Sprucing up the winter garden

I came home from vacation to see the results of wind storms and cold weather. We had many leaves to rake up - happily John did much of this clean-up. I trimmed a lot of dead foliage from perennials.

I planted two lemon cypress trees in pots on front porch. I put twigs from red twig dogwood in other pots to give them some structure and color. These may root, providing a bonus of some super plants to give away.

The Callicarpa bodinieri (Profusion Beautyberry) looks great, with iridescent purple berries.

Garden clean-up

I took advantage of a nice November day to clean-up the lower garden beds. I was surprised how many things are still blooming or at least green and not quite ready to cut back. I took out the remaining scarlet runner bean plants, leaving the roots to enrich the soil. I cut back or trimmed a lot of perennials. I cut back a few of the fuchsia, but left most of them as they are still blooming and attracting many hummingbirds. I saw a charm (flock) of about 15 hummingbirds yesterday.

John pulled out the watercress that was covering the creek, so the birds will be happy again! 

fall trimming

Trimmed iris, daylilies, and hosta.
Photos of the hillside and front walkway showing today's trimming.

October chores

Scrubbed pots from spent annuals and tomatoes. Stored some non-stop begonia bulbs in vermiculite (after letting them dry out in the storage room for a couple weeks). Still enjoying a couple others on the porches that are in full bloom, so obviously will wait to store them.

Discovered that I did get some "hairy" seed pods in my hairy balls plant. I dug it up and put it in one of my cleaned-out pots. I will move it to the storage room when it gets colder, as it is zone 8 and we expect a cold winter. I also moved the Elephant Ears plant to the family room so it will be a house plant for the winter.

My passion flower was not performing (no flowers for two years), so I lost patience and moved it to a less desirable spot, next to a tree on the back hillside. I planted a clematis in its place that Patsy gave me (she didn't have a sunny enough spot for it in her garden).

I dug up and potted a couple hardy fuchsia that are a bit more tender (Jim Fairglo) and put in storage room. Also moved the red banana and two Angel's Trumpets into the storage room. I'm glad it is such a large room, as I will have a lot of plants in it.

Hardy fuchsia

Here are a couple photos of hardy fuchsia that still look great in October: Army Nurse and Golden Herald. These Golden Herald were planted from little starts in the spring, so they will get bigger but will stay a nice manageable size.

Fall color

A few shrubs and trees showing fall color. The first is the Mariesii Doublefile Viburnum. The second photo is a wonderful small tree, Stewartia Pseudocamellia, one of six that we planted in the parking strip in front of our neighbor's house. The bottom photo is the Red twig dogwood, which surprised me with some fall color along with berries. See the first two items in my top ten list in post below for more about the doublefile viburnum and red twig dogwood.

Some of my favorite plants

For our master gardener group meeting tonight, we are bringing lists of our top ten plants. The following are the plants that are some of my current favorites. I don't have any trees on the list, so I will have to provide a list of favorite trees later!

1. Mariesii Doublefile Viburnum

A great large shrub with clusters of brilliant white flowers sitting on top of horizontal branches (in May). Give it plenty of space, so you only have to trim out the occasional branch that goes astray. Leaves turn bronze in late summer and get brighter in fall. Viburnums are very happy in clay soil, so this is great for some of those problem areas (like my hillside). I also like Viburnum tinus ‘Spring Bouquet’ for its clusters of flowers in the winter, followed by purple berries - and that it is evergreen.

2. Red-twig dogwood (red-osier dogwood)

A great native plant that you can put in just about any condition of soil or light. Like the double-file viburnum, give it space. The newer branches are a brilliant red, so prune enough to get plenty of color and for shape. You can easily start new plants by placing cuttings in the ground in early fall. They have clusters of small white flowers, followed by berries. Other terrific native plants include red flowering currant, ninebark, and elderberry.

3. Burning bush (Euonymus alatus)

Maybe this is ordinary, but it is a lovely shrub. It turns a striking red in the fall, and the green leaves in the spring and summer are very nice.  As with the other shrubs listed, give it enough room, so you can enjoy its natural rounded shape. It will take pruning pretty well, but much nicer if it is placed where you don’t have to prune it.

4. Abelia x grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope'

This abelia is compact and fits nicely into a landscape around perennials to give year-round structure and color to the garden. It has small, glossy, yellow leaves with green centers and a rosy orange-red blush. It is happy in full sun and part shade, but will be more colorful in the sun.

