Here at my Bedford, New York farm, we're expecting more showers this morning after an entire day of heavy rains and flash flooding. It's been a very wet start to autumn, but there are still some beautiful surprises out in the gardens.
Most of the flowers are gone, but there are a few perennials showing off their late summer-early fall colors - the Russian sage, Japanese anemones, nasturtiums, phlox, asters, and of course, the autumn crocus.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
The common name for Colchicum is autumn crocus, but they are not true autumn crocus because there are many species of true crocus which are autumn blooming. Also, Colchicum flowers have six stamens while crocuses have only three. Colchicum is a member of the botanical family Colchicaceae and is native to West Asia, Europe, parts of the Mediterranean coast, down the East African coast to South Africa and the Western Cape.
The scientific name comes from Colchis, a region on the coast of the Black Sea. The name Colchicum alludes to the poisonous qualities of the species. The plant contains an alkaloid known as colchicine, which is found in all parts, but mostly in the seeds. Colchicum typically blooms from September to November. Here are some flowers just beginning to open.
And then once open, Colchicums produce large, goblet-like blooms in shades of pink, violet or white. They are large striking flower heads, with white at the base leading to pale pink at the apex.
Some of the varieties we’ve planted include ‘Lilac Wonder’, ‘Waterlily’, ‘Dick Trotter’, Colchicum byzantinum, and Colchicum bornmuelleri. This one is “Waterlily” – a double petaled cultivar.
When the weather is mild, colchicum’s nearly perfect cup-shape flowers begin to unfurl. Most Colchicum plants produce their flowers without any foliage. This is why these flowers were first known by the common name “naked boys.” In the Victorian era, they were also called “naked ladies.”
Colchicums are quite delicate but spread nicely in the autumn garden. Colchicum is a good pollen source for bees in fall when little else is available for them. And, because Colchicums are toxic, they provide a natural way to repel animals such as deer, mice, squirrels, and moles.
These flowers look so beautiful grown in clumps. I have them in various gardens near the carriage roads, so they can be seen by visiting guests.
When in bloom, phlox are covered with groups of small, sweet-smelling, star-shaped flowers from clean white to pale pastel, including pink, red, lavender, and purple.
Phlox species have tubular flowers with five distinct petals.
Aster is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Asters have daisy-like flowers and come in a variety of colors. They are easy to grow and require very little maintenance. They typically bloom in the late summer and fall, and they add color to the garden as the seasons change.
The name Aster is Greek, meaning “star,” and refers to the appearance of the flowers.
White Wood Aster, Aster divaricatus, bears clusters of small white flowers in late summer. These are herbaceous perennial wildflowers with an upright and mounding growth habit.
Tricyrtis hirta, the toad lily or hairy toad lily, is a Japanese species of hardy herbaceous perennial plant in the lily family Liliaceae. Toad lilies are hardy perennials native to ravines and woodland edges in India, China, Japan, and other parts of Asia. Toad lily flowers bloom in a range of spotted colors in the axels of the plant.
Most Tricyrtis begin blooming in September or October, depending on the cultivar and the weather, and remain for three or four weeks or until they are wilted by frost.
Under my long pergola, there are still some beautiful passion flower blooms showing off their color and unique form. They bloom from spring through late fall, The passion flower genus includes more than 500 species of mostly tendril-bearing vines in the family Passifloraceae.
Also in my pergola garden is Perovskia atriplicifolia, commonly called Russian sage. It shows tall, airy, spike-like clusters that create a lavender-blue cloud of color above the finely textured, aromatic foliage. It is vigorous, hardy, heat-loving, drought-tolerant, and deer resistant.
In the nearby flower cutting garden – morning glory. I have some growing on the fence. The brightly colored trumpet-shaped flowers have a slight fragrance and are popular with butterflies and hummingbirds. The buds are twirled up tightly and unfold when the sun hits them in the morning, giving them their unique name.
This is a Nasturtium. Nasturtium plants, Tropaeolum, are loved for their rich, saturated, jewel-toned colors. Planted in the spring after the threat of frost has passed, they are fast and easy to grow. Nasturtium is a genus of about 80 species of annual and perennial herbaceous flowering plants. It was named by Carl Linnaeus in his book Species Plantarum, and is the only genus in the family Tropaeolaceae.
These flowers can vary in shade, but the most popular versions are orange, yellow, pink, red, or mahogany. There are also varieties in subdued shades of butter yellow and cream.
