The gardens around my farm are growing so beautifully this season - the peonies, the perennial flowers in my cutting garden, and the stunning plants and shrubs around my pool.
The area around my pool is planted with a variety of dark-colored burgundy-black leafed plants. I always try to incorporate unique and interesting specimens in my gardens. Along the inside of the pool's fence, I have a growing hedge of purple columnar beech trees, Fagus sylvatica 'Dawyck Purple' - a splendid tree with deep-purple foliage that holds its color all season. On the outside of the fence, I have Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Diabolo’ and Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’ - both these shrubs have superlative dark colors and appealing forms. In keeping with the color palette, I've also added Ajuga ‘Black Scallop’, Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip', and Heuchera ‘Obsidian’ beneath part of the hedge as ground covers. Most recently, we filled two large planter boxes with gorgeous black mondo grass.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I wanted the pool to look as natural as possible where I could enjoy the panoramic views of the landscape with my family and friends. Since its installation a couple of years ago, I’ve worked hard to develop the surrounding gardens with a selection of dark-colored specimens.
The pool is surrounded by about 170-trees along the inside fence line. These are purple columnar beech trees, Fagus sylvatica ‘Dawyck Purple’ which will grow to 40 to 50 feet in height and only 10-feet wide which makes them perfect for tight spaces and as an interesting hedge.
They are doing so well and are a great contrast to the bright green lawn. Columnar beech trees are fastigiate meaning their branches slope upward more or less parallel to the main stem.
In spring the deep purple to almost blackish leaves of these beech trees emerge. In winter, the limbs and trunk with their smooth pale gray bark create an interesting framework. These are among of the most striking and beautiful of all columnar trees.
From a distance, these trees look excellent. In general, it needs little pruning, but if two branches cross or rub against each other, one should be removed to prevent injury to the tree’s bark. Pruning is best done during winter, when the tree is dormant, or early in the spring before new leaves appear.
I wanted to create a natural border along both sides of the fence. I decided to alternate two kinds of shrubs on the other side – one phsyocarpus and then one cotinus, etc.
Cotinus, also known as smoketree or smoke bush, is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs. They are a great choice for massing or for hedges. The stunning dark red-purple foliage turns scarlet in autumn and has plume-like seed clusters, which appear after the flowers and give a long-lasting, smoky haze to branch tips.
I love its leaves. I have many smoke bushes around the farm – it is among my favorite small trees. These can grow to a moderate size – up to 15-feet tall and 10-feet wide.
On the left is the Physocarpus, commonly called ninebark. It is an upright, spreading, somewhat coarse, deciduous, Missouri-native shrub which is closely related to the genus Spiraea. It boasts deep burgundy foliage with ovate to rounded, usually three to five-lobed leaves that are dull green in summer changing to an undistinguished yellow in fall. Then its color veers toward bronzy red by the time the leaves fall in late November.
Here is a closeup of a Physocarpus shrub that blooms in early June with white button-like flowers. Physocarpus prefers well-drained, acidic soil, and full sun.
At one end of the pool fence, on the inside, I planted a group of Heuchera ‘Obsidian’, also known as Obsidian Coral Bells. The glossy dark maroon, almost black, leaves keep their color all season – it adds a gorgeous accent to the bed.
There is also Ajuga ‘Black Scallop’ – a unique perennial in the mint family Lamiaceae, with most species native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and southeastern Australia. Ajuga has lush dark burgundy-black foliage that blankets the ground when mature.
Ajuga ‘Black Scallop’, also known as Black Scallop bugleweed, ground pine, carpet bugle, or just bugle, has very glossy foliage and bright blue flowers in late spring.
Another bugleweed is this ‘Chocolate Chip’ – also planted on the inside of the pool fence.
Ajuga ‘Chocolate Chip’ is spreading, miniature chocolate foliage with lacy blue flowers in spring.
In two large planters, we just added this pretty black mondo grass. Fernando plants them about four inches apart.
Black mondo grass, Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’, is a tuberous-rooted perennial in the lily family. It is a stemless plant in which the leaves sprout from the ground in clumps. In summer, a single flower stalk sprouts, carrying small, bell-shaped pinkish flowers.
Black mondo grass tolerates a wide range of sun conditions, but the warmer the climate, the better it will do in shade.
It will grow nicely here in the shade of beech hedge.
