Crocus seiberi ‘Tricolor’ around Sutphin Fountain.

The three colors in ‘Tricolor’.

Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) still make me happy no matter how many years I’ve seen their spring show.

Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) are very happy little bulbs.

Even on a gray day their bright yellow color absolutely glows.

The honey bees love them. Look at all the pollen on the bees leg.

The bees tended to take flight just as I was ready to snap the photograph.

Bee butt.

Now get your butt to the IMA and enjoy this glorious weather.

Snowdrops behind Deer-Zink are blooming.

Some of the Anemone blanda ‘Blue Shades’ in the beds around the Sutphin Fountain are very close to blooming.

Witchhazels are blooming all over the place.

Perennials are pushing new growth.

And I saw winter aconite that will be in bloom tomorrow. Hellebores should be showing color too.

So much happening. More later.

(via IMA Flickr 2004)

Bambi is a browser. This does not mean that deer tend to thumb through magazines at the newsstand instead of making a purchase. No, they browse in the sense of “chew off the buds and tender twigs of trees and shrubs.” Sure, deer eat grass and hostas and other herbaceous plants, but they have a fondness for woody plants enjoying the young stems and sweet buds of fruit trees and shrubs – I need those buds for next spring’s blossoms. And they like to take naps in the flower beds. So, if you see Odocoileus virginianus out in the gardens, please suggest they trot back over to 100 Acres or Crown Hill.

2009 was a great year to be gardening, because there was plenty of rain and it was not too hot. That also made for a great year for plant pathogenic fungi, which spread more readily during damp weather. In particular downy and powdery mildew defoliated my squash. Unless the plant is a cultivar with disease resistance, it is necessary to spray fungicide once or twice per week. That is NOT something I will be doing, so I may opt for newer varieties if I cannot find resistant heirlooms.

Us plant wonks got a little excited when a seldom seen parasitic plant showed up this past year. Dodder (one of several species in the genus Cuscuta ) probably arrived as a contaminant in some clover seed. Dodder is not a fungus, but a true flowering plant whose seed germinates in the soil, but it promptly attaches itself to another plant, in this case clover. The dodder then loses its roots in soil, and lacking chlorophyll of its own, sucks nutrients out of its host. The stem of the plant is thinner than a paperclip, with flowers about the size of this letter “o”.

Due to a lapse on my part, cabbage loopers (the larvae of a moth) wrecked havoc on my Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and kale. Not much thicker that a pencil lead, they can quickly defoliate cole crops. Fortunately, there is a highly effective organic control, a naturally occurring bacteria called Bascillus thuringiensis (often sold under the brand name Dipel or BT) which only attacks larvae of moths and butterflies (collectively referred to as the order Lepidoptera). Unfortunately, Bt does not work if it is sitting in the bottle on the shelf.

The most diligent pest was the bushy-tailed marauder the fox squirrel (Sciurus niger).

"Dug the Dog"

The cute critters started the season by eating the few apples that “set” on the newly planted trees in the Tanner Orchard. Then they moved on to strawberries. And finished the season munching on sunflowers. Hrrr-rumph.

Sharing sometimes seems over-rated!

View through the orchard

Though much of landscape architecture involves the careful manipulation of spaces, the gardens at Miller House represent one of the best examples of the craft. Working closely with the home’s architect, Eero Saarinen, Kiley laid out a plan which closely reflects and reinforces the strict geometry of the residence. As with his many other commissions, Mr. Kiley used a limited palette of plants. This was not to be a garden of show-stopping color and horticultural diversity.

Rather, his use of hedges – mainly arborvitae and yew – served to create architectural “rooms”, not unlike the arrangement of rooms and ‘zoned’ spaces in the pavilion-like residence. The outdoor rooms are interconnected through corridors of trees – rows and blocks of honey locusts, oaks, horsechestnuts, redbuds, and even apples – as well as large expanses of paving, both hard and soft. These rectangular forms are further enhanced by the beds beneath, whether planted in spring bulbs or summer annuals, or simply mulched. Together, these elements and the extensive use of groundcovers provide a year-round structure, so important in shaping the spaces and giving clarity.