Here’s a look at the interesting leaves of Nasturtium. The leaves are circular, shield-shaped and grow on a trailing plant. They are fragrant, with a mustard-like scent. And, do you know… all parts of the nasturtium plant are edible. The flowers, leaves, stems, and young seed pods can be eaten. All of these parts have a distinct peppery flavor similar to radishes.
There are still a few hydrangea flowers in the garden also – these are across the carriage road from my chicken yard. Hydrangeas are popular ornamental plants, grown for their large flower heads, which are excellent in cut arrangements and for drying.
The anemones are also holding strong. Anemone is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Most anemone flowers have a simple, daisy-like shape and lobed foliage that sway in the lightest breezes.
Depending on the species, anemones can bloom from the earliest days of spring into the fall months. These blooms sit atop upright, airy stems and grow two to three feet tall.
And the two-and-a-half inch wide circular flowers come in white, pink, or mauve. Flowers can be single, double, or semi-double and add great late season color to the garden. I hope wherever you are this weekend, you can stop to appreciate the beautiful flowers that are still showing off their gorgeous colors and forms this time of year.
My gardeners and outdoor grounds crew continue to check off big tasks from our long to-do list here at the farm - among them, cleaning the sunken garden behind my Summer House.
Some of you may recall, I began planning this formal garden more than 10 years ago. The focal point is the great old ginkgo tree at the back of the space that is original to the property. Over time, I've planted American and English boxwood, smaller ginkgo trees, smoke bushes, Siberian weeping pea shrubs, peonies, hostas, lilies, alliums, and so much more. Yesterday, Ryan and Brian tended to the beds - weeding, raking, and cleaning the entire area.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
The former owner of my farm, Mrs. Ruth Sharp, occupied two houses on the property. She called this house the Summer House, where she stayed during warm weather. Adjacent to it is the Winter House which had a better heating system and where Mrs. Sharp was comfortable during the cold months. I kept the names of the buildings, although major changes were made to both. Today, the Summer House serves as a library and entertaining space. Behind the house is this formal sunken garden “room.”
The main focal point is the mighty old ginkgo tree. This tree is about 250-years old. Although not as large as others I’ve seen, my tree is quite massive and sits at the north end of the garden, very visible from the Summer House terrace.
Surrounding the sunken garden on three sides is a tall American boxwood hedge. I love how it encloses the space. And because the Summer House faces a rather busy intersection, the wall of boxwood also provides a good deal of privacy.
In the center, where the stone footpaths converge is a giant millstone – one of three I have here at the farm. A millstone is a circular stone used in gristmills or triturating, crushing or, more specifically, grinding wheat or other grains.
There is also this antique sundial. A sundial is any device that uses the sun’s altitude or azimuth to show the time. It consists of a flat plate, which is the dial, and a gnomon, which casts a shadow onto the dial.
Here’s Brian cleaning and weeding one of the beds.
In this garden I also have smaller ginkgo trees on both sides of the main footpath. The ginkgo biloba is one of the most distinct and beautiful of all deciduous trees. It prefers a minimum of four hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day. The ginkgo has a cone-like shape when young, and becomes irregularly rounded as it ages.
The leaves are unusually fan-shaped, up to three-inches long, with a petiole that is also up to three-inches long. This shape and the elongated petiole cause the foliage to flutter in the slightest breeze. Ginkgo leaves grow and deepen color in summer, then turn a brilliant yellow in autumn.
Ryan is raking some of the early autumn leaves that have fallen from the silver maple tree above. The garden beds are freshly weeded showing the low boxwood hedges.
A couple times a year, we groom and prune these hedges to give them a more clean and manicured appearance.
Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood. The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The leaves on boxwood branches are arranged opposite from each other, making pairs.
I also have these boxwood shrubs. Boxwood is naturally a round or oval shaped shrub that can reach up to 15 feet in height. I love the tapered tops.
Behind the boxwood, one can see the tree peony plants. Tree peonies are larger, woody relatives of the common herbaceous peony, growing up to five feet wide and tall in about 10 years. They are highly prized for their large, prolific blooms that can grow up to 10 inches in diameter.
I also grow itoh peonies in ths garden. Itoh peonies or intersectional peonies are crosses between the herbaceous and tree peonies. These peonies die back to the ground in the fall which means that the new buds in the spring are less likely to be killed by frost than tree peonies.
On the terrace, I have several potted Norfolk Island pines, Araucaria heterophylla, a species of conifer.
Also potted are ferns. This one is a variegated Boston fern with strikingly patterned fronds.