I am so pleased with how this area of the farm is doing. The pool is open and the gardens are thriving. I am looking forward to many safe and fun gatherings here with my family and friends this summer.
It's always so interesting to see photos taken by others at my farm.
This week, my friend Ruth Oratz, M.D. came by for a brief visit to take some pictures of the gardens - they are all blooming so beautifully this time of year. She walked through the perennial flower cutting garden, the herbaceous peony bed, and the sunken garden behind my Summer House. Dr. Oratz shares my passion for photography. We both take lots of nature photos, especially in the early mornings when the sun is low in the sky.
Here are some of the images Dr. Oratz captured along with a few I took as the sun rose over my beloved Cantitoe Corners, enjoy.
I took this photo very early in the morning before 6am. I love seeing the early morning fog over the paddocks. During this time when the temperature is lower near the ground, if there is enough humidity in the air, haze and fog will form.
I captured this photo from my large terrace parterre with the sun rising over the treeline.
Here is another image. One can see the fog lifting on the left as it gets brighter and brighter.
One of the first things I do in the morning is to let my cats outside. They both stay very close to the house. Here is Empress Tang watching something very intently from the stone wall.
This is one of my favorite views – the old apple trees surrounded by the antique white spruce fence and the stable in the distance.
I took this one just a couple of minutes before six – the sun is a bit higher and the skies are gorgeous blue.
And here’s a photo looking at the row of ‘Miss Kim’ Korean lilac standards behind my dwarf apple espalier and carport. Passing by, one can smell the fragrant blooms.
Dr. Oratz came by around 8am. This is one of the first photos she took – the flower garden filled with gorgeous blooms and bright green foliage with the greenhouse in the background.
The addition of the sawtooth styled black granite bricks and gravel made such a change in this garden. In this photo – an iris bloom and its bold green strappy leaves.
She admired all the lupines. Lupines come in lovely shades of pink, purple, red, white, yellow, and even red.
Their flowers are produced in dense or open whorls on erect spikes.
Lupine flowers may be annual and last only for a season or perennial, returning for a few years in the same spot in which they were planted. There are so many of them in my garden this season.
Outside the fence, Dr. Oratz took this panoramic view looking at the front of the flower garden.
She walked along the carriage road toward my home and stopped to take this picture of my Tenant House behind the Stewartia Garden. The Tenant House is where my daughter, Alexis, and her children, Jude and Truman, stay when they visit.
Dr. Oratz also took this photo of my Malus ‘Gravenstein’ espalier apple trees. I love the crisp and juicy apples which are wonderful to eat and great for cooking and baking. I bought these trees in 2010, and I am happy they’ve done so well in this location in front of my home.
Here is a photo looking up at my Winter House and my newly enclosed porch where my cheerful Red Factor canaries reside. The boxwood and golden barberry are always so eye-catching.
Turning in the opposite direction, Dr, Oratz took this photo of the large horse paddock with the four chicken coops in the distance.
And of course, she visited the peony garden. Every spring, this garden is one of the most anticipated sights on the farm. Everyone loves the gorgeous peonies. When I first planted my peony garden, I focused on pink varieties and planted 11-double rows of 22-peony types. This one is very light pink.
The peonies are coming up so beautifully – more and more blossoms open up every day.
Here is a semi-double peony with fragrant, coral-pink petals and a golden center. The foliage is dark green and attractive, and it blooms early. I will share more photos when all the flowers are open.
In the Summer House garden, Dr. Oratz took photos of the growing hostas with their big leaves. Hosta is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies, and occasionally by the Japanese name, giboshi. They are native to northeast Asia and include hundreds of different cultivars.
Cotinus, also known as smoke bush or smoke tree, is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs. They are a great choice for massing or for hedges. The stunning dark red-purple foliage turns scarlet in autumn and has plume-like seed clusters, which appear after the flowers and give a long-lasting, smoky haze to branch tips.
Here, she took a photo of one of the white alliums growing just in front of this bright green hosta.
Here’s a black and white photo she captured of alliums. The lilies will soon be blooming here also.
Dr. Oratz also took this black and white photo – one of seven faux bois planters I acquired a few years ago, soon to be planted.
