The Incredible Iris

My husband and I went to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum the other weekend. Although it happened to be one of the hottest days of the spring (90*+ and humid), we still managed to be plant geeks.

One of the gardens we particularly enjoyed was the Iris Collection. Here are pics of my favorite ones, all German bearded iris (Iris germanica). I'm still kicking myself for not having anything to write down the names - they were quite creative. Enjoy the pics, and none of the colors have been altered! (p.s. the above pic is an unknown iris in our yard that was a gift.)

(this one fell over, but I loved the colors)

Bring On the Color!

I just installed my major annual display for a client. She has containers around her home on various patios. Each area has different lighting and, depending on what part of the house looks out over the area, a different theme. Whenever possible, I use the same plants around the property, but in different colors to accomplish the theme.

My new favorite color combo? Purple, orange, blue and pink. Yes, in the same container! It's fabulous!
The plants I used are:

Ageratum 'Artist's Blue'
Calibrichoa 'Superbells Pink'
Coleus 'Sedona'
Crocossima 'Orange Marmalade'
Fuchsia 'Autumnale'
Lantana 'Bandana Cherry Sunrise'
Sedum 'Bertram Anderson'
Stobilanthes 'Persian Shield'

While flowers are wonderful, not every plant needs a flower to be interesting or colorful. Foliage plants can add a lot to a design. Take the Persian Shield. It's purple, right? Look closer. There's also magenta, which ties in the pink calibrichoa. The orange foliage of the Fuchsia 'Autumnale' plays well with the purple Persian Shield, while the pink tones unify all three plants.

(A word of caution about purple I learned the hard way: Purple likes to steal the show. Use sparingly ie one plant as a focal point or one variety of purple flowers. Too much purple over-powers other colors to the point where you won't notice them!)


Take chances with your annual containers - we are no longer limited to geraniums and spikes. Play around with color - be bold! Break out the color wheel! My designs always turn out best when I use my color wheel. Try a plant you've never used or heard of before. If you're feeling particularly adventurous, add perennials to your annual containers - they can be planted in your garden in the fall. You'll be amazed with what you create!

Can I Help You?

As a gardener, there are times when I need to make a run to the local garden center and/or discount super store to grab some plants. At some point while zipping through the aisles looking for the perfect specimen, another customer inevitably come to me and says, "Excuse me, where can I find Plant So-and-So?" I politely say, "Oh! I don't work here." That's when they suddenly notice (and actually start with surprise) that I'm not wearing the store's uniform or colors, and that I am, in face, wearing the shirt and logo of my own company. It usually happens that I've been around the store a few times, so I remember where I saw Plant So-and-So and can direct the bewildered and slightly embarrassed customer in the right direction.

I am amazed at how often this happens to me - three times in one store on one occasion. It's even more amazing at a certain home improvement superstore...do you see a violent orange apron or orange of any kind on me anywhere?! It makes me laugh inside every time. I guess I must really look like I know what I'm doing!

So the question is: What are the identifying characteristics of a garden center employee? After some thinking, comparisons, cross-checking and the process of elimination, I've compiled a list. It could be a fun social experiment!

How to be Mistaken for a Garden Center Employee
Essentials:
1. Wear a polo shirt - any color
2. Carry a clipboard full of papers. Consult it often.
3. Push a cart loaded with plants - many of one variety is preferable
4. Give an air of a person on a mission

Not Necessary but Really Adds to the Effect:
1. Have noticeable dirt smeared on your face and clothes.
2. Wear a pair of sunglasses on the top of your head.
3. Have messy, wind-blown hair. Guys - hat hair or rumpled resembling bed head. Gals - messy pony tail or braid falling out.
4. Stick a pen/pencil behind your ear or in your hair. Use it when consulting your clipboard.

So, head on down to your local garden center / home improvement superstore and see how many people come to you for answers!

Totally Tulips

Here are pics of my client's spring bulb containers in all their glory. I chose six tulip varieties for the color scheme: white to compliment pink & white; yellow to compliment pink & yellow; and red to compliment orange and red. I think it turned out well!





April 20, 2010 -
One week after installation:




























April 27, 2010 -
Two weeks after installation



























Here are close-ups of my favorites. (I love the macro function on my camera!)










Here was a surprise! The only pink and white marbled tulip in the whole bunch - and in the container closest to the front door! I couldn't have planned it better.











A white tulip with a dusting of pink on the edge - also a surprise, also closest to the front door.

Rearrange for a New Look

The rain finally stopped yesterday, so I went to one of my client's to actually get some work done. I spent most of the time removing the tulips from the containers around her front door and planting them throughout the gardens. Tulips add a wonderful vertical element when planted in a patch of groundcover astilbe (Astilbe pumila). I also wove some tulips through a planting of Annabelle hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescans 'Annabelle'). The hydrangeas are typically bare until the first part of May, so the tulips will add a punch to the area in spring. The annuals come next week, so I had to get everything ready for the big installation.

