gardenwerks

Randolph Gardenwerks, Landscape Designer, Metro Seattle, Rainbow-lover, Retired City Planner, gardener, dog-lover, natural history, architecture

[gardenwerks]

NEW GARDEN PROJECT for Memorial Day 2025

So...hello there. It's been a long time. Reporting today about a new Garden Project, which was accomplished in spite of being still plagued by nasal congestion and coughing from Influenza A. By pacing myself, being very careful with back (L1-L2 herniated disc) and wearing a back brace, not attempting any "heavy lift" activities, taking breaks, etc. I had a truly enjoyable doable day with birds, gentle breezes and gentle sunshine, and plants all around to keep me company. Truly, I "Worshipped God in the Garden" Sunday.

So the NEW garden area is along South fence. I cleaned out huge masses of native pink violets and pruned back the Midwinter's Fire shrub dogwood, dug out big roots it had sent up the flower bed I was planting. And excavated out a new edge to the lawn where it had been shaded out. Removed a massive pile of moss to be used as mulch. Weeded violets and other tough weeds out of the lawn adjoining the planting bed. Then dug holes well down into a rocky clay layer and native yellowish soil with more rocks. There were already a lot of amendments on top.

BTW - the black pots in the photos contain Black Mondo Grass, for which a new home has not yet been selected. And, the light green pots contain evergreen Gladwyn Iris which I planted, and will be divided and potted up to give away.

PLANTED:

1. Feature tree - native Black Hawthorn rescued from the deer. Crataegus douglasii had been planted for wildlife value in the "natural area" behind the house. Alas the deer ate it down every year. It has been growing in a pot for 2 years while I figured out where to plant it. It is the little tree in the middle of the last photo. This tree will grow about 25-30' high and 10-12' wide, so is located to provide privacy between my back deck and my neighbors back porch steps. It will take a few years. The photos below are from Oregon State University Plant Database: Crataegus douglasii | Landscape Plants | Oregon State University

2. 'Whitney's Late Orange' rhododendron on left side of Hawthorn. As they both grow there will be plenty of room for the rhody. And from my own experience this rhody dislikes any direct sun. The flowers will quickly scorch and "go over". This is an amazing plant that I found and planted in my Bothell garden back @2008. The large ruffly-orange/coral flowers are incredible and tightly packed ball-shaped trusses. The upright vase-shaped bush is densely-foliaged at grew nearly 5' tall in 10 years in Bothell. And...I love that it blooms at Memorial Day into early June. The breeder is Bill Whitney, late of Brinnon, Washington, who released this variety in 1973. These are all my own photos.

Bill Whitney also released an April-blooming 'Whitney's Orange', which creates some confusion. Harold Greer of the former Greer Gardens Nursery in Eugene, OR, shares this: "If you like 'Whitney's Orange', you'll love this ('Whitney's Late Orange')! It's a deeper orange and it flowers later in the spring. It is a more upright growing plant with good shape. The solid orange flowers appear in a full truss to delight you after most rhododendrons are through flowering. Use this to extend the flowering season! The leaves are sharp pointed and a neat mistletoe green. (probably contains dichroanthum and a late flowering member of the Subsection Fortunea)"

The American Rhododendron Society reports: Hybrid Rhododendron Plant Description for Whitney's Orange

Predominant Flower Color:  Orange, Pink

Flower/Truss Description:  Flower widely funnel-campanulate, wavy lobes, 3" across, yellowish-pink with a vivid reddish-orange blotch and spots and edged in red. Ball-shaped truss has about 15 flowers. Another form is deeper orange and unmarked.

Fragrant:  No

Bloom Time:  Midseason

Foliage Description / Plant Habit:  Leaves narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, 5" long, convex, dull, medium green, retained 2 years. New growth is yellowish-green. Broad, open growing plant with decumbent, willowy branches. Needs pruning to keep more compact.

Height:  4 feet in 10 years.

Cold Hardiness Temp:  0°F  ( -18°C)

Parentage  (Seed Parent x Pollen Parent):  dichroanthum x Diana

Elepidote (E) or Lepidote (L):  E

Hybridized or Selected by:  Whitney

Registration Reference:  ARS 764

3. Relocated one 'Jantar' Arborvitae up between the next 2 blue pots, but the proposed location for the 2nd one wouldn't work. So left it. (see write-up about the Jantars that follows)

4. 'Amber Moon' gold-leafed Astilbe (presumably Astilbe chinensis due to color and appearance of the photos of the flower spikes that I found on line) on left side of that 1st blue pot that is full of orange mint- which BTW smells so good. This plant is new to me. The Astilbe will have tall spikes of bright pink flowers in mid summer. My partner Ron got red, white, and pink Astilbe x arendsii at the NW Flower and Garden Show in 2022. They are all doing Great and all are in the south fence garden in various locations.

1st photo is mine. 2nd photo was found on the web when I queried Microsoft Copilot. Alas, I cannot identify the source of the photo which is the best of those that popped up under "images".

According to Walter's Gardens: Astilbe 'Amber Moon' PP26028 | Walters Gardens, Inc.

'Amber Moon' is a patented variety of hybrid Astilbe, also known as False Spirea.

This Astilbe is useful for brightening up the shade garden as well as providing beautiful long-stemmed flowers for fresh and dried bouquets. 

The foliage emerges bright chartreuse yellow in spring with a tinge of red pigment in the newest leaves.  It provides a bright spot of color and lacy texture to the shade garden in spring and then greens up a bit by late summer.

Very tall, strong, blush red stems carry rose pink flower panicles in midsummer. 

‘Amber Moon’ displays good heat tolerance and a robust habit like Chinese Astilbe, though we cannot say for sure that it is pure A. chinensis. It is best grown in partial to full shade because of its light colored foliage.

4. 'Fairy Hair' Goatsbeard - Aruncus hybrid. This is a very fine textured plant with spikes of small white flowers. That is to the right of the blue pot. This plant is also new to me, and I LOVE the fine texture and wispy flower spikes. The 1st photo below is mine, and the 2nd is from Walters Gardens which also shows the finely-dissected foliage at the base. 'Fairy Hair' also appears in the 1st photo of 'Whitney's Late Orange' rhody write-up above.

Many thanks to Walter's Gardens for their write up: Aruncus 'Fairy Hair' PP30242 | Walters Gardens, Inc.

This new Goatsbeard is an appropriate size for tucking into places in your shade garden. 'Fairy Hair' produces sprays of creamy, triangular flower plumes that age to a darker color. Its foliage adds a whimsical touch to the garden with its needle-like, medium green leaves. Although the foliage is incredibly dissected, it produces a thick, substantial clump for a solid presence. Goatsbeard is similar in appearance to Astilbe in the garden, but it is more drought tolerant.

Though Aruncus tends to be a slow-grower the first couple of seasons, once it is established it puts on a fabulous show year after year. Make sure it has plenty of room to grow when you first plant it; transplanting this species is a very difficult task. This species is native to North America.

