Summer Round-Up/Fall Favorites: A few favorites from 2011 ::PART TWO::

Origanum rotundifolium 'Kent's Beauty'
(Photo: © AJP 2011)

1.  Origanum rotundifolium 'Kent's Beauty', "Kent's Beauty Oregano".

Edible and beautiful, this newer variety of oregano is an excellent addition to the container garden.  It is great at playing the part of "spiller" in the proverbial pot combination recipe.  Like most oreganos it is strongly scented and spicy in taste.  It's also very drought tolerant, but can tolerate regular watering better than many of its cousins. 

The leaves are small, round, and rather grayish like a dwarf, weeping Eucalyptus in a way.  It cascades down the side of a pot or along the ground as a groundcover and is covered all summer from spring until frost in the most unique pendant flowers that remind of light fixtures in high-end furniture design shops.  The showy, large bracts house the tiny lavender flowers that add just the right amount of color to an already dramatic plant.  It's hardy from zone 7 south so can be grown as a perennial ground cover in the Washington area, but I think it's true value lies in its use a summer container combo plant.

Aster oblongifolius 'October Skies'
(Photo: © AJP 2011)

2.  Aster oblongifolius 'October Skies' 
(syn.: Symphotrichum oblongifolius 'October Skies), "October Skies Aromatic Aster".

I will admit first that I am not the biggest fan of asters.  I appreciate the usefulness of a drought-tolerant perennials that bursts into full bloom when most other flowering plants are slowing down for the growing season.  They're also great plants for attracting pollinators, butterflies, and other beneficial insects to your garden.  Yet many seem either weedy-looking, have gaudy, unattractive flowers, run uncontrolled or just flop over and look messy just when they should be putting on a show.

'October Skies' is a great selection of one of our native asters (to the east coast and midwestern prairires).  It's low-growing habit and compact size make it very easy to use in a mixed perennial border or on its own.  It forms a dome of flowers and foliage about two feet high which hides many of the unsightly, leggy stems associated with many taller asters and eliminates the need for staking.  In October, just as the name implies, it bursts forth with literally hundreds of lavender-blue flowers about an inch in width and seems to reflect the cool fall skies.  It's a truly tough-as-nails perennial that adds a lot of "oompf" to the garden without a lot of fuss.

Salvia guaranitica 'Argentine Skies'
(Photo: © AJP 2011)

3.  Salvia guaranitica 'Argentine Skies',
"Argentine Skies Anise Sage".

Two words.  Hummingbird Magnet.  This easy-to-grow Salvia of the same genus as the famous 'Black and Blue' is the more demure and significantly hardier cousin.  'Argentine Skies' truly is that magical sky blue color that is often so elusive in flowers.  Plant it with some dark contrast and watch how it just reflects the sunny blue skies above.  Though I am a big fan of 'Black and Blue', I think 'Argentine Skies' has a slight more refined effect in the garden.  It's just so dang pleasant.  And did I mention that the hummingbirds flock to it? 

It survives our winters in Washington easily with little protection and grows exuberantly in the heat of summer.  It can easily reach six feet tall by the beginning of July and will bloom nonstop from June until Frost.  If this rambunctious sage gets too big for its own good or starts to flop over in that most disagreeable way, you can always shear it down to a few nodes from the ground.  In my experience, if you cut it down to within about a foot of the ground in July it will quickly rebound and still ready about three feet and continue blooming barely missing a beat.  It forms a large clump that can be dug up and shared or divided if you want more of them.  It seems to be pretty easily hardy in zone 7 in a protected sunny location and is extremely drought tolerant.  It's not as common as 'Black and Blue', but it's worth the hunt!

Look for Salvia guaranitica 'Argentine Skies' among the annuals at your local specialty garden center and if you're willing to pay a little more for it, you can also order it from Plant Delights Nursery.

Video and Photo Album of Bartholdi Park

I've finally managed to compile my photos I've taken over the past couple weeks of my summer plantings in Bartholdi Park.  There is a video complete with summery soundtrack and a photo album on Picasa which includes plant names in all the captions.

Link to Album on Picasa

Taste of Fall: Honeycrisp Apples

Photo Source:  Three Springs Farms

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away" or so goes the old adage.  I have to admit that growing up I never ate a lot of apples.  I've never been a fan of the apples with mealier textures, but thankfully, along came the Honeycrisp apple.  They are tart, sweet with a tang, and best of all crunchy and not mealy at all, especially when they are in season.  Luckily for us, that season is now.  I make a point to buy honeycrisp apples every week at my local farmers market.  They are bit more expensive than other common apple varieties, but once you've tried them, you'll realize that Red Delicious is nothing in comparison.

