Thursday, May 31, 2012

Here we are now going to the north side…

Every once and awhile I go around to the north side of our house and make sure the Clematis montana isn’t growing up into the Bamboo. Not that I mind mingling plants (actually I love them) but I fear over time the Clematis might start to pull down the Bamboo, and I don’t want that.

Don’t you just love the white dots left behind after the Clematis blooms fade? The purple stems are pretty cool too.

I also have to keep a watch out for the nasty Virginia Creeper (the shiny brown leaf)…

I call it nasty but I love it, I just have to keep an eye on it because given the chance it could take over.

After I finished pulling back the Clematis I stopped to appreciate how well it, and the Fatshedera ‘Aureomaculata’ (Tree Ivy), are covering the ugly wooden fence that provides a secure (doggie secure) enclosure to our back yard. The brown structure is our house; the grey structure is our neighbor’s garage…right on the property line. Ya gotta love how they did things back in 1948!

As I stood there gawking I realized I was staring at a perfect albino leaf on the Fatshedera ‘Aureomaculata’…

Isn’t it striking?

Then again all the variegated variations are pretty…

Remember the Mahonia × media ‘Charity’ I planted last fall (also on the north side)? Well it’s doing that berry thing that I love so much…

Purple ones too!

The Himalayan Maidenhair Ferns are looking fabulous, I need to plant more of these where I can see them every day. I like my neighbors but they shouldn’t be the only ones getting to enjoy these…

And the same goes for the ‘Angustifolia’ Hart’s Tongue Fern…

Gorgeous color on the Mahonia fortunei ‘Curlicue’

It's time for a BIG confession (are you ready?)…I hate Heuchera.

It feels so good to finally say that! I bought the one shown above to go in a pumpkin when I was in the Halloween spirit. Then it just wouldn’t die! I respect that, so I planted it where I wouldn’t have to see it. Besides I liked the combination of the dark foliage with the chartreuse Hakonechloa. Now the darn thing is blooming…

Finally, here is my other Fatsia japonica…

Planted just last spring but already growing big.

Since I like the illusion of something a little more tropical I’ll trim off the old leaves around the bottom. Being able to see a little of the trunk makes them more glamorous, and besides the old leaves aren’t as big as the new ones.

28 comments:

  1. I go back and forth on heuchera. It's so pretty sometimes! And the other times it's leggy and ugly. And then just when I'm going to pull it up it does something pretty again.

    Everything looks gorgeous, even your heuchera. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See it's an evil plant that manipulates you into letting it stay in your garden! That's exactly what it did to me...

      (thank you)

      Delete
  2. So funny, I was just going to post about two new plant additions to the garden that include the demise of two of those same colored heuchera. I too love the contrast but am not crazy about the actual plant. To me, the contrast usually wins out.

    I love those mahonia. The Mahonia fortunei ‘Curlicue’ looks really cool!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think we are gardening twins separated at birth and sent to different countries.

      Delete
  3. I love how lush the bamboo and its friends look. Only a climate like yours will get you that :-).

    I like the old-fashioned coral bells (Heuchera sanguinea)), i.e. the plain green kind with red flowers. A lot of the fancy heuchera hybrids look too weird to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Right before I saw your comment I had just walked into the back garden and spied a lush bit of foliage. I thought about my trip to SoCal and realized just how lucky I am to live where I do (I can't believe I just said that). Thank you for the reminder, I do forget.

      Delete
  4. sandy lawrenceMay 31, 2012

    There always has to be a weird one. I LOVE Heucheras! I have 'Lime Mackey','Plum Pudding' that looks a lot like the one you have, 'Georgia Peach', 'Pinot Gris' and 'Frosted Violet'. And those are just my favorite ones! Love them for dappled shade and for contrast with other foliage. They make marvelous, perfect mounds of varying sizes, and they are trouble-free. Look good when other things don't, 12 months out of the year. I'm surprised that you don't like the leaves, being a lover of unusual foliage.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Are you calling me weird? (thank you)

      I don't know what it is...I've tried to like them. This is going to sound really bizarre but it's something about the shape of the leaves. It's like they should be on a tree but they're not...they're right there on the ground. Terra Nova is going to hate me now.

      Delete
    2. sandy lawrenceMay 31, 2012

      Ha! No, I was volunteering to be the weird one, since I was the only one in the comment section who likes Heucheras. I guess I could have called myself odd woman out, instead, to avoid confusion!
      Yeah, I guess their leaves do look a little like maple tree leaves, especially the Heucherellas, which I don't like nearly as much.