5. Clematis ‘Jackmanii’

If I can have one climbing plant, it will be a clematis. Plant in the sun with a tall structure to climb on. For a good-shaped plant, in early spring (or late winter) cut the vines back nearly to the ground, leaving at least one pair of healthy looking buds on the trunk.

6. Hosta ‘Gold Standard’

This hosta can’t be beat to light up a shady area – plant at least three. There are lots of great hostas, so plant a few varieties if you have enough shady areas.

7. Agapanthus

Any of the blue varieties are wonderful for the perennial bed. Big clusters of flowers rise above strapping leaves. Hummingbirds like them and will often find a perch on the stems. The leaves seem to be some of the longer lasting in the perennial bed. Plant agapanthus in full sun to partial shade in good well-drained soil. I haven’t planted them in pots, but understand they like to have their roots crowded and will bloom well in pots. I will this a try!

8. Liatris spicata

A perennial that fits in anywhere. Tall spikes of purple flowers bloom July to September. Full sun, well-drained soil. Easy to divide.

9. Heuchera

I like the purple varieties for the front of perennial beds in sun or part shade. They keep their leaves all year to provide some year-round structure in garden beds. Trim unsightly leaves. I often trim the flower spikes, as the leaves are the primary feature I want for my garden.

10. Hardy fuchsia

Select a variety that doesn’t get too large from among those that are the hardiest varieties. Some good choices include Santa Claus, Golden Herald, Army Nurse, Dying Ember, Flying Cloud, Pat’s Dream, Little Ronnie, Drame, Maxima, and Pixie. They bloom from July to November, giving that much-needed late summer and fall color. Hummingbirds love them. They work well in garden beds and in large pots.

Wheels for large pots

John got me more wheeled plant stands for some of my large pots that I want to bring into the storage room for the winter. These photos show the bananas (hardy and tender red) and angel's trumpet. I will do a light trimming on the angel's trumpet when I bring it inside. In the spring I will prune it harder and I will remove from the pot and prune the roots, then replant in the same pots (since they are already large pots).

Labeled plants

A good rainy day activity: I wrote labels on copper plant markers for many of my plants that didn't have labels. Then got pretty wet going out in the rain to put some in! Well, got some fresh air.

The garden really needed a good watering, so I won't complain, especially since we are due for another dry spell.

Asclepias physocarpa

I got some unusual plants in July from deGro Flower and Garden Co. They had a booth at the garden I worked at for Federal Way Symphony Garden Tour. They regularly have a table at the Puyallup Farmer's Market. Some of these are zone 8, which is officially my garden. However, they probably won't like to be as wet as we get. With the cold predicted this winter with La Nina, I'm going to dig up more plants than usual to over-winter in the storage room (like a garage).

I already dug up my banana plants and have in four pots. I also potted up the cestrum, and I may keep it in the pot when I bring it out in the spring.

One of my unusual plants is the "hairy balls" plant. It has very interesting seed pods. I took a picture showing them at Kew Gardens in September 2009. Here is that photo as well as a photo of my plant.

Darwin Hybrid Tulip Tulipa 'Apeldoorn'

I saw big bags of these tulips at Lowe's about a week ago. I planted two batches of these three years ago and they have returned better than ever each year. There are only a couple varieties of tulips that return each year. This is one. The species tulips are another type.

For tulips, remember to water if there is a dry spell in the spring. After they finish blooming, they don't want to be watered. I have them along the driveway side of my rose garden. This is a great spot because the roses are watered with drip irrigation, so the happy tulips don't get watered.

The other area I've planted them is along the bed leading up to front door. This area does get irrigation, and they are doing very well. So they must not get too much water.

Here is a photo from last April showing the Apeldoorn tulips. The center is very dark, almost black. I highly recommend planting these - it is nice to get more than one good year for the trouble. Although I admit I planted some other tulips this year with the expectation that I will just get one good year. I planted some in a big pot and others in bed above the upper driveway.

Finally, plant tulips nice and deep - a full 6 inches. Might deter some squirrel feeding, and they will be happier in the long run.

Abutilon

It's nice to see some things in the garden that still look good. Here is one of four abutilon I have in pots. They are commonly called flowering maple, because the leaves are shaped like maple leaves. They are zone 8 and borderline here, so I think I will put two different colors ones in the storage room next month and leave two outside under cover to see how they do.