5. 'Citrus Shock' - a golden variegated Heucherella - an interesting hybrid between native Foam Flower and Coral Bells. Love the spikes of pinky white flowers and the foliage that is gold-with-burgundy-markings. Also new to me. This is a robust specimen! These are all my own photos:

6. Moved in a couple native Sword ferns (Polystichum munitum) and Alpine strawberries under the left side of the dogwood, and to right of the remaining Jantar Arborvitae. This is the area I cleaned out. Oh...and in doing so dug up two rooted shoots of the dogwood that I can grow and share.

7. Moved in clumps of golden 'Angelina' Sedum rupestre as a ground cover in keeping with the gold theme. Photo below is from NC State University. You can see my newly-transplanted clumps in the photo immediately above.

SOUTH FENCE GARDEN:

So, this south fence garden has been a work in progress largely left undone until 2023 and 2024. When we installed the landscaping in summer/fall 2018, at the new house in Kingston, I wasn't sure what to do with this 2 ft wide strip that sits atop a stormwater line 5 ft down. So, temporarily, I set a pot there containing a 'Midwinter's Fire' Cornus sanguinea shrub dogwood I brought from Bothell. It has grown into a large leafy bush with golden yellow stems all winter. This is the plant in my garden in winter - February 2025. Yes...it's still "in" the big blue pot that traveled over from Bothell. Alas, it long ago worked its way out of those confines and decided "phooey on the gardener who can't decide where to put me - this is where I want to live! " And it put down roots - very strong ones I might add - and stayed right where it was.

The rest of the strip, which has lots of rock in it from backfilling over the Stormwater line, was left to grow up into volunteer ferns, Alpine strawberries and native pink violets. In mid 2023, my Garden Assistant Abel dug up all the ferns and planted them at Raymond's condo, and I put down many bags of topsoil and compost. Then after finding 5 very small, 8" tall Jantar Arborvitae bushes, and having empty large light blue pots, I devised an "Italian garden scheme." So to create a real feature garden and provide both structure and continuity across from the well-planted garden beds along the south side of the House, I planted the small golden Jantar Arborvitae bushes fairly regularly along the south fence. This was to eventually give a sort of Italian feel to that side yard to match the large ones that screen off the yard waste bin at the upper end of the south house-side garden. See photo. Also added very large light blue pots between the Jantar bushes to give more "Italian" feel. Would not have picked light blue but it's what I had purchased CHEAP to plant roses in. When the roses were planted in the ground in Fall 2023 they were surplus. Ironically I've become fond of the light blue accents against the golden foliage. The overall goal was to provide some structure to the narrow south garden and visual continuity with the Jantar Arborvitaes.

First photo is looking downhill due West through side gate/arbor. The South Fence garden is on the left, and the South-side House garden is on the right. The side of one of the "mature" Jantar arborvitaes is on the right just inside the arbor frame. And on the left, taken last night, the first 3 of the 5 baby Jantars are visible, between blue pots. One day they will be tall and striking and really create a statement.

2nd photo is looking uphill - due East - showcasing the South-side House garden with the mature Jantar arborvitaes at the top of slope, hiding the propane tank and yard-waste bin.

Put that all together in late 2023. The jantar Arborvitae have doubled in height and tripled in "filling out". Initially the blue pots were for 3 different types of mint. And one is still filled with luscious orange mint.

'JANTAR' ARBORVITAE: I first stumbled across this beautiful golden upright densely-bushy conifer for our home in Bothell. Purchased two circa 2014, planted them in large blue pots on either side of the arbor on our back fence. Moved them to the house in Kingston in 2018, and planted them in the ground to screen the propane tank and yard-waste bin. And, they have been VERY happy. Grew from 30" to 7' in 6 growing seasons, staying very compact, very narrow, and very golden. I may have found the original ones at nursery, but actually I think it was at Home Depot. Sort of a "one off". Then...looked for them but never saw them again until 2023, as small quart-sized plants, at Olmsted's Nursery in Poulsbo, in with a batch of small-sized dwarf conifers for planting in Fall container displays. Eureka. I immediately snatched up 6, though I wasn't sure where they would be planted. That's when I came up with the "Italianate" garden concept and planted them in the South fence garden strip.

Iseli Nursery, from Oregon, reports as follows: Thuja occidentalis ‘Jantar’ PP22296 -

Thuja occidentalis ‘Jantar’ PP22296 is an exciting new brilliant yellow beacon from Poland that Iseli Nursery is proud to offer as part of our plant line. The eye popping yellow on this version of Emerald Arborvitae becomes a warmer amber tone during winter, hence the name “Jantar”, Polish for amber. With the same narrow upright habit as its popular green parent this selection will add dramatic color to the landscape as a focal plant or privacy screen. Selected by Jakub Jablonski of Poland and introduced to the U.S. by Breederplants.

Garden Size: 15’H x 3’W; Intermediate: 6-12″/year; Narrow Upright; Zone 4; Yellow/golden color year-round; Conifer; Full Sun

Photo below is from Gartens Nursery in Minnesota.

So, while I made good progress on the South Fence garden in 2023, and early 2024, all that came to a halt. I hurt my back April 17, 2024, and the weeds took over. Last Fall (2024), my neighbor helped me dig up some of the weeds, plant a large-growing Chandler Blueberry to the left of the trellis/gate, and then fill the other 2 pots with small-growing blueberries, and between the pots, I planted several shade loving plants a friend had given me.

Just found out that Jantar means 'Amber' in Poland where this variety of Arborvitae first popped up.

Lots of different types of plants in my garden have Amber in their name including 2 rose bushes. Ron says I did this today as a Memorial Day honor to the memory of Amber the Tibetan Spaniel. And my best buddy for 16 years.🧡 She passed on in July 2021, probably nearing 18 years old.

Sorry if this rambled too much!

Cheers Steve

·

[gardenwerks]

GREVILLEA x 'AUDREY'

Good afternoon! Well it's been a very long time since I have posted..life has been very full the past 2 years. Still is. But I miss sharing plant geek stuff!

On this very warm - for Western Washington - mid-August summer day, Grevillea 'Audrey' is in full bloom!! The rest of the grevilleas that I planted in our neighborhood peak out their bloom in mid-winter through Spring. And Audrey bloomed then as well, but not nearly as profusely as it is now.

The plant in my garden was acquired from Ian Barclay at The Desert Northwest Nursery (Sequim, WA), and was planted in the fall of 2019. Trying to cram in as many plants as possible into a small garden (LOL!), I decided to try growing 'Audrey' as a "standard" - multi-stem, upright, with room for other plants at the base. And...with some perseverance each of the 4 growing seasons, this has worked out well. The bush has three main stems, and lots of lofty shoots. It has now reached a height of over 10' and is probably 8' wide. Will continue training the bush into a multi-stemmed small tree.

