From master landscaper & photographer Dan B:
This gloomy picture represents how I sometimes feel when plans for the Garden go awry. This picture was from the day after the monster Atmospheric River passed. We had only six blocks of visibility where 40 miles was typical. It’s a metaphor for garden dreams and visions going wrong, or just dimming or diverging.
Top photo: In front the color scheme is pink, in the back it’s hot colors for the most part – scarlet and gold. Some pinks appear reddish next to others. Both the Gaura ‘Little Janie’, and the “pink” Daylily are staying, because perfection is not necessary for joy.
In front of the front steps is a wonderful arrangement of rare and extraordinary groundcovers, until a Blue Leaved Rose, Rosa glauca, sprouted. It must have come from seed from a nursery I had for my landscape installation business. I grew landscape plants that were nearly impossible to obtain retail or wholesale. Rosa glauca with gorgeous blue and silvery foliage followed by vibrant scarlet hips, is one — but at 14 feet high and wide, it’s a bit too much for a tiny bed of groundcovers. My partner loves “free” plants so I’ve got to get devious before the Cutleaf Goldthread and double Hellebore succumb. (The Rose seed would have come from the late 90’s since I closed the nursery then.)
I planted a Chaste Tree, Vitex Agnus-Castus, for its bright blue flower spikes and… this one is white! Despite being disappointed by the lack of blue flowers I’ve decided I love it. The bright white flowers glow even on overcast days like this one, for example. Little birds love it as a launch pad for the bird bath.
On the side of the house I planted a gorgeous red Crepe Myrtle. Others I’ve planted in the Seattle area have grown to ten to twelve feet but this one is more than fifteen feet and starting to shade the solar panels. This year’s growth spurt was two feet so slowing down doesn’t seem to be in its plans. My partner cut it back this summer but ladders will not be on his agenda for much longer. Time to locate a good strong (bounces well) arborist.
I rebuilt the garden shed. It’s great for watching the sunset, but the house color is only okay when the sky is at its most red. When we get the money the red and the greenish grey will be gone.
The tool shed turned out well so my partner determined that it needed to be the “clubhouse / garden room” and filled with collectibles from his family. The garden tools (professional quality from my former business) are now stashed under shrubs.
Sigh…
Along the back fence I planted shrubs and vines to screen us from the neighbors. Hebe ‘Midsummer Beauty’ went in the corner. It was perfect at eight feet tall and ten feet across with fragrant blooms for months, until we had two weeks below zero.
This New Zealand native lost all but one small branch so we’ve got a hole in the screen, visible just left of the umbrella in the picture. Its in line with the outdoor dining table. The Hebe barely grew this year so it may need to be replaced.
A genuine mistake was planting this Manzanita, Arctostaphylos ‘Sunset’, along the chain link fence in front. It grew through the chain link and then the branches were girdled. The remnant trunks are along the ground. We’ve got a Loropetalum chinense to fill in but there will be a bit of foliage color clash. Oh well.
I planted a Paper Bark Maple, a modestly scaled tree (25 feet), at a gap where the neighbor’s bedroom windows line up with ours. The wonderful semi-evergreen Akebia quinata ‘Shirobana’ (white flowered like small clusters of pearls) on the fence decided to try to smother the Maple, so scary unstable ladder work was necessary. The Maple has grown well so I’m hopeful that less pruning is likely in the future.
I selected plants that would survive our low rainfall summers with one to three waterings per month but we have had much less precipitation than normal. We’re headed to Western Oklahoma levels, with cooler weather, but since we didn’t install irrigation or sleeving for pipes we’ve got hoses. We’ve had to water almost daily so putting the hoses away is low on the list. Fortunately photo processing can eliminate the hoses from pictures.
Eucalyptus are amazing evergreen trees and this one, E. niphofila subspecies Niphofila, is a smaller version. There was a beautiful 18 foot, slender, specimen by the Arboretum Visitor’s Center for many decades. Every propagule of this elegant little tree has grown to massive proportions. The foliage is beautiful silver grey and it’s covered with fuzzy cream colored flowers with a fragrance that wanders. It’s a lovely behemoth. It looks like massive pruning is in the future.
At least our garden is growing, right?
