Showing posts with label in the garden now. Show all posts
Showing posts with label in the garden now. Show all posts

In the Garden Now: Spike Tail Shrub

Thursday, March 18, 2021

Spike Tail in the garden

Spike Tail Shrub

This is by far the most elegant blooming plant in our garden. Spike Tail puts on an amazing show for weeks each winter and early spring. Pendant pearl like flowers drape gracefully from bare branches.

It's as if an ethereal curtain is filtering our view into the garden! This is a fabulous winter garden shrub!


Spike Tail varieties include 'Joy Forever', 'Morning Dew' and 'Sterling Silver.'

(Stachyurus praecox)

--Photos and text by Victoria Gilleland



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In the Garden Now: Scarletta Fetterbush

Monday, March 8, 2021

Scarletta Fetterbush

Photo and text by Victoria Gilleland

'Scarletta' Leucothoe is a lovely compact shrub for part shade. 

New leaves and stems are a great shade of purple-red and are followed by creamy white dangling bell shaped spring flowers. 

Leaves mature to a glossy, rich dark green. 

This one's a winner for the shady garden!



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In the Garden Now: Hellebore or Lenten Rose

Sunday, February 7, 2021

Photo by Victoria Gilleland

The nodding saucer-shaped flowers of Lenten Rose turn winter into a brighter happier place. Clumps will naturalize beautifully at the edge of the woodland garden.

Purple buds and foliage are the perfect foil for the pastel flowers and rich greens of the winter garden.

--Victoria Gilleland


 

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Be patient as spring approaches

Monday, February 1, 2021

Photo by Victoria Gilleland

Doris Duck is watching over the winter garden. Our Corsican Hellebore will be in full bloom soon while Witch Hazel ‘Arnold Promise’ adds a dash of gold to the shady understory. 

Enjoy the quiet offerings of the winter season.

On this Wednesday, February 3, 2021 we will be halfway through winter. A few more minutes of light brighten each day and encourage us to be patient as spring approaches.

--Victoria Gilleland



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Townsend's Warblers have serious attitude

Monday, December 14, 2020

A very round bird sitting on a branch in a bush with clusters of juicy looking pale yellow berries has his head lowered, apparently staring at the camera. He looks like he's about to charge. He is  yellow and black with lone ranger masks around his eyes and thick bands of black down the side of his head and wings.
Townsend's Warbler
Photo by Karyl Kirkham

A couple of days ago we published Gloria Nagler's photo of a Townsend's Warbler. He looked innocent enough on the branch but Gloria's comments indicated that he had a bit of attitude.

Karyl Kirkham sent in this photo of a Townsend's Warbler that definitely proves the attitude!

She said that her patients think it's an owl. I think it's baby Batman.

She said that the bush he's sitting in attracts all kinds of birds. I sent the photo to Victoria Gilleland (In the Garden Now) and she thinks it is a variety of Oregon grape.

The plant looks like it could be a Mahonia (Oregon Grape) cultivar such as ‘Arthur McKenzie’.


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In The Garden Now….. Oshio-Beni Japanese Maple

Monday, November 16, 2020


Text and photos by Victoria Gilleland

Japanese Maple 'Oshio-Beni' takes the prize for best 'Fall Color 2020' in our garden. Our tree is flourishing in the shade of a giant Western Red Cedar with minimal water! We could not ask for more.

Depending on light and weather, fall color appears to be orange or shades of red, pink and maroon. It looks quite different throughout the day as light changes. 

This cultivar's name appropriately means 'Great Red Tide.’ It has performed beautifully in our garden for at least 15 years, first in a pot and now in a garden bed.

Oshio-Beni is an upright Japanese Maple that typically reaches about 15 feet in height. In spring leaves emerge a reddish orange and then deepen to a purple red. In full sun this color is held throughout summer. 

Shade grown trees tend to take on a bronzy color in summer but put on a colorful show in fall until leaf drop.

It’s worth considering this easy to grow Japanese Maple for a patio pot or planted in the garden!

Botanical Name: Acer palmatum Oshio-Beni

Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been designing gardens in the northwest for over 30 years. (vjgilleland@yahoo.com)



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In The Garden Now….. Holly Leaf Sweetspire

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Holly Leaf Itea


Text and photo by Victoria Gilleland

A friend gave me a start of this plant five years ago. Somehow it got shuffled into an area in the garden I seldom visited. Last year I finally got it planted in a more prominent place and three blossoms graced my plant. Not much of a payoff after all that time yet it was a beginning.

