Wintry Mix

This mild winter has brought along the common weather report of a "wintery mix" of rain, sleet, snow and whatever other forms and shapes water can make in between.  So, what have I found the labyrinth showing its courage?

Near the entrance of the labyrinth, underneath the front edge of the viburnum is this bold Hellebore.  I confess I don't have my journal with the variety written down, so I cannot name it.  I promise to take another photo of the flowers and name it then.  I just bought it last year, about this same time in January, and kept it on the dining table for several weeks to enjoy it close up. 

The next beauty is actually in the North Garden, on the other side of the house.  This plant is budding much earlier than any of the others in that area, which gets no sun in the winter and the only warmth is from being close to the foundation of the house. 

It arrived as an unnamed seedling I bought at half price when the Sunshine Farm and Gardens was getting rid of large quantities they had not been able to re-pot.  I lost half of them in the first 8 months, because they were not ready for the rough and tumble life of an ordinary patch of soil.  So much for any savings, and they still took a couple of years before reaching blooming size.  Always wanting to be forgiving, I almost forget my frustration about what happened when they are blooming.  Almost.  I have not bought anything else from that nursery because of the rude response when I complained.  There are gentler ways to say discounted plants are not guaranteed.

In the back loop of the labyrinth are the tops of the new stems for the Peony 'Kopper Kettle.'  This will be the second spring for it to be in the ground, and I hope it has finally gotten large and settled in enough to bloom.  I have been waiting patiently, but no longer!  I can already count more than twice the number of stems that grew up last year.  Even more interesting, though it is hard to see in the photo, is that there are also buds on last year's stems.  Two, though out of focus here, are on the upper diagonal stem in this shot.  This particular peony is a cross between a tree and a herbaceous peony, with the strength of heavier stems so they don't collapse under the weight of the flowers.  They are supposed to die back to the ground, but this one didn't want to do that. I wonder how many others are doing this, and what conditions permit it?


So, I will end with another Bay view.  While the weather is not all that enticing, it is still uplifting to look through the garden at that expanse of water, almost blending into the sky.

More January pictures

Look at those Juniper berries!  Only one of the varieties of junipers that I grow seem to get them with any regularity.  Unfortunately I don't have my garden journal here with me, so I cannot identify the variety.

Then there is the peeling bark on the Acer Griseum, or the Paperbark Maple, growing in front of the house.  We bought this with money given to us by our neighbors when Mom died, and planted it as a memorial to her.  She would have loved it.

The tree has been having a difficult time with the droughts the last two years.  We learned the hard way in 2010 that it needs to be kept moist, or the tips of the branches die.  So, it lost its leader, and seems to be in the process of trying to decide which way to grow next.  When I was in Seattle a few years ago, I saw it planted as a street tree, and figured it must be pretty tough.  But what I forgot to account for was the regular rain and limited number of hot, sunny days that Seattle experiences.  I keep thinking that it will eventually get enough roots down into the soil, and take off.  But for now, it still remains almost the same size as when we bought it. 

A group of evergreens that invite a close view are the Japanese Cedars, or Cryptomeria japonica 'Black Dragon.' This shot shows the buds that are packed on all of the branches.  Sometime in the next few weeks, they will open up, and there will be a yellow cloud of pollen that surrounds the bushes every time they are touched or there is a slight breeze.  If you look closely in the center you can see two of the 'cones,' if that is the right term for them? They are about a half-inch in diameter, and look like a tiny artichoke with a squashed in tip
 
I bought three of these probably ten years ago at the U.S. National Arboretum plant sale, which is sponsored by the Friends of the National Arboretum.  I was attracted by the dense, short needles and their label saying that they were compact, slow growing and 10 feet tall at maturity.

Here is one of the three planted in a cluster near the end of the juniper edge that separates the lawn from the beginning of the slope down into the ravine.  You can see a bit of the juniper at the bottom right, reaching to the base of the cedar.  While there is nothing to provide a sense of scale in the photo, these are quite tall, probably about 8 feet!  So what I expected to be much slower growing is almost to it's "mature" height in just 10 years.  I am not complaining, just surprised.  The problem is that they have grown up into the view of the bay from the labyrinth, but when they were planted, there was no labyrinth!  They stay very dense, as you can tell.  The bits of brown are sections where small branches in the interior die back, I expect because there is just too much jammed together.  I have never had a big branch die back. 

