Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ September 2013 GBBD

Blooms and foliage in my zone 5 garden for September.

Welcome to Pennsylvania in September!

We have had quite a variety of weather in the past weeks. One day it is unbearably hot and dry with the temperature over 86 degrees F (30 C). The next day we are all in winter coats at the damp morning soccer game in 40 degrees F (4 C). Despite all of that drama, the garden is still blooming on...

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ GBBD August 2013

Pink Anemone japonica, Spirea 'Goldflame', red Canna 'King Humbert' and white Cosmos fill the Front Walk garden this week.

Welcome to August in Pennsylvania! We have quite a few flowers this month since the Japanese anemones and meadow rues have started their long season of bloom and the black-eyed Susans are prettying the curb. Come take a walk around!

Pink Rose and Purple Clematis Combination for June

In our Driveway garden, an old pink rose bush makes a wonderful host for purple Clematis 'Etoile Violette'.

June is underway and the roses are blooming here in Pennsylvania. Our Driveway Garden is covered in pink and blue this week, with a bit of white thrown in to lighten the color palette.

When we bought our home, we inherited an old rose bush by the back corner of our house... and one to match it across the driveway. It blooms its socks off once and year, and then needs quite a bit of pruning to keep it in line. A newer rose would give more for repeat bloom, but the light fragrance and pink color make it worth keeping. And even better yet is the combination that happens when Clematis 'Etoile Violette' blooms along with it. The clematis it is planted at the roses feet and it appreciates the cool shade the rose provides. It easily grabs a hold on to the rose brambles and pulls itself to the sun.

Around the perimeter of this rose, which is 5 feet high and 6 feet wide (1.6 m x 2m), there is ground cover of variegated deadnettle (Lamium maculatum), evergreen moss phlox (Phlox subulata), and yellow-blooming Sedum 'Acre'.

Color for the Weekend: Pink

Pink flower of Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety' scattered in the Shade Path Garden. White variegated Sedum 'Frosty Morn' stands out among the blue Hosta and palmated Geranium foliage.

 A few combinations from around our garden this weekend, all with a little pink...

Color for the Weekend... all along our fence!

The colorful, clematis-filled scene in our Fence Garden today.

Red Clematis 'Earnest Markham' and blue Clematis 'William Kennett' hover over the pink flowers of Geranium 'Bevan's Variety'. Pink columbine (Aquilegia) bloom in the distance in the Shade Path Garden.

Hope you have a restful weekend in your own garden!

~Julie

Iris Combinations for May

A pale yellow iris with pale pink neighbors by our backyard gate.

I am loving our bearded iris this spring! They had a dry, hot summer last year, and so they are rewarding us with some beautiful flowers in our zone 5, Pennsylvania garden.

The irises by the back gate (above) were a gift from some family friends a few years ago; we invited them to dinner and they arrived with a trunk full of plants! After getting settled over the past two years, growing roots and cooking in the heat, they finally revealed their flower color this past week. I am enchanted by their pale yellow, sweetly scented blooms. And the combination here could not be nicer: pale pink dame's rockets (Hesperis matronalis) and Granny's bonnet-type columbine (Aquilegia).

Driveway Garden at the end of June

Driveway Garden in June: Asiatic Lily 'Rosella’s Dream', Geranium 'Orion', Lavender, Allium sphaerocephalon

Summer is in full swing around here in PA! It has been hot and the hose has been out more than once for the kids and the new perennials which are barely hanging on through this heat.  It has been a warm summer for sure and quite dry. I am a bit sorry for my garden, though really I am mostly enjoying that it is not a cold and gloomy summer like it is some years.

Our Driveway Garden this Week at Gilmore Gardens

The Driveway Garden at Gilmore Gardens

Everything is blooming like crazy this week at our house. The Driveway Garden sits between our pavement and the back yard. Its flowers make our daily coming and going much more pleasant!

I am really happy with the white Allium multibulbosum that I added this year (see more below). It really gives a focal point to the blue froth of Geranium 'Orion' on the left and adds to the charm of the rose pairing on the right. And the classic rose and clematis pairing is just as stunning this year as it has been the past three years.

Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety'... with a Christmas wreath on the gate

Red-leaved Geranium 'Bevan's Variety' and browned hydrangea blooms by the fence.

I am enamored of how the line of Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety' along our fence turned red after I hung our Christmas wreath on the back gate.

This beautiful geranium has long-lasting fall color, but it is usually not visible in December since there is often a foot of snow covering everything. (See it here last year in the snow.) With its bloom in May, its terrific foliage the rest of the year and its easy rhizome propagation, it is definitely a winning geranium. It is also useful as a ground cover, even in dry shade areas.

It is also mounded in one of the squares by our sidewalk at the back of the house.

Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety' in autumn color with the strappy fall Muscari foliage

I love how the red bow calls to this geranium through the gate.

Adds a festive spirit! ... even with no snow.

Geranium 'Orion'

   Four years ago when I started to lay out the bed which would become the Driveway Garden, I knew that I wanted to have some blue geraniums. They would contrast with the light pink old rose, which was the only pre-existing plant in the area and therefore my first building block in the design.