The humming birds LOVE LOVE LOVE this plant. Both our year-round Anna's and the Rufous hummingbirds that are with us each warm season. I try to grow a variety of tubular flowers to give variety to their diet.

Did a bit of research on 'Audrey'. According to Ian Barclay in his post "Pacific Northwest Grevilleas Revisited", 'Audrey' was likely incorrectly marketed as 'Poorinda Constance' - which has pure red flowers. 'Audrey' has orange and pink in her flowers, varying somewhat between winter and summer.

As Ian notes, 'Audrey' "makes a silvery-leaved shrube with a rather angular growth habit. It is exceptionally vigourous and tough...It has outgrown its expected dimensions, reaching 10' tall and 15' across in only 7 years." He reports it blooms about 11 months out of the year, and advises light summer shaping. It is hardy to about 5 degrees F.

HortFlora (https://www.rbg.vic.gove.au) at the Royal Botanical Gardens of Victoria [State], Australia reports that 'Audrey' is a "probable hybrid, G. juniperina x G. victoriae, raised by George Althofer at Nindethana Nursery, Dripstone, New South Wales, in 1957, the name commemorating his wife." The Althofers were pioneers in promoting Australian Native Plants. "So, this wonderful plant is named for Audrey Althofer, who helped her husband George in a pioneering effort to popularize Australian Native Plants. Appropriate."

[gardenwerks]

BLOEDEL RESERVE GARDENS - BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WASHINGTON

Yesterday, I took a wonderful “therapy” walk at the Bloedel Reserve, about 20 minutes from home on the north end of Bainbridge Island. These gardens are an amazing fusion of nature and human landscapes. Here’s some info from the website. https://bloedelreserve.org/

PS - apologies for the slightly fuzzy quality of some of the photos. I’m having a hard time with the camera on my LG K30 phone. Took many more photos that were blurry. Need a new phone.

It’s a wonder.

Bloedel Reserve is a 150-acre wonder of nature, created by the imagination, vision, and a passionate love of the natural world shared by our founders, Prentice and Virginia Bloedel. Working with the rugged geography of the land, they artfully transformed a rough-hewn Northwest forest into a harmonious series of curated gardens, structural features, and distinctive landscapes, with nature as canvas and paint.

A Gift to All

In 1951, Virginia and Prentice Bloedel purchased the large house and property that would become Bloedel Reserve. It was their private residence for more than 30 years, many devoted to exploring the relationship between people and nature.

NOTE from Steven: The original incarnation of this property was Agate Point Farm, developed as a summer retreat and hunting/fishing lodge by the Collins family. The large house was built in 1931-2 for Mrs. Angela Collins, of Seattle. Mrs. Collins son Bertrand (Bertie) recommended the architect J. Lister Holmes, who created French chateau inspired design for the house. The house was built high atop a bluff with a view over Puget Sound to the northeast, with the Cascade Mountains in the distance. Bertie was active in working with the architect and supervising construction of the home that became known as Collinswood.

Yale-educated, Mr. Bloedel began a teaching career but soon became the reluctant heir to his father’s timber business. An environmentalist at heart, he innovated several of today’s conservation concepts such as “reuse.” He advocated reusing hog fuel, a log byproduct, to help generate sawmill power and worked with pulp mills to reduce waste. His most enduring “green” idea was to plant seedlings to reforest clear-cut land. 

NOTE from Steven: this History from their website oddly does not mention the serious contributions to the garden from Virginia Merrill Bloedel, who developed a strong interest in horticulture. Many of the gardens close to the house were developed with her inspiration. And...Virginia was the older sister of Eulalie Merrill Wagner, who with her husband Cory developed the fabulous gardens of Lakewold on Gravelly Lake near Tacoma, Washington, 60 miles to the south. It appears that the two sisters collaborated on gardening, and several well-known landscape architects worked at both properties.

Sculpting the landscape became the focus of Mr. Bloedel’s retirement. Almost daily, he could be found walking the grounds, thinking of how to shape his masterpiece. With the help of noted landscape architects and designers, including Thomas Church, Richard Haag, Fujitaro Kubota, and Iain Robertson, he “wove” several unique landscape experiences throughout the native Pacific Northwest forest. Mr. Bloedel’s commitment to ecological principles prevailed; for example, he placed water features only proximal to natural groundwater.Later in life, the Bloedels gave the Reserve to the community and established a nonprofit to support its operations. In 1988, the Reserve opened to the public as a 150-acre public garden and forest preserve.

It’s our heritage.

The history of the land on which Bloedel Reserve sit extends back much farther than the Bloedels. We express deep gratitude towards the Suquamish People, People of the Clear Salt Water, for sustaining the land within which our healing landscapes thrive. Those entrusted with caring for Bloedel Reserve acknowledge that the sacred ancestral territory on which the Reserve resides flourishes because of the stewardship, since time immemorial, by the Suquamish people. We will honor and respect their legacy by nurturing this land and the waterways of the Central Salish Sea for present and future generations.

Steven again - I’m particularly fond of the English Park-style entrance garden, the Japanese Garden, and the Rhododendron Glen, waterfall, and pond below the west side of the house.

Well...I thought the photos would be at the TOP of the Post. Alas, they ended up down here. OOPS.

1. Entrance Garden - looking at the south facade of the house, with a lovely flock of American Wigeon ducks coursing up the middle of the lake.

2. Entrance Lake and wigeons

3. North facade of the house and terrace garden

4. View northeastward across Puget Sound to the Cascade Mountains lost in the clouds

5. Camperdown Elm on north terrace

6. The Birch Walk to the Rhododendron Glen - Himalayan White Birch, Betula jacquemontii

7. Japanese Guest house by noted PNW (Pacific Northwest) modernist architect Paul Hayden Kirk, and Sand and Stone Garden designed by Dr. Koichi Kawana

8. Japanese red pine - Pinus densiflora - on one side of the Sand Garden

9. Christmas Pond in the Rhododendron Glen fed by a waterfall and small stream - the banks upstream from this pond are planted heavily to candelabra primroses

[gardenwerks]

ZAUSCHNERIA (now Epilobium) ‘SILVER SELECT’

Happy 1st of December, start of Advent. My sincere apologies for not posting in a VERY long time. My garden design work this Fall has been very busy, and I’ve been focused on personal growth.

This is a lovely “California fuchsia” that was purchased 3 years ago to cascade down over the low retaining wall at the bottom of the flower garden. Lovely air spikes of silvery foliage. PLEASE NOTE: the flowers are much more reddish-orange that was captured by my LG K30 phone camera. 

Zauschneria is a now-defunct genus of 5 species of perennials, all native to the dry slopes of California’s chaparral (evergreen shrubland) and other dry areas in mountains and canyons. All species are fairly low-growing from, 6″ to 18″ tall, spreading by rhizomes into nice colonies - some mat-forming, others bushy like Silver Select. All the California fuchsias are beloved by hummingbirds and bloom in late summer through the fall - perfectly timed for fall migrations of several hummer species. The typical flower color is orange through red/orange to scarlet red, however, there are pink, salmon, and white forms as well.

