Conrad Art Glass & Gardens

A palette of ground covers... #4 in a series

2012-01-24T21:06:00.001-06:00

In this series I've discussed where forty years of gardening in the same location has brought us (#1), looking forward to putting the shaded areas created by the addition of a great many trees to better use (#2), and a discussion of making ground covers more prominent in this garden's design while expanding on what is usually considered "groundcover". In this, the last of the series I will review some of the ground cover elements that handle varying amounts of shade that I hope to use initially in what will probably be changes taking place over at least a couple of seasons.

Primroses:
Primula sieboldii... I've located several variations to order for spring. A good grower in the midwest but may go dormant in summer... blooms later than many of the other primulas that do well here.

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Primula japonica... these seed prolifically for me, the problem is they like a lot of moisture and do very well next to an outside faucet where I provide daily drinks. An idea that I recently ran across is to bury old wash tubs with little if any drainage, and adding water thus creating the boggy situation preferred by these Japanese primroses... worth a try!

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A whole host of hardy and easy primulas including several of Primula vulgaris and the like (elatiors, veris, and crosses thereof)... many of these plants can be divided every couple years and one's stock increases rapidly and voila... ground cover! Here are a couple more...

I've managed to locate a number of doubles to be planted this spring. Ah to be located in England where it would appear finding these beauties would be much less of a struggle. I'm sure my friend Frog Pond won't mind me sharing photos taken in his gardens as I have done so on a couple occasions in the past. I am truly enamored with the double primroses... here are some of his...

My garden blogger friend Carolyn (see link at right) asked how well the Primula kisoanas mentioned last post filled in for me. I haven't grown them all that long but I did find photos of Frog Pond's who grows them in quite sandy soil. This is early in the season and new plants can be seen coming up... additionally, my friend is very generous with gifting plants which may limit how large his clumps become.

Theoretically, most any plant could be considered a ground cover depending on how it is used. As noted in a recent post, I have a great many hostas that are to a large extent planted in groupings of a number of cultivars in a variety of locations. Changing this situation is something I hope to deal with this spring or at least get started on. Following are a few thoughts on allowing the hostas to better display their individual personalities. Many members of our northeastern Wisconsin hosta group don't allow their plants to get particularly large and keep them to a couple of divisions. Personally I prefer to see hosta gain mature size and often plant them in groupings of three, especially since it would be very easy to go overboard with this concept of 'mixing it up'. I think it is important that some sense of rhythm be maintained in my mixed ground cover plantings. Here are some areas of hosta that I hope to deal with in the spring...

I pointed out the following area in a recent post with a photo taken earlier in the season... in this case I like the row of green and white hosta used as it is so that will almost certainly remain even though it's an old cultivar and commonly used (for good reason) ...

The large Montana aureo-marginata has been in this location for over twenty-five years and works well in spring when the Flame flowering crab is in bloom so it will definitely stay put as well...

In the following photo, it is obvious that the surrounding hosta cultivars are the problem which is made worse within a short while as these plants gain their full stature. They need to be moved and plants that complement Montana aureo-maginata can be added while giving it room to properly develop and show itself...

In the following photo, I have what I consider to be a more interesting use of hostas with the ever popular term 'companion plantings'. On a side note, I have read that for a great many hosta lovers, there are only two types of plants in the world... hostas and companion plants. I must admit to being a bit more well rounded in my tatse for plants... perhaps too much so!

In this case, hostas Gold Standard and On Stage are accompanied by an old rogersia and a very large trycirtis which is just in view at the bottom of the photo. Across the path are a large aruncus, cimicifuga, and a large area of variegated solomon's seal along with additional hostas. I think these are the sort of pairings that work well in terms of color and texture. Unfortunately this is the flowering crab that I removed this fall and I am waiting for an Angelica magnolia to eventually provide shade. The hostas may have to be moved but I really hate to dig into the other plants because of their 'specimen' status.

Other plant materials to be incorporated as ground covers depending on available light include heucheras, heucherellas, and tiarellas. I have some experience with heucheras and really enjoy an old fashioned plant (possibly a species?) that I've grown forever in the gardens because it blooms for months, even in heavy shade. Unfortunately I don't know the name. It is extremely easy to divide into tiny rooted offsets, something that I haven't done in some years and need to do again. It can be seen blooming in the following picture in a very shaded location.

I've collected several heuchera varieties that I grow as a sort of 'colorful rug' in partial shade on the edge of the cottage garden. One needs to be a bit careful regarding cultivars... some take heat and humidity more readily while others handle extreme cold better. There is a good article with specifics at the 'Plant Delights' web site regarding this. My heucheras are probably in need of division as I've read that they decline without being divided every few years... it a good time for that with my thinking about moving so many plants about... I have very little experience with the heucherellas and tiarellas but perhaps will have better luck in the future as our soil has improved remarkedly after years of mulch breaking down and improving the soil.

The list of possibilities goes on and on, and happily many of the plants that work well as ground covers are already in our gardens and simply need to be restaged and thought of in a different way. A few more examples might include...

Astilbes:

Dianthus barbatus:

Hellebores:

Brunneras: I particularly like the self seeded ones such as in the photo below...

Pulmonarias:

Ajugas: I really enjoy them as a companion to my tree peonies as seen earlier in this series. They are seen below accompanying Allium karavatiense that happily seeds itself in the light shade in this part of the gardens...

Here in the rockery, a diminutive form is in bloom. the remainder of the season it retains a very dark burgundy brown foliage color and is easy to pull when it gets too ambitious...

I covered epimediums in a post not long ago and these are among my favorite shade ground covers, whether clump forming or spreading...

Sweet woodruff was mentioned earlier in this series as well...

Lady Slipper orchids are another amazing possibility and will take quite a bit of shade in many instances...

Let's not forget the various Arisaemas or Jack-in-the pulpits...

As I mentioned earlier, the term ground cover can really encompass a lot of territory depending on how you look at it. There are the plants that are generally considered "groundcovers" by most books on the subject, but I am really thinking in terms of much more than that... herbaceous perennials, ferns, and shrubs. Great interest can also be attained through bulbs that grow in the shade of which I'll mention a very few here including the wonderful martagon lilies...

... Scilla and English bluebells...

Camassia...

The list goes on and on and by now I've realized that I have all kinds of possibilities here in my own gardens, many more than what I referred to in this post, just waiting for the chance to be creatively put to use in the shade of my trees.

One of my concerns however, has to do with the dryness of areas with thick roots close to the surface. There are lists of trees that really don't like their roots disturbed... in many cases that can be dealt with by planting away from the tree's trunk and allowing the groundcovers to meander towards the trunk on their own over time.

Where this isn't a possibility, one can pick up landscape blocks on sale and create a raised area for plantings. A word of caution, this can be overdone and damage to the tree can ensue. However, it has been my experience that a certain amount of this is generally ok as long as the area is not too large a portion of the tree's root area, is not built up too high, nor too close to the trunk... try the technique at your own risk.

Certainly a book could be written on this subject of "painting the ground" in various levels of shade. I'll end here, totally anxious to get at it, and hitting the gym every other day so I will be able to handle it physically.

One last thing ... I've come to realize that my archives are about as cumbersome as the US tax laws. I have removed the majority of them from the site for now and will slowly be replacing them with plant based posts with a few exceptions. Eventually virtually every type of plant I grow in the gardens should be covered and updated once a season... at least that's the plan for now...

Take care, Larry

Perhaps it's time to 'paint the ground'... #3 in a series

2012-01-22T22:16:00.002-06:00

It all began with a new found love of primula. The photo above includes my original gifted plants of Primula kisoana which is a woodland variety from Japan that performs very well in the mid-west. My gardening buddy Frog Pond was kind enough to share it in both the white and lavender pink versions. I've read that in comes in a third color, either lighter or darker than this pink one in my garden... I really couldn't say at this point. I am presently a connoisseur of primula without a whole lot of the accompanying knowledge... if that's possible.

Not long ago, Frog Pond mentioned that perhaps this wasn't the best spot for kisoana... they like to spread. Research tells me that within five years, one could easily possess a colony three feet wide of this wonderful stoloniferous (dare I say it?) thug, if conditions are to its liking. Not just any thug mind you, but a thug to love. I can just imagine planting offsets amongst the Jack-in-the Pulpits and the hellebores... I suspect it will happily mingle as long as the soil has a somewhat woodsy texture and good moisture. However, it does well even if the conditions aren't totally to its preference... too dry and it might go dormant mid-summer, but chances are it's back next spring!

So what exactly does all this talk about primulas have to do with the title of this post? Last post I referenced "the vision" for these gardens of ours and the thing that really is tugging on my gardening heart is what I've started to accomplish in this 'rockery'. I'm having visions of, for lack of better terminology, ground covers. No, not a great stand of vinca minor in several bloom colors or lily of the valley... no offense to them, but I tore out truck loads of both of them over the past three years. They were the kind of thugs I couldn't love... at least on two acres. Ten acres might be a different story. I'm talking about groundcovers that don't overwhelm and if they do, are easily removed. I'm talking about galium odoratum or sweet woodruff which I absolutely love... when it goes too far, it's an easy chore to scrape it's borders back from the woodsy pine needles it seems to enjoy inhabiting. I'm also talking about ground covers of mixed planting as in the photo above... primroses combined with clump forming epimediums... a little Jeffersonia dubia,and anemone pulsatilla... and a Tsuga canadensis 'Cole's Prostrate' thrown into the mix for good measure (just out of view in this capture). I can envision a few clump forming ferns (variety yet to be decided on) rising from the bed of white snow (sweet woodruff) pictured below. I can imagine great drifts of hellebores and hostas sharing space with other amazing woodland plants... and oh the spring bloom.... it would be a reason to keep the blood coursing through ones' veins through the long winter months...

