It's always a joy to see beautiful potted plants displayed around the farm during the warm season.
Every year, I take out many of my outdoor ornamental urns and fill them with plants. They do so well outside in the summer months and look great arranged around my home. Yesterday, my gardeners filled several planters in front of my carport with various plants - echeveria, Selaginella, sword ferns, lady palms, and others. These plants are among the first I see when I walk out of the house and some of the last I see when I return.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
This concrete trough is located on the stone wall outside my carport. I like to place a variety of planters outside my home and fill them with warm weather specimens. Here, one can see that the drain holes are already covered with pottery shards for drainage and to prevent any soil mix from escaping.
Earlier this spring, the planter was lined with a piece of all-purpose garden fabric or weed cloth to protect the interior of the planter and to make it easier to empty after the season ends.
The trough was also filled with a good quality potting soil. Using a proper soil mix will help to promote faster root growth and give quick anchorage to young roots.
Pete fills several more containers with potting mix on the opposite side of the carport. Doing this in a production line process is quick and efficient. It also helps to ensure there is an equal amount of soil medium in each vessel.
Next – it’s planting time. Pete pots up some Selaginella.
Selaginella is a species of vascular plant in the family Selaginellaceae. It is referred to by the common name spike moss and is mostly found in the tropical regions of the world. Selaginella species are creeping plants with simple, scale-like leaves on branching stems.
It’s so nice to see these pots filled with lush green plants. Spike moss foliage is a vibrant green color. It loves high humidity and indirect light – this will be a perfect summer spot for them.
To protect the rather porous and fragile pots and to simplify the removal in autumn, Brian places this sword fern still in its plastic container.
Brian top dresses the urn with more potting mix. The sword fern plant prefers light to deep shade, but will do well in full sun if watered regularly in summer.
Native to North America, the Western sword fern gets its name from its elongated blade-like fronds. The robust, handsome leaves can grow several feet long and have as many as a hundred leaves. In fact, long ago on the California coast, Native American Miwoks used the long, sturdy fronds to thatch structures. I have lots of ferns here at the farm – in my gardens and in pots.
As each specimen on the ledge is planted, Brian tamps the soil down to prevent any air holes.
Next, Pete sprinkles a handful of plant food in every pot – a very important part of gardening. I always say, “if you eat, so should your plants.” Each planter gets a sprinkling of Osmocote – small plant food particles known as prills.
Osmocote prills contain a core of nutrients including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. As the plant’s root system takes-up nutrition from the soil, it also takes up the needed nutrients from the Osmocote.
Small wooden shims are used to lift all the planters off the ledge. This is very important for good drainage. All the pots around the farm are always raised. We save any usable pieces of wood from year to year for this purpose.
The troughs are now filled with succulents. Succulents are mostly native to arid regions and store water in their fleshy leaves, stems, and roots, enabling them to resist drought. The round antique ornamental containers are planted with sago palms.
Succulents have relatively shallow root systems so they don’t need a lot of soil.
Echeverias are some of the most attractive of all succulents and they are highly valued by plant enthusiasts for their gorgeous colors and beautiful shapes. The leaves are also fleshy and have a waxy cuticle on the exterior. The echeveria plant is slow growing and usually doesn’t exceed 12 inches in height or spread.
The sago palm, Cycas revoluta, is a popular houseplant known for its feathery foliage and ease of care. Native to the southern islands of Japan, the sago palm goes by several common names, including Japanese palm, funeral palm, king sago, or just plain sago palm. Sago palms are cycads, one of the most ancient plants that have been around since prehistoric times.
Finally, Brian gives every plant a good drink. It’s always important to water after planting, transplanting and potting. It is a good way to avoid transplant shock, and will help the plant settle in to its new location.
I love how these ledges look. These plants will thrive here all season long where they will get ample sun and light shade. The gardens and all my plants are looking so beautiful.
Developing a garden takes a lot of planning, time, and patience, but come next year, I'll have more gorgeous azaleas blooming than ever before here at my Bedford, New York farm.
Last weekend, I purchased 150 beautiful azaleas from White's Nursery in Germantown, Maryland. White’s Nursery specializes in azaleas as well as rhododendrons. All the plants are for my new azalea grove - a garden I designed along two sides of the carriage road between my Summer House and my stable. We've already planted more than 370 azaleas in this area - shades of pink, orange, crimson, yellow, and white. I just love azaleas! Of all the shrubs that flower in spring, azaleas provide some of the most brilliant displays. I am so excited to see this garden mature.
Enjoy these photos.
Last weekend, White’s Nursery in Germantown, Maryland hosted a big Spring Open House to sell some of their plants – I am glad we didn’t miss it!
Look at all the gorgeous blooms. White’s Nursery has more than 350 varieties of evergreen azaleas such as Glenn Dale, Bowie Mill, Satsuki, Robin Hill and many others. In addition, they also carry a wide selection of deciduous and native azaleas such as Calendulaceum, Chop Tank, Great Balls of Fire, Lemon Drop, Red Pepper, and some fragrant varieties.
All of the plants are grown right on site. Owner, Mike White, and I discussed my garden needs and he helped select the best specimens.
We picked all the plants up in my large trailer. Here, the plants are getting a good watering before the five hour ride back to my Bedford farm.
Once they arrived, I placed them in the garden where they would be planted. They were organized by color and variety.
We placed them strategically along the carriage road – keeping like colors together and always keeping the plant’s mature size in mind. Azaleas prefer morning sun and afternoon shade, or filtered light. Hot all-day sun can stress the plants and make them more susceptible to pests.
