A Spring Triptych. Left: a Tulip and Daffodil with Morel Mushrooms from the Yard. Middle: Found Bones (and Chicken Wishbones). Right: an Iris, Fern Fronds, Kousa Dogwood and Clematis Blooms from the Yard.
©Daniel Mosher Long
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PREAMBLE
I am not an exceptional gardener. But I am an enthusiastic gardener. And a photographer. And somewhat of an information junkie. There is truly nothing special about my yard and garden. Other than I decided to systematically make pictures of it when the plants were in bloom and the light was complementary. And then upload the photos to this website. And then write about my experience as an unexceptional gardener. Which makes my average, run-of-the-mill yard special I suppose. And I embrace the irony.
I started this "project" in late June of 2024, but have included a few older photos and intend to add photos in the future. This project is very much a garden journal, allowing me to keep track of my gardening successes and failures. As I photograph and write about my plants, I learn about my plants. Hopefully, through the process, I will become a better gardener. I include photo dates when I think of it. I include links to other websites with useful gardening advice that is plant or product specific. Most all of these photos were made with an iPhone, with a few exceptions.
Fun and Folly. I took this snapshot at the Belvedere House in Mullingar, Ireland in 2023. The ruin you see in the photo is a faux ruin, a gigantic 65-foot tall folly known as Rochfort’s Folly or the Jealous Wall.
A dictionary definition: "In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings."
Built in 1760, this is the largest folly in Ireland.
Robert Rochfort built the folly to block the view of his brother George’s adjacent house, Tudenham Park House, which was grander than his house. It seems that Robert and George were a bit competitive.
This Irish folly is intended as a segue. My landscape design has always had a pedestrian, primary purpose: foundation and privacy screening. To that end, I have dug dozens of holes, hoping to make the screening varied and interesting at the very least.
When you live on a modest lot in a suburban neighborhood like I do, privacy screening is part of most landscape designs. When we moved to our newly built home in 2000, we planted five, four-foot Norway Spruces along our property line in the backyard. While they still don't measure up to a 65-foot ruin, they have been a very important part of our landscape.
Other landscape goals include creating discreet spaces within the larger landscape, establishing "picturesque" window views, and growing pollinator plants, bird-sustaining berry plants and hummingbird nectar plants, while sustaining some sort of year-long, drought-tolerant visual interest with early, mid and late season landscape features. Did I miss anything important?
I live on a shady woodland lot in northeastern Connecticut. The lot was partially cleared in 2000 when we built our house. The lot is 2.33 acres. About half the land is cleared and half the land is moist woodland - a vernal pool instead of a swimming pool - town designated wetland. The dry part of the yard is largely rock and hard-packed clay. Quite impenetrable for the average guy with a shovel. Meaning me.
I know next to nothing about landscape design and gardening. So I am a perfect match for my yard, which is disinclined to nurture much more than invasive Oriental Bittersweet, brambles and Autumn Olives.
I appreciate landscape design. I love an outdoor space that looks good and feels lived in.
I love to sit on a shady, well designed terrace or patio. Old-world courtyards with patina and climbing vines can't be beat. I love stone work, patios, walkways and walls. I love moss, lush ground cover, flourishing, dense, layered garden beds, hedgerows and a vigorous tree canopy. The less lawn, the better. Specimen trees are delightful. Shade is good. A water feature is a plus. A ruin or a folly makes the site complete.
My yard may be folly, but it has no follies. Or water features. No koi pond. Or hedgerows. Or hospitable soil. Mine is a relatively level parcel of ornery land that alternates between too dry and too wet to sustain happy plant life. My "lot" in life has biblical proportions of vermin (like picnicking deer and voles), hungry insects (Spongy Moths, Emerald Ash Borers, Woolly Adelgids), unidentified fungal rot and persistent, imperturbable... pestilence.
I had modest landscape goals when we built the house in 2000. I wanted to keep as many trees as possible (for shade). I wanted privacy – an open expanse of lawn seamlessly flowing into my neighbor's open expanse of lawn was not my dream landscape. I wanted a "green wall" and/or natural forest buffer, delineating my yard from the one next door. This would allow me to walk the yard in my European-style Speedo, if I owned one. But since I did not, it would allow me to at least partially control my view (in case my neighbor owned a European style Speedo).
While I love natural woodland, I also wanted to eradicate the brambles, prickers and poison ivy that came naturally with the lot. I wanted my young, bare-legged boys to be able to freely romp under the trees.
I wanted enough grassy lawn for ball games, but not enough turf to land a small plane on.
I wanted to hide the house’s concrete foundation with shrubs and plants. I wanted to see flowers in bloom from the window. Well, all my windows.
I wanted an outdoor space - a 'room" - where I could comfortably drink my morning coffee and grill burgers.
It turns out, these were not modest goals. Nearly 25 years later, my landscape is still a work in progress.
HARD ROCK CAFE
This is Wyatt, the fair-weather-patio-Buddha-cat. He was a Mansfield rescue kitten and in July of 2024, when this photo was taken, turned 14. As soon as the weather warms up, he spends most of his day on the patio. But in winter, he prefers to lounge on freshly laundered clothes and knitting projects. He thinks snow is an abomination.
Garden Buddhas may now be as kitsch as garden gnomes. But somehow they seem more serene, less mischievous. Have you ever seen a Buddha mooning anyone?