Pomegranite

My dwarf pomegranite is finally blooming. Too late for the flowers to turn to pomegranites, but maybe I'll take inside next month and put by a south window to see if anything develops!

Tigridia

Photo of a tigridia flower. This is a bulb that is easily available but doesn't seem to be commonly planted. The flowers are beautiful and each lasts one day. It is a treat to come upon them as you walk around the yard.

Garden photos from upper deck

I just took some pictures of the garden from the top deck. The garden looks pretty good for late September.

This is driveway, showing some of the geraniums on the left and the creek bank on the right.

 This is the back of the pool, showing the "coral bed" to the left and the shade garden to the right.

 This is the rose garden on the left and the pastel/English garden in the middle. John mowed and edged the lawn yesterday. I do love an edged lawn!

 The spa garden in on the bottom, and the hot/tropical garden is on top.

Moving plants and spreading compost

I did a lot of rearranging of plants in the front garden beds. I had orange/yellow cannas in the spa bed, but this bed has plants with mostly red flowers. So I moved several orange cannas to the "hot/tropical" bed. To make room, I moved three gauras and another pink perennial to the pastel bed, and I moved yellow cannas to the spa bed. And then I did little more plant shifting.

I also dug up a huge fuchsia that was starting to crowd out a nice small Japanese maple and the blueberry bushes. Then I separated a daylily to fill in. Finally, I did more clean-up: trimming spend perennials and weeding. Then I spread compost in the areas where I'd been moving plants, with a little extra around these plants, especially those that are a bit tender.

Adding late summer color to section above the upper driveway

I dug out several hosta that were getting too much sun. In their place I planted several hardy fuchsias that were getting too big for their previous spots in the beds near the front door and in containers. I also moved a gaura from a pot to this bed. These will provide some summer color to this bed that previously just had color in the spring from iris, columbine, creeping phlox, and candytuft.

I also planted some yellow tulips in the bed for extra spring color.

I pulled a large fuchsia from this bed. I rearranged some of the remaining plants, so it looks better. On a sunny day like today, everything looks good!

Rearranging the garden

It's a great time to move plants. The soil is warm and will help the roots recover and grow. And we will have plenty of rainfall to water the plants.

I've dug up and divided several plants for my sons' new houses. I've also removed some hosta plants that are not happy in my sunny yard and will prefer the shade in Steve's yard.

The work ahead of me is to rearrange a number of plants in my front yard. I've got orange canna lily flowers in the spa bed with a lot of Santa Claus fuchsia. And I've got pink gauras in the tropical bed. So I'm going to be switching plants to get the oranges together. I've always found orange a difficult color to blend in the garden. So I will try to contain it in the tropical bed. There the orange cannas can mix with yellow cannas and callas, purple liatris and cannas, orange and yellow alstroemeria, white coneflowers, and other plants with hot colors and bold foliage.

I will move the pink gauras to other beds. They will fill in empty spots nicely. Lots of digging ahead!

Grooming

Recent weeks have entailed lots of trimming and weeding. I've used my favorite tool, the action hoe, a lot to keep after weeds while tiny. I walk around the yard and hoe away!

The late summer garden demands a lot of deadheading and trimming. Some of the perennials are finished and drying up and can be cut almost to the ground. Other plants have the spent flowers and dried parts cut off. I cut off many of the spent annuals at ground level, leaving the roots to enrich the soil over the winter. However, I pulled out and cleaned up the beds of diseased plants. My snapdragons got a fungus disease Botrytis blight (gray mold). Normally they would continue blooming until November, but we had too much cool damp weather.


I removed many of the stakes (English Y stakes). I used a few on other late summer plants, such as dahlia.

Another container planting

This pot has gaura, hardy fuchsia (Drame), and bacopa.

Container plantings

Posting a couple photos of pots near house entrance. I love the sweet potato vine at this time of year - great contrasting color of the green and purple. I used dracaena marginata tricolor in the center and have calibrachoa trailing.
The second photo has abutilon in the center (common name flowering maple). In addition to calibrachoa, lobelia and verbena are trailing.

Butchart Gardens

We went on a short vacation to Vancouver Island last week and spent part of an afternoon at Butchart Gardens. Lots of beds with masses of annuals. Impressive pots and hanging baskets. Photo below is the sunken garden.