Wikipedia reports that recent taxanomic studies have placed all these varied California fuschias into a single species ‘cana’ within the genus Epilobium - the “willowherbs.” Here in the Pacific Northwest, the showiest member of that family is Fireweed, which can grow 5-6′ tall, with bright pink-purple flowers that have zero resemblance to California fuschia flowers. Alas...that’s the way things stand right now.  The original genus name was in honor of Johann Baptista Josef Zauschner (1737–1799), a professor of medicine and botany in Prague.

In another garden, I had enjoyed Zauschneria ‘Select Mattole’ which was lower, less silver, but reliably August blooming with lovely orange tubes. When I could not find that particular form for our new garden in 2019, I chose ‘Silver Select.” Loved the VERY silvery foliage. Alas...in the ground, 'Silver Select’ didn’t start blooming until October, and most of the flowers were lost to the first freeze. That made me think it was not getting enough “heat units” to initiate bloom time in our milder climate. So, I decided to pot it up and place it in a SW-facing ‘sun catch’ on our back porch/deck. The temps on that covered deck routinely get into 90′s, sometimes 100′s, even when it is only 75-85 F outside. 

Well...that was a SUCCESS! This year it started blooming in late August, as it does in California and Portland, Oregon (warmer than us). And, it has just kept on cranking out flower buds. This photo was taken November 26, and you see LOTS of small flower buds still developing. And...the porch location gave it protection from our first hard frosts. While the plant is indeed drought tolerant in the ground, it really sucks up the water when growing in a pot! 

Apparently ‘Silver Select’ was introduced by Xera Plants of Portland, Oregon. It clearly looks like a hybrid between two of the Zauschneria species, but is now considered just a form of Epilobium cana. Here’s what Xera Plants has to say, and I will note that it does not die away in winter until maybe January.

“ No other California Fuchsia has foliage that even approaches being as ashy white as this cultivar. Its as if the foliage is covered in dense white powder. The 1″ long hot orange/red flowers absolutely shine against this ghostly backdrop. Vigorous perennial for well drained sites and just light summer water. Full sun. To 20″ tall in bloom which starts in early August and continues into October. Hummingbirds dive down for this vivid sweet treat. Expanding to a clump 2′ wide in just a few years. Dies completely away in winter…only the stoloniferous roots remain to regenerate this sexy perennial in spring. Moderate deer resistance. “

https://xeraplants.com/plants/epilobium-zauschneria-silver-select/?hilite=Zauschneria

A shout out of thanks to Xera Plants, as well as to Las Pilitas Nursery in Santa Margarita, California, which has a nice page on Zauschnerias.

https://www.laspilitas.com/groups/california-fuchsia.html

[gardenwerks]

Crocosmia x ‘Emily McKenzie’ and Molinia caerulea variegata

Hello friends: sorry I haven’t posted in a couple weeks. My mind has been busy elsewhere trying to make sense of death and grieving. But the flower garden just keeps on blooming happily! Thank God!

Emily McKenzie is a later-blooming Crocosmia - in full bloom now in our garden in early September - getting started a full 4-8 weeks after the other Crocosmias.  It has a typical Crocosmia plant form - upright sword-like leaves tinted bronze - with dark-colored flower stalks arching upward and outward. Plant size in bloom is 2-3′ high, and a bit wider. The flowers are very large, opening flat, and facing downwards. The dark purple calyxes highlight deep orange flowers with dramatic burnt orange/maroon markings around light yellow-orange throats. Hummingbirds love them!!

Ballyrobert Gardens, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland UK, provides this history:  Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora 'Emily McKenzie' was first found in 1951 in a Tyne Valley Garden owned by Emily Mckenzie. A vigorous plant which produces branching stems of rich orange flowers splashed with wallflower red. It is believed by some to have been a natural sport of an older hybrid called 'Comet' (aka 'Malahide Castle' after the Malahide Castle Gardens in county Dublin) which was developed by crossing C. aurea with C. masoniorum. But 'Emily Mckenzie' may also have C. pottsii in its make-up as do the majority of today's Crocosmia hybrids. [Note: Tyne Valley, Northumberland, England, UK]

https://www.ballyrobertgardens.com/products/crocosmia-x-crocosmiiflora-emily-mckenzie

The lovely grass with which ‘Emily McKenzie’ has been interplanted is Molinia caerulea variegata. This grass looks great showing off the other crocosmias in this bed: ‘Adriana’ and the tall, bold C. paniculata, both of which bloomed earlier.

[gardenwerks]

Penstemon ‘Garnet’ aka ‘Andenken an Friedrich Hahn’

Penstemon ‘Firebird’ aka ‘Schoenholzeri’ 

The wonderful ‘Garnet’ Penstemon, together with its look-alike neighbor and offspring ‘Firebird’, have become stalwarts of our garden. They are huge for a “perennial”, easily reaching 2-3’ high and 3-4’ wide. They have abundant lovely, glossy, evergreen, narrow foliage, and are prolific bloomers. The mid-August photo (2nd photo) was taken two months after full-bloom in late June (top photo  They will keep this up until Thanksgiving. Each spike holds up a large number of brightly-colored, long tubular flowers, with cute “faces”, a floral form showing their relationship to snapdragons. The “faces” are called “two-lipped” having 2 lobes above the opening of the tube, and three below. They have interesting markings – bee guides – and fuzziness. These are hummingbird and bee magnets. ‘Garnet’ is purply-red, while ‘Firebird’ is crimson red. I realize those colors are not coming out that distinct in the photos.

Penstemons are native to North America – in fact, with about 250 different species, they are the largest endemic genus of plants native to this continent. Most of the species are native to arid and/or mountainous regions, and mainly west of the Mississippi and throughout highland Mexico. These two plants are hybrids, but with strong P. campanulatus (Bell-flowered penstemon) features. This species has lavender-purple flowers, and does not grow as large as the hybrids, but the foliage and plant form are very similar. It hails from highland areas throughout Mexico.

Technically, these two Penstemons are “sub-shrubs”, in that they have a woody framework of lower stems, supporting lush herbaceous spikes. In late January this year, I hunted down YouTube videos – from the UK – that showed major whack-back was useful for maintaining the health and floriferousness of the plants. So, I did that. Scary to look at, but as you can see they came back with a FLOURISH! 

Their cultural requirements are good drainage, lots of sun, and they tolerate fairly infertile soil. They are drought tolerant, but look better and bloom longer with summer irrigation. These two plants were originally in the South Side flower garden, but proved way too robust for that location. So, I moved them along the split-rail fence in the long Back Garden, behind the ‘Bakeri’ Blue Spruce. The soil there is very sandy and not very fertile, so is ideal for these. We see their lovely flowering from our dining room window for months on end – clear until very hard frost.