Our just-big-enough bluestone patio is the heart of our yard. It's where we gather. It was built in 2016, when we razed the yard's original deck, using the deck's original footprint for a sunny breakfast nook/kitchen extension and a separate three-season porch. In the process, we carved up part of the lawn for a patio. The small porch opens to the patio. The patio is ground zero for my container gardening. The patio has a "Stonehenge" bench made from three appropriately shaped stones from the yard, perfect for pots. Other pots sit on repurposed soapstone slabs set in the mulch that partially surrounds the patio. The soapstone was leftover from our kitchen countertops - kindly left onsite by Vermont Soapstone Co. I use an array of wrought iron plant stands (purchased from Brimfield Flea Market and online from A Rustic Garden) for my containers to add height and help define the patio space.
July 25, 2024. The Buddha above was purchased at the Brimfield Flea Market many years ago. Most of my wrought iron plant stands also came from Brimfield.
Our patio is shabby chic, I suppose. It is not minimalistic in a modern sense. It is not traditional in any other sense. It is improvised, eclectic, an ever-changing work in progress that embraces flea-market purchases, found objects and all sorts of things culled from nature. This includes stone Buddhas from Brimfield, old broken bottles found locally, vintage rusted metal tool and machine parts, twisted vines, tree roots, driftwood, shells & and stones collected while traveling.
Yes, we are talking about junk.
Patio props. This Buddha is sitting on a pedestal that is actually a porcelain telegraph/telephone wire insulator. We have a dozen or more of these insulators propped about the yard, on stonewalls and in gardens. They were all found locally in CT, seemingly where they fell decades ago. They are made of glass and porcelain and come in different shapes and sizes. They were used on telegraph and telephone poles from the 1840s to the 1930s. Gnarly vines and beach stones can be seen in the background.
A lawn sculpture near the patio hides a drain spout. The rusty "corona" object is a farm implement of some sort. The gold disk is a lamp stand. The top is a pineapple hose guard. Together, their weight is hefty. The two-foot granite column that holds up the iron finial assemblage is hidden in this photo - but it used to house outdoor lighting. More weight. Our outdoor sculptures change every year. Nothing is nailed down or screwed together.
This is our Hard Rock Cafe.
In addition to a teak cafe table and chairs, the patio has room for another low "cocktail and hors d'oeuvres" table (which is generally used as a foot rest) and set of chairs. We can comfortably seat 10 or 12 people on the patio. This patio set was inherited and I expect it is from the early 1980s. The garden Crocs are timeless.
After building the patio and living with and on it for a number of years, we decided to build a little annex off the patio for the gas grill.
While the annex would have looked better if it was part of the original design, it serves its purpose and frees up "floor" space for all the furniture, an umbrella and a Solo fire pit.
Sometimes you just have to live in the space... and actually use it... before you really know what works.
Our patio was installed in the fall of 2016. About six years later, it was expanded with an annex for the gas grill with a sweep of mulch and stepping stones. This is a drone shot of our patio before the annex, marked up with the changes I wanted the landscape company to make. In this photo, the grill is sitting on the lawn. Now it's on bluestone.
Patio props. A Buddha head on a crumbling ceramic pot. Both are sitting in an improvised basket made of a translucent sea shell lampshade that once hung in our Ashford house. Next to the basket is a pot with a bright orange Hibiscus.
Patio props. In 2024 my favorite six-foot whirligig "kinetic sculpture" moved to the patio from a less visible location. I've had this Amazon bought spinner since 2019. It has blown over, bent and/or fallen apart a dozen times. I've repaired it each time. In 2024 I repurposed a new, sturdier base to prevent it from toppling. It has only blown over once since then (smashing a potted plant in the process). It is bent and rusty, but I am a fan of its enthusiastic and vigorous response to the breeze.
CACTI MENAGERIE
Various surfaces on the patio are adorned with potted succulents - a cacti menagerie. The succulents usually spend their winters inside. Some succulants become light-starved and leggy during the winter and are replaced. The pots remain the same, but the tenants come and go.
The cacti are usually the first plants to grace my patio come May.
I planted two shallow terracotta pots with two different types of Hens and Chicks in 2022. I put a pair of Hens in each pot and waited. Shards of antique bottles, shells and beach stones are now interspersed with the succulents. Hens and Chicks tolerate the cold but I bring the pots inside for the winter to keep the soil from freezing and cracking the pots. In 2024 the matriarchs of the "poultry colonies" bloomed, sending up a single eight inch spike of flowers in each pot.
July 30, 2024. A bloom from a Hens and Chicks pot. The oldest Hen in each pot was at least three years old, having spent three summers on the patio. 2024 was the first summer they bloomed. Hens and Chicks are classified as "monocarpic." This means that they will flower, produce seeds and die shortly after. Not the whole colony. Just the momma hen.
The Great Hail of ’24. On the night of May 8, 2024, less than 24 hours after I purchased three hanging baskets and planted 5 large containers full of Begonias, Coleus, Cordyline, Dipladenia, Sedum, and vines, and arranged them all on my patio, it hailed. Pea sized hail. Then dime sized hail. The hail shredded the Coleus and Begonias. Broke apart cacti. Ripped at the Dipladenia, which is almost indestructible. I replaced a few plants and let others re-grow. The plants that fared the worse? My garden Hostas were turned to Swiss Cheese.
