Rainbow of Garden Plants for a Snowy Day

Although we've had a relatively mild winter, it's snowing again today.  So I'm sharing a rainbow of colors from past years in my garden to feed my need for color.  Above are 'Ambassador' allium.

'Ruby Giant' crocus.

 'Evening Tidings' bearded iris.

'Harmony' miniature iris.  They're actually a true cobalt blue, which I didn't capture very well here.

Allium caesium with 'Venice Blue' veronica at back.

'Rotlaub' rodgersia leaves.

'Little Lime' hydrangea.

Digitalis grandiflora, a true perennial foxglove.

'Goldilocks' crocus.

Unknown orange Oriental poppies.

'Royal Sunset' asiatic-longiflorum liles.

'Montgomery' astilbe.

'Buckeye Belle' herbaceous peony.

'William Shakespeare 2000' David Austin rose.
For those of you in cold climates like me, good luck waiting until spring!

January Update

After a lovely holiday with plenty of family visiting, my kids have returned to school and I have a few quiet minutes to blog.  I was sad to hear last month of the passing of David Austin, creator of English roses like 'William Shakespeare 2000' and 'Lady's Blush,' above.  I grow nearly two dozen of his roses and they bring me joy.

I've added to my garden books collection recently and am completely delighted with this one, 'The Secret Gardeners,' about the gardens of some of Britain's famous creatives.  Sting (that's part of his garden on the cover), Andrew Lloyd Weber, Ozzy Osbourne, Prue Leith (my daughters love The Great British Baking Show) and others are included.  The pictures of the varied and beautiful gardens are plentiful, large and gorgeous.  I'd highly recommend it for anyone who loves English style gardens.

After going back and forth about whether to store my dahlia tubers over the winter, I tried wrapping some in plastic wrap and storing them in my deli drawer (37 degrees) in Tupperware containers.  I've lost about half due to rot from condensation from the fridge, but they might freeze in my garage and the basement is too warm.  We'll see how that goes.  I've already ordered some new types (three each of Rip City, Belle of Barmera, White Onesta, Melody Pink Allegro, Great Silence) from Longfield Gardens and may have to order more if my fridge tubers all mold.  Fingers crossed that at least some make it through, like 'Cafe au Lait' above.

I'm counting down the days until I can pot up dahlia tubers and plant seeds under the grow light I set up in my bathtub.  Above is Ammi, or false Queen Anne's lace.

And I should mention my amazing moth orchid (Phalaenopsis) that bloomed for an entire year.  I bought it at Costco early last December with two bloom stalks that lasted until May.  Once those were cut back (I cut just above the growth node down the stem from the previous stalks) it immediately sprouted two more stalks that bloomed until early December.  Now it's sending two more stalks out from the next set of nodes.  Amazing!   It seems very happy with all the indirect light in our dining room addition.
I'm looking forward to another year of growth and beauty in the garden.  Although reading about the gardens of the rich and famous has reinforced just how small my quarter acre garden is, I'm delighted and grateful for a spot of my own to nurture.

Privacy in Suburbia

In my last post I wrote about using columnar shrubs and trees for privacy.  I want to continue on that topic since privacy in the yard has been on my mind a lot lately.  At this time of year I want to be outside working in the garden, but I feel very exposed since the trees haven't leafed out yet.  I have mentioned before that I can see parts of sixty-three houses from various points in my backyard.  This is the view of my NW corner from my bedroom window, and you can see quite a few of the neighboring homes in the scene.  I'm usually careful to crop the photo of this view, but here is the full disclosure.  However, the columnar Norway spruce at left will eventually block the view of Santa (from my previous post) on the neighboring rooftop.  Supposedly it can reach 20' tall and 5-6' wide in ten years.  Grow, baby, grow!

From ground level, one neighboring home is still very apparent at this time of year.  Thankfully these neighbors have planted quite a few trees in their yard to help screen the view.  When my columnar Norway spruce and their blue spruce (to the right of this shot) are mature, they will block part of the view between our houses year-round.  The thicket of deciduous branches at center will get thicker as time goes by and eventually provide decent screening.

The view of the same area from another angle features another neighboring home.  Again, my thicket of deciduous branches ('Royal Raindrops' crabapple trees) and two maples planted over the fence will block more of the view in coming years.  These neighbors have an oak tree planted in their yard that will also contribute to the thicket of branches in ensuing winters.  Slowly, this view will be mostly blocked.

The winter screening in my NE corner (viewed from my window) isn't going to get much better than this.  The honey locust trees leaf out late and drop their leaves early.  Their branches will thicken somewhat, but not enough to really block the view of the neighboring white house and the items that are usually stored on their back deck.  That house had a flowering plum tree planted in their neighboring corner when I planned my landscape, but the tree has since died.

