Digital Flower Pictures.com Almost daily informative blog about plants, gardening and photography. Written by a professional Estate Gardener from Connecticut. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 448 10076 144 7497

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Basket of Gold (Aurinia saxatilis) 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Basket of GoldAurinia saxatilis(aw-RIN-ee-uh) (saks-A-til-iss)BrassicaceaeThis is a plant for the rock garden or a dry area in your garden. A customer asked to plant some at the end of her walkway and I said, ?You don?t want to try a grow that?, but she was determined and went out and bought some herself and planted it. It of course has grown beautifully and flowers profusely. It is planted in the material they put under the driveway (gravely, sandy mixture). The Daffodils were already there and the Violets seeded them themselves in. This goes to show you that you shouldn?t develop prejudice against certain plants and try and evaluate each situation separately. In my case I had tried Basket of Gold in several areas that weren?t suitable. It likes it dry and a lean soil. Shear after flowering for best results.Synonyms: Gold Alyssum, Gold Dust, Alyssum saxatile ...

Variegated Japanese Maple Again (Acer palmatum 'Higasayama') 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Variegated Japanese MapleAcer palmatum 'Higasayama'(AY-ser) (pahl-MAY-tum)This sure is a beautiful Japanese Maple. I took this picture when I visited a local retail nursery. They had quite a nice display garden and it was filled with among other things some nice Japanese Maples. I was there looking for two 10-12 foot Japanese Maples myself and they had them but wanted $2000 each. They were Acer palmatum 'Trompenburg' which is has a nice rolled leaf and holds its color well during the season (slight bronzing). Since the tree only grows to about 15 feet this were mature specimens. So I think they were worth it as they are for an entranceway to an estate in Ridgefield. ?Higasayama? has a unique appearance when the foliage is emerging. It reminded of ten thousand hands unfurling. The color is great especially when the sun was glancing off it. Here is another picture of a tree in the display garden that had a beautiful color. The slight red tinge around the leaves really added a lot. U ...

Pink Mountain Silverbell 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Pink Mountain SilverbellHalesia tetraptera 'Rosea'(HAYLZ-ee-uh) (tet-ra-TER-uh)Styracaceae You don?t see too many Mountain Silverbell Trees in Connecticut let alone the pink form. So it was a special treat to see this at a house I was visiting. I am not sure why Sliverbell Trees are not more popular as I have enjoyed the culture of my specimen of Halesia carolina. You?ll see that there are several disputes of the naming of this plant in this Wikipedia article.This is shot of Acer platanoides 'Princeton Gold'. It is quite a striking tree even if it is a Norway Maple, which is not my favorite. Although, I do love my dwarf red-leaved Norway ?Crimson Sentry?. This is what happens when you just stick your camera inside a tree and take a shot. I was hoping to capture some of the limey/gold glow that was radiating from this tree. Not for everybody but it would be a nice color accent in the garden.I going to be having some short posts for a little while. We have moved to 11-hour workda ...

Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles 'Cameo') 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Flowering QuinceChaenomeles 'Cameo'(kee-no-MAY-leez)RosaceaeFlowering Quince isn?t a very showy shrub for most of the year but for a couple of weeks they really do look nice. ?Cameo? is an improvement over the other Quince (which I think is a Cydonia) on the property, which I swear sometimes only has leaves for 3 months out of the year. I am also growing ?Jet Trail? which has a white flower. The color on ?Cameo? flowers is really nice and the foliage is a good glossy green. This Quince is planted in a real hard luck spot and has done well. When I was at Wave Hill they had two or three really dark red Quince in bloom and I thought to myself that any plant that color could always find a spot in my garden.I thought this picture was fun. It is of a little patch of Phlox subulata which I featured on March 15th.It was so hopelessly covered with flowers and when the sun was sun shining on it looked as though someone had plugged it in. ?Candy Stripe? Phlox was also blooming. Not with the aba ...

Pink Flowering Almond 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Pink Flowering AlmondPrunus glandulosa 'Rosea Plena'(PROO-nus) (glan-doo-LOW-suh)RosaceaeThis is probably the weakest growing shrub I know of. Each year it gets hit with some sort of infection that makes it look hideous. Sometimes it is toast as early as June 15th. When it is on it is beautiful and this year it is on. It might have helped that a couple of years ago I cut it back hard, with kind of a live or die attitude, and it threw out some new stems. This year I have treated it Bayer All-in-One Flower Care to see if that helps. I don?t mean to disparage this plant but it needs kind of an out of the way place that it can fade into after blooming. It never has covered up the air conditioner it was supposed to and I do wish I had planted it elsewhere but now that it is out in bloom (probably the heaviest bloom I have seen on it in 15 years) all is forgiven.Princess Haiku, who has a cool blog, tagged me to write 5 reasons ?Why I blog?. I am not sure where to link this to so maybe she ...

