Color In The Garden

I went on a garden dig awhile ago to glean plants for a sale to benefit our local historical house.  This is part of our community involvement activities that we do with the garden club throughout the year.  The property is expansive and I felt I was at an arboretum rather than a private home.  I experienced a level of anxiety knowing I would never be able to take care of this property.

Nevertheless, I had met the owner of this property previously at the Midwest Garden Symposium at the Morton Arboretum.  She is what the English call a Plantswoman, very knowledgeable about her plantings but still normal enough to say, "Oh, I don't remember the name of that one." 

Her opinions about color were important and somewhat surprising to me.  She uses no pale colors, like pale pink, violet, light yellow, peach, etc.  Our master gardener feels that only bright colors pop in the garden, like reds, purples, bright yellows, vivid oranges and always white.  I am afraid I have to depart from this opinion especially for my back garden where I love the softness of the pinks in the heat of the summer.  I am even doing pink as a theme in my front garden along with reds, pale yellows, white, magenta and blue. 

The back patio heats it up a little with bright orange geraniums and orange hibiscus, softer fountain plants variegated Algerian Ivy and Cordyline for a centerpiece on the coffee table.  All of the surrounding areas are laced with pinks, whites, blues, white and bright rosy orange.  I think my master gardener friend was correct when she mentioned that you can put orange and red together if you mix in purple, stunning by my vegetable garden!

I feel I am creating a mood, not necessarily a color palette.  It is also important to note that when you have very little frontage to your property you do not necessarily need vibrant colors that pop.  You are close and personal to each person who walks by or comes to your home.

I guess what I really learned from this digging experience is to know when to quit, not quit gardening but to quit going on and on and on when you know you can't do it anymore.  One never has to quit gardening, just quit gardening so much!

Around The Garden

What a week, torrential rains, wind, cold, frost warnings, yuck!  However, all is calm again and I struggled to put in some of my plants that have been sitting around in and out of my garage. 

I have just about completed the plantings in all of my large containers and just have some small table planters and my shed hayracks to plant.  I do want to fill in my side border with some more spring blooming perennials, because it seems sort of bare after the tulips and daffodils die back, waiting for the summer perennials.

I did buy some metal artwork for the north side of my house to hang on the fence.  Thank you (I think it was Jeanne) who had the idea of a gallery.  If I am wrong please let me know.  These are all works in progress, as far as gardens this is what is blooming today!

A Container For All Seasons

I have been on a mission to find every plant I need to fill my daughter-in-law's containers.  My dear friend and I visited three nurseries the other day and I went to a final one yesterday in order to complete the plant list for these large pedestal type cast iron containers.  They are very impressive and lead up to the front door of a Nantucket style home.

I know I said I was going to do a Cezanne arrangement for these pots, lots of color!  I think we have achieved our goal with pinks, whites, blues, yellows, purples, magenta and of course lots of green. 

Our tall background plant is Dracena Bauer, which in the tropics will grow to ten feet, not in our container.  In front of that we will plant Dahlia Mystic Beauty, encircled by Lobelia, petunias, zinnias,  coleus, sweet potato vine, dusty miller and creeping jenny.

What most of us do not realize is that it takes a lot of plants to fill out a container.  They need to be packed tight to make an impact.  You can shake away some of that dirt to squeeze them in. These full pots also need to be fed at least every two weeks and watered daily if necessary.  I am also going to add some water absorbing crystals to the soil and fertilize.

I took a tour one day of the village where I live to really notice how well containers enhanced the homes where they resided.  To my surprise, many of them were too small for the size of the home and so many did not compliment the style of the specific residence.  When you place containers at the entrance of your home or garden, stand back and look at them from the perspective of approaching your entry or passing by from the street.  Containers should be large enough to make an impact but not overpowering.

When choosing plants for containers, take into consideration the style of the home and also the color of the brick/siding, roof and fencing.  I am not a fan of Dusty Miller, but I am going to use it to peek out from this container to pick up the color of the siding and draw your eye from the plantings to the home.

Heucheras - Not Like They Used To Be!

I really do like Heucheras, mostly from the Villosa strain.  I did grow them many years ago and was never impressed by their leaves or flower display.  However, with the cross breeding they have done in the past few years, they are spectacular!

I began with Heuchera Villosa Purpurea, a large dark Heuchera with white bridal type flowers.  It was wonderful, but I kept losing them after the winter.  After several replacements, I began putting in some of the more recent hybrids like, Brownie and Mocha.  They blend well with Purpurea but are not as large and certainly do not have the same presence.

I have also added Raspberry Ice, Georgia Peach (gorgeous already) and Southern Comfort.  I have had Plum Pudding for several years but it hasn't done much.  They look especially beautiful with ferns, Japanese Painted Fern, and ground covers, mine is Lirope Spicata.

Heucheras do well in containers withstanding the cool temperatures of the spring and fall and even the heat of summer.  Their leaf color is as beautiful rivaling most flowers.  The newer varieties will grow beautifully in the shade or sun.

Just Wrap It Up

I haven't had to do this in many years, maybe decades, where I ran around my garden with plastic bags, sheets and landscape stakes bundling up my plants against the expected frost.  Usually it is safe by Mothers Day to plant annuals in the Chicago area, but every once in awhile we get caught.

I remember my last experience in a hooded raincoat with sleet beating down on my head laying sheets everywhere in my old old house garden, with my husband behind me placing bricks to hold them down.  I am not too worried about the geraniums, petunias, ageratum and pansies as they all can take a patchy frost.  But impatiens, tender vegetables like peppers, tomatoes and basil will succumb to anything near a frost.

I wanted everything to look so nice for today as I am hosting my daughter's birthday and Mothers Day for several relatives.  Well, it will look like a Halloween Party with all of the black plastic bags I have everywhere!  I am not going to remove them as there is a real frost warning for tonight.  Notwithstanding the work of replanting everything but the expense of the single pot annuals is a downer.  My garage is filled with plants that I had not put in yet (thank goodness), my car trunk is filled with the plants I dug for the plant sale tomorrow with the Garden Club, and I even bought flowers today for the table.

I took my daughter on a Kitchen Walk yesterday and we had a really great time seeing several beautiful homes and kitchens in the area.  She took the day off work for her birthday, we did lunch, and really enjoyed doing something we previously were never able to do because we were always working.

So when you think about it, in the scheme of things, how much does a little frost matter?