Now that my backyard garden has year-round interest, I like looking out my window every morning and evening.  In winter the snow makes a lovely addition to the bare branches, evergreens and boulders.  I'd like the view to include fewer neighboring houses so I can focus on what's happening in my yard.

Here is the NE corner from ground level.  The trees across the fence are mostly quaking aspens, which leaf out early and drop their leaves later than my honey locusts.  On a side note, our new bench swing is wonderful to sit on but is shockingly bright white.  Hopefully it will get a little dirty in time and blend better with our dirty white fence, ha.

This shot of the NE corner from farther back inspires me with how much screening a thicket of bare branches (lilac, crabapple and honey locust) can provide.

In the very corner of my NE area, a 'Shasta' doublefile viburnum is filling the space as it matures.  A 'Shademaster' honey locust is planted eleven feet from the corner, and three 'Green Mountain' boxwoods are growing on either side of the viburnum.

There is not enough space to plant evergreens (columnar Norway spruce or even Arborvitaes) unless I rip out the viburnum.  I don't have another spot in the yard with enough space for that large shrub (10-12' wide at maturity), and I'd be sad to lose it completely.  But dogwood trees are understory trees in the forest.  They grow underneath other trees and close together.  I'm tossing around the idea of snugging two 'Starlight' dogwoods on either side of the viburnum, next to the boxwoods.  I'd have to plant them right next to the fence and plan to prune off lower branches to leave room for the viburnum and fence.  But eventually the thicket of branches above the fence would provide more screening for this area, plus the dogwoods would bloom and leaf out a month before the honey locust.  I could increase my dogwood total to seven trees, which is always a good thing.  Would I rather have this corner a little crowded but more private?  Yes.  Do I mind pruning?  No.  Hmm, this idea has merit.  I'm going to mull it over a little more.

I'll finish with this shot of the SE corner of my yard.  A dogwood planted across the fence in my front yard will someday screen the neighboring windows a little better.  Building privacy with trees in a climate with a short growing season requires patience.  I wish I had done a better job of planning for privacy a decade ago, but better late than never, eh? 

Great Garden Expectations for 2018

The new year has begun with the garden buried in crusty snow.  This is not my favorite part of the year, but we're getting closer to the growing season and many new additions to the garden.

Late Winter

Last fall I planted a dozen new Lenton Roses to make a total of about forty hellebores in the garden.  Not all of the baby plants will bloom this year, but overall I expect more flowers than last year.  I'm especially excited to watch the vigorous 'Madame Lemmonier' and 'Molly's White' get going over the next few years, as well as several selections from the Wedding Series of hellebores.  'Golden Lotus' hellebore is shown above.

I bought a grow light setup to start annual seeds and dahlias, and I plan to put it in a bathtub where no one can trip over it.  Annual seeds have already been ordered and delivered and are waiting for the right time to be planted.  Cosmos 'Cranberry Double Click' is shown above.

Spring

Bulbs big ('Mount Everest' allium), medium ('Apricot Impression' and 'Black Hero' tulips) and small (Oxalis adenophylla) made it into the ground in the fall, so their blooms will add to the bulbs that have naturalized over the years in the garden.  I planted a 'Banana Daiquiri' geum in fall, and while I don't expect it to be as showy and long-blooming as 'Totally Tangerine,' I'm looking forward to seeing its soft yellow blooms.  Two new 'Popcorn' viburnums (compact versions of the Japanese snowball bush) will eventually provide stems for cutting.  Maybe the baby 'Yankee Doodle' and 'Charles Joly' lilacs I planted last year will give me a few dark blooms, but maybe not until the next spring.

Summer

Annual peony poppies are my excitement for early summer:  'Violetta Blush,' 'Purple Passion,' 'Pale Rose,' and 'Double Black.'  I'll add the 'black' poppies to white garden and call it the black and white garden this year.  I've also bought seeds for 'The Bride' guara, Eryngium 'Silver Ghost,' honeywort, and 'Purity' and 'Cosmic Orange' cosmos.  All of those should be good for cutting if my seed-starting plan works out.  Above is the Oriental poppy 'Medallion.'

I'm also looking forward to the first good display of blooms from several  peonies.  'Armani' is brand new, and last year I only saw a flower or two from 'Black Mulberry' and 'Cytherea.'   Most of my peonies haven't yet reached maturity, so each year they bloom better.  Above is 'General McMahon.'

Later in summer, I'm looking forward to seeing blooms from newly planted 'LaVerne Friemann' aka 'Miss Feya,' which B&D Lilies touts as the best lily variety ever.  I plan to order the 2018 Perennial Plant of the Year, 'Millenium' allium, and I already planted the similar 'August Confections' allium.  These rhizomatous alliums bloom in August when there are fewer flowers in my garden, and are not known to make a nuisance of themselves with reseeding.  Above is Lillium rubrum.

