Studiology

Fragrance Not Included

I love fragrant flowers, so of course I love lilies. And they're bustin out all over, just smellin the garden up, oh it's heaven! One very special little lily is Lilium formosanum var. pricei, a dwarf and when grown from seed will flower in one year. I've done it plenty, so can speak from experience. The true Lilium formosanum is not dwarf and some call it weedy, with its seeding about (and I'm sure it won't flower in 1 year from seed). For me, the dwarf variety is just generous enough, I find one here or there, enough to flower and produce seed so that it will return and flower as a new generation. Which is the odd part, it's very short lived, note to self, you need the seeds for repeat performances. Lilium formosanum var. pricei has the look of an Easter lily or Lilium longiflorum, but the leaves are smaller and its habit is a bit more natural which is so nice mixed in with other perennials. At only 2 feet tall, it's also easy to manage, no big stalk to stare at as the leaves cure and feed the bulb. The seed pods are elongated and actually quite pretty, I leave them on to decorate the winter garden.

 Trumpet lilies have also started to flower. Top heavy, and often needing a stake, I use shrubbery to support them. In this case, I have Lilium 'Golden Splendor' coming through my Rhus 'Tiger Eye' and what a sight that is! 

Trumpet lilies give off a fragrance that is heaven! If I did have to stake them, it would be worth it.

I also have Lilium 'Royal Sunset' which is a hybrid  between L. longiflorum (Easter lily) and the Asiatic pool of lilies. In some cases, the fragrance of the Easter lily parent is  inherited by its off spring, in this case it's faint, but present. The glowing colors more than make up for any lack of smell, it's a gorgeous thing.

Another plant of note, unfortunately without fragrance, has returned as a perennial for 2 years. One of the miniature gladiolus, this one is Gladiolus 'Flevo Laguna'. Grown from corms, I never imagined it would be hardy.

 Oh, the garden is lovely this time of year.

 

Happy Solstice!

The longest day of 2013 has arrived and now it's officially summer. Time for fresh tomatoes, corn, pretty zinnias, tropical flowers... you get the picture. 

Here are a couple more photographs of the Abbot's Sphinx caterpillar. The eyespot (located on rear) is a typical defense tactic to scare away predators, they think they're seeing a face of something much larger. 

From the Garden

Even though the big show of May is over, my garden is looking great. The rains have been regular and temperatures not too hot! Here are a few photographs taken in the last couple of days.

Hydrangea 'Endless Summer'

Nicotiana alata

Small steps in one of the miniature gardens, surrounded my corsican mint

A spring peeper, camouflaged to match the wall. 

The Abbott's Sphinx moth feeds on grape vine in its larval stage. The pattern is said to mimic grapes. Found this today at Oak Hill.

I took this photograph 3 days ago, it's the male guinea that watches over Moxie (our crippled guinea), my husband named him Ted. Moxie died yesterday, for no apparent reason, we've noticed that she's been a little less active and breathing heavy. Ted will have to move back into the guinea tribe, up until today his only job was watching over Moxie, his favorite lady. She was  3 years old, which is pretty good for a guinea, especially one with so many handicaps. 

There's a patch of Asclepias syriaca or common milkweed on the farm and not only is it highly fragrant but the Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies love it. Next will be the monarchs!

 

Hydrangea Time

If you don't have deer, or have a deer fence and you like to water, it's hydrangea time. They're beautiful and worth the trouble, and this year (like most), they're getting better. I'm talking about the blousy mopheads and lacecaps, all of which are very happy with our recent 3 + inches of rain. The Hydrangea macrophylla, as they are technically called, are also known as bigleaf hydrangeas. This big leaf requires hydration, hence the need for soil moisture. The word hydrangea is derived from 2 Greek words: 'hydor' meaning water, and 'angeon', a vessel for storing dry or liquid substances. 

Of the many species of hydrangeas, these (in my mind) require a bit more work, although I doubt that many people see it that way because we remember the way they look in June, and July and for the many months after that. With the right light frosting in fall, the foliage can become bronze and red, and certainly the "the cup half full" gardener expects it. We are usually a positive bunch, expectations are high for that perfect frost to bring on perfect fall colors and extend their beauty for yet a couple more months.

So the things that you have to remember with bigleafed hydranges are - they bloom on old wood, you don't want to prune them (unless it's dead wood), deer can't nibble on them and a late frost that kills them back is not good. In other words, anything that damages the old stems will take out potential flowers. Having said that, the  positive work in hydrangea breeding is for hydrangeas that bloom on new wood, essentially flowering even if there's winter damage. The first was Hydrangea 'Endless Summer' a winner that was introduced about 9 years ago. There have been many more, one of which is H. 'Twist and Shout', a Michael Dirr introduction with lacecap flowers and a real desire to flower.

