It's definitely mid-summer when my long and winding pergola is full of striking orange-colored tiger lily blooms.
This pergola, located on one side of a carriage road near my Tenant House, goes through several transformations during the year. In winter, the beds are bare and the bordering boxwood is enveloped in protective burlap. In late spring, a palette of bold purple alliums and blue camassia cover the area, followed by the delicate shades of lavender from the flowering clematis vines that wrap around each of the antique granite posts. And now, hundreds of brightly spotted tiger lilies line the garden bed - and they're thriving.
Enjoy these photos.
Tiger lilies, Lilium lancifolium, bloom in mid to late summer, are easy to grow, and come back year after year.
Native to China and Japan, these robust flowers add striking beauty to any border with their bright and showy orange colored blooms.
In winter, my pergola is sleeping – the boxwood border is covered in burlap and the beds are bare.
And this year, I restored the winding 300-foot pergola and replaced the 20-year old timeworn wood with new beams and cedar rafter tails.
By late May, this pergola garden is filled with lots of blue and purple flowers. This palette of colors is a big favorite at the farm – it grows more colorful and vibrant every spring.
The beds are filled with Camassia, Hyacinthoides or Spanish bluebells…
… And bright, big alliums.
And now it’s filled with bright, orange lilies – another big transformation.
Tiger lilies are covered with black or deep crimson spots, giving the appearance of the skin of a tiger. They have large, down-facing flowers, each with six recurved petals. Many flowers can be up to five inches in diameter.
The tiger lily’s petals bend back far during the flowering cycle, curling up against its own stem and exposing the stamens and pistol for visiting pollinators.
Lilies are well-known for having heavily pollinated stamens, which stain. When cutting, always remove the anthers to prevent a clothing disaster – just pinch them off with gloved fingers.
There are also a few white lilies in this bed – adding more interest to the long floral display.
This lily is white and orange with bright orange pollinated stamens.
The blackish, round “seeds” that develop in the axils of the leaves along the main stem are called bulbils.
The leaves can grow to three inches long and about 3/4-inch wide. They are medium green, narrow, smooth along their margins, and glabrous, clasping the stem at their bases.
And there are still many more lilies just waiting to open. Tiger lilies do best in full sun.
Along both sides of the pergola, I planted a hedge of smaller boxwood shrubs. I planted this side in 2017, and they’ve grown in so excellently.
This pergola starts across from my perennial flower cutting garden and runs along the carriage road leading to my Winter House. It’s one of the first gardens guests see when they come to visit.
On the granite posts, there are still a few lasting clematis flowers. I have always loved clematis, and over the years I have grown many varieties of this wonderful plant. It has also been called traveller’s joy, virgin’s bower, leather flower, or vase vine or “Old Man’s Beard,” because of the long fluffy seed heads that look similar to an old man’s beard.
Here’s a darker purple clematis still holding on to its color and form.
I also have pops of daylilies. The daylily is a low-maintenance perennial—easy to grow, virtually disease- and pest-free, and able to survive drought, uneven sunlight, and poor soil. The daylily’s botanical name, Hemerocallis, comes from Greek hemera “day” and kallos meaning “beauty”. The name is appropriate, since each flower lasts only one day. Despite their name, daylilies are not “true lilies.” Leaves grow from a crown and the flowers form on leafless stems called “scapes,” which rise above the foliage.
The entire pergola border and its surrounding gardens, trees, and other specimens provide a spectacular show every year. I am so proud of how it’s grown.
Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) was a Swedish painter and mystic whose abstract works are considered some of the first in Western art history. From 1919 to 1920, Hilma completed the 46 botanical illustrations showcasing her interpretations of Sweden's flowers, plants, and trees and their spiritual connections. The display includes Hilma's abstract watercolors of her country's seasons as well as some of her personal notes. My operations manager, Matt Krack, went to see the collection earlier this summer and found it both inspiring and informational.
Here are some of Matt's photos, enjoy.
Hilma af Klint studied drawing, portrait painting, and botanical and landscape illustration. Before she died, she requested her work be preserved and not displayed for 20-years after her death. Today, this collection of drawings is on view for the very first time.
The exhibit “Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowers” presents her daily observations of nature during the spring and summer months of 1919 and 1920 and how they unveil a deeper look into the human condition.
The portfolio shows Hilma’s connection to nature in everything from sunflowers to tulips and insects, and even the foliage of trees. She shows many of the elements still observed in nature today. In fact, I grow many of the flowers and trees seen in these pieces.
Magnifying glasses are provided for those interested in seeing the minute details of Hilma’s drawings.
This drawing done in April of 1919 shows Anemone hepatica and on the bottom Corylus avellana, the common filbert.
Many of these works also show diagrams of their spiritual significance. Here is a selection of flowers done in June fo 1919 – True forget-me-not, viburnum, and small cow-wheat. Spiritually, these illustrate tenderness, disobedience and modesty.
In this piece, Hilma draws European barberry, European columbine, and Silene nutans, Nottingham catchfly.
