Book Report

Margaret Roach is one of my favorite garden bloggers, so I had to track down her ten-year-old book, from which her blog gets its name. The photos are beautiful, and the text is both informative and inspiring. One of my favorite pieces is her lament that she is already 35 (at the time) and worries that she doesn't have enough years left to create the garden she wants. I think every gardener feels that way.

A few ideas I picked up from her book: golden hostas under aucuba to echo the color; try some of the following groundcovers - aruncus aethusifolius, variegated ribbon grass Phalaris arundinacea 'Picta' that can take shade, petasites japonicus with its big leaves, comfrey symphytum officinale that takes shade, and bigroot geranium G. macrorrhizum that she mentions frequently in her blog; consider planting rhubarb in the corner garden because it can take some shade; divide asters every three years; consider aster divaricatus (white wood aster) and A. macrophyllus because they are natives and can take shade.

It's a beautiful book to leaf through. Her gardens, which at the time she was cultivating only part-time, have simply gotten more beautiful over the years. Too bad it's out of print...

My favorite garden

Apart from the famous ones, I mean... My favorite garden is under the oak tree in the back yard. It's very simple: lots of bulbs and shade-loving perennials appear and bloom in spring, then subside into a wave of green leaves in early summer. Not a very original formula, but very satisfying.

It's my only garden without holes (at least, not obvious ones, though I have plans to add plants along one side). It has lots of soft colors, primarily blue, white, yellow and a touch of red. The foliage of the epimedium, Japanese roof iris and hellebore works well with the hostas that take over once the bulbs subside (though I have my eye on some chartreuse hostas to spark up the color a bit). The tulips, in bloom now, add some height (or, as designers would say, spires to complement the mounds).

In fact, I love it so much that I now have my eye on doing something similar under the maple tree in front. Maples have more shallow roots, I think, which should make it a bit more challenging to plant, but I'm sure it can be managed. I'll need to cut back the ivy a bit, too, which is a good thing anyway.

Here's a look at the oak tree garden:


In bloom now: pulmonaria "Spilt Milk," mertensia (white and blue, thanks, Mom), narcissus 'Sun Disc,' English bluebells, bleeding heart, tiarella, sweet woodruff (just coming into bloom), hellebore, and tulips (white Maureen).

The dandelions are just an added bonus, of course.


The English bluebells were inspired by a stunning, unexpected hillside in the Lake District - I came around a curve in the path, and there they were. These are not quite so magnificent, perhaps, but still beautiful.

Bleeding hearts and star of Bethlehem, which self-seeds around the garden


Clearly, this sad little patch - right by the front door, of course! - is in need of a major makeover (apart from the cat, which wanders over from next door and adds a decorative touch). One of the problems is that voles seem to have invaded this space, leaving mounds of earth around the tree. I suspect them of devouring the hostas 'August Moon' that I planted in the front garden last spring.

I've been struggling with how to define the area to turn into a garden, since it's bordered by the sidewalk and driveway, plus a clump of myrtle around the lamppost. As Dad always said, edging a garden makes it look "meant." But I could start small with some bulbs and see what develops.

Shade vs. drought

I am constantly whining about my shady setting, but a couple of blog postings, combined with Adrian Higgins' article about wet gardens, are making me re-think the problem (if there is one). After all, if a sunflower can flourish in partial shade, and the black-eyed Susan is happy in the shade of the compost pile, while the astilbe struggles and the impatiens chokes in the dust, perhaps it's drought I should be paying attention to.

I was particularly struck by one blogger's list of what did and didn't work for her in dry conditions. Here's what does well:

Shrubs: aucuba, nandina, Heleri holly, junipers, spirea, euonymous 'Emerald Gaity', weigela, bottlebrush buckeye, Meidiland rose 'Alba', and oakleaf hydrangea (in full shade).
Perennials: hosta, sedum, Russian sage, daylilies, ornamental grasses, liriope, carex, solomon's seal, garden phlox, euphorbia amygdaloides, purple coneflower, aster, black-eyed susan.

Then she rants about rhododendrons, which I am coming to agree with, and astilbes, which I love but that sit there gritting their teeth and shriveling up in high summer. As a Maryland gardener says, "And the biggest wuss, in my experience, is astilbe. They do nothing for me in summer except threaten to die."

Gardens in Maine (long)

On a short but wonderful trip to Camden, Maine, we saw beautiful gardens everywhere. In zone 4, they enjoy low humidity and cool nights but a shorter growing season, of course. They must be almost a month behind us - their peonies were just blooming while ours have gone by weeks ago. Most gardens featured stone either in walls or as enormous boulders (see below). Absolutely breath-taking.




The garden at our B&B in Camden was almost an acre of partial shade sloping down from the house to a small stream with a granite slab bridge. Lots of hostas, woodland phlox and ferns, but in sunny spots Juanita had tucked in bachelor's buttons (centaurea) and other sun-loving perennials. The shrub on the left is bridal wreath.
 
I think the hosta on the right is Gold Standard, which I've come to like more and more, despite my aversion to most variegated hostas (especially those dark green ones with white edges).

 
Rhododendron was in bloom everywhere, mostly the common pale purple ones (but looking 1,000 times better than mine), but Juanita had this gorgeous red one in her garden, and it sparkled in the sunlight.

 
And here's the climbing hydrangea I'm thinking of for my new trellis, growing on the side of the shed next to the rhododendron. Juanita says she feeds it twice a year and it has now bloomed after three years of this treatment. I guess it is slow, but how beautiful!