So here is one last picture, looking though the mixed hedge towards the Bay. I swear, I did not dramatically "enhance" the color on this shot.  What you see is what the winter sun created all by itself.  In the center, behind the Crape Myrtle, are the Japanese Cedars in all their glory.

January 2012

It has been a mild winter up until the first week of this month, with the temperatures plunging into the low 20's for a few nights.  This killed off the foliage of the few remaining herbaceous perennials.  But some other specimens are holding their own, such as the Viburnum Alleghany bush, seen on the left.  This bush was severely damaged last year in a similar sudden drop in temperature, with large sections killed in spite of its hardy nature.  So, the few surviving old sections are blooming, even though the new suckers have not gotten mature enough to do the same.

Some plants, like the Sedum 'Angelina' that grows beneath the Inkberry hedge along the road, resist the cold.  This particular spot is protected enough that the intensity of the chartreuse color has not shifted.  I have no idea where that beech leaf could have come from, since there are none in the immediate area.  At the top right you can see how the zoysia grass has faded into its tawny color for the winter.  While many people dislike this characteristic of zoysia grass to shift from green to brown in the winter, I rather like the way it changes everything.  For four or so months green is not the dominant color, and anything that is green, such as the Sedum, becomes more noticed.  Last weekend with the full moon, the lighter straw color of the grass seemed to shimmer in the moonlight.  That would not have been true if it were still green.

The thyme that grows in some of the narrower sections between the paths of the labyrinth is also looking very strong and healthy in the softer winter sun.  I love the way the reddish lavender highlights appear in the cold weather.  I haven't figured out what causes some of the stems to have it, while others don't, but the variegation provides a subtle bit of warmth to the patch.  This year I hope to find and plant some more varieties of thyme into these different sections in addition to this one and the lemon thyme next to it.  They enjoy the long hours of hot sunshine, can survive being run over by the mower wheels or even chopped off by the blade if they get too tall.  As one of the few plants avoided by deer, who seem to avoid many of the herbs, thyme would also help protect the bulbs planted underneath.  Sad to say the deer have been nibbling at the tops of the daffodils and other bulb leaves that are supposed to be deer proof!  So, a disguising layer of thyme may be in order another year.

On the other side, at the edge of the parking pad, the Magnolia 'Little Gem' has recovered very well from last winter's destruction by heavy snows.  There has been vigorous new growth throughout, from near the ground and all the way to the top.  It has been spoiled this summer because we could not get the faucet to completely close, so there was a constant drip of water over its roots.  Once we spent the three hundred dollars to get a plumber out to fix the faucet, it will have to keep going on its own.  It was even spared losing branches for holiday decorations, but that means all the more for next year. 

There are more pictures to come, but they will have to wait for another day. 

December Colors

One of my ongoing projects is to find different plants that provide bright colors in the winter.  They don't have to be the brilliant colors of summer, because their setting is much more muted.  But small bits of mauve, purple, red or yellow seem to jump out.

 Here is one bit of green, which would not even be noticed during the summer.  But now with everything died to the ground, this Arum sintenisii, from Plant Delights is striking.  When I saw this Arum is from Cyprus, I had to have it as a reminder of our trip to Cyprus last January.  Having visited that Mediterranean island and learning how hot and dry it is in the summer, I can understand why this dies back in the late spring, only to put new leaves up when the weather cools.

The Heather Bed has the most color because I have tried to pick varieties by their winter blooming schedule or the winter foliage.  The whole bed has done very well this year because we regularly kept it moist through soaker hoses.  Even though the surviving plants have had to endure our summer droughts, they so much prefer the comfort of being watered.  The red foliage of the "Multicolor" heather is very welcome, even with the problem keeping these plants alive. I have lost several, and don't know if it was from summer drought or the super cold winter two years ago.