Some of the areas that I most enjoy in our gardens already have a bit of this concept in place...

Mix it up Conrad! Spread all those textures around... get with the program. I seem to recall Christopher Lloyd being referred to as mixed border Lloyd in his Great Dixter gardens. That fine gentleman really had it going on and I'm suddenly realizing that could be my style... minus the borders that is!

I already have a lot of the plant material... I simply need to put it to better use... case in point... I love the tiny blooms of Iris cristata but the amazing spreading clumps of foliage are wonderful from a textural point of view all season as well...

I guess you could call this new series of posts "where to turn when you can't fit in another tree".

I really, really got excited (maybe even a touch of my atrial fib!) when I came across the gardens and business web site for Swallowtail Gardens near Asheville, NC. Their link is in the upper right hand corner of this post.

After oohing and aahing my way through their story and web site, I clicked on their facebook page and was really blown away. Towards the bottom of their website you will find an invitation to visit them at Facebook... click on that and then click on 'photos' which is on the left side of that page. The next thing to click on is "views of our garden" and 31 wonderful photos come up. Click on the first one to enlarge and then use the arrow to scroll through them.

I have always had a sense that my gardening style would move towards some woodland collections eventually. It has taken years and hundreds upon hundreds of yards of wood mulch to build up our soil... I think the time is drawing near. After seeing the fantastic woodland phloxes in the Swallowtail garden I realized that I have always thought these phlox were amazing, but I don't have many. I went to the catalog of The Flower Factory which is about 80 miles from here (it has one of the largest collections of perennials for sale in the US) and found out they carry at least seventeen varieties... I wouldn't be at all surprised to find myself planting all seventeen this spring!

Also, if you haven't clicked on the link below "Visit my favorite nursery and gardens" on the right side of my site, Cady's Falls has many new and wonderful photos of the gardens which include a lot of the things that have contributed to my epiphany of late.

As I looked at the title of my last post, it struck me as a bit 'clunky' until I remembered that I was trying to get to the fact that each serious gardener has "the vision" for their gardens. This vision evolves over time... it has to... as I said, for a very long time mine had to do with flowering trees and conifers above all else. While that is still a part of the vision, it's what's underneath them that's starting to become an even bigger part of the design.

I have an amazingly knowledgable blogging friend whose site is Carolyn's Shade Gardens... I have a feeling I'll be visiting that site a lot in the future as my goals develop. If you don't know Carolyn, you can click on her site to the upper right as well.

That's about it for this time... a big part of the joy of gardening is the imagining of what can be.... as Debra commented on my last post... "One of the things I like best about gardening is the prerogative to change my mind; to rethink things, move things around or eliminate entirely." I think Debra is right on with that comment, this is very basic to developing a great garden and besides that it's just great fun!

Next time I'll share some more of the plant material I hope to utilize as these changes unfold over the next few seasons.

Oh yes... a sure sign that spring will indeed return again... I was just asked to schedule my first garden club tour of our place for this, the new gardening year...

Take care as always, Larry

A change in the vision? #2 in a series

2012-01-20T22:17:00.002-06:00

... well perhaps. After all, a person can only fit so many trees into two acres. Actually, my wife has been reminding me of that for years. Does this mean I'll never buy another magnolia... certainly not. On the other hand adding three or four each year really doesn't make a lot of sense any longer. Not too long ago I did count about sixty of them although I've lost a few since then... the point is that many are rather small yet and haven't even developed their first bloom. They will get large eventually and that may well create a few problems.

So I gained a new interest in conifers... it's the same scenario. In addition to all the large ones I have, there is a host of little ones waiting to get larger. Even the dwarfs will get pretty big over time. I simply have to do some reassessing and moving conifers about this spring... this is when a blank canvas would be a great thing to have!

You may ask why I'm displaying photos of the area I redid a couple of years back and call the 'rockery'. I think that this is the answer to my quest for a new direction or vision if you will. This shaded area really excites me and gets me enthused about new possibilities. As noted in a recent post, we now have a lot of shade on what was two acres of pasture forty years ago. In the future we can only have more shade which is fine since I'm past the time in my life when a tan is important. That said, perhaps it is time to do a little refining in the gardens.

For example... if you've followed my posts for a while, you know that I truly enjoy hostas and I have hundreds of them. I wouldn't part with a single one. However, what looks nice in the above photo will by August be a whole lot of hostas growing into each other. I have always done a good job of massing plants which can be effective in a design, but I'm getting to the point where I want to shake things up a bit. Mix in some woodland phlox and a conifer here and there... spread out some of the hostas so I can appreciate what is special about their individual personalities.

I suspect that is why I'm so enthralled with my 'rockery'. There is a lot of plant material in this small area. In the two photos above there is a young Fagus sylvatica 'Asplenifolia' which will provide shade in the future. There are numerous varieties of primula and hellebores. There are several very interesting clump forming epimediums, there are trilliums and phlox stolonifera. Additionally there are dwarf hemlocks... in fact I've added more than can be seen here. There are also miniature hostas. The list goes on and I will delve into that in future posts. When I first started the rockery, I thought I might have an interest in alpines and the like... I soon realized that was not where I wanted to head. I have to admit that all I really want is 'beautiful' and I really don't need 'difficult'. It's color and texture that excite me, and if something odd fits in and manages to be reasonably easy to please, then so much the better!

It seems I always have to have some new and exciting challenge in my life... I would never give up these gardens in order to start over... there just isn't time for that. I am however bent on perfecting them to the best of my ability. I have spent too many hours in the past few years walking around the yard with a plant in my arms that has the potential of getting huge, looking for a place to site it. I have even done the "walk" and ended up giving away the plant I just purchased! It is time to reach deeper into the details and that will certainly include adding even more variety, and making good use of all that shade that has arrived after all these years of planting trees.

So, with that I'll end this post. In future posts I will spend some time in the rockery looking at some of the plants that I am coming to really enjoy. I'll also share some changes that I think will better tie the upper levels with what is happening at the base of our building.

Until next time, Larry

A sense of place... #1 in a series

2012-01-14T22:18:00.001-06:00

While in many areas of the country and the world, there is an abundance of bloom in the mid-January gardens, we in east central Wisconsin have only the covering of snow on the conifers, and the silhouettes of the trees to share on this January Bloom Day. However, in our minds and hearts it's a different matter as we consider this past season and that which is to come. I encourage you to visit Carol at http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/ on the 15th that you might have the opportunity to visit gardeners from around the world as they share what's on their minds and in their gardens in this the first Bloom Day posts of the new year. As for me, it's all a matter of retrospect...

When we started gardening on this piece of land forty years ago, I'm not certain there were any long term goals in mind. We were young and not nearly as dedicated to our new pastime as we would eventually become. The first couple of years, our time of dedication to our small yard was very limited. We knew little of the possibilities of spring, or the permanence of a proper winter garden. We weeded and toiled for a month or so each year and then let the beds return to weeds for lack of interest until the next season rolled around.

Thankfully, there were many mentors... older and wiser friends who entered our lives... true gardeners who in their lives had come to understand the power of a garden and the hold a garden could take on the gardener's life. We were blessed to visit beautiful garden spaces where we were always welcome, and little by little, we came to understand. These were passions that one shared and that had the power to change one's perspective on life forever.

It was almost thirty years ago that our love for gardening had developed to the point where we had to have more land.

We bought the parcel of farmland adjoining our 150 year old cheese factory that in total gave us about two acres upon which to develop our landscape. Slowly, the long term goals came into perspective.

As we grew older, the influences of our youth began to creep into our lives. The legacy of parents and grandparents who gardened beautifully, the beautiful forests and mountains of a childhood home in Vermont, the little dirt roads that wended beneath a canopy of fall color...

Over time the real focus of these two acres became engrained in our minds and hearts... I have long ago come to realize that mine was to capture a sense of permanence and age in what was a barren cow pasture. Just as a model railroader would endeavor to capture the soul of a railroad line in their display, I work on a larger scale... we can now sit in the gardens and imagine that we are a part of something greater than ourselves and have become content in doing so.

It takes a significant portion of a lifetime to accomplish this goal... we would feel guilty and self centered, were we not willing to share our vision and our joy with a great many who come to visit and soak in the object of our dedication. The majority of the photos shared in this post, have not been shared in the past. I've tried to pick pictures that give one a sense of being part of a much larger picture, as if back in the mountains of my beloved Vermont, but with a greater variety that reflects the interests of a collector of plants. This is the path that we allow our imaginations to trod. This is our "sense of place" as it were.

When we were young, how we longed for the trees and shrubs to grow faster and for the garden spaces to fill up. Now that we are much older, we long for the pace to slow down, that we might enjoy the object of our creation for many years to come.

To think that this place was once a grassy field with no more than alfalfa, dandelions, and the occasional bull thistle. I sit in awe of all the time that has passed, casting my eye on planted ground that I have myself planted... every bulb, flower, shrub, and tree... and then too... all the plants that succumbed to this experiment four decades in length. We could have been wealthier for all that was spent on this two acres, and yet this is itself a wealth beyond mere finances.