View through White Oaks to East lawn

While this is all so obvious when looking down upon the blueprints and plans, it also comes across marvelously in a more subtle way when one enters the property on foot. Though Saarinen wished for his clients, the Millers, to enjoy the views into the landscape through his ample windows, that view is carefully and purposefully halted at the edges of the property. This is an inward-looking site, versus something like ‘Naumkeag’ in Massachusetts or Philip Johnson’s ‘Glass House’ in Connecticut, where the view to distant mountains and hills is extremely important. Tall hedges and carefully sited rows and clumps of trees prevent vistas into neighboring yards. Instead, one’s views follow a lower plane, usually beneath the limbs of trees, along the tops of low hedges, or along an allee. It’s all about the use of space, and what a space it is. What if geometry class had been as much fun as this!

South drive

I think what we’re talking about is the poetry of space, that’s what landscape design is all about. – Dan Kiley

“Both escape and embrace winter?”, you ask. My, you are a nosy one. I’ll be nice and not tell you to mind your own damn business. For me searching through the catalogues this time of year really is an escape and an embrace of winter.

The escape part might be the easier to understand. I can run away to spring and summer when I will be able to plant the plants and sow the seed. I can imagine how beautiful that Colocasia ‘Diamond Head’ will look with Salvia ‘Black and Blue’.

I can see how pretty those orange bell peppers will look sautéing in dab of butter and olive oil with some green zucchini and purple eggplant. All very summery daydreams warming my world on a day below freezing with the ground covered in snow.

Now, the embracing of winter part might be less obvious. But think about it for a moment. Until sometime in December the garden is usually keeping me pretty darn busy. In October and November I’m so busy cutting back annuals, digging cannas and dahlias to be stored in the basement, and potting up salvia and hibiscus and alocasia to be overwintered near a window that final clean-up occurs late often. Then the holidays hit. Poof. Another two weeks gone. It is really sometime in January before I can shift out of go-go-go gardening mode and shift into dream gardening mode. So yes, I embrace winter for giving me time to dream garden. And that is what looking at all the wonders in all the catalogues is for me – dreaming of how great that new plant will look with the Dahlia ‘Not Hot Chocolate’ sleeping in the basement, dreaming of how perfect some Okra ‘Burgundy’ will look with pepper ‘Tequila Sunrise’ next to Swiss chard ‘Oriole Orange’ next to Lantana ‘Landmark Citrus’ (hopefully surviving in a plastic bag in the basement) and rising above it all Amaranthus ‘Dreadlocks’ that self-sows around the garden.

So who is getting me to open their pages and disappear for a spell? There are so many options. It’s hard to beat Baker Creek for heirloom vegetables. But they also have rare things from all over the world plus some flowers. Tony Avent of Plants Delight is always a good read (even if you can’t always embrace the whole idea on the cover). The man can find the plants! I have a lot of stuff from there. Select Seeds is another with lots of heirlooms but it’s all about flowers and foliage (seeds, bulbs, and plants).  Brent and Becky’s Bulbs is another favorite. I can sit at my kitchen counter and just while away the hours, especially on a cold sunny day with two windows facing south. Maybe I’ll have a batch of cookies in the oven.

And on-line? Mercy sakes alive! It is a fabulous world out there. When I have not received a catalogue yet, or don’t expect to, it’s off to the iMac to see if they have their 2010 catalogue on their website (some places don’t even do a print catalogue). There’s Seed Savers Exchange, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (p-lease, it’s southern y’all), Ronniger Potato Farm (always think I’m gonna plant potatoes), Seedhunt, Bountiful Gardens, Grow Italian, Bustani Plant Farm (are they ever tempting me this year!), Totally Tomatoes (they have peppers too). Then there are all the old stand-bys like Gurney, Jung, and Park for sure. And of course Sandhill Preservation Center (is this the year I finally order sweet potatoes?). Sandhill is one of my favorites. Not only do they have heirloom vegetables and flowers but they have heirloom and rare poultry. Lots of chickens. I love chickens. I’d love to have a chicken ranch. Not like the one in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. One with real chickens. But that isn’t part of life’s current situation. The problem with on-line? My dining room, where my computer resides, doesn’t have a southern window. Oh, but I added that opening in the wall – next to the doorway between the dining room and kitchen! Lots more light into the dining room. It’s looking like a good time to dream garden.

Sorry folks, I done runned out of time to add links to all these places in this post. But I assure you, all or nearly all, are on-line.
And another thing. I don’t need a hundred acres for that chicken ranch. You know, a lil’ ole bitty pissant country place would be just fine.

Icy roads. Short days. Bitter winds. Freezing temperatures. The bloody freaking temperatures absolutely scream winter. It’s especially a slap in the face after the extremely long beautiful autumn. But that was then and this is now and winter will be what it wants to be.

