Geranium and Heuchera: Plants of the Year

Heuchera 'Lime Ricky' photo courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries

The National Garden Bureau’s goal is to make the world more beautiful with plants by inspiring gardeners and giving them useful information. This year they have named 2012 The Year of the Geranium and the Year of the Heuchera. Both of these flower families are large and varied, but none have difficult requirements for growing success.
The geranium the NGB is celebrating this year can more accurately be called pelargonium. When Linnaeus of Sweden first published his plant classification system in 1753 he clumped cranesbills and the pelargoniums in one family he named geranium. It did not take long before the French botanist L’Heritier thought one group was distinctly different and moved them to their own group he called pelargoniums. This caused a controversy that endures to this day, but today I will talk about the plant that Thomas Jefferson first sent from Paris in 1786 to John Bartram in Philadelphia, and that most of us still call geraniums.

As bedding plants geraniums can be grown in the ground, but most of us use them in containers. There are four main types. Zonal geraniums, Pelargonium x hortorum, with its familiar leaf markings, is the flower that is sold everywhere in the spring. No matter what color from white to shades of lavender, salmon, pink and red, there is a geranium that will appeal. Most flower heads will have single or double flowerets, but some will have starry flowerets. There are dwarf ten inch plants, and miniature six inch plants as well as the familiar12 to 18 inch size, something for everyone.

A second type is the regal geranium, Pelargonium domesticum, which is sometimes sold as a Martha Washington geranium. These are bushy plants that need cool temperatures to set buds and bloom in the spring. A smaller variety is called the angel geranium with blossoms that can resemble pansies.
Then there are the scented leaf geraniums, again a Pelargonium domesticum. These do produce small blossoms but their main appeal lies in their leaves which release a rich fragrance when they are brushed or crushed. You can choose chocolate, lemon, rose, peppermint or any one of a dozen other fragrances.
Finally there are the ivy leaved geraniums, Pelargonium peltatum, with vining stems and, naturally, ivy shaped foliage. These are especially desirable for hanging baskets and window boxes or adding their graceful charm to any container. The flowers are comprised of smaller looser umbels in shades of pink, white and red.
All geraniums need full sun, and a rich well-drained soil. When grown in a container drainage is vital as is fertilizing every two weeks with a half strength balanced fertilizer.
While geraniums can be used in your container garden, heucheras, or coral bells, can bring a whole range of foliage color to flower beds. They can be used as specimen plants, as groundcovers and even add vigor and color to your container plantings. Some catalogs will list them in the shade section, but they also happy in the sun.
It seems to me that the last few years have brought us an explosion of heuchera varieties. I don’t know many gardeners who grow coral bells for the dainty flowers on their tall slender stalks anymore. Heucheras are all about the large leaves of wonderful foliage in a range of colors from the bright chartreuse green of ‘Lime Rickey’ to the yellow and pink of ‘Ginger Ale’ and rich dark ‘Plum Pudding.’ There are also the ruffled green leaves of Garden Merit Award winner ‘Sashay’ edged with burgundy, the hot pink splashes on ‘Midnight Rose,’ and the silver shimmer on the dark leaves of ‘Frosted Violet.’

Heuchera 'Marmalade' photo courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries

While we don’t think that perennials change much over the growing season, beyond going in and out of bloom, a heuchera like ‘Green Spice’ will surprise us with its green and silver leaves and red veins in summer, but then turn orange and burgundy with silver in the fall.
Having said many gardeners are only interested in heuchera foliage, I do want to point out the brilliant ‘Firefly’ that has tall red flowers and even fragrance.
Whether or not we choose a coral bell with pretty flowers, the foliage itself is useful in flower arrangements and a long stemmed leaf will last a long time in water.
Terra Nova Nursery is a wholesale nursery that has hybridized and introduced many stunning heucheras that you will find in local garden centers and mail order nurseries like Bluestone Perennials. Many of these new varieties are not only very hardy, they form large clumps quickly and can be used in a variety of ways in the garden.
Heucheras thrive in sun and shade. They prefer a soil that is near neutral or only slightly acid, but are quite adaptable. Good drainage is important. After a year like 2011 that brought us such torrential rains we are reminded of how important drainage is in the garden, especially for plants like coral bells. On the other hand, they are drought tolerant – in case we have a very dry year. Mother Nature seems to be getting more and more capricious. We can’t even count on a rainy season or dry season on a predictable schedule.
Geraniums and heucheras are both dependable, varied and beautiful plant families. It is easy to see why the National Garden Bureau is celebrating them this year.