For all practical purposes, this place is our home and we are the stewards of this small piece of ground. For all we have given it, it gives back ten fold. The winters spent dreaming of what will be and the springs full of new life... the summers arrive arrayed in glorious scents and colors, and then the fall when all returns to rest and we appreciate that we can indulge in other pursuits for the months of cold.

Yet, even on days when it is just too cold to be outside... we pause at every window as we move about this old building, and we take in the view... for the garden has matured to the point of being beautiful in all seasons.

... and after every snow storm, paths are cut through the lawns with the snow blower so that the conversation between the flora and ourselves can take place on an intimate level... " how are you old friend" we imagine ourselves saying..."has this winter been good to you so far"... and we scrape bark with a fingernail, looking for bright green beneath, which is the sapling's way of saying "I'm doing just fine thank you... thank you for that extra mulch that is keeping my roots warm and that wrapping that causes the rabbits to go elsewhere for their dinner..."!

As we relax on a warm summer's evening beneath a large pine tree that was dug from a woods years ago, I wonder what will become of this place... so many gardens pass on with the passing of the gardener. There is no child of ours that has expressed an interest in the garden's future, but they are still young as well and perhaps those influences of their youth need time to swell and germinate in their minds and hearts.

How I envy the tales of gardens tended for generations in the same family... with time we will perhaps see such intentions on the part of our children or grandchildren. Even if our generation is the first and last in the life of the gardens of Oak Lawn Cheese factory, they will have served a useful purpose in bringing joy to the many who pass through them each season. Beyond that, they have taught us some of life's greatest lessons, given us perspective, helped us to appreciate... for that we will always be grateful.

We have chosen a quiet life here in the garden... there is a sense of fulfillment on a daily basis and always something to look forward to... for a very long time I wondered why so many of my good gardener friends liked to stay so close to home... now I know... one would hate to miss a single moment of the constant change that surrounds us in this special little world of our own imagining.

I will close with more pictures from this, our garden of forty years... this place gives cause to newly and daily give praise to our Creator who has so graciously blessed us.
If you are a gardener who doesn't feel blessed by your garden, perhaps you haven't taken the time to really appreciate the miracles that grow from the earth. 'The more you give, the more you receive' is more than just a cliche... it is an ever present truth in the life of a gardener. How I anticipate those stolen moments of sitting back and savoring the gifts of the garden in its constant expression of gratitude for our efforts on its behalf.

From Oak Lawn Cheese Factory I wish you a gardener's joy as well. Larry

From my photo files... today's plant is the crab apple

2012-01-12T21:02:00.000-06:00

Malus 'Spring Glory' (#1 on site map)

We have and enjoy a number of flowering crab apple trees here at Oak Lawn. At one time we had many more but one has to make choices as trees mature... every so often we find ourselves removing the odd crab. I've probably planted over thirty plus through the years but there are now only seventeen. At any rate, hard choices are often required of the gardener in the interest of the overall design of the gardens. Some flowering crabs went because of disease concerns, others suffer from apple scab and have been or will be removed... still others drove me nuts with all the suckering, a couple went because of an overabundance of large fruits, and so it goes. Actually there are three large specimens on the list for removal once their replacement ornamentals gain some stature. By the way, suckering on ornamental apples need not be the problem it has been in the past. New root stocks have been developed that virtually end the suckering situation. Look for Sproutfree® on the label the next time you purchase a flowering crab apple. So too for disease... there are plenty of resistant choices these days, my favorites being cultivars of 'sargentii'.

I'm including a site map with today's post so you can see where the various malus cultivars are in the gardens. It is at the bottom of this post and the view from the air is a couple years old so a number of things have changed in the gardens, including the addition of the barn. Again, the site map can be found at the bottom of this post.

Malus 'Spring Glory' (#2 on site map)

The Spring Snow cultivars pictured below make a very large tree. Unfortunately I get a lot of foliage dropping from the mid-summer on and I'm trying to decide whether to bid them adieu. Their presence in the gardens would be missed for sure...

Two malus 'Spring Snow' (#3 & #4 on site map)

Malus 'Spring Snow'

Malus 'Strawberry Parfait' is one of my more recent flowering crab acquisitions. I love its bi-toned blooms and its wonderful fragrance... I planted it in a rather odd place about two feet from the stone wall on the back of the garage... it's going to take some creative pruning down the road but I'm looking for a large billow of color suspended over the steel roof of that portion of our building.

Malus 'Strawberry Parfait' (#5 on site plan)

Malus 'Strawberry Parfait'

The following photo was taken a few of years ago. The white crab is 'Flame'. To the left is 'Royalty' which has been removed some time ago and to the back is 'Vanguard' which was removed this past fall... it had more apple scab problems than I could bear, dropping leaves as early as mid-June.

Malus 'Flame' (#6 on site plan)

Removing 'Vanguard' this fall truly rates as one of those very difficult situations a gardener must face... it was beautiful in bloom as pictured below in 2008. Unfortunately, the flowers were barely gone, when the foliage would start to drop, so the decision was made for the tree to go.

Malus 'Vanguard' (#7 on site plan) removed this past fall

I have to admit that white flowering trees are among my favorites, especially in terms of flowering crab apples. Here's a reposting of one of my favorite pictures of the 'Sargent's' crab from this past spring...

Malus 'Sargentii' (#8 on site plan)

Malus 'Sargentii'

Malus 'Snowdrift' (#9 on site plan)

Snowdrift is outstanding for its fragrance... we sit in the gazebo on warm spring evenings and soak in the perfume coming from this tree...

Malus 'Snowdrift'

It took me many years to really appreciate that flowering crabs can be four season plants. To have them behave in that manner, pruning becomes significantly important. The only downside of pruning that I can think of, might be the possibility of diseases such as fire blight entering through the wounds. On the other hand, not pruning crabs means that for a week or two each spring there is a big mass of color and much of the rest of the year the tree looks like a big tangled mess which to my way of thinking, can be a 'blight' on the landscape. My 'Mary Potter' is an example of what pruning can do for a crab... for a long time it was simply a massive, indistinctive pile of branches on a trunk... with pruning, it now displays excellent winter interest and with its heavy fruit crops, is basically interesting throughout the year.

Malus 'Mary Potter' (#10 on the site plan)

Malus 'Mary Potter'

Malus 'Mary Potter' in fruit with Seven Sons tree form

Floribunda has yellow fruit that the birds love...

Malus 'Floribunda' (#11 on site plan)

Malus 'Floribunda'

Following (to the left) are two of three Malus 'Firebird' that I grow on high grafts... these are sargentii varieties along with Mary Potter and Tina. All sargentii bloom later, are very dependable, as well as disease resistant.

Malus 'Firebird' (#12,13,14 on site plan)

Louisa is a wonderful and unusual shade of pink for a crab apple. I have two of these weepers.

Malus 'Louisa' (#15,16 on site map)

Malus 'Tina' is pictured below. I really like the fact that this plant is low to the ground except for the fact that its root stock does send a lot of suckers... it's not an easy chore to remove them each year. This cultivar has particularly red buds followed by white blooms, giving three different phases to the bloom period. The combination of buds and blooms is my favorite phase. The large tulips are a late variety called Blushing Beauty and generally are in bloom at the same time as Tina.

Malus 'Tina' (#17 on site plan)

Malus 'Tina'

To close out this post, the final flowering crab at Oak Lawn is this 'Radiant' which is on my list for removal. This is another apple scab susceptible variety that has been offered for sale for years and should probably be passed over for newer cultivars with much improved disease resistance, at least in my experience... it does have wonderful color when in bloom however. I'm just waiting for its replacement fern leaf beech to gain enough size to allow for removal of this crab.

Malus 'Radiant' (#18 on site plan)

It took me a while to learn that trying to maintain trees that are disease prone is basically a thankless task. Spraying takes a lot of money, time, and possibly even a toll on one's health. The results never seem to measure up to the effort... at best, I would gain perhaps 3-4 weeks before the dreaded leaf drop would occur on susceptible crabs. I've decided to remove some of these mature trees while others will stay for the time being at least... acceptance of the situation along with removal of diseased foliage from the ground is about all I can do. Afterall, it's only four trees out of eighteen that have the problem... I guess I can handle that, at least for the time being...

That's it for today, Larry

Site Map:

From my photo files... today's plant is the lilac

2012-01-10T16:46:00.000-06:00

Pictured above and below is Syringa x chinensis 'Lilac Sunday' which is named to commemorate Arnold Aboretum's annual event by the same name. Lilacs are singled out for their own special day each year for what has become a Boston tradition. This particular cultivar can reach 12 x 12 feet and is especially beautiful due to blooms from lateral buds and well as branch tips making it a fountain of color each season. This has become one of my favorite lilacs.

I used to have many more lilacs in the gardens than I now have. It's not that I lost interest, but rather, many lilacs can get extremely large over time. Additionally, they prefer full sun in order to bloom as they should. I simply don't have the space for all the lilacs I would like to have. With the exception of a couple specimens, I have banished all except the mixed lilac hedge on the west border of the gardens, seen from two different viewpoints below.

I first became aware of the amazing variety of lilacs almost 40 years ago in the garden of another of my mentors, Marjean and her husband John. Walking around the corner of their home one spring, I came face to face with the most beautiful dark purple lilac I had ever seen. Until that point, I had only been familiar with the common lilac and hadn't experienced the depth of color and form that lilacs are capable of... it wasn't long before I started planting a variety of French lilac cultivars. Years later I have been forced to remove perhaps twenty or more of these amazing shrubs simply for lack of space. I do miss them.

Pictured below is the only picoteed lilac bloom with which I am familiar... it is called Sensation.

