My muse is my garden. Other gardens as well, but my garden in particular. I move in it, feel it, and hear the breezes whisper through it. I watch the lighting during the day as it slides over and around the textured surfaces. Lighting is so different on days with sun and with clouds. Lighting in the spring with the bright yellow-greens of optimistic new growth and lighting by the fall with ambers & tans … Continue reading →
There are some plants in my garden that just demand to be viewed together. In my front garden bed is a Fire Flame Tree Peony that for years has bloomed at the same time as a perfectly color matched azalea. Together they light up their niche in the world for a week or two each year if I’m lucky. Keep the rain away from the peonies and the heat away from the azalea & I’ve … Continue reading →
CORMS Corms look a lot like bulbs on the outside but they are quite different. They have the same type of protective covering and a basal plate like the bulb does, but do not grow in layers. Instead, the corm is the actual base for the flower stem and has a solid texture. As the flower grows, the corm actually shrivels as the nutrients are used up. Essentially the corm dies, but it does produce … Continue reading →
Tunicate bulbs are some of the most familiar bulbs we come in contact with both in and out of our gardens. Many underground plant structures are generally named bulbs. A definition of a bulb is a plant that incorporates its entire life cycle in an underground storage unit. Technically true bulbs are compressed stems surrounded by fleshy leaves acting as food storage organs. They are in the Monocot family of plants. Bulbs can be further classified … Continue reading →
The term “bulb” is used by most people to refer to plants that have underground, fleshy storage structures. Only some of the plants commonly called bulbs actually are bulbs. The general definition of a bulb is any plant that stores its complete life cycle in an underground storage structure. These underground storage structures store nutrient reserves to ensure the plants’ survival. Tubers, rhizomes, corms, and bulbs actually all serve the same purpose, just in a … Continue reading →
Daffodils are classified using two parts of the flower. For the purpose of this description, the daffodil is divided into two regions, the perianth (petals) and corona (cup). In further classifying daffodils the perianth (petals) is described by identifying first the outside edge of the petal, then the middle, and lastly the inside part next to the corona. The information I am providing in this article is gleaned from two sources, The American Daffodil Society … Continue reading →
BULBS Bulbs (which are referred to as “true bulbs”) grow in layers, much like an onion. At the very center of the bulb is a miniature version of the flower itself. It is composed of a shortened stem covered with modified leaves called scales. Helping the bulb to stay together is something called a basal plate, which is a round, flat area that are the beginnings of the roots on the bottom of the bulb. … Continue reading →
This large vase-shaped hosta emerges slightly behind some of my other hostas such as ‘Blue Cadet’. This slug-resistant architectural specimen is a commanding presence in my perennial garden. Though planted in full sun with absolutely no sunburn effects, I plan to divide it in the fall and put a portion of it in the woodland near the Hamamelis. I think their V-shaped structure will echo each other offering a nice rhythmic change of scale and … Continue reading →
There are so many stages of hostas that I enjoy seeing. None of them include slugs by the way. Having a shade garden I naturally grow many different cultivars of hostas. This particular one is named ‘Blue Cadet’ and was given to me years ago by my son Chris for Mother’s Day. Two Cadets and a Phlox subulata, I made out like a bandit! Each year I try to catch the hostas as they emerge … Continue reading →
My Garden and my Art go side by side. Both require me to make aesthetic judgments about composition, scale, color, texture and style. When I’m deciding where to plant the flowers I’ve hauled home on my endless trips to the nurseries it doesn’t seem that much different to me then when I’m deciding how to compose them on a two-dimensional surface. I think about what style I’m looking for, what colors will work together, whether … Continue reading →
Grape muscari, otherwise known as Grape Hyacinths live close to the ground. For years I never took much notice of them except for the little spots of brilliant purple that bounced so nicely against the bright yellow daffodils they bloomed along with in April. Then I got down. Hands and knees down. What a surprise! How intricate the little flowers are. Little bells dance around a central stem forming a small pyramid. This inflorescence changes … Continue reading →
Sometimes the most fascinating aspect of a flower is before it even arrives. I love to watch the progressive morphing of the Allium bulgaricum as it pushes through the ground early in my perennial bed, usually before I’ve even managed to clean off the winter debris. These tall, 36″ stalks are very strong and have never needed staking. These particular bulbs have been living in my garden since 2003 after I bought them at an … Continue reading →
Not to say that I don’t have any ivy, pachysandra or periwinkle in my garden but I try each year to add more interesting ground covers and reduce the spread of the ordinary. Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphureum’ has proven to be a valuable asset to me since I can play with the sweet pale yellow color of the gentle flowers while they are in bloom in April here on Long Island. One of the chores … Continue reading →
Isn’t that a fantastic name? Dicentra spectabilis. It just rolls out of your mouth in a lilting singsong kind of rhythm, doesn’t it? I love to say it quietly under my breath as I walk around my woodland garden in May. Not too loud so as to scare the birds and the neighbors (and myself for that matter.) I love their color pink. I have some white ones, but the pink ones are just so … Continue reading →
I have a number of varieties of White Daffodils growing in my garden but I don’t feel that I ever have enough. Since I am overrun by squirrels I try to focus away from crocus and my beloved tulips. (After all, both my parents were born in Holland!) Squirrels consider the bulbs as an entrée and the flowers, if they arrive, as a delectable garnish but they leave my daffodils alone. The abundant shade in … Continue reading →