Love the plant; can't remember the name

When I bought this plant at The Plantsmen in Ithaca, in April, it was just a black nursery pot with a few small weeds emerging. Once established in a shady spot, however, it did exactly what it's supposed to do: it grew big serrated leaves and tall stems with small but interesting yellow flowers.

But by then it was July and for the life of me I could not remember what this thing was called. Ken Parker, the native plant specialist at Lockwoods here in Buffalo, came to my rescue. "Stoneroot," he said, looking at my iPhone picture. And so it is. (Colinsonia canadensis, to be exact.)

This might not be for everyone, but it is one of a collection of woodland natives I've been gradually installing. It's medicinal too--supposed to be good for the kidneys. I'm sure mine could use the help, but for now I'm enjoying it for its clearly woodland aesthetics.

A pretty weed, ID'd.

After pulling bales of this out of my garden a few years back, I encountered it again in a charming garden on Euclid, in Lockport. It's part of Lockport in Bloom. (No linkie from this mobile post.)

It looks great here, and I discovered its name: commelina communis (Asian Dayflower).

You've seen it everywhere, I bet, but it rarely looks as nice as this.

Re: satisfaction. You can get it.

And I already have it, lots of it. Lilium “Satisfaction,” that is. Every summer it’s the same. I puzzle over the pods that are hanging heavy on my various lilium stalks and wonder: “Which one is that going to be?”

It is all being revealed now. The physical evidence, as well as the online bulb ordering records, indicate that I added a lot of “Satisfaction” to the garden in the fall, as well as some “Conca d’Or” and Auratum “Gold Band.” So far, the first of these is earliest in bloom—though, as I’ve already noted, most everything will be early.

I’m OK with “Satisfaction.” It is forward facing, rather than down facing (as many of my lilies are), and it has a relatively mild scent. The colors are very like popular daylily colors. But sometimes I wonder if I’m not better off sticking closer to the species lilium, the ones that look closer to lilies as they would be in the wild. I’m looking forward to the Auratum for that reason.

For now, though, I’ll take “Satisfaction.”

Hello summer!

When gardeners get together these days, the talk is inevitably of earliness. Ten day, two weeks, a month—depends on what plant you’re talking about, but they’re all ahead of their time. That will happen when you have ninety-degree temps (occasionally) before summer even officially begins. Not to mention the boost of hot weather we had in the early spring.

This is the first year I have had lilium regales and daylilies opening in June, and my hydrangeas have almost completely colored up, as you can see, above. Containers and hanging baskets have to be watered almost continually, and there's no rain in sight.

Nonetheless, I’ll take it. I’ll take it over the triple-digits they’re having down south. They said this would happen, and it’s happening.

Those of us on garden tours are a bit concerned, but it’s also a good lesson. You can’t depend on flower power alone in a garden. There has to be structure, foliage, texture, elements like water features and sculpture, and some sort of design that holds it all together even when all your lilies are bloomed out (as mine may be by Garden Walk). But most of all, the garden needs to be an attractive and comfortable place for the gardener to hang out. Because it’s too hot to garden. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.

FOTD: Poppy envy

It seems like almost every gardener has the conditions to grow these successfully and well, but I've never gotten into poppies. I just don't have an open sunny spot to spare for them. But after visiting Asheville North Carolina for the annual garden bloggers' get-together, I might need to become bitter about this.  I saw beautiful poppies in almost every garden, including a blue variety gardener Christopher Mello had carefully culled and selected to get (below).

They say the best way to do it here in Buffalo is to throw the seeds on the snow in February or so. Maybe next year I'll try.

FOTD: a solution for hybrid tulips

Many say their hybrid tulips come back year after year. That’s nice for them, and I think, given proper conditions, it is possible. It’s not possible on my property, and, even if it were, I’m not sure I’d want to give up that much in-ground planting space to tulips

What I’ve done is create two circular raised beds in front and plant hundreds more in containers. (And plant different species tulips throughout the garden every fall.) The hybrids are treated as annuals, for the most part, and composted yearly.

A first-year tulip bulb is almost magical. I wonder if it would just come up without soil or water, as long as it had a proper chilling period. All I do is throw the bulbs in pots, out them in the garage, take them out in April, and voila.

FOTD: Never enough

Species tulips are just as elegant and interesting as hybrid tulips, but they are small. You have to have a lot of them (sort of like crocus) and you have to observe which ones have the healthiest return rate throughout the seasons and plant more of those types.

Pictured above is humulis “Persian Pearl,” which is one of the most beautiful species out there. I love the combination of it and batalinii “Apricot Jewel,” below. That’s the other thing about species—they can bloom at any time between early April and late May depending on variety. Something else to watch.

And always plant more.