Here we are at year six. Miracle of miracles, 17 fabulous greenish-white 12 inch long catkins appeared on my six foot high plant! I guess there must be some truth to the proverb “Good things come to those who wait”…..and put their plants in appropriate garden locations.

Not only are the catkins unusual looking but they also have a delightful honey scent. Bees love them! The medium evergreen leaves look like holly but are soft and not prickly. The plant grows in an upright form that may reach 4-8 feet wide and 8-10 feet tall. Pruning is best scheduled after flowering.

Holly Leaf Sweetspire makes a great specimen plant, or could be a good choice for the back of a garden bed. Try one espaliered against a shady wall.

If you like plants that are a little out of the ordinary this may be the one for you. The catkins of this plant are truly unique. Add one of these to your garden and you just might be the envy of your fellow gardeners!

Botanical Name: Itea ilicifolia

Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been designing gardens in the northwest for over 30 years. (vjgilleland@yahoo.com)



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In The Garden Now…..Pesky Slugs and Snails

Monday, July 20, 2020

Mouse Ears hosta
Golden Spike moss
Relocating Temptation

Text and photo by Victoria Gilleland

Have you ever had a problem with slugs and snails devouring your favorite hosta or some other precious plant you’ve been babying? We live on the edge of a wooded ravine in Lake Forest Park.

At twilight, particularly after a little rain, the hungry hoards bent on enjoying a tasty snack in our garden arrive to graze on what often turns out to be my favorite plants. It’s sooooo frustrating!

I’ve used slug bait and traps with a certain amount of success but I’ve found my best defense has been to move certain plants that are particularly attractive to the little pests from EZ access garden beds to pots on decks and patios.

Although slugs and snails can climb as evidenced by their slimy trails, it appears that most gastropods enjoy the convenience of low lying morsels. Very little damage has occurred in my containerized plants.

Since I’ve started potting my most vulnerable plants I’ve seen more of them mature into the beautiful specimens I was hoping for. An added bonus is that the treasured plant is closer to eye level where it can be more easily enjoyed.

Containers that are rough in texture and/or tallish seem to discourage our local slugs and snails. Metal containers seem less popular with our slug population as well. Remember that if a slug can sashay right up to one of their favorite plants at ground level they are going to dine there. They’re just looking for a quick meal so easy access wins!

'Blue Mouse Ears' Hosta and 'Golden Spike Moss' are particularly handsome together this summer in their potted abode. The lush lavender flowers are true standouts. The blue foliage is wonderful against the Golden Spike Moss. 

‘Blue Mouse Ears’ does have heavier, thicker leaves than some hostas. These tend to be less attractive to our slimy little friends. However 'Blue Mouse Ears' was not spared in the nightly eating frenzy of the perennial garden bed at our place.

Since relocating to a pot on a deck all is well. 'Blue Mouse Ears' has escaped the treacherous world of slugs and snails and has been enjoying the easy life on our south deck for the last 5 years.

Score one for the gardener!

Botanical Name: Hosta ‘Blue Mouse Ears’
Selaginella kraussiana ‘Golden Spike Moss’

Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been designing gardens in the northwest for over 30 years. (vjgilleland@yahoo.com )



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In The Garden Now….. Taiga Large Flowered Clematis

Monday, June 22, 2020

Taiga Clematis
Text and photo by Victoria Gilleland

This clematis first caught my eye when it was featured at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2017. 

It went on my ‘Plant Wish List’ immediately. 

I didn’t actually come across one for sale in our area until last fall….. and there she was on the sales table of a local hardware store nursery!

I’ve seen many different clematis in my gardening lifetime, but I’ve never seen a clematis quite like this one. 

The double flowers are multicolored and ever changing. 

One day blossoms appear to be a soft green and the next they’re taking on mauve and purple tones. The flower shape and form continues to change as blossoms mature. 

In its later development the sepals are curved upward so that they take on a star shape. This heavily flowering clematis is truly unique!

Taiga Clematis blooms on both old and new wood so it can be pruned before or after blooming and should grow and bloom again with no problem. Plants usually produce flowers from late spring through summer. My plant has been in bloom since early May and is definitely going strong in the large pot that is now its home.

This lovely vine typically reaches 8 feet tall by 3 feet wide. If you add one of these clematis to your garden be sure and plant it at least two inches deeper than it was growing in its nursery pot. Clematis planted extra deep will grow additional roots along the planted stems. Like many clematis this one likes sun to part shade and shade at its roots.

