Getting out of my head and into the beds…

June 30, 2020November 13, 2020 ~ queenofthedirt ~ 3 Comments

What a strange spring and early summer this has been. Typically April, May and early June are packed with both activity in my own garden and road trips to a whole litany of garden tours throughout California plus wherever else I can manage to get myself to. The Garden Conservancy Open Days have been a staple for me along with the Gamble Garden and Theodore Payne Foundation’s annual rambles in the Bay Area and Southern California respectively. For the last few years the Garden Bloggers Fling meetup has been a much anticipated few days touring beautiful gardens across the US and talking gardening with the eclectic group of folks who attend. I’ve taken my readers along on all these trips and scrolling back through my previous years’ posts you can see at least the highlights of these adventures. With the COVID-19 pandemic calling this year’s shots, we are all “gardening in place” to protect ourselves all those whose lives we touch in both small and large ways.

All this free time AND a new-to-me house and garden has kept me semi-permanently gardening in my head, surveying my new space and formulating one plan after another for changes I want to make. Longtime readers may remember we had JUST finished a multi-year turf removal and garden renovation project only months before we handed that garden over to a lovely young couple who may come to hate us mid-summer when the West Coast whack (see Doing the West Coast whack…) comes due. For the first time in our lives we are going to enlist some professional design help with our new garden, mostly in the hope that we can see our (my?) dreams come true in a little more timely fashion than we are able to make happen with our DIY efforts–the goal being to work a little less and enjoy a little more.

I’ve added a few bits and pieces to the existing tiny back garden to keep my trowel from getting rusty and just could not let the summer pass without taking a shovel to the small weed and clover infested strip of grass between our double driveway and our neighbors’ front garden.

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I spent several days of just past dawn hours digging out the weeds and what remained of once viable turf. My neighbor advised he has been fighting an invasion of bermuda grass for several years and so I am sure I’ll need to be a vigilant digger for quite a while–I am well-versed in this task having just left a home with common bermuda lawns. My new best friends at now close-by Sierra View Nursery recommended their signature mix of river bottom sand and organic humus as an amendment. After lifting the existing drip lines, I dug about 1/2 cubic yard in to raise the grade and add a little lightness and organic matter.

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Most of the plants I planned to add were divisions I had potted up and brought from the old house. The little bed is anchored by Prunus cerasifera ‘Purple Pony’, a dwarf ornamental purple leafed plum. This petite charmer performed really well for us in the Spruce back garden and I thought it’s dwarf nature would make it a good screening for the side fence and gate without overwhelmed the space. The burgundy tinged green foliage of Penstemon ‘Blackbird’ will play off the tree’s leaf color.

Roses will be few and far between in this new house as I have tired of the needed care to keep them looking their best but I fell for a shrub rose called Eyeconic™ Mango Lemonade from Star Roses, seen below in this photo taken before planting.

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The softer orange tones–peach, apricot–seem to work really well with house’s stucco color. The house color–not for the faint of heart– is more pumpkin than it appears in the photos and is the basis for a garden palette of soft oranges, medium blues and burgundy I’m focused on.

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Also included are Agapanthus ‘Sapphire Storm’ and Salvia jamensis ‘Sierra San Antonio’, the last being a twiggy little salvia with bi-color pale peach and golden yellow blooms.

out of my head 7 — Garden center photo of Sapphire Storm

Both white and dark blue bearded iris division have been healed in. They are from a group that seemingly lost their labels in the move. Their home may be temporary should they turn out to not be the colors I think they are!

Lastly, three each Agastache ‘Orange Sunrise’ and Hemerocallis ‘Primal Scream’ will add a little explosion of color–the Agastache, below, is one of the smaller ones and very attractive to hummingbirds.

Agastache Orange Sunrise

June would never be my choice of timing to plant a new bed in Central California and from day to day things have looked a little peaked but at least I feel as though my gardening itch has been scratched a bit. Fingers crossed that all will make it through the heat of July and August!

A hot minute at the The Huntington…

November 18, 2019 ~ queenofthedirt ~ 3 Comments

In the many years I lived in Southern California I never visited The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino just north of Los Angeles. An overnight road trip to attend two educational lectures in the LA area, one at Rothenburg Hall on the grounds of this sprawling 120 acres of specialized botanical gardens, offered me a very brief window to view a small part of the gardens. The Huntington Library is a collection-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. and Arabella Huntington. The institution also has an extensive art collection focused on 18th and 19th century European art and 17th to mid-20th century American art. When I say hot minute, I mean just that. I arrived at 1 pm, about 45 minutes before the lecture was to begin, and it was 92°! Fortunately I had checked the weather forecast before leaving my Central Valley home where temps have been comfortably in the 60s and 70s–which is pretty warm for us in mid-November.

Knowing I would not be able to do the world renown Japanese and Chinese gardens justice and that the Australian and Desert Gardens were a pretty good walk away, I stayed close to the Education & Visitor Center and took in what I could. To experience all the themed gardens and see the art and science exhibits to boot, I think all but the most casual visitor probably needs 2 full days and then to visit again at different times of the year as the scenery is ever changing.

hot minute 1 — Rose Hills Foundation Garden Court

The 6.5 acre Brody California Garden fills an allée central to the Education & Visitors Center. My map tells me that my lecture hall is reached through the Rose Hills Foundation Garden Court so I locate that first to get both my bearings and my time frame available for wandering in perspective. The California Garden is home to 50,000 California native and dry climate plants, reflecting the area’s Mediterranean climate. The purple emerging foliage on the silvery Acacia baileyana ‘Purpurea” is reflected in its name.

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hot minute 4 — Hedge sitting rooms on either side of the wide walk offer a little shady seating and a quiet place to enjoy the surroundings

hot minute 3 — Rosemary used as a lush groundcover

At the end of the olive allée, the garden transitions to the historic core of The Huntington property.

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The Celebration Garden greets visitors with a shallow stream of recirculated water that empties into a rectangular pool. Plantings here, including those in pots, negate the common belief that drought tolerance equals dry and dull. Vibrant salvias and lavenders plus the varied hues of succulents, large and small, offer a riot of color.

