IT REMINDS ME OF THAT SIMON AND GARFUNKEL SONG, “At the Zoo.” In early June, it’s all happening at the zoo I call a garden, a place full of plants that seem to want to act up and act out, one after another: Kousa dogwoods, peonies, roses, mock orange, Chionanthus, the next wave of alliums and more.
The song goes on to describe one animal after another:The monkeys stand for honesty, Giraffes are insincere… Here’s it’s more like this (do forgive the lack of meter and rhyme):
Peonies are everyone’s darling, except when they refuse to bloom. Kousa dogwoods like to grandstand, and not just in the spring. Allium moly’s a prolific charmer—perhaps too prolific for some zoos. Dame’s rocket is likewise controversial: alien invader, or biennial border beauty? Honeysuckles attract hummingbirds (with the occasional side of aphids, but I forgive them). Speaking of climbers, darling Clematis clamber for attention, happy to romp over anything in their path. Mock orange grabs you by the nose and won’t let go (the gold-leaf Philadelphus grabs the eye, too). Rosa glauca is a blue-leaved star, my desert-island choice if only one rose were allowed. Primula japonica moves about as it likes, refusing to stay where I put it. Groundcover sedums are positively electric at the moment, and never ask for anything. Chionanthus is called the fringe tree, and for good reason; what fringe-y flowers! Viburnum‘Michael Dodge’ flowers now, too, but it’s his later act we love him for.
So please, don’t look at the faded lilacs here waiting to be deadheaded, or the early perennials in need of a haircut. Look elsewhere right now, at the better-dressed members of my botanical zoo (profiled in all the green links in the list above).
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A cherry plum, sweet, thin-skinned and very prolific (you’ll also find it sold under ‘Red Grape Sugar Plum’). It was in the top three of our recent taste test and everyone liked it for its strong tomato flavour that’s sweet but not overly so, and its firm not mushy texture. It has a slight acidity running through it which all sweet tomatoes need. It ripens quite late compared to ‘Sungold’ and produces for a long period of time. It’s lovely in a mixed salad with the larger varieties.
Welcome to the wild ride known as parenting teens! If you’ve ever found yourself caught between eye-rolling moments and heartwarming instances of wisdom, these quotes about parenting teenagers will definitely hit the spot.
No food signifies summer more than watermelon. We’re so sweet on the hot pink (or yellow) fruit that we designed an entire watermelon bar party showcasing the many ways to snack on, sip, and even centerpiece-ify the hydrating produce item.
No other plant native to South Carolina has such fragrant and beautiful spring blooms and stunning fall color as the witch-alders. Fothergilla was named after Dr. John Fothergill, an English physician and gardener who funded the travels of John Bartram through the Carolinas in the 1700’s. These beautiful shrubs have been planted in both American and English gardens for over 200 years, including gardens of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
Are you frustrated because there are dandelions and other weeds in your lawn? Did you know that dandelion flowers provide one of the first springtime sources of pollen for bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects?
MY GARDENING LIFE STARTED with a hedge—cutting one back hard, specifically. It was the threadbare, tall old privet surrounding my childhood home, and I was determined to “rejuvenate” it, after reading about the process in a book. No artful hedge has ever been created by my hands, though—a fact that feels all the more lamentable after watching Sean Conway’s video tour (above) of designer and nurseryman Piet Oudolf’s garden in the Netherlands. What magic.
THE LATEST BOOK GIVEAWAY–which was a smashing success–ended at midnight Sunday, but there’s a “win” for everyone, it turns out. Collaborator and author Katrina Kenison and I asked commenters to tell us about books they’d relied on in times of transition…and wow, did they ever.
That’s not to say that C. tangutica cultivars aren’t beasts of a vine, too. As with C. terniflora, I cut these back hard in early spring, to less than a foot above the ground. They nevertheless produces a rampant amount of growth, to more than 10 feet tall, and around mid- to late August start to open up an increasing number of charming yellow bells: lemons with their peels unfurled in quarters. (If I didn’t hack it in spring, but simply clean out the dead stuff a little, it starts blooming for me in June.)I know I’m being imprecise, but frankly I cannot tell several of the good tangutica cultivars apart. I think mine’s‘Gravetye Variety,’ with deepest maroon anthers, and other good cultivars to look for include ‘Bill MacKenzie’ and ‘Golden Harvest.’ My tangutica type doesn’t cover itself in the sweet-scented froth of flowers of C. terniflora, a Japanese native that’s got a reputation as a terrible thug, or like its native American, far b