heuchera | The Arch City Gardener

June 28, 2016
by mjarz Leave a comment

Hot for Hostas

DSCN4664 Hostas have so many of the elements I look for in a plant. Easy to care for. Can be divided. Comes in lots of varieties, both big and small. But truth be told, I’ve not always been a big fan of them–even though they have been in every garden I have planted. You’d be hard pressed to find St. Louis garden that doesn’t incorporate hostas into its design. These are workhorse plants in this part of the Midwest and they go well in many applications.

hosta by roses My fondness for hostas is growing. This plant is an essential element to my shade garden and I enjoy looking at them every day. I love the hosta in the photo above (taken in May) but will probably move it next year. Even though it is encased by the oakleave hydrangea, which filters the sunlight, it gets too much sun and by July it looks like its about to burn up. There are “sun loving” hostas but don’t be fooled, this is plant really a shade lover.

Too much sun? Not enough water? Both I’m afraid. I got wise and moved any hosta in this area and, yes, upped the water.

So why the growing affection for this hardy perennial? As they say in real estate parlance: Location, location, location. That’s right, I think I have finally found the right spot for them. And, I like the mix of perennials they’re planted with. Shape and texture, the keys to any garden, really stand out in a shade garden. Some have larger leaves than others and they are mingling in the bed with the tall, delicate shapes of fern, deeped lobed leaves of heuchera, spikey and brightly colored Japanese forest grass and the serrated leaves of astilbe, whose plume is to die for.

The blue hue of “Frances Williams” (center left) stands out against all the other green in the garden bed. This variety is a welcome contrast to the bright green Japanese forest grass (hakonechloa).

Hostas like water and Frances Williams is no exception.Its leaves become wider as it matures.

Moisture is another important consideration when placing hostas. I have learned the hard way that they do not do well in dry shade. Mine are mostly planted in a bed with a bunch of other moisture lovers, mainly fern and astilbe. They also like slightly acidic soil which is in abundance in my garden.

Hosta’s flower is nothing to speak of so its appeal is its foliage. I’ve planted hostas whose foliage have a spectrum of hues from citron with greenish/blue streaking to blue with creamy yellow edging and deeper green with white edging.

DSCN4602

I’d like to share with you the names of the hosta varieties I have in the yard, but I don’t know them. Many of the plants in my garden are from the local area garden club sales, friends gardens, or were in the yard when I moved in, and they didn’t come with a tag describing their variety. Because they grow so well in our USDA Zone 6a climate, I am a big fan of dividing hostas and placing them throughout the garden beds.

Surrounded by flowers in garden beds edging the patio, the cool shade bed is a welcome sight.

April 1, 2016
by mjarz 2 Comments

In the Swing of Spring

Here’s a quick peek at the goings on in my Arch City backyard. So happy it’s spring!

Bloodgood Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) starts to leaf.

Pretty pink tulips in bloom. Fond reminders of a family trip to the Netherlands last fall.

Clematis begins its winding growth. Transplanted in the fall from a container, it seems to like its new spot. This is the second year for this plant and I think I’m falling in love! 🙂

Bright chartreuse and green leaves of Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra) after a rain.

Pretty pink and purple rhododendron in full bloom. Note the rain barrel in the back. More about that in a coming post.

Husker Red penstemon (Penstemon digitalis) bursting forth. This is one of my favorites. I love the purple/green leaves with red veining. Before too long it will be in bloom.

Hairy stemmed astilbe (Astilbe chinensis) are planted near the Japanese forest grass. But there are other signs of life in my shade garden: pointy tips of hosta emerging, curly coral bell (heuchera) leaves, rosy colored tips of Solomon seal (polygonatum biflorum), lemon-lime creeping Jenny (lysimachia nummularia), and soon, ferns, glorious elegant ferns.

The great seed planting experiment shows signs of life: cool season greens and brocolli.

Spring rainfall, cool night time temperatures and warmer days make possible all of the above.

July 26, 2015
by mjarz 1 Comment

Ah Yes Moments in 2015

If you’re like me, it’s easy to look in the rear view mirror and lament what went wrong during the previous season and think about all the “could ofs,” “should ofs” and “only ifs” as I plan for the next.

