Wherein I take a deeper plunge into carnivorous plant collecting and finally find a use for those rusted pocket planters...

The trellis which used to hold my Clematis tibetana var. vernayi (before it decided to make its own way) became home for several Tillandsia and Bromeliads this summer. Then in a moment of autumn inspiration (not wanting to see it go completely empty with the seasonal-shift) I finally thought of a use for that metal pocket planter which had been languishing in the garage...

In went the Sarracenia rubra jonesii, freebies from our visit to Sarracenia Northwest earlier in the month (and yes, I used a plastic liner).

So happy with how that one turned out I went back to Garden Fever and picked up a second.

Which will be planted up (soon!) with this Sarracenia purpurea var. montana I purchased at the HPSO's Fall PlantFest.

Until the truly cool weather shows up the Tillandsia and Bromeliads will stay in place too..

My other carnivorous plant purchases include this Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula).

And this attractive group...from left to right: S. x 'Judith Hindle', S. alata Red Hood and S. x Mountain Splendor.

Such fabulous detail...

Weather Diary, Sept 24: Hi 73, Low 46/ Precip 0

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

GBFling 2017 — The Smithsonian Gardens: the end

I didn't take enough photos of the landscape at the National Museum of the American Indian or the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden to warrant their own posts, so they'll be sharing my final coverage of the Smithsonian Gardens on the National Mall — as seen during the 2017 Garden Bloggers Fling.

First up the gardens surrounding the National Museum of the American Indian...


The building itself was a beauty.

Sumac and sculpture...

"We Were Always Here" by Oregon's Rick Bartow.

Yucca rostrata and friends, including a couple of Agaves.

To be admired from afar though, as there was no way to actually get out in that space, even from inside the museum (had I opened the door an alarm would sound).

It certainly looks like you're supposed to be able to get out there and lounge though, doesn't it?

Moving on....there was a large swampy pond with cattails and aquatic plants. Had I not been overheated (so humid), and tired, I would have been better about recording names. Instead I just snapped a few photos.

I wonder if mosquitoes are a problem?

Now over to the sculpture garden. This piece "Sphere No. 6" by Arnaldo Pomodoro was my favorite.

"Arnaldo Pomodoro says that the inner ball represents the Earth and outer ball represents Christianity. The design of the internal layers which look like the gears or cogwheels of a complex machine symbolizes the fragility and complexity of the world." (source)

The placement, on the small cement pedestal, in the middle of bed of Liriope (?) was simple perfection.

There was more...

And plants too of course!

This piece cracks me up. Andrew and I recently saw a short documentary on the lady behind this work, Yayoi Kusama.

She's interesting. Here's a piece on her show at the Seattle Art Museum (organized by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution), if you're curious.

But this is a gardening blog...so let's look at a few plants!

Nicely done succulent mash-up.

Repetition baby!

Cordyline fruticosa 'Singapore Twist'...love their use of exotics!

I still have the The U.S. Botanic Garden to visit before my coverage of the gardens on The Mall is complete...

Weather Diary, Sept 21: Hi 63, Low 48/ Precip .02"

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

I fear I'm gonna regret this...

There's a thin green line between lush, and overgrown. I try to stay right on that line, employing a few judicious cuts whenever overgrown seems to be taking hold. Sometime earlier this month (or maybe even last month) my calendar denial gene kicked in and I stopped cutting. Let the crazy garden take over! After all autumn (and then winter) is coming...

The Clematis tibetana var. vernayi has gone a little mad this season and jumped from its trellis to the surrounding plants...

It's hard to tell the Metapanax delavayi leaves from the Clematis leaves. Of course the Clematis will die back in the winter, leaving ugly stems I'll have to carefully remove from the evergreen Metapanax. Lazy in August means more work in October.

It's also trying to stage a take over of the Schefflera delavayi...

The view from our bedroom window is a glorious foliage mash-up.

With a few small Clematis blooms starting to appear.

Over on the right side of the path a bit of Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) that hitchhiked to this garden from my last (in Spokane) is taking advantage of the sun (and space) that appeared with the passing of my Grevillea victoriae 'Murray Queen'.

It loves climbing the Callistemon viridiflorus...

It too is going to have to be cut back, eventually.

Probably sooner than later judging by how happy it is.

Until then I'm enjoying the decadence...

Weather Diary, Sept 20: Hi 61, Low 49/ Precip 1.20"

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