On December 2nd this is what some Echinacea ‘Sundown’ and a Campanula ‘Viking’ looked like.

On December 7th this is what my ‘Rocket Lemon’ snapdragons looked like. A lot can change in 5 days.

Now ideally you want some snow cover for the plants when it gets down in the low teens and below. Most plants are fine though. But what of my slightly more tender stuff where I’m pushing the zone envelope? Makes me a bit antsy to say the least. I should have got mulch around the other set of Colocasia ‘Tea Cups’ in my backyard. At least I got one group mulched. Maybe it’s a good experiment. See who makes it. Or doesn’t. The perennials and small shrubs that went in the ground late are a concern. I would have liked them to have a month or so of “normal” winter temperatures before the deep-freeze hit. Here again may be a good experiment.
Of course the cold weather does tend to make the Christmas decorations around the Lilly House just a little brighter. Whether it’s the trees indoors or the ones outdoors.

And it makes the 750 or so luminaria we put out for the Open House and Winter Solstice all the more beautiful. If you missed Open House you can redeem yourself by being sure to attend the Solstice events on the evening of the 17th. Just the thought of all of you coming warms my frozen candle lighting fingers right back up to blood flowing temperatures. The luminaria are truly magical.

With the snow that fell Monday morning came a reminder of why I do like winter at the same time I hate it. Hard to beat snow with evergreen foliage.

And if you can add some holly berries, well, all the better.

These shots may clue some folks in on why we don’t cut every dormant plant to the ground in late fall. All those seed heads make the best little presentation platters for the snow. They’re just beautiful.

Astilbe.

Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’.

Clematis tangutica ‘Aureola’.

Echinacea ‘Milkshake’. The seeds in there will feed the birds too.

So Winter, bring it on. Just like with people, I can’t make you do what is best so I’ll survive your spastic attentions as best I can and wait for Spring – which of course will come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. Whatever.

Image from slantmouth.com

But I won’t whore myself. When accepting payment it must be clear that it is no guarantee of a favorable review at a later date. Not every thing is as great as the marketing would suggest. Shocking. Of course human nature makes me giddy with excitement over many of these new and exciting and best-ever-introduced plants. It’s variegated? I’m smitten. It’s chartreuse? I’m falling in love. It’s orange? I’m shopping for a ring. It’s all of those? I’m booking the wedding hall and registering at Target. The result of placing my chlorophyll in such a vulnerable spot is that some times my little horticultural heart gets broke – “I was sure this was the one that would bloom forever (sob, sob)”. But I know the pain will ease and soon I will be lusting and loving anew. Ah, the life of a plant slut.

Sometimes a plant isn’t so much sexy as practical. I think many natives fall in this category.I wouldn’t call Tiarella sexy. Pretty? Maybe. A hard worker? For sure. These woodland plants bloom in spring usually with new selections continuing until as late as July. Flowers are usually white with a pink blush but some are a rue light pink. They have very good foliage all season. I’m now trialing five new cultivars of running Tiarella cordifolia, foam flower from Plants Nouveau. Tiarella tends to be either a clumper or a runner. Runners can make better groundcovers because they spread by sending out runners, small plants on the end of horizontal shoots. These are all native to eastern Pennsylvania and named after five rivers in that region. Here are pictures of two.

'Delaware' (Plants Nouveau)

'Susquehana' (Plants Nouveau)

We will have to see if they like Indiana as well. I don’t think there will be a problem as we grow plenty of Tiarella already.

Some natives on the other hand are sexy. The Silphiums in all their big, bold, bodacious beauty are a fine example. Another example would be Tiarella’s somewhat slutty cousin Heucherella, a hybrid resulting from a one-night stand between a Tiarella and a Heuchera (coralbell). Heucherella is sometimes called foamy bells (foam flower x coralbell). The result is plants with flowers generally larger than Tiarella blossoms but smaller than Heuchera blossoms. Some have dark pink flowers. Now all the fantastic colors of Heuchera foliage is being introduced to these plants. Terra Nova has some hot ones right now. I am very interested in trialing some of these as well (my wish list is growing daily and gets sent next week). Jimmy Turner – I can’t help it, I have to call him by both names – Director of Horticulture Research at the Dallas Arboretum, likes them so I know they can handle heat and humidity. My favorite is probably ‘Golden Zebra’ though ‘Sweet Tea’ makes my blood boil a little too.

‘Golden Zebra’ (Terra Nova)

‘Sweet Tea’ (Terra Nova)

So many plants, so many vendors. Such is the life of a plant slut. Now, who had that chartreuse-leaved daylily with delphinium-blue flowers?