Just beyond the Celebration Lawn is an outdoor installation which inaugurates the new /five initiative at The Huntington focusing on creative collaborations with other organizations. NASA/Jet Propulsion Labs is the first of five partners (over 5 years) and the project’s them was drawn from The Huntington Library’s aerospace history collection.

While standing in the middle of the pavilion, visitors hear sounds which represent the location of 19 NASA satellites orbiting and observing Earth’s surface, biosphere, atmosphere and oceans. NASA satellites say “hello” as they move across the sky by pairing the live trajectory data of each spacecraft to artistically created sounds. You can find extensive information about this unique installation and the initiative at http://www.huntington.org/orbit.

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hot minute 31 — From a distance The Orbit looks a little like a spaceship crashed on an alien world

hot minute 10 — These agaves glow in semi-shade

hot minute 9 — The outskirts of the Palm Garden and Jungle Garden

At this crossroads I elected to see the more European inspired gardens surrounding the original mansion, leaving the palms and their friends for another trip.

hot minute 11 — The Huntington residence, now home to the European art collection, peaks out from behind a pocket garden anchored by mature trees

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hot minute 13 — A fanciful fountain anchors the little garden which is filled with an assortment of unusual, international plant material

Native to the dry regions of Argentina, the trunk of the white silk floss tree (Chorisia insignis) stores water in its bulbous, spiny trunk. At first I wasn’t sure that the flowers were actually part of this tree rather than a vine which had scrambled up it willy nilly.

hot minute 16 — Otherworldly cones of the south African cycad, *Encephalartos arenarius*, planted at the tree’s base

hot minute 17 — The North Vista from the mansion/museum to the San Gabriel Mountains–many tree sized camellias line either side of the lawn

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As you would expect of a home from this era, plantings of mature mixed shrubbery wind among broad expanses of lawn.

hot minute 20 — The Bard himself, shaded by a rambling ‘Snow Goose’ rose welcomes visitors to his namesake garden

hot minute 21 — The Shakespeare Garden features plants grown in the author’s time in addition to those mentioned in his literary works

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The 3 acre Rose Garden was originally created in 1908 for the private enjoyment of Mr. and Mrs. Huntington. It now contains more than 3,000 plants and 1,200+ different cultivated varieties. This arbor covered pathway leads to the Japanese Garden.

hot minute 23 — Spectacular vista from the Rose Garden

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Rounding the house through the Rose Garden the expansive raised back terrace comes into view. The floribunda rose seen in the lower left is ‘Huntington’s 100’, named in honor of The Huntington’s Century celebration being held throughout 2019.

hot minute 25 — *Rosa* ‘Huntington’s 100’

Huge hibiscus shrubs were tucked up against the house and still sporting their bright tropical blooms a month before Christmas.

hot minute 29 — View from the back terrace

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Back almost full circle from the little garden where I started (you can glimpse it through the columns on the left) is this lovely covered area with a panoramic view of the grounds on two sides. Closing my eyes, I can see this exquisite space at dusk bathed in candlelight with gracious ladies in long gowns and men in tuxedoes milling about with brandies in hand, enjoying the coolish night air.

With the lecture time drawing near, I quick walk back to the glass domed garden court. It is fabulous inside with the air somewhat cooler and many places to sit for a bit.

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The program begins only moments after I get settled into my seat in the adjacent auditorium.

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James Brayton Hall, Chairman & CEO of the Garden Conservancy is speaking on America’s Outstanding Gardens as part of a quarterly lecture series sponsored by the California Garden & Landscape History Society. Although this organization is new to me, I have been a member of the Garden Conservancy for many years and attend as many of their California Open Days as I can fit in each year. Look back at my post A little Mendocino madness… for a look into the work of the Garden Conservancy or go directly to their website http://www.gardenconservancy.org for information on their mission and programs.

Mr. Hall’s slideshow featured photos of and commentary on many of the gardens that the Conservancy has helped to preserve for the benefit of the public, as well as his thoughts on what makes a garden outstanding and how the Conservancy goes about its preservation efforts. Of special interest to me were the historical perspectives on two of Garden Conservancy’s ongoing projects: the Gardens of Alcatraz and the Gardens at Palmdale in Fremont, CA–both on my road trip wish list. We also got a video introduction to a new project they are calling the Garden Film Documentation program. Short films are being produced telling the stories of gardens which have been the focus of the Conservancy’s preservation efforts. So far two have been produced and you can see a trailer for the film on the John P. Humes Japanese Stroll Garden in Short Hills, NJ on the website. Check it out!

So much more to be seen at The Huntington than the small part I toured today–I always like to find out about the people behind these fabulous properties enjoyed by the public on a daily basis and I’ll try to do that before I return. I can see that each of the major themed gardens will be deserving of its own post. Reading about them beforehand helps me to not miss any of the high points because I’m caught up in the wonder of each new plant combination or fanciful garden structure.

Tomorrow I’m off to see the Virginia Robinson Gardens in Beverly Hills and hear Tim Lindsey speak on Re-Wilding Your Garden–focusing on creating a garden with plants for wildlife, pollinators and people. This is a garden I’ve been trying see for years and have no idea what to expect from this 6 acre property in the heart of the city. See you soon!

Another day…another salvia

October 21, 2019November 30, 2022 ~ queenofthedirt ~ 4 Comments

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Perhaps you remember this box of precious finds from my post on the Spring Plant Sale at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden. Center stage is Salvia ‘Big Swing’, one of several totally new to me salvias I saw that day. I got it in the ground in my front garden in early May but of course failed to photograph it. As I gave it a good large open space the photograph would have only shown the velvety leaves about 6″ tall surrounded by a vast sea of humus!

big swing 3 — *Salvia* ‘Big Swing’ mid October 2019

It has been an exciting summer venturing away from the many twiggy, small leafed salvias I’ve grown for several years. Selections from the greggii and microphylla species are very successful here and bloom almost year around given periodic cutting back as the blooms fade. Below, Salvia ‘Mesa Azure’ is my enduring favorite with its nice mix of flowers and brighter green foliage. It has also been tough as nails in terms of weather and water.

big swing 5 — Grouping of S. ‘Mesa Azure’

big swing 6 — Masses of lavender blooms, each lit up by a tiny white blotch

Feeling the need to expand my salvia horizons into some of the more tender perennial species I having been picking up whatever I find on my gardening travels, usually just a single plant to trial as I did with ‘Big Swing’.

