Friday, June 30, 2017

Ha! Will you look at that, it's the last Friday of the month...

It completely hit me out of the blue...today is the last Friday of June. How the hell did that happen? I'm supposed to post about monthly favorites today. Would have been nice if I'd actually thought about it, and maybe taken some photos in advance. Rather than running around yesterday evening and snapping poorly lit shots.

So, attempting to keep up with my own meme here are a few favorites. I chose, once again, to focus on plants that surprised me after our desperate winter...who'd have thought I'd still be finding surprises?

This is Curculigo sp. JSM, from Far Reaches Farm: "Ornamental species of unknown hardiness collected by Josh McCullough in North Vietnam. Broad pleated leaves with yellow six-petaled flowers clustered near the leaf bases. A lot of the plants coming out of the mountains there are proving hardier than thought. This would likely survive in a mild garden here but surviving and looking good are two different things. Best to treat this as the outrageous container plant that is bringing it inside for the winter. A cool sun room is fine. This carries an aspect of tremendous refinement and would cause any container designer to salivate." Doesn't look like much but honestly I thought it was dead. Happy happy. Now I have to finally get serious about moving it to a better spot.

Here's what it looked like "before"...

If you can overlook the bright photo and focus at the base of the blooming Callistemon (which is quite lovely in its own right) you'll see a Manfreda virginica. This poor thing was planted right before I left for the Garden Bloggers Fling, and then had to endure upper 90's and over 100F for two days. I am thrilled it's still alive, but this isn't the fist time it's proven how tough it is.

Here's a close up. About that toughness, last winter I stuck it in one of the driveway stock tanks. It went all deciduous on me and so when I pulled the Agaves, before winter got nasty, I forgot about it. That means it froze solid in our winter cold (mid-teens) above ground in a container. Yet it then reminded me of it's presence by sending up leaves when things warmed in the spring. A survivor! (this plant was a gift from Alan who blogs at It's Not Work It's Gardening)

Next up is another gift plant, Melianthus villosus, from Evan of The Practical Plant Geek.

I lost my Melianthus 'Antonow's Blue' this winter so I expected the same from this plant. I was wrong! (and I'm very happy about that)

This might be the biggest surprise of them all. The Agapanthus? No...

There, behind the hose...

Ha! That's a tiny piece of Passiflora 'Sunburst', a Zone 10 plant! It first appeared back in 2015. I'd dug the mother plant before winter and a bit of root stayed behind — come spring it turned into a plant. It reappeared in summer 2016 but after our cold, snowy and icy winter 2017 I thought it was dead for sure. Microclimate to the rescue! Now if it would just bloom.

In case you're wondering the mother plant successfully over wintered indoors again and has begun its summer growth sprint.

One more before we go. Arborvitae spikemoss, aka Selaginella braunii. I bought this plant in a 4" pot last fall and never got it planted. Over winter it came inside where it dried out and I thought it was dead for sure. Not! So many happy surprises. Of course there are just as many sad discoveries but we don't need to talk about them. Tell me about your favorites!

Weather Diary, June 29: Hi 82, Low 55/ Precip 0

All material © 2009-2017 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Thursday, June 29, 2017

A few Fling images, as recorded on my phone...(testing...)

As many of you know I just returned from the 2017 Garden Bloggers Fling in the Capitol Region, or as Andrew's D.C. located cousin refers to it "The DMV" (District of Columbia, Maryland, Vermont Virginia). Andrew and I took extra days, arriving early and leaving late. It was a wonderful week crammed full of visual treats. The official Fling hotel was in the Reston Town Center and I snapped these photos with my phone on our first day there.

We happened upon Patrick Dougherty's A Bird in the Hand on our way to the CVS (sparkling water and wine are a must in our hotel rooms).

As these things go (some might call it serendipity?) a story on volunteering to help create a Patrick Dougherty sculpture appeared in my blog feed just yesterday. Click here to read it, and you really should.

I walked by the installation later, and inspired by chirping of many birds — after all it is called A Bird in the Hand — I took this short video. I have no idea of Blogger and my iPhone will cooperate to actually share it with you, but I figured I'd try...(fingers crossed)...

And then there was this. On Saturday (the second full day of "the Fling") we visited the first private garden on the itinerary. Our bus parked in front of this garden...it must be noted that this is not the tropics, but rather Bethesda, Maryland. Yes indeedy.

