Plants | Deborah Silver & Co.

Covering The Ground

Not every plant in the landscape is the star of the show. What constitutes the star of the show, and whether you need one in a landscape is a subject for another post, but suffice it to say that if a design is deliberately composed around a center of interest, or constellation of interests, that focal point organizes the visual experience. Every visual element has a different visual weight. The sum of all of the visual weights is zero – zero at the bone. What do I mean by this? That incredible feeling that accompanies the experience of anything landscape that is breathtakingly beautiful. I am sure every gardener understands that moment. That most important landscape element, whether it be a beautiful beech, or a gorgeous arbor, or a pool, asks for a supporting cast. That cast may involve a whole host of shrubs or perennials of more modest demeanor than the diva plant. Or a series of plants that willingly covers the ground in proximity to that focal point. Little plants can do big work. Bare soil is an invitation for weeds and permits water to evaporate too quickly. Bark mulch is useful for slowing the evaporation of soil moisture, but it is not a ground cover. Some ground cover plants, with very little intervention on the part of a gardener, enable a good green show to go on. Ground cover? Ground cover is the green equivalent of a green skin, or the green equivalent of a considerable or deliberately designed mass. What does it take for you to notice a plant that is covering the ground? Lots of them. Truth be told, any plant, or combination of plants, could be a ground cover. If you think ground cover only applies to pachysandra, vinca, baltic ivy, and low growing junipers, there is a whole world of ground cover plants, and ground cover combinations that could energize, and de-mulchify your garden. What are the options? I cannot take any credit for this mix of campanula porscharskyana and sweet woodruff in my yard. I planted both in proximity to each other. Nature did the rest. How this group of plants cover the ground is a partially shady area is beautiful.

Sweet woodruff is a determined grower. 4 years go I tried to dig it out of my hellebore beds. So much work to no end. It took four years, but every bit of it is back. Sweet woodruff is small and hard working. How did it jump my gravel path? How did that sweet woodruff get established in the ivy? I have no answers. It is a good idea to make some moves, and then let nature respond to your ideas. I am in favor of a ground cover that is a mix of plants. Interested in a vigorous mixer? Creeping jenny, either the lime or the all green version, will cozy up to anything it is planted with.

The hosta Gold Drop is an old cultivar, but it covers the ground as if it were a teenager. What would I mix this hosta with? It is already mixed with baltic ivy. Were I to try to introduce another plant, I would go for something taller. As in variegated Solomon’s seal, or in lighter shade, kalimeris “Blue Star”.

Lily of the Valley is a ground cover that spreads all over the place. The beautifully scented flowers in the spring are delightful. They need a careful placing. Not too much sun. A liberal dusting of shade. Lacking a perfect setting, this groundcover will tolerate both deep shade and a fair amount of sun. A ground cover that is this easy to place and grow is a plus. Easy to place and vigorously growing might mean invasive. Planting invasive plants in certain areas in a landscape might be a good idea. Think that through. Some years, the leaves of Lily of the Valley are singed with fungus. It is not perfect, but that is no reason not to consider it. I do like my Japanese beech ferns. They spread more readily with some sun, but they tolerate deep shade. It is a ground cover with more height than the usual ground cover plants. I did mix them with European ginger.

European ginger is a ground cover any gardener could love. The round to heart shaped leaves are glossy gorgeous. They can prosper in a wide range of conditions. When it is happy, it will seed vigorously.

The conditions around my fountain range from full sun to considerable shade. The isotoma I planted here is happy as it can be – from the shade to the sun. It is a supporting cast to my lead cherubs sitting on limestone spheres, and my fountain. Isotoma Fluviatilis is a willing ground cover in full sun to part shade. It likes plenty of water, even going into the winter. When it is happy, it readily creeps in every direction. I like that it stops short of covering the feet of these lead sculptures. This groundcover bed is only 18 inches wide. This would not be a spot for baltic ivy, vinca, or pachysandra, or any other large growing plant.

Hellebores make a beautiful ground cover. They are crown growing, which means you have to plant them fairly close together. Given a few years, they will cover lots of ground with gorgeous glossy leaves that persist well in to winter, and early spring flowers.

I have ground cover of a different sort on my deck. My wood deck would be a bleak affair, but for all of the pots I have planted there. All of my planted pots are a ground cover for the focal point. This deck is a place for Buck and I to meet at the end of the day, and a place for our friends to come for dinner. All of these deck covers make having dinner outdoors a pleasure.

I planted lots of 15″ Green Gem boxwood as a ground cover for this client with a very contemporary home. The idea here is that a ground cover could be 2 inches tall, or three feet tall. Any plant that is planted in a mass constitutes a ground cover.

Bobo hydrangeas are fairly new to me. They grow 30″ tall, by 30″ wide. This is my first effort to cover ground with hydrangeas. I’ll bet within a year or two they will completely cover this large area.

Happy coming home tonight-to all those plants that cover my ground.

