Garden Views

View from south patio

View from west terrace toward lionness sculpture

Pink chairs in upper lawn

View from behind pink chairs toward lower lawn

View of west terrace  and back patio

Front gate

Some of my collection of plants in pots

     Today's blog will be short because I am getting ready to go to Las Vegas for Photoshop World.  My daughter and her husband and I will be driving there--it is a some 19 hour drive from Portland where my daughter lives, so we will be taking two days, each way.  Photoshop World is a big convention of Photoshop geeks and photography geeks.  It should be lots of fun.  I will be back in a week and hopefully will have some photos to share with you then.  For today, I leave with you some pictures I took of my garden this morning.

Colchicums

Colchicums blooming now in my garden

     I am finally accumulating mass quantities of Colchicums in my garden and the show is just beginning!  Colchicums, for those new to them, are bulbs native mostly to west Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean region.  The ones I grow in my garden bloom in the early fall starting now and they bloom while there is no foliage on the plant.  The foliage comes after the bloom and lasts until early summer when it dies away completely, leaving the ground bare for a couple of months until the flowers appear. 
     The foliage,  while it is there, is fairly wide and luxurious so it cannot be ignored.  This growing pattern of colchicums makes them a challenge to site in a garden, yet the beautiful flowers which pop up so suddenly now when there is not much that is fresh in the garden make them eminently worthwhile.  Colchicums also like the sun and would not do as well in heavy shade so that rules out planting them in some dark dank corner of the garden.  I have read, however, that they can be planted under the high shade cast by large deciduous trees, although I have not tried them in that situation.
     They are drought tolerant and I originally planted mine in my front border where they receive no supplemental water.  They have done very well there and have greatly multiplied.  For example, the colchicum in the picture is one I got at least 5 years ago (and maybe more) from Odyssey Bulbs and I probably got at least 50 additional bulbs this year from 5 bulbs I originally planted.  I did not even dig up the original bulbs to get these additional ones--I just used my hands to scoop out the sort of loose bulbs at the surface.
      For those who want to know the name of this colchicum, I have lost its ID, so you are out of luck.  However, based on other colchicums I have grown, they are all good. I don't think you could go wrong ordering any, although I personally like the single flowered bright pink ones.
     To go back to the problem of siting these bulbs, in my front border I grow them around and between the spiky stars of the front border-- the nolinas, dasylirions, and yuccas.  They lend themselves to planting in this kind of dryland border when one does not expect the ground to always be covered with foliage.  I have, however, started to plant more of them in my more traditional garden borders and I am still experimenting with what, if anything, to interplant them with.  In his book on succession planting Christopher Lloyd mentions that he plants them so they are surrounded by a carpet on Adiantum venustum, and that Beth Chatto plants them in a bed of periwinkles.  I don't really want to do either of those things, but after experimenting with annuals this year (see this post) it has occured to me to try some annuals which would do their main show after the colchicum foliage dies down but before the flowers appear.  I will let you know how this goes in the future.
    

Fremontodendron

Fremontodendron californicum blooming in my garden

     A shrub which is blooming now in my garden is Fremontodendron californicum, sometimes called the California flannel bush.  I assume it got this common name because the leaves have a flannel like feel to them--they are sort of furry and, as you can see from the picture, the stems also have a furry brown indumentum on them.  I have read on the internet that this can be an irritant to some people (just like the indumentum on Tetrapanax can be an irritant).
     This shrub is a California native as is evident from its second name, and it grows in dry conditons, making it very drought tolerant and liable to rot if grown in too moist a situation.  A friend gave me this plant probably 10 years ago.  It was growing in a one gal. container and I basically plopped it into the garden where I could find a place, which happened to be by a semicircular concrete wall that is a feature in the part of my garden near the lionness sculpture.  As is usual with us plant collectors, I planted it too close to a lot of other things, including the wall itself.  As those other plants got bigger and so did the Fremontodendron,  I wacked back the Fremontodendron to keep it from overpowering its neighbors.  This is a fast growing shrub which can get to be 20 feet tall and as wide.  Indeed, on more than one occasion I have cut this shrub completely to the ground.  The most recent time I did this was this spring.  As you can see from the photo, this harsh treatment has not hurt it in the least.  Although cutting it back delayed the blossom time of this shrub (normally it should start blooming in the spring), it now is over 6 feet tall and wide and is blooming well.
     Although I have not grown a Fremontodendron in my front border yet, and so do not know from experience whether the deer would eat it, I can surmise from the furryness of the leaves and stems that it might be deer resistant and this surmise is confirmed by information on the internet.  I think a Fremontodendron would be a good addition to my front border and since there are some available now at Bainbridge Gardens, my local retail nursery, I might have to get another one.
     This shrub is evergreen in its native locations and it has been hardy so far in my garden, although it is probably at its limit of hardiness in zone 8.   It has taken a lot of cold in the time it has been in my garden, but it is growing right against a concrete wall which probably keeps it both drier and warmer than it would be otherwise.  Absent a concrete wall, I think the best situation to try it would be in a well drained open sunny spot. 

