Plant Talk

Plant Fundamentalism - When Newer isn't Necessarily Better

I've never gone along with the plant fundamentalist mantra of "the only good cultivar is a dead cultivar," nor the view that we should adhere to natives and only natives.

There's a great big world of fabulous plants out there, and as long as we're mindful of "right plant, right place" - matching plants to environmental needs so that they'll thrive with as few resources as possible - why not experiment? Playing around with plant possibilities is one of the great gardening arts, with breeders and plant explorers constantly feeding the frenzy.

And yet sometimes, oftentimes, the tried-and-true older species and cultivars prove more durable, long-lasting, thrifty and sturdier than the newer versions, no matter how much smaller, more brightly colored or heavily marketed the updates may be. Old-fashioned, fragrant sweet peas like the 'Spencers' are a good example...

And take the case of 'Annabelle' hydrangeas (H. arborescens "Annabelle') that have been around for ages. My column in Pacific Northwest magazine yesterday pictured a newer version with pink blossoms. Then there's H. arborescens 'Incrediball', billed as a beefier, less floppy 'Annabelle'. I'd probably never grow it just because I dislike the silly name (who names these new plants anyway?). I admit 'Annabelle' can be floppy, it's huge, round flowerheads weighted down by rain. But because 'Annabelle' is one of the hydrangeas that blooms on new wood, you can cut it way down in early spring and cage it with chicken wire, strategies that keep it upright through the worst of summer storms. 

Here's why I can't believe any of the new, improved versions is better - Look at these 'Annabelle' blossoms cut at the end of September, just before they mellow from creamy white to soft chartreuse...really, could anyone improve on the perfection of these gorgeous flowers?

See the faint handprint on the vase? It's by Whidbey Island ceramicist Inge Roberts (see more of her amazing work here)  I bought it for sweet peas, but it's one of those vases that compliments a wide variety of  flower forms and colors with its slim shape and creamy gleam.

Bananas and Brugmansia - Designer Lauren Hall-Behren's Elegant Portland Garden

Lauren Hall-Behren is a stylish young garden designer in Portland, and her home garden is one of my favorites anywhere. Somehow Lauren has managed to create a garden both dramatic and quiet, restful and flamboyant, yet still so practical it's featured in my last book "The New Low Maintenance Garden."

By repeating evergreens and groundcovers, planting in sweeps, and using plenty of hardscape Lauren has designed a garden both spectacular and relatively easy to care for.  For a plant addict, that is. Lauren shows restraint as well as a keen eye for plants, shape, color and form. Her modernist aesthetic is both sleek and simple, yet lush with old-fashioned plants, like roses and hydrangeas as well as cool semi-tropicals, grasses and succulents.

Take a look - here are flourishing banana trees, a stately white brugmansia, a variety of grasses, and the welcoming paths of Lauren's own garden, called LilyVilla and featured in this Seattle Times article, and on Lauren's website.

Black mondo grass, Japanese forest grass and in the distant a dwarf yew hedge line the curve of path beneath the banana trees.

A look through toward the pergola-topped terrace behind Lauren's hundred year old house - the garden started out as an old, grassy orchard...

How's this for garden atmospherics?

 

 

All of a Sudden the Light Has Changed In the Garden, and So Has Our Eye for Color

I was so excited when these Helenium autumnale (a.k.a. sneezeweed) started blooming in July. I'd been craving their warm, rich colors for bouquets, and have used their golden, orange and chocolate tones in every arrangement I've made since.

Until this week, when the cooler September sunshine slanting weakly across the garden changed how all the colors looked. All of a sudden my eye changed too, and I wanted to work with more subtle flower colors; yellow, peach, lavender and faded creams.

An earthenware vase grounds this bouquet, which starts with a splay of rigid, striped zebra grass. Lemon yellow sunflowers are the boldest element, in contrast to the stick-like stems and tiny lavender flowers of Verbena bonariensis.

The fragrance  is richer than the colors; honeysuckle, the spicy-smelling foliage of agastache, and the sweet perfume of the fluffy white wands of Cimicifuga simplex 'Brunette'  are a headily sweet mix. The apricot crocosmia, peach Peruvian lilies, yellow stripes on the grass, creamy lacecap hydrangeas, and patterned, fancy-leafed geraniums warm up the look.

