Doug’s Garden Blog

Red Hellebore

Ξ May 1st, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Perennials |

Hottest Container Plant for 08

Ξ March 2nd, 2008 | → 11 Comments | ∇ Perennials |

I’ve been to a few flower and trade shows this spring and I can now confirm the hottest plant you’re going to see in containers and gardens this spring is the Sempervivum (Hens & Chicks). I’m seeing these things tucked here, there, and everywhere in display gardens and containers.

And frankly, why not? This is one plant your mother-in-law can’t kill. You can do anything you like to it, including going away on holidays for 2 months and the darn thing will be alive when you get back. The rest of the container will be stony-dead but this plant will be alive.

How to grow ‘em? (more…)

Names of spring flowers

Ξ February 27th, 2008 | → 3 Comments | ∇ Perennials |

Who could wax poetic about the names of spring flowers? I mean think about it for a minute.

We’ve got Narcissus - named after a guy who couldn’t stop looking at himself in the mirror and which are one of the most poisonous of spring bulbs.

We’ve got Brunnera, named after Samuel Brunner, a Swiss Botanist in 1851.

Or how about Crocus which might come from the Greek word for egg yolk. (more…)

Coralbells / Heuchera Article

Ξ February 25th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Perennials |

I just posted an article on new Heuchera aka Coralbells that I’m going to be planting this year. It may be of interest in that I also discuss some of the plant combinations I’m making in the new shade garden with Heuchera.

If you’re interested in this leafy wonder, click here.

Perennial Plant of the Year Online Book

Ξ February 7th, 2008 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Perennials |

This is an online version of the free ebook download about Perennial Plants of the Year.

Have fun!

To read the ebook, click on the bottom tabs. It will also allow you to upload the ebook to different social network sites by using the buttons on the bottom right of the image.

As an aside - if you click on the image itself or the bottom links to open up the image to full size readable format, it comes in a new window - a popup. This is happening on the Issu site that is hosting this application. (in other words, I’m not sending you a popup box) but you may have to accept the popup if you want to see the larger image (I know some of you block popups - as do I)

I just thought it was kind of a fun way to do some Internet reading.

Let me know what you think…

Columbine revisited

Ξ February 4th, 2008 | → 9 Comments | ∇ Perennials |

If I told you that you could grow a plant named both after an eagle as well as a dove, would you be interested?

Origin of Name

I would hope so because it is an easily grown perennial that will self-sow and delight you for years by popping up here and there throughout the garden. Aquilegia is the name of this delightful plant – aquilegia comes from the Latin word aquila meaning ‘eagle’ and if you look at the individual petals, you can see the resemblance to an eagle. Well, OK, you have to use your imagination but I can see one. Columbine is the other name for this plant and this comes to us because the upside-down flowers resemble a circle of drinking doves. Columba is Latin for ‘dove”. I’ve also heard Aquilegia called Culverwort but that’s easily explained because the Saxon word for ‘pigeon’ is culfre and ‘plant’ is wort. But, no matter what bird is drinking or sitting around in a circle, this is a great garden plant.

Grows Best

It grows best in the full sun in my garden although it will tolerate some light noonday shade. I’ve also found that it grows best on a well drained soil; it dies out if given clay or wet soils. Think of it as a woodland edger or meadow plant; it requires adequate moisture to continue flowering but good drainage so that the roots don’t sit in moisture. The height of different species varies between 3 to 36 inches so there’s a drinking dove to fit any space in your garden. We’ve had a full range of colors of this plant – from blues, pinks, whites and yellows as well of shades and combinations of almost all of them.

Bloomtime

Depending on your viewpoint, the flowers are either one of the earliest summer bloomers or latest spring bloomers. They start easily from seed and after a few years, you’ll find them popping up all over the garden. The major problem with aquilegia is the leaf miner. Simply squeezing the ends of the tunnels eliminates the miner and its unsightly tunnels.

Plants to Look Out For

A. alpina is a delightful plant with deep sky-blue flowers on 12 inch plants and it is wonderful for the front of the border or rock garden.

However, A. bertolonii is my favorite columbine. This 6 to 8 inch tall plant is wonderful for the rock garden and its blue and cream flowers are the earliest to bloom in my garden. You’ll likely find this one from seed catalogues rather than in garden centers.