If you’re looking for a truly gorgeous climber for your garden consider this outstanding clematis.

Botanical Name: Clematis florida hybrid ‘Taiga’

Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been designing gardens in the northwest for over 30 years. (vjgilleland@yahoo.com) 


 

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In The Garden Now…. Creeping Forget-Me-Not

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Blue-Eyed Mary
Text and photo by Victoria Gilleland

When Blue-Eyed Mary starts to bloom spring can’t be far off. The flowers are small but an intense blue that can’t be missed on a stroll through the late winter garden. The blossoms are larger and a brighter blue, but quite similar to those of its cousin Forget-Me-Not.

While Forget- Me-Not plants will typically last a year or two and freely reseed, Blue-Eyed Mary is a reliable well behaved perennial. We’ve enjoyed these easy to grow late winter bloomers in our dry shady garden for many years. However, they are very adaptable and will grow in a fair amount of sun as well.

Plants are 6 to 8 inches high and stay in a compact clump. They can be used to edge a garden bed and as a fine evergreen to semi-evergreen ground cover under taller perennials, grasses and shrubs. Ours are planted next to a garden path and meander among the ferns there.

Blue-Eyed Mary can be a colorful, long lasting, trouble free addition to just about any garden!

Botanical Name: Omphalodes verna

Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been designing gardens in the northwest for over 25 years. (vjgilleland@yahoo.com)



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In the Garden now Fascinating…… Fasciation in Flowers

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Daphne Odora flower cluster
Text and photo by Victoria Gilleland

My Daphne Odora is in bloom….. a little earlier than last year because of our warmer temperatures. The pink buds have opened to white flower clusters scented with that heavenly scent only attributable to Daphne. This evergreen is such a wonderful addition to the Winter Garden!

However, there’s something new this year! Fasciation has appeared on my Daphne plant. On this plant fasciation has taken the form of distorted, splayed and somewhat puffy flower clusters that are larger and quite distinct from the other 200 on the plant.

One branch with a fasciated flower cluster and a regular flower cluster was broken off my plant a week or so ago. I popped the branch into a small vase of water and carried it inside in hopes the buds would open in the warmth of the house and spread their heady fragrance throughout.

The regular buds did open and produce that sweet daphne scent. The fasciated flower failed to open, turned brown and shriveled up without blooming and therefore produced no fragrance. That was disappointing. I was hoping for a real fragrance hit with the larger flower cluster!

Fasciated flower cluster
Fasciated means banded or bundled. 

Flowers may be wide or flattened, or fused together in a fan shape. Fasciation may be caused by a hormonal imbalance, random mutation, insect damage, disease or physical damage to the plant. 

Scientists don’t know what causes it and it’s not contagious. It doesn’t spread to other plants or to other parts of the plant on which it occurs. Fasciation usually does not return. Affected stems on shrubs such as my daphne may be removed or pruned.

Fasciation is not necessarily an undesirable trait. Some plants are grown because of their fasciation. These include Cockscomb Celosia, Crested Saguaro Cactus, and Fasciated Japanese Cedar. Plants such as these carry their fasciation in their genetic makeup so they can be reproduced from generation to generation often but not necessarily through cuttings.

A fragrant Daphne shrub could be the perfect addition to your winter garden. Fasciation is just one more thing you might see in your garden one day!


Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been designing gardens in the northwest for over 25 years. (vjgilleland@yahoo.com )



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In The Garden Now... Penny’s Pink Lenten Rose

Monday, February 10, 2020

Penney’s Pink Hellebore

Text and photo by Victoria Gilleland

It’s Hellebore time! Those clumps of flowers you’ve spotted in neighborhood gardens could very well be the beautiful Lenten Rose.

My favorite hellebore, ‘Penney’s Pink,’ is in bloom right now. It produces large two to three inch pink blossoms on compact plants. Buds start out purple with flowers taking on pink then greenish tones as they mature. Not only are the blossoms striking, but the blue green leaves are touched with pink marbling making this a true winter garden standout!

The Lenten Rose gets its common name from the fact that it typically blooms around Lent and has buds and flowers similar to that of a single rose. There are dozens of varieties available in a host of colors including purple, red, yellow, green, lavender, white and pink.

Clumps of hellebores are upright and typically between 18 and 24 inches tall and wide. While many plants need more sun, part to full shade provides ideal growing conditions for the Lenten Rose. Grow it in a shady border or a container where you’ll see it in winter when it blooms.