A brief history of Honeycrisp apples:

The 'Honeycrisp' cultivar of the apple (Malus domestica) was developed first in seventies, but not released until 1991 after almost being thrown on the compost pile.  Thankfully, it has become one of the most popular and sought-after apple varieties on the market fetching slightly high prices than many other common apple varieties.  It developed at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station's Horticultural Research Center at the University of Minnesota.  The parents of the 'Honeycrisp' variety are unknown, but genetic testing has indicated that 'Keepsake' may well be one of the parents.  It's popularity in the US has soared and many programs are in place to convert failing orchards to growing this new extremely popular variety.  There are even plans underway in New Zealand to start growing Honeycrisps in the southern hemisphere to supply American consumers in the off-season.  That would be great news to my ears!

Now, I'd like to make a plug for my favorite local Honeycrisp apple farm.  Three Springs Farms near Gettysburg, PA sells top quality apples at several local farmers markets.  I make a point to visit them every week to stock up.  They are also my favorite source for local peaches and various vegetables and some delicious apple, pear, and peach butters!  You can even order some Honeycrisp apples directly from them on their website!

Now, go out and find some locally and sustainably grown Honeycrisp apples of your own and enjoy them while they are still in season!

Summer Round-Up: A few favorites from 2011 ::PART ONE::

For years now, I have given tours of Bartholdi Park that were focused on all my favorite plants.  I think that it's about time that I start writing about it so that more than the twenty or so people who go on the tour have the opportunity to hear (or ignore) what I have to say about my favorite plants.  I will start by explaining what usually makes a plant near and dear to my heart.  Usually, it's a vigorous plant that seems to be happy in most situations in our Washington, DC weather.  It doesn't require a lot of fertilizer, pesticides, trimming, babying, etc.  Basically, it does it's thing without a ton of attention from moi and looks fabulous doing so.  So, here a few that I have really loved lately:

Bulbine frutescens 'Hallmark'
(Photo: © AJP 2011)

1.  Bulbine frutescens 'Hallmark', "Orange Stalked Bulbine".  

This succulent from South Africa is real work horse of a tropical color plant in the garden.  It needs little to no water and loves the heat and doesn't seem to be affected by our horrible humidity in the slightest.  It is just a blooming machine with its starry yellow and orange flowers borne on delicate wands that wave in the breeze adding just a touch of drama to the summer garden.  

Bulbine is related to Aloe and a lot of other succulent species making it a great candidate for low-water gardening.  Prior to this year I had only grown it in succulent combination pots.  In a pot it is a great plant as it rarely needs to be watered.  This year I tried using Bulbine as a bedding plant.  It seems that as long as it has a lot of sun and good drainage you can't go wrong with it.

Bulbine frutescens 'Hallmark' is available by mail order from Bustani Plant Farms, a family-owned nursery in Oklahoma that specializes in lots of interesting and rare plants that are well suited to our hot, humid DC summers.  They are a great company and fun to do business with.  I can't say enough nice things about them.  Check out their page for Bulbine.

Malvaviscus drummondii 'Pam Puryear'
(Photo: © AJP 2011)

2.  Malvaviscus drummondii 'Pam Puryear', "Pink Turk's Cap" .   

This is certainly one of my favorite mallows (quite a statement from someone who's a big fan of the Malvaceae family, not even mentioning the fact that chocolate is a part of it).  It's a great herbaceous perennial in my garden.  It's said by some to only be hardy to zone 8, but it survived in a relatively unprotected location in my garden with just a light mulching of pine needles. 

It's a bit slow to emerge in the spring like many of its American mallow cousins, but it's worth the wait.  By halfway through the summer it has grown up to 5 feet high and about the same amount in width.  The flowers differ from the species (native to the southeastern United States) in that the vibrant red-orange color is replaced by a very pleasant salmon-pink.  As much as I love brilliant colors like scarlets and oranges, I have found that these softer pink colors are a bit more easy to work with in a garden design.  It seems to be happy with moderate moisture in a somewhat shaded location in the hottest of afternoons.  It begins blooming in early summer and continues nonstop until a hard frost.  Buy one, and plant it in a party shaded, evenly moist part of your garden and you won't regret it.  

Pink Turk's Cap is available by mail order from Bustani and Plant Delights.

Euphorbia cotinifolia 'Atropurpurea'
(Photo: © AJP 2011)

3.  Euphorbia cotinifolia 'Atropurpurea', "Caribbean Copperplant".

This is another great drought-tolerant, almost succulent plant great for adding summer color and drama to the garden.  This variety in particular seems to exhibit a denser and more saturated burgundy color than the species and many other varieties that I have grown in the past.  It is truly drought tolerant and needs little if any additional water throughout the growing season once it's had a chance to get established.  It can easily grow to 4 or 5 feet in one season and nearly as wide.  Flowers are white and pretty much insignificant.  It's species name cotinifolia refers to the similarity between copperplant and the Smokebush (Cotinus coggygria).  You really can't be this plant for low-maintenance and low-water foliage plants for dramatic summer impact in the sunny garden.  It's also available from Bustani.