Each Little World

Mark's favorite peony

There is nothing Mark likes better than flowers that are past their prime. When he goes out into the garden to take pictures for the blog, I never know what to expect. Same thing when it comes to cut flowers in arrangements in the house. He's taken dozens of shots of this white peony from Seneca Hill Perennials as it fades and the petals becomes more and more elongated and transparent. Since this is a young plant, I brought the second bloom indoors to enjoy as I didn't want the peony to use any energy setting seed. He won't let me toss the arrangment as there's lots more life to it from his photographic point of view!

Seneca Hill rockii type peony

Two years ago I ordered a rockii type peony seedling from the late great Seneca Hill Perennials in upstate New York. Here's how the catalog described it (and yes, I actually copied it down on my plant i.d. index card for future reference needs just like this):

" Just for fun . . . these are robust seedlings of a gorgeous plant that we raised from seed over a decade ago, and that utterly floored us by growing into a fine shrub laden with huge lazily-ruffled bright pink flowers with deep maroon basal blotches. Who knew? The only seedling of this plant that we've bloomed is pink like its mom, but with much more strongly ruffled petals. No guarantees, but there's no reason these seedlings shouldn't all make good plants. $14.99"

Two years later I've got a plant that is so stunning Mark and I both photographed it. However, it is not pink. It's snow white which I actually prefer. But no basal blotches on these first two blooms. Maybe some of the future flowers will sport blotches which I would love.

On the other hand, after only two years it is a huge shrub and, as you can see for yourself, the flowers are breathtaking. I was literally running out to the garden every fifteen minutes watching the first bud unfurl. The big flower held up surprising well to the wind and rain that followed the sun and warmth that made the it open so quickly. 

Since it is an unnamed seedling, I am christening mine in honor of the nursery, "Seneca Hill Snowstorm." If anyone reading this is growing one of these seedlings, I'd love to hear about your experience.

For those who are interested, you will note I have a Seneca Hill Perennials catagory on the blog where you can find posts about all the plants I grow that I purchased at that nursery.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: 03.15.2012

In March of 2011, I noted that the snowdrops had arrived just in time for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. This year, the snowdrops have been blooming for almost a month. With rain on Monday, followed by a record high of 79 degrees F. yesterday, the garden is exploding.

The Hellebores are up, the woodland peonies are visible, as are Trilliums and primroses. But it's still only March and even though lots of plants have suddenly made an early appearance, the same is not true for their blooms. Still, this is much more of a show than we usually see on March 15th.

Double snowdrops:

Snowdrop 'Straffan':

Giant snowdrop (note leaf size):

Crocus 'Snow Bunting':

Yellow primrose (unnamed variety):

Assorted hybrid Hellebores:

Thanksgiving Hellebore from Seneca Hill: Every time the snow melts, this Hellebore perks up. It's been doing that since it began to bloom in December:

To see what's blooming in gardens around the world on the 15th of each month, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens. She hosts this monthly Bloom Day for Garden Bloggers.

Peonies — and more — from PDN

Though I always turn to Klehm first when I am thinking of peonies, this year Plant Delights Nursery is offering three of my favorites that are not always easy to find. I'm talking about woodland peonies, which I've had growing in my garden for a number of years. They are very early bloomers and seem to be able to withstand April snowstorms when they are in bud as well as bloom — assuming it's light snow and disappears quickly. There's nothing quite like a peony to say "Spring," especially when it blooms long before the more traditional big blowzy beauties.

The other great thing about woodland peonies should be obvious from their name: they can take a bit of shade. Mine are growing at the edge of the canopy of a Washington hawthorne, near striped maples and old Austrian pines — and not far from my two neighbors' black walnut trees. These are not easy to find and most catalogs seem to only offer them sporadically, so finding all three in the PDN catalog is a real boon. They are not cheap but I think they are worth the price. Now that I have them I can't imagine the garden without them.

The other plants that I want from PDN are all things that they were able to acquire when plantswoman Ellen Hornig closed her wonderful nursery, Seneca Hill Perennials, in 2011. Some of my favorite plants came from Seneca Hill and I was sad to see it close, especially knowing it was due to the ill health of Hornig's spouse. Last summer she sent out a notice that the house and the noteworthy display gardens that surrounded it were for sale. For a brief moment, I fantasized about moving back to New York and living amidst her glorious garden. 