Ballyrobert Nursery in Northern Ireland provided the following info about ‘Garnet’: Penstemon 'Andenken en Friedrich Hahn', also known as 'Garnet', commemorates an 18th century German astronomer. It forms pinkish red, tubular flowers with attractive white striping on the inside. One of the oldest hybrid Penstemons, bred in 1918, it is still one of the best penstemon to grow. Its parent, P.'Southgate Gem,' was a very popular plant back in the early 1900s. It was a short-lived perennial, so the Swiss breeder, Hermann Wartmann, crossed it with either P. hirsutus or P. campanulatus. According to the oldest reference found, it's more than likely the parentage is P. campanulatus, since it's an easier cross to make between the species.

Debbie Teashon, the Rainyside Gardener, notes that Garnet is one of the most successful penstemons introduced in the Pacific Northwest. San Marcos Growers notes that it is long-lived, and very hardy, provided it has good winter drainage.

Digging Dog Nursery in California provides this information about ‘Firebird’:  Arising in Switzerland when Paul Schoenholzer crossed Penstemon ‘Garnet’ and Penstemon ‘Southgate Gem’ in 1939, the ample, hummingbird-friendly bell-shaped flowers are bright red, heightened by a fiery touch of scarlet plus pink-lined white throats. This shrubby AGM winner was bred for longevity, sprouting tall durable stems, refined semievergreen foliage and a somewhat lax, yet mighty manner.

So ‘Firebird’ is a backcross of ‘Garnet’ to it’s parent ‘Southgate Gem’. No wonder the plant forms are virtually identical, with only the color of the flowers being different. Both plants have received the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society in the UK.

[gardenwerks]

Grevillea x ‘Audrey’

This is the Grevillea hybrid ‘Audrey’, growing in our south side flower garden. I am training it up as a multi-stem “standard” to leave an open area beneath for perennials. Yes...I know that is a “busy” photo, but look for the upward arching stems of very narrow, pointy foliage, which looks a bit like Rosemary. (on the left is a Jasminum nudiflorum trained onto a trellis) The multiple bunches of flowers are gorgeous - dominated by shiny red-orange, with orange-peach throats. This is it’s first major bloom, and the plant has increased in size 10-fold this year!

Why ‘Audrey’? This hybrid between the Australian natives Grevillea juniperina and Grevillea victoriae has an extremely long bloom cycle. It is the only one of 5 different types of Grevillea in our garden and our neighbor’s that is in bloom in August! And, it is very popular with our Anna and Rufous hummingbirds. [For which I am relieved, since I had to whack back the Chilean Glorybower Vine (Eccremocarpus scaber) whose red/yellow flower are a major food source]. The foliage texture of ‘Audrey’ is very different - much more narrow and pointy, and darker green, than the G. victoriae hybrids and cultivars and G. miquelena that I planted in our neighbor’s garden. Oh...and we also have a long-time friend named Audrey. So, it just seemed appropriate.

This plant was purchased as a rooted cutting in a 4″ pot in Fall 2018, at The Desert Northwest Nursery run by Ian Barclay in Sequim, WA, on the NE corner of the Olympic Peninsula. This area is in the rain shadow of the Olympics and gets maybe 1/3 the rainfall we do here in Kingston only 40 miles away. Lavender grows extremely well in Sequim, and there are so many farms that a Lavender Festival is held most years - alas not 2020 and 2021 due to COVID19.

Ian strongly recommended ‘Audrey’, and was intrigued about my idea to grow it as a standard. He felt that would work. However, it will take some serious training for several more years.  My efforts this year have been to train one stalk as the main trunk with several uprights at narrow angles, all tied up to a 6′ rod of rebar! You see, this plant really wants to be a sprawling, fountaining bush. Well that will be fine, if I can get the canopy up high enough to allow other plants to grow underneath. Then the weeping branches will be lovely. This is only the 3rd growing season for ‘Audrey’, which was only a couple of foot tall stems in both 2019 and 2020. As, I said, exponential growth this year.

It took quite a bit of research today to determine the origins of G. ‘Audrey’. Ian Barclay had the most info, but I was able to find a few scraps of additional information. Ian was able to identify this cultivar with assistance from Grevillea authority Peter Olde. Apparently ‘Audrey’ was masquerading as another cultivar, but did not match that cultivar’s description in Australian sources. The Royal Botanical Garden of Victoria, in Melbourne, Australia, reports that this hybrid, G. juniperina × G. victoriae, was raised by George Althofer at Nindethana Nursery, Dripstone, New South Wales, in 1957, the name commemorating his wife. 

The Australian National Botanical Gardens’ Horiticultural History garden provides some perspective: Nindethana Nursery was a significant step in the history of Australian native plants in Australia's horticultural industry. The Nindethana dream eventually became Burrendong Arboretum. So, Grevillea ‘Audrey’ was the product of pioneering native plants nursery, founded by George Althover...and his wife Audrey - you know she was a huge source of support for the success of such an enterprise! How awesome to have a plant named for a native plants pioneer. And, such beautiful flowers on a beautiful plant.

Alas, Ian reports:  In Australia, it seems to have fallen out of favor as a "junk plant" compared to other Grevilleas. Go figure.  Indeed! Here it is awesome!

Many thanks to Ian Barclay, and The Desert Northwest Nursery. BTW - Ian has an excellent illustrated article on Grevilleas adaptable to the Pacific Northwest, at THE DESERT NORTHWEST - Pacific Northwest Grevilleas Revisited

Paul Bonine of Xera Plants, in Portland, Oregon, also has an excellent article on Grevilleas published in Pacific Horticulture magazine:  Pacific Horticulture | Grevilleas for the Maritime Pacific Northwest

[gardenwerks]

A GIANT in the Crocosmia world! This is either the species C. paniculata, or a hybrid with a lot of paniculata blood. Those thickly-pleated wide, spear-shaped leaves are about 3-4 ft tall, twice as high as those of C. ‘Adriana’ that shows up in front at the bottom of the top photo. The floral scapes rise another foot or so above the foliage. The lower close-up is at eye-level to me, and I’m 5′ 9″ tall. The corms are as big as gladiola bulbs (corms), so it’s not surprising the plant grows so large. The flowers rise up vertically on either side of the dark-colored scapes, yellow at the base, flaming red-orange tubes, with yellow throats. When I checked on ours this morning, a humming bird was busy visiting the flowers. This is the second year in the ground for this plant, and even though it was moved in late winter to be back-of-the-border, it has given us quite a show this summer. PS - the lovely grass shown in these photos is Variegated Purple Moor Grass - Molinia caerulea ‘Variegata’ which makes an excellent foil for the three different crocosmia that are interplanted with them.

