Plant Talk

Q&A - Daphnes and Mountain Ash

Question: My children gave me a Daphne 'Summer Ice', and I do not know if i should plant it in the sun or the shade. Would appreciate any info you could give me about the plant.

Thanks,

Marlene

Answer: Your children have great taste - Daphne x transatlantica 'Summer Ice' is one of the prettiest and longest blooming daphnes, with crisp white variegation and fragrant little flowers. 'Summer Ice' prefers sun,with some light afternoon shade.  Most important is good drainage, for daphnes won't tolerate extremes of wet or dry.  Make sure you plant it in well-draining soil. Prune lightly, and mulch with gravel or pebbles because daphnes dislike their roots heating up. If you find the right spot, 'Summer Ice' will reward you by growing into a mound of lovely foliage with perfumed flowers that bloom many months of the year. For more information, check out my Pacific Northwest Plant Life column on daphnes from couple of years ago. 

Question: Dear Ms. Easton,
While Googling information on the mountain ash in Seattle, I came across your extremely informative article for Horticulture. I am researching for a short piece of fiction based on my childhood in Seattle and remember the mountain ash berries dropping nearly all year around on our walkway. We lived on Ravenna Boulevard and had a large mountain ash near the entrance to our house that was the bane of my father's existence. I thought the berries started to fall as early as spring--April or May--but could I be wrong? My story takes place in spring and I'd like to use this detail, so I am hoping my childhood memory is not entirely faulty.

Many thanks for your help,
George

Answer: Mountain ash trees (genus Sorbus, and called "Rowan" in England) are known for their beautiful red and orange berries (the Asian types have pastel berries)  beloved by birds for their juiciness. Since berries follow flowers, I can't believe mountain ashes berry up much before mid-summer, but perhaps the berries (those not eaten by the birds) hang on all winter? For a definitive answer, I'd suggest you check in with our local tree expert Arthur Lee Jacobson, lifetime Seattle resident, who is the authority on trees around here. Check out Arthur's website at www.arthurleej.com/

Bookshelf Planters

Since gardeners tend to be readers, I bet many of you will covet these planters like I do....they're in an alley behind Moonraker Books on First Street in Langley (a seaside town on South Whidbey Island). 

Layers of books and flowers - what could be more beautiful? It looks to me like the planters are simple wooden boxes, with dowels glued to the outside to form the "spines" of the books.  The titles and trims are painted on with what looks to me like puffy sparkle paints, among other finishes. What a fun project... I can't think of a better way to decorate a garden than to remind us of another beloved activity like reading.....

Langley is a town of alleys planted with vines, hollyhocks, roses and grasses....a friend recently told me about a town in Wales that won an award for all its flowers. He claims that little Welsh town is nothing compared to Langley for bloom. One of the finest displays in our flower town is this one behind the bookstore....

 

 

 

Now In Bloom - Delphiniums

Delphiniums are the glory of June, and they're blooming full tilt despite the less-than-warm weather. The foggy, misty weather brings out their brilliant blue, perhaps because  delphiniums are the quintessential British cottage garden perennial. Bright sun washes them out....no worry about that this year....

The weather is so chilly that the delphiniums are lasting longer than usual. The first day of spring on March 20 hit a high of 56 degrees, matched by the 56  degree high on June 20. Go figure!!.

Dwarf English delphinium (D. elatum 'New Heights') are improved strains that are stocky, sturdy, and spectacular. Black "bees" center each blossom, and the cobalt color is so intense it almost vibrates. These perennials need sun, rich soil, plenty of water and good drainage.....I grow them in raised beds with lavender and coneflowers that grow up and fill in as the delphinium fade.

 

 

Best Birthday Gift....

The great thing about a June birthday, besides being a Gemini, is that people tend to give me gardening gifts. My favorite this year, from my sister (also a gardening Gemini) is a hefty wooden trug. I guess you could use it indoors to hold magazines or newspapers, but I've already got it out in the garden holding potted, scented geraniums, when I'm not carting cut flowers around in it.

I love the square, solid shape that looks both rustic and modern, the simplicity of its design that makes the flowers and pots shine, and stubby little legs that make whatever you stick in it look terrific. It even looks great empty. My sympathy to all you gardeners with winter birthdays.....

Here's my new trug...my sister tells me she found it at Pottery Barn....

 

The Garden Perseveres

Despite the coldest June on record, with last Sunday the darkest day since early February, the garden hangs in there. It's true that slugs and snails have riddled my artichokes into lace (left)....isn't that pathetic?.... yet the roses are blooming happily and my pea vines are dangling purple pods. My sweet peas are finally flowering, the latest I can ever remember for starts planted in early March.

I don't know what I was thinking to plant trees that leaf out so late, but the Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy'  has unfurled its burgundy heart-shaped leaves at last. And even the glacially slow chocolate mimosa (Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate') that has looked miserable all spring, is reluctantly unfolding its leaves.