Zauschneria

Zauschneria with Nolina nelsonii

     I am always looking for plants that hummingbirds will love and one of these is Zauschneria, a native of dry slopes of western North America, particularly California.  It is sometimes called California fuschia, Hummingbird flower or Hummingbird trumpet.  This plant, which for much of the year is nondescript, is in its element right now in my front border, sporting these orange red hummingbird magnet flowers.  There are a number of different species and named cultivars of Zauschneria and unfortunately, I have lost track of which one this is.  I also have a different one in another part of my garden, and although I know it is a different one it looks almost the same as this one.
     All these zaushnerias seem to have a few things in common.  First and foremost, they are very drought tolerant.  As I have said many times, I never water in my front border and so the plant you see in the picture has gone without any noticeable water for almost 2 months.  It has not seemed to suffer from this, and that makes sense considering where it grows as a native.  Secondly, they all seem to be deer resistant.  Third, they all have very small leaves and grow low to the ground.  This makes them a good groundcover to grow around taller drought tolerant plants like nolinas, yuccas, and dasylirions.
     This particular zauschneria in the picture has been growing there for probably 15 years and it has spread somewhat during that time.  I wouldn't call it an aggressive spreader, but keep in mind that it will spread.
     I cut this plant to the ground when I am doing cleanup of this section of the garden in the spring.  In the winter here the foliage of zauschneria browns off and it looks better then to cut it all away.  In the spring when growth returns it greens up again.
     Zauschnerias never look particularly impressive when they are growing a nursery pot and it would be very easy to pass them by.  I would not call them stars of the garden, but they are certainly worth growing particularly as companions to the various spiky dry land plants we all love.  In addition, if you want to make the hummingbirds happy, by all means plant a zauschneria or two or three or...
     
    

Gentiana andrewsii

Gentiana andrewsii blooming in my garden now

     I got a gentian a number of years ago but I have since lost track of both the name and where I got it from, although I may have gotten it from Kelly Dodson.  Anyway, it has been living in a partially shaded, but not especially moist part of my garden all these years.  I have pretty much neglected it, yet it blooms each year about this time with these beautiful blue balloon like flowers that never open any more than you see in the picture.  The plant itself without the flowers is rather nondescript, sending up stems (there are not very many stems on this plant) that are one to two feet tall.  When the plant blooms, the stems tend to fall over with the weight of the bloom.
     Since I decided to blog about this plant, I discovered that it is probably Gentiana andrewsii, a plant native to more easterly and cold parts of the U.S. than Washington state.  I also found that it grows in moist woods, thickets and low lying areas near streams and ponds. Also, if left alone in optimal growing conditions it is supposed to form large clumps.  That has not happened with my plant and I think the reason may be that I have it in too dry a spot.  I shall have to move it.
     In researching this plant I also found that it is offered for sale by Plant Delights Nursery.  I may have to order some so that I can increase the number of plants I have of this.  I hate to have only a singleton plant of anything worth growing, and I now conclude that is worth growing because of the shot of blue it gives to the garden in a season where blue in rare.

Arisaema candidissimum

Arisaema candidissimum blooming in my garden in July

     Yesterday I was at Far Reaches Farm and I was talking to Kelly about arisaemas which is why I decided to make today's blog about one of my favorite ones--Arisaema candidissimum.  I have grown many arisaemas in my gardening career and for a while they were very hot plants in the horticultural world.  They still are to some extent, but there are many of them that have been on the market that are not really worth growing in my opinion.  However, one of the first ones I ever grew and one of the first to be readily available here is still one of the best, and that one, of course, is Arisaema candidissimum.
     As you can see from the picture, the flower of this one is one of the more beautiful of the arisaemas.  Some arisaemas have just downright weird flowers and beautiful is not an adjective to describe them.  This one, however, I would have to call beautiful.
     Another characteristic of some arisaemas is that they don't last long in the garden, Arisaema sikokianum being the first one that comes to mind in that category.  I would hate to tally how much I have spent on that arisaema over the years only to have it come up only once and then disappear forever.
     Arisaema condidissimum is not like that--it endures in the garden, even under very harsh conditions.  I have my stand of it planted in a very dry and out of the way place in the garden, yet it still comes up year after year and indeed, it multiplies.  Now that I think about it I probably should put it in a better spot.  Like all arisaemas, it does fine in the shade.
     The picture above was taken in July, making this a late blooming arisaema.  For more good information on this plant, see John Grimshaw's entry in his garden diary here.  Arisaema candissimum can be found at many nurseries, including Far Reaches.

A Good Combination

Echinops and Kniphofia in my front border

Closeup of Echinops flowers

Closeup of Kniphofia flower

     Blooming together now in the front border of my garden are a very large kniphofia and an echinops that I bought as Echinops ruthenicus many years ago, but is now called Echinops ritro ssp. ruthenicus.  Echinops is one of those thistle like plants that the deer do not eat, and in common with most of the thistle like plants I have grown, is also drought tolerant.  I have mixed feelings about this plant, however.  Even though right now when it is in bloom it has nice flowers, I think it is kind of a messy looking plant.  I would not plant it if I had a small garden for this reason.  Furthermore, once you plant one of these it is very difficult to get rid of--I know because I have tried and failed.  Any bit of root that is left will regenerate.  I have seen pictures of this plant on the internet which look very good where all the flowers are standing straight up.  That is not how it behaves in my garden.  Instead they all splay out every which way.  And they don't do that because I grow them too well--I never water or fertilize in my front border.  So, I would recommend this plant only if you have a large, rather wild area of your garden that is not watered and that needs to be deer proof.
     The other plant in this combination is a very large kniphofia that I got so many years ago that I have forgotten its name.  I think I got it from Plant Delights and it was touted as a very large plant, and indeed it is.  Right now the plant is at least 7 feet tall.  Because we had such a mild winter last year the foliage of this kniphofia did not die back and that may have contributed to its great size this year.  Usually I cut all the foliage back in the spring, but not this year.  
     I used to grow a great many kniphofias, but this is the only one I have in my garden now.  Many of them were planted in parts of my garden that got too shady for them, and others I got rid of because I thought that, just like the echinops,  they were too messy.  I have not written kniphofias off, however,  There are many that I like a lot, and the hummingbirds like them too.  I am sure that I will acquire more of them in the future.