Salvia ‘Big Swing’ originated as a chance seedling between S. macrophylla and S. sagittata and was brought to gardens by noted Bay Area salvia expert Betsy Clebsch. I also purchased a Salvia sagittata but it has not been as successful for me as ‘Big Swing’ which purports to be more compact than its parent.

big swing 8 — First bloom stalk opens June 3

The foliage was fast growing to a lovely mound of large, almost chartreuse green arrow shaped leaves. Both the leaves and stems are soft and somewhat downy. This is my second wave of branched flower stalks–the first flush having been cut back in August. The flowers are not especially numerous but prominently held high above the foliage.

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The saturated cobalt blue flowers are almost electric and their shape interesting in the salvia world. On a breezy day the blooms appear as dancing butterflies atop the wiry stems.

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‘Big Swing’ is a tender perennial having hardiness only to USDA zone 10a according to one of my references. Annie’s Annuals in Richmond, CA lists zones 8-10 which is more hopeful for me–could be dicey to overwinter in my zone 9 so I may cut back, mulch and cover before our cooler weather sets in. Even if I lose this one, I would gladly treat it as an annual just to be able to enjoy it every year. Finding it again locally will be a challenge but that is what road trips are for! On the other end of the weather spectrum reference notes that it may require some afternoon shade and adequate water in the sunniest climates. My ‘Big Swing’ is in true full sun (southern) until very late afternoon and has done fine within the parameters of my weekly automatic sprinkler schedule. Of note is that the parent species S. sagittata purchased and planted at the same time does get some afternoon shade and perhaps a bit more water. It is half the size and has very few flower stalks!

Salvia ‘Big Swing’ gets an A+ for performance in my garden. For interesting information about great salvias for your garden check out any of the books written by Betsey Clebsch including The New Book of Salvias: Sages for Every Garden (Timber Press 2003).

Salvia mexicana ‘Ocampo’?

October 9, 2019October 7, 2019 ~ queenofthedirt ~ 6 Comments

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I have had several failed attempts to successfully grow Salvia mexicana ‘Limelight’–most recently a couple of years ago in my back garden close to the fencing so as to provide a green backdrop for other lower perennials planted in the foreground. As much as I would appreciate it, few plants die with a definitive autopsy report conveniently attached to their crispy brown stems. I am reasonably sure this last loss resulted from the species’ need for more shade and less of our death star summer sun.

Not to be defeated and with a few large open areas in the new front beds having a high shade canopy from the Raywood ash, I threw caution to the win and bought 3 wee 4″ pots in late March. The ‘Limelight’ cultivar is known for the chartreuse calyces which form in the fall signaling impending bloom. Unlike many of my other salvias which bloom year round given periodic cutting back, this one appears to be a true fall bloomer. As spring and summer passed the three little plants grew and grew. I did a little pinching back to promote bushiness but not having any experience of when they would actually bloom I was perhaps too timid, worrying about nipping off soon to be bloom spikes.

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Here you see one of the three, having grown to about 6 feet tall and 4 feet across. A second is directly behind it but on the other side of the ash’s canopy, near an open pathway which provides me access to the bed for tidying up and planting tasks. The inflorescences which eventually grow to 6 or 8″ in length started to form just a couple of weeks ago.

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The calyces on all of my plants lack ‘Limelight’s signature yellow-green color. A little research leads me to believe my plants may actually be Salvia mexicana ‘Ocampo’ which is known for its dark purple to almost black calyces. So for all my self congratulation through the summer at these flourishing specimens I STILL haven’t been able to successfully grow ‘Limelight’! Regardless of what I call it, this salvia is a hummingbird and bee magnet. Its sturdy structure sways in a light breeze and the dappled shade makes the bright green leaves dance. I love it!

The third of my plants was sited in slightly more sun. All got adequate water (they are are not especially drought tolerant) due to regular hand watering to supplement the minimal automatic irrigation of the bed and I’d give their planting positions an A+ for drainage.

While the last of the plants grew as large, if not larger, than the two in slightly more shade; many of the new leaves emerged somewhat curled. Even as the entire plant looked on death’s door it continued to put on new leaves with some emerging curled or crispy dark brown. Through this seemingly torturous growing process it too began the process of forming bloom spikes along with its neighbors. As the siting of the struggling plant pretty much obscured its closest and better performing neighbor, I gave in and cut it back to about 15″ a few days ago. It is starting to put on a few new leaves but they too are deformed–any thoughts out there in gardening land??

For those of you who would like to try Salvia mexicana, (‘Limelight’, ‘Ocampo’ or a more compact form ‘Lollie Jackson)’ give your plant sun to bright shade depending on your summer climate and well-drained rich soil. Protection from frost is essential although most are root hardy down into the 20°s. Your reward will be a summer of beautiful clean foliage followed by stunning fall flowers buzzing with nectar loving pollinators.

In other salvia news…

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This unidentified microphylla/greggii hybrid–maybe Heatwave ‘Blaze’–is putting on a fabulous show as you approach my front door.

Is is fall yet?

September 22, 2019 ~ queenofthedirt ~ 3 Comments

fall 14 — A late summer *Lilium speciosum album* in the front garden

Fall can be sort of a moving target in California’s Central Valley. Some years we pull out our hoodies in mid-October and others find us Christmas tree shopping in shorts. We are not without seasons–just not sure when to expect them to change throughout the year!