Beetween the Rows   January 7, 2012

Bridge of Flowers – End of Season

Buckland side entry to Bridge of Flowers

Chrysanthemums were planted in September. We want the Bridge to be full of bloom all season.

I am so happy to see roses still in bloom.

I am also happy to see a quiet river behind these dahlias.

The dahlias are important at this season.

But the weather has been so relatively mild that even the begonias are still blooming.

The gardens will be put to bed and the official garden season ends on Sunday, October 30.  Have a good winter. See you on April 1.

Meditation on the Morning Glory

This is the view out the window next to the breakfast table. From August into October and really killing frosts these Grandpa Ott morning glories prepare me for my day.

And what a way to start the day – with Glory! Surely the day will be filled with moments of beauty, of inspiration, of opportunity to spread a little glory.

Of course the sun does not illuminate and gild the glories every morning. Sometimes the light is dim, but the glories lift their faces in expectation. Other days they may bow their heads under the weight of heavy rain, but they bloom undaunted.

The morning glory is not an exotic or rare flower. It is hardy and possesses tenacious vines that carry those blossoms into the sun. I begin every day with glory.

Color in the Autumn Garden

Annual salvia

The days are growing shorter. When I drive down my road I have begun averting my eyes from a maple branch that has burst into flame. Autumn is officially upon us. And yet there is a lot of bloom in my garden.

One of the benefits of annuals is that many will bloom well into the fall. I have pots of snapdragons, petunias, osteospurnum and ‘Million Bells,’  a healthy blooming border of an annual salvia around the Shed Bed of roses, cosmos are blooming like crazy in the Lawn Bed, morning glories are right outside our window, a buttery yellow nasturtium has taken over the Front Garden and down in the Potager zinnias, gomphrena ‘Strawberry Fields’ and China asters are in bloom. Those alone would make quite a colorful bouquet.

China asters

Even without much effort a number of perennials are still blooming: garden phlox, achillea, and Russian sage. These three plants are a good lesson in the different ways to keep a colorful garden into the fall. First, varieties of garden phlox can begin flowering in early summer. Cut the flowers for bouquets or wait until they fade and cut them back. With a little luck in the weather they will produce a second flush of bloom. Achillea or yarrow works the same way.

Phlox, Cosmos and Perovskia

Perovskia or Russian sage is an airy plant with tiny lavender flowers on its graceful stems that begins blooming in midsummer and continues right on into fall. Echinops or globe thistle and Eryngium or sea holly are other plants that will give you bloom into the fall, and also make good additions to dried flower arrangements as do some of the yarrows. ‘Coronation Gold’ is an old standard achillea that is very good for dried arrangements.

I did not plant any dahlias this year, but a trip across the Bridge of Flowers anytime from August until frost will show what a good plant dahlias, in all their many forms, are for the autumn garden. Some are little pompoms, some are as big as dinner plates and named such, some are shaggy and some are spiky. Dahlias have long lasting color and form to suit any taste. The secret to having floriferous dahlias is to keep cutting them, keep making bouquets and you will have an amazingly long season of color.

Instead of dahlias I planted a chrysanthemum collection in our little circle garden. Buying a collection from a mail order catalog like Bluestone Perennials is a good way to try out a plant in its many forms. I ordered a collection of spoon and quilled mums in colors from cream to pink, lavender, red and copper. The words spoon and quill refer to the petal shapes. I was really looking forward to an interesting array of colorful mums.

