Garden Tour at the Arboretum

On Thursday January 2nd at ten in the morning
I will be giving a tour of some winter interest plants 
growing in the Pitt County Arboretum
 http://pitt.ces.ncsu.edu/Pitt+County+Arboretum/

Here are a few examples
come and find out what they are
 and if they will be good for your garden

You can always check on 

what's going on at the Arboretum by looking at our blog

http://pittcountyarboretum.blogspot.com

Christmas Red

The Camellia japonica 'Professor Sargent'

There are two huge shrubs of this anemone type Camellia

in the back garden.

Large dark green leaves and covered with deep red flowers starting now until March.

Probably planted 25 or 30 years ago

what a sight when they are in full bloom .

The white flecks on the bloom are caused by a virus

a good thing for camellia growers as this often begets new varieties.

Winter Red

The deciduous holly (Ilex verticillata 'Winter Red') or Winterberry
http://utgardens.tennessee.edu/pom/holly.html
is bright against the dried stems of Miscanthus 'Cosmopoiltan"
One year deer ate the berries but they don't seem to have bothered with it since

To have berries you need a pollinator for this female variety of Winterberry.
'Southern Gentleman' is it's "husband" although you only need one male plant for several females. Oh the indignities even in the plant world!
 (I have been researching Carl Linnaeus' sexual system of plant classification for a talk in January hence the husband & wife reference)
http://www.linnean.org/Education+Resources/who_was_linnaeus

December Red

Nandina domestica at the front steps has put on it's winter red
I cut a couple of tall stems of this to use as decoration in the house
Looks like a small festive tree

On a frosty morning

On a balmy morning

You can stop Nandina from being all legs by pruning it at different levels.

Also, break off the hard base of old leaf petioles on the lower stems to allow new growth there.

Red Twig Dogwood

This deciduous spreading shrub
http://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/all/cornus-sericea-c-stolonifera/
is planted at the rain garden. It gets partial sun and damp feet.
Some of it's stems seem to rot out but that is probably OK as it can be invasive.
Of course I have so many invasives in the rain garden
 it is in a constant battle for real estate.

Since we don't get much snow 
you can set the red off against
the pale dried leaves of ornamental
grasses especially if you sight for
morning or evening sun.
Here with Miscanthus sinensis 'Adagio'

Frosty Morning

If you cut everything down in the fall you won't get
 these lovely scenes on frosty mornings.

I love the height the dead stalks of tall perennials give the winter garden
 otherwise it all seems so flat & hunkered down.

A tree for the Season

Away for Thanksgiving now to 'Deck the Halls'

There is a red cedar tree (Juniperus virginiana), squashed on the fence line by larger trees, 
from which over the past several years we have cut branches to form our porch Christmas tree.
This year a bit sparser than before. I think we are running out of tree but I still like it for it's airiness.
And, indeed, it's one-sidedness making it perfect for the corner here.

I had thought to take a nude photo of the tree, not me,  but entirely forgot!

Mine-no-yuki

This sasanqua Camellia originated in Japan in 1891
Came to the USA in 1895 according to the American Camellia Society.
I propagated it from my old garden.
It is known as a loose peony form I call it the Thanksgiving Camellia
as it always seems to be in full bloom at that time

Mine-no-yuki translated as 'Snow on the Ridge'

In the woods a much looser form with less flowers

 Maybe because we had regular moisture all through the summer the Camellias seem more floriferous this year.

Kousa Dogwood

What a fabulous year this has been for fall color.
I do not recall this tree, Cornus kousa var. chinensis 'Milky Way', ever being so lovely in the fall.

The top leaves almost match the color of the  sasanqua Camellia 'Cleopatra' behind it.
A few Cyclamen still blooming underneath & the oak leaf Hydrangea leaves starting to turn at the side. The evergreen of the Magnolia grandiflora as a backdrop sets the scene.

Rosmarinus prostratus

I wish you could see all the bees on this fascia planting of prostrate Rosemary
in front of the 'Green Giant' Arborvitae on the gravel driveway.

Rosemary blooms all winter

is fragrant; colorful & tough

Not just for the herb garden

Makes a good hedge, container

or foundation plant

Has many cultivars  to suit your situation

Needs plenty of sun & well drained soil

Veggies

Planted this pretty Black Seeded Simpson lettuce
 in mid September on the site of a compost pile.
The frame of row cover is in place for those frosty nights.
Trying to keep the ants in the adjacent compost pile out of here

In early October planted a lettuce seed mix in this old wooden drawer

Lettuce only needs about 4 inches of soil

Just enough for leaves on sandwiches

they are oh so tender

These collards result from plants I let go to seed last winter

Over the years I have had seed of 'Asian' collards, 'Champion' collards & 'Georgia' collards

also plants of yellow cabbage collards from the Collard Shack in Ayden NC

I always let a couple of plants go to seed, collecting some and letting the others fall where they may.

I like to think this open pollination method means I have my own variety now.

Frosted!