A favorite combination in my garden is this lilac paired with the Snowdrift crab to the rear.

The darkest lilac in my collection now is Syringa vulgaris 'Andenken an Ludwig Spaethe'. This plant was cut to the ground four years ago... while not the approved method of rejuvenation, it works for me as I don't mind being without the blooms for a couple of years. Of course, the preferred method is a three stage cutback over the period of three years, which assures you of some bloom each season. Three years ago, this area included three large shrubs of Ludwig, a huge clump of President Grevy which is a blue and one of the sweetest scented lilacs I have come across, as well as a couple other varieties. It took a back-hoe to clear the area. I did have a major problem with suckering on the President Grevy and I could barely keep up with that situation, which was the reason I first decided to make a change. Perhaps one of Ludwig Spaethe's best attributes is that it shows well from a distance.

Also very high on my favorites list is Syringa vulgaris 'Krasavitsa Moskvy', also known by Beauty of Moscow. I especially appreciate the buds and the color contrast that occur in these blooms. Beauty of Moscow is pictured below.

I had to remove two of my Agincourt Beauty when I built our little barn. I am not aware of any other cultivars that have such large florets, so I am looking for a replacement... actually now that I think of it, I may have one growing in deep shade! Need to check that out...

That's pretty much what I have to say on the subject of lilacs, other than to be sure to give them a good neutral to alkaline soil... enough talk... here's the rest of the show... it should be patently obvious that we prefer the darker richer colors in lilacs... ever since that day at Marjean's! Oh... and by the way, not all lilacs hold up equally when cut for the house... one of these years we're going to actually write down the ones that work well as we never do remember!

Take care, Larry

And in closing... my Canadian Tree Lilac...

From my photo files... today's plant is the hellebore

2012-01-08T15:38:00.000-06:00

Once again I'm sharing photos taken from my picture files over the course of the past few years. While this is a very mild winter for Wisconsin, it's not mild enough for hellebores to be in bloom ... yet, that is.

As noted in past posts, I'm fairly new to hellebores. Never the less, my collection is growing at a goodly rate of speed with another 75 plants expected to join the collection this coming spring. In other words, I really like them... then again, I've seldom met a plant I didn't like.

Hellebores are a big part of the reason why I'm back to the gym three days a week... it's hard work rolling around on the ground, taking photos of their downturned (in many cases) faces!

If you truly want to know a lot more about helebores, you need to visit Carolyn at http://carolynsshadegardens.com/
Carolyn is a true expert on helebores as well as a wide variety of other shade plants.

I can only offer a few pictures of some of my favorites that have bloomed in my gardens, and some very basic care info that I personally use. I try and cut back the old foliage in late winter or as soon as the snow is gone. I give each plant a couple tablespoons of Osmocote at the beginning of April, and when I plant new plants, I mix a fair amount of good compost into the planting hole. Works for me.

While I have names of a few of my hellebores, numerous others were purchased as part of a larger unnamed collections, so I hesitate to suggest what each of these plants is called. I offer them here only as a reminder of some of the beauty that lies just around the corner.

That said, enjoy a few hellebore blooms from my gardens in seasons past... Larry

And sadly yes... sometimes it does "snow on my hellebore parade".

From my photo files... today's plant is the tulip

2012-01-07T00:23:00.000-06:00

What can I say about tulips...? I'm not a tulip connoisseur by any means. I just like them... quite a lot actually. You won't find huge numbers of tulip oddities in my gardens and I have no exciting new info about them. It's really pretty simple actually... in many cases I simply buy what's on sale at the end of the season, try to plant them in groupings of the same color and variety, I plant them deeply so they don't wear out by multiplying as quickly. I occasionally throw a bit of fertilizer their way if I think of it, and allow the foliage to brown off after they bloom. If I decide to order tulips, I almost always go with Darwin hybrids since they perennialize well (lily flowered varieties do quite well on this count also).... in fact, I have some tulips that have been in the garden twenty-five years and divided only once in all that time. That said, I have little else to offer other than a few photos of the tulips in my gardens.
Enjoy! Larry

From my photo files... today's plant is the tree peony

2012-01-05T09:27:00.000-06:00

If asked what the most exquisite bloom in the gardens might be, it's quite possible that I would offer up the tree peony. While spectacular, there are also negatives to be associated with this plant... at least here in Wisconsin. Most especially, it almost always blooms near the beginning of June just when we get hit with our first hot weather.

Too much heat equals a short life span for these gorgeous blooms, especially if they are in full sun. As in the case of Taiyo (meaning The Sun) pictured above and below, many of my tree peonies are planted in dappled shade. This may mean that I get less blooms, but the ones I do get hold up longer.

Tree peonies are natives of China and it is said that they were first discovered in the sixth century and probably used for medicinal purposes originally. While related to herbaceous peonies, tree peonies are not cut back at the end of the season as they will form new buds on their old wood the following spring. For this reason they are considered a shrub and many can gain considerable size over a long life span.

I am presently in the eighth month of germinating hybrid tree peony seeds, purchased from the well-know expert, Bill Seidl. These seeds have a double dormancy and should have made a root this past season and hopefully will produce top growth in the coming season. This is an exercise in patience to say the least... not only does it take pretty much a full year (or longer) to find out if they've germinated, the waiting period for the first blooms may be five to seven years. It was necessary to keep the seeds from drying out this past season. At one point, a couple had washed to the surface of the planting medium and were showing that the casing was starting to split... I anticipate that this was an indication that germination is taking place.

Most authorities would say that planting tree peonies under trees and other shrubs is not a good idea as they don't care for the competition... this may well be true to some extent, but I do enjoy the look of their beautiful foliage, even when not in bloom with the trees growing above them. This can be seen in the next three photos.

Tree peonies do prefer the soil to be on the alkaline side and need a fair amount of iron in their diet. You may have been to botanical gardens where the tree peony foliage appeared quite chlorotic. A little iron sulphate can help out in that regard.

Tree peonies are very hardy, to zone three which is definitely a plus. Every few years I will have considerable wood die back which is normal to the best of my knowledge... new 'trunks' soon replace what has died. Occasionally, it may take a year or two to get the plant back to its previous self.

Without a doubt, the best time for planting a tree peony is in the fall. If transplanting one, you may be amazed at how huge the root has become... very old plants can literally weigh hundreds of pounds!

One should beware of overfertilizing, although an occasional use of bone meal or phosphate can produce strong roots and a good flower set. If planted in the open, a foot deep trench can be dug about the perimeter and filled with good compost. I have used gentle manures such as lhama beans on the surface about the perimeter of my plants since there are too many tree roots to dig a trench.

Tree peonies can be expensive... named varieties generally start at $50 and depending on age, one can spent a few hundred dollars on a good cultivar. It is important to remember that these are long lived plants generally and in terms of that, these prices may not be all that expensive.

Many tree peonies are grafted cuttings on an herbaceous root. These grafts need to be planted a few inches deep and eventually will make their own roots. Beware of foliage from the herbaceous root growing and taking over the tree peony graft... it is generally easy to spot the difference in the foliage if you are looking for it.

One of my favorite tree peonies is Hesphestos (below) which came from my own graft many years ago. This sort of propagation develops a special bond between the plant and the propagator when this is a process that one doesn't normally dabble in.

That's it for today... do give a tree peony a try.... they make marvelous cut flowers as well and there is a permanence about these plants that have an effect on the overall ambience of the garden that is hard to describe. It's also neat to think that you own a plant that at one time in history would have been reserved for the emperor only... a touch of royalty in the gardens is a nice thing...

Larry

From my photo files... today's plant is Lewisia

2012-01-03T23:13:00.000-06:00

I have to be honest... lewisias have been a huge challenge for me... however, they are so beautiful in bloom that I simply can't resist them. At the very least, they are plants for the rock garden although this hasn't worked very well for me.

There are 19 species of Lewisia which are all native to western North America and many of these can be very difficult to provide the proper conditions for... I have decided to limit my attempts to L. cotyleon and a hybrid series of L. longipetala by L. cotyleon called 'Little Plum'. As seen in the photo above and two of the last three photos in this post, I've even tried to overwinter them outside in tuffa rock with no success.

Needs include exceptionally well drained soils, protection from moisture about their necks, and avoidance of hot afternoon sun. My biggest problem has been overwintering them outside and I have now given up on that. Since the varieties I grow are evergreen and demand that their crowns remain quite dry over winter, I now use them in hyper-tuffa and keep them over in an unheated garage which has afforded me some success.

I also suspect that part of the problem outside here in Wisconsin may have something to do with hardiness issues... these particular lewisias are rated to -10 degrees.

A gardener needs to deal with the occasional challenging plant... for me Lewisia keeps me quite humble, but I am not ready to give up on them! They are way too lovely for that!

Take care, Larry

L. longipetalum 'Little Plum'

two examples of L cotyleon

From my photo files ... today's plant is Epimedium

2012-01-01T22:05:00.000-06:00

Epimediums in the rockery

I've been trying to think of something to blog about for the remainder of this winter.... I really find blogging to be good mental exercise (as I try to recall the names of all those plants) and quite relaxing as well. After focusing on magnolias in the last post, it dawned on me that I might pull together some of my photos from the past three or so years with the idea of focusing on a particular plant in each installment. Today I'll reference some of the epimediums that grow in the gardens here at Oak Lawn Cheese Factory.

