K is for Kalmia latifolia, the beautiful mountain laurel, is a hardy broadleaf evergreen that blooms in May. It should be deadheaded after it blooms. Kalmia prefers acid, moist but well drained humusy soil, and some shade. In nature it is an understory shrub in the woodlands. It tolerates deer and rabbits. The native Kalmia used to bear white flowers tinged with pink, but now hybrids bring an array of colors to the garden from a pure white…
J is for Joe Pye Weed, Eutrochium purpureum. Joe Pye Weed is one of the plants I have chosen for my new garden because it tolerates wet clay sites so well that it can be used as part of a rain garden. But that is not the only reason. Many people considered Joe Pye Weed as nothing more than a road side weed. However, nowadays we realize that this native plant with its showy tall flower inflorescences in…
I is for Irises. I fell in love with Siberian irises. A white one and a blue one were growing at our house in Heath when we bought it. They had not had any care for a couple of years and yet they bloomed looking like clouds in the sky - effortless. Siberian irises are not particular about soil or watering so I never realized how much they liked wet sites. One year I noticed a big clump of…
Why do we need compost farms? On October 1, 2014 the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection made a requirement that all businesses or institutions that created more than one ton of organic waste a week find a source to accept and recycle that waste. This rule affected schools, colleges, hospitals, prisons, restaurants and more. Although compost farms already existed the rule created a need for even more places that would accept and use these organics. Massachusetts has…
H is for Hemerocallis - otherwise known as daylily. This is my day for resting my typing fingers and showing you some pretty pictures. Ann Varner was one of many hemerocallis growing on The Daylily Bank. I have moved from this garden, but I did take a few divisions with me to Greenfield. And that's it for today's A to Z Challenge. Hemerocallis which mean beautiful for a day - and very little work for the…
G is for Groundcover like ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) otherwise known as gill-over-the-ground, seen here creeping from my lawn into the new Lawn Beds. There is a lot of cross-over, if not confusion, about what is a wildflower, weed, or ‘real plant.’ A friend was trying to figure out how to rid of the gill-over-the-ground that had suffocated the strawberries growing under her grapevines. We discussed carboard and solarizing, but another friend asked why she didn’t just leave…
F is for foam flower, more properly named Tiarella cordifolia. Foam flower is a delicate perennial shade loving groundcover that sends up plumy racemes of white or pale pink flowers in the spring and early summer. The heart shaped foliage explains the ‘cordifolia’ in its proper name. When the flowers are finished the plant will continue to spread by runner (stolons) over the ground making a very attractive groundcover. It prefamp humusy soil. However it cannot thrive where…
E is for Epimedium, a beautiful lowgrowing groundcover with heart-shaped leaves that likes dry shade. I admired it for years, but never planted it because I thought it was tender. That was a mistake. Epimediums are hardy in zone 5 where I live. My new house and garden might even be zone 6, the climate is changing so rapidly. The MissouriBotanical Garden website says epimedium flowers are showy, and they are in their own way, but they…
D is for Dappled Willow. A friend has a beautiful garden in front of her house that is enjoyed by the whole community. I watched the foliage a shrub that she planted turned cream and pink as it matured. Needless to say, when we started planting shrubs in our very wet new yard/garden I ran out to buy a dappled willow of my own. Why did I especially want a Dappled Willow? First, Salix integra ‘Hakuru Nishiki,’…
C is for Clethra alnifolia, otherwise known as sweet pepperbush. It was one of the first plants I put in my new, and very wet, garden last summer. It has everything I need: is very hardy, likes some shade, tolerates clay soil, likes a wet so much that it can be used in a rain garden where there is occasional flooding. Clethra is also the right size for my garden. It will grow between 4 to 6 feet…