Researching the identity of this plant has taken quite some time. It was given to me in February 2020, at a Weed-Walk-and-Talk volunteer workday at Heronswood Garden, just outside of Kingston, WA. I had volunteered to help remove a huge stand of a lower-growing, “standard type” orange crocosmia (not yet starting to come out of the ground for the season). As a thank you, I was allowed to take home clumps of corms of that type, but then Duane brought me this huge corm, and said I should plant this too. He said it was large-growing and very special. INDEED! 

The 2001 Heronswood Nursery catalogue listed a red-orange crocosmia named ‘Mars’. Looking through photos of Crocosmia cultivars online, especially the Hardy Plant Society of the UK, this plant was clearly not ‘Mars’ (’Mars’ might be the orange cultivar I brought home - which is thriving). However, there were some straight species shown, and referencing Bulbs by Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix, it looked like a plausible match for C. paniculata. Searching for that species brought me to an excellent write-up by John Manning of the Compton Herbarium posted on PlantZAfrika website below. So very pleased with this plant - awesome. Thx Heronswood team!

http://pza.sanbi.org/crocosmia-paniculata

[gardenwerks]

Heuchera ‘Fire Chief’ is another long-blooming, compact member of the massive Heuchera hybrid family. This is growing in a pot with Helleborus x ‘Silver Veil’ with satiny silver leaves, for year round contrasting foliage interest. Note the deep plum-colored foliage of Fire Chief, with lovely veining quite apparent. The foliage color is brighter, a light purplish red, when it first appears. Fire Chief has dark stems (@9-10″) that that support large numbers of very pink flowers - light pink florets in a deep coral-pink calyx. Tiny as they are, the flowers attract our local hummingbirds. Just learned that this flower clusters-up-a-stalk floral form is called a THYRSE.

Some online research revealed it’s origins. This is PP21880, bred by Janet Egger for Terra Nova Nurseries, Canby, Oregon, USA, patented in 2009. Although not specifically mentioned in the Patent Papers, this is a hybrid between three North American Heuchera species - H. americana, H. villosa, and H. sanguinea. Clearly the pink flowers come from the H. sanguinea blood lines. And the hybrid vigor explains the nearly constant bloom cycle. In the Patent Papers, this plant is contrasted with Heuchera ‘Peach Flambe’ which is similar but has more “peachy/amber” tones to it’s foliage and white flowers. At the time, this plant apparently had the “reddest” foliage of the purplish-foliaged heucheras then in commerce. In my experience, the red new foliage is indeed stunning but ages to a more typical purple with pinkish “veil” over it. Which is lovely. The foliage rises about 6″ high, with the thyrses another 9-10″ above that. 

The Patent Papers list the bloom time as only May-June. Will this photo was taken in mid-August, and the plant is still sending up new shoots (or thyrses). In fact, for us, it blooms from late spring through until hard frost. The plant would likely grow wider in the ground - it is not part of Terra Nova’s ‘Little Cuties’ series of very compact heucheras. For us, it is fine in a pot; admittedly it does get a bit ragged in late winter. But that’s when the Hellebore is blooming, so they complement each other.

BTW - when accessing US Plant Patents for heucheras, Ms. Egger and Terra Nova Nurseries have bred and introduced a very large number of hybrid cultivars over the years, including two of my other favorites - ‘Marmalade’ (2004) and ‘Paris’ (2006). I will feature ‘Marmalade’ in the future.

[gardenwerks]

This is Amber Flower Carpet rose, planted from a large pot into the ground 3 years ago Labor Day, i.e. Early September 2018. It has grown from a 1.5 x 1 ft plant to 4 x 5 and very bushy. We brought this rose in a planter from our house in Bothell, WA. It was about 2 years old at the time, and desperately wanted more sunlight than we could provide. Clearly, it LOVES it’s new home in our Kingston, WA, garden. Full sun, well-drained soil. I bought it on impulse because it was named “Amber” like our Tibetan Spaniel, and because it was pretty. I’ve always loved roses in shades of Amber-through-Orange.

Now...what a misnomer - “Flower Carpet”. This member of the series, as are others, are clearly NOT groundcovers. However, they are highly disease resistant, densely branched, and flower prolifically. When purchased as a “flowering shrub” not as a rose for a groundcover or for cutting, this is an extremely satisfying and useful plant. Maybe...I will get to try others in this series, to replace Cistus Sunset rockroses that seem to be dying off branch by branch. 

If I could only have one “orange” rose in my garden, this would be it! Superlative.

ADDITIONAL INFO: Flower Carpet Roses are a Trademark of the Anthony Tesselaar Plants Pty. Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia. Here’s a bit from their website:  Twenty years later in 1989, he [Anthony Tesselaar] identified an opportunity to develop a then radical approach to plant marketing. Taking a new eco friendly stand-out rose and using the now proprietary structured program for commercialising plants, a global sensation – the Flower Carpet rose – was created. Mr. Tesselaar was born in Australia to a family of Dutch horticulturalists. Clearly the “Flower Carpet Roses” were a commercial breakthrough for the firm, and the plants are sold world-wide. There are currently 10 different varieties, many of which have one major Rose awards. For more info...

https://tesselaar.com/plants/flower-carpet-roses/

[gardenwerks]

Montbretia or Crocosmia - what’s in the name??  However, these two names are used interchangeably, and confusingly.  And there are two very different plant forms associated with these plants. But first, what is the plant? These wonderful perennials are corms, which grow in large clusters, throwing up lance-shaped, often ribbed foliage, looking somewhat like Siberian Iris, and then long, often dark, stems of multiple flower heads in early-to-late summer. The flowers are arranged on either side of individual spurs from the main stalk. The leaves arch out, and the flower stalks arch even further.

So I promised a post showing some of the many different Crocosmias in our garden. Here’s that attempt!

Wikipedia states the following “Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora, montbretia, is a garden hybrid of C. aurea and C. pottsii, first bred in 1880 in France by Victor Lemoine.”  Missouri Botanical Garden had a photo of C. pottsii, which has broad, tall foliage, with upright flowers in long clusters held well above the foliage, and is native to the Cape Province and Kwa-Zulu/Natal in South Africa. It looks like what I call “crocosmias”. C. aurea is called “Falling Stars” in South Africa, and has shorter, narrower foliage with arching stalks of yellow-orange flowers that hang down on either side of the stem. It has a broader range across the southern part of that country, including the same areas as C. pottsii. A nice write up on C. aurea is found at: 

https://naturebackin.com/2017/03/02/crocosmia-aurea-saffron-scented-falling-stars/

There is a third species Crocosmia masoniorum that must have been been involved in some of the hybridizing, because it looks just like many of the named cultivars, particularly ‘Adriana’ that I showcased in a separate post.

So...all Montbretias are Crocosmias. Montbretia is just a garden name, like “lilac” refers to Syringa species. Most of the resulting Montbretias or Crocosmias in our gardens then are actually hybrids of two different Crocosmia species, and most are of the classification C. x crocosmiiflora.  But, here in the US, Crocosmias generally refer to the taller forms with wider foliage that have upright flowers in rows on horizontal stalks. See the two upper photographs.

