Here is my best attempt to play professional photographer by taking advantage of the early evening sun. There is nothing more stunning than the sight of plants beautifully backlit by the natural light of the sun.
I’ve done my best over the years to piece together the section of the garden that is best exposed during this “golden hour”. At this point in time, it may be my favorite part of the entire garden.
I hope you enjoy it.
If I had to sum up my garden in let’s say, six words, and if it also had to be a killer name for a rock band, it would be “Joey Pye and the Grasses”. Phenomenal, right? Can’t you just imagine the band logo?
I have gathered quite a few Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium) plants over the years. I can always find room for one more and have no issue tucking them into tight spots. If I measured “square feet taken up by particular plants”, ornamental grasses would be the winner with Joe Pye coming in 2nd place.
It all started with a few 6 foot tall Eupatorium purpureum and eventually evolved into smaller cultivars as well. They seem to work with everything; other summer blooming perennials, shrubs and ornamental grasses to name a few.
These are absolutely the most reliable perennials in my garden and the deer and rabbits leave them alone. I have some in full sun, others in partial sun, some in waterlogged soil and others in drier soil. They thrive everywhere.
Have I mentioned that the critters totally dig them?
Here are a few in bloom as of this week.
If you look closely at the three photos above, you’ll notice that there are grasses in the vicinity of all of the Joey Pyes. Go ahead, take a closer look … I’ll wait.
In a few more weeks, the Eupatorium and ornamental grasses will really start to take over. You’ll notice it as a common theme in most of my August/September blog posts.
Speaking of grasses …
Karl Foerster has been blooming for a few weeks now.
And are a nice backdrop for summer blooming perennials.
Panicum ‘Northwind’ (imagine me now dropping the mic and walking off stage). That is an indication of their awesomeness factor.
Other Panicum, like ‘Heavy Metal’ are showing signs of initial bloom.
And Panicum ‘Rots’ has that initial red coloring we all know and love.
Speaking in very general terms, I find myself disliking Miscanthus more and more. While the ‘purpurascens’ below has off the charts great fall color, they have no real shape or impact until that point.
Speaking of “lack of shape’, Pennisetum ‘Karley Rose’ has none and most likely needs division in the near future.
Many more grass discussions to come in the very near future.
A little over a month ago, I shared a planting dilemma with you all. Without much thought, I had planted 10 Carex appalachica under a River Birch tree in Fall of 2014. And as you will soon see, it resulted in a bizarre-formal-half circle that haunted me each time I set eyes on it.
Ouch, it still hurts.
I knew at some point I would overhaul the design but struggled to come up with an alternate plan. I knew that this sedge prefers dry soil and could thrive in competition with tree roots.
With that in mind, I finally settled on a new location – under my crabapple tree. In literally 15 minutes time, I removed the ugly Ajuga that was under the tree and weaved this magic.
All is now well in my world.
I’m thinking about adding something else amongst the Carex to really frickin nail it. But for now, I am content with the new, less formal design and the hideous prior attempt is in the rearview.
BTW, I can’t say enough about how much this sedge glistens in the sun, especially after a rain.
Thank you yet again Hoffman Nursery for turning me on to Carex appalachica.
If you like the ornamental grass, and why the hell wouldn’t you, then you need to acquire Panicum ‘Northwind’.
Like immediately.
There is a reason why it was chosen as the Perennial Plant of the Year in 2014. And as much as I know you would love to read an impeccably composed summary of this buxom beauty, I’ll let the photos do the work for me.
Sold on it yet?
I can confirm that the neurotic part is accurate.
And it was this gosh dang view that did it.
First off, how awesome are the Carex Appalichica above? They look unbelievable and downright radiant when back lit by the sun.
Back on topic …
I cannot stop myself from gazing at the above referenced view. It dominates my thoughts day and night.
I see it when I am ravaging the cupboards in the kitchen.
I see it when I shut off Family Feud on the TV because it is oddly inappropriate and not for a nine year old girl.
It’s the first thing my eye moves to when I set foot out on my deck and threaten the rabbits.
I see it when I pace in the upstairs hallway while brushing my teeth, trying to up the “step” count on my Fitbit.
And here’s the thing. If it draws the eye in I guess it is a good thing, but is it? I can’t decide if I love it or hate it. Look at it again please.
It’s too formal, right? But formal works sometimes, right? I’m over thinking this right?
