Each Little World

Wordy Wednesday

Epimedium rubrum is the first of dozens of Epimediums I've purchased. I probably bought it in the early 1990s which explains why I have two large sweeps of it along both sides of my driveway.

Last year I dug out a big clump in the back garden when I decided to redo a bed. I've you've ever tried to dig out an established Epimedium you may already know that it is not an easy job. 

The plant was big, healthy and blooming its head off, meaning there was strong growth underground. When I dug down I kept finding a web of old rhizomatous systems that were rock hard and prickly. 

I removed them in big horizontal chunks. They were such a surprise to me that I had to take a picture — or two. Epimedium rubrum and E. 'Lilac Fairy' are my only two plants that spread out rather than staying as a clump

I've divided and moved 'Lilac Fairy' often enough that its never developed an underground structure like this. I've no idea if this is typical for Epimediums or if it takes 20 years to get to this stage. 

IVOM: More pots

The last time I used this little blue and white bulb bowl from the Metropolitan Museum of Art was on Garden Bloggers Bloom Day in 2013. When I saw two small pots of about-to-bloom Muscari at the grocery store last week I couldn't resist. Blue Hyacinths and the similarly colored "grape hyacinths" will always come home with me when I see them.

I pulled the bulbs out of the dirt, washed them off and put them in the bowl. I was feeling very Dutch with this combination of flowers and container! I went looking for my other blue and white container with lots of openings in it. Turns out the blue and white brick is meant to hold flower stems and not bulbs. The bowl holds 5 bulbs, only half of the number I brought home. 

Thus the others got plopped in a little cachepot from the late Johannsens Nursery, once a mere five minute drive from my house. This container is one of 5 that I bought one year at Easter along with a number of different succulent plants to put in them.

All of the flowers are sending up a second bloom. I put the one container right next to where I sit most evening so I can enjoy both the flowers and the fragrance up close. 
As the flowers keep blooming it seems as though the bulbs are shrinking. One fell through the hole and had to rescued before it drowned. Maybe it's just that they're out in the air and not protected with soil. Or maybe it's just a fluke. 

The bulb bowl has lots of small openings perhaps meant for baby bulbs; who knows. It did occur to me, however, that I should try putting big leafy flowers in the bulb openings and fill the small holes with the delicate stems of spring ephemerals. We'll see what I can do come spring when there's more in my garden than snow. 

No place like home

Why not stay here forever and ever

enjoying this immortal rhythm,

in which both eye and soul are at rest?

— Virginia Woolf —

 

A Chinese necklace (probably bone) and a dried Magnolia leaf resting in our Thai Spirit House.

New for 2023

After last year's crazy amount of plants ordered online, I have tried to be more restrained this year. I've made a conscious attempt to think about what would work in the garden in terms of light and space and not just what interesting plant I want. Here are a few of my choices.

I have been growing Carex siderosticta variegatea for at least 25 years. It is a garden workhorse that requires little work from me. I ordered this new variety — 'Echigo-Nishiki' — from Plant Delights as it has much more white in the leaves than the straight variegated. Plus the white is described as 'frosted.' I am really looking forward to adding this to my garden. Zone 4, light shade.

(Photo by JLBG taken at Walters Gardens, MI)

Carex conica Snowline is another variegated Carex. This one is very fine textured with white edges on dark green leaves. The majority of my Carexes are solid green foliage and my shade areas need a bit of perking up which this should do. Z 5, supposedly can withstand tree roots which would be a real bonus. 

(Salmon Creek Photography via Digging Dog Nursery)

Plant Delights Nursery offered a few Lycoris for my zone that were more attractive to my eye than the typical pink Lycoris squamigera aka Naked Ladies. Though the bulbs are pricey, I ordered three Lycoris caldwellii 'Sky Over Sky'. Though this is a Z6 plant, I am hoping the fact that it dies back and can be heavily mulched will get it through our winters. 

(Photo from Missouri Botanic Garden website)

Lycoris incarnata 'Blue Pearl' looks different in every photo of it that I've found. Its blue tones should be a nice compliment to Phlox 'Jeana' and pink autumn Anemones. 

(Photo by Juniper Level Botanic Garden)

Filipendula 'Red Umbrellas' is smaller than the native variety and has this striking red veining as well. I probably don't need any more pink flowers but I am getting this for the foliage. So I am not going to worry if it never flowers. And it's Z3! 

(Photo from Digging Dog Nursery website)

The alphabet garden

Roy Diblik of Northwind Perennial Farm in Wisconsin often talks about plants in terms of the alphabet. Though we have only 26 letters in our alphabet, he notes that we come up with an endless variety of words and ways to use them.

Thus 26 different plants would give you more than enough garden options for a lifetime. Since I keep a record of all of my plants on individual index cards, Diblik's concept sent me looking at my alphabetically-arranged list of perennials. Here's what I discovered:

• There are no plants under "F." Instead I use "F" for my many, many ferns. 
• I have a mere 3 plants whose name begins with "K" and only 2 under "M."
• I have no perennials whose names begin with "N" or "O" or "W, X, Y or Z."