Take a look:

The freshly opened leaves of Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' on a typically wet June morning, are worth waiting for, even though this year the branches were bare until early June.

These heirloom purple-podded peas have pretty flowers that seemingly change colors every week

Climbing 'Westerland' is the only rose I grow...it's fragrant, with healthy foliage

'Westerland' smells as lovely as it looks...the only drawbacks are nasty thorns and the fact it shatters when it's picked.

 

 

Now In Bloom - Carpenteria californica

Carpenteria californica is in full, snowy bloom to celebrate the solstice.

This mid-sized evergreen shrub may be native to California but it's dependably hardy here. A close relative of mock orange, it's commonly called bush anemone for its large, sweetly-scented flowers that are anemone look-alikes. Centered with fluffy yellow stamen, the pure white flowers are shown off to perfection by the deep green of the foliage.

Carptenterias prefer sun but can take shade, don't want to be over-watered, and aren't particularly attractive to deer. They grow about six feet tall and three feet wide, make lovely specimen plants, effective hedges, will live happily in a container for years, and a single branch cut and stuck into a vase makes a long-lasting arrangement.

The Carpenteria californica below is thriving alongside the parking lot at the Inn at Langley.    Happy Solstice - Enjoy the longest day of the year.

 

Everyday Bouquets

What could be easier than plunking three poppies into a vase and calling it good? Apricot chiffon poppies are so elegant they make a stunning arrangement all by themselves. Their tissue-paper-thin loveliness and skinny-stemmed sophistication get lost in a mixed bouquet.

Here's the trick to keeping poppies from wilting - singe the end of freshly cut stems with a match or lighter to seal in the milky sap. Poppies with effectively singed stems hold up well for a week in the house. 

I tossed several packet of poppy seeds into the gravel edges of my driveway last autumn; hard to say if the blue-gray foliage, furry buds or ruffled blossoms are prettier...and they bloom for months if you don't over water them, then seed themselves about for next year (I hope....)

A single stem of autumn fern emphasizes the line of the poppy stems.

 

Poppies look best uncrowded; try using separate vases if you want to combine them with other flowers...

Poppies growing with bronze carex in the margins of the gravel driveway

Summer Gardening Gloves? You Bet!

Gardening gloves are year-round in the Northwest, where weeds never take a rest and the soil stays mucky through...well, according to Cliff Mass, better not count on dry weather until after July 12th.

As the old saying goes, a gardener can never have too many sedum or gloves...so Mud Gloves have introduced a couple of new styles made for summer gardening...

"Cool Mud" is a nitrile enhanced glove, which I think means waterproof yet lightweight. And they've cleverly injected a little aloe vera to keep hands soft and cool on hot days..

The Sunflower glove is UV protective and covers up most of your arms so you can stay outside working on the blessedly warm days to come. Let's just hope Cliff is right and we'll actually need gloves like these sometime this summer!

 

Don't these look a little like gaiters for the arms? Not at all sure I like the idea of elastic around the upper arms! A disclaimer - I haven't tried either of these new styles yet, but they're sending me a couple of trial pairs.... I'll report back...

Pared-Down Pots

My dear friend and neighbor moved away, which means I have to take the advice in my own book and plant up pots that don't need constant tending. Without my neighbor to water for me when I'm away for a few days every week, I'm working on pared down pots that can go 3-4 days sans watering.

I have drip irrigation in raised beds for flowers, vegetables, herbs, fruit and tomatoes - but never managed to make my smaller pots at all self-sufficient. Despite my best intentions, I always slipped a few geraniums or begonias or some other pretty, thirsty plant in there that needed near-daily doses of water.

So here's what I've come up with for my sunny front porch - mostly little conifers and a mix of hardy and tender succulents, that should revel in the heat and drought....

I remember the names of very few of these sedum and succulents, I'm afraid....the tall one in this pot is a black tree aeonium (Aeonium arboreum var. artopupureum 'Schwarzkopf') that I overwintered in the house, hence its height...

 

Horticultural Happenings - Estate Garden Tour, June 27th

You're invited to walk right into this elegant Highlands garden....it's the old Frederick estate, one of three grand and lavish destinations on the North Seattle Estate Garden Tour on Sunday, June 27th from 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

When else will you have the chance to so harmlessly embrace illusions of grandeur? Docents will be on hand to   answer questions about plants and garden history. Each garden will feature a guitarist, an organist will be playing in the Henry Chapel, and the tour finishes up at the Dunn Gardens for a party complete with jazz band.  And you'll be sent home with a gift in thanks for supporting the Dunn Gardens.

Space is limited, tickets cost $100; RSVP at www.dunngardens.org; for more info 206-362-0933 or info@dunngardens.org