We’re lucky to have these European natives growing in our gardens. They are striking!

Botanical Name: Helleborus iburgensis ‘Penney’s Pink’

Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been designing gardens in the northwest for over 25 years.



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In The Garden Now….'Afterglow’ Winterberry

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Winterberry
Text and photos by Victoria Gilleland

Holiday color is everywhere……. except maybe in the garden. Grey doesn’t have to be the predominant color in our gardens as winter makes its appearance. 

The addition of a few plants with colorful winter berries could be just the touch your garden needs to liven it up for the new season. 

The tried and true ‘Afterglow’ Winterberry is a deciduous shrub that produces masses of bright reddish orange berries.

They’re a real standout in the fall and winter garden!

Winterberry is native to eastern North America and is a member of the holly family. Berries produced in fall typically last though winter as long as the birds don’t eat them. For optimum berry production they should be grown in full sun. 

Plants grown in wet sites tend to spread to form thickets where as those grown in drier places remain more compact. Shade grown plants tend to be open and produce few berries so look for a sunny spot for this plant.

Winterberry
‘Afterglow’ Winterberry may reach anywhere from 4-12 feet in height. More compact varieties such as ‘Red Sprite’ and ‘Little Goblin Orange’ are available. 

Plants should be pruned in late winter before new growth begins in spring. White flowers form on new growth and are followed by berries in fall. 

Winterberry plants are dioecious which means there are separate male and female plants.

Fertilized female flowers produce the bright red or orange berries. One male winterberry plant is usually enough to pollinate 6-10 female plants. 

A meandering row of winterberry can make an outstanding hedge or privacy screen. A few brightly berried plants grown in large containers can make an interesting holiday display.

Give these splendid shrubs a chance in your garden! They’re available now in local nurseries.

Botanical Name: Ilex verticillata ‘Afterglow’


Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been designing gardens in the northwest for over 25 years. (vjgilleland@yahoo.com )


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In The Garden Now….. ‘September Charm’ Japanese Anemone

Monday, November 4, 2019

Windflower

Text and photo by Victoria Gilleland

Don’t let the name fool you….’September Charm’ Anemone blooms way beyond September! It’s still in full bloom in many gardens right now even after a recent frost.

Flowers are cup shaped, shades of pink and held on 2’ to 3’ tall branched stems. The fact that the flowers have a delicate, even elegant, look about them might make the casual onlooker think that this plant is tricky to grow. The fact is this is a very easy to grow perennial in Northwest gardens.

This Japanese Anemone will grow in part sun to shade and needs little water to flourish. Plants are long lasting and make larger clumps over time providing reliable fall color for decades. The fact that these anemones bloom in fall when many flowering plants have passed their prime and are headed for dormancy is worth noting. 

‘September Charm’ and other hybrid Japanese Anemone’s are wonderful “Pass Along Plants.” In fact that’s how I got my first fall blooming anemone. Thirty years ago, my next door neighbor, the late Mary Aiken, who was a terrific gardener, gifted me with a start of this great fall bloomer. When this plant comes into bloom each year I think of my gardening friend, Mary.

This plant deserves consideration. It blooms well into fall when many plants are fading. It doesn’t mind being moved, divided and shared. It’ll grow well in most any garden that provides at least a little shade. And it doesn’t require a full time gardener to keep it alive. These are admirable traits for any plant!

(Botanical Name: Anemone x hybridus ‘September Charm’)

Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been a garden designer and consultant to Northwest gardeners for over 25 years. (vjgilleland@yahoo.com)



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In The Garden Now…..Vitex: A Premier Parking Lot Shrub

Friday, September 27, 2019

Chaste Tree
Photo by Victoria Gilleland
By Victoria Gilleland

If you’ve driven through the Lake Forest Park Town Center in the last few months you may have noticed a handsome flowering shrub with spiky blue flowers growing near the hardware store. 

 It looks a lot like a butterfly bush but this one is better behaved and typically doesn’t self-seed in the Northwest.

What I affectionately call ‘A Premier Parking Lot Shrub’ is one that blooms for a long while, is easy to grow in sunny dry conditions, tends to be healthy, and provides for bees, butterflies and other pollinators. 

Chaste Tree does all of this. Why not beautify our gardens in commercial spaces as well as home gardens with plants that have all these admirable traits?

Chaste Tree is a deciduous shrub or small tree. In warmer climates it may grow to be 25’ tall and wide and be treated as a multi stemmed tree. In the Northwest it is typically much smaller.

