Good Buy and Good Luck
I’d like to spend some time talking about plants. Specifically, those plants you find in the nurseries now that are WAAYYY in the back. On a table with a big sign that says “Clearance” or “50% off” or something like that. Do you snatch them up, pushing people out of the way like a deranged shopper on Black Friday? Or do you pass them by?
Depends.
I often say it’s like choosing a marriage partner; you have to know how to pick a good one. So if you find a plant on the Clearance table how do you know if it is Mr. (or Ms.) Right?
Look for the signs.
Fall – One of the Best Reasons to Live in New England.
It happens slowly enough. You wake early and it’s not quite light yet. You have dinner on the patio and find you need to turn the lights on or light the candles. Or wear a miner’s cap. The hummingbirds have stopped coming to the feeder. You use the fan, rather than the air conditioner. You find that long pants actually feel comfortable. These are all signs that summer is drawing to an end.
(Read our Sayonara, Summer blog to see some of our favorite summer projects)
While it may seem sad to say goodbye to summer (unless you are one of the mothers at the bus stop I see high-fiving each other) we do have fall to look forward to and it’s one of the best reasons to live in New England. No one is exactly sure how the drought will affect our foliage; the consensus is the foliage may still be good but will not last as long. I’ll take what I can get because I know after the beautiful colors of fall comes the white of winter. Despite summer’s finale, there’s still plenty you can do in the garden.
Read More»Sayonara, Summer
As Fall approaches, we take a final look at some of our favorite summer projects.
Houseplant (sansevieria), perennial (heuchera) and million bells. Who says only annuals can go in containers? This mixed container is looking good 7 stories up!
This riot of colors on a South End balcony gets tied together with coleus ‘The Flume’.
Read More»Plant Lust
I was fortunate to accompany my friend, Kerry Mendez, on a recent garden tour where we were both stopped in our tracks by the most beautiful shrub. As we fumbled for our phones to takes pictures we asked the homeowner its name. Clerondendrum, or Harlequin Glorybower.
The name felt vaguely familiar but I could not recall it from the catalogs I routinely poured through. Apparently, it is hard to come by; which made me want it even more.
I did some research to find out if this beauty would do well in my garden.
Clerondendrum needs full sun (yes!) and grows between 10-15 feet tall and wide (no problem). It is covered with fragrant jasmine-like flowers in late summer (great!) which are followed by bright blue berries accented by pinkish-red calyxes (even better). When bruised, the leaves are thought to smell like peanut butter (I like peanut butter) which explains clerodendrum’s other common name, Peanut Butter Tree.
Clerodendrum can be marginally hardy in zone 6 (I will site it near a wall) but if it suffers dieback it will most likely rebound in spring.
It looks like I need to go on the great plant hunt to find a clerondendrum. If you spot one, please let me know.
Landscape Overhaul
Sometimes it’s time for a fresh start. And for this project, we knew it was that time. Our client, a member of the local garden club, was frustrated with the old, tired overgrown plants that were not contributing to the landscape and wanted to completely renovate her gardens. The area around the home had become overgrown, threatening to obscure its classic Royal Barry Willis lines.
So where did we start?
While some designers might favor a “blank slate” approach I prefer not to destroy material that is viable. Maybe it’s my frugal Yankee nature. If a plant doesn’t work where it is we can often move it and give it a second chance. After a thorough plant assessment, decisions are made as to what stays and what goes. When it comes to the “what goes” part all I can say is THANK GOD FOR A GREAT CREW.
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