A Challenging Summer for Plants; What's Thriving as Fall Arrives

Compared with the rest of the country, which either flooded or baked this summer, our weather has been relatively easy on plants - although you'd never know it to talk with a gardener. We're all complaining about how many plants just haven't performed as expected - I have not a single pumpkin, the raspberries didn't ripen until mid-September, and some hydrangeas hardly bloomed...everyone has stories about plants that languished, died, or looked like they'd like to.

So on the cusp of autumn, I went out, camera in hand, to capture plants that are flourishing like the artichoke above. Despite late freezes, a soggy, frigid spring and cool, wet summer - up until it turned hot and dry in September...these plants are still carrying on...

Geranium 'Rozanne' has spread into a sea of blue against the golden yew hedge; this pretty, hardy little  geranium has been blooming full-tilt since July

The pole apples are nearly ripe, and healthy despite an all organic regime sans spray

At least the 'Annabelle' hydrangeas have nearly as many blossoms as usual, and they didn't grow as tall and floppy because the cold spring weather slowed them down. 

These tuberous 'Fire' begonias have flowered like crazy since late May, undaunted by early chill or later heat.

It's been a great season for Japanese maples, like this 'Baldsmith' that has grown lush and full without flagging into autumn...

 

 

The Feast of Which We Forget to Partake - The Subtle, Dazzling Textures All Around Us

Slow down, you move too fast....as Simon and Garfunkle sang in the 59th Street Bridge Song....We move through the world so quickly, thinking about who knows what, that we miss the dazzling and wonderous subtleties right in front of our noses.

At the pace we're usually buzzing about we scarcely notice a thing except at the grossest levels of reality, like color and shape. Not that these can't be lovely, but they tell such a little bit of the story. There are so many delights, mysteries, and beauties right in front of us if we'd only slow down to look. Artist Ginny Ruffner once called it the feast of which we neglect to partake...and this feast is our everyday life, the creatures, plants and objects all around us....

In these last few days of summer, I've been trying to take Simon and Garfunkle's advice to make the morning last by slowing down, and opening my eyes to the textures of everyday things....

Up close, tree bark is a gorgeous abstraction, a landscape, a microcosm of the world as well as a world unto itself...

Bridget's clean, soft coat, fresh from the bath

The intricate patterning of an agave

You'll never guess what this is...besides pull tabs, and the inspiration for this blog post....

The scales of a fish! At Sleeping Lady Resort on the shores of Icicle Creek near Leavenworth

A Tour of Labyrinths - Walk Eight Vashon Island Labyrinths On Saturday September 24th

An ancient art form has come into the garden on Vashon Island, where eight labyrinths will be open to the public on Saturday September 24th from 10 am to 4 pm.  Here's your chance to spend a beautiful autumn afternoon touring Vashon Island, walking in a tradition going back thousands of years. The fall tour is hosted by the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit labyrinth committee, their friends and the Western Washinton Labyrinth Network (who knew??).

From large, public labyrinths to more intimately scaled ones in private gardens, each labyrinth is unique in design and setting. Some destinations will feature music and dance. Pick up maps and directions for the self-guided tour at the Episcopal Church at 15420 Vashon Highway Southwest at 10:00 a.m. the church will host a  talk about the tradition and history of labyrinths to kick off the day. Suggested donation of $10 for the full tour.

For more information, contact Betty Hawkins at 206-463-5062.

A mown-in-the-grass labyrinth with a view, one of eight on the tour:

 

 

 

 

 

Seattle's Biggest and Best Fall Plant Sale is this Weekend - At a New Location

As much party as sale, the Northwest Horticultural Society fall plant extravaganza will, as always, be full of treasures to delight eager gardeners. The best regional specialty nurseries and wholesale growers offering tempting and unusual plants, and plenty of experts to answer questions, are hallmarks of this annual September event; the location, however, is new.

Because of construction at Magnuson Park, NHS has moved the sale to the North Seattle Community College Cafeteria at 9600 College Way North, in Seattle. You can find directions, a list of this year's vendors, and all the details on the NHS web page.

Days and Times:

Friday, September 16, noon to 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, September 17, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Steamboat Island Nursery from the Olympia area is just one of many specialty nurseries who will be at the sale...Laine and Duane say that among their offerings will be  unusual foxgloves, the hardy alpine bush mint (Prostanthera cuneata), and a fine selection of  ferns, including my favorite kind, the burnished bronze autumn fern at left (Dryopteris erythrosora).