ELEPHANT EARS
I've grown Elephant Ears off and on for the past two decades. I started growing them in the ground outside, which meant planting the bulbs in mid-May. The bulbs are slow to start. They need warm soil. In 2023 I bought four bulbs and planted them in pots inside the house in late March. It turns out they make great patio container plants. And if you start them inside, they are big and bold a month sooner.
For the first time, in 2023, I decided to try to over-winter my Elephant Ear bulbs. So I extracted them from their root-bound pots in November 2023 and trimmed the roots and exercised the rot. Yes, some of the bulbs had become soft and mushy in areas. What I had left looked nothing like the rootless, roundish, firm bulbs I planted in March 2023. Could these possibly grow again? I dried what was left of the bulbs for a few weeks and wrapped them in newspaper and put them in a box in the basement.
I planted all four tuberous masses in pots in late March 2024. I kept the pots near windows and waited. I was skeptical. Low and behold, all four came back to life!
CONTAINING CORDYLINE & CREEPING JENNY
Below: A potted white Dipladenia and a "Red Star" Cordyline (for height) in a wrought iron plant stand on the patio. I love my wrought iron plant stands. They are great for plants that spill or trail. I have five. They are quite rusty now. Which adds to their rustic charm. Only problem, they will blow over in a big wind storm.
Above: The bottom view of a Dipladenia and a Red Star Cordyline. The Dipladenia vines can do their thing in an elevated planter. Vinca is also squeezed into the pot (for additional spill).
Below: The top view of the planter with a green-leaved Cordyline and Creeping Jenny. The Cordyline shoots up, the Creeping Jenny hangs down.
Above: This pot features Creeping Jenny and a green-leaved Cordyline. Both were overwintered in separate pots in my garage. There are few stowaway Lemon Coral Sedums (Sedum mexicanum) in the mix. A tall piece of driftwood is wired to the wrought iron plant stand. Why? Why not?
Below: The top view of a Red Star Cordyline that over-wintered in the garage. Cordyline can tolerate temps as low as 15 F. I was able to over winter some plants in my unheated garage during the winter of 2023/24 because my garage has windows for light and the winter was very mild.
Above: The bottom view of a Sedum and Cordyline planter. The Sedum also overwintered in my garage. This pot sits on a flat stone. A hollow birch log from the yard has been transformed into "environmental art" for the summer. Creeping Jenny (yellowish plant) that escaped from a pot last year is growing in the mulch next to a brass frog. Creeping Jenny is a perennial. And an escape artist.
This pot features Creeping Jenny and a pink Dipladenia. The Dipladenia is more drought tolerant than the Creeping Jenny. 2024 was the first time I potted them together. We will see how they pair.
This is the bottom view of the pink Dipladenia and Creeping Jenny pot. Creeping Jenny is considered invasive, which is why it is mostly now used in pots. The yellow or golden variety I plant is called Auria and is generally considered less-or-non-invasive.
Behind the Buddha is a soapstone slab on a large ceramic pot which functions as a improvised plant table for various cacti, a Croton and the Spanish Lavender (2024).
GIMME SHADE. August 13, 2024. The Treasure Garden 9' umbrella was purchased in 2023 from Patio Living based on a Wirecutter review. This one has a 50 pound cast iron base, but has still blown over twice, once while open, once while closed. It survived both times. We have regularly impressive wind storms here in the "Quiet Corner" of CT. So a sturdy umbrella is a must for the patio.
PATIO PERENNIALS:
BALLOON FLOWERS, HAKONE GRASS, HOSTA AND SOLOMON'S SEAL
July 22, 2024. For much of July the "Fuji Blue" Balloon Flowers (Platycodon grandiflorus) are in bloom. Supposedly, one can extend the bloom time if one diligently deadheads the spent blossoms. The buds are balloon shaped - thus the name.
They self-seed, so the Balloon Flower patch next to the patio keeps getting bigger and is threatening to overwhelm the temperamental and under-performing dwarf Hydrangea (Everlasting Amethyst).
I first saw Balloon Flowers in the King's Garden at Fort Ticonderoga.
Between the patio and the house I planted a few perennials. In addition to Balloon Flowers, there is a dwarf Hydrangea, some Spiderwort, two clumps of Hakone Grass, a patch of Solomon's Seal and Hostas. These plants compete with the ferns that grow everywhere in my gardens - ferns that are from the original wet woodlot that we built our house on.
I put two or more iron plant stands in the patio's perennial garden each summer. They are located in front of house windows. These stands hold very visible (from inside) potted arrangements, like the one you see in this photo (with an Angel Wing Begonia, a Montgomery Begonia, a Coleus and Creeping Jenny).
An escaping Balloon Flower and Hakone Grass. BaIloon Flowers self-sow. This one is growing out of a crack in the patio stones. I have three clumps of Japanese Forest Grass/ Hakone Grass (Hakonechloa/Aureola) in the yard. I don't know of any other ornamental grass that grows so well in shade. My cats really like to eat the Hakone Grass so I sprinkle it with cayenne.
My container plantings are routinely plagued with slugs, even though they are sometimes four feet above the ground in plant stands. The slugs climb the plant stands. The Coleus and Begonia in this container suffered serious slug damage in 2024.