Whenever it gets here, fall is my favorite season in the garden. It is certainly not the most attractive as many plants, even those not naturally winding down their seasons due to shorter days and longer nights, look pretty peaked from the ravages of the hot and dry summer. Fall is the season symbolizing another year of work well done in the garden with a little time for reflection, planning and rest on the horizon. Our short, relatively mild winters make attention to the garden in fall even more critical.

This year our spring was cooler, longer and wetter than average and the summer days in the triple digits were fewer than many years–all in all a summer worthy of rejoicing. That being said, as I write this post temps for the next few days range from 89° to 98° with a definite cooling trend into the 70s at week’s end. The last couple of weeks we have had cooler early mornings well suited to getting going on fall garden tasks and some light winds which seem to have made the mosquitoes less active–always a plus.

Last year every available gardening minute from September through the end of the year was devoted to the last phase of the front garden’s lawn removal/bed replanting effort. The back garden was left to fend for itself–roses were never pruned, perennials not cut back, winter annual weed pre-emergent never scattered, and humsy mulch never refreshed. I think you get the picture…

Like the 5 year old who feels neglected amidst the excitement of a new baby in the house, my back garden has both pouted and gone wild. It’s time to get back to a more normal rhythm for both gardens and see what can be refreshed (or just plain salvaged) in hopes that after a little winter’s nap it will reward me with another year of fresh foliage or bright blooms.

First on my hit list are the vigorous clumps of Viola ‘Royal Robe’ which have all but taken over the shade bed adjacent the back patio. Below you see some of the smaller clumps nestled up against Helleborus x hybridus ‘Double Queen’ and Geranium ‘Brookside’

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The hellebores can hold their own against this thug but many of the bed’s less substantial ground covers like the lime green foliaged Campanula ‘Dickson’s Gold’ are all but lost. Don’t get me wrong–I love the violets. I generally thin them drastically in the early fall as they are ready to reseed with the goal of keeping enough in the bed to enjoy the flowers without them turning into the playground bully. Without last year’s thinning, they reseeded prolifically and just about every open space in the long bed looked just like the above photo.

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It took me about 9 hours spread over several days to dig out every clump, large and small, figuring there was enough seed already dropped to have gracious plenty come back next year. Each one of the seed pods forming at the base of the plant contains dozens of seeds and I swear every single one germinates in this bed which stays relatively cool and moist. The clumps, even with the dirt shaken off the roots, filled almost four trash cans.

I also trimmed back the sun scorched maidenhair ferns, cleaned up the iris foliage, trimmed off any hellebore foliage with snail damage and pulled off all but the freshest foliage from all the hardy geraniums. All that turned up soil resulting from the violet digging begged for a layer of enriching humus to be dug in. A light dusting of granular pre-emergent seemed warranted to minimize germination of any seeds churned up to the surface.

Dave did the heavy digging and lifting to remove two huge clumps of Dianella tasmanica ‘Variegata’ from behind the rocks of the pool waterfall. They had originally been planted flanking the rock work in 2011 but quickly proved to be incompatible with that full southern sun location. Absent any other place to put them I dug them in behind the waterfall where they got a little shade from the boulders. When I later added some climbing roses to the fence they provided a nice foliage contrast at the base of the climbers–even though I was really the only one who even knew they were there! Fast forward to 2019 and the clumps are so large I have lost all ability to even stand at the base of the roses (wedged up against the back of the waterfall!) to do routine maintenance…and the dianellas, commonly called flax lilies, are still in too much sun to have pretty foliage. The plan was to dig them out, divide and replant in shadier locations.

fall 9 — No easy feat to lift this clump out over the rocks and other mature plants

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Dave moved the first one into the shade of the pavilion for me and I set to pulling it apart! This one yield over 60 divisions–plenty for me to replant in my yard and pass along to gardening friends. Much of the literature about dianella indicates that they can be invasive as they spread by underground runners. My guess is that they probably need to be in good rich and moist soil to become a pest. Although my clumps grew quite large over many years each was very compact. The striped foliage of this species makes a nice contrast in areas of predominantly green foliage. Flax lilies bear small clusters of starlike blue flowers, followed by bluish purple berries, on narrow stems held above the foliage–not terribly showy. In a shady area of the replanted front garden I have added a grouping of Dianella ‘BluTopia’ which is a hybrid of Dianella prunina ‘Utopia’ and Dianella caerulea ‘Cassa Blue’–it will be interesting to see how this cousin of ‘Variegata’ will perform in a moister, shadier area.

Each of the back gardens beds in turn will get a little love over the next few weeks. Working early in the morning and in easily managed chunks of tasks I hope to get through everything needing attention by mid-October.

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This small poolside bed anchored by a ‘Purple Pony’ ornamental plum needs only a light deadheading of the pink Sunblaze® miniature roses and ground hugging purple Salvia ‘Gleneden’ PPAF. Several large clumps of Aristea ecklonii on the far side were groomed soon after their early summer blooms faded. They are aggressive reseeders and I have learned to remove the spent flower stems religiously after a few seasons of digging scores of volunteers on my hands and knees. Almost done here–I’ll be on to the next bed soon!

I hope you are all enjoying your almost fall gardens–whether you are blessed with actual autumn weather or are just in a fall state of mind.

fall 12 — A nodding agapanthus bloom bids summer adieu

In a daze in Denver…lessons from a cocktail napkin

July 2, 2019July 1, 2019 ~ queenofthedirt ~ 3 Comments

THE GARDEN OF ROB PROCTOR AND DAVID MACKE IN DENVER

A few months ago my husband outlined the inspirational message he was to give at our youngest son’s wedding to his long-time love on a polka dotted cocktail napkin–you can actually see the napkin in his hand in the photos taken of him with the bride and groom at the altar. In the garden notes about Rob Proctor and David Macke’s phenomenal garden, I learned that 25 years ago Rob drew a layout of the garden on a cocktail napkin as he and David celebrated the closing on their new home. The cocktail napkin’s role in new beginnings and big decisions is starting to take on new meaning for me!