That dream can't come true, but I can order a few things in memory of Hornig and Seneca Hill. So my PDN order will include three Hepaticas from Hornig: 'European Pink,' 'Lithuanian Blue' and one with speckled leaves from the Spanish Pyrenees. I'm also getting Primula sieboldii 'Drag Queen,' a 2010 release from Seneca Hill (shown directly above). I've had great luck with both Hepaticas and Primulas and always intended to order more from Seneca Hill, so I appreciate knowing that not all of Seneca Hill's great plants will disappear with the closing of the nursery. And that positive give and take with other gardeners is another reason why I patronize independent mail-order nurseries like PDN. So, keep up the great work PDN — and the great catalog covers. This year's was a particularly effective coupling of plants and politics.

All images from the PDN 2012 catalog.

Recall weather

I went for a walk today as I've been doing every day for the past week. The pavement was dry, the sun was out and the temperature was 52 degrees (Fahrenheit). So far it's pretty much been the winter that wasn't. We've only had a little over four inches of snow, compared to our typical amount of 20 inches by this point in the season.

My Thanksgiving Hellebore from the late Seneca Hill Perennials is blooming and my earliest daylily is sending up green spears. Because we haven't had extremely cold temps with this lack of snow cover, I think most things in my garden will be OK. I actually cut a foliage bouquet this afternoon of Hellebores, Arum italicum, Epimediums, Autum fern and a couple of small branches of Gentsch White hemlock.

The other day I took a break from my walk to introduce myself (and Mark — that's his shadow) to a neighbor who's been taking advantage of the nice weather to sit at the end of his driveway and get recall signatures. Ray Coleman (below) lives just around the corner from us and he's set up a signing station that's had a big spurt in drive-by signatures these last few days. 

Ray and his friends (below) are just a few of the thousands of Wisconsinites who've used the mostly warm and dry weather we've been experiencing for the last two months (the recall drive began on Nov. 15) to be out and about in their communities gathering signatures on the petitions to recall Gov. Scott Walker. The deadline for signing is Friday and our first real snow storm is scheduled to start sometime tonight.

The timing is just about perfect. Ray said he thought about just shoveling out his driveway and continuing his recall vigil until the weather forecasters began to talk about the 30 mile an hour winds and blowing snow. To say nothing of the 30 degree drop in temperatures compared to what we've been enjoying.

So he'll be turning in his petitions, but if you still need to sign, you can do so at the locations mentioned here. This site lists all the recall headquarters around the state; locally look for the Dane County east and west offices. You can also sign the petition (and turn in any signatures you've gathered) at the United Wisconsin locations here.

Garden notes

Not much has happened in the garden since GBBD on April 15. Some of the bulbs that were blooming then are over, but the cool, wet weather has kept the next flush of plants out of sight underground. A garden walkabout Saturday afternoon, however, did offer a few things worth noting.

When I spied three distinct clumps of wide leaves pushing through the Vinca in the driveway border, they reminded me that I got a few "surprise lilies" (Lycoris squamigera) at the WHPS plant swap at my house last fall. The lilies' leaves come up in the spring, then disappear leaving no clue until the flowers suddenly appear at the end of the summer. This behavior often surprises the gardener — hence the plant's common name. I kept forgetting I had planted them and did not water them very much as a result. So I am very delighted to see that they made it through the winter and am looking forward to enjoying the big pink flowers blooming atop the Vinca come August. 

Speaking of pink flowers, this is a sweetly colored form of Dutchman's britches (Dicentra cucullaria) from the late Seneca Hill Perennials in upstate NY. I finally have a big healthy clump with distinctly rosy flowers and bluish foliage. Of course, this plant is a spring ephemeral and will disappear before summer arrives. That means you should site it where it won't leave a gaping hole in the garden. I put mine right next to the path so I could enjoy it up close. It is not a problem in the sense that there are nearby plants that will take over the space as the season progresses. But they are all doing so well that I think some digging and diving may have to take place before the Dicentra disappears. Another chore to add to my growing list!

Mark was quite pleased with himself when he snapped this shot of the first daffodil of the season. What he didn't realize is that this is a rogue daffodil. I am a purist and only plant white flowered, green-eyed or poeticus varieties. This yellow interloper is not one of mine and thus had to go. The ground is still so wet that I easily pulled it out — bulb and all — leaving only a memory and this photo.

Thanksgiving Hellebore

One of the last plants I bought from Seneca Hill Perennials, before that wonderful nursery closed, was a Hellebore that owner Ellen Hornig said blooms at Thanksgiving in her Zone 5 garden in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. My garden is also Zone 5 but with more temperature extremes than Hornig experiences and also a lack of reliable snow cover. Both of those differences can spell the success or failure of the same plant in our two locations. 

