Botanical garden part 2, shady and mixed gardens

Taken April 28, 2011, in the shade garden.

Brunnera. I love the tiny flowers.

The path through the shade garden. 

Veronica 'Waterperry'

Unknown blue columbine

Pulmonaria (lungwort). Absolutely stunning in real life.

Another path view, pretty much the same perspective

Another view of the shade garden. I love the shade garden!

Unknown scilla (with the blue flowers) and variegated Solomon's Seal behind it.

Red veined dock

Hesperis matronalis at the edge of the shade garden

April in the botanical garden, the sunny section

I talked the Hub into going to the botanical garden with me yesterday, April 27, 2011. He got roped into photographic assistant duties. Mainly he held flowers so the wind wouldn't ruin my pics. He's a good egg!

Unknown allium

Chives in the veggie garden

Unknown columbine

Schizachyrium scoparium 'Little Bluestem'

'Pheasant Eye' daffodil

Erigeron pulchellus 'Robins plantain'

Clematis Huldine

During a break today in the Biblical-style rains we've been having I charged outside and planted Huldine at the base of La Belle Sultane (gallica rose). La Belle Sultane is beautiful but happens to bloom exactly during our May storms so the flowers are ruined each year. At least with Huldine rambling and clambering over her there'll be pretty white flowers after the spring storms.

I'd include a picture but for the fact that I left my camera out in the rain and think I ruined it. It's taking foggy pics. Hmm, I think this calls for Google.

Rainy day Monster....

April 2011

Rose Baron Girod de l'Ain

Baron Girod de l'Ain is a hybrid perpetual discovered in 1897. It's estimated to get up to 5 feet high and 4 wide. The flowers are amazing, a deep blood red with white, ruffled edges. For me the fragrance is nice but not powerful. It's been healthy so far. No rebloom yet. We had some record-breaking lows this year (several nights of -10), and I think this contributed to quite a bit of cane death. This surprises me as I assumed HPs were hardy. The Baron is down to two 5-foot-tall canes this spring but otherwise looks fine.

Purchased from Pickering in spring of 2009.

First bud of 2011, April 29

Baron Girod de l'Ain, May 2010

Rose Zephirine Drouhin

Zephirine Drouhin is a thornless, climbing bourbon bred in France in 1868 and alleged to attain a height and width of 10-15 feet by 6-8 feet. Pics below are of a 3-year-old plant. It has a gorgeous spring flush, but I've yet to experience any rebloom. The flowers are a hot pink. They're supposed to be extremely fragrant, but I don't detect that strong of a fragrance. I've heard ZD is a blackspot magnet but has remained healthy here in SW Missouri with just a bit of blackspot in late summer.

It succumbs to Japanese beetles each year.

Zephirine buds, April 2011

Baron Giraud de l'Ain on left corner, Zephirine Drouhin in middle, The Fairy on right corner. April 2011.

Three-year-old Zephirine Drouhin, April 2011

The above picture is to display the growth habit and size. One of my biggest pet peeves is images of plants that don't include full shrub shots.

Watching the Birdies!

Left to right are Cutesy, The Bug, The Monster, and The Bunk.

Rose Paul Neyron

Paul Neyron is a hybrid perpetual bred in 1869. It's supposed to bloom in flushes, and as with Madame Pierre Oger, I hope it does so I'll see some blooms after the annual Japanese beetle plague. And the blooms are supposed to be six inches across! I'd love to see that just once.

I purchased and planted Paul Neyron in May of 2010. It was a tiny band I got from Rogue Valley Roses out of Oregon.

Paul Neyron, April 2011

Paul Neyron is the 4th from the left below.

Rogue Valley Roses bands, May 2010

Rose Madame Pierre Oger

Madame Pierre Oger is a bourbon discovered in 1878. It is supposed to bloom in flushes and attain a height of 4-8 feet and about 3 feet wide. Again, why did I put this at the front of the bed? I think I wanted it to be in scale to the massive butterfly bush it's next to.

I just hope this does bloom in flushes as I'm sure the spring flush will be destroyed by Japanese beetles. I'm dying to see the first blooms as I adore cupped, pink/white blooms.

First bud, April 2011

Madame Pierre Oger, April 2011

I purchased this rose as a band from Rogue Valley Roses in May of 2010. She's on the far right in the pic below. RVR was having a sale on "split-stem" roses and this was one of them.

