Muck About

Clematis Delights!

(Click on thumbnails to enlarge)

I never met a clematis I didn’t like. Sure, I swoon over some more than other vines, but if I became a single genus plant collector, I think this would be the divine choice. I photograph them every chance the opportunity arises. A trip to Oregon this year gave me an opportunity to take plenty of pictures. With a new vine arbor that will be about 50 feet long, I am anxious to cover it with clems. I am sure one lonicera will find a spot to grow too, but I believe the clems will win out in numbers.

Here are some delightful clematis I photographed at Joy Creek Nursery in Scappoose, Oregon. I can’t wait for some of them to come liven up my garden. Oh, and here’s a napkin to help with the drool.

Flowering Bulbs of Autumn

When I think of fall bulb planting, narcissus, tulips and other spring flowers come to mind. Yet some of my favorite bulbs flower in fall when they give their last hurrah to the growing season.

The pinkish-red flowers in the photos were once known as Schizostylis coccinea and commonly called the crimson river lily, Hesperantha ‘Oregon Sunset’ gives a bright floral show in October. Most years it continues to blossom into December. I strategically planted it near the entrance to my front garden so I get to enjoy it going to and from my car.

Another favorite fall bulb is the autumn crocus—Colchicum ‘Water Lily’. A friend who passed away after a long illness with breast cancer, gave this to me. When it springs out of the ground in full flower every fall, I think of her. Not only does the plant give me fond memories of plant swaps and hilarious fun times with her, its lush lavender-pink flowers fill the garden with grandeur. Even though I miss her, I feel a part of her lives on in my garden.

An Unusual Giant Himalayan Lily

Sue Milliken & Kelly Dodson invited me out to their nursery, Far Reaches Farm, last week to photograph their Cardiocrinum giganteum var. yunnanense, the giant Himalayan lily, in full bloom.  If you are not familiar with these towering, 15 feet tall beauties, they grow in shady woodland gardens and blossom up and down their floriferous tall stalks with many large, white, highly fragrant, lily flowers with streaks of burgundy in their throats.  Once they flower, the plant dies—monocarpic plants.  Offsets of bulbs will grow on to flower in a few years.  Grown from seed, the plant will bloom in seven years.  Planting seeds are an investment in the future!

Nevertheless, the main reason I drove up to Port Townsend in Washington State, where the nursery resides, is that one of their towering lilies was blooming pretty in pink, a pleasant surprise for Kelly and Sue, who carefully selected their seed from the best plants.  They are planning to propagate this one, but we won’t be seeing it offered for a few more years.  Here’s a sneak preview of these unusual pink flowers, which I hope will be available in the not too distant future. 

And now for the pink one:

A Rose for 9-11 Heroes

Bailey Nurseries’ new introduction “Forty Heroes Rose” (Rosa ‘BAInial’) was named to pay tribute to the forty heroes that died September 11, 2001, on United flight 93, in order to save the intended target from the same fate as the World Trade Center towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C.  The rose is included in the rose collection for the Remember Me Rose Gardens, a non-profit organization that is working to set up three gardens in honor of the people who lost their lives on that fateful day.  Each location--New York City, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C.--is slated to have a rose garden.

Normally I detest tea roses, disease ridden, gangly, ugly shrubs that need to be propped up with poisons to thrive.  In my opinion, rose breeders should be ashamed they bred many of them in the first place; which is a subject for another article, another time. 

Having said that, the new “Forty Heroes” rose bred by master hybridizer, Ping Lim of Bailey Nurseries is a tea rose I could embrace. This disease resistant tea rose grows on its own roots. Its deep yellow flowers have a petal count of 17-25 and blooms more than once over the season.

Mama’s Day—Big Day for Flowers

Mother’s Day almost rivals Valentine’s Day for giving flowers to a favorite lady, only instead of your sweetheart, mama receives the bouquets and living plants.

Traditionally, my child and husband usually gave me a hanging basket of flowers--sometimes fuchsias, other times New Guinea impatiens.  Both baskets are perfect for our east-facing porch.  The plants receive morning light and afternoon shade, ideal conditions for these choices.

This year my gift was an Anthurium for inside the house, although its beautiful foliage will be welcome outdoors for the summer, once it is acclimated.  Unfortunately, the tag doesn’t tell me which cultivar it is.  From the Arum family, they originally came from Central and South America.  I grew these in Hawaii, where they are a popular plant for the cut flower trade.  I won’t be cutting mine though; I will enjoy the long lasting flowers on the plant.  When our unseasonably cold spring ends, it will live outside all summer; the large, heart-shaped foliage is lovely in the garden.

What we normally think of as the flower is actually a rich-hued, modified leaf, referred to as the spathe.  Both male and female flowers grow on a tapered spike that rises out of the spathe.  A sterile band of flowers separates the females from the males. 