Nevertheless, I could not ignore the possibility of a Thanksgiving Hellebore (Helleborus niger) and thus sent in an order for one. Here's how Hornig described it in her on-line catalog: 

"Wonderful Christmas Roses, descended from a plant given us by friend John Filkins. Our parent plants consistently bloom from Thanksgiving to Christmas, weather permitting. The fall flowers don't set seed, but sometimes the plants bloom in spring as well, and then we do get a crop of seed to work with. All the seedlings we've grown out have retained the fall-blooming habit. The flowers on this strain are outward-facing and on sturdy stalks, and the foliage tends to stay low." 

At a mere $7.99, how could I resist? Especially since the plant was actually listed as Zone 4, meaning it should be reliably hardy in my garden. And at one foot high, it would stand out in the November landscape.

I also was smart enough to plant it where I would actually be able to see it blooming from my kitchen window. But once it was in the ground, I promptly forgot all about it until Kathy Purdy of Cold Climate Gardening mentioned it in one of our e-mail exchanges. That sent me out into the garden to see if anything was happening. Sure enough, buried in the leaves were buds and a flower trying to emerge into the light. 

As with the Spring blooming varieties, this Hellebore was putting out flowers in some chilly weather. I was impressed to see it behaving as described, but even more so to see flowers on a plant this new. I thought I might see flowers next fall, but certainly not this first year. Another wonderful treasure from Seneca Hill.

 

(We had a big drop in temperature yesterday and, though the Hellebore looks the same as in these photos taken last week, it is now a frozen specimen).

Farewell Seneca Hill

Unlike most years, this spring I only received one shipment of mail-order plants. They came from Seneca Hill Perennials in Ithaca, NY, where I've ordered at least three dozen plants over the last five years. In that time Seneca Hill has become one of my favorite sources for plants with a history, a story or unusual characteristics. It is one of only three nurseries that are actually in my categories list by name. 

This spring I ordered this Helleborus niger from Seneca Hill. It will supposedly bloom at Thanksgiving in my Zone 5 garden. (Seneca Hill Website photo)

Not long ago, Seneca Hill owner Ellen Hornig spoke to the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society about plants of the mountains of South Africa, which she is raising successfully in her Zone 5 garden. By chance, I was sitting next to Hornig before her presentation and had a chance to tell her how much I appreciated the choice and quality of plants she was offering. 

A Rhodie from the late Roslyn Nursery. 

Not long after my plants from Seneca Hill arrived, Hornig sent out an email to friends and customers announcing she is ending her mail order business. She told us her husband was diagnosed with Parkinson's twelve years ago at the time she went full-time in the nursery and quit her academic job. He supported her through building the business but now his health demands her support. Hornig is not quite sure what she will do next, but it must surely be something simpler and less stressful. I can only imagine that this has been a decision that's been as painful and difficult to make as it's been for her loyal customers to accept.

The lacy groundcover is Vancouveria, a plant from Roslyn Nursery, that I've never found for sale locally. 

I will miss browsing Hornig's wonderful on-line catalog as much as I will miss the opportunity of adding her plants to my garden. I hope this change offers her the time and energy she needs to help her husband with this most difficult disease. Every time I see a Seneca Hill offering in my garden, I'll think of Ellen and offer a silent thanksgiving for all the years of joy she's brought me — and all the years of joy I will continue to get from her plants.

 

A toad lily whose leaves make flowers superfluous. It's from Plant Delights Nursery and they always have a mid-summer sale!

Now comes Tony Avent's e-newsletter for his nursery, Plant Delights, for June. Avent noted Hornig's news as well as pointing out that Barry Yinger is closing his superb Asiatica Nursery in Pennsylvania. Avent also noted the death of Bob Popham, co-owner of Fairweather Gardens in N.J. He then went on to say that mail order nurseries seem to have a life expectancy of 10-15 years. My garden is filled with great plants from the late-and-still-lamented Heronswood and Roslyn nurseries.

Ellen Hornig in her garden at Seneca Hill with one of the Arisemas for which she is noted. (Seneca Hill Website photo)

If you haven't ever ordered from an independent specialty mail-order nursery, do it now. These are the folks who go plant hunting and hybridizing and bring all of us the fabulous firsts. But without our business, their businesses can't survive. My garden would be a shadow of itself without the incredible range of local independent nurseries I can shop at in person. But it's the special mail-order treats that make it most memorable for me.