I designed this formal garden several years ago and have been adding more and more plants here every year. One of the focal points is a large ginkgo tree at the end of this stone footpath. This garden is just behind my Summer House, where I often entertain. Thanks for sharing your photos, Dr. Oratz. It is always a pleasure to see what others choose to photograph.
Today in the Northeast, we're expecting mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s. It will be warm, but still a good day for planting in the gardens.
It takes a lot of time to maintain a flower cutting garden this large. Every spring, we add more and more flowering plants - making this space a colorful mix of beautiful and interesting specimens. In only a few years, this garden has really developed into one of the most eye-catching areas of Cantitoe Corners. Yesterday, we planted several iris cultivars, salvia, baptisia, and more.
Enjoy these photos.
It is so exciting to walk through this cutting garden. After nurturing it the last few years, it has finally transformed into the beautiful space I envisioned. Every year, I add more and more plants that would look pretty both outdoors and as cut flowers inside my home. When developing a cutting garden, always choose a mix of colors, shapes, sizes, and textures to make the most striking arrangements.
Yesterday, we planted several more iris varieties including this Iris ensata ‘Variegata’ – a strikingly beautiful plant with creamy white-and-green, vertically striped, broad foliage topped with attractive, small deep purple flowers with a reddish sheen.
Iris ensata ‘Picotee Wonder’ is a
Japanese Iris with slender green grass-like leaves. It blooms with beautiful white flowers, and purple veins and edges bloom.
This iris is a bluish-purple variety. Iris care is minimal once the growing iris is established. Iris flowers bloom in shades of purple, blue, white and yellow, and include many hybridized versions that are multi-colored.
Although not yet blooming, this is the lush foliage of Iris germanica ‘Blatant’ – a bearded iris variety with fragrant blooms, rich maroon falls, and vivid yellow standards.
I have many bearded iris flowers in the garden. I showed some varieties earlier this week. Here is a lavender cultivar with the distinctive fuzzy, caterpillar-like “beards” that rest atop the falls.
The beards, which can be either the same color as the petal or a contrasting color help attract bees to perform pollination.
Ryan places the new specimens in bare spots around the garden. I always wanted a mixed collection, so there was something interesting and different to look at in every direction.
Once the plants are positioned, Phurba follows behind to get each one into the ground. Each hole is about 10-inches deep and four inches wide.
Iris plants prefer full sun and well-drained soil. They also like good air circulation.
As with all plantings, tamp the soil around the base carefully to be sure there is good contact.
We also planted Baptisia ‘Carolina Moonlight’. This plant produces loads of sturdy spikes filled with rich buttery yellow pea-like blossoms that emerge in mid to late spring.
The showy terminal flower spikes are followed by inflated seed pods. The pea-like flowers are attractive to butterflies and other insect pollinators.
And this is Salvia. This aromatic plant is great for cutting and beloved by bees and butterflies—plus, they’re drought-tolerant.
Salvias appear as a colorful spike of densely-packed flowers with tubular blossoms atop square stems and velvety leaves.
Also blooming profusely is this columbine variety, Aquilegia Vulgaris ‘Nora Barlow Pink’. Ryan grew this popular perennial from Columbine seed right in our greenhouse. It has long-lasting blooms marked by spurless, fully double pink flowers that look like small dahlias. This variety is one of the few Columbines with double flowers and no spurs.
The flowers either face outwards or are found nodding, like these.
The most striking feature of most columbine flowers is the collection of five backward-projecting spurs. Each spur is a petal that has developed into what appears to be a tall, slender, hollow hat. At the very top of each spur, inside, is a gland producing sweet nectar.
Dianthus flowers belong to a family of plants that includes carnations and are characterized by their spicy fragrance. Dianthus plants may be found as a hardy annual, biennial, or perennial and most often used in borders or potted displays.
There are numerous types of dianthus – most have pink, red, or white flowers with notched petals. Look at Kevin Sharkey’s Instagram page @seenbysharkey for a gorgeous arrangement of Dianthus barbatus, the sweet William.
Here’s another gorgeous lupin plant – in yellow. I hope you’ve seen the other beautiful lupines in my garden. Their telltale look is a tall, showy spire of flowers that come in a multitude of color varieties with impressive grayish-green textured foliage.
And a beautiful and perfect rose – the roses are just starting to bloom now. I can’t wait until the entire area is filled with these fragrant and colorful blossoms.
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