What has been the most surprising combination is this mix of lavender flowers from three different plants that are all blooming together.  While the picture is not the best, since the plants are spread out over several feet so it is hard to get all in focus, you can see them here.  The blur of green and a very light lavender-blue on the bottom right hand side of this shot is a spreading rosemary plant.  Behind it you see the in-focus flowers of lavender.  I don't have my plant list here as I write this, so I cannot be sure, but I suspect these are Hidcote Blue.  This is another plant I grow as much for having visited the Hidcote Manor Garden, and seeing the plant reminds me of that incredible place.  In the background, in a shadow from the holly tree, is a lavender heather.  The name is written down in my garden journal, but that is miles away from where I am writing.

Finally, there is a January and February bloomer that has jumped ahead of the seasons, the Winter Jasmine, or Jasmine nudiflorum.

 

This is a new bush that we started along the top of a retaining wall behind the house.  The original plant was bought from the National Arboretum many years ago, and sprawled down over the retaining wall around our house in Washington, DC.  I brought a piece out when we first bought the house in Maryland, and have the original bush attempting to grow up and over a different retaining wall.  That one doesn't get the sun so strongly, and has not begun blooming like this. 

This is such a cheerful yellow, it leads me to smile every time I see it.  It is just what is needed when the weather is too cold to be outside, and the wind is whipping around. All the better with a bit of snow, and the jasmine defiantly blooming through it!

Tucked into bed for a long winter's nap

Here is the Before picture - the way everything looked in the middle of November when lots of our neighbor's trees had provided leaves for mulching.  Unfortunately, those oak and tulip poplar leaves don't collect in neat piles or get chopped up before delivery.  The perennials were mostly still green, providing nutrients to the roots for next year.  You can see the light blue of the Chesapeake Bay, and the darker blue line of the other shore.  More about that later.

So, here is After. The big Fall clean-up is done.  There are many tasks involved, but the most important is a final mowing of the lawn to cut the grass short for the winter.  Since we use a grass catcher, it also vacuums and chops up all remaining leaves that have fallen.  It results in a mixture of the grass and leaves, which with good rain and the right weather, can begin decomposing.  It is never done by spring, but makes good compost over time.

There are several things that step forward in the winter season.  For example, the informal, mixed evergreen hedge in the "back corner" of the labyrinth, visible in the top left corner of the "after" shot.

Here is a closer view. Starting from the left is the juniper that runs along the top edge of the slope, with a golden thread leaf false cypress barely visible between it and the tall grass.  Then a winter berry, two Sky Pencil hollies (trust me, there really are two there), a Chesapeake holly with an equally tall gold thread leaf cypress next to it, then another Sky Pencil holly, and a clump of tall grass at the edge of the road. Not yet tall enough to be seen are two Osmanthus bushes on either side of that solitary Sky Pencil holly - next year they should really begin to make themselves known.  Scattered on the ground are low, spreading dwarf hollies and hellebores.  I love the mixed green colors, different textures and shapes that provide screening.

In the more private part of the garden, behind the house and only visible to our neighbor on the North side, the Heather Bed was at peak color a few weeks ago.  Although many of the heather have died in hot, dry summers, there is still a nice mixture of perennials shrubs and grasses.  This shows the "spreading rosemary," at the bottom left, which according to the label would only be a foot tall.  Wrong!  But it takes heavy pruning in stride, and is becoming wonderfully ancient looking.  There is red from the spirea next to it, and behind that the flowers of the 7 foot tall grasses growing much further down the slope.  The bright yellow in the center left is the lone surviving Clethra which really wants more water than it will ever get on this steep slope.  Then you see the trees from far down the slope and on the "flats," our name for the filled in area with houses barely about water level.  Visible is the top of one of the houses built on stilts to avoid water damage.    

In Calvert County, both the county and the real estate agents talk about property that have a "seasonal Bay view."  This means that during most of the year, the Chesapeake Bay is hidden by all of the leaves on the trees.  But for a few months, starting in November and ending in March, all can be seen.  The county assumes even a short term view of the Bay is worth more than none at all, and has a higher property tax rate for the privilege.  Our property is charged at the much higher "Bay view" rate, even though large portions are just seasonal.  So, here you can see the seasonal view now open from the center of the labyrinth.  I will talk about the odd shaped wild cherry tree in the center, next time.