Being the nature woman she is, there is also a wide variety of natives for sun and shade. For those more in to garden rooms than gardens, there’s a wide range of non-plant garden related items as well (I’m a big fan of the battery operated paper lanterns). But since I get to write this blog, I’m going to concentrate on plants-  particularly the ones I like best.While the perennials will be available all season long (April – October), remember, some plants may be in short supply so members get here Friday, it’s your day. For everyone else, all I can do is suggest you become an IMA member right quick or get here early in the week-end. It’s not my fault if all the Actea/Cimicifuga simplex ‘Black Negligee’ is gone. Actually the Greenhouse gets in new plants fairly often through May and June so more may come in. Or they may not.

Looking over the perennials available, I did a quick design in my head using three plants that like sun to light shade – Heuchera ‘Tiramisu’ (coralbell/alumroot) Aquilegia vulgaris ‘Leprechaun Gold’ (columbine), and Euphorbia griffithii ‘Fireglow’ (spurge).

The thing that ties all these together is foliage. Keep in mind most perennials bloom for a month or two so foliage is very important as it’s around 7 or 8 months.
Heuchera ‘Tiramisu’ is one of the new H. villosa hybrids. The infusion of H. villosa gives us a much hardier plant and usually a much larger plant. It’s not so fussy about soil or our hot humid summers followed by vicious winters. ‘Tiramisu’ is chartreuse (Mmmm, chartreuse) and red in spring with the red changing to amber in summer then back to red in fall.

I’m going to have to watch it in my own garden to know the time-table on this color change as the information varies with the source. Pink flowers, as if I care. H. ‘Miracle’ would give the same effect if all the ‘Tiramisu’ is gone.
Aquilegia ‘Leprechaun Gold’ has gold and green variegated foliage with violet flowers. It’s nice to have the flowers but again it’s the foliage that counts, deep blue-green with gold splotches and specks.

Euphorbia ‘Fireglow’ has nice coppery green foliage in spring with a bright coral midrib.

In summer the leaves will be a deep green with red stems. But to be honest, while the foliage caught my eye, I want this one for the flowers as much as anything. Multiple sources call them orange-fuchsia. That color makes it a “must have” for me.  As with most Euphorbias, it’s the bracts- not the actual flowers- that provide the most color. So with these plants you have the red in the Heuchera picking up the red in the Euphorbia, the Chartreuse in the Heuchera picking up the yellow in the columbine, and the dark green of the Euphorbia picking up the dark green in the columbine.

Another plant that would be a good addition to this little collection would be Heuchera ‘Citronelle’, a pure chartreuse (Mmmm, more chartreuse) coralbell also with H. villosa genes. Since you can never have too much chartreuse I’ll also mention Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’ (Mmmm, even more chartreuse, on Sutphin Mall) and Tricyrtus ‘Heaven’s Gate’.  Keeping with the color theme is Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’, Hakone grass, Perennial Plant Association Plant of the Year. This is a plant that is always in my top picks for gardens and containers. It’s beautiful, absolutely flows in a design, and is very hardy.

I think the redbuds being offered will sell out real fast. Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ has purple leaves with darker than normal flowers while Lavender Twist™ is a lovely strongly weeping form with the usual lavender pink flowers. Both can be found in the gardens at the IMA, ‘Forest Pansy’ near the Garden for Everyone and Lavender Twist™ as you exit Deer Zink into the Overlook. Also available is Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ which grows in large masses outside the 40th Street entrance.

I have to mention the annuals and tropicals even if the event is called Perennial Premiere. You will have to keep these indoors or move them in and out according to temperatures. Again, some of these can sell out. Being a big fan of the bananas I was glad to see the virus tested Musa bajoo, a hardy species, will be available. I planted one of these at home last year and it got 8-10 feet tall with about a half dozen pups. Unfortunately I mulched it really late so it may not come back. For those that don’t mind things a little prickly there is the Agave bovicornuta ‘Reggae Time’, a cultivar of cow’s horn agave (bovi=bovine=cow, cornuta=horn). A large assortment of succulents will be available as these are still trending very hot. And of course we have many coleus, begonias, and flowering tender plants.

