Spring Emergence Around My Pool
The gardens around my farm are growing so beautifully this season. There are gorgeous spring blooms in every garden - the daffodil border, under the allee of lindens, outside my Winter House, behind my Tenant House, and 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 the 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. 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. It's all coming to life once again.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- On the way to my pool are my six standard weeping hornbeams located on one side of what I call “Truman’s soccer field”. Botanically known as Carpinus betulus ‘pendula’, the weeping hornbeam is deciduous and has a tight, dense growth pattern. I keep a close eye on all my hornbeams – it’s crucial that they are pruned regularly, so they never look too overgrown.
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- Weeping hornbeams can grow to be about 50-feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 40-feet. The leaves are bold forest green through the season and take on golden and amber tones in fall.
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- Surrounding the pool on the other three sides is my orchard. This orchard is also showing some wonderful spring color. I have more than 205 fruit trees in this area – it’s filled with apple trees, plum trees, cherry trees, peach, apricot, pear, and quince trees.
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- The Montmorency Tart cherry tree is flowering so beautifully. The Montmorency cherry is a variety of sour cherry grown in Europe, Canada, and the United States, particularly in the Grand Traverse Bay region of Northwest Michigan and in Door County, Wisconsin. It is among the most popular of sour cherry trees. Montmorency’s tart cherries are large, bright red with firm yellow flesh, that when pressed, provides a clear, tangy juice.
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- These are the blooms of the ‘Contender’ peach tree. Noted for its cold-hardiness, Prunus persica ‘Contender’ is a wonderful peach tree adorned with profuse, fragrant, pink blossoms in early-mid spring. They are followed by a heavy crop of medium-sized, freestone, red blushed yellow fruits in late summer.
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- Here is the view from within the fenced pool area. I wanted to be able to see the gorgeous landscape while sitting poolside. At the head of the pool are these five stone structures, which are called staddle stones.
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- I bought these staddle stones in 2017 from the annual NYBG Garden Furniture & Antiques Fair. Staddle stones were originally used in the 17th and 18th centuries as support bases for granaries, hayricks, and game larders. They typically looked like giant stone mushrooms, but mine are square – a more rare and unique version.
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- 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. These are just now showing their buds, but soon, this hedge will show off a stunning dark burgundy color.
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- Up close, one can see the spring growth – I am so glad this hedge is doing well. There are buds everywhere.
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- Beneath the hedge is a variety of dark-leafed plants. This is 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. The 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.
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- Ajuga ‘Chocolate Chip’ is a dwarf, spreading groundcover that creates a tight mat of rich, chocolate brown foliage with dark green undertones.
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- I also 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.
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- Commonly known as The Guinea Hen Flower, The Checkered Lily or The Snake’s Head Fritillary, Fritillaria meleagris is an heirloom species dating back to 1575. It has pendant, bell-shaped, checkered and veined flowers that are either maroon or ivory-white with grass-like foliage intermittently spaced on its slender stems. I have many in my gardens.
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- And here is fritillaria in ivory white.
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- Here’s Chhiring giving the area the first mow of the season. This lawn is looking so healthy.
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- I have two planters filled with beautiful succulents – If you like growing plants, but don’t really have a lot of time to care for them, I encourage you to consider growing succulents. With their fleshy leaves and interesting shapes, succulents are easy to maintain and make excellent container specimens.
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- And look at the leaves of the Cotinus. I grow these on the other side of the pool fence alternating with Physocarpus. 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.
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- Physocarpus, commonly called ninebark is an upright, spreading, somewhat coarse, deciduous, Missouri-native shrub which is closely related to the genus Spiraea. It boasts dark foliage with ovate to rounded, usually three to five-lobed leaves.
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- Here’s the freshly mowed lawn all done – so lush and green.
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- The pool furniture is out and ready for use. I am looking forward to opening the pool in a few weeks and spending lots of time here with my family and friends.
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