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Posted on: August 10, 2016 18 Comments

More Reasons To Plant Containers For Spring

Planting containers for spring is a great idea. To follow are some of my favorites.

My recommendation for containers this 17th of May in Michigan? Do not be thinking coleus, New Guinea impatiens, begonias, licorice in any of its forms, sweet potato vine, cannas – the list of summer container tropical that do not tolerate cold soil is long. Annual plants that are greenhouse grown for summer containers will not like our cold soil, or the cold air. Refrain from planting these cold sensitive plants until the soil and the air temperatures warm up. Containers planted with spring and cold tolerant plants deliver every bit of three months, and will happily accompany your spring garden coming on. Choose to be in real time. The choices are many.

The tropical annuals that are greenhouse grown for summer containers are living in a warm world right now. Everything regarding their culture is right as rain. They have great soil. They have been fertilized. They are growing in a warm environment. Their place on a greenhouse bench is an ideal world. A greenhouse, on a sunny day in March, gets very warm, as in upwards of 80 degrees. Those sunny days in April push those plants with tropical origins into very active growth. A greenhouse crop of container plants is usually available for purchase way ahead of predictably warm weather outdoors. The transition from a hot house to your garden can be a huge shock to those plants. If you do not have a glass house to protect annual topical plants from the late spring Michigan weather, focus on what the spring has to offer.

I understand the idea to shop now. Every serious gardener wants to purchase the best from a big collection. I would only suggest that your awesome early picks need to be, at the very least, housed in the garage until the night temperatures are reliably over 50 degrees. It can be heartbreaking, getting ahead of the weather. At this moment, I am trying to stay focused on all thing spring.

Posted on: May 17, 2016 8 Comments

Filed Under: container planting, Plants, Picture This, Spring Tagged With: cold tolerant plants, spring containers, spring container planting

Grape Hyacinths

In my opinion, a drift of grape hyacinths in full bloom is one of spring’s crowning moments. They may be small, but they pack a big visual punch. The muscari group is one of the most charming and most reliable of all of the small spring flowering bulbs. The tiny corm, planted only 3″ below the surface of the soil in the fall, will give rise to a pair of thin strappy white striped leaves, and a flowering raceme the most brilliant shade of cobalt blue. That blue makes a spring garden worth growing.

From my favorite on line horticultural reference for the Midwest, the Missouri Botanic Garden Plant Finder, I read the following:

“Muscari armeniacum, commonly called grape hyacinth, is an early spring-blooming bulbous perennial that is native to southeastern Europe (including Armenia). It features conical racemes of slightly fragrant, tightly packed, deep violet blue, urn-shaped flowers atop scapes rising to 8” tall in early spring. Each bulb produces 1-3 scapes with 20-40 flowers per scape. Each flower has a thin white line around the rim. Dense inflorescence purportedly resembles an elongated, upside-down bunch of grapes, hence the common name. Scapes rise up from somewhat floppy clumps of narrow, fleshy, basal, green leaves (to 12” long) that appear in autumn and live through the cold St. Louis winter to spring when the plants flower.”

This description tells me that Muscari will grow well in my garden, but I would like to add that they are simple to plant. All you need is some decent friable soil, and a finger to push them below ground. I have seen corms left laying on the surface send a few roots into the soil, and bloom on their sides the following spring. They are willing.

Grape hyacinths will come up and thrive just about anywhere you plant them. I would avoid soggy soil that would rot the corms, and dark places fit only for ferns. They come up through a lawn without complaint. They are incredibly hardy. I have never done anything to mine, except plant and enjoy. They are persistent year after year, and can make substantial clumps. The only difficulty? You have to buy and plant them in the fall. Preferably in 50’s or 100’s. If you are willing and able, they will be too.

A new landscape project I am about to install involves the installation of a fairly large partial shade garden. My clients are very fond of blue flowering plants, and especially blue spring flowering bulbs. The rustic stone walk was finished in late October. The coast was clear to plant bulbs, which we did fairly late in November. It was cold, but as long as the ground is not frozen, spring flowering bulbs can be planted. Since the planting would be late, we stored the bulbs in a cool place, so they would not suffer from being out of the ground so long. Muscari cultivars seldom grow talled than 8″, so planting them near the walk made sense.

We planted a variety of muscari cultivars, all the the blue and white range. We planted the tried and true muscari armeniacum, and Blue Magic, Atlantic muscari, Magical Mixture, and superstar. Lots of cobalt blue, light blue, with a smattering of white. We also planted several types of camassia, and chionodoxa forbesii Blue Giant, to extend the blue spring bloom period. Later yet, there will be some smaller growing alliums. These muscari blooming make a quite a statement, even though they are blooming in an ocean of bare dirt.

The planting of this woodland garden got a head start last fall. The locations of these bulbs will direct the height and bloom season of what I plant with them. We will plant sweet woodriff and European ginger. Were the soil not so sandy, I would plant forget me nots. I will plant more Virginia bluebells to the patch that is existing, Jack in the pulpit, Dutchman’s britches, anemone sylvestris, campanula porscharskyana, lamium white nancy, and so on.