Foliage Follow-up: 05.16.2010

Yesterday's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post for May shows our garden has its fair share of flowers, but it's the foliage that makes the garden interesting on most days of the year. Thanks to Pam at Digging for giving us a special occasion to celebrate our garden's foliage.

May favorites include the leaves of Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis). They are the classic shape we first learn to recognize and to draw as children; though most gardeners, myself included, would also admit that these lilies can be pretty aggressive plants. Above you can see the standard variety is fighting it out with Sweet Woodruff for control of the dry shade under a pair of old Spruce trees.

But there are also Lilies of the Valley whose wonderful leaves make up for any less-than-lovable tendencies. I found this variety — 'Hardwick Hall' — at Klehm's Song Sparrow Nursery in 2005 (above). It is just now starting to make a goodly show, but by no means out of bounds or control. As an Anglophile and history buff, I also bought this because of its associations. According to Klehm, it has been "grown for generations" in the gardens at Hardwick, one of England's most magnificent house Elizabethan houses, and home of the legendary Bess of Harwick.

Klehm describes the 'Hardwick Hall' Lily of the Valley as "an outstanding selection distinguished both by the extra broad leathery leaves each margined with pale green and extra large sweetly pendulous flowers." I am in complete agreement.

This is a yellow-striped variety of Lily of the Valley that I mail-ordered from Seneca Hill Perennials in 2007. When it arrived, I was so taken with the plant that I immediately ordered two more — at $16.99 each! This is a bit more aggressive than the 'Hardwick' variety but it is also planted in better soil with less competition. 

Best of all it holds this variegation; no disappearing act in midsummer. The flowers are a bonus because this is clearly a plant you most definitely grow for its spectacular foliage. 

Silver-splashed Hepaticas

Our neighbors to the east have lived in their house since this neighborhood was young. In that time they've created a mature landscape, centered on a very productive vegetable garden. We've often enjoyed the fruits (and veggies and herbs) of their labors in the 15 years we've lived next door to them. Since they're busy in the summer with the food garden, their ornamental plants are mainly spring ephemerals and we've also been the recipients of a number of their spring treasures. 

I love the fuzzy stems on these Hepatica acutiloba 'Silver Leaf." 

Some, like Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginiaca) have been passed from hand-to-hand, but many have serendipitously  found their way into our garden on their own, including sharp and round-lobed Hepaticas (H. acutiloba and H. nobilis), Dutchman's britches (Dicentra cucullaria) and checkered lily (Fritillaria meleagris). Most of them self-seeded in the moss in the days when I was sitting there pulling out blades of grass, one by one. Thus it was easy to notice a tiny little seedling and move it to a spot where it could grow without fear of being stepped on. 

The strong purple cast of the stems and buds makes the flowers look blushed with color as well. 

Once I realized that Hepatica flowers were ephemeral but the beautiful leaves were not, I was hooked on this lovely little native. I grouped every miniscule seedling into clumps where they could fill in and create a mound of foliage that remained attractive until it was buried by the snow. Last year, on a mid-summer visit to the Flower Factory in Stoughton, I discovered a stunning new H. acutiloba variety with leaves that were not only larger than the norm, but heavily splashed with silver. I planted one under a 50-year-old Arborvitae where it quickly settled in. 

This tattered leaf is a left-over from last year's plant but shows the strong silvering. 

Though it was listed as blooming in a mix of colors, it came up this Spring virtually white. Since it is listed again in the 2010 Flower Factory catalog, I am planning to splurge on half-a-dozen more plants — at $10.25 each (yes, more than twice the price of typical Hepaticas!). I have so much dry shade in my garden that any plant that grows under an Arborvitae gets my vote and my money. This time I will buy them when they are likely to be blooming so I can try for more white flowered plants.

This Felco pruner shows how small Hepaticas are; it takes a big clump to make a garden statement. 

But to be on the safe side, I am ordering a couple of H. acutilobas from Seneca Hill Perennials which sound very similar to the plant I bought last summer. Their on-line catalog describes them as plants "distinguished by their well-mottled leaves, relatively large stature and leaf size, and vigorous growth habit." They note that they hand-pollinate these seedlings to help keep the colors true, but they haven't yet "grown out a crop so don't really know" what will happen when they bloom. You're buying them on that basis, and at $8.99 per plant I am willing to take that chance. Seneca Hill has some wonderful color choices in their Hepatica offerings, but I am really interested in the leaves, because they are what lasts and makes this a plant worth growing.