I had always loved 'Johnson's Blue' (of Hidcote fame) while I worked at the garden nursery. I inquired about it first there, but was told that its sucessor was now available instead, Geranium 'Orion'. So our introduction was made.

I have loved this plant, firstly for its fast growth. I bought one pot that first fall, divided it into three parts and planted each. They were small to medium sized that first year, but every year since they have spilled at least a foot out of the bed with bouquets of blue flowers. I do not mind its sprawling nature in this situation, though perhaps it might not be as mounded as another gardener might wish.

G. 'Orion' in front of the chartreuse glow of Sedum 'Acre'

Secondly, I love it for its two months of flowering. Once the majority of the flowers are finished, as with most geraniums, it benefits from being cut to the ground. That usually happens around mid-July in our Zone 5 area. This rids the area of the remains, and allows for the base of the plant to send up new leaves that keep looking fresh all the way into the late fall. It's leaves are nicely dissected.

Look closely...

Little buggy enjoying the view from a blossom.

Thirdly, I love it for its wonderful fall color. It competes with the burning bush to see who can produce the most vibrant leaves. The red foliage color is a real boost to the Driveway garden as the Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and asters are just beginning to wind down in November.

Perhaps G. 'Orion' will shine brightly in your garden also. Give it sun, a little mulch and let it loose.

Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety'

  This lovely perennial geranium, Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety' (that is Geranium, not the tropical Pelargonium that are sold as bedding this time of year) grows all over Gilmore Gardens with its pungently scented foliage and pretty pop-pink flowers that bloom May into June.

Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety' in our backyard.

   It has a nicely mounded form that bulks up quickly in the right conditions. It prefers shade and loose, rich soil.  I first divided my three potted plants each into three parts, and I divide and spread it most springs and falls. It now lines both sides of our backyard fence. 

   To make more divisions, choose a shoot and slide your hand along the rhizome back to where it meets the earth. Pull/tear it off from the parent plant, making sure to get at least 4 inches of brown root. Bury this root segment, leaving the green part above ground. The leaves will look wilted, but if you keep the new transplant watered it will soon rebound and make fresh leaves that stand straight up.

I dedicate this post to our good friends... team Bevan (that is Bev + Evan). :)

For more photos of how G. 'Bevan's Variety' fits into the plantings at Gilmore Gardens, see The Shade Path in 2011 and Favorite Garden Combinations of 2010.

The Shade Path throughout May 2011

It still has its cloud of forget-me-nots, 
      but is wearing more pink these days.
Here is some of what cam be seen in this side garden at Gilmore Gardens in mid to late May...

These photos were taken May 10th. Narcissus 'Thalia' is still looking elegant and scenting the path (more so as they age, I noticed). Everything is still looking pretty prim and proper, not too much sprawling going on. 

N. 'Thalia' nods along over the forget-me-nots (Mysotis) with white bleeding hearts (Dicentra spectabilis alba) on the left side...

and the right (which is street-side)...

 Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) running by the foundation wall.

 Just days later, on May 19th, and everything has jumped ahead. The daffodils are long gone, the forget-me-nots billowing, and everywhere foxgloves are shooting up getting ready for their June show. The scented Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety' is spread through out the Shade Path.  I love its show of rich pink flowers at this time of year. They used to bloom with my red/pink rhododendrons, which were miserable with the extreme dryness of this area, at least that is my assumption. They were removed this spring and replaced by a shrub, for which I have long wanted to find a spot. Keep reading :)...

Purple foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) are shooting up by the maple tree, not minding the dry shade.  The yellow foxglove (Digitalis grandiflora) are also scattered everywhere in this area. This photo shows the climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala petiolaris) that has a good start up the right of the maple tree... with Clematis 'Perle de Azur' climbing along with it.  It will be a few years till these are looking pretty together. More to look forward to! The classic Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa 'Aureola') is still my favorite, though many new colored varieties are on the market.  It is seen here in the lower right corner. Sometimes restraint in color is better I think than having every this wildly variegated.

That said, here is my new favorite variegated plant (sigh smile).  Jacob's ladder (Polemonium 'Touch of Class'), is just a pretty little plant, and that is before it has even flowered! I love it here with the blue and white.

Here is the classic woodland version of Jacob's ladder (just plain Polemonium), which I love for its delicate beauty also. I usually end up ripping off extra hosta leaves at this time of year to make sure that it is not overwhelmed. Later it goes dormant, so the hosta makes other leaves to cover its neighbor's weaknesses. 

Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety' dancing with the forget-me-nots (Mysotis). A single flower below.

And my new shrub is...

The Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia). I am excited to have room for it here by the foundation.  It already fits the spot so well and I look forward to it maturing the next few years.

An foliage tapestry... white streaked hostas, geraniums, a small rhododendron in the center and some Japanese anemone foliage in the top left.

Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris 'Nora Barlow') gracing the path. Several other varieties are along the Shade Path, some still waiting to make their appearance. 

A dark purple variety...

And lastly, the euphorbia adds a hit of charteruse (one of my favorites!) to the right of the path. I like it next to the blue hosta.