However, I had not counted on this year’s crop of rabbits. We have gotten used to deer, nibbling at things and while we are not happy about that, we have come to expect it. This year, for the first time we had rabbits. Many rabbits. There are big rabbits and little rabbits. And they are all hungry.

They ate the new beet greens in the Front Garden early this spring, and young squash plants while the deer ate all our peas. It never dawned on me that rabbits would eat my chrysanthemum collection. But they did. Three days in a row I went out and found a mum plant gone. Three out of six plants went into a mum meal for the bunnies. Just in time to save the last three plants a friend suggested black netting.

The circle garden really exists because there a big boulder in the lawn and planting annuals there marks the spot so the mower doesn’t damage itself and we get a unique view every year.  This year I had put up a bamboo teepee for a morning glory collection. The rabbits kept eating the morning glory shoots too.

With a few additional small bamboo stakes and a piece of fine black netting that I found in the shed I wrapped and tacked the net around the circle. Success! The rabbits could no longer eat the remaining plants.

The morning glories that were left started climbing up the bamboo teepee and I pretty much forgot about that little plot of earth. My husband mowed around it, but I didn’t even have the time to do the neat edging. The other day I went to see how the mums were doing. One, possibly Starlet described as yellow/copper, has begun to bloom in spite of the tangle of netting, morning glory vine and the weedy galinsoga with its tiny tiny rayed flowers. It is not quite the display that I had envisioned back in May when I put those healthy young plants in the ground, but one takes what one can get in this busy world.

'Alma Potschke'

Right now I am admiring my ‘Alma Potsche’ raspberry pink aster which is starting to bloom, just one of the many asters available to gardeners searching for fall bloom.

As soon as I decide how to protect it from the rabbit herd, I am going to plant Eupatorium or Joe-Pye weed, a six foot plant with winey-pink flower heads that to me, is an icon of the New England fall.

The trees are gaining color every day, but the flower gardens are ready to throw in the towel just yet.  ####

Between the Rows    September 17, 2011

Mist at the End of the Road

Dawn on September 3, 2011

The Cottage Ornee

For more Wordlessness click here.

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning

This morning dawned cool and misty.

A walk through the garden was so quiet and peaceful.

A glorious morning indeed. And we look forward to a glorious day at the Heath Fair.

Yesterday was all energetic activity. We had scores of boxes of books to bring to the Fair for the Annual Friends of the Heath Free Public Library book sale. $1 for hardcovers! This is our big fundraiser for the year.

After loading up the books, we had to unload the books and organize them. You don’t think these people will stop to read every book as they take them out of the boxes do you?  It is tempting. See you at the Fair! I’ll be signing my book, The Roses at the End of the Road, Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

All About the Bridge of Flowers

Queen of the Prairie

The Queen of the Prairie looks more like the Queen of the River in this photo. She is attended by hundreds of handmaids and courtiers.

As a member of the Bridge of Flowers committee many people ask me about when it is open and when is the ‘best’ bloom time.  Those questions are easy to answer. The Bridge of Flowers is open every day, all day from April 1 to October 30. There is no ‘best’ season. The Bridge is in full and glorious bloom all year long. Of course, some people might prefer the earliest perennials and bulbs, while others prefer the late summer garden with dahlias and asters  and other fall bloomers – but it is always beautiful. And always FREE!  There is no charge – although you are invited to leave a donation. And please do sign the guest book.

I love rose season, which is long and beautiful on the Bridge of Flowers.

The path is universally accessible on both the Buckland and Shelburne sides of the Bridge.

A beautiful garden is about more than flowers. The Bridge of Flowers includes handsome shade and foliage plants like these ferns.

Mosaic by Cynthia Fisher

The Bridge of Flowers is immortalized in  this mosaic by local artist Cynthia Fisher who created eleven other mosaics honoring the other towns in our area.  This is one of the things I tell visitors about when they ask what else to see in town. The mosaics are mounted on the walls on town buildings on both sides of the Bridge.