Early in my gardening experience I was only aware of spreading cultivars of epimediums. I planted a couple plants and immediately forgot them for several years. Eventually I became interested in the clump forming cultivars and this in turn reminded me that years past I had planted the spreaders. They had long been buried in the shade of large arborvitaes and reasonably mature magnolias. This was one of the absolutely driest and most unattended parts of my gardens.

E xversicolor 'Sulphereum'

Upon checking out the situation, I discovered Sulphereum was alive and well despite not thriving. Epimediums are plants that generally prefer decent soil and well-drained conditions to be at their best, but obviously in my experience, they can deal with much less. Sulfereum spreads four to five inches a year, has lovely foliage, and sprays of short spurred flowers pictured above. This plant makes an excellent ground cover.

E. x 'Domino'

When I became aware of clump forming cultivars of epimedium, I ordered a few plants just to try them out. Domino, pictured above and below, soon became one of my favorites. Last year the plant stopped flourishing. I realized that the soil in the epimedium areas of the rockery, though quite rich black loam, had compacted over time and probably wasn't draining as well as it should. I dug out all the plants in that area and worked in a number of soil amendments to lighten the soil and improve the drainage. I was able to cut Domino into two good sized clumps. I am hoping that it will once again thrive this spring.

E. x 'Domino'

E. grandiflorum 'Circe'

Circe (above) is a cultivar of Epimedium grandiflorum and is truly an eye catcher. I suspect the best feature is the sheer abundance of bloom... similar to Yubae pictured below, it offers 2-3 times the number of bloom stems and also has very attractive foliage.

E. grandiflorum 'Yubae'

Many epimediums have two flushes of foliage growth each season. E. grandiflorum 'Yubae' pictured above is no exception with its first flush of foliage and bloom being half the height of its second flush. Additionally, this is one of the longer blooming cultivars. The nomenclature for this cultivar has been quite confusing over the years, including the incorrect use of the names 'Rose Queen' and 'Crimson Beauty'. Yubae is a good example of Epimedium blooms with long spurs... in this case Yubae's are tipped with white. These spurs and blooms on wirey stems were in fact the thing that first drew me to epimediums... common names for epimediums include Fairy Wings, Barrenwort, and Bishop's Hat among others. Personally I find the Bishop's Hat connotation quite fitting.

E. grandiflorum 'Princess Susan'

Grandiflorum cultivars are among my favorites and Princess Susan (above) is no exception. The plant was discovered in the garden of Harold Epstein, a self taught horticulturalist of the highest level and one of epimedium's greatest proponents. Susan was his daughter... in fact, looking through any epimedium list will draw numerous connections to Mr. Epstein. For example... "Pseudo-Larchmont" ( Mr. Epstein's garden was in Larchmont, New York).... another example is "Queen Este"... Esta was his wife. At the time of his death in 1997, Mr. Epstein was involved in a long term project of classifying the genus Epimedium. It is amazing to me that this man left his career as an accountant after suffering a heart attack, and without any prior knowledge of horticulture, went on to become recognized as one of the most important men in this country's gardening history.

I have acquired a number of additional epimediums over the past few years. I have had some difficulty with a few of them and am pretty certain that this has been due to drainage issues and soil that is too heavy. My gardening friend 'Frogpond' has been growing epimediums much longer than I have (in fact, it was in his garden that I first discovered the clump formers) and he is finding numerous seedlings that are coming into bloom. Many of the named cultivars have come about in this way.

Among the plants I am endeavoring to grow is E. brachyrrhizum, a species from China. This plant is short but has flowers in lavender-pink that are almost 2" in diameter.

Among the grandiflorums, Bicolor Giant involves pinks and raspberrys and even has some excellent fall foliage color. Lilafee is quite popular with large violet purple flowers and chocolate tinted foliage in the spring. Orion is considered a giant 'red' and is from Japan. This one grows about 15 inches tall at bloom time with no second flush. Pierre's purple has wine-purple flowers with white spur tips. Pseudo-Larchmont is a cherry rose and white grandiflorum. Saxton's Purple has lavender flowers and foliage with a coppery tone. Tama No Genpei has lavender pink and white flowers and can be seen to the right of Cerci in the above photo. I also grow some of the Epimedium x Youngianum which are fertile hybrids of grandiflorum and diphyllum. As with so many other plant genera, epimediums could easily become a passion.

I think that one of the reasons that I am so attracted to these plants has to do with how well they combine with other spring bloomers, including primula. I recommend giving them a try, remembering to provide some shade, and well drained yet moisture retentive soil which is where I made my mistake early on.

Take care, Larry

From my photo files... today's plant is the magnolia

2011-12-31T20:39:00.003-06:00

While all the world is out celebrating here we sit, listening to the New York Philharmonic play Gershwin and Bernstein on PBS and extremely content to be at home. I spent the last few hours reading... first about gardening (pulling out my collection of books on magnolias) and then looking through some of my Tiffany library. I'm really starting to anticipate some of my favorite spring plants, including hellebores, epimediums, primulas, and of course; those magnolias.

Spring is still far away... after all, we really haven't had winter yet! We did head to the northwoods earlier this week and traveled through the forests and past the many lakes, all the while enjoying falling snow and the beautiful conifers covered with fresh white.

For now, this eve of the new year, I'm quite content to be thinking about the spring gardens and the bloom that will fill them to overflowing. Magnolias are particularly on my mind as a friend forwarded a letter with photos of some of the hybridizing going on in New Zealand right now... amazing! That's all it took and I'm back on the magnolia kick... even if it is the middle of January!

This spring may bring just a bit of extra excitement as I have three magnolia trees that will bloom for the first time provided the buds make it through the winter. It is always thrilling to see first time bloom on a tree that you've been nursing along for a few years. When I was younger I would get very concerned when a late frost threatened the blooms on young magnolias... I can remember going out in the evening and putting individual 'baggies' (as in 'packing a sandwich' baggie) on buds to save them from being damaged by the cold. You don't do this for long with magnolias... within a couple years, the baggies needed would break the bank.

I hope you enjoy the photos from some of my many magnolia trees... and happy New Year... Larry

The value of a green lawn...

2011-12-27T17:57:00.000-06:00

or... is it worth the effort? I guess that depends on how much effort you put into it.

a. Why would one want a lawn in the first place?

A lawn is a very special place to hunt pterodactyls...

or to just lay around when you feel lazy...

a lawn is a super place to have a few friends over for a picnic...

a lawn is a great place to go for a jog...

... or to take a walk... just you and your mom...

A lawn is the very best place to chase a big brother barefoot...

The warm green of a lawn after winter is one of the best indications that spring has indeed arrived...

Lawn can be a bridge from here to there...

... and the path that leads to who knows where....

a lawn is the canvas upon which I paint the gardens of my life...

and the cartilage that gently separates the bones of these garden beds.

b. Assuming that 'lawn' is not a dirty word in one's vocabulary (I'm well aware that many feel that it is), how does one reasonably maintain a respectable plot of grass set amongst gardens?

Mulch your grass rather than blowing it to the side or gathering it up. This is one of the best ways to avoid thatch as well as to provide a bit of nutrition to the lawn...

Mow often... unless the grass is dormant, I normally mow two to three times a week. Don't think of it as a chore, but rather as a lovely tour of your property...In fact, design your property with this in mind... mowing is one of my favorite pastimes and I have designed the yard so there is virtually no trimming to be done.

Maintain good edges on all your garden beds... this will increase the appeal of your design tremendously...

Design garden beds in such a way that when they need water in dry weather, the lawn can easily receive it as well...

Keep your lawn lush with inexpensive fertilizers that don't burn such as Milorganite (5% nitrogen). Plan on using this monthly but at least 2-3 times each season which will do the trick.

Don't obsess over weeds... if I start seeing more crab grass than what I can easily pull by hand, every few years I use a pre-emergent herbicide only where needed . This past year I had a fair amount of wood sorrel in a particular area and this will require a pre-emergent as well as a bit of Weed-B- Gon or Trimec for the established weed plants in the lawn, but again, I will only treat the area that has the problem. To my way of thinking, touch-up spraying with a hand sprayer is the way to go, and only when weeds start to get out of control. I don't care for white clover in my lawn, but can accept some. When all I see in an area of perhaps a few square feet taken over by white clover and virtually no grass, I will treat the area and regain control. Yes, these weeds will eventually return... this is particularly the case with gardening in farm country where weed seeds blow in from the fields constantly. Were I to obsess over weeds in the lawn, chances are that I'd damage some of the garden plantings... easy does it is the answer for me... simply try to stay ahead of the problem by spot spraying small areas a couple of times over the course of perhaps ten days for effective treatment. This is something I do perhaps once during the garden season. Also, spot touch-up of dandelions as they appear helps prevent the really big problems that can occur if they are ignored for too many seasons.

For a lush turf that gets complements, the best approach is not mowing too short, avoiding compaction, and providing some moisture if needed... preferably an inch per week... the few weeds that show up will generally be incidental...

The only time I mow really short is as the lawn goes into dormancy for the winter.... come spring, a little over-seeding in thin or damaged areas will take care of those concerns.

I must admit... I like having some nice lawn on our property, although there seems to be less with each passing year and each new garden. It truly does make bare-footed pterodactyl hunting so much more comfortable!

Shine a light on your lawn this season... it can be an important part of a good gardening experience!
Take care, Larry

Garden stroll on the first day of winter...