A. caerulea is the Rocky Mountain Columbine and it grows 18 to 24 inches in my garden and has blue and white flowers. An attractive plant, I’m told it is one of the parents of many of the hybrid forms on the market today.

A. canadensis is a smaller plant. It thrives naturally at the front of my farm and stands about 18 inches tall in full sun and part shade spots. The flowers (red and yellow) are smaller than the garden center hybrids but equally charming. It is easy to naturalize and grow (I didn’t do anything – they just arrived one year to colonize the area). The textbooks say they prefer moist shady areas but mine are growing on poor, rocky, thin soils in full sunlight.

A. flabellata is one of the parents of modern columbine breeding. One of the nicest forms is the pure white form ‘nana’. It is only 12 inches tall with glistening white flowers reaching to 18 inches.

The columbine known in Europe as Granny’s Bonnet is really A. vulgaris and it grows 18 to 24 inches tall. This plant is the parent the Vervaeneana group that have variegated or gold flecks in the leaves. Many doubles have also been bred from A. vulgaris genetics. The old stand-by ‘Nora Barlow’ with pink and green colored flowers, is quite stable and has bred true year after seeding year in my garden.

Growing up to 3 feet tall, A. chrysantha and its delightful yellow flowers are one of my favorites. The flowers are large with long spurs so it stands out in the garden. This is the plant that brought the yellow gene to the columbine breeding program. Unfortunately, it has also been one of the shortest- lived columbines in my garden, seldom living longer than two to three years.

In hybrids, ‘Biedermeier’ is offered by many seed companies. The blue and white Biedermeier is acceptable – other colors are muddy and not worth growing.

The excellent ‘Dragonfly’ hybrid is a color mix and grows to 24 inches tall.

‘McKanna Hybrids’ are 18 to 24 inch tall hybrids quite commonly found in commercial nurseries. They’ve had good color ranges in my garden.

The ‘Music’ series is one of the better hybrids at 18 inches because the colors are more intense than other varieties.

Sexy Plant Alert

I have to tell you that Aquilegia are also promiscuous. They interbreed quite quickly and easily so it is quite difficult to maintain a pure line of species plants. After a few years, the hybrids will self sow and produce offspring quite different in appearance from the parents. The gardener has a choice at that time; to select the blooming plants they like and allow these to go to seed or to pull the offending plants and re-purchase the hybrid. I note that some of the colors of the hybrid offspring will be quite terrible and I recommend digging out the ones you don’t like. A few years selecting the most desirable colors will produce a relatively stable population.

So, call them pigeons or eagles but just make sure they are in your garden next spring. They’ll take you away on flights of fancy.

Updated Free Perennial Ebook

Ξ January 24th, 2008 | → 2 Comments | ∇ Perennials |

I have a free ebook on the Perennial Plants of the Year and I’ve just finished updating it. If you want a free copy, simply click here to go and download it.

Do let me know what you think about it.

Echinacea or Coneflower

Ξ January 18th, 2008 | → 4 Comments | ∇ Perennials |

I rather like Echinacea or Coneflower and given that I have way too many varieties of this plant in my garden, this is probably a very good thing. I just made a short video on growing them. You can find it here.

Perennial Plant of the Year 2009

Ξ January 15th, 2008 | → 3 Comments | ∇ Perennials |

The Perennial Plant of the Year for 2009 has just been announced and it’s Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’. I’ve been growing this wonderful grass for some time now in both USDA 4 and 5 gardens and it has done well for me. Well…. in a tough year in Zone 4 it won’t be really happy.

Here’s the deal.

Full sun to part shade. The more sun you give this plant, the more “washed-out” the leaves will be. So for maximum gold color, grow it in the part shade.

If you have clay - forget it. This one likes a rich, loamy soil with no waterlogging but no drought either.

Propagation is by division and is easy in the spring. Just whack off a bit with a shovel.

I love this grass because it doesn’t spread quickly. It is a slow grower rather than some Attila of the Garden.

And at 12-24 inches tall, it makes a perfect plant for the edge of a border or next to smaller perennials.

If you want to know how to say the name and grow the plant, check out this video I just made.

3 Step to Better Shade Gardening

Ξ December 19th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Perennials, Video |

And to follow up on the previous post - here’s a video about 3 Steps to Better Shade Gardening