And...Montbretia refers to the form that is shorter, has arching “plumes” of dangling flowers, and is quite robust. See the two lower photographs. This smaller form which shows its C. aurea parentage, has naturalized along streams and waterways throughout Western Europe and several other countries.  Montbretia is actually classified as an invasive weed in UK, Australia, and New Zealand. In fact, any Crocosmias/Montbretias cannot be sold or propagated in New South Wales, Australia. These clumps were given to me by our neighbors the Bells. They brought them with them from their garden in Kent, WA, where they had appeared all on their own. The Bells never planted them. But, they certainly do multiply, and fast!

The name “Montbretia” refers to  A. F. E. Coquebert de Montbret, a French botanist (1780–1801), according to The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. Wikipedia reports “The genus name [Crocosmia] is derived from the Greek words krokos, meaning "saffron", and osme, meaning "odor", as dried leaves of these plants, when immersed in hot water, emit a strong smell similar to saffron.” Saffron is th fall blooming Crocus sativa from the Mediterranean. The anthers of this plant are collected and dried for use as the spice “saffron”.

Unfortunately, I don’t know the cultivar names of the Crocosmias shown in the upper photos. Over the years, I had acquired ‘Babylon’, ‘Bright Eyes’, probably ‘Severn Sunrise’, and likely a couple others. Birdies searching for seeds and bugs in the garden have kindly flicked out the tags from most of them. They all were planted in pots, often did not bloom the second year in our Bothell, WA, garden. We brought them, planted them in the ground, and they are thriving here on! In fact, I’m always finding thin tall blades coming up in ferns, other perennials, etc. I try to dig them out and collect them in a pot. Wait for them to bloom. Will see! Will have plenty to give away.

[gardenwerks]

Here is Crocosmia x ‘Adriana’ in bloom the 2nd growing season after planting from a 2 quart pot. My apologies for the slight fuzziness of the middle photo, but I wanted to show you the overall plant, which is about 2 1/2′ tall and arching out from a 1 1/2′ wide clump. 

Hummingbirds love Crocosmias, and they all bring cheer to my heart. They are “happy” plants! I like the strappy foliage that turns tawny in winter, easy to cut down in the early spring. Sometimes the dried flowering stems are very attractive and useful for arrangements.

There are a lot of different, but very similar, orange Crocosmias in our garden, and I will post some pix separately. However, I do actually know the cultivar name of ‘Adriana’, and she is quite different from the others. A lighter shade of orange that really glows in the garden, and those wonderful stripes down the middle of each petal. 

‘Adriana’ looks awesome with it’s companion Lavender intermedia Phenomenal and Superb, Variegated Purple Moor Grass, and the magenta pink Sunset rockrose (Cistus x pulverulentus). The Crocosmia foliage you see behind Adriana in the middle photo is ‘Helen MacKenzie’ - which is a later bloomer. Will feature that in the future.

This plant has been in bloom since first week of July, and is still going strong 5 weeks later. The Lily Garden says it is the longest-blooming crocosmia in their gardens.

[gardenwerks]

This is ‘Shimmer’ in the compact, floriferous Heuchera series ‘Little Cuties’ bred by Terra Nova Nurseries, and introduced in 2019 (apparently). Found this last summer (2020) at our local Valley Nursery, Poulsbo, WA (while wearing a mask of course!). This particular plant has been happily occupying a pot in a plantstand on our front porch. All through winter too. Happily blooming it’s head-off from early Spring until hard frost (and last year until Christmas!). It gets full morning sun, bright afternoon shade. I believe that size-wise, what you are seeing is what it expected - foliage rising up about 6 inches, flower stalks up over 1 ft, and 1 ft clump of foliage. Noticeably smaller than the bulk of current Heuchera varieties in commerce.

This plant was in a small pot last year, repotted into a gallon container this spring (2021). And, wow did it take off! Look at all those flower stems! The individual florets are so small, but our local Anna and Rufous hummingbirds adore them! The foliage on this plant is a bit rough due to our late June record-breaking heat wave. But, there’s new foliage and flower stems popping up all the time.

With the low silvery foliage, and tall coral-ish pink flower stalks, this reminded me so much of the Coral Bells I remember from 40 years ago, when I first got into perennials. The Western native Coral Bells, Heuchera sanguinea, has much smaller leaves (and usually less silver), and the flower calyxes are truly “coral” in color.  I always LOVED them, but the species or cultivars thereof are hard to find in commerce, at least in Western Washington State.  NOTE - several years ago, I found the cultivar ‘Canyon Duet’ which has a bi-color effect with much lighter florets in the darker calyxes. Worth looking for.

Although my flower garden is uncomfortably full, I do want to try some other members of the Little Cuties series.

[gardenwerks]

Front Porch potted plantings renovation. Above is the AFTER. Below is the BEFORE. Changeover a couple weeks ago in mid-July, just before we lost our dog Amber.

Well, the wonderful Mexican Feather grass truly grew spectacularly this year. In fact, it outgrew the pots, and had to be held up with rubber-bands around the clumps, like a pony-tail on a guy or gal. Fortunately, a neighbor with a new garden had spots for these, and I dug them out along with the Dwarf Orange nasturtiums intermingled with their roots and gave them to her. Earlier this year, I posted about both of these wonderful plants. The nasturtium was so happy, it even set seed! 

However, I still wanted the “grassy” look, and the orange flowers. And, it’s already mid-summer. What to do? So...the upper two photos show the solution: Orange New Zealand sedge with sun-tolerant, bright orange New Guinea impatiens, and seedling Santa Barbara daisies to spill over the front. And...to make it easier to remove the sedges when they outgrow these pots, I planted the quarts into gallon containers set into the pot, with the lip just above soil line. And...added in a bowl of dwarf Zinnias - all from the Profusion series.

The husband is MUCH happier with this new arrangement. And I certainly admit the new plantings are simpler, more in-scale, and very satisfying to enjoy while having coffee on the front porch. 

About the plants:

Carex testacea is a clumping, evergreen sedge with orange-highlighted very narrow green foliage. For us, the orange highlights are more apparent during the growing season. In winter, the foliage turns an attractive shade of deep brown, in reference to the meaning of testacea - “brick-colored”. The plant grows in a fountain form, about 1.5′ high, but spreading out from the center about 2 ft in all directions. So...yes, these will outgrow the pots, probably by summer 2023. The Orange sedge is native to both the North and South Islands of New Zealand, and is extremely successful and happy here in the Puget Sound Region of Washington State, USA. Even when narrow leaves die and turn tan, they blend in with the colors of the live blades quite beautifully. For your reference, added a photo of a mature specimen, found on Pinterest.

