Saturday, October 4, 2008

Beltsville Library Saturday (Colchicum 'Waterlily" blooms)


I did addition by subtraction at the Library today. When I began taking care of the area, its plantings consisted of three trees, a number of shrubs, and a lot of hostas and daylilies. Too many hostas and daylilies. The hostas all burned. The courtyard is surrounded by brick walls, has a brick walkway, and gets a lot of sun. Its hot and they don't like it. Most had to go. I thought I was able to visualize the effect of changes in a garden, yet I am still surprised at how much better the area looks as a result of the removals. I'm keeping the dwarf daylilies and consolidating them, but removing most of the standard varieties. A few are nice, but I find the foliage tends to become messy and disgtracting from June to the end of the season.

The Colchicum 'Waterlily' are flowering now as the C. speciosum finish up. I planted three divisions of Rohdea japonica from the Adelphi garden last week and they are doing well. They will provide evergreen structure at gound level under the birch. I moved the Rhapidophyllum hystrix (Needle Palm) to the right. Last week I didn't have the resources to remove the giant clump of hosta where I really wanted it so I heeled it in near the Coral Bark Maple. It looks better where it is now. I planted a piece of Canna 'Bengal Tiger' from a container on the front deck. It is hardy and will add a foliage element that can relate to the Golden Banana. Next spring I'll add a Basjoo banana on the left-hand wall and there'll be a triangle of bold foliage.

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