***********
What’s going on in your garden (cleanup / memories / planning), this week?
eclare
I feel as if I’ve gotten a tour of your garden Dan B, thanks!
Viva BrisVegas
Sorry to bring everyone down, I have bad news.
A Chanukah by the Sea event being held at Bondi Beach in Sydney this afternoon (Sunday) was attacked by two gunman. There are 10 confirmed deaths, including one of the gunmen, and 16 injuries condition unknown, including two police.
One of the gunmen is in police custody with critical injuries. Police have reportedly defused at least one IED in the area. One of the gunmen has been identified as Naveed Akram.
All the victims and their families and friends have my deepest sympathies.
May the surviving gunman rot in hell along with his deceased partner.
Baud
@Viva BrisVegas:
Folks are talking about it in the thread below this one. Awful news.
eclare
Deleted.
kalakal
You have a beautiful garden. I put in a chaste tree a couple of years ago. I’m trying for a more treey aspect through pruning. It got badly battered by hurricane Milton last year but has made a good recovery. Butterflys adore it
mrmoshpotato
What’s going on? Freezing – deep freezing.
Zero degrees Fahrenheit outside. 🥶
satby
Always beautiful gardens from Dan B. Volunteer plants are some of the most serendipitous mistakes that happen. I’d be thrilled to have some of Dan’s “mistakes” but most wouldn’t grow in my area.
Which right now is under a new blanket of snow and freezing temps, going down from a delightful 19° high today to a low overnight of 4°. And then a warmup after tomorrow to near and high 40s by Christmas if predictions hold.
TerryC
I came back to Ann Arbor Monday after a long weekend in Pasadena celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first permanent disc golf course (there are now 16,000+ in the US alone) at Oak Grove in Hahamongna Watershed. Clear, sunny, and warm and flew back to what “feels like” below zero. Tuesday got my tractor out to push the mail truck out of a snow drift.
Prefer MI to CA, though. They have problems growing trees – here I just have to stick them in the ground! Have more than a thousand tree babies ordered for this spring.
satby
@TerryC: a thousand??? Wow!
eclare
@TerryC:
I can’t imagine getting 1,000 trees delivered, even if they’re babies.
MazeDancer
Cannot see any goofs, just the usual Dan B Beauty.
Snowing again in Upstate NY.
Send wild bird food and heating oil. Extra sweaters ain’t working.
p.a.
Speaking of miscues, 20-ish years ago I contracted with a landscaper for a brick walkway, wall, & shrubbery after I tore out the old raggedy housefront bushes. Walk is still fine today, wall needed repointing of course & I later had it topped w bluestone, and shrubs still healthy. Two requests on the shrubs: low maintenance regarding trimming, and 2 holly to flank my front stairs.
Well… holly I got. Japanese holly. Small black berries.🙄 Now I may be an atheist, but that doesn’t mean I lack holiday spirit. Red would have been nice…
I’ve lived with it because I can’t justify killing perfectly healthy innocent bushes.
I didn’t even know there was such a thing as Japanese holly.
Kosh III
Great pics, thanks for sharing.
The only thing happening here is cold and more cold. 21 at 6am and we won’t get above freezing until tomorrow afternoon. At least there is no snow.
TerryC
@eclare: I’ve planted more than 18,000 trees on 17.4 acres (same size as Mar-A-Lockup) since I retired in 2014. Currently in the shape of 3 disc golf courses with 51 total holes (80′-830′) but I change them around a lot. I truly love trees.
Jeffg166
Beautiful.
Crape Myrtles can grow to 35 feet. I clip the ones here back every February. Use the branches for staking plants in the summer.
eclare
@TerryC:
That’s impressive!
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊
rikyrah
Beautiful pictures🤗
WaterGirl
@Viva BrisVegas: I am so very sorry That seems very unusual for you guys down under.
WaterGirl
DanB, I can’t imagine being lucky enough to have you design a garden for me!
