Now Summer Begins

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Libelle' encroaching on the garden gate.  The gate side of her gets naturally pruned by all of the gate's openings and closing.  Still, she seems pretty happy with her lot in life.

This was labeled acanthus spinosus when I bought it, but it's not as wicked that plant.  The leaves are a little too wide for spinosus too.  Definitely not acanthus mollis, maybe acanthus hungaricus?  Gorgeous, none the less.

Hydrangea quercifoia 'Snow Queen'.  This panicle is by the path and I always feel like it would tap me on the shoulder if I stood still near it.

Delosperma cooperi.  The flowers are almost iridescent in the sun.  

Seems like those hot, dry summer days are settling in.  I have full rain barrels for spot watering, but for how long?

Miniature Painting

I absentmindedly made this small oval planter planter one morning while I was casting larger troughs.  As often happens, I had cast a couple large troughs and had leftover hypertufa once the large trough molds were full.  My garage is full of cast-off plastic objects that I stashed once upon a time, thinking that they might become useful on just an occasion such as this.  I grabbed the nearest thing (an old deli container that once held fruit) and cast the leftover mix as a trough.

I'd always figured that this trough was too small to grow plants.  Wrong.  The semps are happy as can be.  And we have a centerpiece for our outdoor table.  I'd bet that I look at this group of plants more than any other in my garden, just because they are in front of my nose when I sit outside with coffee.

And An Old Trough

I kind of forget about this shady trough most of the year.  In fact, I gave up on it last season when the Annabelle hydrangea flopped over it and the trough dried out, leading to early retirement of the mini hostas for the season.  The trough looks great this year, with the hostas and bergenia co-habiting nicely.  With all of the rain we've had lately, the moss on the trough is gorgeous now too.

I just need to remember to whack (I mean "selectively prune") Annabelle back this year.

New Troughs

After I sold most of the new troughs this spring, I planted up five that I had left.  This one is a short cylinder with a mugo pine, sempervivum and a phlox.  I stole the rocks from work.

The middle trough is an Oslo trough, with a couple dwarf conifers, an iceplant, and a veronica.

This is a Helsinki trough with a dwarf arborvitae, a white saxifrage, a dianthus and a couple other things.  That little round trough holds an erodium, which is tender here.  I bring it inside for a couple months in the winter.

Another Helsinki, this time with a geranium, a sedum, another dianthus, an iris, rosemary, etc.  That's a dwarf quince behind it.

Can't ever have enough troughs...

Teasing Georgia

No, not the pink one in the foreground (that's Queen Elizabeth), but that yellow one in the background. That's Teasing Georgia.  I'm not a big fan of yellow in the garden, but I love this rose.

Teasing Georgia is a David Austin rose named for the wife of German TV personality Ulrich Meyer.  The "teasing" part?  I have no idea.  

I ruthlessly cut it back to a 3' framework in the early spring.  It rewards me with a giant burst of growth loaded with buds.

I love the soft yellow.  It looks almost edible.

She has her moment in May, but blooms off and on lightly all summer.

We'll keep her.

Another Pest to Worry About

My daughter pointed out that something was eating my trough plants.

Climate change has resulted in new pests in the area.

Must read up on Integrated Pest Management.

May Bliss

I love this week in the garden.  Every May it happens.  The roses, the peonies, the ninebark, the blue garage...I feel so lucky that this is our garden.

This is the path past the garage and up to the house.  The irises and honeysuckle and roses screen a really ugly yard next door (they mowed ONCE last summer).  The hypertufa bowls await a lift to their new home in upstate New York.

This trough grows in the shade of the fence.  The silene vallesia is gorgeous in its moment (center).  The lychnis flos-cuculi 'Nana' on the right is not so nana obviously.  The tag said 4" high.  This was about 24" high when it bloomed.  I evicted it today and put a tasteful sedum makinoi 'Ogon' in its spot.  The lychnis will be happier in the ground.

A little shade trough with 4 mini hostas and a small bergenia.

 Kalmia latifolia 'Minuet'

 Phlomis tuberosa

Allium schubertii