Last year was not the best year for my back yard garden. The tremendous amount of rain we had in June took a toll on the way the plants performed, and it seemed like there was never enough time to accomplish what needed to be done. But, there were plenty of highlights to year 4 in my gardens. Here are few:

1. Improving the Entrance into the Yard. Visitors who came through the gate in 2014 were met with a raised bed supported by rotting railroad ties whose 5-inch nail spikes stuck out. The step down into the yard was deep, making it awkward and potentially dangerous. I said goodbye to the ties and installed interlocking stone that coordinates with the stamped concrete patio. An added step provides a more natural distance down into the yard.

The addition of a step off of the raised area, makes stepping into the yard easier. The shasta daisies are transplants from a friend, as are the cannas.

Goodbye rotted railroad ties. The previous entrance to the backyard.

2. Attending the Garden Bloggers Fling in Toronto. Okay, this is technically not in my garden, but I’ll extol the virtues of expanding your network to anyone who enjoys gardening. First, who doesn’t like a garden tour? The Fling was a 3-day-plus extravaganza of garden tours. This experience allowed me to learn first-hand from other gardeners–hobbyists to the pros–what they are doing in their gardens and public spaces. It was an outstanding way to expand my thoughts on gardening and meet many of the people behind the blogs I so enjoy. The Fling has me thinking more seriously about natural resources conservation, starting a vegetable garden, composting and the joys of connecting with those who share a common passion.

A rooftop garden overlooking the Toronto city skyline. The Garden Fling provided multiple venues to learn about gardening, sustainability, conservation and plant selection.

Claire Jones, author of the Garden Diaries blog, takes time to appreciate the offerings at a city nursery in Toronto.

3. Installing a new bed along the south fence. Outside of raising children, nothing teaches patience like gardening. I may be planning and planting for four-season beauty, but each garden season (spring/summer/fall) is just one cycle and it took me several cycles to finally get to the south fence. I enjoyed sitting on the patio looking at this lovely, lovely shade garden.

The caladium take center stage in the bed in September. The honeysuckle trailing over the fence from my neighbor’s yard was a welcome guest.

Freshly mulched, the south fence bed in June. Japanese forest grass, heuchera various fern, hosta, creeping Jenny, solomon seal and astilbe provided lots to look at all season.

4. Edging the Beds. What a difference a seemingly small task makes in giving a garden bed a finished look. I considered installing metal edging, but instead opted for the back labor (someone else’s, as I hired this job out) to cut a nice edge around my main garden beds.

3. Plant division. Want to save a little money? Get more of a plant you just love, love, love? Fill in a space in the garden bed? Share with a good friend? Improve your garden design and color balance? Two words: Plant division.

First purchased from the Webster Groves Women’s Garden Club plant sale, these purple coneflower have been divided and added throughout the gardens. Self-seeders, they quickly and easily multiply.

The black-eyed Susans in the foreground have three homes in my yard. Profusive in Zone 6, I gladly divide them to share with friends.

April 24, 2015
by mjarz Leave a comment

In Search of the Elusive Super-Blooming Garden Plant

I don’t know my diploids from my haploids or my tetraploids. But I do appreciate a perennial that blooms like crazy. And when it comes to garden favorites such as clematis, lavender, hosta, tall garden phlox and oh, so more it’s all about the tetraploid. That’s breeder speak for hybridizing plants that Super Bloom. And while long-lasting, seemingly never-ending blooming plants at one time were elusive, thanks to the smarts of breeders gardeners are able to sit on their patios and enjoy their favorite hydrangea in bloom all that much longer.

Sugar Creek Gardens Nursery owner Abby Lapides Elliott offers a show and tell of some of her favorite Super Plants.