Gvg
Lorepetalum. I planted one when they were a new thing. Picked a pink dwarf that was supposed to grow 3 to 4 feet and even allowed it might grow bigger to 5 feet as things sometimes do in Florida. It was 10 feet on 3 years and I had to do drastic pruning constantly which cut back on the pretty flowers I had wanted. I also made the mistake of taking a cutting along when I moved soon, and gave it more room. This time it grew even bigger and topped the roof of the large garage and tried to grow into the eves, so I had to prune it repeatedly again, this time on ladders. I hate lorepetaums now and have never tried another, even though they say newer ones are really more dwarf. I have noticed that everyone grows them as hedges that are trimmed constantly not the freely untrimmed cascading shrub originally pictured. Landscape companies seem to love them, possibly because they get paid to keep them trimmed. They do bloom a little constantly just below their trimmed edges.
As I have gotten older I have reached the point where I am willing to just kill or remove a real labor intensive problem plant. My mother has to use a walker now and still tries to garden all day. She still puts up with problem plants. I am trying to get my garden ready for when I am older. Plants that need ladders and pruning need to go now.
Biggest mistake is always planting too close to the house.
In Florida, the next big one is planting something that likes it here too much and spreads a lot. If that happens, you have to get rid of it and not try to save a bit or contain it. Dancing girl gingers are on my list of never again. Even certain natives are too much, because they are too tall. 12 for swamp sunflowers and purple iron weed are gorgeous but want to spread into huge patches and I only have 1/4 acre. I will take drives in the country to see them but don’t grow them any more. Getting rid of them took years.
mrmoshpotato
@rikyrah: Good COLD not-yet-winter morning!
frosty
@p.a.: I’ve killed perfectly innocent plants. We had some landscaping done right after we moved here. We told the landscaper “no hollies”. He planted a holly. In front of the porch, two arbor vitae that got huge. The worst thing he did was plant yucca!
A couple of years ago I had a landscaping company redo things. Out went the holly, the arbor vitae, and the yucca. I read up on those, found out they are persistent, and asked them how to get rid of yucca. He looked sad and said “We dug out as much as we could, but they’ll be back.” He was right.
Never plant a yucca!!!!
ETA: I see this fits the topic of the post!!
Barbara
DanB: All I can say is that you have VERY high standards. I have confronted a crape myrtle that was just too big — we took one out because it made it impossible for anything else to thrive and was blocking the view form our window. We left the other in tact but have committed “crape murder” multiple times to keep it in bounds. There are dwarf varieties, which is what we should have planted.
oldgold
It is so cold I had to chop up the grand piano for firewood. But I only got two chords.
eclare
@oldgold:
Are you turning into NotMax? LOL.
SiubhanDuinne
May we know who took today’s beautiful sidebar picture? I love the light — it reminds me of some of Maxfield Parrish’s paintings.
RaflW
The people who built the cabin we bought were described to us as a husband who loved to garden and a wife who had no interest at all. We’ve had the place just nearing five years (“Established 2021” the cute sign my BF’s mom had made for us) and have come to understand that they were only minimally interested in how anything works.
They built the house new about 25 years ago, on the site of a smaller cabin that the wife’s dad I think owned for years. Anyway ~ We’ve been finding all sorts of small “why’d they not maintain this” or “they just hung this shelving with no drywall anchors?!” etc.
How that relates to gardening: Hodgepodge, plants installed too close to structures, the main access stairway to the lake was these massive stones just lightly dug into the crappy soil, with no compacted paver base, so they were canting and moving and a tripping hazard. That’s been fixed (ouch, big check for that one).
But we have struggled with a quite tall but scrawny and sometimes mildewy (? I don’t know plant diseases) purple lilac that was planted close to the garage on the north side of the structure. I think they wanted it to be a beautiful and fragrant marquee plant as it’s by the main path to the cabin from the driveway. But not if looking like shit because of shading and crowding (It pushes out about 8 or 9 flower stems total per summer).
Early spring this year I did some aggressive pruning to at least control its gangliness. It tolerated that, and what remained did bloom. But then by late summer the leaves were dark and scaly and so this November I got out the inherited electric chain saw and just cut it all to maybe 4-6″ above the ground.
I have read that this rejuvenation pruning might work. My timing wasn’t ideal, but we’re not at the lake in late winter/early spring (sometimes were there briefly in early spring to blow out the cobwebs, but typically more like April 20, which seemed too late).