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Rob and David invited us to enter their back garden through their 1905 brick home which displays an eclectic collection of David’s antiques and Rob’s watercolors. Rob Proctor is part of Denver’s horticultural royalty. He is a past Director of Horticulture for Denver Botanic Gardens and has written sixteen gardening books on topics from cutting gardens to how to create beautiful gardens on a shoestring budget. Rob has written for the Denver Post and is the resident gardening expert for Denver KUSA-TV. He is also a noted botanic illustrator and watercolor artist. This garden has been featured in many books and magazines and is open annually in August (at its peak bloom) for the Proctor’s Garden tour which benefits a local nonprofit community-based animal shelter/humane society.

A Denver Garden Bloggers Fling would not be complete without a chance to see Rob’s garden. Caveats to this post which simply does not do the garden justice, even in its first few weeks of the season; you get the light you get based on the time of day we are scheduled to be in any given garden and MY photography skills can’t do much to alter that; we have about 35 minutes in any single garden to not just take it all in but also photograph it. If you are a YouTube viewer, there are multiple videos over several years of this garden, several including interviews with Rob. Especially engaging is a June 18, 2019 YouTube upload set to music by fellow Flinger Janet Davis who blogs at The Paintbox Garden–unfortunately my platform doesn’t support links to video but any of the videos can be found by Googling. Your search engine will also offer you a series of Rob’s own video clips at http://www.9news.com on a variety of gardening topics. All of these are worth watching.

On with the show…

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The brick patio opens to a series of very long and lush perennial borders within a formal structure “walls” provided by brick columns and lathe fencing. The garden’s folly is the visual focus from the seating area and draws the eye to the into to the depths of the garden.

GBF Proctor 2 — Flower filled intimate seating spot just a step or two away from the kitchen door

GBF Proctor 6 — Turf plays the role of pathway between the borders

GBF Proctor 52 — A spot to relax on the way to the herb garden

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The parterre herb garden as viewed from several angles. Again, Rob has used formal structure but let the plants fill it in a blowsy, live and let live fashion. The herb beds are actually sunk below grade to collect water in a technique employed by the Native Peoples which Rob describes as the way a waffle collects syrup.

GBF Proctor 7 — This climbing rose anchors the center of the parterre

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GBF Proctor 8 — Cobalt cushioned seating along the fence line overlooking the herb garden

GBF Proctor 14 — A pair of potted clematis flank the loveseat

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The gravel allee is actually the old driveway, now transformed into a long border completely composed of pots. This is perhaps a good place to note that this garden is home to over 600 planted pots. that’s 6-0-0! They are small and large, tall and squat, mostly but not all blue or terra-cotta. Holy moly–I’m doing well to not let the ivy left behind in last year’s abandoned container croak over the winter…

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GBF Proctor 13 — Rob and Dave snuck this red seating area in to see if we were paying attention

GBF Proctor 11 — Lots of crimson and chartreuse in these terra cotta pots

The next border over–they all extend from the back of the home sort of like tines from a fork–is quite shady due to the tree cover directly behind the herb parterre but chock full of emerging perennials. Pots of color are placed in the borders to add pops of interest at strategic spots.

GBF Proctor 20 — Succulents planted in hypertufa boxes rest on a wooden bench at the base of a large shade tree

GBF Proctor 21 — One type of pot, one type of plant= big impact

GBF Proctor 19 — Looking down the border

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This magnificent plant that is sited on both sides of the border at its sunnier end (look to the very end of the lawn strip in the next to last photo for the billowy clouds of white) was the subject of much interest to many of us–finally identified as Crambe cordifolia, sometimes referred to as giant sea kale. It sort of looks like airborne baby’s breath floating six feet in the air. Even in a smallish garden it could be used as the backdrop for other more colorful perennials and annuals.

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The white lathe folly at the end of the center border is filled a variety of containers potted up with succulents, ferns, tropicals and houseplants needing a little protection.

GBF Proctor 23 — Cobalt blue pots are again prominent, many with yellowy-chartreuse foliage

GBF Proctor 25 — Matched hanging baskets of a huge coral hued begonia flank the folly’s doorway

GBF Proctor 26 — Another cluster of blue pots are nestled at the base of a spiral staircase

Remembering that this garden is just now in its opening weeks of Denver’s relatively short growing season, I am not sure I can imagine all 600 of the pots bursting with blooms at the peak of the season.

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The central border is alive with bright and dark foliage colors and many blooms. While more is not yet quite blooming than is, the overall effect is staggering. Another plant drawing a bit of attention is this huge leafed perennial which is present is all the borders in various stages of maturity. Several Midwest gardeners recognized it right away and referred to it ask hogweed, cautioning unwitting novices like me not to touch it! David Macke identified it for us as Heracleum maximum, commonly called cow parsnip. It is a genus of about 60 species of perennial herbs in the carrot family. Apparently it can deliver a nasty rash if you handle it and then the affected areas are exposed to sunlight.

GBF Proctor 33 — The umbels on this cow parsnip tower least 8 feet in the air

GBF Proctor 30 — Another favorite in this sunny border Kashmir sage, *Phlomis cashmeriana*

The most Westerly border ends in an arbor leading to the vegetable garden which spans the entire back of the property, mostly shielded from the view of the more ornamental borders.

GBF Proctor 32 — A huge weigela is an explosion of blooms

GBF Proctor 34 — *Clematis recta* billows at the base of the arbor

GBF Proctor 27 — Things get a little wilder as you approach the veggie area.

GBF Proctor 37 — A little potting up space

GBF Proctor 38 — Once again having structure and organization firmly in place allows for freedom within the planting beds

GBF Proctor 39 — The “waffle” scheme is repeated here, allowing valuable water to flow into the below grade planting square

GBF Proctor 40 — Each square of edibles has a terra cotta potted succulent centerpiece–art in its own right

GBF Proctor 41 — *Malva sylvestris*, zebra mallow snuggles up against the base of a bench

GBF Proctor 44 — Clary sage pops out of the gravel in abandon

GBF Proctor 43 — Creative succulent containers abound

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I am practically on a dead run from the far back veggies to the house as last call for the bus is made-fortunately I am not alone!