Do you recognize this? It is a yellow iris. Its spiritual connection is described as reverence for the power of thought. Hilma’s visual representations were often matched to very complex spiritual ideas.
This is Papaver rhaeas or a corn poppy. Hilma’s abstract works also predated many of her male counterparts such as Kandinsky and Mondrian.
And these are the leaves of Tilia vulgaris, or the common linden. It was drawn on July 29, 1919.
In this piece, Hilma shows Binens, three-parted beggarticks, which is in the sunflower family. She also groups it with Sedum telephium, Orpine, and Lathyrus odorata, the sweet pea.
This drawing features a common lilac, Syringa vulgaris. Here, Hilma feels the power of Zoroaster can be found in both white and violet lilacs.
Here, Hilma shows a bulbous buttercup, European ash, together with a barn funnel weaver, or a domestic house spider as it is known in Europe – spiritually describing the ability for lively thinking.
This smooth hawthorn, Crataegus oxyacaantha, is connected to Hilma’s view of reproduction.
This is a Narcissus poeticus, Poet’s narcissus, showing Hilma’s description of the belief in the power of youth.
And this is a tulip, complete from bloom to bulb. Hilma uses watercolor, pencil, ink and metallic paint on paper for many of her works.
Here is a beautiful and detailed sketch of a white wagtail bird – a small, slender passerine bird known for its distinctive black, white, and gray plumage and tail-wagging behavior.
This is one from an arrangement of abstract pieces that closes the exhibit. It is called “Pansy.” The series contains bright and energetic paintings using wet on wet watercolors – a more fun and free use of expression. If you can, do stop in at the MoMA and see the presentation – a first time offering of Hilma af Klint. It’s on view until September 27th.
It's always nice to share photos of the "before" and "after" of a garden project.
My farm sits on more than 150 acres of gardens, pastures, and woodlands. Every year, I work hard to design new garden spaces and enhance existing ones. I take into consideration a plant's growing needs and mature size and then plant accordingly. Down by my tennis court, I already have a collection of white hydrangeas growing on one side. Last July, I decided the area would look even better with hydrangeas planted all around the court. I planted a combination of white and pink blooming shrubs. And exactly 12 months later they're blooming wonderfully.
Enjoy these photos.
My tennis court is tucked away in a far corner of my farm. The court is surrounded by the same type of fencing as my perennial flower garden. And like all the other structures, it is painted Bedford gray.
On one side of the court behind and next to the observation pergola, is a selection of beautiful white hydrangeas including Pee Gee hydrangeas.
During summer they bloom so beautifully – the flowers are so big, they can be seen from the carriage road.
This time last year, I decided to plant more hydrangeas around the other three sides of the court. Two foot wide strips of sod were removed and rolled up in sections for easy carrying. It may not look it, but a section of sod can weigh between 15 and 30 pounds each.
These plants are Little Hottie® Panicle Hydrangeas from First Editions. They’re compact, mid-sized white hydrangeas – perfect for this side of the court.
Along both width sides, I added a selection of First Editions Diamond Rouge hydrangeas, Hydrangea paniculata ‘Rendia’ – small, bushy, deciduous shrub that produces large, rounded flower heads that change color over the season – creamy white in summer, changing to pink, and then wine red in fall.
Plants were positioned about two-and-a-half feet apart – I had just enough to fill all three sides.
Chhiring planted the hydrangeas similar to the way they were planted in the pots. Hydrangeas have shallow root systems that spread out broadly near the surface of the soil. Planting them too deep can bury the stems, which can promote root rot.
All three sides were then dressed with mulch made right here at the farm. It was delivered from my compost yard on my trusted Kubota M4-071 tractor bucket and then spread in an even two to three inch layer.
I was confident they would all flourish around my tennis court where they would get at least three to four hours of direct sunlight.
The plants were in such good condition. I was excited to see them all flower profusely the following year.
And look at them now – just dripping with gorgeous blooms.
Diamond Rouge® Panicle Hydrangeas have abundant, long lasting, rounded flower heads that start white and progress to pink, intense raspberry red, and finally wine red.
The flowers start blooming in July and take on pinkish coloration earlier in the season compared to other pink panicle hydrangeas.
Hydrangeas have four petals in their florets. The petals can be found in a multitude of colors including blue, pink, purple, and white, depending on the species and soil pH. I have other colored hydrangeas elsewhere around my farm and they’re all blooming so plentifully this year.
This view shows the front side of hydrangeas and the more mature ones I planted years ago in the back.
And look at the blooms here. The Little Hottie panicle hydrangeas are also bursting with beautiful flowers.
Each low shrub is filled with white to antique white flower clusters.
Under optimal conditions, hydrangeas can bloom from spring to fall for about 10 to 12 weeks. And even with the recent uncomfortable heat and humidity here, these flowers are doing excellently.
What a difference a year makes in the garden. Plant in the proper spot for the specimen, maintain good nutrient rich soil, and water and feed properly – your gardens will thrive like mine.
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