My Lush Stewartia Garden in Summer
Across from my long and winding pergola is my Stewartia garden - it, too, is looking so beautiful this time of year.
My Stewartia Garden was once planted with rows and rows of ferns and lilies. Now, the garden still has growing tiger lilies and ferns, but it is also filled with lush Stewartia trees, Japanese maples, Cotinus, and thriving plants including Epimediums, Syneilesis, hostas, and more. It's matured so nicely over the last few years.
Here are some photos of this garden in summer, enjoy.
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- Many of the plantings in this garden behind my Tenant House are under the cover of the towering bald cypress. And right now, this garden is also dotted with gorgeous bright orange tiger lilies.
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- Earlier this year I planted a border of boxwood. I decided the space would look so pretty matching the boxwood across the carriage road along my winding pergola. Boxwood can grow in full sun and partial shade – they’ll thrive in this location.
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- Some of the ferns in this area include the Japanese painted ferns – 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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- Heuchera is a genus of largely evergreen perennial plants in the family Saxifragaceae, all native to North America. Common names include alumroot and coral bells.
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- Hostas have easy care requirements which make them ideal for many gardens. 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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- The hostas are so lush with their varying leaf shapes, sizes, and textures. I also have a large hosta garden down behind my chicken yard.
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- Lady’s mantle, Alchemilla vulgaris, grows along one edge. It is a clumping perennial which typically forms a mound of long-stalked, circular, scallop-edge light green leaves, with tiny, star-shaped, chartreuse flowers.
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- In another area, the bright red berries of the Viburnum. These berries replace the creamy-white, flat-headed flowers that bloom in spring.
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- Cotinus, the smoketree, or smoke bush, is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to sumacs. The simple, oval shaped leaves range from deep purple and red to bright green. They offer such a colorful display throughout the seasons.
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- I have many Japanese maples at the farm. With more than a thousand varieties and cultivars, the iconic Japanese maple tree is among the most versatile small trees for use in the landscape. Some of the Japanese maples in this garden include Acer palmatum var. dissectum ‘Crimson Queen’, Acer palmatum ‘Shaina’, and Acer palmatum var. dissectum ‘Red Dragon’.
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- This is Syneilesis palmata. Over time, these plants form a sizeable patch of green umbrella-shaped leaves. Mature foliage can be more than a foot across with deeply toothed, narrow leaves – it is really an interesting plant.
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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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- And this is Asarum europaeum, or European Wild Ginger – a slowly spreading ground cover that is primarily grown for its glossy, leathery, heart-shaped, dark green leaves.
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- I planted the bald cypress when they were just a few feet tall, but look at them now! Bald cypress or Taxodium distichum is a deciduous conifer. Though the bald cypress is native to swampy areas, it is also able to withstand dry, sunny weather and is hardy in USDA climate zones 5 through 10.
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- The bark of the bald cypress is brown to gray and forms long scaly, fibrous ridges on the trunk. Over time, these ridges tend to peel off the trunk in strips.
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- The phlox is thriving in the garden. Phlox has superb heat and mildew resistance. It comes in a range of colors from pink to pure white to lavender to even red and grows happily in most parts of the country. If properly planted and sited, phlox is largely pest and disease free too – a perfect perennial.
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- This is a balloon flower, Platycodon grandiflorus – a species of herbaceous flowering perennial plant of the family Campanulaceae, and the only member of the genus Platycodon. It is native to East Asia and is also known as the Chinese bellflower or platycodon.
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- Balloon flowers get their name from the unopened buds, which swell up prior to opening and resemble little hot-air balloons.
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- I have several Cotoneaster plants in one corner of the garden bed. They have soft arching stems studded with leathery, glossy, rounded, dark green leaves.
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- Cotoneaster is a vigorous, dense, and evergreen shrub. These plants work well for low hedges.
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- And this is my Basket House, nestled under the shade of the bald cypress at the edge of the carriage road to my home. The weather has been extremely warm and humid, and today is expected to be another hot one with temperatures in the 90s. It’s been challenging to keep all the gardens well-watered, but these perennials seem to be doing just fine.
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