A Holboellia coriacea ‘Cathedral Gem’ vine gets tested in Sacramento. Do we have a new favorite plant? WIll it accept our climate, grow well in shade and, most critically, thrive in our typically heavy soil?
Category Archives: Planting design
Planting Irises
Irises are inconvenient. They bloom in spring, but should be planted in fall. With bearded iris, this means ordering after strolling though fields of blooming plants, ordering, and waiting until late August to get your plants and put them in the ground. For native iris, we purchased in spring, planted the pots, then removed theContinue reading “Planting Irises”
Go vertical! These gardens in La Romieu, France maximize use of space.
There’s really not much room to plant here. Soil surfaces are small, so there’s no way to create depth or layering in the planting areas. No worry – these gardeners just used the adjacent walls as additional garden space. In the shady alley, a collection of hostas trims the interface between wall and ground. That’sContinue reading “Go vertical! These gardens in La Romieu, France maximize use of space.”
Municipal flower bed installation, France
Municipal flower beds are a big thing in France. Often, as one enters a town there is a sign proclaiming it to be a “ville fleuri” – a flower city. It seems that every city and town competes to see who can create the most original and extravagant flower beds. By July, these beds willContinue reading “Municipal flower bed installation, France”
Daffodils & bulb covers
These miniature daffodils grow on the South side of a mound facing the house, sprouting from low ground covers to bloom, grow and die down again until the next blooming season. The only care we give them is to scatter pet-safe snail bait, formulated with iron phosphate. Left alone, the snails will happily chew offContinue reading “Daffodils & bulb covers”
Ready to plant!
After the irrigation and lighting systems are installed, it’s time to plant. Often nurseries don’t have all the required plants, so flags are used to mark the position of plants that will arrive later. All the plants are carried to their approximate position on site and placed, still in their pots. After walking around theContinue reading “Ready to plant!”
Frost-colored
Some plants almost seem to like cold weather. Their leaves change from green to deeper hues of red, orange, purple. When the weather warms again, their leaves will once again become green.
Frost-zapped!
Some plants ignore frost, others do interesting things, and others… you never know until you try. Climate zones are good enough indicators most of the time, but weather is fickle and doesn’t follow lines on maps.
A foggy day
This ethereal foggy morning is now gone, blown away by strong winds. Wet, dewy fog has to be enjoyed while it’s here, especially in fall when it intensifies colors and transforms an ordinary leaf into a translucent jewel.
Rhus typhina – now that’s fall color!
Our Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) is putting on quite a show now that we’ve had cool nights and bright, sunny days. These plants get around twelve feet tall, and develop an interesting branch structure. They also have strange, fuzzy tapering knoblike flower heads in summer that give them a bold, architectural look. Staghorn sumac isContinue reading “Rhus typhina – now that’s fall color!”