It was not our destination, but it was rather outstanding. And because I was not yet in prime blogger mode (it was after all 5:30 am, "my time") all I managed to do was take a few photos with my phone.

I should have done further exploration with my camera in hand. Regrets.

I also took another video, this one from inside the bus. Will this show up? I hope so...(please pardon the noise, we Garden Bloggers can be a rather excitable bunch)...

There's lots more to see from the Capitol Region Fling. I took over 1500 photos (with my camera). Who knows how long it will take me to post about all our official destinations ...hopefully I'll wrap them all up before next years event in Austin, TX (!!!).

Weather Diary, June 28: Hi 73, Low 56/ Precip 0 (no measurable rain for the last 11 days and none in the 16 day forecast, we've hit our dry season)

All material © 2009-2017 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Wednesday Vignette, circles

Today's vignette features photos taken across the street from the garden we visited in yesterday's post.

I was mesmerized by the patterns within each circle and the patterns the circles made all stacked together.

What a fantastic garden feature a wall like this would make.

Weather Diary, June 27: Hi 76, Low 57/ Precip 0

Wednesday Vignettes are hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum. All material © 2009-2017 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

The Eckerdt Garden, a highly anticipated stop on the Salem Study Weekend Tour...

Last weekend marked a year since I toured the gardens of the Salem Hardy Plant Society Study Weekend. After this post I still have over a half dozen gardens to write about. And people wonder why I write 5 times a week...so much material to share!!!

I can't remember exactly why I knew this garden would be fabulous I must have heard about it somewhere?

The description does make the garden sound enticing but my interest was not based on it alone: "Deerly Missed is the 2+acre garden surrounding our 1891 home. The garden is 25-years old and like your own, is ever changing. This past year an infestation of lacebug caused us to remove over 80 rhododendrons; consequently, we are in the throes of hunting for new treasures to fill in the gaps. We have integrated art with plants throughout the garden. Also featured is a large pond and a small seasonal creek. The garden is on flat ground with easily accessible pathways. Most of our plants are labeled. You can view images of our garden at: www.deerlymissed.smugmug.com. The Eckerdt’s garden is frequently included on major garden tours: Deerly Missed is a plant-collector’s paradise."

Anyway, let's have a look around....

Hmm, variegated Aralia...

Much love...

Arisaema of some sort?

I think I may have shared photos of this trellis in a previous post. While I wouldn't copy it exactly I find it extremely inspiring.

I've heard Rhododendrons with indumentum and tomentum are less susceptible to lacebug infestation. Perhaps that's why this beauty was allowed to stick around.

Blechnum chilense, I believe this was the first time I really "saw" this plant. Now I have one in my garden.

Mahonia eurybracteata

I overheard a group of ladies talking about this Clematis before I laid eyes on it. Their conversation included statements like "rare"..."hard to find"..."nobody can keep it alive"..."so striking"...so of course when I rounded the corner and saw what they were talking about I was suitably impressed.

And knew I had to find one and try my luck.

I'm already on my second plant and not willing to give up.

I have to admit in my memory the plant was so much more "substantial"...I was surprised when I started editing these photos just how small it was.

This bit of border wall runs perpendicular to the bits shown in the first two images, such a great old wall.

That's the house visible over the trees.

The walled garden was so much fun to explore.

The poppies were absolutely covered in bees. I stared at them for quite sometime, not realizing someone had walked up near me and was watching me watch the bees. "You're not afraid" she said when I turned to acknowledge her.

I suppose if I were allergic to bee stings I might have been. But thankfully that's not an issue.

The walls around this section of the garden not only utilized brick but also laser cut metal.

All kinds of fabulous!

This couple was wonderful. I started to take a photo of the covered pathway and they hesitated to continue, not wanting to "ruin" my photo. I encouraged them to continue and asked if it was okay to shoot them. "He" hammed it up a bit pretending to discover some plant gem.

I fear most people didn't look up and notice they were being watched.

The path around the "pond" (which really seemed more like a small lake)...

Cornus sanguinea 'Compressa'

Eryngium some something

Poppy seed heads and Peony foliage (?)

Back at the front of the property and the "exit" gate. We saw the "entrance" gate at the top of this long post.

Just a few plant close-ups and then we're done...Quercus dentata 'Pinnatifida'

Daphne x houtteana

And Daphne x burkwoodii 'Briggs Moonlight'... such a wonderful garden!

Weather Diary, June 26: Hi 78, Low 59 / Precip 0

All material © 2009-2017 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.