Tuesday, May 12, 2015

The Tropicals are Coming, the Tropicals are Coming!



I've been waiting all winter.

Bradley Evans moved dozens of display plants from their winter quarters to the North Court of the Administratin Building at the US National Arboretum I'm psyched. The displays get better and better every year. I donated a few of those plants years ago including the Bismarckia and the red pineapple.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Beltsville Library Nostalgia!

A good number of years ago. I renovated this little courtyard garden at our local library. I maintained it for a few years afterward.  Between my hip going south (now corrected with a full replacement) and the fact that the building was closed and fenced off for renovation for two years, I'd not seen it for a while. I stopped by yesterday and it looked goodMelwood does the maintenance. Melwood is great. They train people, variously challenged, to do horticulture/gardening. They've done a good job here. The 'Autumn Bugler' re-blooming iris looks good. It's a division from our planting. I love this plant and we've given away countless pieces!

The nandina need cutting back. The 'Heritage' birch visible on the right sucks all the water out of the bed. Alliums have multiplied a bit. I put them in around 2011. The broom on the left side loves the heat and aridity. The innocent looking perennials between the alliums are Symphyotrichum oblongifolium  'Raydon's Favorite'. They also love heat weather and dry soil.

Some of the oddities I'd put in didn't seem to still be there like 'Basjoo' banana, various hedychiums, a cestrum. The needle palm, Rhapidophyllum hystrix was still there though. The time I was there was wonderful, but I'm just going to be a visitor from now on!