2011-12-22T19:59:00.000-06:00

It's less than an inch of snow, and it will be gone before Christmas... but it was a nice touch for celebrating the first day of winter. Over the past many years, there have been eighteen seasons when we were basically without snow at Christmas. In virtually all instances, the snowfall for those years was well below normal. Right now I'm ok with that, however I will be concerned if we get very frigid temperatures without the benefit of insulating snow. On the other hand, we got plenty of good soaking rains this fall, which is a positive for the gardens.

Those of you who follow my posts regularly, are probably aware that the spruces pictured above and below are Picea pungens 'Montgomery'. These are pretty much full size which is just about right for this garden... they make an excellent statement and yet will not overgrow the space allotted them.

The tall thin confers are fastigiate Scotch pines or Pinus sylvestris 'fastigiata'. These normally mature at about 25' with 8' of girth, but that's not likely to occur here. These tend to suffer a lot of damage from snow load. Each season numerous branches are broken. The flip side is that they have beautiful bark in rich tones of brown with reddish hues and this becomes more obvious when there are less branches.

The gazebo gets sealed up each winter with homemade storm windows. One big change this year was the installation of 25 Green Mountain boxwoods about its base. It is difficult to keep annuals watered at this distance from the house, hence the change to shrubs. The flowering crab to the left in the photo above is 'Snowdrift' which has white fragrant blooms in the spring. When removing a very large portion of the tree a couple years ago, I realized (too late) that my chain saw was at the wrong angle. As a result there is a very large wound without the benefit of enzyme collar about some of its circumference. It will be interesting to see how the tree copes with this down the road... my money is on the tree as malus tends to be very forgiving.

To the east of the gazebo is the Mary Potter crab, an excellent choice for holding its fruit well into the winter. The bark of the Seven Sons to the right in the above photo is a wonderful hue of cinnamon, adding color to the winter gardens.

I also enjoy observing the buds of the magnolias in the winter and considering their potential for the spring bloom... two different 'Butterflies' are pictured below and show tremendous promise for a clouds of warm yellow in the late April or early May.

Upon leaving the gazebo area, there is an intersection containing a couple small stone walls... I would so like to build more but find it diffcult to retrieve the stones. In the midwest, stone piles can be twenty feet high and forty feet long... for some unknown reason, the best stones are always at the highest and most distant part of the pile, making retrieval difficult, especially for those of us having back and shoulder problems.

From the gazebo area of the gardens, my stroll led me to the birch walk portion of the gardens. From here on there is an awful lot of burlap to be seen, housing tender acer palmatums, and newly planted conifers.

The clump birches have recently had a severe trim of their side branches, allowing more light to penetrate this area. In one case, an entire trunk unfortunately necessitated removal. All in all, the changes work ok for me and I am satisfied with the look of this part of the gardens. This spring the areas under and about the recently pruned spruces will get new hostas and hellebores.

The removal of the old hellebore foliage will be one of the first tasks in the early spring garden... I anxiously anticipate their first buds, but it will definitely be into April before they show growth in this climate. Here are a number of plants beneath the shade of european beech cultivars.

What would the winter garden be without the benefit of conifers... the following was taken in the north eastern portion of the gardens...

In the eastern portion of the gardens, a circle of eight magnolias are covered with the buds that will bloom in April. The aged cistern waits out the long winter next to a speciman weeping Louisa crab apple.

Pinus densiflora ‘Umbraculifera’ or Tanyosho pine appears to wear a starry crown which is in fact the plenteous bloom set on a Royal Star magnolia growing behind it.

Other early blooming magnolias provide a tracery above the spent blooms of Annabelle hydrangeas, while the Scarlet Oak holds its papery leaves until new growth forces them from the tree come spring.

It was a beautiful unseasonably mild morning for my walk through the gardens...

Even the burlap coverings had an artistic look about them... it's amazing what a bit of pure white snow can accomplish!

If you missed my Christmas message, it can be seen in the previous post just below... Take care, Larry

It may be Christmas, but...

2011-12-18T23:49:00.000-06:00

... how many days can I go without thinking about the gardens... I'm afraid it's not many, although I really haven't had time to think about the gardens for the past few days. It's almost like I've been away from an old friend for ages. In the winter I really enjoy delving into my photo libraries to remind me of the joy of being a gardener and the tremendous pleasure every bloom, shrub, and tree bring to my life.

The older I get, the more intense my appreciation of the natural world becomes. It's no longer only the big picture... the little things mean more with each passing year... in the garden it may be a tiny bloom of Lewisia... in life it might be a comment of a little child that puts everything in perspective.

I find myself pondering the purity of a white bloom in the garden and the purity of motivation in one's daily life. As we age, most have us come to realize that the things we do purely out of love for our fellow man are the things that bring us the greatest joy.

I love the fact that my gardens, that bring me so much pleasure, can also bring joy to others. The special plant that I once had to have just to say I had it, nows becomes a part of a landscape that is important to share with anyone who finds joy in visiting Oak Lawn Cheese Factory.

Sharing a bit of plant knowledge or a division with friend or stranger becomes a motivation for having that plant in the garden. Encouraging and mentoring others and sharing the joy of gardening becomes an end in itself.

What goes around comes around... eventually we may come to realize that we are all part of some marvelous plan. The friends that we make and come to care for deeply become the very people who share in our burdens and support us when things become difficult in our lives.

I wrote recently about a difficult couple of weeks I was facing during this Christmas season. In addition to hours of musical and worship leading committments, I was dealing with a procedure for removing a kidney stone and a possible new pacemaker/defibrillator surgery this coming week.

Some of you who follow my blog, let me know that you were praying for my situation, along with so many other friends and fellow gardeners.

I can this day attest to the power of prayer... I was amazed (and thrilled) when I arrived at day surgery, that the doctor felt he didn't need to use the invasive technique I'd experienced in the past to deal with the kidney stone problem. Despite being under general anesthesia, I felt great within a few hours of the procedure. The next day I was informed that some of my ventricular tachycardia was in fact eminating from the upper chambers of my heart, a much less concerning situation. I received the results of my heart tests and learned that to everyone's surprise, my heart function had improved 12% from a year and a half ago and for now I would not need a new machine in my chest.

So here I am... three concerts and one of four services completed and my personal prayer that I be well enough to do my best totally answered. I am thankful that my musical efforts have helped bring joy to many, and yet the joy has all been mine... there's that amazing plan again. And in the later hours of the evening, I am back to thinking about the gardens and all the wonderful people I will get to meet as they come to enjoy the very gardens that bring me joy.

One of the family that I direct is an 18 year old girl with a voice blessed by God Himself who is preparing to go on her fourth mission trip to Haiti. During our concerts, she shared a powerpoint showing these beautiful children to whom she feels compelled to help as she is able. During the presentation, she sang this beautiful song as a duet with her six year old sister who is also blessed with an angelic voice. A portion of the text is as follows...

There is a child, whose wish for Christmas
Lies far beyond what she can see
And with the sunrise she runs to rainbow's end
Searching for her dreams...
She sits alone where none can reach her
Beside the tree with silver trim
And in the evening she wishes on a star
For another friend

Star of Bethlehem
I can see you shining bright
Star of Bethlehem
Guide me to the Child of Light

There is a child within a manger
Whose love can reach the smallest heart
From kings to shepherds
To everyone of us whose dreams are torn apart
And He was born for all the children
Who watch the snow and dream their dream
He is the Sunrise... He is the Child of Hope
The Star of Bethlehem

How often had I listened to these young ladies sing this song.... and with each time and passing chorus my heart was touched more deeply. The answer really is and has always been so simple... the Child of Bethlehem. In Him, my life as a husband, father, and grandfather... musician, artisan, and gardener is made complete. I, like so many, grew up a bit insecure... suffering with a measure of self doubt through many years of my life... these are feelings that can become chains in our lives... binding us from true happiness, coloring the decisions that we make, preventing us from accessing and sourcing true wisdom as we struggle through the years and always searching for confirmation of our value as human beings. I am thankful that eventually I came to understand that this didn't have to be the way I was to live my life... and the realization came through the Child of Bethlehem. I wish for each of you in this Christmas season, the same joy in your life as my wife and I know in our own... the greatest gift of all is there for the taking... the Child of Bethlehem

Merry Christmas, Larry

16" Tiffany Reproduction Dragonfly...

2011-12-14T20:01:00.000-06:00

16" Tiffany Reproduction Dragonfly

Just completed today... Larry

Christmas blessings...

2011-12-13T21:07:00.000-06:00

Christmas? It seems like we've been thinking about Christmas for months... afterall we started rehearsals for three big Christmas concerts at the beginning of October. I direct, and my wife accompanies, a wonderful family with twelve children who give back to the community every year by staging a wonderful Christmas concert that helps support some great charities. They are very talented and I feel blessed to be able to coach them in this endeavor. Three thousand tickets were gone in four days for the two remaining performances this coming Saturday. In the meantime, I have to get a kidney stone blasted on Thursday and heart tests on Wednesday as I am now experiencing ventricular tachycardia and may have to get a new pacemaker/defibrillator before Christmas. I am also responsible for four worship services at church between this coming Sunday and New Year's day. On top of that, the shoulder surgery from August is pretty much a failure and the insurance company cut off my therapy about a month ago, so I am experiencing some pain and continue to learn how to adapt. I'm managing... even finished that new dragonfly shade today!