A lacecap flower (sort of lacy in its pattern, like a doily) has smaller, fertile flowers in the center surrounded by larger infertile flowers, which are there for show, to attract pollinators and people. The other type of flower is a mophead, all infertile flowers, all flat discs of petals, they will not produce seed.

The second thing you need to know about bigleaf hydrangeas is that you can alter the flower color, up to a point. Your soil pH will determine the color, highly acidic soil will give you bluer flowers, sweet soils will result in pink flowers. Too much, one way or the other can kill them, but the good news is that most nurseries sell small containers of pH adjuster granules that will turn your hydrangea flowers pink or blue and it's safe. 

Another recent introduction that flowers on new wood is H. 'Nantucket Blue' a sport from H. 'Nikko Blue', a really good flowering and very popular older cultivar. Essentially you take something that was good and it miraculously got better, or at least a branch of it did and that's how it all started. The flowers are mopheads, full  and blousy and lovely.

As these bigleaf hydrangea flowers begin to form, they display a center that is green or white and the color heightens as they open. 

There are a few others that I find lovely. Hydrangea 'Oregon Pride' has a full mophead flower with white centers. It's vigirous and dense with reddish stems.

The line of red stemmed hydrangeas  goes back to Hydrangea serrata 'Preziosa' with leaves that are slightly smaller but generally reddish in color, even more so in  fall. The smaller leaves means it needs a bit less water and it's more cold hardy, loosing less water in winter winds. I still love this old variety and find it very satisfactory.

There is a new bigleaf hydrangea that has been called "mind bending" with it's psychedelic colors. You either love it or hate it and if you do love it, be happy because it's also a new cultivar that will flower on new wood. The petals go from completely green to all pink, striped in a pattern that reminded someone of pistachios. 

I'm sort of on the fence about Hydrangea 'Pistachio' and I like different, and I like new. Or so I keep telling myself.

No Regrets

My weekend was spent at a memorial service in West Virginia. The passing of an aunt brought us together after many, many years apart and it was a most wonderful thing, sad but wonderful. My mother was 1 of 6 girls, she was smack dab in the middle, the third girl,  but the first to pass, 17 years ago this December. It seems that once a parent dies, ties are lost between aunts, uncles and cousins. Thirteen years have gone by since I last visited the hometown of Harrisville, West Virginia, and that too was for a funeral of  my dear Aunt Marjie.  

Of course we have decided to try and get together more often. For no other reason than to laugh and reminisce, we laughed so often and so loud that the house seemed to shake. There's a great sense of humor in the family and tall tales become taller and funnier, I think we laugh harder every time we hear them. 

This Aunt (Susie) was the 2nd in birth order, she was from Smryna, GA and her urn was buried in the family cemetery, alongside her husbands. Her oldest son read a poem and sniffles could be heard all around. Grieving is considered part of the closure we need to say good-bye, yet better is the joy of joining together afterwards, with memories in places we may have known a life time. And so it was, we met in my aunt's house, such a beautiful place, surrounded by fields, woods, a fishing hole and quaking aspens that my grandfather planted. Everyone learned to fish at that fishing hole, except me, I couldn't kill the worm. 

Aunt Susie with Uncle Bee

I came home, only to learn that a dear friend lost his daughter to leukemia. She had just received donor stem cells and was fighting with all she had. Her support group was gigantic and we are sad and weepy today. I am trying to think about all that I am grateful for,especially after a weekend like this. An extra long walk with the dog, pulling huge weeds or slapping paint around - all come to mind to let emotions escape. We need to get together when it's not about someone passing.

Lunch with friends was a request from a friend that passed from pancreatic cancer many years ago and it was something a group of us did for 4 or 5 years. And it rocked! All we need to do is put it on a calender, get it started... and they will come. Regrets aren't good, laughter and good memories are. 

Urban Decay is Here!

The fourth annual "Urban Decay" show is finally at the Workhouse at Lorton, one of the very best art shows around. The opening reception will be June 8th from 5-11 PM and it will be rockin! The show hangs from June 1 to July 28th but you really should go early because many, many things sell. I am not personally in this show, but consider one of the most happening things around. The Workhouse hours are Wednesday to Saturday, 11:00 to 7:00 and Sundays, 12:00 to 5:00.

I have been working on a new series of cards and they will be in the Workhouse gift shop. I am calling it my turquoise series which includes a new sea series. Here are some samples:

 

These are sewn, stamped, inked, embossed and adorned with the occasional French knot. I also have 4 pieces hanging in Studio 902. So if you visit, spend some time looking around.