Church bells chiming America the Beautiful actually accompanied my fiddling in the Moss Garden on this Memorial Day...
I call that heavenly and can hardly stay inside sitting at my desk on glorious days like these long enough to write this...
As if I just can’t get enough of this long-awaited spring...
as if it has never happened before, I have been enigmatically fascinated...
And suddenly ...everything is happening much too fast.
As bloom tumbles over bloom
Wait, I want to say...Just WAIT...
but here come the luscious Iris on the heels of the Tree Peonies
and the tulips...
they are gone
This armillary sphere will be overtaken by fern fronds
and things will go on,
no matter what you do
Since the Garden Conservancy Day/St. Luke’s Garden Tour on May 10, much has happened and this is what they missed:
The Darmera actually flowered...
The Japanese maples hit their peak of fresh-hewn hues
and I
don’t like to boast; but I've been waiting years for the confluence of
the special Lilies of the Valley - the one with pink flowers and the
one with striped leaves.
This year, I have both.
(just the sort of thing garden-tourers love,
but they missed them)
and what a shame not to show off the great
underused groundcover Mazus repans alba...
isn't it great as a carpet under the
Cotswold blue iron furniture?
And saddest of all....they missed the tree peonies...always
so good for a gasp
THE SPRINGTIME SAGA of The MOSS
MOSS Before the petals fell
Moss as the petals began to fall and the fritillary nodded
fritillary with an almost solid pink carpet
Moss and crocodile obscured by fallen petals
while the tree was still pink
and the MOSS after the petals fell...
feeling a little browner
But as moss is staunch, it will bounce right back.
FROM ONE LADY TO ANOTHER
This is our grand Sicilian princess filled with tulips.
She, the vase, is 15" and the tulips are gigantic
Her little sister vase is just 7”, the perfect size
to fill with stubby-stemmed Tree Peonies
BLUE BLUE MY WORLD IS BLUE
sometimes PURPLE-BLUE
sometimes reddish-blue
The hues of Iris, Cammassia, Muscari Saffier and bluebells
differ greatly and
make a beautiful symphony
Tulip Bleu Aimable
(a good one – 6 of 12 came back) and the flower of Ajuga
Clematis Vyvyan Pernell
ALMOST WHITE
Enthralled with my new Ukigumo Japanese maple...
Ukigumo means Floating Cloud
and this Farfugium (used to be Ligularia) ‘Kaimon Drake’.
The new leaves are white white, but cursorily become green,
as you see.
ACTUALLY WHITE
The enchanting candelabra Primrose
'Late Snow'
Narcissus Thalia, Solomon’s Seal, Bleeding Heart
and Tulip Francoise
See the blue stamen of Francoise..this is a great tulip...behaves just like the “French”
tulips are supposed to behave
and the epitome of PEACE
LITTLE MIRACLES
One must take heart when hauling up over-wintered crates
of tender bulbs, corms and tubers from the basement.
It takes a leap of faith to believe these shrivelled up things will be beautiful ‘Moonlight’ caladiums or whatever
But, once in a while, you shake off the dirt and uncover a big fat one brimming with life like this calla lily
it gives you such a shake, a flash, even a frisson if you will.
John Ashberry calls these
“bouillon cube moments”
On the other hand...when all the colocasia have turned
to white mush,
It’s not so miraculous and so I'll not show you
But then, I just take a little garden stroll and see things that
never have to be dug up, stored or coddled:
like the dance of the sprouting maple leaves
a baby ‘Black Mambo’ emerging through the petals
the reassurance that Trillium sometimes actually do multiply
Hellebore and N. Thalia in perfect harmony
Dianne’s DOs and DON’Ts
DON’T let the dandelions fool you, amazing how they, and various other weeds, try to hide among the flowers
DO buy this tulip. It is called Weber’s Parrot.
I can only find it at McClure and Zimmerman and
it makes everyone who sees it drool...
and Queen of the Night and Rembrandt’s Favorite –
the real crowd pleasers
DON’T under estimate this crazy climate change world... after 2 or 3 warm winters I decided they were here to
stay and went crazy planting Anemone coronaria last
fall...I guess they did not like our ice and snow
(just as prophesied) because all that I got were these
2 Burgundy out of a few hundred mainly blue
DO respect tradition. The Dutch call vases with several holes in particular arrangements a tulip vase.
This is because they are explicitly meant for tulips
Anything else in them is a flop.