When I returned from a few days away the garden had experienced a severe frost (27 degrees)
 It is 70 degrees this morning and I could go out in the garden to take these photos in my night dress!
The Salvia leucantha (Mexican Bush Sage)
has put on it's winter look. I love this ghostly garment standing tall in the garden.

with Autumn Joy Sedum

I try not to cut this down until spring it adds height to the circle & protects the crown of the plant from winter's variations

November Garden Fragrance

The spicy scent under the big oak turned out to be Osmanthus heterophyllus
the flowers are tiny but when so many bloom at once they pack a heady fragrance.

A sweet scent in a protected southern corner of the house was an early surprise.

Paperwhites!

In November

Not Your Mother's Marigold

Tagetes lemmonii or Mexican Marigold or Copper Canyon Daisy is a deciduous shrub for us.
Evergreen where it hails from in southern Arizona and Mexico and was named after plant collectors Sara and John Lemmon who discovered this among many plants in the 1880s. They sent seed to Asa Gray at Harvard university who named the plant after them.
It was introduced to the nursery trade from their garden in Oakland, CA.

http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=1530

At 5ft tall and wide I am always afraid the frost will get it before it blooms 
as it has only been blooming for about a week.  It has that typical Marigold scent.

Pistacia chinensis

This Chinese Pistachio tree was planted specifically
 for it's fall color in our warm climate.
Every November it never fails to please.
The sapling came from Woodlanders in Aiken SC
ten years ago. I have pruned it to try to get a nicely shaped tree.

According to Monrovia this species is often used as
root stock for it's cousin the nut producing
Pistacia vera.

An added bonus of a female tree
are these pinky/red berries
I did not know about them when I bought the tree and have never seen the flowers.

The male variety is preferred for street trees
eliminating the debris from the berries.
This easy to grow tree is a fall favorite.

Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum the lovely Bald Cypress has started to change color .

'Tall Tails' Pennisetum in front
'Green Giant' Arborvitae to the left
sighted for morning (here) sun
& evening autumn sun
totally fabulous!

Growing in wet, including river edges and ponds
 & dry areas, even concrete islands
this fabulous native to Eastern North Carolina
will always have a place in my garden.




'Sight for light' it can make the garden so much more.

Colourful Pairings

Fall colors are everywhere in the garden

The berries of Chokecherry
  Aronia arbutifolia 'Brilliantissima'

with a Camellia  sasanqua
I have never definitely identified this but
I like to think it is 'Pink Snow'
that is what the ground looks like under it.

Leaves of Crape Myrtle 'Sioux'
in front of the Golden Hinoki Cypress
Chamaecyparis obtusa  'Crippsii'

The Crape Myrtle 'Fantasy'
with Indigofera kirilowii

Crane-fly Orchid

Tipularia discolor   http://ui.uncc.edu/story/crane-fly-orchid-nature-flower

although most of the sites I checked have photos of the flower it is the leaf that I find fascinating and much more showy in my garden.
This is just starting to show up in several places in the little wood.
Mostly at the base of trees.

 I have only once seen the flowers as they are quite small and colorless
 & I don't go into the woods as much in the summer.
That is the purple back of the big leaf in the centre of this picture the front of the leaves are green and purple with raised dots. How cool is that! 

Coppicing Crape Myrtles

The ancient art of coppicing,  http://www.coppice.co.uk
 that is cutting trees off near their base in late winter to encourage shoots to grow from the main trunk, can be used in many ways.
In England Willow trees are treated this way to provide new flexible stems for fences, baskets & other woven products. Hazel is used to make living fences, the new shoots are bent over and intertwined to create a dense hedge that keeps animals in and crops protected.

When I go 'home' I am always jealous of the availability of hazel twigs for natural stakes in the garden so several years ago I planted a few crape myrtles close together in a row.
Each February I cut these off about 4 inches from the ground. The result is very straight stems grow up and the planting forms a little hedge. The next February I harvest my lovely straight garden stakes, height depends on how good the growing season was. The stakes are good for at least one year.

an added benefit is this autumn colour display from Lagerstroemia (indica x fauriei) 'Sioux" 

Crocus sativus

The Saffron crocus
Really, you can grow your own saffron one of the most expensive spices in the world.

 They are autumn blooming crocus. 
The first day they bloom pick the flowers and carefully remove the three red stigmas. Dry these  a bit and then save for that special dish. 
You will need about 4 - 6 flowers  for a pinch of saffron.

Remove the 3  sigmas carefully

I am going to try and dry the petals

Fanny & Ryan

How I love Fall here. So many flowers , so colorful.

Here is Fanny Aster again with the Chrysanthemum 'Ryan's Yellow'

Could not resist another photo of Camellia sasanqua "Cleopatra'

Chrysanthemum rubellum "Hillside Sheffield Pink"

This evergreen Chrysanthemum is a staple of my garden. It blooms profusely in the fall but most intriguing is the way it continually changes color even different colored flowers on the same plant! Why buy those florist 'Mums' each year when you can get this perennial display, always available at the May plant sale at the Pitt County Arboretum.
Here's their blog: http://pittcountyarboretum.blogspot.com 

Here distictly apricot in color with Salvia microphylla 'San Carlos Festival'