Friday, July 30, 2010

Friday Afternoon Garden Club 7.30.2010


English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), Russian sage (Perouvskia artiplicifolia) and fernbush (Chamaebatiara millefolium)
It’s FAC time in The Art Garden!  Grab your favorite beverage and pull up a chair.  You didn’t really want to work this afternoon anyway, did you?  Leave a comment to join the garden party.
Today’s topic: 
Honeybee heaven!  This collection of plants, now in full bloom, is covered with honeybees and other pollinators.  What's the bee magnet in your garden right now?

These fernbush flowers have a delightful, light fragrance. Slightly sweet, with pine and sage overtones.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Garden Designers Roundtable: Underutilized Plants, or Forget-Me-Not!


Today, as part of the Garden Designers Roundtable monthly garden design discussion, I’m focusing on underutilized plants.  I’ve chosen to highlight a few plants from my xeric meadow garden: USDA zone 5, altitude approximately 5,350’, sandy-loam soil, full sun.

Caragana microphylla, littleleaf peashrub
Peashrubs are often dismissed as being uninteresting or worthless.  Not true!  This mass planting along the east property line of my back yard serves as a backdrop to my meadow garden and creates a subtle screen to the neighbor’s property.  The very fine texture makes an interesting contrast to their bulk; these shrubs are 8-9’ tall and 4-5’ wide, but don’t feel heavy or imposing.  They are like a lace curtain – allowing for air movement and light play - rather than a brick wall!

Pale yellow, pea-like flowers cover the plants in late spring, just as the delicate, pinnate leaves emerge.

Note, too, the silver “wire work” tracing along the smooth, olive colored branches; a lovely detail to discover.

Caragana microphylla are fast growing, sun loving, xeric, and tough---no snow load damage problems here!  Plant with bold foliage companions such as Helianthus maximiliana, Verbascum bombiciferum, Yucca sp., Callirhoe involucrate, or …


Phlomis cashmeriana, Kashmir sage
This bold, architectural perennial is fairly new on the garden scene (introduced by Panayoti Kelaidis of Denver Botanic Gardens), and is the perfect addition to any xeric garden.  The soft, lavender- pink flowers appear in whorled clusters on tall spikes in very late spring, and last for several weeks. 

The large, basal rosette of foliage is especially interesting: a net-like texture covers the surface and the edges are strongly serrated.

In my dry, sunny, meadow garden, this plant will bloom out at 4-5 feet tall, but in one of my other planting beds that gets afternoon shade, it tops out at about 2 ½ feet. Companion plants for Kashmir sage might include Cytisus purgans Spanish Gold®, Delosperma nubigenum, and Agastache sp.


Dalea purpureum, purple prairie clover
This is a beauty.  Long blooming “rods” of vibrant, red-violet flowers offer a bold contrast to the delicate, lacy foliage.

Many xeric plants feature soft, gray-green or silver foliage; purple prairie clover’s is a refreshing, deep blue-green.  My plants form an upright, rounded silhouette, about 20” tall and wide.

By the way, purple prairie clover is a deep rooted legume that adds nitrogen to the soil---an ideal way to add fertility to a naturalized garden area.  Plant it with Artemisia frigida, Helictotrichon sempervirens, Tradescantia occidentalis, and Mirabilis multiflorus.

All of these plants are a bit unusual (though not impossible to purchase locally) and I rarely see them featured in the private gardens that I visit here in the Denver area.  Be the first on your block to give them a try!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Boulder Farmer's Market

Have you visited your local farmer's market yet this summer? 


Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Friday Afternoon Garden Club 7.23.2010


It’s FAC time in The Art Garden!  Grab your favorite beverage and pull up a chair.  You didn’t really want to work this afternoon anyway, did you?  Leave a comment to join the garden party.
Today’s topic:
Got pollen?  

Gotta have pollen, of course, for fruit and seed production (AKA sexual reproduction).  Today's assignment---look at the flowers in your garden.  Can you identify the pollen? What color is it? What kinds of pollinators (bees, butterflies, birds, etc) do you see? 

Extra point bonus question: has pollen ever been used as a pigment (my inquiring mind wants to know!)?

Monday, July 19, 2010

Soon, Very Soon!

The apricots are ripening quickly now! Their weight is dragging down the tree's branches and changing its character. What used to be a tight, dense canopy is now awkward and splayed out. I imagine the tree will give a huge sigh of relief once it's relieved of its burden!

As this apricot crop is a new experience, we've been speculating about the most efficient ways to harvest and preserve this fruit.  My grandmother's old edition of "The Good Housekeeping Cookbook" (which also features a recipe for Squirrel Fricassee, by the way), seems to have the most complete information on multiple ways of preserving specific fruits and vegetables. 

Right now I'm leaning towards a combination of gorging on fresh fruit, freezing some, and drying a bit, too.


Any favorite apricot recipes out there?

Friday, July 16, 2010

Henry Moore Summer Samba

I spent a fun evening recently at Denver Botanic Gardens taking in the summer scene: lush gardens and a fantastic sculpture exhibit by Henry Moore

I hope you enjoy this video montage of a few of my favorite images!


Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Gilded Visitor

Look what I found or, rather, what found me: 

Can you believe the beautiful iridescence and bits of gold? When in flight around my little pond, the spotted wings of this species of dragonfly are their dominant feature.

This guy looks like he's contemplating his next move. 

Unfortunately, I don't think he's going anywhere...

Friday, July 09, 2010

Friday Afternoon Garden Club 7.9.2010


It’s FAC time in The Art Garden!  Grab your favorite beverage and pull up a chair.  You didn’t really want to work this afternoon anyway, did you?  Leave a comment to join the garden party.
Today’s topic:
I just realized that for the first time in months I don't have a single woody plant in bloom! In fact, I had to run across the street to get this photo of my neighbor's American linden (Tilia americana). I love the scent of these flowers! Do you have shrubs or trees that are flowering right now? Tell us about them...

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Friday, July 02, 2010

Friday Afternoon Garden Club 7.2.2010



It’s FAC time in The Art Garden!  Grab your favorite beverage and pull up a chair.  You didn’t really want to work this afternoon anyway, did you?  Leave a comment to join the garden party.
Today’s topic:
It's a vacation weekend, yea!  Where are you spending your holiday?  Have you ever vacationed in Colorado?  Where?

Have a safe and happy July 4th everyone! 

Alley view, Telluride, Colorado