Posts tagged helleborus

Garden Visits: Marion Jarvie

August 7, 2013 · Filed under garden visits · Tagged , , ,

I know, I know. You are probably horribly bored of seeing Marion Jarvies garden over and over and over again. But I can’t help it, I love it. She is one of my plant gurus. Every time I visit I see something else I just have to have, darn it all. And this is one garden that I go out of my way to see every time I return from Barbados.

This time I was paying a lot of attention to shrubs and conifers in her garden, last year it was the hellebores.

Not that I didn’t take a huge number of photos of them, but I was astonished by how much colour diversity there was in the woody plant material.

Sorry, I did not get the names of the conifers. It was raining and we thought we would have to cancel the course so I ran around getting as many photos as possible. We did not have to cancel, but did cut it short so I am glad I did.

A couple of deciduous shrubs flowering,

Daphne mezereum ‘Marion Jarvie’, which I purchased last year,

and a cornus mas.

And her urn, gorgeous.

I soooo miss planting up seasonal urns, I even taught a few workshops on it when I worked at East of Eliza, one of my favourite jobs when I worked there.

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year

June 19, 2013 · Filed under bulbs, trees · Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Although the song is talking about christmas, for me, it is spring.  Although anytime I get to visit my garden now becomes the most wonderful time of year.  But here was spring in my garden (a bit late), I was soooo very excited. Just a quick look at what was happening all around me.

All three of my witch hazels were still in flower,

Hamamelis ‘Arnold’s Promise’

This one I took the moment I arrived, just starting to get dark.

Jelena

Magic Fire

Another problem with trying to post two months later, I can’t remember if this is Jelena or Magic Fire, I am inclined to think the latter.

Crocus Roseus, although looking a bit more lilac here.

And perhaps, if I lie to myself, a few more tommies then last year.

A friend gave me a number of helleborus seedlings three years ago. This spring a couple of them started flowering for the first time,

this was the first one to open,

and in bud another.

Scilla tubergeniana is bulking up nicely,

love the ice blue flowers.

This is the first year that I got to see Bulbocodium vernum flower,

often referred to as a spring Colchicum.

There was lots more in bloom, but I have to leave you wanting more, lol….

lyrics by Andy Williams

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A Toronto Garden

July 31, 2012 · Filed under design, garden hedges, garden visits, topiary · Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

This is where my split personality comes in. As much as I love my friends garden and I wish it could be mine, then I see a new plant that I just have to have, and it throws the whole design out the window.

When I visited this Toronto garden with my friend Barry in the spring, I made a huge list of plants that I wanted.  And it was long. And then got longer.

The design of this garden is a typical one, long borders running along the side for the whole length. of the garden  But it is the plant material that makes it extraordinary.  And certainly the use of colour.   While the photos were taken at the same time of year as my friends garden, you can tell these photos were taken in the spring, while in the Rosedale garden, it could have been almost any time of year.

However this garden does have a lovely little topiary feature near the end of the garden, enticing you to go and take a closer look at it.

It also has the good fortune to back onto a ravine, who living in a city would not want this. Look no neighbours, only a lovely sylvan view.

I love this sculpture, perhaps I could DIY something with a similar feel.

A closer look at the topiary feature, but look at the glorious beauty of the Cornus behind it.

This glorious Cercis canadensis ‘Appalachian Red’  had me wanting to dig up Old Stumpy.

This Prunus came from Marion Jarvies garden and is a new variety named after her. Lovely colour.

Every where you looked there was colour. And it was not all from flowers, look at how many coloured foliages there are in this garden.

I shall certainly have to search out this trillium, isn’t she a beauty.

This Erythronium was given to the home owner by Keith Wiley, it is certainly a lot larger then my ‘White Beauty’.

When I saw Hosta ‘Fire Island’ I was blown away, made sure I purchased my own this spring.

And I wished I had asked for the variety of this Helleborus, what great foliage.

And I was happy when she told me this Arum seeds all over her garden. I purchased one a couple of years ago, and I would be a very happy girl if it did the same for me.

So what do you think of my last two garden visits? Do you perfer a calm, serene, low maintenance garden with lovely formal structure? Or a collectors garden, where every day is different?  I want them both!

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What a Difference a Year Makes

April 27, 2012 · Filed under bulbs, perennials, shrubs · Tagged , , , , , ,

When I was looking at my photos from last April, I realized there was quite a difference (approx 3 weeks) between where the garden was in April 2011 and April 2112.  So I thought that I would share a few with you.

The Allee

The Allee 2011

The Allee 2012

You can see how much larger the helleborus are this year, finally bulking up, and I found a few seedlings when I was weeding, yay!

Flora Glade

Flora Glade 2011

Flora Glade 2012

Usually I coppice these willows, but they (obviously) started leafing out really early this spring. I think I might leave them alone this year and see how they look in the fall.

Flora Glade 2011

Flora Glade 2012

Hmmm, do not know what to say, but the big difference (to me) is the path. You can see where I filled it in on the left hand side ,and (hopefully) you can see a bit of an opening on the right hand side now. Last fall I moved all the shrubs/perennials that were in the way. I was just waiting for the bulbs to come up, and they will be moved on this visit, and (hopefully) the path gravelled.

Flora Glade 2011

Flora Glade 2012

This is the bed where my mums memorial tree is, last year was the first time the Cornus kousa flowered, hopefully it will again this year.

Lime Walk

Lime Walk 2011

Well other than the muscari are all flowering earlier this year, I think you can see the other change here, lol.

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Holy Helleborus

April 28, 2011 · Filed under perennials · Tagged , , ,

I have a multitude. Not as many as I would like, I am a greedy girl, but 45 helleborus. Fortunately (from a design point of view) I have 3 different varieties. Unfortunately (from a collector point of view) I have only 3 different varieties.

And to make to even worse, I have mixed up the tags, so I am not sure which plant belongs to which name. If any one knows, please let me know, and this mystery can be solved.

From work (I love the free plants that are ‘garbage’ when the flowering finishes) I received Helleborus Gold Collection ‘Green Corsican’, HGC  ‘Jacob’, and HGC ‘SilverMoon’.

This Helleborus is the very first to flower. The white flowers, that age to green, appear on green stems.

This is the next. Again, white flowers, but they turn blush pink with age, and they appear on red stems.

This (obviously) is the last. It flowers differently, instead of each flower bud arising from the soil, it has stems that are above ground all winter, and they are multiflowered.

Can you tell the difference, I can’t tell the difference?

P.S. They have now been identified as #1- Green Corsican, #2-Jacob and #3- SilverMoon. Thank you everyone for all your help.

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