Do you remember Impatiens (Impatiens walleriana)? It used to be my number one plant for filling containers all over the shady Back Garden, providing bountiful and vibrant color from May to September. Starting around 2011, though, the scourge of Impatiens Downy Mildew (IDM), caused gardeners everywhere to turn their backs on the stricken plants.
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Notes from a wildlife-friendly cottage garden
Scenes from the Back Garden
For today’s post I’ve got just a few peeks from the shady Back Garden.
My So-Called Meadow
There is a part of the back garden where grass did not grow well, or at all. So I came up with the bright idea of turning it into what I called a “pocket meadow” consisting primarily of Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pennsylvanica). My thought was that it would look like this, but it hasn’t worked …
Yesterday we saw what the Front Garden had on offer at the beginning of July. Today we head to the shady back garden, under the dappled shade of Silver Maples and other mature trees.
A single Goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus) goes a long way. It’s a big plant – ours grows about 5 feet tall with a 4 foot spread. It’s a perennial but looks more like a small shrub. But if you have the space in a spot that’s moist and shady, this plant has a lot to offer. …
A Near-Death Experience for Caladiums
Back in May I was congratulating myself for doing such a good job on growing 20 Caladiums from corms (which are like bulbs except that they’re different) on the back porch. You know how expensive it is to buy Caladiums in pots at the garden center? I forget exactly, but it’s expensive, especially if you …
TIMBER!!!
Did I mention that a giant branch broke off our Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila) the day before I got home? I think I did. Judy was in the back garden at the time, inspecting our new grill, so it’s lucky she wasn’t hurt. She said it happened so fast there wouldn’t have been time to …
2 Useful Native Plants for Dry Shade
Starry Solomon’s Plume (Maianthemum stellatum) and Wild Currant (Ribes americanum) are both useful plants for the native shade garden, or any shade garden for that matter. They are blooming now in our own place. They are not spectacular, but they are beautiful in their own quiet way. Adaptable to a variety of light and soil …
Trillium Time
The Large-Flowered Trilliums (Trillium grandiflorum) I planted a few years ago are slowly settling in and bulking up. It’s an elegant flower with its three gleaming-white petals.
A Pocket Meadow of Pennsylvania Sedge
There’s a small area between our Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) and the border along the back fence that is like the Valley of the Shadow of Death for standard turf grasses. The moisture gets sucked out of this shaded patch by the Maple and also by a Japanese Yew (Taxus cuspidata) that grows against the …
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