Of course, there are also the Glacial Potholes, beautiful crafts made by the skilled and talented local artists and artisans, and good eats. You can even dine while overlooking the river and the Bridge.

How do you get to the Bridge?  Unfortunately GPS systems do not seem to have found the Bridge, but if you get to Bridge Street in Shelburne Falls, which is on the GPS, you will see the Bridge. You can’t miss it!

More Tours – Hawley

A Hawley View

The weekend of July 9 is going to be busy. A festival of garden and artisan tours will be on offer. The Hawley Artisan’s & Garden Tour, sponsored by the Sons and Daughters of Hawley is billed as “A Collage of Art and Gardens.” One of my favorite gardens is Jerry Sternstein’s vegetable garden that is much more lush than mine – and has a fabulous view.

Other Hawley gardens have perennial borders and blooming shrubs, but many will also offer quilt displays, stonework, and Marian Ives delightful metal ornaments. One garden grows Energy, with an array of solar hot water, photovoltaics, a wood boiler and more. Lunch will be served at The Grove ($12) right across from the historic East Hawley Meeting House.  And don’t forget the famous Hawley Bog with its many rare plants.

For more information or to order tickets ($10 suggested donation) call Cyndie Stetson, 339-4231.   Tickets will also be available the day of the tour, Saturday, July 9 from 10-4pm at the Stetson house, 108 West Hawley Road.

Franklin Land Trust Tour – Here

Culinary Sage blooming in the Herb Bed

What is a garden for?

It depends on the garden, of course.Vegetable gardens are for feeding us. Herb gardens are for bringing us extra savor and health. Meditation gardens are to give us moments of serenity. Ornamental gardens are to give us pleasure. But all gardens can be shared — doubling their pleasure and utility, of whatever sort.

Sometimes sharing our gardens can also support a noble project.  That is what will be happening in Heath and Charlemont on June 25 and 26 when the Franklin Land Trust holds its Annual Farm and Garden Tour.

The Franklin Land Trust is a non-profit organization whose mission is to help landowners and communities protect the farms, forests and other natural resources significant to the environmental quality, economy and rural character of our region. They do not own land, but work with farmers and residents to help them put their property into conservation or agricultural protection.

Woodslawn Pink Rose

This year End of the Road Farm is being included on the tour, along with other beautiful, historic and productive properties in Heath and Charlemont. Fortunately for us the tour is being held on the last weekend in June which is when we would ordinarily hold our Annual Rose Viewing. This is the brief time of year our roses are in bloom and when our country garden is at its best.

We have been busy as can be weeding the flower and vegetable beds and mowing the lawns. I am a big supporter of less lawn, but unless you measure the amount of lawn against our 60 acres of field and woodland, we still have too much lawn to mow. We have been using various strategies to eliminate lawn beginning with planting groundcovers on unusable sections of lawn. We have also planted common thyme on the dryer, poorer sections of lawn where it thrives. A thyme lawn is a very British conceit that does not need frequent mowing. It’s very pretty when it’s blooming, but it doesn’t mind being mowed down whenever that is necessary or desired.

Rugosa 'Therese Bugnet'

We are using daylilies on the steep bank in front of the house to eliminate mowing, but our newest project is the Rose Bank, adjacent to the Daylily Bank. The Rose Bank was begun in the spring of 2009 after a major rebuilding of our foundation. It is not totally covered with roses yet, but I have been amazed by the growth of “Pink Grootendorst,” “Therese Bugnet” and “Dart’s Dash”, three vigorous rugosas. Rugosas are tough disease-resistant roses with a variety of flower forms. The fragrant single blossoms of the familiar beach rose are just the beginning.

A delicate pink rose that was growing, but hidden in undergrowth, at the corner of the house when we arrived in 1979 continues to thrive, as do the double red Knockout roses, two old roses given to me by the Purington family at Woodslawn Farm in Colrain, “Hawkeye Belle,” a hardy pink Buck hybrid, and “Goldbusch” a spreading disease resistant yellow that promises repeat bloom.

