All the spring flowers are just spectacular this time of year - just look at the blooms under my long and winding pergola.
Soon after I bought my Bedford, New York farm, I built a long pergola along the carriage road leading up to my home specifically for clematis. Over the years, I've added lots of bulbs and perennials that bloom at different times throughout the season. Right now, the Camassia and alliums are covering the area in an eye-catching palette of purple and blue - it's just stunning.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
This garden under my long pergola grows more colorful and vibrant every year. And it transforms throughout the growing season. In a couple of months, this border shall change once again and feature lovely shades of orange.
The palette of blue and purple is a theme here at my farm. I use these colors in several of the gardens.
The most prominent plant in this pergola garden right now is the Camassia – it’s blooming profusely and so beautifully.
Camassia leichtlinii caerulea forms clusters of linear strappy foliage around upright racemes. Camassia is a genus of plants in the asparagus family native to Canada and the United States. It is best grown in moist, fertile soil and full sun. Here it is in light blue.
On this, one can see the six-petaled, two-inch, star-shaped flowers.
Camassia also grows in this darker shade of blue.
The flower stalks stand 24 to 30 inches tall and display dozens of florets that open from the bottom up. Camassia is also known as camas, wild hyacinth, Indian hyacinth, and quamash. The bulbs are winter hardy in zones 4 to 8 and both the plant and the bulbs are resistant to deer and rodents.
Another beauty in the garden – the alliums. Alliums are often overlooked as one of the best bulbs for constant color throughout the season. They come in oval, spherical, or globular flower shapes, blooming in magnificent colors atop tall stems.
An allium flower head is a cluster of individual florets and the flower color may be white, yellow, pink, purple or blue.
Alliums require full sunlight, and rich, well-draining, and neutral pH soil. This one is intensely purple with tightly compacted globes that may bloom for up to five weeks.
Spanish Bluebells, Hyacinthoides, are unfussy members of the lily family, and native to Spain and Portugal. They are pretty and good for cutting – they add such a nice touch of blue.
Spanish Bluebells are also clump-forming and naturalize easily in the garden.
Catnip has jagged, somewhat heart-shaped leaves and thick stems that are both covered in fuzzy hairs. The botanical name for catnip is Nepeta cataria. The name Nepeta is believed to have come from the town of Nepete in Italy, and Cataria is thought to have come from the Latin word for cat.
Bordering the garden on both sides are these boxwood shrubs. There are more than 300 boxwood shrubs planted here. These boxwood shrubs were grown from small saplings right here at the farm.
On one side of the pergola is this giant weeping copper beech tree – I love these trees with their gorgeous forms and rich color. I have several large specimens on the property. The deep red to copper leaves grow densely on cascading pendulous branches.
In the “soccer field” between my orchard and my clematis pergola are six matched standard weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus ‘pendula’ – a dense tree with a strong center, a shapely form, and gracefully arching branches. These rare, slow growing, and exceptionally beautiful weeping hornbeams are full of gorgeous foliage.
In the center are wisteria standards. Right now, these beauties are cascading over the pergola and giving off the most intoxicating fragrance. Wisteria is valued for its beautiful clusters of flowers that come in purple, pink and white.
The flowers drape down from soft green heads of foliage. When blooming, the compact head of a wisteria looks so sensational.
Here they are overhead – so pretty. Wisterias flower best and grow most vigorously where they receive ample sunshine – at least six-hours a day. They thrive in any type of soil, as long as it is well drained.
I am so proud of this garden – it fills in and grows more beautifully every year.
My azaleas are putting on quite a show at my Bedford, New York farm.
Of all the shrubs that flower in spring, azaleas provide some of the most brilliant displays. I have hundreds of them planted together in a garden that starts just outside my Summer House and runs along two sides of the carriage road all the way down to my stable. When they bloom this time of year, this area of my property erupts with spectacular color - from pure white to shades of pink, crimson, yellow, and orange. Azaleas can thrive in a wide variety of growing conditions, which makes them so useful in many different landscapes. They are popularly referred to as the “royalty of the garden,” long adorned for their brightly colored flowers and evergreen foliage.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Are your azaleas blooming? The azaleas here at my farm are looking more beautiful than ever.
My azalea collection starts in a lightly wooded area where they get lots of filtered sunlight throughout the day. A few years ago, I extended the garden down the carriage road and planted more than 300-azaleas.
These are two of my mature specimens – and they continue to flourish year after year. Plant height ranges from about three to six feet for most varieties, but rare plants can range from under one foot to well over 15-feet tall.
Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the Ericaceae family, which includes blueberries and mountain laurel. They are also all rhododendrons and members of the genus Rhododendron.
Azaleas are generally healthy, easy to grow plants. Some azaleas bloom as early as March, but most bloom in April and May with blossoms lasting several weeks.
Here they are flowering among the tree peonies. The large mounds of bold pink look so gorgeous surrounded by all the green foliage. Azaleas are native to several continents including Asia, Europe, and North America.
The tube-shaped base of the flower contains a stamen that protrudes from the center.
The leaves are often evergreen with wooly undersides. The length of azalea leaves ranges from as little as a quarter-inch to more than six inches. Leaves of most azaleas are solid green, with a roughly long football-shape.
When I expanded the azalea garden, I added a variety of different azaleas and arranged them by color.
Azaleas thrive in moist, well-drained soils high in organic matter. They benefit greatly from a few inches of acidic mulch applied around the base to protect the roots and help conserve moisture.