I spent today working in my yard. It's amazing how much my yard has, well, gone to seed (see "About Me"). My husband and I scheduled when the Big Yard Revamp will take place - it was much too big a project to tackle today. So I focused my energies on the garden along the sidewalk leading to the front door.

This garden has been a weedy, uncohesive mess for too long. After weeding (it always surprises me how much time that eats up!) I started planting. I had saved various volunteer perennial seedlings from clients' gardens (after making sure there was no where to place them in their yards, of course): lady's mantle (Achillea mollis), catmint of unknown cultivar (Nepeta sp), and unnamed perennial sage (Salvia sp.). I moved the achillea closer to the front edge, planted the salvia in groups of three - the magic number - near the back, and the nepeta in a meandering line. Next I filled in the spaces with tulips. The space actually looks like a garden now! I can't wait to see how everything fills in.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Day 3 of rain. I'm taking a short break from design work to grab a quick snack and get distracted blogging and spend much more time here than I planned.

It's a very dreary day here in the western suburbs of Minneapolis. Although it's 10:15ish am, we have all the lights on so we can see what we're doing. The cats are curled up in the warmest spots in the house for their mid-morning nap. Puddy Cat, being 13 years old, is wisely splayed on the antique radiator. Yes, we had to turn on the heat - there's a 25 degree difference between inside and outside. The middle of May is feeling more like early April or November!

The sun made a brief appearance this afternoon. I almost forgot what it was...then it started raining again. Oh well, back to designing.



Here are the pictures promised from yesterday.

'Queen of Night' tulip



The bleeding heart in full sun. You can see the little fernleaf peony at the bottom of the pic.

Welcome to My Garden!

What does a gardener do on a rainy day? Create a gardening blog, of course! This is Day 2 of cloudy, rainy weather in the Twin Cities metro area, and it's doing nothing to help the gardening bug. Oh, I know it's needed - the fire danger is finally lowered - but it's a little hard on the pocketbook when one makes a living on gardening. So, here I am, cozy in an arm chair, laptop and a cat in lap, blogging away.

So, what's going on in Jennifer's garden? The foam flower (Tiarella) are blooming nicely. Their short stature is perfect in front of the birdseed-laden ground under the bird feeder. The tulips are still going strong. The early bloomers have since blown away thanks to three days of 30+ mph winds. The mid-spring bloomers are wide open, on the verge of shattering. The nearly black "Queen of Night" are actually still doing quite well since they started blooming in mid-April.My late-blooming parrot tulips are just starting to show color - this is their first year in my garden and I can't wait to see them in their glory!

Last fall a neighbor was splitting their fernleaf peonies (Paeonia tenuifolia) and asked if I would like a few. Of course I would! Only a fool would refuse. I planted them in my sunniest garden, flanking the bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis). Yes, I have a bleeding heart in full sun. You should see it - I never thought one would do so well as this one has. It's been in this location for about four years, and is huge. This year it gave a spectacular show. When the foliage fades in the heat of high summer, the tall garden phlox (Phlox paniculata) and variegated sedum (Sedum spectabile variegata *see p.s. below) will have their turn to shine. Back to the peonies...one of the plants has one smallish flower. The deep red is a wonderful compliment to the light pink and white bleeding heart arching gracefully overhead. This particular garden is right by the driveway, so I can keep an eye on its progress every time I drive by.

Most everything else is just growing, growing, growing! I'll share the progress of things as they begin to bloom. Photos coming soon!


p.s. Something of note on Sedum: "In recent years, horticultural taxonomists have deemed it necessary to split up the genus Sedum. Some plants that used to be classified in this genus have now been assigned to closely related genera such as Hylotelephium and Rhodiola. For instance, Sedum spectabile (showy sedum) has been renamed Hylotelephium spectabile, and Sedum 'Herbstfreude' (autumn joy stonecrop) has been renamed Hylotelephium telephium 'Herbstfreude'. It takes a while for name changes like these to be reflected in retail nursery catalogs. But be aware that eventually gardeners will have to grapple with them." A Note on Nomenclature, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, http://www.bbg.org/gardening/article/spectacular_sedums/

Translation: The tall fall-flowering sedum, think Autumn Joy, Autumn Fire, Brilliant, are now Hylotelephium telephium. (Try saying that three times fast.) My best attempt at the pronunciation is: hi-lo-tel-ef-ee-um tel-ef-ee-um. To my understanding the ground cover sedums will remain in the Sedum genus. I don't know if the tall purple sedums fall under the new name. I'll do my best to use the new, correct name in future posts...but it's going to be hard. And just like the article suggests, it's going to be even more confusing and difficult for the common non plant geek consumer.