I won’t even show you other worthless attempts
with Iris, azaleas, etc
DO buy from the specialists because in a homogenized world, they are really specialized.
Look at this dwarf trillium called ‘Road Runner’ from
Garden Visions Epimediums
They only sell Epimedium and a few precious woodland
things like this
GARDEN HAPPENINGS AROUND THE HAMPTONS:
The Robert Dash Memorial at Madoo
was really elegant.
There were four epigrammatic eulogies, among them
Tina Raver and Robert Storr speaking of his many talents. Most people regarded him as a painter and as a gardener.
I most admired him as a writer.
He made many impressions.
As would be his wont, Bloody Marys and clams were served.
Galen Williams wore a gorgeous Balenciaga coat.
It was very nice.
His portrait by Fairfield Porter was the perfect representation.
Madoo will always sing with his spirit.
The Annual Plant Fair Benefit of the Horticultural Alliance was thronged with eager buyers and the many fans of
Dennis Schrader and Bill Smith of Landcraft Environments,
who were honored.
The always fascinating array of plants – many dug from members' gardens – were being snatched up
at a frenzied pace.
The dig at my garden was done last autumn and the
attentive and faithful HAH-ers minded a few dozen
baby ‘Black Mambo’
over the winter.
I understand they were a Super Sell Out,
so...my advice to the buyers - Please be mindful to plant them – with love –
in
a sheltered, sexy and
not just-shady-but-almost-dark place.
This is what they will have in a few years.
They are nestled in a bed of big-leaved matte finish Asarum -
I don’t know which kind or where I got them....
LONGHOUSE IS BURSTING with BEAUTY –
Visit on Wednesday and Saturday 2-5,
or other times simply by calling 631.329.3568
A red-winged blackbird is just one of our many
feathery friends–
LongHouse is a birder’s paradise
(even when they poop on
Donald Judd’s benches)
Johnny Swing’s curvaceous chaise made of quarters...or maybe they’re nickels, but they are coins and it is marvelous
and just one of many many many
new sights to enjoy
Jack Larsen is the only one I know who can grow
Pasque flowers
and
pile such good pillows
And, do not miss Elizabeth Levine's show at
ILLE Arts in Amagansett.
Keister, Lee and Levine at ILLE Arts
June 7th - June 24th.
Opening reception for the artists is June 7th from 5 - 7pm
FLEETING but FANTASTIC
The Fritillaries...
The dear little michailovskyi
The less lusty but taller uva-vulpis
(not my favorite)
The fabulous acmopetala, almost 2’ tall...(I love this one)
The shy but beautiful F. pontica (this one is tricky)
And the one you are least likely ever to see
Fritillaria verticilata – the climbing frit with little tendrils like a clematis – verticilata – vertical, get it?
And the super beautiful ‘Guinea Hen’ Fritillaria meleagris .
Why more people don’t grow it is way beyond my comprehension.
The animals do not eat Frits.
They grow in the shade but like sun too.
They are not that expensive
... and many of the “little fritillaries” return year after year after year, popping up in the most precious places
OTHER Ephemerals the Garden Tourers missed
Maybe it lasts five days, but the evanescent edge is just another part of the charm of this woodland Peony japonica...
The charm of the dog’s tooth violet is in its
short-lived shyness
The Cairo tulip match to the fresh opening leaves of the weeping purple beech was planned
The proportion of this just burgeoning Astilboides tabularis overhung by Hellebore x hybridus ‘Golden Lotus’
(divine, Plant Delights) was a sweet coincidence
And although all of these will be gone on my next
Garden Conservancy Open Day
Please do come and visit on
Saturday,July 21st
Garden Conservancy Open Day
from 10 – 3PM...
Everything will look completetly different and there will be
new and many delights –
or at least that is my plan.
And now that it is really time to dig into the season,
you will be thrilled to know that the
After Memorial Day, Pre-Solstice 15% Off Sale
at The Best @ Dianne B. begins today
Put coupon code: 15%OFF
into the Discount box at Checkout
And If I were you, I would get it while you can because a
few items will soon no longer be available...so stock up,
especially if you can't live without Yard Bags
and Japanese clippers.
Magnolia loves the Fritillaries
Flora just wants to be loved
And what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But this endearing St. Francis
A wonderful surprise present from
Lys Marigold who has a true knack for perfect timing
and knows how dearly loved
is the St. Francis
in the Nature Trail.
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