Tag: Ferns
Chasing Crabapple Blossoms At The Chicago Botanic Garden
Catching the Crabapple at peak bloom at the Chicago Botanic Garden (CBG) involves some tricky timing, but we gave it another try last week on the first day that worked. Last time we visited the buds looked as if they were just getting ready to burst. Passing the Regenstein Center, CBG’s building for indoor displays …
Virginia Bluebells: Friends and Foe
How can you not love Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)? They are coming into their own in our garden right now. The clusters of soft blue tubular flowers are fantastic, especially combined with the pink and purple buds.
A Fern Foundation
Somewhere it is written that foundation plantings must be evergreen shrubs (Yews, Boxwood, and the like). and that these shrubs must be clipped into geometric shapes. Judy and I, however, have defied this commandment and have come up with a different sort of foundation planting: Ostrich Ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris) and allied perennials. I would also …
Fall Friends For Ferns?
Everybody knows that ferns can make good companions for spring ephemerals, like Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica).
Foliage and Fruits of June
Recently a friend told me I needed more color and variegation among the foliage in my garden. I admit that when I think about plants, the foliage is often an afterthought. That’s one reason I like to participate in Garden Bloggers Foliage Day, sponsored monthly by Christine at My Hesperides Garden, which nudges me to …
A Frond Indeed
A few years ago I removed the foundation planting of yews that were in front of my house and replaced them with Ostrich Ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris). Overall, I have been happy with the switch, though it leaves the front of the house bare for several months of the year. Right about now the Ostrich Ferns …
