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Japanese Anemone 2008-01-11 07:49:00 Japanese AnemoneAnemone x hybrida 'Whirlwind'(uh-NEM-oh-nee)Synonyms: Japanese Windflower, Japanese ThimbleflowerThis is another great perennial for the late summer or fall border. The beautiful semi-double flowers are held high above the foliage (which sometimes can get a little ratty) on wiry stems. This is considered a semi-double form that grows to about 2 to 3 feet. Most nurseries classify this as a deer resistant perennial but I have had mine eaten before when the feeding pressure is high.What I like about these plants is they really come on strong in the late season. There are numerous cultivars to choose from and they grow with almost no care. They do like some moisture and can grow in alkaline soils. In fertile soils they can spread rather rapidly but I have found them easy to control and when I plant them I keep in mind they need a little room to spread. You can divide them in the spring as a control measure or a way to get more plants. My experience is that they are not re ...

Montauk Daisy 2008-01-10 06:53:00 Montauk DaisyNipponanthemum niponicumSynonyms: Nippon Daisy, Chrysanthemum niponicum, Leucanthemum niponicumThis plant has a few naming issues as it is called several synonyms and its scientific name has changed a couple of times over the years. It now has its own genus, Nipponanthemum, and is indigenous only to Japan. No matter what you call it this flower is great for the fall garden. It is hardy to USDA Zone 5 and has always been a reliable bloomer for me. The flowers look a lot like Shasta daisy but the almost succulent foliage and the fact the stems get woody makes it different. While I find Shastas and the other Daisies to be low maintenance the Montauks need even less water and care. I simply shear them to 6 to 12 inches to tidy them up in the spring and if I remember pinch them a couple of times during the spring and early summer.Since Montauk Daisy blooms in the late summer and fall it is a nice plant to combine with Goldenrod (and I only recommend the garden cultivars of that ...

ABC Wednesday - Y is for Yellowtwig Dogwood 2008-01-09 07:26:00 Yellowtwig DogwoodCornus sericea 'Flaviramea'(KOR-nus) (ser-IK-ee-uh)Synonyms: Yellowstem Dogwood, Golden Twig DogwoodIf you are here for Wordless Wednesday please scroll down to the next post.When I took these pictures about a month ago I thought that it would be a good ‘Y’ post. Yellowtwig Dogwood is a favorite winter plant of mine. I love to see it in masses and I often plant it with Redtwig Dogwood. It looks good in leaf and the summer flowers give way to white berries but the real show is the winter color of the twigs. They do take a little bit of managing as only the younger twigs show the best color so you have to remember to prune them during the spring. They can also get quite large if left to their own devices. I have seen them up to 10 feet tall and like to keep mine at about 6 feet.Yellowtwig is hardy done to -45.5 °C (-50 °F)! It also tolerates moist and even wet conditions. It is not fussy as to soil and propagation is easily done by layering some of the sucker br ...

Wordless Wednesday ~ Tuesday Edition 2008-01-08 04:11:00 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sculpture Garden, NYC ...

Florist Kalanchoe 2008-01-07 05:45:00 Florist Kalanchoe Kalanchoe blossfeldiana (kal-un-KOH-ee) (bloss-fel-dee-AY-nuh) Synonyms: Flaming Katy, Christmas Kalanchoe This is a plant that I see almost everywhere. Its ease of cultivation, compact size and great flower color must be some of the reasons for that. I had some other photographs of it somewhere but went with these two I took in Manhattan on Saturday. Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, ...

Hyacinths 2008-01-06 12:43:00 Hyacinths Hyacinthus orientalis (hy-uh-SIN-thus) Yesterday I went down to Manhattan with the idea I would try out the 50mm/1.8 lens at the Museum of Modern Art. When I got down there at the 10:30 opening time the line to get in was just too long already so I decided to take the subway down to Chelsea and have a walk around. I went by the Wholesale Flower District on 28th Street and see if I ...

