England & South Africa

Flag of the United Kingdom, the Union Jack

Flag of South Africa

I depart Seattle on June 30 for a tour of gardens, nature reserves & national parks in London, Cape Town & the Cape Overberg in South Africa. I will not make any more posts until after I return to Seattle on August 5.

Below are links to the places I hope to visit:

London
chelsea physic garden
http://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/

kew gardens
http://www.kew.org/

Cape Town
table mountain national park
http://www.sanparks.org/parks/table_mountain/

cape of good hope nature reserve
http://www.capepoint.co.za/

kirstenbosch national botanical garden
http://www.sanbi.org/frames/kirstfram.htm

Cape Overberg
harold porter national botanical garden
http://www.sanbi.org/haroldporter/mainpage.htm

fernkloof nature reserve
http://fernkloof.com/

kogelberg nature reserve
http://www.capenature.org.za/reserves.htm?reserve=Kogelberg+Nature+Reserve

salmonsdam nature reserve
http://www.capenature.org.za/reserves.htm?reserve=Salmonsdam+Nature+Reserve

heuningberg nature reserve
http://heuningbergnaturereserve.synthasite.com/

de hoop nature reserve
http://www.capenature.org.za/reserves.htm?reserve=De+Hoop+Nature+Reserve

de mond nature reserve
http://www.capenature.org.za/reserves.htm?reserve=De+Mond+Nature+Reserve

agulhas national park
http://www.sanparks.org/parks/agulhas/

marloth nature reserve
http://www.capenature.org.za/reserves.htm?reserve=Marloth+Nature+Reserve

bontebok national park
http://www.sanparks.org/parks/bontebok/

vrolijkheid nature reserve
http://www.capenature.org.za/reserves.htm?reserve=Vrolijkheid+Nature+Reserve

Agave palmeri

Agave palmeri

Agave palmeri occurs on rocky hillsides, grasslands & Oak woodlands in the states of Arizona, Chihuahua, New Mexico & Sonora. Oddly enough, it is the most successful & beautiful Agave in my Seattle garden. It has doubled in size each year to 18 inches tall & 2 feet wide in 3 years. The leaves are blue-gray, gracefully curved outward then upward, lined with small black teeth & tipped with wicked black spines. Keep Agave palmeri out of the way of foot traffic! Plant it in full sun in a rockery, on a dry slope or in a pot in gravelly soil. I got my plant from Yucca Do Nursery. It is currently available from Plant Delights Nursery.

May Garden Pictures 2009

Deinanthe caerulea

May Pictures from the Cascadia Garden

May Bloom Times 2009 (Cascadia Garden)

Eschscholzia californica

05-01-09 Smilacina stellata
05-01-09 Camassia leichtlinii coerula
05-03-09 Fragaria frel ‘Pink Panda’
05-03-09 Iris ‘Professor Blaauw’
05-03-09 Geranium sanguineum
05-03-09 Sedum kamtschaticum
05-03-09 Rhododendron venator
05-03-09 Tellima grandiflora
05-03-09 Tulipa batalinii
05-04-09 Ceanothus arboreus ‘Trewithen Blue’
05-04-09 Hebe pinguifolia ‘Pagei’
05-04-09 Lamium maculatum
05-05-09 Lewisia leeana
05-06-09 Rhododendron ‘Cynthia’
05-08-09 Erica arborea ‘Estrella Gold’
05-08-09 Gaultheria shallon
05-08-09 Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Yoshinogawa’
05-08-09 Rhododendron ‘Betty Robertson’
05-08-09 Smilacina racemosa
05-08-09 Trillium luteum
05-08-09 Vaccinium ovatum
05-08-09 Weigela coraeensis
05-09-09 Allium karataviense
05-09-09 Maianthemum dilatatum
05-10-09 Camassia quamash
05-10-09 Hypericum cerastioides
05-10-09 Ornithogalum umbellatum
05-10-09 Rhododendron decorum
05-10-09 Weigela florida ‘Variegata’
05-14-09 Rhododendron ‘Blue Peter’
05-14-09 Rhododendron cinnabarinum xanthocodon
05-14-09 Rhododendron yakushimanum ‘Yaku Princess’
05-15-09 Crambe maritima
05-16-09 Achlys triphylla
05-16-09 Euphorbia nicaeensis
05-16-09 Laurentia fluviatilis
05-16-09 Syringa meyeri ‘Palibin’
05-18-09 Allium aflatunense
05-18-09 Allium ‘Globemaster’
05-18-09 Erigeron karvinskianus
05-18-09 Iris douglasiana
05-18-09 Iris macrosiphon
05-18-09 Geranium himalayense
05-18-09 Rhododendron ‘Antoon van Welie’
05-18-09 Rhododendron ‘Winsome Red’
05-18-09 Rosa rugosa ‘Blanc Double de Coubert’
05-18-09 Sorbus gonggashanica
05-18-09 Weigela florida ‘Minuet’
05-19-09 Syringa patula ‘Miss Kim’
05-19-09 Viburnum sargentii ‘Onondaga’
05-20-09 Anthemis biebersteiniana
05-20-09 Camassia quamash ‘Blue Melody’
05-20-09 Gaultheria shallon
05-20-09 Geranium cantabrigiense
05-20-09 Geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’
05-20-09 Nectaroscordum siculum
05-20-09 Rhododendron ‘Sappho’
05-23-09 Allium schubertii
05-23-09 Campanula carpatica
05-23-09 Helenium hoopsii
05-25-09 Echinocereus reichenbachii albispinus
05-25-09 Geranium orientalitibeticum
05-25-09 Heuchera micrantha
05-25-09 Paeonia ‘Flame’
05-25-09 Scilla peruviana
05-26-09 Allium cristophii
05-26-09 Antirrhinum ‘Dulcinea’s Heart’
05-26-09 Campanula poscharskyana
05-26-09 Digitalis purpurea
05-26-09 Eschscholzia californica
05-26-09 Rhododendron macrophyllum
05-26-09 Rhododendron ‘Purple Splendor’
05-26-09 Sarracenia flava
05-29-09 Erigeron glaucus
05-29-09 Iris ‘P T Barnum’
05-30-09 Allium unifolium
05-30-09 Ceanothus ‘Victoria’
05-30-09 Rosa ‘Queen Elizabeth’
05-30-09 Verbascum phoeniceum ‘Violetta’