The hours for Perennial Premiere are Friday 11am – 5pm, Saturday 11am – 5 pm, and Sunday 12 noon – 5 pm. Those are just the regular hours the greenhouse is open every week (actually next week they will return to the 11am – 8pm schedule on Fridays). This week-end, all the Horticulturists will be working in the greenhouse along with the regular staff to help you make wise selections. Please join us for three special days of plant shopping and fun. Since some of you all may be unfamiliar with this concept of shopping and fun I strongly recommend you watch this important video before traveling to the IMA Greenhouse (be sure to catch the Spring Blossom Festival).

image from trendhunter.com

image from trendhunter.com

More often however designers are only inspired by plants when they are creating fabric for their work. That fact is the focus for the exhibition Fashion in Bloom put together by Niloo Imami-Paydar, IMA’s Curator of Textile and Fashion Arts. The exhibition opens Saturday April 4 and runs through January 30, 2010. The items in this exhibition go all the way back to the 1700’s, but the four I’m blogging about are from the late 1950’s to the 70’s.Mind you, as IMA Horticulturist Geoff Von Burg discovered when he developed a guide connecting flowers on the dresses with their botanical counterparts, the flowers are not always exact replicas of their living inspirations. Sometimes you just have to guess what the designer was thinking.

Is that a geranium? Or a rose? An anemone. No, maybe a cosmos?
Some however, are as obvious as a drag queen in size 14 stilettos. The bright flowers on this dress by James Galanos leave no doubt that it’s a field of hibiscus.

With the near-perfect shape of the petals and the large yellow protruding stamens, it’s practically a botanical print. Remember there are both tropical and hardy hibiscus plants. I’m sure the tropical variety inspired this fabric’s design.

image from phoenixplants.com

The tropical hibiscus comes in about every color but true blue and is Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. They make great summer plants here in the Midwest blooming constantly whether in containers or in the ground. They are easy to overwinter indoors and will even bloom if happy. The hardy ones, generally Hibiscus moscheutos and its hybrids, range from white to pink to red with the pinks and reds coming in palest pink to near burgundy. Some are now available with dark burgundy foliage as well. They die back completely each winter but come back up in late spring to bloom by mid-summer. In our gardens we have ‘Ruby Dot’ at the 42nd Street Bridge, ‘Intense Pink’ in the Dick Wood Formal Garden, and ‘Plum Crazy’ in front of the Madeline F. Elder Greenhouse.

The flowers on this dress by Indiana’s own Norman Norell must be zinnias …. or dahlias ….  or mums.

image from howstuffworks.com

I like to think of them as zinnias since they are the quintessential summer flower in the Midwest and this dress just screams summer. And they can be found in all the bright colors shown on the fabric. Zinnias are one of the easiest of summer annuals to grow, full sun and decent drainage and they are happy. You can choose from shorter varieties such as the Zahara series I’m using this year around the Sutphin Fountain or the taller more traditional types I used to use in the cutting garden like the Benary’s Giant Series or the hot ‘Uproar Rose’.
I have to include the psychedelic influenced Bill Blass design in the show because the leaves make me think of coleus.

image from gardenguides.com

And really, why even get up in the morning if you aren’t going to think of coleus? Coleus are fabulous in the ground and in containers plus they can be used in the shade and the sun. There are precious few colors not included in their leaves. All you have to do is shop around for the one that fits best with your other plant colors. That’s color from flowers or foliage. Other flowers I see in this fabric are Gazania and Salpiglossis (painted tongue).

The last dress I want to mention is this 1970’s velvet number by Hanae Mori.

The beautiful pink cherry blossoms made me instantly think of the flowering almond (Prunus triloba var. multiplex) ready to bloom right now in the Southwest Border Garden.

Flowering Almond

Long time gardeners may recognize its similarity to the dwarf flowering almond (Prunus glandulosa), a much smaller spring blooming shrub that has fallen out of favor. The flowering almond is one of the earliest spring blooming shrubs, well before its leaves unfurl. It gets rather large, 12 to 15 feet, but can be pruned to maintain a slightly smaller stature. It is another of the woody plants that are great for forcing into bloom in late winter. You just cut a few branches, put ‘em in a vase, and in a few days you have gorgeous double pink flowers brightening the gray winter days. Like most Prunus species it prefers lots of sun.

I suggest you take some time to see Fashion in Bloom then take a stroll through our gardens to see how many similar flowers you find there. Or take a walk in the gardens first then see the show. Just do both and make yourself happy for awhile ( and Niloo, and me, and all the other horticulturists).

By the way, the redbuds (Cercis canadensis, C. reniformis, and C. chinenesis) are in very heavy bud just ready to burst into full bloom. Get your butt over here in the next couple weeks and check them all out.