I learned about this and more on a warm, clear-skied Thursday evening when I attended my first after-work (actually after- dentist) gardening talk at one of my local nurseries. I receive e-newsletters from a few of my favorite local plant purveyors. They are usually quite informative, including information on the local weather conditions and its impact on plant diseases and planting times, the specialty plants they are carrying and educational sessions they are hosting on a variety of topics of interest to the home gardener–everything from pollinators to planting under trees to natives to today’s talk on Super Plants. It’s smart marketing for local garden centers to differentiate themselves from the big box stores by inviting special guest speakers to host fun/educational events that bring their customers together. I had not been to one of these special events before because the nurseries I visit most often host their events either during the day when I am at work or at 5:30, when, foremost in my mind is getting home or completing post-work errands. Today was different. After a less than enjoyable dental procedure I decided to stop in at Sugar Creek Gardens Nursery to treat myself. Lo and behold they were about to begin a session on Super Blooms, hosted by Sugar Creek’s owner Abby Lapides Elliott. Abby didn’t go into too much scientific depth but did illustrate her informative talk by explaining that modern breeding using tetraploids (four times the haploid number of chromosomes in the cell nucleus) means that gardeners now have access to plants that boast not just a long-lasting blooms, but plants with beneficial and favorite traits combined that, for example, come in an amazing color, can tolerate geographic conditions, resist diseases, have larger or smaller blooms or foliage, and more. Think hydrangeas that can be incorporated into a mixed garden more easily because they grow only 2 to 3 feet tall versus the more traditional size of 6-plus feet; agastache that is resistant to deer, rabbits and drought; bubblegum pink phlox with giant blooms and resistant to powdery mildew; or native heuchera crossed with traits that result in a variety that is more tolerant to heat and humidity. Of course, there is no free lunch. I came away from this short, 30-minute session armed not just with more knowledge but several plants for the garden beds. And given their improved traits, I’m not complaining.

Wordless Wednesday: Heuchera

June 18, 2014 by mjarz Leave a comment

May 7, 2014
by mjarz 2 Comments

Attack of the Killer Sweet-Gum

What a cute looking pollen…until it covers the yard.

I’m lucky. I don’t really suffer too terribly from seasonal allergies. I notice the car or patio table lightly dusted in a shade of green, but really haven’t given it much thought. There is something in the air in July that makes my nose itch like the dickens but besides that, I really don’t have any problems. And, really, I have not been all that sympathetic to those who do suffer. My daughters will testify to that.

Until now. Wow.

Take a look at the pollen in my yard and on the patio. I came home from work yesterday and–as is my evening habit–went outside to survey the garden beds. Are the astilbe, hosta, heuchera and black eyed Susans I transplanted over the weekend holding up under the nearly 90 degree heat? Are the new ferns I planted adapting to their place beneath the tree? But wait, before I could even begin to answer these compelling questions, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the plethora—and I do mean plethora—of Christmas-tree shaped pollen grains from my neighbor’s sweet-gum (Liquidambar) tree littering my lawn and patio.

Those who know and love me know that I am not a fan of the sweet-gum tree. And Arch City is full of them. The sweet-gum is the tree of choice in my neighborhood. No doubt a builder’s special in the 1950s because they are everywhere in my mid-century-built subdivision. In fact, my backyard neighbors’ has a towering sweet-gum in their yard right next to a 100-foot sycamore. A sweet-gum will grow up to 100 feet and by the looks of it, my neighbor’s tree has accomplished this height. By the way, both trees drop fruit, a spikey gumball in the case of the sweet-gum and one-inch balls in the case of the sycamore.

Sweet-gum trees abound in my neighborhood. This one towers over my yard. At maturity, they can be 100 feet tall. I think this one is mature.

I commenced sweeping the Christmas tree pollens up from the patio. And as I did, they began to break down and the patio looked as if it were littered with yeast. I decided to do a little research and visited pollenlibrary.com (who knew?) where they describe this yard menace as a mild allergenic.

To add insult to injury, the two smallish maples in my yard and in the yard of my neighbor to the south, have released a profusion—and I do mean profusion—of winged beans. I know you know what I’m talking about. Don’t ask me what kind of maple these are, because I have no idea. And these winged beans are a moderate allergen.

Winged beans from the nearby maples fill the gutters. Oh joy!

The forecasters warned that we would have a robust pollen season. Clearly they had this forecast spot on. Now that I’m becoming more sensitive to my friends and family with allergies, I can’t help but think I might have the sniffles. Oh, and a little cough too.

How’s your spring shaping up?

The Arch City Gardener

Journeys In St. Louis Gardening and Beyond

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