      Delete
  5. Finally! Another anti-Heuchera gardener! I have only grown one, Brownies, for the insanely large foliage, but it died this past winter and I thought, yippee, the garden is finally free and then the Terra Nova Garden Writer Trial pack arrived..... sweet Jesus! Could they not be more original, how about Polygonatum 'Double Stuff' or the new Cyclamen series they rave about in their catalogue. Alas. I am sure if they are reading this, my name will be removed from their list for next year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My very favorite Terra Nova plant is Eucomis 'Freckles'...it's amazing! The bloom is typical Eucomis fabulous but the foliage is just as good if not better. Too bad as a trial gardener you can't request certain plants.

      Delete
  6. AnonymousMay 31, 2012

    Im not sure how to make an "account" for this so i guess ill be anonymous but i was wondering when can we see an update on your new backyard planting space where you pulled out the rhododendron? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know I know...I've been avoiding. I need to work through my photos and write a narrative. Next week, I promise. Planting up that area was amazingly demanding. Thanks for the push...

      Delete
  7. I love that Clematis...the purple stems are great! I have a total love/hate relationship with my Heucheras. I will have a moment every year where I just want to rip them out of the ground...but then they'll look so nice in the spring and I think they're ok. Then they heave themselves out of the ground and I start to grit my teeth all over again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They heave? Yuck. I hate that, I thought I left that behind in Spokane.

      Delete
  8. At least one person, on the other side of the Rockies, feels the same way about these ....things. Ick.
    It always surprises me that people take this sort of thing personally. I have the same opinion of other plants whose generic name begins with H, too.
    The little one from NM, Heuchera pulchella, is cute, though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Bob, thanks for commenting so I could find your blog. I had no idea I was hitting on such a nerve with my Heuchera opinion!

      Delete
  9. Don't tell me that the biggest group of perennials to come out of the Pacfic Northwest and forced on the gardening public are falling out of favor. Is it just a personal view, or the start of a new trend?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh just a personal view! What do I know? I'm the one living in the 'Rose City' who hates Roses...and Azaleas, and Rhododendrons, and, and, and, (you get the idea)...

      Delete
  10. You crack me up about hating heucheras! I think your Himalayan Maidenhair Fern is terrific! I've got to find one of those! I really like how you paired the clemantis, bamboo and tree ivy together. It's a wonderful combination. Cheers, Jenni

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish I could take credit for the combo. The Clematis was inherited and just a struggling stick when I unearthed it from the tangle of daisies that I was getting rid of. Then we planted the Bamboo for privacy and when I realized how ugly the wooden fence was I planted the Tree Ivy. It's just now all came together. Glad you like it.

      Delete
  11. Here is what it is like to be in the grip of a love of linguistics: ever since I heard the proper pronunciation of Heuchera I have pictured the caterpillar on his mushroom smoking his hookah and I must have them in my garden...just like I must have at least one Euonymous in my Garden of Earthly Delights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh so true! I was in a Master Gardener meeting when a rep from Terra Nova came to speak and I (for the first time) heard that word said out loud. Amazing! Nothing like what I had been saying in my head. i like your visual...

      Delete
  12. Heucheras...I keep trying to love them, buy cool ones at nurseries and even had a nice patch of 'peaches and cream' for a while. They looked terrific with their slightly burgundy leaf undersides echoing the clumps of cordyline 'festival burgundy' under which they were planted. Love. For two years. Now they look like neglected orphans at a big box store. Don't know if they want to be divided or perhaps fed (that's probably it.) They make nice contrast foliage in mixed pots where they can be pulled out and composted at the first sign of demise. One could save time and energy by taking newly-purchased heucheras directly to the compost heap. Better yet, one could just buy agaves instead. Or optunias.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You paint a pretty picture there (slightly burgundy leaf undersides echoing the clumps of cordyline 'festival burgundy'...) at least temporarily.

      Delete
  13. I almost read your title as "Going around to the dark side" - hah! Nothing is farther from the truth. I'm glad you amended your comment about the "nasty" Virginia Creeper. I have it, love it covering my fence, but also need to keep a rein on it or it will smother other things it ISN'T supposed to be covering. And I think I'm with you about not liking heucheras much. I suppose they have their place, and the really dark ones are the best of the bunch, but I find the pinky-yellow and spotty ones rather odd and unattractive, personally. But to end on a positive note, those ferns and the M. fortunei 'Curlicue' are gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  14. You said: "My very favorite Terra Nova plant is Eucomis 'Freckles'...it's amazing! The bloom is typical Eucomis fabulous but the foliage is just as good if not better. Too bad as a trial gardener you can't request certain plants."
    As i understand, you cant request them but cant you buy them?
    regards
    Mary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mary, I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to as I don't think I mentioned Eucomis 'Freckles' in this post, perhaps another? I do really like it, both the foliage and flower. Also I'm not a trial gardener for Terra Nova, and I have bought 'Freckles' in a nursery.

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Comment moderation is on (because you know: spam), I will approve and post your comment as soon as possible!