Pleasing to the eye, Primula japonica 'Apple Blossom' (Japanese Primrose) is a deciduous perennial with attractive whorls of up to 10 shell pink flowers adorned with a red eye. They are spaced at intervals along upright, slender stems and rise above basal rosettes of lettuce-like, pale green crinkly leaves. Native to Japan, this perennial thrives in damp, shady environments where it brings its charming blossoms in late spring to early summer. Plant in groups or drifts with hostas, ferns and iris in damp open woodlands, next to streams and ponds.
Are you ready for another really long plant post? It's better than lookin' at 100 photos of my kids, isn't it? ;0) These poppies are in...
The Yaddo mansion lies beyond public access, but all are welcome to enjoy its beautiful gardens adorned with fountains and statuary. Since my Tuesday mornings are taken up by volunteer work at a hospice here in Saratoga Springs, I mostly keep my nature adventures close to home on Tuesday afternoons. Luckily, lots of great places lie within a few blocks of my house, and today I headed out Union Avenue to the artists' retreat called Yaddo. Although much of this magnificent 19th-century estate is off-limits to all but the artists and writers and musicians in residence there, the beautiful gardens are open to the public. And, oh my! the formal rose garden was at its loveliest today. In the shady areas along the rose garden, vivid purple irises accented the hostas and ferns and other shade-loving plants. This rustic gate marks the limit of public access, with the private quarters for the guests in residence lying beyond. Despite all this manicured loveliness calling for my attention, my quest at Yaddo today was to find one of the homeliest flowers that grows: Hare Figwort. In past years I've found it thriving in the gravel along a dusty drive, but today I came upon what was left of some specimens that some kind of bug was destroying. Where the flowers should have been, there were all these tiny translucent balls, and among them crept this critter. I've put in an ID request with Bugguide.net and will update this post if I learn any information. Update: Sure enough, BugGuide.net came through with an ID for the bug: Figwort Weevil (Cionus scrophulariae). But it took some searching of the web to find out that those round blogs are the pupa cases of the weevil. You can see another photo of weevil pupa cases by going to www.scrubmuncher.files.wordpress.com and searching for the post for August 27, 2009. Happily, I did find a few undamaged plants of Hare Figwort a little further down the road. See? I told you they were homely. I wonder if they got their name because those two little dark brown flaps stick up like rabbit ears. This is a greatly enlarged photo. The flowers of Hare Figwort are only about a quarter inch across. There are lots of prettier wildflowers to be found in the woods around the Yaddo gardens, including some very lovely wild roses. I believe this one is Virginia Rose. Here's a distant cousin of that rose, the very handsome shrub called Ninebark, with clusters of small white blossoms. This native shrub gets its name from the propensity of its bark to peel off in many layers. Two different species of beardtongue grow near the edge of a parking lot: Hairy Beardtongue and White Beardtongue, which look quite a bit alike, except that the Hairy one has a hairy stem, and the throat of its blossom is narrower than that of this White one. There's a kind of yellow composite flower that I find in the shady woods at Yaddo and very few other places. It's not in my Newcomb's or Peterson's, either. Its flower heads look like those of some kind of hawkweed. Its stalk is quite hairy, and its stem leaves are distinctly toothed. Anyone recognize this plant? Well, I sure did not recognize this one! How could I have missed it all the years I've been scouting around Yaddo? A sprawling large shrub, its green bark striped with whitish cracks, it was hung today with hollow, pale-green pods. Talk about a distinguishing feature! When I got home I hauled out my George W. D. Symonds's Shrub Identification Book and, finding the page with that pod, I learned that this is American Bladdernut. Here's another view of the American Bladdernut pod. I learned, from browsing the web for information about it, that its seeds are quite good to eat, either roasted or raw. I confess I stole one pod for further research. When I opened it up, I discovered only one seed. I guess I'd better look for additional sources of nutriment if I ever get lost in the woods.
Astilbe plants are beautiful low-maintenance flowers for the shade garden. Learn how to grow and care for these perennial bloomers at Gardener’s Path.
Many of the iris, like this one that's just about to open, are still blooming. Wet weather during the past several weeks has not been ideal for many of the early summer flowering plants. Some have gotten waterlogged and others have been totally flattened by heavy downpours. Nevertheless, having a diversity of plant life is one way to ensure that there will be a variety of color throughout the garden, regardless of what Mother Nature dishes out. Here's a look at a few of the plants that have been providing the color around here over the past week or so. The wonderful muted pink of Papaver orientale 'Patty's Plum', one of my favorite poppies. The purple flowers of Tradescantia 'Concord Grape' combine well with Spiraea japonica 'Goldmound'. The reliable New Dawn rose clambers over the split rail fence above spheres of Buxus 'Green Mountain' near the potting shed. And here, New Dawn competes for position with Lonicera heckrottii 'Goldflame'. Our country nod to red borders everywhere. 'Blaze' peonies, pots of red cordylines, and a red Japanese maple (Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood') border a long picket fence. Geranium sanguineum 'New Hampshire', Weigela 'Wine and Roses' and hostas. Paeonia 'Doreen' is just about ready to jump the fence! Polemonium 'Bressingham Purple' (Jacob's Ladder), Heuchera 'Palace Purple', Asarum europaeum (European Ginger), Astilbes and Hellebores fill a small corner along a path. Just beyond the pink gate, the climbing rose 'William Baffin' covers the arbor leading to the potager. Lonicera x heckrottii 'Goldflame' (Goldflame honeysuckle) brightens a side entrance to the house. Clematis 'Niobe' begins to bloom. With its cool blue flowers, Nepeta 'Walkers Low' makes a great small hedge and we use it here to border the pool. When viewed from other parts of the garden, we also like the way the blue flowers look when layered with the greens of the boxwood (Buxus 'Winter Gem') and Thuja 'Smaragd' hedges. Allium 'Christophii' More Nepeta 'Walkers Low'; this time paired with the chartreuse flowers of Alchemilla mollis (Lady's Mantle) and Allium 'Drumstick' whose flowers have yet to open. Astrantia major 'Venice' in front of Sambucus racemosa 'Sutherland Gold'. The delicate small pink flowers of Vaccinium vitus-idaea (Mountain Cranberry). Along a gravel path bordered by spheres of Buxux suffruticosa (Dwarf Boxwood), the flowers of Kalmia latifolia (Mountain Laurel) tower above a row of peonies that are just about to bloom. Grasses, Tradescantia 'Concord Grape', and the variegated Sanguisorba menzeii 'Dali Marble' fill a corner in front of a Rhus Typhina 'Tiger Eyes' (Staghorn Sumac). Yellow Iris and blue-purple Columbine dance above a planting of Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and Alchemilla mollis (Lady's Mantle). The purple foliage of this young Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' (Smokebush) blends well with the bluish green foliage of the Buxus 'Newport Blue'. Many of the shade plants are flowering now, like this Rodgersia aescuifolia (Fingerleaf Rodgersia)... ...and this massive Astilboides tabularis (Shield-leaf Rodgersia). The delicate pinkish-white flowers of this Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace' (Elderberry) really stand out against its almost black foliage. This Lonicera reticulata (Grape Honeysuckle) gets yellow flowers at the center of its round, blue-green, eucalyptus-like leaves. This lovely white peony (Paeonia 'Krinkled White') spills onto a pathway in the corner of the potager. Bright yellow Doronicum (Leopard's Bane) and electric blue Myosotis (Forget-Me-Nots), planted at the foot of a gate, light up an entrance on the north side of the garden.
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