Across the terrace – potted aloe plants.
There are also six weeping Siberian pea shrubs with cascading weeping branches.
These are the beautiful deep-colored leaves of the chocolate mimosa tree. These leaves are bronze-green, fern-like leaves that appear in late spring and then become a deeper rich chocolate-burgundy color in summer.
I have two of these gorgeous mimosa trees growing beneath the large ginkgo tree. The chocolate mimosa tree is a fast-growing, deciduous tree with a wide, umbrella-shaped canopy.
In the back of the garden, I also have these large leaf hostas. Hostas are a perennial favorite among gardeners. The lush green foliage varying in leaf shape, size and texture, and their easy care requirements make them ideal for many areas. 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.
Here are the leaves of the smoke bush, Cotinus. 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.
Here’s Brian using our battery powered handheld blower from STIHL. Soon, there will be lots of leaf blowing going on here at the farm now that it’s fall.
I am so pleased with how my Summer House garden has developed over the years. I really should entertain here more often. What do you think?
My gardeners and outdoor grounds crew use their tools all year long, so it is important to keep them clean and in good working condition at all times.
If you're an avid gardener, you know sharp pruning tools not only make chores easier to complete, but they also make cleaner cuts, which allow plants to heal faster. Making clean cuts also exposes them to less damage from diseases, insects, fungi, and weather extremes. Everyone on the crew cleans, sharpens, and conditions their pruners, snips, and shears regularly. The process only takes a few minutes, and it keeps these gardening implements in proper working order.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Pruners are among the most essential tools here at my Bedford, New York farm. Pruners, or secateurs, are used for grooming all the garden specimens. Their primary purpose is to remove dead, diseased, or damaged stems, and branches from plants and bushes.
Here’s Brian using his pruners on the hedge around my pool.
And here he is cutting the dead wood from one of the raspberry bushes.
Each member of my crew has pruners. We all like to use Okatsune secateurs. Bypass garden pruners such as these make nice, clean cuts using two curved blades that bypass each other in the same manner as a pair of scissors. One blade is sharpened on the outside edge and slips by a thicker unsharpened blade.
Because they are used so often, every few days my gardeners take stock of their cutting tools, and clean and sharpen their hand pruners. Here, Brian shows his pruners before they are cleaned and sharpened.
For this task, Brian uses a coarse cleaning block and a whetstone. Both are soaked in water for about 10-minutes before using. A whetstone will help keep the pores of the stone clean, dissipate frictional heat, and ensures smooth sharpening.
This little cleaning block has a slightly rough texture for removing grime from the blades. Cleaning blocks are great for removing rust and other debris. They’re made of a semi flexible rubber compound with abrasive grits for scouring.
Brian uses the block to remove any dirt, sap, etc.. Brian goes over every part of both blades. One can also use a medium grit sandpaper.
Here, it is already beginning to look a little bit cleaner.
It is important to also get all the dirt off the metal parts – anything left on tools can attract and hold moisture and cause rust.
Sharpening stones, water stones, or whetstones are fine-grained stones used for sharpening the edges of steel tools and implements through grinding and honing.
Next, Brian uses the whetstone to sharpen the blade. Brian holds the pruners firmly and places an even and gentle pressure drawing the stone along the blade from hilt to tip.
Here’s another view. Most secateurs are single bevelled – Brian sharpens the outside, and then smooths off the inside, going slightly over the edge.
Brian holds the whetstone at an angle to sharpen the edges and maintain the bevel. The bevel is what makes a tool sharp, and blades are factory ground to a precise angle that’s just right for each tool.
These blades are now very sharp. And be sure to always watch what is being done – keep fingers away from the blades.
Brian carefully feels each side to be sure there are no burrs. A burr is a bit of waste metal forming at the edge. If a burr is present, one will feel a slight catch on the blade.
Brian lightly lubricates all the clean, sharpened metal parts. Oil will help the pruners perform more smoothly.
He also oils the joint where the two sides meet. After oiling, it is a good idea to open and close the pruners to hear how the parts move together – they should work smoothly and evenly.
On the left is a clean and sharp pruner – on the right, an uncleaned, unsharpened pruner.
Brian does the same process for this pair – first, he uses the cleaning block…
… then the whetstone…
… and after oiling, he wipes it down with a cloth.
Now both pairs are ready to go back out into the gardens. Cleaning and sharpening supplies are available at many garden shops and online. It is crucial to keep these garden tools sharp at all times. Sharp pruners for working in the gardens… it’s a very “good thing.”
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