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.