In parking lot gardens Chaste Trees are often hard pruned to 1-2 feet in winter to contain their exuberant growth. They grow back to a reasonable 4-6 feet in one growing season. Flower production is not impacted by heavy pruning since this plant blooms on new wood.

Grey green leaves are scented as are the small lavender-blue flower spikes. There are many varieties of this plant available with blossoms in shades of blue, lavender, white and pink. If you are after a smaller, lower-growing plant that you wouldn’t need to prune so regularly, or a different colored flower, other Vitex varieties may be available at local nurseries.

This might be the perfect easy to grow shrub for that hot, sunny spot in your garden…..You’d have long blooming, no fuss color for months and months and be providing for our pollinators!

(Botanical Name: Vitex agnus-castus)

Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been designing gardens in the northwest for over 25 years. 



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In The Garden Now…..Golden Angel

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Golden Angel Japanese Shrub Mint 

Text and photo by Victoria Gilleland

I first saw this plant last fall in a local nursery. It was late in the year and ‘Golden Angel’ was on the 50% off table. I couldn’t help but be attracted to the angelic name. It was the only plant of its kind there and the only one on the ‘Discount Table’ that liked shade. Besides that, the tag said it would have golden foliage throughout summer and yellow bottlebrush flowers in early fall. What’s not to like? Of course I had to buy it!

Besides the wonderful attributes above, the plant would stay small at about 3’ H x 3’ W and was hardy down to zone 5 which is -20 to -10 degrees F. It wasn’t a marginal plant that would die in one of our colder winters which turned out to be a good thing considering the low temperatures we had this past winter…. Remember February 2019?

This plant is a clump forming relative of mint. It is not wildly aggressive like some mints although it may send up a few runners. Bees and other pollinators are attracted to the late season bloom. That’s always a good thing.

By the first of April our ‘Golden Angel’ was showing signs of life. It had made it through winter. Bright golden foliage began to peak through the moist earth! The plant really took off once the temperatures warmed later in the month and into May. And then there was a bit of a catastrophe…..

Our 12 year old Chocolate Lab, Bear, loves to play Tennis Ball. His Dog Court is near the bed where our ‘Golden Angel’ took up residence. In late spring, during one of his more active moments, Bear chased after a ball and ended up plopping down right on top of our treasured perennial acquisition, flattening it.

He eventually moved allowing me to clear away the crushed and broken stems. I propped up the remaining plant as best I could and discussed the situation with Bear. He smiled and said he’d be more careful next time. There haven’t been any further incursions so we believe him!

In spite of a run-in with our favorite dog, flower buds developed over the summer and are just now starting to open as lovely yellow and white bottle brush flowers. I’m delighted to report that this plant is growing just as they said it would and is now about 2’ tall and wide with flowers a bit taller. It’s a most interesting perennial.

‘Golden Angel Shrub Mint’ is a keeper and well worth adding to the shade garden. The bright foliage and the fact that it’s in full bloom in early fall when other plants are on their way to dormancy is a real bonus. This one’s worth a try in your garden!

(Leucosceptrum Japonicum Golden Angel)

Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design Company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been designing gardens in the northwest for over 25 years. (vjgilleland@yahoo.com)



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In The Garden Now…..’Blue Mist’ Hebe

Friday, July 5, 2019

‘Blue Mist’ Veronica
 Text and photo by Victoria Gilleland

‘Blue Mist’ Hebe is a lovely garden import from New Zealand. This evergreen plant has been growing in my garden for well over 15 years and has sailed through cold winters and some pretty severe abuse.

My shrub is growing under 100 foot tall Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar trees so it gets little sunlight and minimal natural rainfall throughout the year. 

Branches have fallen on it repeatedly and it was nearly flattened by our late winter snow this past February. It always pops back into shape once the offending weight is lifted. That’s an “A” for resilience in my garden book.

This year’s bloom has been exceptional. The plant has been covered with an amazing number of clear blue cone shaped blossoms for weeks. I’m wondering if our icy late winter weather had something to do with this year’s super flower display.

Like most Hebe this one likes well drained soil and will thrive in full sun to part shade. The foliage is a rich dark green and has a leathery texture that stands up to cold winter winds. The blue flowers attract bees, butterflies and birds. 

My plant has maintained its compact stature at about 2 1/2 feet tall by 4 feet wide for all these years. Light pruning after bloom time to remove spent blossoms and damaged branches keeps this shrub in shape.