Weeping Eastern Redbud 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Weeping Eastern Redbud Cercis Canadensis 'Lavender Twist'(SER-sis) (ka-na-DEN-sis)CaesalpiniaceaeSynonyms: Weeping Canadian Redbud, Judas Tree, CoveyThe jury is still out on this tree for me. I have seen it popping up all over the place so it seems to be getting more popular. It sure is pretty when it?s blooming but I have to remember to see what it looks like during the summer. It has a strongly weeping shape and slightly darker colors then a regular Redbud. The Estate has a small collection of Redbuds including the one that always makes me laugh, a White Redbud (Cercis canadensis f. alba). Most of them are doing fairly well and seem to have off and on years. This year they are doing well.I had another frog posing for me yesterday. I was installing a pump in a water garden and this fellow just wouldn?t move. He sat patiently whilst I shot a couple of pictures of him and then I had to nudge him off the rock he was on into the pond. Overall it was a good day for wildlife in the garden ...

Inside a Foxglove Flower 1969-12-31 17:59:59 I guess every gardener knows what a Foxglove is. This is a slightly different view of the inside of the flower. I grew a batch from seed last year and only one white one came out of several hundred. It is a classic flower that I gat requests for all the time. It is however a biennial and that requires keeping after them if you want them every year.I had to do some emergency gardening yesterday if you can believe that one. One of my customers called me and told me that a party of 150-200 people was going to happen at her house today. I had her work scheduled for next week. Her husband is on a reality TV show right now and this party is part of his task so not only was it a party but they were going to be filming it. Since the show is still in production I can?t say anything about it but it was fun seeing the film crews running around interviewing his wife and mother and kids. I hope he wins, as I couldn?t think of anyone that deserves it more. This couple are some of the kindest and swe ...

Dwarf Witch Alder (Fothergilla gardenii) 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Dwarf Witch AlderFothergilla gardenii(foth-er-GIL-luh) (gar-DEN-ee-eye)HamamelidaceaeSince I have houseguests coming from Santa Fe for the week I have much to do around the house. Like cleaning up and moving the stuff out of the extra room (no more storage area). I don?t have much of a garden because I am renting the house I am living in but I am going to tune up the outside too. For the most part I spend almost every day in great gardens and that is enough for me. I guess I live vicariously through my customer?s gardens and the trips to the Botanical Gardens.Just a couple of words about today?s plant, I love it! Last year I thought this one was dead since it been having a slow decline. The area that it is located in has seemed to get wetter each year but I cut it back and fed it and it has come back. It never ceases to amaze me how plants can hang on and how well they respond to a little extra care. I think this one is one of the dwarf ones and is quite old as it predates me in the ga ...

Camassia (Camassia leichtlinii) 1969-12-31 17:59:59 CamassiaCamassia leichtlinii(kuh-MAS-ee-uh) (leekt-LIN-ee-eye)AgavaceaeWow I have a full plate today, I am going to try and finish a job in Darien today but realistically I probably won?t finish until noon tomorrow. I have to pick someone up at Newark Airport around 10 pm tonight. I had better get a nap when I get home. At least I finished everything I wanted to around the house yesterday.Today?s plant is one of the few bulbs I know that will grow in a wet area. The flowers are lovely as are the buds and foliage. My little group of a hundred has multiplied over and over again through the years. Since I don?t have much time this morning here is a Wikipedia link to Camassia. Synonyms: Camas, Quamash, Indian Hyacinth, and Wild Hyacinth ...

Weeping Serbian Spruce (Picea omorika ?Bruns?) 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Weeping Serbian SprucePicea omorika ?Bruns?(PY-see-uh) Pinaceae (py-NAY-see-ay)Yesterday broke a long streak of consecutive daily posts for me. I wanted to spend some time here but with going to the airport the night before and having to leave early the next morning it didn?t happen. I have been working on a house in Darien that has been slowly upgrading and adding some garden areas. There is a lot of construction going on inside the house and I had to remove some of the landscaping in the front of the house earlier this year. It is the house that I am growing the lone Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica x fauriei 'Zuni') I have under cultivation. I did get another request for one and if I go out to Long Island to buy some plants I going to look around for one. Last year I installed a perennial border below a stonewall in the back of the house. It is bisected by a set of flagstone stairs that lead up to a large patio. At the bottom of the stairs there is a path that leads to the swimm ...