GBF Proctor 31 — Looking back to main patio from central border path

GBF Proctor 50 — Blue pots explode with pansies, succulents and more

GBF Proctor 51 — How could I have missed this patio water feature–hidden amongst the myriad of pots!

The lush back garden Rob and David have planted, nourished and nurtured over 25 years after its initial plan was rendered on a cocktail napkin was beautiful on June 18th, the day of my visit. I expect that each day of its season, while different, is equally as stunning. Layer upon layer of plants will come and go through out the borders, beds and pots, rewarding anyone who is lucky enough to spend even 35 minutes amongst them. The “bones” and fundamental framework planned out on that cocktail napkin have made it possible for diverse plant materials to flourish in both contrast and harmony with one another–bits of interesting chaos resting safely in the arms of the garden’s structure. The message David delivered to the soon-to-be newlyweds was one of building a framework of confidence in one another through caring and communication. The goal being a relationship in which both can flourish individually and as partners, in times of contrast and harmony, but always in a safe space. Didn’t think you could get all that on a cocktail napkin, did you? A huge thank you to Rob and David for their generosity in sharing their garden with us on this day.

Doing the West Coast whack…

June 26, 2019June 26, 2019 ~ queenofthedirt ~ 4 Comments

One of the most satisfying things about participating in the Garden Bloggers Fling the last several years has been the opportunity to meet gardeners from all over the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. We are all proud of what we grow but there is no denying that we all lament over what we just can’t get to perform well (or even stay alive til season’s end) given our region’s cultural conditions.

When I lived in the deep south our hydrangeas were big, blue and fabulous and spring days were awash in color from the winter’s remaining camellias, azaleas of all colors and blooming ornamental cherry trees. I could not, however, grow a decent rose that wasn’t covered in blackspot by the time it formed buds. At the Capitol Region Fling in 2017, gardeners with massed blooming perennials and annuals mourned their lack of gardenias as evergreen shrubs rather than annuals lost to cold each year. Clematis and peonies are always wept over by those of us whose fate they are not while I’m pretty sure they grow unattended in fields in the Midwest. A fellow blogger mooned over a single agapanthus in a Denver garden as if it was the second coming; in Southern California we grew those by the freeways. Don’t get me wrong–all of us have gotten a round peg in a square hole with enough effort but more and more gardeners are concentrating on growing well what grows best in their garden’s natural culture.

There is also a lot of time to cuss and discuss various the cultural practices we use to get the most from what we’ve got. In front of an amsonia standing very tall in a Denver garden I commented that I had planted one in my Georgia garden but could never get it not to flop. UK blogger Michelle Chapman asked, “Do you Chelsea chop?” I was momentarily without words. She went on to explain that cutting the amsonia, along with many other herbaceous perennials, back at a certain point to encourage branching would produce a sturdier plant less likely to flop. Michelle gardens in Chippenham, England and blogs at Veg Plotting. For her area that optimal spring cutback takes place around the time of the famed Chelsea Flower Show–hence it is called the Chelsea chop. As I enjoy a longer growing season, my perennials generally have been blooming for 2+ months by May when CFS takes place. My early spring cutback to encourage branching is more like early to mid-February but I have no equally descriptive name for it. My Central Valley’s commonly 8 month growing season does benefit from a mid-summer cutback of most herbaceous and woody perennials. After they take a brief rest, I am rewarded with another full bloom cycle which carries my garden through fall. I’ve decided I’m going to call my early July cutback the West Coast whack! There is always more than binds gardeners together than that separates them–we are pretty good world ambassadors, I think.

walk 2 — *Salvia* ‘Mesa Azure’ is ubiquitous in my garden and so is rarely the center of any photo!

As we are spending next week in the cool of the Sierra Mountains and my plants are ready even if I am not, this is my week to whack. In years past, I have spent more time laboriously making the perfect cut on each stem but life has gotten too short for that and many of the twiggier plant groups like the Salvia greggii, of which I have many selections, seem to respond just as well with a less precision prune. Roses are getting another mass dead heading also–not much escapes this mid-summer madness.

wack 1 — The iris is finished and the salvias whacked!

It will take me the rest of the week, working in the cooler early morning hours, to cut back the salvias, agastache, penstemon and shrub roses. Other perennials can be dead headed and tidied up as time permits. We’ll take a rest from the garden next week as the garden starts its summer afternoon nap.

In a daze near Denver…600 tons and what do you get?

June 22, 2019 ~ queenofthedirt ~ 4 Comments

THE GARDEN OF TATIANA MAXWELL IN BOULDER

Six hundred tons is the tally for the Colorado sandstone used to build the walls, ponds and waterfalls in the garden of Tatiana Maxwell. This post will be photo rich–every time I went through the 75+ pictures I took of this beautiful and peaceful property trying to decide what I could eliminate…well, you get the idea!

The Maxwell home is on about 1/2 acre corner lot in the Old North Boulder neighborhood and was completed in 2010. Tatiana’s original vision for her garden was a more traditional English cottage garden but brainstorming with a friend, Thea Alvin of myEarthwork and local permaculturalist Marco Lam opened her eyes to more possibilities. Even after reading a bit about permaculture I am still not sure what its principles are but here’s how I’m going to sum it up: using perfect plants for the climate and only what works in the local environment and cultural conditions rather than starting your design process with the plants you want to use and trying to adapt your site and cultural habits to them.

We started our ramble on the driveway. I will admit I had been in the garden for almost 30 minutes before I realized there actually was a front door. I thought she had no back garden even as I was actually already in it. Let’s just walk right up the driveway which runs from street to property line near the back of one side of the lot.

GBF Maxwell 2 — A sunny raised veggie bed is the front garden for the Maxwell guest house

GBF Maxwell 3 — Attached to the guest house is Tatiana’s greenhouse/sauna

GBF Maxwell 12 — More refuge than potting up spot-the sauna is in the back left corner

GBF Maxwell 13 — This beautiful swing is one of many pieces of Indonesian influence throughout

GBF Maxwell 14 — A little succulent color brightens up the sauna’s exterior wall

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Between the guest house/greenhouse and the fenced vegetable garden is the family’s handy bike storage. Tatiana’s plan was to create an urban oasis where she would be “cocooned in nature.”