Many years ago I planted lots of Hosta in my shady yard - all different types. I have around 30 Hostas. I would not recommend planting so many Hosta in CT. Deer and slugs love Hosta. Voles love Hosta roots.
Solomon's Seal is a sign of spring, an early bloomer. It does not look so good in August. There are about 60 different varieties of Solomon's Seal, some are native to North America. It is considered a shade/woodland plant. The rhizomes of various species have been used medicinally to treat various ailments or ground and baked into a type of bread, and the young shoots can be eaten like asparagus.
Hosta blossom. I spray my Hosta to keep the deer away - I highly recommend
I Must Garden products. So now they mostly eat the Hosta flowers. The deer will walk on the patio for a snack.
Variegated Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum odoratum) and shade-tolerant Hakone Grass/Japanese Forest Grass.
HANGING OUT WITH DIPLADENIA & MANDEVILLA
A hanging Dipladenia with a Rose of Sharon in the background.
In 2024 I went all out and outfitted the patio with multiple Dipladenias.
Dipladenia blooms from spring to frost. It is very tolerant of under-watering and generally pest-free. Good if you travel a lot.
The only problem with Dipladenia: they shed pounds of blooms. Dipladenias remind me of Rose of Sharon and Hibiscus in that regard. The spent blooms on the ground are about as aesthetic as goose poop.
Otherwise, they are long-lasting and seriously low-maintenance.
Hummingbirds like Dipladenia.
Dipladenia sold in Connecticut seems to come in three colors: hot pink, white and red.
I have various wrought iron plant stands. Some were bought at the Brimfield Flea Market in Massachusetts (this flea market happens three times a year). And more recently, I have purchased wrought iron plant stands online from A Rustic Garden.
Mandevilla is very similar to a Dipladenia. Hummingbirds love both plants.
This pink flowers in these photos are from a hanging Mandevilla, not a Dipladenia. The Mandevilla's bloom is less intense than the pink Dipladenia's. The plants are very similar. But Mandevilla vines climb up vertical structures. Dipladenia is a bushier plant with vines that tend to hang rather than climb. That said, both my hanging Dipladenias and Mandevillas vine upward toward the patio's cafe lights.
LAVENDER
This potted Spanish Lavender Topiary (Anouk - Lavandula stoechas) was over-wintered in the garage 2023/24. It gets too cold in my part of Connecticut for this Lavender to stay out in the winter.
It bloomed very early in the spring of 2024. It then put out new leaves.
I learned that I need to rotate the Lavender while it winters in the garage, so all sides of the plant get sufficient light.
Spanish Lavender is also called French Lavender. Go figure.
A Spanish Lavender blossom. The website My Mediterranean Garden features plants from the Mediterranean. Instead of photos, it has nifty interactive 3-D illustrations. You can rotate the plant to see what it looks like from all angles. This website is so cool!
EXPERIMENTS
Over the years I have experimented with dozens and perhaps hundreds of plants, both annuals in containers and perennials in the ground. Many of the annuals lost their luster as the summer progressed or were quickly a holy mess thanks to the local bugs. For instance, my yard is home to some sort of insect that fancies Sweet Potato Vine. Many of the perennials didn't like my soil or the shade... or were eaten by the deer, rabbits, groundhogs, voles, beetles, caterpillars and slugs for brunch. Some plants, like Cone Flowers, thrived for years and then faded away. Others withered away in a single season, like my Toad Lilies and Miss Willmott's Ghosts.
For a few years I planted "Sunfinity" dwarf Sunflowers (Helianthus interspecific) in a tub on the patio. They grew vigorously, but were easily flattened by wind and rain and were curiously ravaged by hordes of marauding goldfinches.
For years, I would have at least one Fuchsia on the patio. Fuchsia blossoms are so exotic. But my Fuchsia tended to fade in the heat of August. So this year I stuck with Dipladenia, which doesn't fade.
For a number of years I purchased container plant "collections" from White Flower Farm in Litchfield, CT. The collections were shipped across the state to my "Quiet Corner" town in early May in time to plant. The collections, usually 4 to 5 plants per pot (pot and soil not included), took the work out of deciding which plants would look good together. The collections usually contained assorted Begonias, Impatiens, or another flowering plant, Coleus, and a vine - a thriller, a filler and a spiller. While a bit pricey, this approach was otherwise painless.
Then the WFF plant stock "went to pot" - the plants looked anemic and leggy and arrived wilted and broken. After two years of this, I started buying my container plants locally, saving money and ensuring that the containers started with healthy stock.
ROSE OF SHARON
July 25, 2023. Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) is also known as Common or Hardy Hibiscus and Althea. It is considered an old fashion garden staple. The blooms can be white, pink or lavender. It prefers full sun. Deer will nibble on it, but mostly leave Rose of Sharon alone if they have other things to eat. This bush was given to us as a house warming gift in 2001. It has been transplanted once and is now approximately 10 feet tall and 14 feet wide. It blooms from July to September.
July 27, 2024. We have a much smaller, and younger, lavender colored Rose of Sharon too. This one is planted in deep shade, but it still blooms.
The Rose of Sharon blooms and Buddha head in this photo are partially under water - rain water, which filled up my black wheelbarrow. Gotta love the rain.