Many Hebe have met an untimely death in my garden. Perhaps too cold, too wet, too shady, wrong soil, who knows? I’d have to say this one is more adaptable and easier to grow than some….like the ones I killed!

‘Blue Mist’ has been a handsome tried and true performer in my garden. I wholeheartedly recommend this lovely compact shrub!

(Veronica ‘Blue Mist’)

Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been designing gardens in the northwest for over 25 years. (vjgilleland@yahoo.com)



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In The Garden Now…..Field Bindweed

Monday, July 1, 2019

White Morning Glory
Text and photo 
by Victoria Gilleland 

I’ve been fighting with this garden bully for more than 30 years.

I dread seeing it crawling up the ravine in back of our place. 

I know that it’s just a matter of time before it reaches the crest of the hill and sends its green tentacles over and into some of my favorite shrubs and trees!

I dig, pull, cut back and clean up but never seem to completely eradicate this devil! 

A stem piece little more than an inch long left behind in the soil can take root and form a new plant. 

Now is that really fair?

Fortunately for all of us fighting this aggressive green menace in our gardens there is a source of expert advice on how to deal with it. Check out the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board entry on Field Bindweed.

Good luck! We’re all going to need it.

(Convolvulus arvensis)


Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been designing gardens in the northwest for over 25 years. (vjgilleland@yahoo.com)




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In The Garden Now…..Goat’s Beard

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Bride’s Feathers or Buck’s-Beard
Text and photos by Victoria Gilleland

I’ve always thought that Goat’s Beard flowers looked as if they were made of carefully arranged white pipe cleaners. 

Seeing this plant in flower reminds me of all those arts and crafts projects my kids made out of fuzzy chenille stems. Memories!

I’m very fond of the pure white blossoms that age to cream in my late spring garden. The flowering plants look exotic though in fact they are perennial natives that just happen to perform beautifully in northwest gardens with a minimum of care. 

Goat’s Beard flourishes in part shade to heavy shade and actually seems to thrive when grown in crowded conditions among other perennials, ferns and shrubs. Although it can be grown in moist areas it does well in dry shade.

Plants are upright to 5 feet or more and form vase shaped clumps that dance gracefully above shorter shade lovers. Goat’s Beard is deciduous going dormant for the colder months of the year. 

Fresh green growth emerges in early spring with flowers to follow. My plants have never been bothered by pests or disease. 

Do you have a spot for this handsome trouble free perennial native?

Botanical Name: Aruncus dioicus

Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been designing gardens in the northwest for over 25 years. (vjgilleland@yahoo.com )




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In The Garden Now…. The Giant Mayapple

Sunday, June 9, 2019

Mayapple flowers
Text and photos by Victoria Gilleland

 ‘The Giant Mayapple’ is an exotic looking plant with leaves that are often described as similar in shape and size to a “large tractor seat.”  It has blood red globe-like flowers hanging below the shiny leaves and sets yellow or orange fruit in late summer. What’s not to like?

This unique perennial is native to China, likes part shade to shade and enjoys moist soil. It reaches about three feet high and will slowly spread given time and enough moisture. Mayapple is pollinated by flies. To attract those flies the flower scent is on the stinky side. The scent is more pronounced in warm weather. I haven’t noticed an unpleasant odor in my garden because temperatures have been low when my Mayapple has been in flower.

Many Flowered Chinese Mayapple
The Giant goes dormant with the first freeze but emerges fresh and green, looking a lot like an unfurled/unopened umbrella in early spring. The immature leaves open over a number of days to reveal their unique shape and begin their march towards gigantic! They haven’t been bothered by pests in my garden. 

I’ve successfully grown this plant in a mid-sized pot for several years. This has been convenient for me for a number of reasons. I always enjoy having new garden plants closer to eye level where I can better observe their growth pattern and what if any pests are a problem.

Since Mayapple likes moisture I was able to easily provide additional water as needed with my watering can without watering a large garden area. Plus I always like to keep a “Newbie” to the garden up close so I don’t lose track of it. Believe me that has happened!

You’ll find this plant is a surprising and unusual addition to your garden. With the large dramatic leaves, intense red flowers dangling beneath the leaves, and yellow or orange fruit that sets at the end of summer it’s a multi-season performer!

 Botanical Name:  Podophyllum pleianthum ‘The Giant’
   Syn:  Dysoma pleianthum

Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been designing gardens in the northwest for over 25 years. ( vjgilleland@yahoo.com)   



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