With so many plants to get in the ground, it is important to work quickly and efficiently. Pasang worked on digging the holes. The holes are made at least twice the size of the root ball about to be planted. Azaleas thrive in moist, well-drained soils high in organic matter.
Then each plant is placed into its designated hole.
As each specimen is planted, a good handful of fertilizer is dropped into every hole and mixed with the existing soil. I always use an all-natural fertilizer to aid transplant survival and increase water and nutrient absorption.
Phurba uses a hori hori to scarify the roots of this specimen. A hori hori is a Japanese-inspired tool with a double-edged, rust-resistant blade that’s serrated on one side and sharpened on the other. It is great for cutting through tough roots. Scarifying stimulates root growth.
Then he manually breaks up the bottom of the root ball. Essentially, he breaks up small portions to loosen the roots a bit and create some beneficial injuries. This helps the plant become established more quickly in its new environment.
Next, the plant is placed into the hole and then checked to be sure it is at the right depth.
Phurba ensures the best side of the plant is facing the road and then backfills the hole. Azaleas have short root systems, so they can easily be transplanted in spring or early fall.
Here it one all planted – and it has a lot of room to grow and spread. Some azaleas, including native types, can reach towering heights of 20 feet or more. Dwarf azaleas grow two to three feet tall, and many garden azaleas stay four to six feet in height with as wide a spread.
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.
Some of the plants are blooming so beautifully. Azaleas are native to several continents including Asia, Europe, and North America. These plants can live for many years, and they continue to grow their entire lives.
This is an evergreen azalea developed by hybridizer Joe Klimavicz. This one has two-inch wide pink ruffled blooms.
Azalea flowers can be single, hose-in-hose, double or double hose-in-hose, depending on the number of petals. The tube-shaped base of the flower contains a stamen that protrudes from the center. The leaves are often evergreen with wooly undersides.
Azalea petal shapes vary greatly. They range from narrow to triangular to overlapping rounded petals. They can also be flat, wavy or ruffled. 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.
The best time to shop for azaleas is when they are in bloom so you can see their flower colors and forms.
Lastly, Pasang walks to every azalea and gives it a good thorough drink. Whenever watering, be sure to focus on the root zone – it’s the roots that need access to water, not the leaves.
I just love how the rich bold colors of azaleas look in the gardens. All these new azaleas are great additions to this new and developing grove. As the saying goes in the plant world… “first year sleep, second year creep, and third year leap.” I can’t wait to see it this time next year!
All the gardens at my Bedford, New York farm are looking so vibrant and full this year. Among the eye-catchers right now are all the viburnums exploding with blooms around my Winter House.
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 flowers come in three major types - flat clusters of florets, flat umbels outlined with larger blossoms, and dome-shaped, snowballs. I grow several varieties here at Cantitoe - and all are my favorites.
Enjoy these photos.
Located right outside my Winter House is my White Garden – a beautiful space nestled under the partial shade of two stunning katsura trees, Cercidiphyllum. In the front corners are two topiary viburnum. Viburnum is a genus of about 150 to 175 species of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae along with elderberry.
Here is a closer look at one of the two topiary viburnums abloom with delicate white flowers.
The flowers can be sweetly fragrant and are primarily creamy white, but can vary in shades from white to pink. The individual florets grow in clusters usually found at the ends of branches.
Viburnum flowers are produced in corymbs that are about five to 15 centimeters across, each with five petals.
Topiary viburnums look exquisite planted in the garden, but they can also be planted in large containers. As with any planting, always consider the mature size of the specimen when choosing a specific pot or location.
Further down in the same garden, I have three other varieties including these Japanese and Chinese snowballs. Viburnum shrubs can range in height from two feet to 30 feet tall. These stand along one side of my driveway – everyone always stops to take a look.
This is Chinese Viburnum, Viburnum macrocephalum. It shows off six to eight inch flower clusters that open in April. The blossoms are composed entirely of sterile flowers that are lime green at first, changing to white.
The shrub is full of these beautiful white snowballs. Chinese snowballs grow up to 12 to 20 feet tall with a dense, rounded form.
Here is the Japanese snowball, Viburnum plicatum. This shrub grows eight to 15 feet tall and wide. It has showy, two to three-inch snowball-like clusters of white sterile flowers which also start blooming in April.
Japanese snowballs prefers moist, but well drained soil, and some shade.
A deep watering once a week is usually sufficient for viburnums, either through rainfall or irrigation. Native varieties that are well-established are fairly drought tolerant.
Each shrub looks more full than the last.
At the corner is a doublefile viburnum – one of the most attractive of viburnums, with a spreading, horizontal branching form.
The delicate flowers of a doublefile viburnum look very similar to the flat flowers of the lacecap hydrangea. It blooms in April with two to four-inch clusters of small fertile flowers edged with large, sterile flowers, giving the lacecap effect.
This Viburnum mariesii is one of two in my Stewartia Garden – also doublefile.
This pair was planted here just a few years ago and already blooms so gloriously every spring. Viburnums are mostly moderate- to fast-growing plants. They can grow from one foot to more than two feet per year.
Here, one can see how the flowers form on top of the branches. They are borne in terminal or axillary panicles, clusters, corymbs, or cymes, which are often spherical or domed.
The foliage ranges from glossy green to a dull, dark green, velvet appearance to foliage that is thick and leathery.
Many viburnums flower best in full sun, but light preferences vary from full sun to mostly shade.
I have several more viburnums flowering in the perennial garden across from my vegetable gardens.
In the fall, these shrubs will feature colors ranging from a glossy red to scarlet or purple. Viburnums are loved for their flowers, their fragrance, and their fruits and provide interest throughout the seasons. If you don’t have one in your garden, I hope this inspires you to plant one, or two, or even more…
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