RAIN. It is no secret that weather can profoundly affect your garden. For instance, in 2022, Storrs, CT got a whopping 1.36 inches of rain in July. Yup, less than 2 jnches. In 2023, Storrs, CT got 11.91 inches of rain in July. What a difference a year makes. And the July 2023 rain was not the result of a hurricane or a big storm. It just rained often.
In 2022, Storrs received 39.9 inches of precipitation total – the biggest storm of the year dumped 1.9 inches in a single day. In 2023, Storrs received 64.4 inches of precipitation total – the biggest storm dumped 3.8 inches in a single day.
By August 24, of 2024, Storrs recorded 41.2 inches of precipitation – more than what was recorded in all of 2022. Similarly, the number of days above 90 varies considerably. And the winters do seem to be getting milder.
VINES/HONEYSUCKLE
The orange Honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa) is native to some parts of North America. I grow it on a trellis near my front steps. Hummingbirds love it.
It has been cut back hard once, because it was trying to pry its way into the the eaves. It lives on, but for two or three years it has suffered greatly from powdery mildew from mid to late summer.
The purple Clematis lasted only three or four years, and then one spring, the Clematis was history. I don't know the name of this Clematis variety.
It grew up a trellis with the Orange Honeysuckle. The orange and purple blossoms intermingled.
The exotic butterfly is a Papilio Blumei. The bloom is from my Honeysuckle vine.
HYDRANGEA
July 7, 2024. Oakleaf Hydrangea "Queen of Hearts" (Hydrangea quercifolia). Oakleaf Hydrangeas are native to a wide swath of the Southeastern United States and are found abundantly from North Carolina south to Florida, and east into Louisiana. In the wild, Oakleaf Hydrangeas reach some pretty generous proportions: up to 10'+ tall and wide under ideal growing conditions. They are shade tolerant and may actually prefer shade. They need ample moisture to thrive, especially until established. Oakleaf Hydrangeas bloom on old wood, so avoid trimming them or cutting them back. Extreme cold will cause dieback. On July 10, 2024, the New York Times published an article sub-titled "Hydrangea Hysteria" about how a rainy fall and mild winter in the northeast produced some of the best looking Hydrangeas in ages.
August 13, 2024. The flowers of Oakleaf Hydrangeas all start out white, creamy white, or with some green hints. A few varieties, like Queen of Hearts, Gatsby Pink and Ruby Slippers, will develop nice pink/red coloration as the blooms age. By mid-August the white bloom turns pink. If the plant gets enough light, the leaves turn maroon in fall. I have two different types of Oakleaf Hydrangeas, growing in different parts of my yard. Unfortunately, deer like the blooms and buds.
July 7, 2024. A white Oakleaf Hydrangea bloom snuggling with a blue Bigleaf Hydrangea (Macrophylla) bloom. The Bigleaf Hydrangea is native to Japan. Bigleaf Hydrangeas always remind me of houses along southern New England's shoreline where they are a staple. Bigleaf Hydrangea prefers morning sun and dappled afternoon sun or part shade. Bigleaf Hydrangea bloom on old wood or a combo of old and new wood. Winter damage is unfortunately very common with Bigleaf Hydrangea. Not only cold temperatures, but sudden temperature fluctuations will damage the plant. Drought or a dry summer can effect next year's blooms. In many ways, Hydrangea are temperamental.
August 13, 2024 - Bigleaf Hydrangea fading blooms. Flower color of Bigleaf Hydrangea will vary depending on the soil pH. Acidic soil results in bluer flowers, while neutral or alkaline soil will cause blooms to be pinker. As the blue blooms age on my plant, they turn pinkish, like the blooms of the Oakleaf Hydrangea.
BEAUTYBERRY
Beautyberry (Callicarpa) is either a native Asian or a native North American shrub. The two broad varieties look very similar, with slightly different leaves and berry clusters. It is slow to leaf out in the spring, flowers in July and keeps its leaves until late fall, after most deciduous shrubs are bare. It produces clusters of vibrant purple berries. By Thanksgiving, the Beautyberry leaves are gone, but the berries remain to delight the birds. Migrating bluebirds have feasted on these berries for the past two or three Novembers. And cardinals like them too. Branches with berry clusters can be dried, as seen in the still life with the grasshopper. I have cut my Beautyberries back hard and in two-year's time, they were as big as ever.
A still life with a grasshopper and dried Beautyberries.
BLACK ELDERBERRY
July 7, 2024. Black Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) from Long Island Natives (a division of Country Gardens Nursery) blossom in early July. Elderberries are edible, and now considered a superfood, but I planted the bushes for the birds. The blossoms are quite small and create a white plume of sorts.
August 13, 2024. I purchased two Elderberries, two Chokeberries and three Highbush Blueberries from the CT River Coastal Conservation District's Native Plant sale in 2022. I also purchased a Paw Paw at the same sale, not realizing that I needed two if I wanted fruit.
About a month after the Elderberry blossoms, the berries are green and still rather small (as seen above). The berries will eventually turn a blue-black and be eaten by birds. Deer like them too.
The Elderberries have grown much more vigorously than the Chokeberries and Blueberries.
