Garden: Update--Late Summer 2018

Hey everybody!  Long time no see.  I feel as though gardening has lost its allure (helped along, maybe, by the reminder of the plumbing fiasco that destroyed parts of the garden nearly two years ago).  And I have a pretty short attention span, to be honest; it is hard to sustain the slowly-accruing rewards of gardening.  

So, anyway, last Fall I dug up and redesigned the front garden bed, ditching the New Perennials-style planting and creating something more traditionally Pacific Northwest.  The new planting is lower maintenance and offers more continuity throughout the year than did the previous scheme.

The new garden features swathes of Hakonechloa (Japanese Forest Grass) interrupted with sword ferns.  Both are good four-season plants, here.  The Hakonechloa dies over the Winter, but maintains a full,  mounded shape and attractive, warm buff color.  The ferns remain upright and green until I cut them back to make room for fresh Spring growth, so they contribute year-round to an attractive planting scheme.  Last Winter, the garden looked a bit sketchy because the plants were so immature, but I think the combination will be a winner as it becomes fuller with maturity.  

The new scheme also introduced a few new plants.  I'm almost embarrassed to admit that there are a peony and a rose as well as the clematis, hydrangea, and Foxglove that survived the purge.  What???!!?  Those flowers sound way, way too "English Garden" for me!  We'll see.  They are interspersed throughout the Hakoneckloa in what I hope looks like a "natural" manner.  The rose is just a tiny thing that I got through mail-order from Heirloom Roses (so it won't show up in these photos at all) and the peony is an Itoh hybrid with single/semi-double butter yellow flowers.  I hope it gives good Fall color, but I'm not positive that it will.

Here is the view into the corner of the front garden bed.  Most of the plants are still small, so there is quite a bit more ground showing than I would like.  The hydrangea remains from the previous garden scheme, but everything else is new--either newly purchased or simply dug and divided from elsewhere in the garden.  

Another view of the same.  There is a swath of Astilbe chinensis "Purple Candles" at the back (six plants in total, grouped around the foot of the hydrangea), the pale trunks of a multi-stemmed vine maple in the foreground, and the new Itoh peony in the left-hand corner.

I've added some purple Ajuga "Mahogany" to continue the purple foliage from the other side of the entry path.  The Ajuga is doing a good job of holding its own amidst the encroaching Sweet Woodruff. 

Existing plantings on the other side of the entry path.  I simplified this planting last Fall to keep it in character with the changes to the other side of the garden.  There is a lot of Hakonechloa in this portion of the garden--it shows up all over our property as does the Japanese Anemone--I guess you could call them "signature plants".

And that's the current state of the garden.  I hope it will look OK next Spring, but I think the plants will need an additional year to mature and to fill-in before the reality matches the vision.  

While I wait for that to happen, I will be spending time on different artistic pursuits including Art (I'm trying to improve to the point of being able to make real "Art" with a capital "A") and I am setting myself up to dabble in oil paints.

Garden: Hydrangea paniculata "Quick Fire"

One of the plants still giving pleasure in the garden is Hydrangea paniculata "Quick Fire".  Over the years, I've grown quite a few hydrangeas but this one stands out.  Currently, amid the dreary days of winter, I really appreciate its papery, spent blooms and richly colored, red stems. The blooms are a little unusual in that the mass of fertile bloom is exceptionally dark and solid looking.  This gives the spent bloom a pronounced two-tone effect.  I wasn't entirely successful at capturing this effect--the mass of fertile blooms looks nearly black when seen in the landscape--not-so-much, I guess, when I am holding a bloom up to the feeble light of the winter sun.

Quick Fire hydrangea, January 17, 2014

Quick Fire hydrangea, January 17, 2014

When I planted Quick Fire last summer, I was immediately drawn to its substantial, rich green foliage and its strong-looking red stems.  

The spot where I planted Quick Fire has been an ongoing challenge for me.  Initially, the corner was occupied by about 5 large, red phormiums.  I'd no idea that phormiums wouldn't be guaranteed hardy in my locale because huge specimens grew at many homes in the neighborhood.  That year, however, became known as "The Great Phormium Killing Winter" (PKW) and nearly all the mature specimens were killed or quite severely damaged.  I decided not to replant with more phormiums because I don't care for the disappointment that comes with cheating my hardiness zone.  After that, I tried some red twig dogwoods and then a purple barberry but nothing was quite right.  I'd meant to give the barberry some more time to mature and bulk up but, in a fit of remodeling zeal, I spied Quick Fire and the barberry was roots-up in about an hour.

Quick Fire did not disappoint.  The blooms were early and very fresh looking.  The foliage, too, stayed clean and vibrant throughout the growing season.

"Quick Fire" on July 2, 2013

Even though I shouldn't have been, I was still a little surprised by how early the blooms colored-up. There is a pinkening Quick Fire hiding-out in the back of the picture, below.   It was a little jarring to see Quick Fire blooms turning pink when those on the nearby Annabelles wouldn't reach their peak for almost another month.  The Quick Fire blooms eventually matured to a very dark rose.

August 10, 2013

Quick Fire also displayed nice fall color.  At first, it was quite interesting to contemplate close-up the variety of greens, magenta, yellows, and oranges.  But from further away the view was less satisfying as the colors merged and appeared sort-of chocolate-y brown.  

October 7, 2013

Eventually, however, Quick Fire turned a very bright, clear orange.

Quick Fire, October 20, 2013

Although I do not have a long track record with this plant (having only planted it during the last summer) I was completely pleased by its willingness to thrive, its pretty blooms, its good foliage, its vibrant fall color, and the appearance of the persisting spent blooms.

Here's some information about Quick Fire from the Proven Winners web site:

The first to bloom! Quick Fire blooms about a month before other Hydrangea paniculata (hardy hydrangea) varieties. Extend the hydrangea season in your garden with a planting of Quick Fire Hydrangea. Flowers open white then turn pink, and will be an extremely dark rosy-pink in the fall. Quick and easy to grow. The flowers on Quick Fire are not affected by soil pH. They are produced on 'new wood' and will bloom after even the harshest winters. Beautiful for use as a cut (fresh or dried) flower.
Height and spread:  72-96 inches

Deciduous

Hardiness Zone:  3a-9b 

(Source:  Proven Winners Quick Fire Hydrangea page )

After taking their pictures I brought the blooms inside for yet another period of enjoyment.