Impatiens omeiana

This pretty thing is the hardy impatiens, Impatiens omeiana, that I promised for today. The leaf is more like the New Guinnea Impatiens you see in the garden centers, but this one is hardy to zone 6 and probably even zone 5 with a good mulch. It comes up sort of late, so remember where you planted it so you don't try and fill in that 'empty' space with something else. It spreads into a nice clump over the years, but is rather slow about finally doing it. It requires shade and nice, woodsy soil.
The blooms are probably the best part of the whole thing. They appear in late August or September and continue until frost. Color is orange and yellow, about like the Jewelweed I pictures yesterday, and look like goldfist hanging under the leaves. Quite unusual and quite pretty. I don't seem to have a picture of the blooms, so I'll have to add one later on this month when they get around to blooming here. I don't see them offered very often and people who tour the gardens usually don't know what they are, so it you do find some, you will have something rather unusual in your garden. They are pretty care free and don't seem to be bothered by insects or animals with the exception of an occasional slug, but a mulch of pine needles or chicken grit (get this at the feed store) will solve that problem.
Tomorrow - our giant crinum.
Jane

Jewelweed

It seems almost a shame to label this one a weed - nothing this pretty should have weed as a part of its name. Jewelweed is fond of damp places and shady places, though you will find it growing in a bit of sun. Flowers can range from the usual dark orange to reds and yellows and any shade in between. There are yellow leaf forms and variegated leaf forms. This was one of my childhood delights for the seed pods that come after the flowers. When they're ripe, any touch causes them to pop open, turn inside out, and spray seeds all over the place. A great survival strategy since any animal passing will 'plant' the seeds for it.

Here's a close-up of the flower. These are related to impatiens, though the flowers are more orchid-like.

Tomorrow, our hardy impatiens which should be flowering soon.

Jane

Taxodium ascendens

We grow several different, and quite a few of each, Taxodiums. Taxodium ascendens is more commonly known as Pondcypress or Pond Baldcypress and if you've traveled to Florida, these are where Cypress Knees come from. This one is called ascendens because the needles really do grow straight up, giving it a very different look from Taxodium distichum, sometimes called Common Baldcypress.
They can grow on dry (not dry really, just not in a pond) or in a damp, boggy place. They live happily in zones 5 to 9, maybe even in zone 4. They are tall trees, eventually, probably 75 feet, but are rather slow growers. The one I took the photo of is about 10 years old and is maybe 15 feet tall. More moisture equals faster growth, though, even up to 2 feet a year in optimal conditions.
The leaves/needles are bright green, turning to a coppery color in the fall before they fall. They have a 'soft' look about them, not the usual stiff look of trees with needles. The deciduous conifers are interesting, but I will still like those that hold their needles better since they provide a color other than brown during the winter months. These are native from Virginia to Florida and Alabama, on more upland areas - around ponds rather than in them. Our largest one grows at the edge of our bog, so it gets plenty of water without sitting in it and seems quite happy with the arrangement.
There are 2 named cultivars, in addition to the species, that I know of, 'Nutans' and 'Prairie Sentinel'. I see neither the species or cultivars in nursery centers so they probably are best acquired by mail order. They are probably better known in the south than up here in Yankee Land, so they might be more readily available there. Highly recommended.
Nice day coming up with lots of weeding and pruning on the schedule after I pick beans.
Jane

Woodsy paths

This is a path near the back part of the gardens, near the back barn. It used to have move hostas growing on the hill, but it is a little dry and a little too shady, so most have been moved and instead there is a vinca with white flowers and a variegated green and gold leaf. It's a good choice for a bank and for shade. It only blooms in the spring, but is very pretty then. The variegation also fades as the summer arrives, but I love shady with lots of shades of green, so it really doesn't matter. Packed into the picture above, besides the vinca and hostas you can see a barberry, forsythia, maple, holly, orixa and lilacs. Lots more just out of view.
When I was growing up I spent a lot of time in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. This sort of reminds me of the woods there, even though this path/garden was totally created by us and is in no way natural. We do have lots of places on this 108 acres that do look like this - some even better - and when I have time, it is nice to just walk through the woods. We have creeks and waterfalls, springs and bogs, ferny glades and open woods and thorny thickets that are loved by wildlife.
I hope by tomorrow to have all of the photos back in the computer. In any case, I'll be writing about Taxodiums since our Taxodium ascendens is just perfect in form this year and I finally got a good photo of it.
Jane