SunPatiens Compact Electric Orange is a sun-tolerant form of Impatiens bred by Sakata, with large pointed glossy dark green leaves, and VERY bright orange-to-coral 1″ flowers, with a long nectar tube curving out behind. Missouri Botanical Garden advises that New Guinea impatiens are botanically known as Impatiens hawkeri, for Lt. Hawker of the Royal Navy, who first collected plants and seeds in Papua New Guinea in 1884. Formerly, it was thought that there were serveral different inter-related species that freely hybridized. Now, all the various “species” have been combined into “groups” WITHIN the overall I. hawkeri species. With all this genetic diversity, there are lots of opportunities for ornamental plant breeding. This particular plant is from the trademarked SunPatiens Series, and is legally known as  Impatiens 'Sakimp025' and has received the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Electric Orange is part of the Compact series of SunPatiens. I selected it because it has more orange than other similar New Guinea impatiens, whose “orange” tends to be more “coral” in my eyes. But...wait, there’s more.

Turns out that the SunPatiens Series is both extremely useful, and has a very interesting history of initial and ongoing development. The Series was developed beginning in early 2000′s by the Sakata Seed Corporation of Japan through a formal agreement with the Government of Indonesia, “based on the Convention on Biological Diversity (hereafter, CBD). There are only a few cases known in the world of such an agreement based on CBD in the category of horticultural plants, made between a resource-rich country and a commercial seed company.”  In exchange for access to the germplasm of impatiens native in Indonesia, Sakata provides a share of the royalties to the Indonesian Government, works cooperatively with the government to identify potential new breeding material and do joint breeding of plants, and supports ornamental crop research through technology transfer and training. Who knew!! All this is bound up in one very pretty annual flower!

Previously I have posted photos of Santa Barbara daisy - Erigeron karavinskianus, which is native to Mexico. I added one to this post for your reference. Here’s what San Marcos Growers says about this wonderful plant:  “ This is a trailing groundcover that is beautiful cascading over walls or pots. It spreads 3-5 feet wide and grows 1-2 feet tall. The small (1/4″) white daisies with a touch of pink bloom almost year-round. It looks its best in a cool spot with sun to light shade. It can be invasive with moderate water, but it will take poor soil and drought and performs best if cut down periodically. Cold hardy to about 15 to 20 degrees F. Flowers are a great treat for bees and tiny beneficial flies and wasps. It prefers a coastal climate.” In gardens it is a great plant for getting established in crevices in rocks and for adding softness and a pleasing accent to bold and colorful plantings. In my own experience, it is indispensable, and makes a great addition to plantings in large pots - spilling down over the edge. The white flowers are truly small, but they are profuse, and bloom from Spring to hard frost, fading to a lovely shade of pink. I regularly collect seedlings and grow them on to share or use in new parts of the garden, or new pots.

[gardenwerks]

Hi friends - it’s time to re-connect and start sharing plant photos and info. Here is a beautiful bi-colored Lily of the Nile named ‘Twister’, photographed in our south side flower garden last Tuesday, July 27th.  Agapanthus x Twister or AMBIC001 (PP25,519). They bloom at a very fortunate time in the summer giving a great airy, cool color, and strong plant form to the garden after most of the other perennials have bloomed. 

Last summer, 2020, I purchased 4 plants starting to bloom. Each had several stalks.Had just moved the big purple phlox from the side to the middle of the upper flower garden (the phlox is in lower left corner of 2nd photo), which gave a perfect planting spot up against the sage green/gray wall, in excessively well-drained soil. I knew that would really highlight the flowers, and brighten that area. I did an “echo” in the lower flower garden, also against the wall. They have been a huge success! Each plant is throwing up several stalks of flowers. 

Although marketed as semi-evergreen in milder climates, in our relatively mild maritime climate, it still gets cold enough to knock the lovely strap-shaped foliage back to green stubs at the crown. It was easy to clean up in early spring. The foliage raises up about 1′ above ground arching up and outward. It can be seen in lower middle of 2nd photo. The flower stalks are 2-3′ high. The flower seed heads resemble those of ornamental alliums - a bunch of spikes radiating out from a central core, with dangling seedpods at the end of each spike.

PS the companion plant you see interplanted between the clumps is a bright pink fall-blooming New England aster (’Alma Potschke’?) gifted to me for doing volunteer work at Heronswood Gardens. And there are lilies and golden feverfew around as well.

San Marcos Growers in CA (smgrowers.com) provides a history of this variety of Agapanthus. " This plant come from a breeding program conducted by Quinton Bean of De Wet Aloe Farm in Linbro Park, Johannesburg, South Africa and is the result of a second generation cross in 2006 between siblings of a previous cross between the large evergreen Agapanthus praecox subsp. orientalis and the smaller and deciduous Agapanthus campanulatus, which typically has dark pendant flowers. It was selected and named 'AMBIC001' in July 2008 as the single unique plant among the resulting seedlings from this cross because of it exhibited a vigorous and suckering growth habit, a long flowering period with bicolored flowers that are white with a dark blue base held in moderately dense umbels and good cold hardiness.” It was patented in the US ... “in May 2015 and is also marketed in the Sunset Western Garden and Southern Living Collections under their own proprietary name. In 2019 Agapanthus Twister received the prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM) from the Royal Horticultural Society.”

[gardenwerks]

Rest in peace - this post is in memory of our beloved Amber.

Dear friends - we had to say goodbye to our best friend on Friday, July 23rd. Amber's legs would no longer hold her up. Dr. Jackie the Mobile Vet was coming to evaluate her anyway today. And she said it was time. Doggy dementia, old-age anxiety, deafness, and partial blindness compounded the situation. We believe Amber was either 18 or 19 which is quite a good run for a little dog. She was with us for nearly 16 years, first as Leo's companion, and then as an "only child" for the last 8 years. She was the love of our life. So many wonderful memories. Alas she's been in a steady decline for about a year. In spite of disorientation and hobbling around she was still a loving, lively spirit. She bunny-hopped running just yesterday. She was precious, and she went to sleep in loving arms. And now she's in a better place and can run and jump again, living up to her nickname Bunnychaser.

But...yes...we are devastated. Our life revolved around her. Even until the end, she always had love for us, and bursts of joy. She licked my nose when we got up that last morning. She hobbled outside to relieve herself, and I thought it was just another day. Then after her breakfast, she collapsed on the floor. The right back leg had an artificial ACL, that worked pretty good as long as the left back leg cooperated. Alas, the patella would no longer stay in place on that left leg, and she could not stand up for more than a couple very wobbly steps. And...we could not put her through another surgery at this age, and given her mental faculties. So...we did what was right FOR HER. 

The top two photos are of her in her middle-aged prime @12-13 years of age, in 2015, in Bothell, WA. The 3rd photo is her last - in my bed on Friday, July 16, 2021.

[gardenwerks]

Wow...so hard to post photos you found on the web!!! This photo of an entire Arrayan tree is by MarcelaPazF taken in 2016 in Parque Nacional Chiloé. Posted on Wikimedia Commons.