Open Gardens May 2009

Tourists in the Cascadia Garden

My garden (the Cascadia Garden) was among the open gardens on tour May 30, 2009. There were 5 lovely & interesting gardens open in Seattle on that day. Nearly 40 people toured my garden. I’m sure that it was as enjoyable for me as it was for them. Many people asked questions & several took notes. The Northwest Perennial Alliance Open Gardens is an excellent way to learn about gardening through observation & by asking questions. There are open gardens throughout the Puget Sound region from April through September. With the annual member ship fee at $35, this is very inexpensive entertainment.

You can join the Northwest Perennial Alliance by visiting their website at http://www.northwestperennialalliance.org/

"Yes, you can take pictures."

How to Remove Lawn

My own garden was once lawn.

Lawn is easy. That is why there is so much of it. It needs only mowing.

But lawn is boring. Lawn does little to improve the environment. Watering lawn is costly, unnecessary & irresponsible. Grass survives almost any drought. If not, it can easily be reseeded.

Unless you are ready to work many hours in the garden, it is probably best to remove only small areas of lawn. Lawns look better when they mimic a forest clearing, than when they evoke the wide-open prairie.

If you have a small lawn, remove it. Or plant more trees around it. Don’t waste space in a small garden with lawn.

If you have a big lawn, remove 5 feet around the perimeter. Plant shrubs, & groundcovers. You can remove more area later for perennial & more shrubs.

If you want to plant trees, you are to be commended. Remove 10 feet of lawn from 1 side. Plant the trees at least 5 feet from your property line. Know how far they will spread before planting.

Do not use lawn as path. Grass is very invasive.

Remember: Turf does not need to be dug out. Just cover it with 2 feet of compost.

Read How to Make a Garden

Tree Peony

Jordan Charles Jackson with Paeonia suffruticosa

Paeonia suffruticosa is actually a deciduous shrub. It is native to Gansu Province in China where it grows in mountain scrub. It has been grown in gardens for more than 1500 years in China, 1000 years in Japan. The huge flowers are almost always pink, although the Chinese often call them red. They often appear in Chinese & Japanese paintings.

Tree Peonies bloom in May, sometimes late April. The plant is very hardy & fairly drought tolerant. It requires staking, or the immense blossoms will droop to the ground after a heavy rain. The new growth is red in early spring. The mature foliage is attractive in summer, nicely colored with orange & yellow in fall. The bare stems are hardly noticeable in winter. They require sun, tolerate part shade.

Most nurseries sell Tree Peonies. Plants imported directly from China can be found at the Holly Park Nursery (4031 S Willow St in Seattle) at lower cost than most nurseries. Not only that, but the proprietor will show you pictures from a book. He once told me, ‘I am crazy for Tree Peonies!’ Small plants from Japan are fairly inexpensive by mail from Van Bourgondien at http://www.dutchbulbs.com/