If this hack job doesn’t do the trick, I’m going to have to hire someone with a good back to dig the whole thing out as I think it has plenty of roots from 25 years of growth.
We also planted a Japanese tree lilac in the middle of the yard in fall of ’22, in the sight line of the kitchen window because I didn’t like how straight the view from the neighbors was. It’s growing well, filling out and doing the job I asked of it. But it hasn’t bloomed at all in three summers. Huh!
OGLiberal
@Viva BrisVegas: Did you see the guy who disarmed one of the Bondi Beach shooters? I doubt I would have been that brave. Grabbed the guy from behind and actually got the long rifle away from him.
2liberal
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: may we please have a morning open chat thread? Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Trivia Man
@mrmoshpotato: we dipped to -8, headed back up. I found a place for my dahlia tubers to overwinter and i hope it wasnt too cold last night. Basement bathroom windowsill. Window is under the back deck and north facing so never direct light.
Not touching the window to avoid condensation. Only a few feet from a small heating vent. I wrapped them individually in newspaper and put them in a paper sack. The thermometer inside the bag showed a low of 38 inside the bag but im hopeful that was the low for the year.
MagdaInBlack
@2liberal: It’s a cold Sunday morning, people are hibernating. Something will turn up when the caffeine kicks in .
MagdaInBlack
And I love the “Clubhouse.” Everyone needs a clubhouse =-)
laura
We had a concrete pad poured this week because I earned a modest grip of cash working a consulting gig that wrapped up on the 4th. I’m waiting for the chosen Costco greengouse to go on a twice a year sale, and it’s going to sit on said pad with a decent curtilige around all sides. It’ll be a combo greenhouse art studio. Luckily, the cats traipsed over it so we got some tiny footy prints in it.
MagdaInBlack
@laura: You will, I’m sure, highlight those footy prints with paint or stain ?
piratedan
@piratedan:
Recipe Correction:
Ms. Pirate informed me that I had conflated multiple recipes into her white chicken chili recipe…..
So to correct as follows:
NO Las Palmas Green Enchilada sauce is needed, if you happen to have Las Palmas diced green chiles, then that can be added in if desired (submitted following verbal beatdown for screwing up the recipes).
She also stated that I had too much celery listed, half a bunch is usually enough.
the Hatch 505 I referenced can be found here
505southwestern.com/
Also on sale at various retailers (have seen it at Costco and Amazon, plus local grocery stores in the Southwest).
Ms. Pirate stated that she uses one cup of the 505 in the big batch, one tablespoon of chicken bouillon (usually the better than bouillon brand). The chili powder and cumin is to taste (she said that it varies because not everyone has a southwestern foods palate)
apologies for any confusion caused, the mistakes are entirely my own.
Kristine
I so envy your ability to plan and follow through, Dan B.
I live on the edge of a nature preserve—every year something new turns up and if it’s native and pretty, I keep it. That’s led to late summer boneset and goldenrod. The birds and insects love them, but I need to organize them better.
It’s low single digits with wind chill -15F this morning—at least it’s sunny. Outside is all dry, frozen, and brown—the squirrels have stripped the last of the prairiefire crabapples, which were pretty much the only source of color left in the backyard. The volunteer common juniper that I planted in the front yard is popping along. It’s a variety that turns purple-brown in the winter. When I planted it 3-4 years ago, it was about knee-high; now, the very tip-top is eye-level, so 5.5 feet? All I can find about growth is a range of 20-60 feet, which isn’t helpful. Hoping for the lower end of the scale.
Thanks to climate change, arborists are no longer recommending evergreens like Colorado blue spruce—the hotter summers and torrential rains promote disease. I’ve lost at least 8-9 over the last ten+ years. Granted, some were planted too close together and weren’t getting enough sun. But I love evergreens/conifers, and so I’m hoping the juniper fills that hole.
dexwood
@piratedan:
505 is the area code for Albuquerque where it’ s made. Pretty good stuff.
Jeffg166
@RaflW:
I moved a lilac from the back to the front. It took 7 years to flower again. It did well where I put it. So much so I had to cut it back there times in the last 20 years. The entire plant has been renewed three times now.
