Year Round Screening

One of my favorite year-round evergreen screens is Arborvitae Mission Techny.  In  my previous home, I used them to screen my vegetable garden from the front of the house.  Arborvitae is a member of the Cypress family and the leaves were once used to treat rheumatism.

Techny can grow to fifteen plus feet, (some sites say twenty-five feet but this is not typical) but can easily be kept much smaller by trimming in the fall.  They have very few problems with their only enemy being spider mites in areas where there is little rain.  Many arborvitaes spread apart as they become larger, Techny does not do this. There is a new one that has been recently introduced a gold variety of Techny.  You will probably pay a little more for this arborvitae variety but it is worth it for longevity and minimal care.

Why Is It Important To Belong?

Belong to what you say, a garden club of course!  I could not belong to a garden club for thirty-five years because I worked full time and the garden club met during the day.  I am not working full time now, so I was able to join two groups this year to find out where I really belong.  Both of them are enjoyable for different reasons. 

Monday I went to the more serious group and we were going to have a demonstration of Asian cooking by someone I had known years ago.  She has traveled the world and written four books.  I am not a fan of Asian cooking, and my husband told me I had better eat before going.  Oh, I forgot to tell you, this demo was being held at Bloomingdales near the suburb where I live.  Our meeting was going to be on the third floor before the demo, so I strolled up and this lovely person from Bloomingdales offered to take my coat.  Where am I?  I thought I was at a fancy downtown  restaurant, but I was up there among the rugs and mattresses. 

There were lovely little round gold clothed tables, and we peeked into the covered treats on the buffet.  This didn't look Asian, but it looked delicious.  I was so glad that I had not eaten.  After lunch and a short business type meeting, we were ushered downstairs for our cooking demo. 

We all agreed that this specific meeting had little to do with "gardening," but it certainly had a lot to do with a group of gardeners getting together to enjoy being with each other.  Next month, we will really get down to business!

Landscaping Time is Fast Approaching

Spring is the time most of us think about relandscaping or starting from scratch.  I will try to share with you some of my mistakes and some successes.  The more I garden, the more I believe it is important to have more than just one season of interest in our landscaping materials.

I am not a fan of Winged Euonymous even though it turns a beautiful red in the fall.  It seems to be a favorite of landscapers but is susceptible to scale which can kill most of the bush before it's noticed.  A better choice would be Cranberry Virburnum (trilobum'Bailey') which has interesting shaped leaves and is a brilliant red in the fall.  I have learned to stay away from Spiria because of the care they take in pruning and clearing out all of the dead wood they seem to have each year.  However, Goldflame Spiria (pink flowers in summer) is a more carefree one and is a beautiful color for three seasons. 

I still see many Purple Plums planted in our area, but it is not recommended by the Morton Arboretum, very disease prone.  A spectacular multi-stemmed tree is the Redbud (cercis canadensis).  It is really a four season specimen heart shaped leaved and magenta flowers, large green leaves all summer, stunning yellow in the fall and a pleasing vase shape all winter.  It is considered an understory tree or shrub (meaning it does well planted under large trees or closer to the underhang of the house).  There is a tree form of the Redbud also, but it is not as pleasing of a shape as the multi-stemmed variety.

The White Birch is also prone to disease, so take a look at the River Birch, will take a moist area, and looks beautiful in the fall.

Valentine's Day Plants

Love Lies Bleeding is such an inappropriate name for this beautiful plant.  The year I grew this there were lots of  O's and Ah's from my neighbors.  I started them from seed and they were quite WOW in my front garden along a walkway.  This variety can  be grown in a container with complimentary plantings.  They grow approximately four feet tall and two feet wide.  There are different varieties of Amaranthus Caudatus ( red, green and purple).  The green is especially lovely dried.  Amaranthus dates back to Aztec civilizations used as a food product even into the current day in certain cultures (toasting and grinding of seeds).

Amaranthus 'Love Lies Bleeding'

Amaranthus Green

A similar looking plant is Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate (Persicaria Orientle).  It can grow to twelve feet tall and two feet wide and can be planted in containers (although you would require a huge container to hold this height) or in borders.  My photo was taken at the Chicago Botanic Garden last summer where it was planted in the ground with dahlias framing their entrance.

I have included my photo of inky fingers coleus crawling through my raised bed (this is just one plant).  I had to go back into my 35mm prints to find these.  It sure makes it a lot easier when everything is digital.

A Peony That Stands Alone

One of my favorite childhood memories was helping my aunt cut the peonies that lined a narrow strip in our backyard.  I have a picture of my eighth grade graduation with a huge bouquet of peonies in my hands.  The aroma of peonies is overwhelming but to me never offensive. I had peonies at my last house that I had to put in cages or they were all over the ground.  So, I finally decided to try a single variety.

I purchased two Krinkled White Peonies and put them in the back of my yard.  Krinkled White is an early bloomer in May for about two weeks duration.  They are about twenty-five feet from my patio, but they pop out from among the green during the late May garden.  I am not a fan of peony soldiers (all lined up in a row),but I do like to see them peek out of a border here and there.  Because they are singles they do not require support. 

Do not cut down peony foliage (it looks very good throughout the summer season).  It can be trimmed down when the leaves fall.  Peonies do not like to be divided so they are carefree.  When planting peonies that red bud needs to be above the soil to promote flowering. If all of that flopping and caging bothers you, take a look at the single peonies.  I do miss that rose- like flowers on the old fashioned peonies, but I don't miss what they look like after a rain!