Fall

It has taken me a while to get excited about sedums, but I'm slowly finding places for them.  'LemonJade' (a yellow-flowering 'Autumn Joy'), dark-leaved 'Thunderhead,' and 'Blue Pearl' were planted in fall.  I also added magenta 'Alert' and 'Wood's Pink' asters to the lavender and violet asters I'm already growing.  Yesterday I ordered a selection of dahlias from Swan Island:  Karma Choc, Center Court, Bluetiful, Cutie Patootie, Lauren Michelle, Appleblossom, Innocence and Cafe au Lait.  It's been a few years since I grew dahlias, but they will add some needed interest to my fall garden.  Above is Dahlia 'Giggles' with a napping bee.

Thank goodness the garden is never finished.  There's always something new and exciting for the next season.  I just have to make it through the next couple of dark, cold months and can then enjoy being out in the garden once again.  Above are 'Caradonna' salvia, 'Ambassador' allium, 'Moulin Rouge' astrantia and 'Totally Tangerine' geum.  

Missing the Green

It snowed again this morning, and I'm really missing our green backyard.

The other day it warmed up enough in the afternoon to sit in a coat on one of the benches for a few minutes, but the view wasn't this nice.

Grey and brown, brown and grey, white and more white . . . . winter needs to stop now!

I'll take some chartreuse along with the green, please.

And some purple leaves, too.  Any day now.  They're coming!

Snowy Winter, Slow Remodel

This winter has brought nearly six feet of snow to Spokane so far, with more likely to come.   My children have enjoyed sledding and building giant snow forts, but I think everyone is looking forward to spring by now.  I have to remind myself that these long, snowy winters are the reason we have water for the garden in the summers.
My boxwood shrubs have had branches flattened by the snow, but so far they have bounced back without breaking as the snow recedes.  The 'Otto Luyken' laurels are completely brown from subzero temperatures and frigid winds.  Thankfully no tree branches have broken from the heavy snow and ice.

Our remodeling project, originally to be finished by Thanksgiving, still lingers on.  We wait more patiently some days than others!  But after seven weeks with a gutted kitchen, we are very happy to have a functional sink and appliances again.  Backsplash, trim, roof, siding, vent hood, patio, an new pendant shade, seventeen holes in the ceiling to patch, tiles popping loose to be fixed . . . then we'll be done and I'll post more pictures.

 Meanwhile we are enjoying more light from all the new windows.  We hosted a big family dinner last weekend and the new dining room worked just as we hoped it would.  With seven windows, two skylights, and a sliding door, the new space feels like part of the garden.

Snowy Garden

This morning we awoke to several inches of snow, and I caught a few photos before my children trampled it to mush.  At center above is the dwarf Arctic willow, whose lines are so pretty in winter.

Here is the same area from the other direction.  Substance is provided by evergreen boxwoods, lavender shrubs and deciduous butterfly bushes whose leave haven't fallen yet.

The sitting area at the Northwest arbor doesn't look very inviting right now.  Brrr!

The three contorted filberts (two green, one red-leaved) all look great in the snow.  This one has been in the ground for three growing seasons and hasn't gained much size, but maybe next year it will finally leap.

The honeysuckle on the swing set holds the snow beautifully, while the surrounding honey locust trees show off their elegant winter form.  This is just the sweet corner, eh?

The butterfly bushes leaf out late in spring, but they've held onto their leaves longer than any of the other deciduous shrubs.  In the spring I'll cut them down nearly to the ground to keep them dwarf.

Sadly, the view in the front yard is a little different after the big wind storm (up to 70 mph gusts) last week.  There should be a blue spruce in the background of this photo, but look what happened to it . . .

The spruce tree kept leaning farther toward our porch with each monumental gust of wind, so with the neighbors' encouragement, my husband tied a rope from the tree to his truck and pulled it over in the other direction.  It popped off at the base and has since been cut up and carried away.

Even if the tree had fallen, the damage would have been minimal compared to what many in Spokane experienced.  Hundreds of trees fell and many hit houses, cars, and even people.  Fences blew over, shingles flew away, and I watched a neighbor's metal shed somersault over their fence.  Power is still out in many areas.  This was the one time I was glad to live in a young neighborhood without mature trees.  Of course the damage would have been even worse a month ago when the deciduous trees had their leaves.  As it was, the toppled trees were mostly evergreens.  But on the bright side, many of us here are feeling sincerely grateful for blessings we often took for granted before, which is perfect for Thanksgiving week.
I am going to take a break from blogging until the new year, so I wish you happy holidays!