Taking all the way down is a good idea to stimulate new shoots that will flower in a few years.
StringOnAStick
@laura: I helped my neighbor/garden husband build that Costco greenhouse in their backyard last early spring when we had a run of mild weather, it’s been handy. It’s a kit, so follow the directions closely, and by the end we had a couple of not quite right trim pieces that had to be modified (the website said there had been some “updates” on parts and directions), so don’t be surprised. That was at 95% complete so nothing about the main structural pieces.
mrmoshpotato
@oldgold: Never heard that one before.
Kristine
@piratedan: I copied/pasted all pertinent posts in a Word doc and will edit as needed later.
I have a backlog of Rancho Gordo beans and chicken thighs are defrosting in the fridge, so. I know what I’m going to make this week.
surfk9
@laura: Got one of those greenhouses for my wife. She loves it.
StringOnAStick
I am going to do a review of Dan B’s posts for plant names because I am going to be helping/guiding the landscape transformation of a house a close friend just bought in Portland. She’s coming from the rural semi desert areas of S Oregon and I live in the cold (though not currently!) central OR area, but I love a good landscaping challenge!
i plan to walk around her new neighborhood with a notebook and plant ID app, and take a lot of notes.
mrmoshpotato
@Kristine:
That’s looking on the bright side of bitter cold.
Kristine
@mrmoshpotato:
We takes it where we finds it
(also I see what you did there)
mrmoshpotato
@Kristine: 8 feels like -4 by the lake.
MagdaInBlack
@mrmoshpotato: @Kristine: 5 sunny degrees, car started, no frost etc to scrape, can of espresso in console cup holder did NOT explode. Returned safely from this mission, and ain’t goin’ out there again.
frosty
@piratedan: I’m looking forward to making this but … a whole brick of cream cheese? Don’t tell my doc or nutritionist!
Kristine
@frosty: I plan to leave out the cream cheese. Need to cut back on the sat fat.
I do intend to add the rinsed beans dry and adjust the stock to account for absorption. I’ve been doing that for a while now—I’ve found that bean stocks are absolutely the best and if cooked down the soups thicken up nicely. You can always give them a quick zizz with the stick blender for additional thickening.
piratedan
@frosty: makes it creamy not soupy, regulate the amount as you see fit :-)
Kristine
@MagdaInBlack: @mrmoshpotato: I made a longish errand run yesterday to top off the Forester’s battery. My garage is a detached uninsulated shell, but it usually remains 10+ degrees warmer than the outside as long as the doors remain closed. Today’s sun helps.
The only thing I need to do outside is put out the garbage. Not looking forward to it.
Dan B
@StringOnAStick: Portland has amazing access to unusual and fantastic plants, plus real summer and real soil. Something on the order of 75% of all shade trees in the US are grown within 50 miles of Portland. Portland Nursery used to be amazing and you’ve got an excuse for field trips to Gossler’s Nursery near Eugene, if he’s still in business. Portland can get a bit colder than Seattle because of winds out if the gorge so pay attention to wind resistance. Have fun, much fun! And you are welcome to visit here to see plants at my garden and my partner’s nearby 1/4 acre. Anne Laurie has my email as does Watergirl
P.S. Cistus Nursery on Sauvie Island has Mediterranean plants that love dry summers. It’s a very near field trip.
mrmoshpotato
@MagdaInBlack: Hooray!
mrmoshpotato
Where did piratedan’s recipe comment go ?
satby
@MagdaInBlack: Ha! All win!
We had another holiday market at the farmers market. The cold and the off and on snow kept crowds down, but our booth did well. Now home and having Advil with a coffee chaser to gear up and go out again. Have groceries to pick up and it’s better now than tomorrow morning when it will be 4° out.
mrmoshpotato
@satby: Be safe – and warm.
piratedan
@mrmoshpotato: the original reference was a couple threads back, so I responded to that original recipe post, so if you click on my handle in the comment, it should take you back to that. If you can’t find it (I think it was in the Saturday Night JC Open thread), sing out to me later and we’ll hook you up.
mrmoshpotato
@piratedan: Oh. Thanks.
ETA – found it! Woo hoo!
StringOnAStick
@Dan B: thank you so much! I will be in touch!