BOTTLEBRUSH BUCKEYE & ANISE HYSSOP
Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora). Native to the southeast but adapted to a much larger area, Bottlebrush Buckeye gets its name from white blooms that resemble bottlebrushes and its dark, shiny, inedible "nuts" that reminds one of chestnuts or buckeyes. Bottlebrush Buckeyes may not produce "nuts" when grown in colder regions, like Connecticut. The shrub is shade tolerant and can grow 12 feet tall. I have two small Bottlebrush Buckeyes. They are slow growers. Insects and deer both like their leaves.
Anise Hyssop "Blue Fortune." Agastache foeniculum, commonly called Anise Hyssop, is a species of perennial plant in the mint family. It is a North American native with a history of culinary and medicinal applications among some Native American cultures. Common garden Hyssop, on the other hand, is native to Southern Europe and Central Asia – a different plant. Anise Hyssop blossoms pop open in intervals, providing a long lunch for bees and butterflies and other pollinators. It blooms from June to September. Typically, it grows 2 to 4 feet high. Rain and wind can flatten Anise Hyssop. It can be grown in sun or partial shade. It self-sows readily and I routinely transplant seedlings. I have it growing in three or four different areas of my yard, in the shade and in bright sun. It is a bee magnet.
JOE PYE WEED
Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum), another native plant, and a common CT wildflower. A true weed. Legend has it that Joe Pye Weed flowers were named after a New England man that used the plant medicinally for helping people with typhus fever. In addition to its medicinal properties, both the flowers and seeds have been used in producing pink or red dye for textiles. Joe Pye Weed can grow quite tall - 6 feet isn't uncommon. I planted it next to my house. I usually support this plant with twine - tie it up. It can get flattened in a heavy rain storm. It has migrated a bit over the years, moving toward the lawn and away from the house. It likes moist soil and tolerates partial shade. Its leaves are eaten by a host of caterpillars - like Milkweed in that regard. It blooms in late summer - August through September. Another bee magnet.
SUMMERSWEET & HIGHBUSH CRANBERRY
August 13, 2024. Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia) produces sweetly scented flowers during the waning days of summer, when few other shrubs are in bloom. Lilac welcomes the summer with sweet perfume and Sumersweet bids adieu. Summersweet is native to North America and attracts pollinators of all sorts. Its white blooms are shaped like bottle brushes. I had two of these plants, both transplanted three times. The soil was too dry in the first spot. The second spot was re-purposed for a patio. The last spot, the current spot, is perhaps too close to the woodland. And I cut one down to make room for a woodpile. I have not been kind to my Summersweet.
The Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum) is actually not a cranberry, though its fruit or "drupes" resemble cranberries in both appearance and taste. The Highbush Cranberry is a Viburnum, a member of the Honeysuckle family. The Highbush Cranberry is native to North America and the fruit supposedly makes a nice jam. A European version of this bush has inedible fruit.
My Highbush Cranberry is about 15 feet tall. I planted it in 2001 when I ordered 50 bare root native fir trees and berry bush "plugs" from a CT native plant sale.
The Highbush Cranberry's fruit turns red in August. The fruit sometimes remains after the tree drops its leaves. I've used the berries in Thanksgiving flower arrangements. Other years, the fruit is eaten by the birds before the summer is over.
My parents had a Highbush Cranberry in New Hampshire. It was gorgeous. Then one year it was denuded by the Viburnum Leaf Beetle. These beetles are hungry buggers! After being defoliated for a few consecutive years, my parents' Highbush Cranberry was no more.
REDBUD & SMOKEBUSH
Forest Pansy Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis). Eastern Redbud is native to central and eastern North America. "Forest Pansy" is a maroon-purple-leaved cultivar. While the tree has tiny pinkish blossoms in early spring, its main appeal is the color of its heart shaped leaves. My Redbud was rescued from Home Depot when trees were on sale one fall. I like to rescue plants in the fall, right before the big box store plants them in a dumpster.
I don't know if this is an American Smokebush (Cotinus obovatus), native to the Southeastern United States or a cultivar of European Smokebush (Cotinus coggygria). Regardless, I love its maroon leaves. In the spring, all its leaves are maroon. As the summer progresses, the leaves turn green and only the new growth is maroon. My tree does not produce flower plumes that resemble smoke. If I understand correctly, Smokebushes are dioecious like Holly and Paw Paw. This means that there are separate male and female plants and that in order to produce fruit ("smoke plumes") you will need both. Because I have a single bush, I have no "smoke".
DAYLILIES
Daylilies (Hemerocallis) are not true lilies. But don't tell them that. They grow from rhizomes, not bulbs, like Asiatic and Oriental Lilies.
There are perhaps 100,000 varieties of Daylilies, depending on your reference source. Some varieties bloom sooner, others later in the summer. But each Daylily blooms for just a day.
Deer like to eat Daylilies (almost as much as Hosta), so I keep mine sprayed. Voles will munch on lily rhizomes. But my voles prefer Oriental Lily bulbs. I've never been able to keep my Oriental or Asiatic Lilies growing for more than a season, thanks to the voles.
The orange lily (Hemerocallis fulva) to the right is what we used to call a "ditch lily." This variety almost seems native, but it is not (it is from Asia). It has been in North America so long that it grows wild, often along the side of the road.
BLACK-EYED SUSAN
Black-Eyed Susans. The plants Rudbeckia fulgida and Rudbeckia hirta are generally known as Black-Eyed Susans. These two species are North American native plants that have been cultivated for generations in home gardens. There are quite a few varieties to choose from. My Black-Eyed Susan patch has a low-growing variety in the front and taller ones in the back. These flowers bloom later in the summer, August through September.