Exbury Azalea 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Exbury Azalea These are some Exbury Azaleas that were blooming at work. It has become kind of a generic term but I think these are actually the real thing. I tried to find some information on Exbury Azaleas and didn?t find what I was looking for. Which was a simple explanation of the history and classification of them. This was one of the best:?Exbury Hybrids: In 1922, Lionel de Rothschild of Exbury, obtained several Knap Hill seedlings from which he bred a further series of hybrids during the next 15 years.?From:Kew.orgAlso check out theExbury Gardens HomepageThat looks like quite place. I like the idea of an Azalea Bowl.This is snapshot of some of the big Azaleas I moved last fall. Whew, looks like they came through it very well. The Crabapple, onb the left was covered with flowers last week but the White Azaleas weren?t blooming. I should have taken a picture from the same spot and blended them together. I was spreading mulch all day yesterday. I have already put out about 40 yards ...

Rhododendron ?Tiana? 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Rhododendron ?Tiana?(roh-do-DEN-dron)Ericaceae (er-ek-AY-see-ay)I am leaving for work early this morning but thought I would post a couple of photos from yesterday. The Rhododendron collection at the Estate took a real hit last winter. Several old established shrubs bit the dust. A tree came down and sheared half of the Bloodgood Japanese Maple off and crushed about 6 or 7 rhodos. Sometimes it seems that I wasn?t destined to grow Rhododendrons but I keep trying. There are about 100 cultivars on the property and when they all bloom it can be quite a sight. I think it is going to be a rebuilding year. I am buying a few new ones this spring as replacements. I do know that right now is a bad time to judge the conditions of the plants because later when the new growth comes out they look a lot better. This one is ?Tiana? and it is a nice white with red blotch in the throat. The flowers fade to a light pink. Mine is about 5 feet tall and is spreading nicely. I would rate it high for foliage, ...

Rhododendron 'Cunningham's Blush' 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Rhododendron 'Cunningham's Blush'Another one from the Rhododendron Collection. This one is ?Cunningham?s Blush?. It is a nice pink that blooms on a slow-growing 5 foot plant. I also have ?Cunningham?s White? which is an early bloomer that often blooms sporadically in the fall.Description courtesy of:monrovia.com?This plant is a cultivar of the species, R. caucasicum, which is native to the Caucasus of Eastern Europe. It was classified and introduced by Peter Simon Pallas, 1741-1811, who was a German student of Russian and Siberian flora. This species would the primary parent of a series of hybrids known as the Caucasicum Hybrid Rhododendrons. ?Cunningham Blush? was an early hybrid introduced around 1830.?I have a big day today. We have having a memorial service and party in remembrance of my Mother and after that I going to buy some plants. ...

Golden Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Goldrush') 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Golden Dawn RedwoodMetasequoia glyptostroboides 'Goldrush'(met-uh-see-KWOY-uh) (glip-toh-stroh-BOY-deez)TaxodiaceaeTrashy Tree or Trendy Treasure?I ask this question because some people might not like the vivid color of the foliage but I do like growing a few trendy things once in a while.Well I went to the local wholesale nursery to buy some Rhododendrons yesterday and also ended up buying a Golden Dawn Redwood. It is about 7 feet tall. I need a tree for a moist area and thought I would try it. I have two other Dawn Redwoods in the garden, the regular species and a ?Sheridan?s Spire?. The species tree was planted about 22 years ago and it has grown to enormous size. It is probably 75 feet tall and has a spread of about 25-30 feet on the bottom. It really has turned into a tree! The ?Sheridan?s Spire? has been in the ground for about 10 years and has grown to about 30 feet tall, it is much more narrow than the species. ?Gold Rush? is said to get not quite as tall and only grows at ab ...

Rhododendron ?Weston?s Pink Diamond? 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Double Flowered PJM Rhododendron HybridRhododendron ?Weston?s Pink Diamond?I have been cleaning off some of my Compact Flash cards so I can shoot some new pictures. Lately I have been picking the photos I want right off the card with Adobe Bridge®. It is a good program once you get used to it but every once in a while my cards get filled up. Today?s plant is from the Estate?s Rhododendron Collection and this picture was taken April 25th. The plant was purchased at Weston Nurseries in Hopkinton, Mass., about 10 years ago. A lot of the plants in the garden came from Weston Nurseries. I found an interesting page on the Rhododendron breeding program Weston here: rhododendron.orgHere is an excerpt:The Weston HybridsDick BrooksConcord, MassachusettsSource: JARS V53:No.4:p195:y1999?The tendency toward petaloid or double flowers, which you will recall showed up in the early PJM Group hybrid 'Laurie', has been exploited more recently to give us a whole series of double-flowered lepidotes. F ...