With complete compassion for those who are unfortunately afflicted and diagnosed with true OCD, I fall just short of having it according to my own self diagnosis.
I require 7 strokes under each arm when applying deodorant.
I am a serial stacker (ask my wife). If papers are stacked I feel in control, even if the important ones are lost in the pile.
If you saw my desk at work you would think no one lived there. Coworkers have moved my family photos a few inches just to see if I’ll notice when I arrive at my desk. Spolier alert: every damn time.
I bunch things in odd groupings without even realizing it.
I could go on but I’ll spare you.
In my true domain, the garden, is where it gets trickier. I despise almost all formal gardens and love those that are wild and free. Except I cannot do wild and free … or formal. I operate in this middle ground where the design feels in control but not too much in control. Controlled chaos if you will. Hello neurotic.
My M.O. is to plant 1, 3, 5 or if I’m feeling nuts, 7 of a like plant and keep them in a triangle/quadrilateral pattern. In control yet trying to fool myself that I’m letting it all hang out. It makes me f’n nuts and I wish I could just embrace the chaotic. Does anyone else think this deeply about their damn garden? If so, please start a support group and invite me immediately.
This dilemma has a direct impact on the development of my now ten year old garden. When you feel the need to constantly evaluate the location of plants in your garden you become a tinkerer. A tinkerer never relaxes. A tinkerer moves the same plant three times in one day. A tinkerer never allows a plant to establish itself. As a result, the tinkerer’s garden never looks mature. Hi, I’m John and I am a tinkerer.
I also kick ass when it comes to weeding because of my neurosis. I see all weeds in all spots and need them gone. I even get a bit shaky when I can’t get to them. But I’ve never sprayed a chemical in my life. Just give me a trowel and maybe a flat head screwdriver and I’ll dominate. I can get at the toughest weed like a bulldog but then have the delicate touch in order to get the entire root system. It is an art form and don’t let anyone else tell you differently. For $50 and hour I can be had.
Can we go back to the photo one more time?
The grasses look too formal don’t they? Or does the sweeping curve make sense? Does it need to circle the entire tree? Should I just be happy they are thriving in that spot? Did you tune out already?
Over the next two weeks, major league baseball players will be reporting to Spring Training in Florida and Arizona. Promise of actual baseball games, not to mention better weather, is on the horizon. It is always my first sense of relief from the hell that is winter.
At this time of year there is always a sense of optimism with each and every MLB team as players show up in “the best shape of their life” and teams still have a record of 0-0. Anything can happen over the next eight months and that warm and fuzzy feeling makes its way to the fan bases as well.
This year my son and I will be attending Spring Training (Port St Lucie, FL, home of our beloved NY Mets) and we couldn’t be more jacked up. We expect big things from the New York Metropolitans this year and we’re ready to kick it all off. On top of that, my son has become an avid autograph stalker collector and I am so excited to just kick back and watch him watch the players with a sense of awe and chase them down for their signatures.
Latest card in mail for Jack #mlb #reds #autographs
A photo posted by john markowski (@jmarkowski0) on
I love witnessing the transformation of my son from a quiet and laid back dude into an aggressive autograph hound. Good times.
As I become prognosticator extraordinaire and try to make sense of where I think this Mets team will end up by season’s end, I take a look at each and every player and try to determine if they were a flash in the plan, due for a bounce back season or will stay the course. Once that is complete, I can collectively assess the team and make my official prediction for the upcoming season (86-76 by the way).
And wouldn’t you know it, I do the exact same thing with my plants this same time each year. They get pre-season plant evaluations and it isn’t necessarily always pretty, even during this optimistic time of year. Once that is done, I have a pretty good feel for how I anticipate my garden looking that year. Yet another way baseball and gardening are so similar. Who the hell knew?
For today’s post, I’m looking at 5 plants that I added to my garden within the last year and showed signs of promise in year one. Like a rookie outfielder who bursts onto the scene and makes an immediate impact, we never know what we’ll get in year two. More of the same? Big regression? Small but steady improvement? All of the possibilities are viable.
Let’s do this.
Trollius chinensis ‘Golden Queen’
This was a complete impulse purchase. Like a naive dope, I was pulled in at the nursery by the gold/orange blooms but knew little beyond that. I think I saw the word “moist” somewhere so that was enough to justify buying a few.