FOLLIES & MYSTERIES
My yard's greatest FOLLY may have been the "Hardy Fern Collection" that I bought from Van Bourgondien in 2004. it included Cinnamon Ferns, Christmas Ferns, Ostrich Ferns, Maiden Hair Ferns, Hay Scented Ferns, Lady Ferns, and other varieties - all of which were already growing naturally and abundantly in my woodlot.
This is a mystery plant. In 2001 I purchased 50+ native plant plugs and bare root stock. I have Spruce trees in my yard that started as plugs in 2001. The High Bush Cranberry in my yard started as bare root stock. This berry bush started as a stick - actually, two sticks/berry bushes that I planted side by side. The plants were purchased from a CT native plant org. that no longer exists. I can't find any info about what I purchased and planted in 2001. I wasn't keeping records back then. These berry bushes are now 6 feet high and 12 or more feet wide (combined width). Birds love the berries. Plant identification apps think this plant is a native Dogwood - a Pagoda Dogwood. This could be true. But this shrub has dozens of "trunks" like a Forsythia. A Pagoda Dogwood should be more tree like, as far as I can tell. This plant might be a Silky Dogwood, which is more bush like. But the berries look more like a Pagoda Dogwood (to me). Any ideas?
Spring Blooms. Left: a Japanese Andromeda bloom. Middle: a Tulip from the yard and a deer skull I found in the woods. Right: a Jack in the Pulpit from our woodlot.
My yard has many much appreciated harbingers of warmer weather. I started this photo project at the end of June 2024 and missed the opportunity to photograph the blooms that bring so much joy (and hope) at the end of winter through the start of summer. In 2025, I'll add new photos.
Looking forward to photographing the first to bloom: Forsythia, Croci, Daffodils, Service Berry, Japanese Andromeda, Snowball Viburnum followed by Tulips, Solomon's Seal and Lilac... Then the Azalea, Mountain Laurel and Rhododendrons, Honeysuckle, Iris, Jack in the Pulpit and Peonies...
A still life with a sprig of Forsythia. The insect is a Walking Stick. When its wings are not spread, it looks just like a twig.
Along the street I planted a half-dozen Forsythia bushes that flash their buttery welcome every spring. In the woodland area in the front yard I planted Mountain Laurel, Japanese Andromeda, Rhododendron, Chokeberry, Daffodils, Periwinkle, Bluebells and Tulips.
The Tulips (and Croci and Grape Hyacinth) have faded over the years, eaten by deer and voles. But the Forsythia, Daffodils and Periwinkle (especially) are still going strong.
Most of the Irises that I planted were dug from other people's yards. Like my dug Peonies, they (mostly) eventually faded. This still life includes one of my gardening banes: a vole.
I made this photo on 2024's official last day of summer, September 21. The Fruits of Fall: Beautyberries, Highbush Cranberries, and Kousa Dogwood Berries.
By Fall most of my plants look tired.
The Hydrangea blossoms have faded and the ferns are browning at the tips. The Balloon Flowers have gone to seed. The Lily leaves have yellowed, shriveled and gone limp. The Peony plants are crispy and brittle. The Hosta look like Swiss Cheese. The Astilbe look like weeds. The Joe Pye is mostly prostrate. Every August powdery mildew overtakes my Lilac and Honeysuckle causing premature leaf drop. By mid-September, the potted Begonias and Coleus are leggy, and the late blooming Roses and Black-Eyed Susans have packed it in. You get the picture. It’s not pretty.
What still looks good in late August and September? The Cacti, Dipladenia, Mandevilla, Cordyline and Elephant Ears in the containers on the patio are still going strong. House plants summering on the patio are seemingly still enjoying themselves (Pitcher Plants, Meyer’s Lemon, the Fig). The Rose of Sharons are still blooming. They are beasts. The Butterfly Bush continues to put out. And the Beautyberries are in their prime, as is the Stonecrop Sedum.
The hummingbirds disappeared the week of 9/11. September 2024 has been dryer than normal. For the first time all year, the grass in my yard is turning brown in sunny spots.
It’s almost time to polish and oil the rakes.
Stonecrop Sedum
Beautyberry will keep its berries until after Thanksgiving. The Elderberry is stripped clean by mid-September.
Japanese Andromeda. Next Spring's flower buds are in place.
Meyer's Lemon. The last blossoms of the summer.
Picture Plant. My Pitcher Plants will stop making pitchers when I bring them in for the Winter.
Some of My Favorite Plants (from the yard):
Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) - We have a native hemlock next to our driveway that survived the construction site in 2000 and a couple woolly adelgid infestations. It is approximately 40 feet tall. We have treated the tree twice for woolly adelgids.
Japanese Umbrella Pine - We have two, a 20+-footer planted in 2001 and a 4-footer, baby, planted in 2018. The big one, perfectly shaped, is perhaps the only specimen tree in our yard. Deer don't eat 'em.
Austrian Pine (Pinus nigra - "Oregon Green") - We have two, one is much taller than the other even though they are the same age. They remind me a bit of the scrub pine on Cape Cod. Twisted and gnarly with long needles. Deer don't eat 'em.