The Clothesline in my Garden

It's a bit of a long story - about 14 years long to be exact. When I moved to this farm in 1995, I left my clothesline behind in West Virginia and started using an electric dryer. Time saving, maybe, but not fun and not nearly as satisfying as a clothesline full of clean clothes flapping in the breeze on a nice sunny day. This spring I finally decided that I was done with the dryer and was going to have my clothesline back. All it took was threatening to go to Lowe's for a bag of cement and 2 posts to get Hank to finally get around to it. the line runs from the huge Salix irrorata near the back barn, through the barberries (this part I can't use) and to a post on which a clematis is growing. It than attaches to a Pseudoacacia frisia and finally a Salix 'Rubykins'. See, this makes it a legal gardening post. The bed through which it runs is filled with daylilies, only a few of which are still blooming in the picture. Actually what precipitated the abrupt decision was when the water pump on my washing maching broke a few months ago. Too busy to go and get a new part right then, I brought my old washer that I used in West Virginia back down from the back barn. A little dusting and it was good as new. Clothes put through a ringer aren't so good dried in an electric dryer because they just aren't as dry as those spun dry in an electric washer, so the clothesline became more or less necessary.

Now this is about as basic as you can get. No electricity, no plumbing connections, just the hose and my own energy. (Inside the house I just fill buckets to fill it and the drain empties into a bucket to empty it) It actually takes the same amount of time or less than my electric machine and I get so much good exercise moving the agitator back and forth for 5 minutes. Better than lifting weights, especially if you manage to do a few loads a week. Then more exercise wringing out the clothes and hanging them. I'm in no hurry to go back to the electric washer and dryer (though I may feel a little differently in January), and plan on keeping up with this one for now, at least. The washer is now 26 or 27 years old and since there's not much to go wrong and it's made of stainless steel, it is pretty much as good as the day I got it.

Rain this morning and more on the way. 6 quarts of green beans in the freezer so it must have been a good day even if I didn't get any weeding done.

Jane

Achillea

Achillea - the Yarrows - are one of the stars of the late summer garden. This one is 'Coronation Gold' if my memory serves me correctly (still haven't gotten all of the pictures straightened out in my latest re-do of my computer). This one is quite tall and has stiff, rather than soft blooms which are excellent for drying. The color fades over time, and by spring they will be brown, but still useful in fall arrangements. This is a tall plant. There is a rosette of ferny, soft green leaves at the base, but the bloom scapes put the flowers right at eye level. The flowers are unscented, but the foliage is quite fragrant. I found, when weeding a bed where this one grows yesterday, that if you lay a stem of this down and if stays there a good long time (maybe not all that long actually) it will root. I dug a nice clump out and potted it up until I find a nice place for it. I know I use that method for propagating trees and shrubs, I just never knew I could do it with a perennial. I suppose since this one has such woody stems, it works the same way.
Full sun for this one and it doesn't seem to mind a bit of dry weather. Also not bothered by bunnies, insects or deer. My guess is the highly aromatic foliage is its deterrent.
Jane

Caryopteris divaricata 'Snow Fairy'

Thanks for Sharon who was here yesterday for inspiring me to write about this Caryopteris. I had grown a number of them for years, but they were all short lived and seemed unhappy any place I tried to grow them, but I love the blue flowers, so I kept on trying. This one is a different species and seems to be quite content anywhere I grow it. It is a small bush, maybe up to 4 feet tall and about as wide. It dies to the ground each winter and is a bit slow getting started in the spring, but comes up fast once it decides that the time has come. The green and white leaves are small and so you get a sort of all over confetti look from a distance. The blue flowers are a late summer/early fall thing. Although they hold up well in a vase, the foliage on this plant has a realy unpleasant scent, and so I usually don't use them in the house. I suppose that's why nothing seems to bother it either animals or insects. Full sun is best, though it will grow in part shade.
We've had 3 inches of rain in the last 2 days and there were actually puddles in the driveway and the creek was running. Quite unusual for this time of year, but the gardens look better than I expect for the beginning of August and the weeds (which have grown unbelievably) are coming out like they aren't even attached to the soil. Yeah!
Jane