Giant Hornbill 2008-01-04 08:33:00 Giant Hornbill Buceros bicornis Synonyms: Great Indian Hornbill, Great Pied Hornbill Another bird from the Bronx Zoo’s World of Birds. The Giant Hornbill is impressive at 130 centimeters and is beautifully colored. Their native range is Southwest India, the Himalayas to Southeast Asia and there is an isolated population on Sumatra. It is an important seed disperser that can consume seeds as ...

‘Crimson Sentry’ Norway Maple 2008-01-03 09:57:00 Norway Maple Acer platanoides ‘Crimson Sentry’ (AY-ser) (pla-tan-OY-dees) Synonyms: European Maple I was going to call this a Dwarf Norway Maple but not sure if that is correct. My definition of a dwarf is a plant that is smaller than its parent or a plant that does not reach the size normally associated with its species. There can be several reasons for dwarfism amongst plants including ...

ABC Wednesday – X 2008-01-02 05:56:00 ABC Wednesday – X Happy New Year to all! If you are visiting for WW please scroll down to the next post. X is a tough letter. I decided to use one of the signs that mark the plants at the Estate garden. I tried to get cute with this picture and only get the X in focus. There about 700 of these signs and correspond to about half of the plant species and cultivars. I picked this sign since it has ...

Wordless Wednesday - Siberian Tiger 2007-12-31 22:58:00 Siberian Tiger Panthera tigris altaica ...

Palawan Peacock Pheasant 2007-12-31 10:22:00 Palawan Peacock Pheasant Polyplectron emphanum Numididae Synonyms: Polyplectron napoleonis, Napoleon's Peacock-Pheasant Yesterday I decided to drive down to the NYBG and on the way I saw a sign for the Bronx Zoo and decided to stop there instead. I haven’t done any photography at Zoos before so I thought that might be interesting. It was kind of funny as there were some people with huge lenses ...

Dwarf River Birch 2007-12-29 07:05:00 Dwarf River BirchBetula nigra 'Fox Valley'(BET-yoo-luh) (NY-gruh)BetulaceaeSynonyms: Little KingThis is one of my favorite trees in the garden. It is almost an exact replica of its larger cousin Betula nigra ‘Heritage’ without the big size. I planted my grove of 6 ‘Little King’ in 1995, four years after the tree was released by King Nursery of Oswego, Illinois. The final height is 10 -12 feet and the spread looks to be 8 to 10 feet. I like the densely packed twigs and of course the exfoliating bark is nice all year but really brightens up the winter garden. The bark on ‘Little King’ starts to peel at an early age compared to the larger River Birch. The foliage is double serrate and attractive, and I haven’t had any problems with insects. I have noticed the fall color is nothing really to speak of, often times the leaves just turn brown, although some autumns it has a nice yellow fall color.There are two reasons I favor River Birch over most of the other species of Betu ...

White Grape Hyacinth Muscari botryoides 'Album' 2007-12-28 06:20:00 White Grape Hyacinth Muscari botryoides 'Album' (mus-KAR-ee) (bot-ROY-dees) Hyacinthaceae These pictures are from spring. The Grape Hyacinth is always a welcome sight to me in the spring. It is a reliable, hardy bloomer that naturalizes and spreads but in a way that is not weedy or invasive. Some people do consider it invasive but I really don’t mind it popping up in the garden. This white ...

ABC Wednesday – W 2007-12-26 07:53:00 ABC Wednesday – W If you are visiting for Wordless Wednesday please scroll down to the next post. Hey that is a couple of W's right there. W is for wreath and this one is something that I saw a lot of this year, a Magnolia wreath. They were popping up everywhere this season. The Christmas Wreath is an old tradition that started in Germany with the Advent wreath. The Christmas wreath was a ...

Wordless Wednesday - Santa has Gone Fishin' 2007-12-25 14:01:00 Santa is ready for a much deserved vacation. Hope he was nice to you! "I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play, And wild and sweet the words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men! " Henry Wadsworth Longfellow "Let the children have their night of fun and laughter, let the gifts of Father Christmas delight their play. Let us grown-ups share to the full in their ...