Japanese Andromeda (Pieris) - "Brouwer`s Beauty" - We have six bushes, different varieties, different ages. I love that they are early bloomers. The blooms feed pollinators before much else is in bloom. Deer don't seem to like them. Pieris Brouwer's Beauty is an unusual hybrid between Pieris floribunda, from eastern North America, and Pieris japonica, from Japan. We planted two of them in 2001.
Goldmound Spirea (Spiraea japonica) - I love the yellow-lime color of the leaves. Deer don't eat 'em.
Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) - Oakleaf hydrangea seems to be more tolerant of the cold and thus they always blooms, year after year, regardless of the winter. We have two.
Low-Graf Weeping Japanese Threadleaf Maple - We have two of these, a foundation plant that knows enough not to grow too high.
Dwarf Korean Lilac (Syringa meyeri - "Palibin") - This shrub doesn't look like much, but it smells real sweet. It blooms after the Common Lilac (Syringa vulgaris) which is planted nearby.
The Gold Thread Cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera Aurea') - We transplanted this shaggy, yellow-gold shrub when it outgrew its original location. It's now 20+ feet tall. And is as happy as a clam.
Japanese Andromeda blossom.
Some very common plants are also native. Here is a list of the natives in my yard as of 2024.
Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)
Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia)
Forest Pansy Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
Black Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
American Spikenard/Spice Berry (Aralia racemosa)
Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)
Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum)
Orange Honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa)
Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia fulgida and Rudbeckia hirta)
Common Paw Paw (Asimina triloba)
Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)
Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)
Some trees planted in our yard:
Green Bullet Japanese Umbrella Pine (Sciadopitys verticillata - "Gruene Kugel")
Japanese Umbrella Pine (from 2000/2001 - not sure of the variety)
(2) Austrian Pine (Pinus nigra - "Oregon Green")
Sand Cherry (Prunus x cistena)
Forest Pansy Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
Green Weeping Willow (Salix babylonica)
(2) Low-Graf Weeping Japanese Threadleaf Maple (from 2000)
(5) Norway Spruce (from 2000)
(3) Blue Spruce (I will not plant more)
(5) Fir (Douglas Fir?) - planted as plugs in 2001
Spruce (unknown variety) planted as a plug in 2001
Cedar - planted as a plug in 2001
(5) White Pine (transplanted from local woodland)
(4) Thuga Emerald Green Arborvitae
Downey Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis)
Weeping Blue Spruce - Picea pungens - "Pendula"
(2) Kousa Dogwood (Cornus kousa). The momma tree seeded a transplantable baby that is now 8 feet tall.
Gold Thread Cypress (from 2000)
Paw Paw
Jaqumonti Birch (from 2000) (This tree struggled for a decade. It had Birch Leafminers and was a Japanese Beetle buffet. It finally died).
Some shrubs & berry bushes planted in our yard:
Japanese Quince (from my parent's house in New Hampshire)
Common Lilac (a house warming gift in 2001)
Rose of Sharon - purple flowers
Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) (a house warming gift in 2001)
Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia)
Dwarf Korean Lilac (Syringa meyeri - "Palibin")
(2) Burning Bush
(2) Japanese Andromeda "Brouwer`s Beauty"
(4) Japanese Andromeda "Mountain Fire"
Goldmound Spirea (Spiraea japonica)
(2) Peppermint Stick Spirea/Genpei (Spirea japonica)
(2) Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)
(2) Black Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
(2) Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum)
False Cypress
False Cypress "King's Gold"
Azalea "Pink Manchurian" (deciduous)
Japanese Wintercreeper (Aureo Marginata)
(2) Blue Prince Holly
(4) American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)
(2) Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)
Smoke Bush
Butterfly Bush
(4) Forsythia
(2) Leucothoe
Mountain Laurel
(2) Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)
Bigleaf Hydrangea
I have at least a dozen "perennial" plants growing in my yard that I can not identify. Some of them are mystery plants; I can't even remember where they came from. Here is a list of plants growing in my yard that I currently can identify:
Peony
Balloon Flower
Spiderwort
Solomon's Seal
Hosta (various varieties)
Hakone Grass
Day Lily (various varieties)
Iris
Yucca
Epimedium (Barrenwort, Bishop's Hat)
Stonecrop Sedum
Japanese Painted Fern (various varieties)
Black Eyed Susan
Tiarella (Foam Flowers)
Astilbe (various varieties - pink and white)
Common Blue Violet (ground cover that came from my parent's house)
Goutweed (ground cover that came from my parent's house)
Brunnera macrophylla "Alexander's Great"
Jack in the Pulpit
Pachysandra
Periwinkle/Vinca
Clematis
Salvia
Russian Sage
A list of (some) plants that came and went:
Miss Willmott's Ghost (didn't like us)
Toad Lily (didn't like us)
Willowleaf Cotoneaster (pulled)
Ninebark (cut - could not shake powdery mildew)
Jaqumonti Birch (died)
Coneflower (lost to house addition & patio - did not survive transplanting)
Wisteria (cut for house addition & patio)
American Bittersweet (cut)
Heuchera - Coral Bells (voles)
Bleeding Heart (didn't like us)
Oriental Lillies (assorted - voles)
Native Mountain Laurel (died - transplanted without enough root)
Siberian Carpet Cypress (pulled)
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