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The two vegetable gardens produce a broad array of vegetables through three seasons. There are also fruit trees and berry bushes plus a couple of fig trees which live in the greenhouse.

GBF Maxwell 7 — Catmint softens the edge where the stacked stone wall meets the gravel floor for the strip west of the driveway

GBF Maxwell 9 — Raised beds have drip irrigation and pots for color–warm season veggie gardening is just getting started here

GBF Maxwell 11 — A cold frame provides space to start seeds earlier than they could be directly sown

GBF Maxwell 10 — Colorful perennials massed at the north end fill in at the feet of trellised vines

The garage is tucked on the east side of the driveway with a detached studio then nestled between the house and the driveway, a narrow walkway separating the two. As with the greenhouse and gardens no detail was spared on this charming little building.

GBF Maxwell 16 — These galvanized gutters are like wall art

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This colorful trio lights adds interest to a very narrow planting space between the studio and the driveway. I believe the upper left is a contorted filbert, Corylus avellana ‘Red Majestic’; upper right is one of the lime leafed barberries; below them is a red hot poker plant.

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The front door of the studio is protected by a unique glass and iron awning. The door frame has this southwestern influenced tile work and the same rustic wood found on the window frames.

GBF Maxwell 22 — A small walkway and ample tree cover makes it hard to distinguish the studio from the house

GBF Maxwell 23 — A purple clematis scrambles up the gutter

Yes, it’s true that I’ve been basically hanging out on the driveway til now. Let’s dive deep into the garden!

GBF Maxwell 26 — Approaching the garden secret entrance from the driveway–you just know you want to be in there!

GBF Maxwell 25 — This unbelievable rock pond is a natural watering hole for pollinators

GBF Maxwell 28 — Lots of plantings, like this *Euphorbia*, soften the junction of the driveway surface and the massive rock walls

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GBF Maxwell 32 — Neither the first nor the last clematis envy I experienced in Colorado

GBF Maxwell 31 — A quick left turn allows visitors to step underneath the huge slab of rock forming the base of the waterfall

GBF Maxwell 34 — Stepping out into a path which circles the pond offers a different perspective of the greenhouse…

GBF Maxwell 35 — …and a up-close view of the pond’s impressive rock structure, depth and waterfall

GBF Maxwell 33 — Back through the rock tunnel and I step out into the expanse of the garden

Tatiana Maxwell wanted to have a garden space in which she could host events for causes she is passionate about and the broad lawn provides ample space several hundred people to be seated.

GBF Maxwell 36 — Red rose climbing up the side of the pond wall

GBF Maxwell 37 — Another contorted filbert–‘Harrry Lauder’s Walking Stick’

The entire south side of the lot is enclosed with a massive very high stacked stone wall which turns the corners on both the east and west sides, allowing for several elevations of planting places on the interior of the walls. These beds are lushly panted with a variety of foliage colors, shapes, sizes and textures.

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I literally stood mid-lawn and turned 180 degrees right to left to photograph the interior borders. They are well kept but not fussy–looks to me like a gardener who likes to be out in her garden snipping and picking here and there.

GBF Maxwell 45 — Looking back toward the home, a shady patio is a wonderful place from which to observe the garden goings on

GBF Maxwell 17 — Iron hardware supports the arbor

GBF Maxwell 24 — Rustic bell shaped light fixtures on both the home and studio

GBF Maxwell 46 — Looking back at the pond

GBF Maxwell 48 — Looking back at the patio from the east lawn

It was not until I had walked out far enough to take this photo that I recognized that this patio was not the front of the home–that we had actually entered at the back of the property.

GBF Maxwell 50 — Around the corner from the driveway and looking back into the garden–really the only side open to street view

GBF Maxwell 58 — Tatiana’s green roof through the tree branches

GBF Maxwell 52

I love this somewhat understated front entrance into a home which I’m sure is very large and beautifully appointed. It says to me that this home is about Tatiana’s connection to her family, garden, neighbors and friends rather than that she needs a “grand entrance” to make a statement about who she is to those who don’t know her. Again, old world and international details set the tone.

GBF Maxwell 54 — Lovely tracery of the vine on the stucco wall

GBF Maxwell 56 — Just north of the front door is an almost hidden entrance to a walled secret garden

GBF Maxwell 51 — Bold Indonesian lanterns flank French doors leading to? I would want it to be the master bedroom!

GBF Maxwell 55 — A mix of colorful foliage

GBF Maxwell 57 — These steps make a statement–I think they are basement access

It’s time to walk back to our buses, still parked by the driveway. Now I get to see what I would have normally taken in first on any garden tour–the street view. Behind its stacked sandstone walls, Tatiana’s home is virtually invisible except for a the space open to the lawn on the east side.

GBF Maxwell 59 — The raised beds resume and round the corner

GBF Maxwell 60 — The set back raised beds in front of the higher walls result in three planting levels–this is the point where the two streets of the corner lot meet

GBF Maxwell 61 — Flowering trees, shrubs and perennials fill all levels–this lemon yellow pine leafed penstemon contrasts brightly with the catmint and lily-of the-Nile

GBF Maxwell 62 — Corner of the street and the driveway–I’ve come full circle (square?)

I found both this home and its garden very appealing. I have never seen so much rock in any other garden anywhere but many lush plantings soften it throughout. Equally suited to a young family or empty-nesters, this property could meet most everyone’s desire’s for ornamentals and edibles plus a wide swathe of lawn. Gardens that look so casually beautiful are not without maintenance but the permaculture nature lends itself to the need for less water, less fertilizer and lower energy requirements. Every garden requires maintenance and I think working in this one would be a great pleasure.