Rogue Valley Roses, May 2010

Mystery weigela

This is another shrub I ordered through a cheapo nursery like Henry Fields. It was a 12-inch bare-root stick I put in the ground in the spring of 2009. I love the reliable spring bloom!

Mystery weigela, spring 2010

Mystery weigela, tripled in size, April 2011

Mystery viburnum

I originally purchased this through one of those cheapo nurseries like Henry Fields. It's supposed to be a snowball viburnum. Now that it's finally bloomed in its second year I see it's not a snowball. I'm not disappointed though as I love this bloom style. This was originally planted as a bare-root stick about 12 inches tall in the spring of 2009. It's now about 6 feet tall and 4 wide. No scent that I can detect.

Mystery viburnum, April 2011

Viburnum blooms

Rose Schneezwerg

Schneezwerg is German for White Dwarf. I think I prefer the German.  It's a hybrid rugosa originally bred in 1911. Estimated height and width is 4-6 feet, which makes me question why I planted it at the front of the bed. It has a gorgeous spring flush and is perfectly disease free. The leaves are typical lovely rugosa leaves.

Schneezwerg looking a little gawky, spring 2010

Schneezwerg filling out, April 2010

Schneezwerg buds and blooms, spring 2010

Nuttin' but pictures

Polemonium reptans 'Stairway to Heaven' (Jacob's Ladder)

Red twig dogwood buds

Red twig dogwood leaf

Euphorbia x martinii 'Ascot Rainbow'

Mystery hosta

Mystery hosta

Mystery hosta

Heuchera 'Silver Scrolls'

Mystery heucherella

Mystery heuchera

Mystery heucherella buds

Work, Work, Work....

To Do

I guess I'm a gardening nerd because my idea of celebrating the installation of the mulch and edging was to go out and spend about $150 on plants. Fun! I don't really need a reason to do this, but that's my excuse. I ran across what is supposed to be a compact Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Little Spire' - about 2 feet by 2 feet) that I'm excited about. I got three. I also picked up three 'Longins,' which are supposed to grow more upright (Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Longin'). Along with those I'm delighted to have found Buddleia davidii 'Nanho Purple.' These are supposed to be compact (3-5 foot spread) for a butterfly bush. Do you see a color theme going on here? I'm a sucker for blues and purples. In any case, my gardens need some large-sized shrubby perennials and these fit the bill and will provide some cohesion amongst the beds.

I already have a purple mystery buddleia that got about 8 feet last year. This year I trimmed it to the ground so will see how big it gets. It's just too large in the spot I have it, but the butterflies really do adore it so I'm having a tough time convincing myself to shovel-prune it.

Euphorbia x martinii 'Ascot Rainbow'

I'm also excited to try this euphorbia. I've never grown them before but am tempted each year when they appear in the gardening centers. I decided to take the $4 plunge and try one this year. Yeah, I'm crazy like that. Isn't it gorgeous? Wow!

Roses to plant

Lastly are the roses that have been sitting in this bucket of water for over a month now. The ground here in this section of the Ozarks is incredibly rocky. For this reason I almost always order bare-root roses from Pickering in Canada. They take smaller holes. Last year I told my neighbor to pay no attention if he heard dynamiting. It was just me planting. It's really easier to dig with a rock pick than a shovel and that's no joke.

So, here sit my poor roses awaiting the Hubby. A couple of months ago he made the mistake of asking me what I wanted for my birthday and I asked for holes to be dug. His expression told me he'd rather I'd have said diamonds. In all fairness to him I got sick shortly after these arrived and really didn't care if I died let alone my roses. I'm hoping to get them in the ground this week.

The roses are:

• Quadra - A luscious red climber that is supposed to be incredibly healthy. Repeats all summer.
• Ispahan - A pink Damask, once-bloomer. It's supposed to bloom for an extended period of time. While that may save the blooms from our spring storms, it will keep it blooming during Japanese beetle season. I adore once-bloomers, but the JBs and storms prevent my growing more.
• Tamora - A compact apricot David Austin rose. I'd grow a yard full of David Austin roses, but a lot of them just aren't healthy enough in my no-spray garden. Hopefully this one will be.
• Viking Queen - A big pink climber that's supposed to be very healthy and repeat blooms.