As for the other letters of the alphabet, some have a number of different plants listed. Others are almost exclusively one group as the following letters show:

B is for Brunnera

E is for Epimediums

F is for ferns

G is for Geranium

H is for Hellebores and Hostas

I is for Iris

P is for Primulas and Peonies

T is for Tricyrtis and Trilliums

What this little exercise did was to let me quickly see what plants I favor over others. I was not at all surprised as I know these are my favorites. It does suggest, however, that I should use this list as a quick way to see if I have enough variety in terms of size, texture, season, color and all the characteristics that make for effective plant groupings. An easy task for a winter day that will help me when I hit local nurseries come spring.

Look low

On Valentine's Day Mark and I drove out to Stoughton to the Abel Contemporary Gallery. We hadn't been out to visit and look at art in a while. The openings are so crowded that we've been avoiding them. A Tuesday morning was perfect.

Both the owner, gallery director and a new staff member were all there and with time to talk. After I caught up with everyone, I wandered off while Mark told them about his upcoming photo show.

As always, I am as captivated by the floor as much as the artworks in this 1891 building — originally a tobacco warehouse. Every step you take reveals new marks and changes in the wood. 

Eventually I looked up again and bought myself a necklace for Valentine's day and Mark treated himself to a tea bowl to add to his collection.

Petite perfection

Last summer we visited a new garden high above the shore of Lake Mendota. It was filled with striking rock work but that's another post. Amidst a lot of drama I was struck by this small contemplative planting.

It's outside the windows of the lower level of the house with the opposite side a step up to ground level. The easy and common solution would have been to just let the lawn slope gently to the windows.

This gives anyone inside an eye level treat while the outside is an unexpected garden in an unexpected location. A tiny feature in a wonderful large garden

In a pot on Monday

I rarely have house plants on display in the winter. Sometimes there's little ferns or pots of Cyclamen bought at Thanksgiving, but that's usually the extent of it. Last summer I did a couple of big outdoor containers with large Begonias as the centerpiece. I want to use them again this coming garden season, so I repotted them and brought them into the house in October. 

Begonia x ricinifolia is described as a large plant with large leaves and I have to agree. The newer leaves are very shiny

But it's the stems and the back side of the leaves that make this plant such a winner. It has tall wands of pale pink flowers that look delicate when contrasted with the red spikes — which are actually soft.

The red stems and backs of the foliage are the standout characteristics of Begonia 'Cotes de Castillon.'

The new foliage is a lovely bronze . . . 

that ages to dark green. I can picture this Begonia underplanted with Japanese painted ferns and Heuchera with red or purplish foliage next summer. Or maybe Geranium phaum with their purple splotched leaves and dark flowers.

I'm enjoying coming up with potential plant combinations to keep my mind off of the snow and frozen mix forecast later this week — after four days where we may hit 40°F.

Wordless Wednesday

Gardening hipster

I have been a reader of the UK magazine "Gardens Illustrated" since it was first published. My garden girlfriends all read "Fine Gardening," so I subscribed to it and have been very pleased with the content and photos. Garden legend Dan Hinkley was recommending 9 lesser-known shade plants we should all grow in the latest issue.

Imagine my surprise when I realized I've been growing five of them for years. Made me feel really cool. Of course, when I double checked my plant id notes, I discovered that I'm not growing exactly the ones he mentions, but close-enough relatives that I'm giving myself a pat on the back.

Here's the five cousins in my garden:

Begonia grandis 'Heron's Pirouette' is Dan's choice, but I planted my Begonia grandis (above) long before his own variety reached the market. This is a great plant to put in an area where you have spring ephemerals that leave a gaping hole come summer as it comes up late. You can't tell from this photo, but the reverse of the leaves is red and creates a stunning foliage effect when hit by the western sun. 'Heron's Pirouette' has redder stems than the variety I'm growing but that seems the only difference.

Delavay's mayapple (Podophyllum delavayi) is another great foliage plant. It has been a very slow grower for me but last summer it put out a baby leaf. I am looking forward to see what it does this summer. I think it wants more moisture than it may currently get but I am nervous about moving it.

Anemonopsis macrophylla is a late summer beauty whose downward facing flowers are difficult to photograph. But it's swirling stems and delicate flowers are a contrast to so many big bright summer flowers that I wouldn't want to be without it. I mention that because I moved it in late summer 2021 and never saw it last year. If I don't see it this summer I will have to buy another one. 

Hinkley suggests Cypripedium formosanum as an easy lady slipper Orchid to start with. I'm growing two different varieties; one planted in 2008 and the other in 2011. They barely hung on until I decided to move them. That was the charm; I found the spots they wanted and they've done beautifully with no help from me ever since.

I planted two others in recent years and both died almost instantly. So I planted another last autumn and we'll see if that one even makes it through the winter. I am probably going to look for the one Hinkley suggests as it has pleated foliage. That means it wouldn't even have to flower to be a great plant. (Cypripedium 'Hank Small', above)

I am growing a wide variety of Hepaticas but not the one Hinkley suggests, H. transilvanica. I will be searching it out as it is stoloniferous rather than clumping; meaning it would form an impressive display much more quickly than almost every one I am growing. I've opted for Hepaticas with attractive foliage rather than paying attention to growth habit. 

I'm not interested in a couple of the other plants Hinkley suggests; one due to its color and the other its size. But his last two favorites have caught my eye; this spring I will see if anyone is selling them locally.