True Or False

This is the time of year that I visit my local Pottery Barn to get an early fix on spring.

I know these are false because they wouldn't have real bunnies on a dining table.

I order real Oregon moss every year for my outside baskets.  This looks very good but again it is false.

I guess I had better say early on that everything plantwise that you see in Pottery Barn is false but each year gets better at fooling the eye.

Snowball Viburnum

The pottery has a washed look with stenciling.

Bright southwestern looking pottery

Crystals are big this year with floral displays and tablescaping.

Basket weave lanterns

Decorative bottles

More decorative bottles!

Mercury glass is plentiful again and more reasonably priced, goes with every decor.  Antique mercury glass was very popular during the 1800's with silver being blown in through a double layer of glass.  These are reproductions with the silver being applied onto the glass.

I have a Mercury Glass vase on my coffee table and it blends beautifully with my old and new furnishings.  Lots of reflections in this photo from the sun pouring into my family room.

These are false but it won't be long before we can say it is true, our garden tulips are the real thing!

Not Your Old Fashioned Petunia

To many of us the petunia is a mainstay annual in our summer baskets and garden beds.  In the past, many of us would give a second thought because of the continual maintenance (deadheading) to keep them producing and beautiful.

Petunia Surprise Black Jack

There are several black petunias now but many growers think their popularity will be short lived.

Well, in recent years most of the newly introduced petunias do not require deadheading in order to keep blooming.

Petunia Blue Vein Merlot

A smaller flower with a mounding habit, some pinching recommended to maintain fullness

Petunia Good And Plenty Purple

Petunia Suncatcher

Very floriferous, trailing but compact

Petunia White Russian

Proven Winners, spreads to 24"

Petunia Hell's Bells

From Hort Couture the first true orange petunia

Petunia Limbo

Dwarf petunia with large flowers, will not spread out

These are just some of the new introductions that you might want to look for this year and below are two previous introductions that have excelled in my hot summer garden.

Petunia Bubblegum

Petunia Bordeaux

All petunias benefit from regular fertilizing and trimming in July to continue strong until frost.

Choices

Each year at this time we are overwhelmed with all of the new plant introductions and some older introductions that we haven't tried yet.

Emailing back and forth with a friend I realized we were planning our gardens for the upcoming seasons.  We both wanted year round color so many of the plants we bandied back and forth will put on a show in the garden all year.

Hydrangea White Dome

This is a variety that was recommended by the Proven Winners Choice representative at the Mid-Am Show.  It grows on very strong stems, will not flatten out in storms and dries beautifully for winter interest.  It is related to Annabelle but has none of its floppiness.

Hydrangea Pinky Winky

Grows in full sun to part shade, flowers over a long time period

Hydrangea Let's Dance (Starlight)

Small hydrangea, two to three feet, blooms on old and new wood.  I was informed that if your do not prune it down in the fall or spring it will go through two bloom cycles.  However, in a very cold winter this may not be a choice because of dieback.

Hydrangea Let's Dance (Moonlight)

The look of the mophead is sometimes preferred as the plant will look fuller.

Hydrangea Little Lime

A smaller version of Limelight with all of the same characteristics, holds its flowerheads all winter

Not all hydrangeas hold their flowerheads well through the fall and winter and some of the oak leaved varieties do not look good in the fall (leaves become mottled).

Hydrangea Bobo

This is a new smaller paniculata whose panicles do not droop.  It will take full to part sun and likes moisture.

Azalea Karen

Beautiful flowers in the spring

Azalea Karen

Great fall color as it is an evergreen variety

Azalea Bollywood

A newer variety, evergreen with variegated leaves

Molinia Moorhexe 

One of the many grasses that can be left standing over the winter months and add great interest

Miscanthus Little Kitten

One of the few miscanthus grasses that will stay standing throughout the winter season

The Panicums are also great for winter interest and there are many to choose from.

Panicum Northwind

There is no better time to plan where you want winter interest than in the winter.  Looking out into my back garden I can see some areas that are a combination of sticks (roses) and bare ground, not much interest there.  

The Gilded Age (Part II)

In 1883 when the Nickerson home was new it looked like this:

Five years later in 1888, the sandstone facade has absorbed pollutants so it looks like this.

By the time Richard Driehaus bought the house in 2003 it looked like this, caked with layers of pollutants that had caused damage to the stone and the embellishments.

The whole house was cleaned by a laser technique and where there was water damage it was repaired until it looks like this today:

Not about gardens but it is about beauty.  There was a beautiful conservatory and garden at this home but the College of Surgeons eradicated this area of the home and built an office right next door to the mansion.  If you open a door in the Driehaus Mansion you see the wall of the College of Surgeons.  Don't you wonder how these things can happen?

Let's go back inside, there are a few more things to see!

This is the drawing room adjacent to the living room, note the satinwood piano on the left.

Detail on the side of the satinwood piano

There is a large ballroom on the third floor flanked with guest bedrooms on each side.

Mr. Nickerson purchased these large bronze statues at the Comumbian Exposition in 1893 and they remained with the home through the various owners.  They have never moved from the end of the second floor.

Some of the floors are quarter sawn oak and also in wonderful condition.

The Lincrusta wallpaper is also original to the smoking room with glass half circles above it.

Brass trim is worked into many of the wood doors.

A most unusual Tiffany with splashes of color

The Nickerson home was built for $450,000 over a three year period.  Many craftsmen had come from Europe after the Chicago fire so several were readily available to work on this 25,000 square foot home.  It is estimated that in today's market the cost would be $100 million.