I planted 27 accessions of Stefan's collections today and I have half a dozen to go. I figure, what the heck! We sent him over there, he made the collections, he's grown them out and now we might as well see what they'll do in the garden. I like the problem solving aspect of taking a truckload of plants with various requirements for soil, moisture, light, space,...out into an existing garden and inserting them in such a way as to show off their characters and enhance the beauty of the collection. I didn't say I was that good at it, just that I enjoyed doing it. As it turns out, I am pretty happy with most of the placements, very happy with some, and at least satisfied with the rest. It was my though that, in addition to those other parameters, it would be nice if I could concentrate them in a few areas to make them easier to observe. I succeeded to some extent.
There were a number of plants that demanded perfect drainage so I planted as many of them as I could in the higher up, altitudinaly, of the Rock Gardens that Bradley Evans had installed in China Valley. It sits just above the path below the
Magnolia denudata Memorial Grove. I put a species Helianthus there,
Dianthus ?carthusianum ?,
Sedum pallidum, Arenaria sp., Convolvulus persicus, Erysiumum sp., and a nice small
Eryngium.
Moving down the path and backtracking along the spur trail that leads back to the Central Valley, I planted
Plumbago europaea and a
Salvia verticillata type below the trail among the rocks at the head of the dry stream bed.
Stil farther down the valley on an east facing slope near
Albizzia 'Summer Chocolate', are
Atraphaxis spinosa, Jasminum fruticans, and
a nice prostrate
Anthemis with pinnately compound ferny leaves. Along the stone steps that bisect this large area, I put
Limonium meyeri, ?
Limonium carnosum?, and
Geranium albanum.Walking down the valley along the bottom of this bed, the trail faces south, then makes a sharp bend and continues NE. At this bend, are: bearded type
Iris; a beautiful
Asparagus whose dark foliage has a beautiful and unusual sheen;
Teucrium nuchense; Chamerion stevenii with silvery foliage and pink flowers; and a type of Larkspur with pink flowers. Now I just have to take care of them and watch what happens.
Their front garden includes a 6-legged octopus created from Juniperus procumbens nana (parts of two arms are visible in the picture), various perennials, assorted dwarf conifers, and a rock garden featuring xerophytes, international and southwestern. The back is a shade garden of textural and tonal contrasts created with hundreds of perfectly grown specimen plants including this unusual hellebore. And.....Joan's new dog Scout made a new friend.
Its seems that at last north Americans have begun to use our own flora; there's been a virtual explosion of selection, hybridization, and naming of native plant cultivars. They better be good because "purists" have no use for them and the rest of the gardening public will judge them impartially? so that they have to mesure up against long establish selections. I don't think theres any doubt that many people will have a place in their gardens for this easy, fast-growing, dependable shrub that will grow and bloom well in a bit of shade.
Michael (Fern Valley ASRT) and Anna (FV Intern) showed me these weevils? I know just what you're thinking and you're wrong; it doesn't make them pimps, it makes them purveyors.
I like the hairy rosette with the twisted sculptural leaves, but Stefan says that this Anchusa species produces, serially, rich cobalt blue flowers. Sounds good. Anchusa is in the Boraginaceae, a family noted for hairy leaves, wonderful blue flowers, and scorpioid cymes. I just like saying that: scorpioid cymes, and its an interesting "uncoiling" inflorescence.
There's just something about compound leaves. And these are huge and healthy and lush and well-defined; there's a symmetry to this plant that I don't feel in say, Albizia or the native Coffeetree, Gymnocladus dioicus. I love the native tree, particularly its pods. I actually have a box of them sitting next to me on the desk, but the tree overall has a sort of a spare appearance, like a Black Walnut or a Robinia.
Everyone likes the sedum, which is very nice, but I'm a sucker for gray foliage, Mediterranean plants, and hairy leaves. Whatever flowers follow will be a bonus.
Bought it at the National Capitol Orchid Society Fall show and sale at the Arboretum and every month or so it squeezes out another one of these giant flowers from a new bud at the end of what is now a 2' long flower scape. It looks better with the garden (and flamingos) as a backdrop than it does inside. I hope it's enjoying the weather!
I planted 27 accessions of Stefan's collections today and I have half a dozen to go. I figure, what the heck! We sent him over there, he made the collections, he's grown them out and now we might as well see what they'll do in the garden. I like the problem solving aspect of taking a truckload of plants with various requirements for soil, moisture, light, space,...out into an existing garden and inserting them in such a way as to show off their characters and enhance the beauty of the collection. I didn't say I was that good at it, just that I enjoyed doing it. As it turns out, I am pretty happy with most of the placements, very happy with some, and at least satisfied with the rest. It was my though that, in addition to those other parameters, it would be nice if I could concentrate them in a few areas to make them easier to observe. I succeeded to some extent.
Picked this up in April in Ocala Florida in a 1 gallon pot, brought it back, stuck it in the ground and its way ahead of overwintered plants. Of course we don't have a greenhouse, but for 7 dollars this seems like a good way to go.
If you don't know this plant, its a member of the Apocynaceae which was already one of my favorite families before it subsumed the Asclepidaceae, which I liked even better! Adenium is a caudiciform plant (it grows from a swollen base) that can grow to a height of over 5'. On a plant that size the base would be 1-2' in diameter making a quite impressive specimen. It looks sort of like an upside down green turnip with multiple branches tipped with glossy evergreen leaves. The flowers occur throughout the year for me; it's more often in flower than not.