 
I think this is pink gaura and an enormous geranium.

 
A simple arrangement of pots of pink and purple on a wooden garden cart. Charming but escapes being cute, maybe because of the spiky purple and the aged pots.

 
Here's a view of the slope up to the house, with bachelor's buttons, alliums and huge clumps of alchemilla.

 
We saw other gardens to admire as we tooled around. This garden, on the way to the Mount Battie trail, featured enormous boulders, green grass, and well-manicured vegetable beds.

 Here's the upper part of the same garden, with evidence of the gardener at work.

 
We saw these peonies growing along the side of a house as we walked back to the Maine Stay from town. Could they be more outrageously gorgeous? I don't usually like these dinner-plate clematis - they look artificial to me - but they're so effective here.
 
The library had a beautifully maintained bed right by the entrance. Here's a shot at dusk, with Siberian iris glowing and the harbor in the background.

 On the way out of Camden towards Rockport, we had to stop by this garden. Poppies, lupines and daisies, with rocks and a white picket fence, of course.
 

Ferns were everywhere, growing wild in the woods and cultivated in gardens. These are ostrich ferns in Juanita's garden.

Partial Shade

I knew I had shady gardens, but it was not until I purchased the amazing SunCalc (you can have one too, just go to Lee Valley) that I discovered just exactly how shady they really are. So far, every area of the garden except for the side front garden (partial sun) gets partial shade. Here's their scale:

Full Sun - 6+ hours

Partial Sun - Less than 6 and more than 4 hours

Partial Shade - Less than 4 and more than 1 1/2 hours

Full Shade - Less than 1 1/2 hours

I almost invented it

The gardens get lots of shade, but it's mixed with shafts of morning and afternoon sun, so I could never decide whether I had partial shade, partial sun, or what. I had often thought that there must be a way to measure the amount of sunlight that falls, perhaps with sun-sensitive paper or some such. Well, it turns out that such a device exists, as I discovered in the Lee Valley catalog (thanks, Martha!). So far I have tried it in two spots - the new garden along the back of the house, and the narrow strip along the path-to-be along the side. Both came up as partial shade. Now I just have to understand what exactly they mean by that...

How it's going

The front garden has undergone a big transformation. When I took out the beloved but way overgrown rosemary 'Arp' and, sadly, the Fairy rose that Dad had given me years ago (not enough sun any more), to say nothing of grubbing out tons of vinca, I had an almost clean slate. I am trying to keep in mind that this is the garden I see most frequently so it should be the best and most well-tended of all. It is mostly shaded now, with just a few slivers of early morning and mid-afternoon sun.

The astilbes have struggled a bit, I think because we've had such dry summers. Playtcodon is very happy, coming up in random spots as the fancy strikes it, ditto garlic chives. The edging of coral bells that Mom gave me when I started the garden continues to thrive, though I have a few bare spots that I need to fill in. The only problem there is the timing: the fuschia azalea that came with the house is in full bloom at the same time, and the soft coral clashes with the intense azalea color.

At any rate, I checked out and quickly bought "The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer" by Stephanie Cohen and Nancy J. Ondra. I love this for its practical approach and its specificity. Based on their design for "an elegant entrance garden" (not that I'm making any claims), I designed the front garden to include dark foliage (Heuchera 'Plum Pudding,' Cimicifuga 'Hillside Black Beauty,' et al.) and brighter colors (Hakonechloa macra 'Albo-striata,' my new favorite, and three Brunnera 'Jack Frost'). Last fall I put in three geranium 'Hocus Pocus' but there's no trace of them now - either they're very late to appear, or I planted something right on top of them (another reason to order that marking pen that Dianne B. recommends).

The next order of business is to choose spring bulbs - all that's there now are a few grape hyacinths, plus the Thalia daffodils I planted around the new August Moon hosta. In line with the idea that this garden is the most visible, why not choose something spectacular like double bloodroot? McClure & Zimmerman carry the single one, at only $8.95 for three. Carroll Gardens lists the double at $17.85! but it's not available this year. I may have to sneak into Judy's woods and grab one of Mom's while they're not looking.

What's in bloom today

Columbines came out this week, mostly dark blue and purple, but a few white ones, too. I try to scatter the seed of the whites, but they must be less vigorous. Tiarella and sweet woodruff make a soft white edge to the oak tree garden. The Japanese roof iris from Mom is in bloom under the oak tree and just starting in the white garden. The anemones I planted under the oak leaf hydrangea finally came up, looking a bit bare and surprised. Who knows where the Star of Bethlehem came from? Mom guesses the birds brought it. Dianthus may be a garden mistake just because of where it's located. And I love the Solomon's Seal, not so sure the purple Heuchera next to it really works.

Japanese roof iris

Blue columbines

Tiarella and sweet woodruff

Anemone blanda

Star of Bethlehem

Dianthus

Solomon's Seal

And here is a better photo of the white columbine - I think turning off the flash is the trick for not getting those washed-out pictures.

Filling in the blanks

Went to Meadows Farms yesterday to try to fill in the blanks in my garden plan. It's very hard not to pick up extra things just because they look good, but I limited myself to lilies of the valley and lady's mantle, both of which will work in shade gardens. Bought two Plum Pudding heucheras and am now wondering where I thought they would go. I have two in the front garden and one in the white garden, so I added one in front and have put the second aside for now. Oh, and I also picked up three creeping phlox and planted them by the mailbox. At least I bought some things I had planned for.