 

 

 

Like the Slant of the Sun, Hydrangeas and Sunflowers Signal the End of Summer

When the pulse of the season changes, we're so aware of time passing...Despite the burst of heat this week, we're reminded autumn is less than two weeks away by how much earlier darkness falls and by the slanting shadows cast by the low-lying sun. 

The flowers change so quickly as the solstice approaches..hydrangea petals turn leathery and color up, and sunflowers grow so large their heads droop heavily on the browning stalks....as much as I love summer, I love autumn more, and am so happy to feel the chill in the morning and evenings, pick hydrangeas for drying, and watch the birds splurge on sunflower seeds. 

When hydrangea heads start to look like this, it's time to cut them and bring them indoors to dry. Just stick the stems in an inch or so of water in a jug, jar or vase, don't crowd the heads, and as the water evaporates, they'll dry beautifully in place without withering...

I should have left these sunflowers out in the garden to ripen up for a bird banquet, but I couldn't resist picking them for the house....I'm not sure which sunflower this is - it looks like 'Ring of Fire' but the tips of the petals are lemon yellow rather than golden - a perfect contrast to the mahogany inner petals dark chocolate centers.

Sleeping Lady Resort - Beautiful Spot for Art, Hiking, & Organic Food Fresh From the Garden

Sleeping Lady is a dreamy place, an art-filled resort deep in the piney woods a few miles outside of Leavenworth. Set into a Cascades canyon, surrounded by steep peaks, alongside rushing Icicle Creek, this is a beautiful, quiet place to relax, take a hike, or just hang out and relax.  Dogs are welcome, the place is loaded with kids, and everyone is invited to tour the vegetable garden to see where the fresh, organic food served at meals comes from.

I drove over to Sleeping Lady last week to interview the gardener Eron about the four acre organic garden she tends there, at an elevation so high she's preparing for first frost as early as mid-September. (Gate into the garden, draped in puffs of spent clematis, in the photo at left). This is extreme gardening. The vegetable and herb garden at Sleeping Lady supplies  as much produce as possible for the restaurant and events at the resort. I'm writing a column for Pacific Northwest magazine about the clever ways Eron thwarts the harsh climate to extend the gardening season at both ends...in the meantime (the column will run later this fall) here's a look at a few of the delights at Sleeping Lady....

A stunning piece by Dale Chihuly, set high upon a rock outside the dining room and lit at night to great effect -

Then there's Elvis....

My favorite piece of art, besides the Chihuly, is this huge pair of dark, glossy ravens near the office...

And Bridget, resting up from a hike in the heat...

 

 

 

The Zen of Flower Arranging - Accepting the Time It Takes and the Mess it Makes

Who has ever cut just the right amount of leaf and flower for an arrangement? Running back out into the garden with clippers in hand to cut a few more branches of this, or blooms of that is part of the process...Arranging flowers is like any other art or craft - you have to accept there'll be waste involved. Having plenty to work with, messing around, composting what doesn't work, playing around with possibilities is what turns flower arranging not only into an art, but a relaxing and absorbing expression of joy in the natural world.

I was making bouquets for the house and for an opening party at Museo Gallery in Langley - so I wanted a compact arrangement for the table, a fragrant bouquet for the kitchen, and a big, showy bunch for the gallery. I cut early in the morning, and let the flowers and foliage rest in cool water for an hour or two in the kitchen, while I thought about vases and possibilities.

Here's what I started with; the early September garden is ripe with inspiration, from hydrangeas and sunflowers to blooming fennel, hydrangea, raspberry canes and an assortment of daisy-like flowers. Sweet peas and cimiciuga or acteae (the common name is snake root or bugbane) provide the fragrance, grass blooms and artichokes lend plenty of texture.

The fragrance bouquet with a few sweet peas tucked in here and there, dahlias, spikes of Crocosmia 'Solfatare' and Verbena bonariensis, the yellow flowers of ligularia, peach Peruvian lily, and sweet smelling, violet butterfly bush.

The low bouquet for the center of the table is pure late summer, a simple combination of daisy-like flowers in shades of gold, orange and chocolate.

And here's the tall, wild, spreading bouquet for the gallery, with bronze fennel, striped zebra grass, rudbeckia, helenium, ligularia, Peruvian lily, an artichoke, and a little purple "Roguchi' clematis bloom dangling down the side of the pitcher...