Rugosas tend to spread, not always in predictable ways. When they spread it is possible to dig up some of the shoots as I have “Scabrosa” and “Linda Campbell” who also live on the Rose Bank now.

I’m honored to share my garden with visitors, and the Franklin Land Trust this year. It feels wonderful to be in the company of other skilled and enthusiastic gardeners. The witty Elsa Bakalar, our most famous gardener, is no longer with us, but the noted artist Scott Prior and his wife Nanny Vonnegut have maintained her gardens so that they remain lovely and welcoming. Prior will be at the garden on Sunday to take questions about gardens and art. His “Heath inspired” prints will be on sale with a portion of sales going to the FLT. The video Elsa Bakalar: Portrait of a Gardener, made by Ginny Sullivan some years ago, has been converted to a limited edition DVD, with all proceeds going to FLT.

Prior’s session is just one of several special events that have been added to this year’s tour schedule. Glass blowing demonstrations (with a portion of sales supporting FLT), walking tours of a blueberry farm with its own artistic connections, a talk by the distinguished Dr. Michael Coe about the history of Heath’s Fort Shirley and talks describing new approaches to maple farming are scheduled. The two Historical Society Museums in Heath Center will also be open.

A lunch buffet will be served in a beautiful barn in the midst of vegetable and flower gardens both days. Lunch must be reserved ahead of time, and will benefit the Friends of the Heath Free Public Library.

The Franklin Land Trust tour is always a special event with a chance to visit private gardens, each expressing the individuality and interests of the gardeners, and to gain new insights into the productivity of our land and the richness of our local history.  For full information about the tour and how to buy tickets logon to www.franklinlandtrust.org or call 413-625-9151.

Between the Rows   June 11, 2011

Weeding, Trimming, Pruning, and Still Planting

Purington Pink

My Monday Record is a day late because I have been so busy with all the weeding, trimming, pruning and planting. There is so much left to do that it seems I am not making progress, but I am! The roses are making progress too. This is a rose bush given to me by the Purington family on Woodslawn Farm in Colrain. The flowers are small, about one and a half inches across, but intensely fragrant – and more come into bloom every day. Just beautiful. This Purington Pink, with spiny foliage, much like Harrison’s Yellow, is my Rose of the Day.

Purington Pink

I have three other Woodslawn roses, all hardy and trouble free. It is hard to know how long they have been growing on the Farm which has been tended by Puringtons for seven generations.

The whole of the fenced vegetable garden (above)  is planted, as is one half of The Potager, the unfenced part of the vegetable garden.  I call it The Potager because it has berries and flowers as well as vegetables.  The mulched garlic has not sent up scapes yet, and the sugar snaps, zucchini, carrots and beets were just planted this weekend, so no shoots yet. However, I did see a cottontail bunny hopping away when I walked down early this morning. Grrrrrrrr.

The Cutting Garden section of The Potager has zinnia, China aster and gomphrena seedlings, as well as Colrain Red beebalm which is loving its new bed.  Paths all around the gardens being refreshed with more cardboard and more mulch.

Our daughter Betsy was here briefly over the weekend and before she left she raked all the lawn. She also told Henry how to mow more efficiently so the clippings were more concentrated, quoting the training she had received at Greenfield Community College when her work-study job was with the ground crew. They really knew how to mow! I sent her home with lots of plants –  coral bells, Joan Elliot campanula, chives, golden marjoram, thyme and garlic chives.  I think that is most of it. Last year I helped her put in some ornamental plantings, and this year she has her first vegetable garden, an 8 x 10′ raised bed. She said she thought she ought to start small. She doesn’t get that kind of wisdom from me I’ll tell you.

Betsy is also a water expert, and while I was busy with other things she and Henry not only got the sump pump set up in our old dug well so that we don’t have to use the household water supply for garden watering, they are also cooking up a siphon system that won’t require a pump. I’ll report on the success of that project soon I hope.