A Primrose by Any Other Name

I didn’t imagine it; this plant has bloomed nonstop since February.  On top of the rock wall in my entry garden, the tiny flowers are still hanging on stems well above the foliage where it grows under a wide spreading plum tree.  The silver-laced primrose, Primula polyanthus ‘Penumbra’, has tricolored flowers edged in white, gold centers, and a dark maroon red that is so dark it almost appears black.  Whoever named this perennial ‘Penumbra’ looked at the flower and imagined an eclipse of the moon.  I can see that…sort of.  No matter what inspired the name, I am enamored with this sweet primrose.

A New Variegated Lacecap Hydrangea

If you like variegated foliage and lacecap hydrangeas, you will no doubt enjoy this new introduction called Light-O-Day Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla 'Bailday') from Bailey Nurseries.  The foliage adorns itself in beautiful pure white and green variegation.  The lacecap’s outer ring of sterile flowers is white, while the inner fertile flowers are blue, here in the Northwest.  In less acidic soils, the inner flowers will be pink.  It is hardy to USDA Zone 5 and being trialed in Zone 4 for hardiness.

Even if you have a small garden, this compact shrub will fit in, growing three to five feet high and wide.  Here in the cool climate of the Northwest which tends to super-size our plants, it wouldn’t surprise me if they grow larger.

Narcissus ‘Mon Cherie’

In between intermittent snow showers, I went outside to photograph the daffodils in my garden.  I needed something to remind me that it is one month into spring season.  Nothing says spring like this narcissus with its exceptional, frilly, apricot-pink cups set off by white petals.

Last fall, I planted 50 bulbs in this shallow container and placed it on a pedestal.  It sits by my front door, greeting everyone with its cheery blossoms.  Some of the plants ended up horizontal with the rain, sleet, snow, and hail that fell from the sky the last few days.

This spring is one for the record books; however, the daffodils keep me grounded in the knowledge that this too shall pass.  Garden season will be here soon enough and in full force, and I can quit whining about the inclement weather.  As typical Northwesterners often do, I will move on to complaining it is too hot.

Western Azalea

I thought I would place these beauties on the blog for everyone. This is one of our beautiful rhododendron natives. I photographed this at the Rhododendron Species Foundation Garden in Federal Way. It is one of the loveliest rhododendrons on the planet in my opinion, and it grows in the Northwest.  I say that with complete lack of bias. (Never mind my tongue firmly planted in my cheek.)

I give you Rhododendron occidentale. Click on images to view larger.

Difficult to grow outside the Pacific Northwest and California, Rhododendron occidentale is a choice native plant for a Northwest garden. It is found in thickets around moist areas, seepages and creek sides in the mountains and foothills along the Pacific coast of southwest Oregon to southern California. Kruckeberg recommends planting our native azalea “in massed plantings, interspersed with evergreens.” What a delight that is to view; in addition, the fragrance of a massed planting—intoxicating.

The western azalea is used extensively, in breeding programs, as a parent plant for many highly sought after hybrids, especially for adding fragrance. Some of its offspring include ‘Delicatissimum’, ‘Exquisitum’ and ‘Irene Koster’.  All won the RHS Award of Garden Merit in 1993. Although its progeny grows easily outside our region, R. occidentale itself is not easy to maintain outside the maritime Pacific Northwest and California, especially in areas where the weather is hot and humid.

Pieris japonica the lily-of-the-valley bush

I am preparing an entry in the plant gallery and thought I would post my notes here on the blog as I continue filling out the cultural advice for the growing guide on RSG. This is one of my favorite shrubs species from Japan and other Asian countries for growing in the NW.

As with most shrubs in the Ericaceae family, Pieris japonica grows best in low ph soil, making this carefree shrub a perfect choice for our native soils that are typically acidic.  The shrub is a late winter bloomer here in the maritime Pacific Northwest.  Its new foliage in spring is red, much like photinia; however, unlike the fast moving photinias, pieris growth is slow.  I’m grateful we planted these shrubs when we first arrived at our new property, since my ten-year-old plants reach only about six feet tall.  Even though they grow slowly, they are handsome year round, with their evergreen leaves held in whorls. The six-inch long panicles filled with sweet-smelling, small white flowers on red stems cover the shrub in late winter.  When I park in my driveway and see them, the flowers are a welcome sight, signaling the end of the dark, cold days of the season.

In full sun, the shrub flowers prolifically, but grows slower.  The shrub grows faster in shade, but has fewer flowers.  I grow mine as large shrubs, but they are just as handsome limbed up to look like small trees, providing more real estate underneath for planting ferns, perennials or ground covers.  Pieris tolerates salt spray, and thus is a good candidate for planting along the coast.  These shrubs are poisonous.