   

End of November

As the active growing season settles down, the mood in the yard has shifted, with the view of the Bay opening up as trees lose their leaves, and the dominant color is no longer green.

Relationships between plants and sections shift, as the evergreens grow in prominence, the bare branches of the deciduous shrubs become transparent, and herbaceous perennials shrink down to the cluster of leaves at the base or disappear altogether.

The view from the path circling around to its end in the center shows some of the changes.  There are only a few leaves left on the Katsura, while the crape myrtle directly ahead is still dark green with leaves.  The very dark green of the Japanese cedars appears almost black, while the blue-green leaves of the false indigo at the bottom/front of the photo are losing intensity.  The two evergreens behind the crape myrtle are shifting.  The Dawn Redwood, just to the right of the crape myrtle is shifting color from green to bright brown, soon to a golden brown before the needles are dropped for the winter.  Then further to the right, the Franklinia has yet to move into its dominant winter role as the only large evergreen visible in the view to the Bay.   So, as the trees that block the view of the Bay during the summer become bare branches, other trees step forward.  Soon much of the foliage will need to be cleaned out, creating an openness that is refreshing.

Turing to the right, the mixture of shapes and colors of the border hedge along our neighbors yard attract much more attention.  The yellow-green of threadleaf false cypress, the narrow vertical shapes of the Sky Pencil hollies, the irregular masses of the Chesapeake hollies, the red berries of the Winterberries are all playing against each other.  The Osmanthus, which are still small and cannot be seen in the spaces in front of the white fence on the right side of this photo.  Eventually they will fill that area in with a mixture of green, white, and red accents. 

I will end with the view over the heather garden toward the Bay.  It is a mixture with a sprawling rosemary in the front, grasses, spirea, clethra, and all of the trees.

Remaining November Flowers

There are a few plants still producing flowers at the temperatures cool.  I suspect this Oxalis regnelli is a bit confused since it is supposed to only bloom in the spring time.  However, since it is barely winter hardy in the North Garden where it resides, there is a struggle in the spring for it to get going again.  Since it can be an aggressive and invasive plant in milder climates or locations, I am not bothered by how colder winters can radically reduce the size of the colony to a few plants. I am not sure whether to move any to the warmer sides of the house on the South and East, where it would likely be more of a nuisance. 

As the photo shows, the color of the leaves does shift to the more blue color seen in this photo in the fall, while the leaves display a much warmer purple along with warmer temperatures.

A plant in the North Garden finishing its first full season is Tinantia pringlei, the Speckled Wandering Jew, which I bought from Plant Delights.  It has been an amazing performer.  In this close-up shot, you can see the combination of features such as the dark purple stem, the freckles on the leaves, and the small pale flowers.  The plant has spread out about three feet in a low, loose mound with the stems mixing themselves into other plants, such as the Japanese painted fern in the photo.  I am hoping it will be winter hardy, and a few seedlings appear to try in other areas.

Over in the labyrinth, on a harsh site near the road, there is the Aster oblongifolius 'Fanny' which is also a new purchase from Plant Delights.  I have been trying to find more late fall blooming plants, and this is certainly the last aster to bloom, long after the native ones.  The descriptions in the catalog says it will eventually become quite large, but for its first year it has only grown to about 18 inches in diameter.  I like its loose, informal look, and look forward to seeing what happens next year.

Just so you don't think that I have a blue/purple bias for flowers, the dwarf reblooming German Iris Baby Blessed is putting on its late fall display.  I only wish I had these near those other blue flowers because I like combining blues and lavenders with this kind of light lemon colored yellows.  But this iris needs lots of sun, which would be a problem for the Tinantia and the Oxalis.  Once I get a sense of the final size of the aster, which does like sun also, I might be able to put the two together.

My final shot doesn't have any fall flowers, but it is doing so well, I just had to put it in.  It is an Agapanthus "Stevie's Wonder," also from Plant Delights, that started as a single plant.  It had a single flower stalk, with a long lasting cluster of flowers on the top in July.  David was quite surprised by it, never having noticed an Agapanthus before.  I fell in love with them from spending a month at the Mercy Center in Burlingame, CA where I did my training as a spiritual director.  It has developed at least three and maybe four plants, and they are going strong.