New Plants. Old Trough.

I cast this trough about 6 years ago.  In its former life it had dianthus and other things that I've forgotten.  Gradually it got overgrown by a chamaecyparis pisifera 'Boulevard', so this spring I relocated the trough and replanted it.  I've read that hypertufa can have as short a life span as a decade, but this trough seemed totally healthy and solid.

That's ilex crenata 'Dwarf Pagoda' (back R), vitaliana primuliflora (front R), gypsophilia cerastioides 'Pixie Splash' (front L), arabis blepharophylla from Home Depot (back L) and armeria juniperifolia 'Alba' (center).

Weedy, yes, but...

I confess, I love thalictrum rochebruneanum, even though it self-seeds everywhere and tends to fry out in the hottest heat.  When it works, like this summer, we get clumps of airy pink flowers at my eye level and above.

And I'm 6'2". 

Rattlesnake Master

Eryngium yuccifolium seed heads

I'd always admired eryngium yuccifolium, more commonly known as Rattlesnake Master, whenever I'd read about it in the prairie plant section of all those recent Piet Oudolf books.  I'd think "Hey, I never noticed that growing up in Iowa" about the same time that I'd think "I want that! How come I never see it in nurseries?".  It was on my plant lust list for many years.

Three years ago I was visiting dear friends on the way south side of Chicago...think suburban Chicago, closer to the cornfields than the Loop...when I saw Rattlesnake Master on a hike with my buddy.  It was going to seed...perfect.  I collected some seed, packed it in my carry-on and promptly planted it in a small pot when I got home.  

Then I waited and waited.  Sure, the seed sprouted the next year, but the plants were tiny so I left them in the tiny nursery pot in which they were sown.  The second year they were still small, but I'd read enough to know that the plant develops a deep tap root and hates being transplanted.  It was now or never.  I dutifully planted the seedlings out into the garden, marking each one so that I wouldn't absent-mindedly weed them out.

Weird leaves, right? (two Rattlesnake Masters in front, but that's a hesperaloe in back)

This year they finally bloomed.  It reminded me that good things come to those (gardeners) who wait.  I hope that the plants clump up and come back sturdier and showier each year...without self-seeding everywhere and becoming a scourge.  It's a fine line, I know.

And, oh yeah, it doesn't treat Rattlesnake bites.  Sorry.

Tiny Pot, Tinier Treasure

Doing sit-ups (don't ask) this week, my point of view was low enough to notice this contrast in flower size and pot size on the deck.  I made this small hypertufa pot one day when I was casting a larger trough and had extra material left over after the session.  I think that it was cast inside of a black plastic nursery pot.  It's about 7" high.  I planted this erodium x variablile 'Flore Pleno' in it so that I could bring this treasure into the house for the winter (it's not reliably hardy in this zone).

A little shade from the hottest sun, and a bit of water, and the reward is tiny, delicate double pink flowers all summer long.

Settling In

Almost all of the tiny plants that Ray and I planted in tufa in late May are settling in.  I'm amazed at how mossy the tufa is already.

Available Troughs

People often ask me if I sell troughs (yes!) and if so, what I have available.  The six planters pictured above are all in need of good homes.  Round ones are $65; the rectangular one is $85.  

I'm in north NJ, outside NYC.   If you're interested, shoot me an email and we'll figure out logistics.

Acadia

We spent the last week of June in Maine, partly in Acadia National Park.  I'd never been to Maine before, and between the lobster, the craft beers and the scenery, my face hurt from smiling the whole week.  I shot the above photo in the parking lot (!) in Acadia, near Otter Cliff.  I love the mix of texture and colors.  That sheep laurel is tough to grow at home, but was all over the park.

Our discussion while hiking with the kids focused on wood elves, trolls and faeries.  No wonder why.  The whole place feels magical.

Moss grout?

A little campanula growing quite close to the ocean.

The three-toothed cinquefoil, potentilla tridentata, was everywhere.  I probably photographed it 25 times.  What a beauty.  It was humbling as a trough gardener to see how Mother Nature combines alpines and rocks.  I'm just a piker.

I love the combo of rock, lichen, moss and evergreen.

Painters talk about maintaing the 'wet edge' as they work.  Here's a drippy moss version.

The micro view on Mount Cadillac.  A stunted evergreen takes shelter in the lee of a rock.

The macro view from Mount Cadillac, with islands and the Atlantic in the background.

Can't wait to get back there sometime.