Azalea petal shapes range from narrow to triangular to overlapping rounded petals. They can also be flat, wavy, or ruffled.
Azalea flowers can be single, hose-in-hose, double, or double hose-in-hose, depending on the number of petals.
Many azaleas have two to three-inch flowers and range in a variety of colors from pink to white to purple, red, orange, and yellow.
Here are some beautiful, crisp white azaleas.
The best time to shop for azaleas is when they are in bloom, so one can see their bright colors and forms.
Buy plants that are sturdy, well-branched, and free of insect damage or diseases. And, avoid plants with weak, spindling growth and poor roots.
When selecting a location for planting, be sure you know the mature size of the plants so they can be grouped accordingly in the landscape – tall plants in the background and short plants in the foreground.
These beautiful bold orange azaleas are at one end of the grove closer to my stable. Azaleas prefer morning sun and afternoon shade, or filtered light.
Azaleas have short root systems, so they can easily be transplanted in early spring or early fall. Be careful not to plant too deep and water thoroughly after transplanting.
Prune azaleas after they bloom to remove tall, lanky growth or vigorous suckers that detract from the overall form and shape of the plant.
And never eat azaleas. Like its cousin the rhododendron, the azalea is a toxic plant, and all parts of the plant are poisonous, including the honey from the flowers.
Azaleas are so stunning in any part of the landscape. I am so proud of this garden – its beautiful display gets better and better every year.
It's always so exciting to see how the gardens develop and thrive around my farm.
In 2020, we planted hundreds of hosta plants down behind my chicken coop yard across the carriage road from my allée of lilac. I first got the plants as bare-root cuttings and kept them in a cold frame for several months until they were big enough to transplant. In all, we had more than 700 hostas in a variety of cultivars including 'Wide Brim,' 'Francee,' 'Regal Splendor,' 'Elegans,' and 'Blue Angel.' Now four years later, they're doing excellently, filling the space with verdant foliage under the dappled shade of the stately dawn redwoods.
Here are some photos.
I tour all the gardens on a daily basis. I check how much the plants have grown, how healthy they are, and whether they need more food or water. I also assess what areas need more filling, or if plants need moving. Right now, so many of the gardens are just brimming with color and vitality – in particular, my hosta garden.
Just three weeks ago this garden was pretty bare. I instructed my outdoor grounds crew to top dress the bed with a generous layer of mulch, but there wasn’t much to see except the bit of green from the growing plants.
A week later, the hostas were up, some opened, and others were just beginning to unfurl.
And this is the garden now – hundreds of bold, green, gorgeous hosta plants are thriving.
This garden is planted under the shade of tall dawn redwoods, Metasequoia. In this photo, one can also see the allée of lilace across the carriage road.
The area is also planted with viburnum, cotinus, Spanish bluebells, and bleeding hearts, Dicentra.
It’s hard to miss these beautiful flowers. Dicentra is an elegant, easy-to-care-for perennial for shady gardens. More commonly known as bleeding heart, it is named for its heart-shaped blossoms that dangle from slender, arching stems. Dicentra is a great companion for other shade loving perennials such as hosta, astilbe and ferns. Here it is in pink.
… And here it is in red.
Viburnums have long been one of the most popular flowering landscape shrubs. This large group of plants consists of more than 150 species and numerous named cultivars. Viburnums include deciduous and evergreen specimens as well as small trees, mostly native to North America or to Asia. The leaves of viburnum ranges from glossy green to a dull, dark green, velvet appearance to foliage that is thick and leathery.
Hyacinthoides hispanica, commonly called Spanish bluebell or wood hyacinth, is a bulbous perennial native to Spain, Portugal and northwest Africa. Each bulb produces a clump of two to six strap-shaped leaves from which a rigid flower stem grows, typically containing up to 12 to 15 hanging, bell-shaped, bluish-lavender flowers that rise from the center.
I planted lots of these Spanish bluebells around the farm.
Another favorite is Continus – a few are also planted in this space. The smooth, rounded leaves come in exceptional shades of clear pinkish-bronze, yellow, deep purple, and green.
Hosta is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies, and occasionally by the Japanese name, giboshi.
Hostas are native to northeast Asia and include hundreds of different cultivars.
These beautiful plants have been opening more and more every day, showing off their gorgeous leaf structures.
Hosta leaf textures can be smooth, veined or puckered. Their surfaces may be matt, shiny or waxy but are usually satiny.
This variety is called ‘Francee’ with dark green, heart-shaped leaves and narrow, white margins.
‘Regal Splendor’ is a large hosta featuring thick, wavy-undulate, blue-gray leaves with irregular creamy white to pale yellow margins and cuspidate tips.
‘Elegans’ has huge, rounded, blue-gray leaves with white flowers that bloom mid-summer.
This is ‘Wide Brim’ with its dark green leaves and wide, yellow, irregular margins. This variety prefers full shade for most of the day.
The hostas were strategically positioned and spaced, paying attention to variety, color, and growth habit.
Unlike many perennials, which must be lifted and divided every few years, hostas are happy to grow in place without much interference. In summer, blooms on long stalks extend up above the clumping hosta foliage.
Hostas thrive in sites where filtered or dappled shade is available for much of the day, but they can survive in deep shade. If you have a shady area, experiment with shade-loving plants. Hostas, with their palette of different colors, textures, and sizes have tremendous landscape value and offer great interest to any garden. I am so pleased with how well this garden is doing.
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