Vacation Blooms

8/20/16

Hosta Fragrant Blue

  When I returned from summer vacation, I checked the yard and only a few plants had bloomed.  Hosta Fragrant Blue had spikes of white flowers.  I was anxious to find out if I could detect a fragance, as some information I had read said these hostas have little to no fragrance.  Alas, I could detect no fragrance.

Maybe conditions have to be perfect for the fragrance to develop.  I know it was extremely hot here while we were gone, in the upper 90's to 100 probably with heat indexes that were in the 100's.  Since we have been back, it has been in the upper 90's to 100 with heat indexes up to 110 a few days.  I have noticed a lot of dead bugs (bees, locusts, flies) on the ground when I walk the dog, and I wonder if the heat has done them in.

Heuchera Caramel

  






      Another plant that was flowering when we returned and still is flowering is Heuchera Caramel.  It has the tiniest white flowers.  I thought the flowers would be a little larger.  The heuchera has lost a lot of its' caramel color throughout the season, but the underside of the leaves still have some caramel to light maroon color.

Ligularia

 

 

 

 

     In the woodland garden I noticed that one of the five ligularias had bloomed.  I thought these plants were ligularia "rocket" variety, but this bloom is not a spike four feet tall.  The bloom is no taller than the plant itself.  None of the other ones have bloomed, so they may not be in the ideal place.  I may try to dig them up and put them in the side perennial garden.

clematis vine

     In the side perennial garden, which I have not had a post about yet, is a clematis vine growing on lattice panels around the A/C unit.  When we put the lattice panels up in early spring, this side perennial garden was a total mess, overgrown with weeds, lots of leaves and debris.  My son and I cleaned it out, my husband put up the panels, and then we just waited to see what was going to come up there in the spring and summer.  I had planted a clematis vine there years ago , and it did show up this spring!  Lots of other perennials have come up also, some of which I had forgotten I planted.  The garden is somewhat of a mess, with perennials in odd places here and there, where they don't really fit and weren't originally planted in those spaces.  I will post about the perennial garden next and what I am pulling this fall and what is staying.

     As a reminder that fall is soon coming, I saw the first acorns from the oaks fall in the yard this week.  I hate to see fall come, but it is supposed to be a fairly warm autumn, so maybe it will seem like the continuation of summer.

Hostas and Heucheras

6/12/16

Great Expectations Hosta

     The back garden is shade to part shade, and I have planted 11 hostas and heucheras there.  I have planted three of the Great Expectations hostas shown at right.  I planted them because they add brightness to a shady area.  They are supposedly slow growing but can become very large, which is fine with me because I have a lot of ground to cover in the back garden.  They can spread to three feet wide (some info says spread can be four feet) and height can reach three feet..  They have white flowers in June/July and they are just starting to flower now.

Fragrant Blue Hosta

     I have two of these Fragrant Blue hostas.  Some information says they are only barely fragrant.  Since I have never grown this hosta, I will find out.  Blue leaves are suppose to emerge all summer.  This hosta also has a large spread from three to four feet with a height of eighteen inches.  This hosta has white to lavender flowers in August to September.

Heuchera Caramel

     I planted three of these Heuchera Caramel.  This heuchera has lots of color.  The leaf color can range from bright gold to apricot, peachy orange to amber.  But there is also a lot of lime green to the leaves which I thought would add some brightness to the shade.  The underside of the leaves are purple/red.  This heuchera tolerates high heat and humidity and is evergreen in mild winter areas.  It grows up to eighteen inches tall and two feet wide.  It has white to light pink flowers June to July.

Heuchera Grape Soda

     I bought three of these heucheras because I was struck by the color.  In the spring when I bought them the leaves were rose pink, and they have now matured to silvery purple  They have light purple flowers that bloom April to August.  They grow eight to ten inches tall and eighteen to twenty inches wide.