Lantana - a new annual discovery

I discovered a new annual, Lantana, at Furney's. I planted some in a pot and others along the front of my new flower bed.

I haven't decided whether to call this new bed the tropical or hot garden. What do you think?

See how well the elephant ear plant is doing (in brown pot in front of the fountain)! Canna 'Tropicanna' is blooming now. I finally have some flower buds on the Angel's Trumpet plant (in pot on far right).

Scarlet runner beans

We harvested and enjoyed our first batch of beans Friday - yummy! The hummingbirds have been feasting regularly.

Snapdragons in spa garden

Here is a picture taken yesterday of the spa garden. The snapdragons are in full bloom, as are the fuchsias, agapanthus, and mums. Waiting for the canna lilies.

The shade bed is at its peak

With both types of astilbes blooming, this bed is at its best.

Worm bin set up

The first section of my worm bin is assembled, and the worms are feeding.

Clematis Jackmanii

Once again the clematis has grown high enough to give us a nice display on the upper deck.

Garden grooming

There was not much deadheading to do, as flowers are getting to peak. I trimmed the bearded (old fashioned) iris yesterday to about 4 - 6 inches. I also trimmed the spent flowers from hostas and heucheras. I used several dozen Y stakes on perennials that are getting tall or starting to lean too much. I added some more 8 foot stakes for the scarlet runner beans.

There are a lot of little weeds to hoe or pull (always!). I got the front beds done - for now. I need to get to the back.

My sister sent me a lion fountain that I put near my new flower bed. She noticed that a lot of homes in Des Moines have lions, so sent this for my birthday.

Marine Hills Garden Club

Had the garden club over for a potluck gathering. See club blog for photos and club information: http://marinehillsgardenclub.blogspot.com/

Spa Flower Bed

The spa bed is coming along. Can't wait to see the cannas and angel's trumpet bloom.

I haven't had time for much gardening this week. Daily watering of pots and replaced the scarlet runner bean stakes with 8 foot stakes.

Volunteering as a master gardener at the Treat garden for Federal Way Symphony garden tour today.

A new flower bed!

We finally decided to plant flowers instead of putting in a gas fire pit - at least for now. So I dug up the old crummy soil to loosen it up. then I mixed in several bags of new soil and compost to make a nice rich bed.

I transplanted agapanthus and canna lilies from another bed. I bought Calla lilies ('Lemon Drop'), white Coneflower, Liatris, Alstroemeria, and Gaura. This is near the pool in the area I call my 'hot garden', so the flowers need to be bright and many of them are tropical looking.

I placed some flagstones so I can get into the bed to weed and groom plants.

The plant in the pot is a red banana, surrounded by bacopa. Red banana is not hardy - I am using it as an annual, but I may overwinter it in the storage room.

Click on photos to see them larger.

Scarlet runner beans

A photo to show how the scarlet runner beans are progressing. We will enjoy the red flowers, then the flavorful beans. Important to harvest these beans early so they are tender and to keep the plant producing.

Water containers daily

Most summer days we need to water our container plantings daily. Hanging pots/baskets may need water twice a day on hot/dry days, such as my calibrachoa.

Composting with worm class

Composting with Worms

Thursday, July 29, 6pm-7:30pm

Federal Way City Hall Council Chambers (33325 8th Ave S, 2nd Floor)

Learn how to set up and maintain a worm bin during this interactive course. Composting with worms is great for people without yard waste service who no longer want to send food to the landfill. Plus kids think ‘red wiggler’ worms are fascinating! Bring your bin if you need help setting it up, and bring your questions and we’ll troubleshoot together. The class is free and light refreshments, educational materials and door prizes are provided.

June 27 photos of garden

The white bellflowers are looking good now, along with hydrangeas, begonias, salvia, daylily, lady's mantle.

I've just finished another "walk-through" with my "action how" to take care of the weeds while small. And deadheading those flowers that have finished blooming, such as iris and peony. Also keeping the pots tidy: verbena, petunia, etc. If the columbine leaves are not looking good, when trimming off the spent flower stalks, I just cut off all the leaves. They come back looking good in no time.

Dogwood

One of my pink dogwoods is still blooming. The flower colors keep deepening. Maybe it liked our cool spring.