The plants were already in bloom when I bought them in early May so I really have no idea when they will bloom, if at all, with my conditions. Ideally, they bloom at the same time as my Salvia so we can get all orange and purple together.
And the deer need to stay away as well. Like I said, solid planning.
Lilac – and that’s all I know about it
Keeping with the poor planning theme, I honestly have no recollection of where I purchased this and what type of Lilac it is. I just remember saving it in late autumn.
I wanted to plant one Lilac near my deck so the spring smell can make its way to us. As you can see, it bloomed a bit in year one and I’m very pumped to see what year two has in store. It is also my wife’s favorite and it only took me ten years to plant one so there’s that.
Lobelia gerardii ‘Vedrariensis’
Purchased three of these in late fall 2013 and they bloomed like mad last summer. Lobelia have always been in my wheelhouse since they love the wet and have always been deer resistant. I want to see more of the same in 2015, just a little bigger and badder because that color in mid to late summer is tremendous.
Andropogon gerardii ‘Red October’
Now this is the plant I am absolutely the most psyched to see again this gardening season. Look at that foliage color and then imagine the impact it can have 4 or 5 times the current size. And I’ve got 3 within in my garden. Cause I am too cool for school.
Pennisetum ‘Desert Plains’
All I ask for is more of the same. What phenomenal color backlit by the sun in late afternoon. And those blooms are sweet as well. So let’s just get a little bit bigger OK?
And there are my early season plant evaluations for 2015. As always, would love to hear your thoughts on any of these plants.
First off, I want to thank all of you for your kind comments on the last post and/or on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Text. Each one made the sadness just a little bit more manageable and that was so appreciated by my family and me.
We are all still bumming big time over the loss of our Casey and the new “normal” thrust upon us. It is so painfully empty in the house. And damn I had no idea what slobs the kids are; the crumbs Casey disposed of are now piling up. She did an awesome job of covering up for them.
So while I don’t have the drive or want to write up a witty post or research a favorite perennial, I did have the need to look back through ALL of my garden photos from 2014 for an energy lift out of these doldrums.
I find it so easy to immerse myself right back into the bloom and foliage colors like it is the middle of summer.
If I had any sense of smell (note to self – surgery in 2015) I could smell those flowers like they were in the room with me.
I can physically feel the warmth of that time.
This all feels damn good right about now.
So here is the what I think is the best of the best.
Now that all of the snow has melted, it has become obvious again just how much my garden is dominated by ornamental grasses. Call me crazy, but I’ll take all of the browns/buffs/beige/reddish browns over the white stuff any day. I find it oddly soothing, especially during one of our warmer and foggy days like today.
I kid you not, these pics are all from different sections of the garden even if they appear to be repeats. Even I had to look twice at some of these. I guess you can’t have too much of a good thing.
It was hard to locate angles without a grass in the shot, but I did manage to find a few.
As you may have heard or read, I kind of like the ornamental grass. No other plant performs better in my garden and welcomes my wet and deer infested conditions with open arms.
One grass that I haven’t promoted all that much over the years has been the Blue Indian Grass – Sorghastrum nutans ‘Sioux Blue’. This U.S and Canadian native prairie grass makes a bold statement in my garden from August through the winter.
In bloom it now reaches (after five years of ownership) 7′ tall and about 3′ wide. It took a while to establish in years one and two when it started out as a small plug, but did it ever take off after that. As a means of comparison, the picture above is from mid September of this year, 2014 and the photo below is from that same time back in 2012.
I have it located in full sun but from all that I’ve read, it can work in partial sun as well. The deer have never bothered with it and it sits in rather waterlogged soil without much of an issue. Indian blue grass survives in zones 4-8 and typically starts blooming in early August here in zone 6B New Jersey.
A chronological tour from spring to fall:
This warm season grass doesn’t truly emerge until early June as seen below.
But even while small in stature during the early to mid summer months, it combines well with others shrubs/perennials. The blue/green blade color is fantastic as a contrast to darker leaved and colorful neighboring plants.
And then by late August, boom.
As you can see, the blooms are fantastic and draw the eye from all angles.
By late September, the fall color arrives and while it is fleeting, it is still damn attractive.
Even after the autumn shades disappear, the interest remains.
Would love to hear from you, have you had success with this grass? Have you had success with other cultivars? Have yours held up through the winter? Any success with dividing it?
John
Brown is a color too.