We also have planned for a few Venus dogwoods in the sunniest places, a few witch hazel, and a few Canadian hemlocks. Blue leaved hostas, big and small. If we plant any astilbe, it will be a loose and airy growing version. A stand of goatsbeard is a good choice for the back of the shady border. Like snakeroot, they take some time to establish and grow – but they are well worth the trouble.

Right now, this is a garden of possibilities. What a pleasure to be at that point, in early spring. If you are planning a garden in our zone right now, check out the Missouri Botanic Gardens opinion about your choices. And leave some spaces and places for grape hyacinths.

the Plant Finder

Posted on: May 6, 2016 17 Comments

Filed Under: Deborah Silver and Co Inc, flowers, Color, Plants, Garden Design, Spring Tagged With: muscari, spring wildflower garden, part shade garden, grape hyacinths

Hellebore Hardy

Would that every plant in my garden could be hellebore hardy. Hellebore hardy? Hellebore hardy is that state of plant being which is as tough as nails, bud and bloom hardy, every day in hostile weather, as in every crappy spring wild card day hardy. We have had crazy cold and blustery weather the first 12 days of April. As in daytime highs of 28 degrees, and some night time lows at 19 degrees. If it were January, or February, or even the first part of March, these temperatures would not bother anything in my garden. At that time, every plant is dormant, and oblivious to the day to day changes in temperature. This kind of cold in the spring can damage emerging flowers and leaves. Our espaliered fruit trees are very close to blooming. I am hoping they hold off for a week, as below freezing temperatures can easily damage or wipe out those flowers. The flowering stalks of my hellebores emerged from the ground a month ago. The have been growing steadily, in spite of a lengthy bout of really cold and windy weather.

The flowering stalks of the hellebores usually come out of the ground in my zone in mid March. They are programmed to come out of the ground, fighting. How they fight to bloom enchants me. March and April are politely known as transitional months in Michigan. As in 2.5 parts winter dueling fiercely with .5 parts of spring. Hellebores bloom in spite of that conflict- I admire that cheekiness about them. Their ability to withstand cold, snow, ice, freezing rain and wind when they have broken dormancy and begun to grow is remarkable. All the more extraordinary is their ability to shrug off this hostile weather while in full bloom. This picture was taken at the end of the day on April 10. I was worried that every flower would be at least damaged, if not obliterated by morning.

It was not an idle worry. My white flowered magnolia stellata is full of white flowers gone to brown mush. The early flowering magnolias are not hellebore hardy. Their flowering can be laid low and obliterated by cold April weather. I don’t love them less for this. I just know that a tumultuous spring has its disappointments, and its survivors. My stellata blooms well 2 out of 5 years.

The hellebores are survivors. They do not need any help from me if the beginning of spring is deadly cold. They never ask for much of anything, actually. As for April 11, my hellebores revived. Once the snow and ice melted, and the air temperatures warmed up, my hellebores got back to the business of blooming. My old clumps are sensational this year.

This big clump, one of many of the old Royal Heritage strain that I grow, is unfazed by inclement weather.

It is hard to believe that these flowers survived night temperatures ranging from 19 to 27 degrees, over a period of almost 2 weeks.

Hellebore flowers are big and showy. What is just as showy is how they handle the late winter weather. Showier still is that these plants are still growing strong, despite their age. Most of my original group was planted well over a decade ago. I do not often see the Royal Heritage strain offered for sale – pity that.

To follow are some pictures of my hellebores – both old and new. I appreciate every one of them, especially given that most of the rest of the garden is still biding its time, hoping for a clearer sign that spring is here.

Royal heritage strain

Conny is a newer variety. This is its 3rd spring.

Royal Heritage strain

Royal heritage strain

Royal Heritage strain

This spotted double is a newer variety whose name I cannot remember. Lovely, and sparse.

My newest group of more recently bred hellebore hybrids are gawky and thin. I am hoping to see them put on some weight this year. It is too soon to determine whether they will form big and persistent clumps. The Royal Heritage Mix may not have the interesting shapes and the clearer colors as the newest varieties that are available, but they are reliable. Should you have an interest in this discussion regarding hellebores persistence, I would invite you to read an essay from the well known English gardener and garden writer, Noel Kingbury. His column is a regular read for me. He worries that the new cultivars are not as vigorous as the old fashioned varieties. His life is a world away from mine, but his commentary on the garden is of interest to me. http://noels-garden.blogspot.com/2016/02/hellebore-troubles.html

Posted on: April 13, 2016 31 Comments

Filed Under: Garden Design, flowers, Plants Tagged With: royal heritage strain, Royal Heritage mix, hellebores

Covering The Ground

More Reasons To Plant Containers For Spring

Grape Hyacinths

Hellebore Hardy

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