You would think I'd be stressed a bit... but you know what... I'm not in the least bit concerned. I try, in all the things that I do, to glorify the Lord and I know that He will see me through whatever comes my way. This was amazingly brought to my mind this past weekend when I was put in the direct path of a man who accomplishes wonderful things for others in a ministry that he leads... having just met, we actually ended up in the same vehicle as we prepared for the first presentaion of our Christmas concert in a community some distance from here this last Saturday. This gentleman could easily be a candidate for a heart transplant, runs totally on pacemaker power, but just keeps on serving others. It was a wonderful reminder for me... it makes no sense quitting in this world... we were put here for a reason and it is a priviledge to use our time in ways that bring joy and serve others.

Here's wishing you all a very merry Christmas. I know ours will be as this will be the first time in over twenty years that we will experience the patter of little feet coming down the stairway on Christmas morning. Our children are bringing the grandchildren home for the holidays and I am so looking forward to it! Now... need to finish that decorating stuff...

From the garden...
I took a walk today in the gardens and shot a few photos. The picture at the top shows a yellow variety of barberry that is still holding some of its fruit. We are in a period of pleasant temps but it hasn't been this way all along... we have about six inches of frost in the ground... it's been some time since we had our snow storm... November 9th to be exact.

I prefer to think of it this way... appreciate the moment but also take pleasure in the fact that in about three months there will be hellebores and daffodils in bloom... shortly after that the greenhouse will be up and running, followed by all the wonderful crabs and magnolias. Todays photos are in black and white... but I've thrown in a few reminders of what's to come as well!

December 13th

Five months till May!

December 13th

Five months till May!

December 13th

Four months to April!

December 13th

Five months to May!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! Larry

Christmas Cactus...

2011-12-12T12:17:00.000-06:00

There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding what is truly a "Christmas cactus", versus "Thanksgiving" and "Easter" cacti. My plants, including the 100 year old specimen pictured here with a slightly younger companion, is a true "Christmas Cactus" or Schlumbergera x buckleyi. It is in fact, a hybrid from prior to 1850 by William Buckley in England. For a great many years, the plant was misnamed Schlumbergera bridgesii and only in the 60's was the true identity reestablished as Schlumbergera x buckleyi. To add to the confusion, there are said two be at least two (possibly three) additional clones still in existence from the original cross.

I recognize Schlumbergera x buckleyi from the rounded teeth of the individual segments. Additionally, the pollen is pink in color. The Truncata group, which is considered the Thanksgiving cactus, does indeed flower about a month earlier and the segments of foliage look more like 'claws'.

The history of my largest plant is as follows... when my wife and I were newly married forty years ago, an elderly lady asked if we would be interested in having her plant of Christmas Cactus, as it was getting so large that she was having difficulty finding anyone to move it in and out of her house for the summer. At that time the lady was in her mid 80's and had received the plant as a wedding present. Assuming her marriage was in her early 20's, she possessed the plant for about sixty or more years. Given our ownership of forty years, the 100 year old age is arrived at. I also gained two additional plants a few years after receiving the original. They were said to be 75 years old at that time, although I'm not certain how reliable that information was. They were purchased from an owner of a greenhouse who told me they had belonged to his wife who was in the process of filing a messy divorce... additionally he was highly intoxicated and angry with her when he sold me the plants and I got both for under $50.

^{One huge caution... beware overwatering these plants, especially in the fall... after many years I killed one of the two late comers by doing so. I now allow the foliage on the larger plants to guide my watering and most months they get a drink only once or twice, during the winter hiatus from the outside. When in heavier bloom, I water a bit more often. Honestly, our best luck with many house plants, came when our lives got too busy to keep up with watering in the house. Overwatering is one of the worse culprits in the death of indoor plants in my opinion. My plants would bloom much more heavily if I had a cool sunny window for them. Because of their size, hanging over this basement staircase is the best I can do for light. I leave them on the patio until very late in the season... often covering them for the night when frost is predicted, this being one way to initiate buds for Christmas bloom. Happily, my plants will continue blooming through March and often into April. Pruning is normally accomplished in April but I generally don't get around to it. Mother Nature took care of that this past year when the plants were blown from a five foot wall by an unexpected wind storm. I was able to collect enough cuttings from the ground to establish several large plants to share with friends. The older plant really doesn't look any the worse for wear, although the younger one is now a bit one sided. Over time, judicious pruning should help correct that situation. Larry}

One of my favorite companions for conifers...

2011-12-09T22:24:00.000-06:00

Super Ego Siberian Iris

There are few conifer gardens that don't incorporate a number of grasses into the mix. I do enjoy the look of grasses with conifers, but my grass palette is somewhat limited as I experiment with cultivars that won't eventually become garden thugs. I have this unexplained fear of grasses going wild with rhizomatic or self-seeding activity... I'm not sure where my concern comes from, but it is a fear that causes me to be very careful as to what I plant in that regard.

A plant that I am definitely not concerned about being a thug is siberian iris. It has the season long look of a grass... and what a marvelous bonus when it blooms... and it complements conifers beautifully. I love to see the siberians in mass in the gardens and for that reason have added many new cultivars over the past couple of years.

A clump of siberians with Picea pungens 'Montgomery'

The siberians are welcome bloom at a time when I don't have a lot of other things going on in the gardens. Intersectional peonies have a similar bloom time... I am especially impressed with the combination of siberians and Bartzella, my favorite yellow intersectional.

Peonies, including Bartzella, and siberian iris

Where native, the siberians prefer damp meadows, swampy areas, or the banks of a stream. They do just fine for me in the rich loam here at Oak Lawn, especially with a bit of mulching. Their native lands include Southwestern Europe to the Balkans and southern Russia... selections can range from 18" to over four feet in height. They also can be allowed to self-mulch if one doesn't mind the look that creates in the garden.

Siberians blend well with conifers, especially selections of blue spruce... in this photo they underscore the orienpet lilies which will bring blossoms and color later in the season. Other conifers include a young Abies koreana 'Silberlocke' and a nice example the of Picea glauca 'Pendula' just to the right of center.

In the following photo, Siberians accompany a sculptural Chamaecyparis, Picea abies "Mucronata", and other conifers.

Here siberians complement the yellow tones of a Taxodium distichum (Bald cypress) and in the second photo a large Black Hills spruce (Picea glauca var. Densata) and a weeping white pine (Pinus strobus Pendula).

A Picea orientalis 'Skylands' also combines well with the purple of siberians.

I truly do appreciate vertical accents in my gardens which can sometimes be a problem to maintain here in the windy midwest. Siberians are one way to fill that garden niche. I'll close with a few more examples of some of the siberians I have in the gardens. Given a couple years, there will be many more as recent additions begin to develop some size. Until next time... Larry

A Vermont barn...

2011-12-06T10:04:00.000-06:00

When I saw Lisa Gordon's beautiful post called "Aging Gracefully" and her link to "Barn Charm" (link on the right), I thought this might be a nice break from posting on the gardens here at Oak Lawn.

The barn pictured in my post today is on Bragg Hill, south of Waitsfield Vermont, in the Sugarbush Valley area where I grew up. I love the dirt roads that meander about the area as well. The next photo was taken in close proximity to the barn.

This barn has always been a favorite of mine. To see other links to more beautiful old barns, click on the link at the right... Larry

Passion

2011-12-01T20:36:00.001-06:00

Ports of Paradise 'Emerald Isle' just coming into bloom

My friend Margaret must have been close to 50 years old when I first met her over 40 years ago. I was totally new to the mid-west having grown up in New England. My new wife had actually dated one of Margaret's sons when she was in high school and when we moved into the area we were treated like family. With a new wife, my first full time job, and a new home, I really had no interest in gardening... actually that sort of thing was the farthest thing from my mind. Margaret was persistent and we would often be invited to her family's home and extensive gardens. In the spring she would bring us huge bouquets of daffodils and we would be encouraged to walk through her two acres of gardens whenever something new came into bloom. She and her husband got us interested in starting annuals from seed and would find good deals on trees and shrubs that they would share with us.

I had become interested in creating something out of this dilapidated old cheese factory and Margaret's three younger high school aged sons were often sent over to help me out. Margaret was very well read and her family was very musical. We directed a musical together with another teacher in the district that first year and got to know each other very well. Margaret had a large library of gardening books and I became a frequent borrower and it wasn't long before I was hooked on gardening.

Margaret had a persitent situation with skin cancers, probably related to her growing up on a farm. This didn't stop her for a moment and after she left teaching, she could be found in the gardens from first light until the sun became too dangerous later in the morning. The gardens were always pristine.

As a young man, I had a very hard time understanding why Margaret kept planting young trees as she grew older and older. I no longer have any difficulty at all relating to this. True gardeners are the pentultimate optimists. We live for and love change in the gardens even if we find it difficult in other aspects of life. We grow and mature in the natural world and we leave our discouragements at the garden gate. I called this post 'passion' and we gardeners experience this passion through our entire life... it's a passion of being close to creation, and for many of us, the Creator. I find myself becoming more passionate the older I become... there is so much I won't experience in the future in these gardens, but perhaps I will have made the world a slightly better place for having worked in them and planted seeds, and small trees. Afterall, we are commanded to love others and sharing the garden is nothing less than sharing our love for people... bringing some measure of happiness into the lives of any who would appreciate the gift.

God willing, perhaps Oak Lawn will be a place that someone else will be passionate about in the distant future... and who knows... perhaps I will live to see little whips of trees that I plant a decade from now come to fruition that I might sit in their shade and marvel at their beauty. A true gardener never says 'why plant another tree... it's too much work, and I'm getting too old'... I learned that lesson very well from my friend Margaret... Larry

Spike up your gardening life with delphiniums...