In a daze near Denver…a prairie meadow

June 19, 2019July 24, 2019 ~ queenofthedirt ~ 10 Comments

THE GARDEN OF MARY AND LARRY SCRIPTER IN NIWOT

Mary and Larry’s rural Niwot garden occupies about a quarter of their 5 acre lot. With roads on two sides of their property and fields on the other two, you couldn’t ask for a more serene location. Unless you could also have an unobstructed view of the Rocky Mountains–did I mention that they enjoy that also?

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Adding to their sense of privacy, a long driveway well treed on both sides brings us to their neat 70s ranch home. Mary notes in her garden profile that they started their garden in about 2011 challenged with bindweed, thistle, quack grass, dying aspen trees and clay soil. I don’t even know what those first three things are but I’m sensing they are not good.

GBF Scripter 11 — The island in the driveway is only a couple of seasons old and filled with a variety of perennials, small scale shrubbery and iris

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The barn takes on a quasi desert look with this colony of shapely yuccas. Larry recounted that plants in this group have all descended from a small one he found out in the field and stuck in the dry ground. When asked what species of yucca they were (as garden bloggers do) he replied dryly, “field yuccas”.

GBF Scripter 12 — Looks like a field yucca to me…

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This sprightly little pine had a spot just at the end of the field yuccas. It is one of the lodgepole pines, Pinus contorta ‘Taylor’s Sunburst’ and should reach 12 ft. high and 8 ft. wide and sports those new bright yellow needles for about two months each spring. Although this pine was new to me it would not be the last time I saw it during my Denver stay.

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Mary’s front porch adjacent plantings were colorful and traditional–roses, salvia, and a number of other low fillers not yet in bloom.

GBF Scripter 37 — *Centranthus ruber*, also known as red valerian or Jupiter’s beard is a tough prairie perennial very attractive to butterflies

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It was impossible not to gawk at the exquisite woodwork around the front door, not at all usual for the style and age of the home. Larry shared that one of Mary’s many endeavors had been dealing in European antiques and that this piece was from a French cathedral.

GBF Scripter 33 — Our first glimpse of Mary’s sense of garden whimsey: busy iron ants amongst scrambling poppy mallow

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The garden slopes down at the end of the home and as we descend the stairs, Mary’s numerous fairy gardens, both sun and shade, come into view.

At the northwest corner of the garden work began in 2011 to add privacy from the road and increase bird habit. The design was done by Lauren Ogden Springer, an internationally known garden rock star who lives and gardens in nearby Ft. Collins. She and her husband, Scott, have written two books together: Waterwise Plants for Sustainable Gardens (Timber Press 2011) and Plant-Driven Design (Timber Press 2008). Lauren also authored The Undaunted Garden: Planting for Water-Resilient Beauty (Fulcrum Publishing 2011). She is currently overseeing the planting of a newly designed public garden named the Undaunted Garden at The Gardens at Spring Creek which is on our tour itinerary. The Scripter privacy screen contains over 60 trees and shrubs planted with the help of their backhoe and 600 blue grama and little bluestem grasses. To deter the weeds and keep the new plantings moist they were covered with free mulch from tree contractors. Now established, the area is only watered about four times per year.

GBF Scripter 16 — Looking into the privacy screen from the end of the Scripter home

GBF Scripter 15 — Sort of an organic “Please don’t walk on the grass” sign

GBF Scripter 31 — My first view of the prairie meadow–in the foreground, masses of columbine

In 2012, Larry prepped the area behind their home which was destined to become their own personal prairie meadow using 800 pounds of alfalfa pellets and 10 cubic yards of compost, working it into existing clay soil with his tractor. With Lauren Springer Ogden’s meadow design in hand, Mary spray painted the ground, laying out the matrix of plants, section by section.

From Mary’s garden profile, “Over a period of three weeks, we planted 1,800 plants, including 70 types of perennials, shrubs, native wildflowers, and 13 types of grasses. In the fall of the same year, we planted 1,500 bulbs–daffodils, camassias, tiger lilies, eremurus, gladiolus and various alliums plus many flowers for cutting.” Using a shovel and a wheelbarrow, Larry spread 25 tons of pea gravel around all the precious plants to deter weeds from the hayfield and retain moisture. They had realized their goal of having a prairie meadow with a view of the Rockies.

GBF Scripter 18 — Wide gravel paths allow easy access for maintenance

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Keep in mind that this meadow was covered with snow a short three weeks ago. While it is mostly green now, it has many diverse plant colonies which will come into bloom throughout the summer and probably reach its peak in August.

GBF Scripter 21 — *Eremurus* (desert candles) just rising up

GBF Scripter 22 — Waning *Papaver somniferum* ‘Lauren’s Grape’–named after garden designer Lauren Springer Ogden

GBF Scripter 9 — *Sanguisorba,* I think–commonly called burnet and endowed with astringent properties

This prairie meadow under the big Colorado sky lies not much more than a hay field away from the Lagerman Reservoir. Mary had laid out several bug spray options for us on the deck and you only had to venture out into the meadow to understand why–it was swarming with mosquitoes. Many of us, including me, just weren’t able to spend much time photographing plant groupings because you couldn’t stand too long in one spot before they found you!!

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This striking bird bath was one of my favorite meadow elements. Mary shares that the ever changing meadow landscape is full of life year-round, including hundreds of birds. The entire meadow is a certified Pollinator Habitat, feeding wild bees and the bees from neighboring farms.

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Viewing the meadow from the southwestern end of the back garden. This area is shaded and planted with many traditional shade loving species.

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The shaded back deck is perfect for relaxing and enjoying the view of the meadow and the Rockies beyond.

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The back deck bears witness to another part of Mary’s collecting life when she dealt in cowboy and western items. This vintage Americana seems just right for Colorado decor.

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This delightful photographic essay on the meadow development which also included photos of the Scripter’s family and friends was available for us to enjoy.

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Although the meadow is now well established, the Scripters concede that no garden is ever done. A meadow this size requires significant maintenance with weeds, weather and critters all being unpredictable factors from year to year. Regardless of the work involved to maintain their stunning long range view from the meadow to the mountains, they express that they are very grateful to live here. I am very grateful that Mary and Larry were willing to share their garden with us.

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