and Rozella jazz things up in hot pink. Normally white, Polly Sharp is opening blush pink thanks to the cooler temps. I love this single peony for its relative airiness.
The other peonies in this bed are heavily in bud but won’t be open for at least another week or two.
Where the spirea hedge used to be I added more roses, grasses, kniphofia and fothergilla. The Belgian block edging along the drive is new, installed to redirect storm runoff down the drive instead of inundating the plants. We hope to avoid more root rot. (The bed was treated last fall.)
By the curb, golden barberry and white cerastium (snow-in-summer) light up the scene. I probably get more compliments on this combination than any other. Grasses, blue fescue, and a dwarf blue spruce contribute texture and cool color contrast (while hiding the utility boxes).
The Silberlocke Korean fir is sporting its aqua new growth, needles curling tightly into cigar-like stubs. I love to stroke it! Behind, the pale steely blooms of Arkansas bluestar pick up the fir color perfectly.
I transplanted mums and plugs of St. Johns Wort Brigadoon groundcover under the rose of Sharon where the hedge used to extend under them. Below is a photo of it. I’m not crazy about the screaming red Orange Rocket barberry, but fortunately the color tones down to bronze in a few weeks. Brigadoon also fades to chartreuse in summer.
A surprise volunteer showed up this spring: Sicilian honey garlic. I had planted several bulbs some years ago, but it never amounted to much. This year, one finally decided to bloom. An allium, Sicilian garlic holds a spray of small dangling bells atop a naked stem. It looks lonesome all by itself, though. Perhaps with extra bonemeal the rest of the bulbs will give it some company next spring.
Nearby, Turkish sage rises above everything else like a cluster of minarets. I wrote an article on this unusual plant this month, here.
As we approach the main perennial bed, you can see the deep purple smoke tree is a lot shorter! I coppiced it, which is gardening parlance for cutting it to the ground. I want to allow surrounding plants more sun to better establish.
Now I can admire its burgundy foliage close up! It will slowly revert to tree form if I let it, which I probably will. In the meantime, its neighbors will get the sun they need.
Behind the main bed along the very top of the bank, Itoh and herbaceous peonies, dwarf ginkgos, and a David Austin rose Teasing Georgia perch precariously but so far, all are doing fine. Teasing Georgia is still in bud, but oh, the peonies! Wow — just amazing this year. Julia Rose is almost watermelon red. The petals are like translucent satin. The flowers don’t last long but they make up for it with sheer audacity.
Without towers of white foxgloves, the main perennial bed has a different mojo than usual but is still very nice. [Compare to last year.] Plenty of May Night salvia and silvery lambs ear, but it’s missing the wow factor of previous springs. Tangerine geum provides a pop of orange. Penstemon Dark Towers’ burgundy foliage adds nuance. I lost half my penstemons, too; their replacements are too small to contribute much this year.
Lots of seedlings in here now…and plenty of others that have yet to open. Poppies, campanula, echinacea, rudbeckia, cleome, verbena, lavender, cranesbill, tiger lilies. Even several replacement digitalis– fingers crossed! Next spring it will likely look different again.
The gate we installed last summer between the drive and side yard provides a nice foil for iris. Since iris love gravel they’re very happy here. I don’t think the gate will deter the deer, though. They will just trample things going around it. Maybe I’ll leave it open for them…
Moving through the gate along the bank, astrantia and early phlox are just starting. These particular phlox are slightly later than usual.
But look at the astrantia! It may appear insignificant in the photo but not so in person. Not only is it earlier to bloom, it’s a deeper pink and will likely keep going all summer (if I water it). I’m so glad I had the patience to let it establish. It took about 2 years. Now it’s one of my favorites.
Last night the deer managed to locate and attack their favorite phlox, David, chomping it off by half. David covers much of the top of the bank here, along with biennial rose campion (the silvery foliage). While they were at it, they also ate several other phlox varieties nearby.
This is not the first time this has happened; I’ve learned that David (a stunning white) will recover and eventually bloom, just much later than it would otherwise. I sprayed it with repellant two weeks ago but the recent new growth wasn’t protected — c’est la vie. I guess I’ll have late phlox.
Lots of young plants coming up on the bank. I can’t wait to see a new monarda I planted two years ago which has yet to flower. Also the native prairie coneflower Echinacea pallida, a personal favorite.
The Siberian iris I transplanted last fall has come up but only one plant is flowering. It was in too much shade last year. It needs a season to build up energy. I hope to see all of it blooming heavily next spring.
The milkweeds are way behind because of the cold spring temps, but they finally came up and are growing, albeit quite slowly. The coming heat should accelerate them.
To say the orlaya self-seeded successfully is an understatement. I will have to deadhead aggressively– or yank it out– to keep it in check.
In the back, most of the spring ephemerals are over but Mount Everest alliums seem to float in midair like dandelions gone to seed. Astilbes and goatsbeard are budding up. Thankfully, snowflake viburnums and dogwoods interrupt the green curtain for a little while longer.
The lower bank is unremarkable in spring. It really doesn’t get going until midsummer. It’s all about the Serbian spruces at the moment.
Hugging the house, climbing rose Wollerton Old Hall is opening its cupped peachy blooms. They are a little hard to see, as they’re the same color as the brick! By all accounts it’s thriving; the wall makes all the difference. (It’s “Wollerton Old Wall” as far as I’m concerned.)
The rhododendron here is chinoides, a white splashed with yellow. And yes, more iris.
At the dining room window Green Velvet box, a blue Lawson cypress and Silk Road lilies thrive. I’m happy for the greenery with so much asphalt and brick in this location. The lilies will bloom around the Fourth of July.
Looking from the house out the driveway, I really don’t miss the spirea hedge anymore. I found the fothergilla I wanted to replace it, and now I can’t wait for new foxtail lilies, roses and kniphofia to flower in its place.
Gardening…ever changing, always looking forward to new possibilities. That’s why we like it, right? The show has begun for another year. I’m happy to savor each plant’s moment of fame in turn.
That’s all folks, I hope you enjoyed the tour. As the year progresses, lots more to come. To see more photos, check out the Gallery anytime. Until next month!