2011-11-28T20:13:00.000-06:00

Delphiniums are a pain to raise... but some things are worth the pain and I put delphniums in that category. It goes like this... I start a bunch of delphinium seeds (usually Magic Fountains)... some germinate but many don't. The ones that do get planted in the ground. It takes a couple of years and they start to make a decent show... then I generally get a couple of years of glorious beauty that requires hours of staking... then all of a sudden one spring... no delphiniums, so the whole process starts over. I suppose it would make sense to have plants growing in some out of the way spot at all times so I could do a quick transplant in the year of the demise... but I don't have any out of the way spots that aren't planted full, and I never get around to thinking that far ahead anyway.

You may recall that somewhere along the way I learned about the New Milenium hybrids out of New Zealand. I ordered a whole lot of seeds directly from New Zealand and highly anticipated growing delphiniums that last for many years in the gardens... I've heard reports from friends that have had plants for as much as ten years. Unfortunately, germination did not go well at all... I'm not blaming the seeds... I'm sure I did something wrong. I did end up with a few young plants and am hoping for a bit of a show this spring.

One thing about me... I can be quite persistent at times, especially when it comes to my beloved gardens and I really missed my delphinium show this past season. With that in mind, I ordered plants of New Milennium delphiniums in a beautiful sky blue called Blue Lace, and a purple or two... either Pagan Purples or Purple Passion... or was it both? I really can't recall, but knowing me, it probably was both... I also seem to recall the order was about 80 plants. Now... there is no way I can find room for 80 plants that grow as big as these delphiniums do... oh well... You may have to do a bit of searching to find these plants in the USA, but I've found them in several nurseries. None of my photos are of the New Mileniums as they will be new to me this coming season with the exception of the few seedlings I've started. To become familiar with the New Zealand hybrids, check out the website for Dowdswell Delphiniums in New Zealand at http://www.delphinium.co.nz/ I've also been told they stand up on their own fairly well... we'll see, but that would be great since you'll recall, I don't enjoy staking.

Look through the photos areas on the site and you will likely be impressed with how lovely these plants are.

Let me share more photos of delphiniums I have grown and enjoyed from the past two or three seasons... take care, Larry

Thankful...

2011-11-22T16:36:00.000-06:00

I was thankful on May 5th, when my little world was full of sweet daffodils

I was thankful on May 7th when the white of early magnolias
in bloom replaced the white of winter's snow

I was thankful on May 10th when the grass of spring
was more lush than the finest of carpets

I was thankful on May 12th when the Baltimore Orioles returned to join a
chorus of amazing creatures in the bird bath

I was thankful on May 13th when tulips bloomed in every corner of the gardens

I was thankful on May 18th when the rockery was full of glorious blooms

I was thankful on May 19th when thousands of magnolia blooms filled
the gardens with spectacular shades of pink, white, and yellow

I was thankful on May 20th, when even the most diminutive blooms
displayed colors perfect in their rich saturation

I was thankful on May 22nd, when the entire universe appeared
to be focused on my little piece of the world

I was thankful on May 23rd, when even a handful of beautiful
Daybreak magnolia blooms could take my mind off of the difficulties plaguing the planet

I was thankful on May 29th when the air was wafting
with the sweet scent of flowering crab apples

Where do I stop posting... the amazements of the gardens go on and on...

Irises in late May...

The freshness of hostas in spring...

The blood red color, so apropriate, of the "Memorial Day" peonies...

The historical significance of tree peonies...

The thrill of being successful with plants not totally hardy for these gardens...

The connection with past generations through heirloom plants...

The joy of combining colors and forms...

Amazing fragrance...

... and amazing color...

For all these things and so many more, I am thankful in this Thanksgiving week, 2011. A life well lived is a gift from God... I have accepted the gift and the untold joys that accompany it. I pray that you too may know the joy of thankfulness as you enter this special time of the year... may God bless you all, Larry

And can you believe it... it all happens again next season... I'm also thankful for the chance to start over and get it right, both in the gardens and in life... How amazing the grace and mercy showered upon us all if only we accept it.

Miniature orchids presently in bloom...

2011-11-21T10:50:00.000-06:00

Paphiopedilum Yerba Buena x Acker's White Cap X Acker's Pinnacle

Epc Siam Jade 'avo'

Doritaenopsis Sogo Vivien x Doritaenopsis Sogo Berry

Blc. Toshie's Magic 'Doris'

Paphiopedilum Frosty Glow x Acker's Wonderland

Mini Phalaenopsis Dtps Long Pride 'Green Pixie'

(Species) Paphiopedilum spicerianum

Miniature Phalaenopsis Sogo Vivien 'M-PO398'

Otr.(Maui Maid x Doctor Joe Walker) 'Paradise'

These are the miniatures that I presently have blooming... wish I could post the fragrance! This week's earlier post regarding winter protection is just below... Larry

"Winter interest" in a garden of mummies... or a garden only the gardener could find appealing... (due to the fact that I know what's hiding below this sea of burlap!)

2011-11-20T16:57:00.000-06:00

What is this all about, you may ask... the answer is "it's about this"...

There abide in this rock garden, a number of miniature and dwarf conifers for the most part. This was their first season here at Oak Lawn. Some are very hardy... others not so much. Some, as with miniature and full sized cultivars of alberta spruce, tend to burn badly in a spring exposure to sun and wind despite being very hardy. Each plant I install deserves at least three years of extra protection. This is not a big deal with small plants such as these... I have a collection of tomato cages which in turn support my collection of old fashioned heavy burlap bags. I am in the process of covering a great many small conifers in this fashion. So much for winter interest/winter beauty with conifers... at least for a few years.

Larger plants present a larger problem. I know from experience that many of my pines getting spring full sun and dessicating winds will burn badly. It has to do with the plants calling for moisture from a root system that is frozen in the ground. These include the densifloras, flexilis, and some of the strobus varieties. Many are too large to wrap and will generally recover in fairly short order in the spring. Others take a very long time to regain their composure. Some conifers such as Alberta spruces may not recover... hence the big mummies in the gardens.

The above, assures that which is pictured below...

Some of the large mummies contain Japanese maples. I have a number of concerns here in their first years in the gardens. Rabbits find them quite tasty, and there can also be hardiness issues here. However, my biggest concern involves very cold spring winds. The maples generally leaf out fairly early and delicate foliage can be destroyed. Anything that I can do to keep those winds off them is greatly appreciated by the plants. Therefore, this...

... is a small insurance policy for this...

... as is this...

... for this.

One of my favorite fall things is seeing the fresh buds of the magnolias that will burst into bloom come spring. Rabbits have an unhealthy appetite (particularly if I get my hands on them!) for magnolias as well and will do great damage even to a good sized trunk. For that reason, the following tree looks to have quite a number of bandaides on its trunks and branches. I will probably end up adding a fence of chicken wire as well...

Low maintenance gardening... no, but well worth the extra effort come spring...

I have quite an amount of protection to install yet, and one of the eaiest techniques involves simply laying a burlap bag over spreading plants. By using the heavier weight burlap of old bags, it isn't necessary to even weight it down, as it will be damp from rain and that will generally keep it in place for the winter. I will use this technique on plants such Picea abies 'Little Gem' which is hardy but does burn when left to its own devices. I prune my hollies low and use this technique with them as well. I have some concerns with the burlap available on rolls today as it is very thin and I have had plants burn despite wrapping them in it.

Other plants, such as the lewisias which don't tolorate winter moisture very well, are planted in hyper tuffa which allows them to be moved into an unheated garage for the winter, thus keeping their feet dry...

Basically, all the trees needing trunk wraps have had them installed. I still need to install a great amount of chicken wire against the damage that rabbits will create if plants are left unprotected. Just because these precautions are taken, doesn't mean there won't be significant damage. Snow often reaches higher than the protection, creating the need to get into the garden often in the winter. Voles are another problem and there isn't a lot that can be done... this sort of task is best left to the ferrel cats of the neighborhood. So... on to the long weeks of winter... not so discouraging if I complete my fall chores of trying to outsmart the many critters that like to come to Oak Lawn for a smorgasboard... take care, Larry

Transition to winter blooms in the house...

2011-11-18T22:19:00.002-06:00

The cold weather is definitely closing in on us... I spent much of this very windy day wrapping plants for the long cold months ahead... I consoled myself with the fact that a great many plants are coming into bloom inside the house. There is more outside work to accomplish, hopefully without the 35 mph winds that chilled my bones today! Inside orchids are throwing blooms spikes like crazy... by Christmas there should be a lot of color bringing excitement to get us through the shorter days of winter. Here is a photo update of what's blooming now... Larry

New project

2011-11-18T08:50:00.000-06:00

I've started a new 16" Tiffany Reproduction dragonfly shade. Pictured above, the cutting is complete, and I've started the foiling process which is a bit more difficult with regard to my rotator cuff progress. The shade when finished will go on the mosaic base pictured below. Larry

Bloom Day posts...

2011-11-15T22:22:00.000-06:00

November 15th is considered bloom day amongst a great many garden bloggers. Over 100 bloom day posts can be seen at http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/.

Here at Oak Lawn, our outside bloom is pretty much over for the year. We have had our first snow which has now melted... a few trees still have colorful foliage. If you scroll down past this post, these trees can be seen in a couple of previous posts.

In the house, a few orchids are in bloom and a great many more are in bud. The ones pictured here today are miniature forms of catleyas, phalaenopsis, and paphiopedilums. Additionally, the first of the holiday cacti is blooming as seen above, and my two pink oleanders have several clusters of blooms. Larry