My Stewartia Garden in Late Spring
All the gardens at my Bedford, New York farm are looking so vibrant and full this year, including my large Stewartia bed located across from my long clematis pergola.
My Stewartia Garden used to be planted with rows and rows of ferns and lilies. Several years ago, I transformed the space and planted lots of shade-loving specimens. Now, the garden is filled with beautiful Stewartia trees, dark burgundy Cotinus, Epimediums, Astilboides, Polygonatum, Aquilegia, Hostas, and more.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Behind my Tenant House, I designed lovely gardens of shade-loving plants that are thriving despite the removal of six giant trees a couple of years ago. Beautiful views of these gardens can be seen from the large windows of the house.
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- The Stewartia garden includes several Stewartia trees. Stewartias are native to Japan, Korea, and the southeastern United States. All are slow-growing, all-season performers that show off fresh bright green leaves in spring, white flowers resembling single camellias in summer, and colorful foliage in autumn. The varieties I chose for the area include: Stewartia gemmata, Stewartia x. henryae, Stewartia pseudocamellia ‘Ballet’, Stewartia monadelpha, Stewartia rostrata, and Stewartia henry ‘Skyrocket’. And do you know why I have Stewartia trees? My name is “Stewart” after all…
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- Stewartias feature stunning bark that exfoliates in strips of gray, orange, and reddish brown once the trunk attains a diameter of two to three inches.
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- The garden is also bordered on one side by a stand of distinguished bald cypress trees.
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- The branches are starting to show new growth. The leaves of the bald cypress are compound and feathery, made up of many small leaflets that are thin and lance-shaped.
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- One characteristic of the bald cypress is its knees. These are specialized root structures that grow vertically above the moist soil near the tree. It is believed that these structures aid the oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange in the roots.
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- I also have Cotinus in this bed. Cotinus, the smoketree, or smoke bush, is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs.
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- Their smooth, rounded leaves come in exceptional shades of deep purple, clear pinkish-bronze, yellow, and green.
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- Astilboides is an interesting plant with huge, bright green leaves that are round and flat and measure up to 24-inches across. The effect is dramatic, and beautiful among other hardy perennials.
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- And this is Solomon’s Seal – a hardy perennial native to the eastern United States and southern Canada. These plants produce dangling white flowers, which turn to dark-blue berries later in the summer.
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- This is a variegated Solomon’s Seal with its narrowly white edges. Solomon’s Seal looks great planted in clumps. These plants like dappled shade, rich and organic soils, and plenty of moisture. Once they are established, they can survive short droughts fairly well.
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- In another area, two gorgeous blooming Viburnum. The viburnums look spectacular this year.
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- Most viburnums flower in spring. The sometimes-fragrant flowers range from white and cream to pink-flushed or wholly pink. They are borne in terminal or axillary panicles, clusters, corymbs, or cymes, which are often spherical or domed. Some species, such as this one, have blooms similar to the flattened heads of lace-cap hydrangeas.
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- I also planted Cotoneaster in one corner of the garden. Cotoneaster is a vigorous, dense, evergreen shrub with soft arching stems studded with leathery, glossy, rounded, dark green leaves. These plants work well for a low hedge – I only wish I had planted more.
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- Asarum europaeum, or European Wild Ginger, is a slowly spreading ground cover that is primarily grown for its glossy, leathery, heart-shaped, dark green leaves.
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- Japanese painted ferns are beautiful mounds of dramatic foliage with luminescent blue-green fronds and dark central ribs that fade to silver at the edges.
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- In contrast are the ostrich ferns – a light green clump-forming, upright to arching, rhizomatous, deciduous fern which typically grows up to six feet tall.
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- The hostas are so lush with their varying in leaf shape, size, and textures. Hostas have easy care requirements which make them ideal for many areas. I have them all around the farm. 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.
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- And popping up above the green foliage are the columbine flowers. The columbine plant, Aquilegia, is an easy-to-grow perennial that offers seasonal interest throughout the year. Its flowers come in a variety of colors, which emerge from dark green foliage that turns maroon in fall. The bell-shaped flowers are also a favorite to hummingbirds and may be used in cut-flower arrangements as well.
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- This is a white and green variety of Ornithogalum. It has multiple green-gray flowers per stem, each etched with soft white on the outer petals.
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- Epimediums are long-lived and easy to grow and have such attractive and varying foliage. Epimedium, also known as barrenwort, bishop’s hat, and horny goat weed, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Berberidaceae.
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- This garden bed continues to be a work in progress, but so far, I love how it looks. Every year, more and more plants will grow, cover the space, and create a lush, green carpet of beautiful foliage.
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