Euphorbias have become a favorite in the gardens! Their evergreen foliage continues to change with the cooler temperatures and rapidly grow with an almost shrub-like habit to fill the area.
Two years later the border continues to mature and the Rock Garden planting in the background has filled in nicely as well.
A path on the other side of the border leads through the Catcher's Mitt. At the base of the Deodar (aka Himalayan) Cedar (Cedrus deodara) is Euphorbia 'Blue Lagoon', several varieties of Heuchera and the golden foliage of Hardy Plumbago (Ceratostigma x willmottianum 'My Love') at the path's edge. The narrow, upright habit of the Eastern Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis 'Smaragd') blends with the tall spikes of Woodland Tobacco (Nicotiana sylvestris) which self sows freely every year in the path and is dug and planted throughout the garden.
At the end of the path through the Catcher's Mitt is one of my favorite combinations. I had combined the bright Golden St. Johnswort (Hypericum calycinum 'Brigadoon') with the deep burgundy foliage of Pineapple Lily (Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy') in another area of the gardens and liked it so much I duplicated the combo! This planting actually included another Pineapple Lily (Eucomis comosa 'Oakhurst'), and I can't tell the difference between the two. I added another deep burgundy foliage plant, actually a tree which will eventually grow up and form a canopy over the combo - Chocolate Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate') and in the left corner is the soft silver foliage of Lamb's Ear (Stachys byzantium 'Helen von Stein').
If you continue along the end of the path, we start heading toward the new "Sitting Deck" which you'll see soon. The trees and shrubs were planted in 2007 and in late 2008 these plants were added to the left of the combination you saw before.
From the top right: Pheasant Berry (Leycesteria formosana 'Golden Lanterns'), Variegated Adam's Needle (Yucca filamentosa ssp. smalliana 'Bright Edge'), more Pineapple Lily with Gold Stonecrop (Sedum rupestre 'Angelina'), Blue Beaked Yucca (Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Skies'), Cushion Spurge (Euphorbia polychroma 'Bonfire'), European Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus 'Fastigiata'), Copper Leaf Ninebark (Physocarpus 'Coppertina'), and at the top of the photo - the blue foliage of White Willow (Salix alba f. argentea).
Beyond the "Catcher's Mitt" we decided to expand the borders even more! We spliced photos together to help with our design and the quality of the photo is poor but it gives you an idea of the area we need to plant.
This is where our Open House visitors park when they arrive and we really wanted the area to be a little more inviting and encourage them to tour the gardens.
The soil is prepared and obviously we need plants for the area, but we decided an Arbor with a path leading into the gardens might work well here.
It took us several months to find an Arbor - we looked at numerous styles of Arbors (wood, metal and vinyl) and finally found this one late that fall. We chose a metal Arbor to withstand the weather with a pleasing design and color, and even better, reasonably priced! Now we're ready to begin designing the gardens which will surround the Arbor.
Before we get started on the area surrounding the new Arbor, we've got a little work to do in the area where the path will lead into the gardens.
Remember the aggressive patch of Petasites mentioned when I was working on the Rock Garden? For several years I groaned every time I looked at this massive patch as it was threatening to swallow everything in the area! I finally decided to tackle the grueling task of removing it all in the fall of 2006 and plant the area with a combination of Hostas and Ferns.
The Petasites is finally gone! At the head of the path Hellebores and Ferns are planted on the right side. A Japanese Maple was moved to make room for a unique garden accent from sculptor, Bo Atkinson of Maine. It was originally placed in the front gardens but as the shrubs grew it was almost hidden. We moved it to this area where it would be more visible and greet visitors to the gardens.
Not very impressive at this time of the year, but at least 35 Hostas as well as a number of Ferns are finally planted after the removal of the Petasites.
Two years later, you're looking at the path to the new Arbor with the Hosta and Fern planting on the right. The Hostas suffered major damage their first year from deer browsing in the gardens and several needed to be replanted. Fortunately the deer left them alone this summer and if we can keep them away in 2009 the Hostas should recover and fill this area.
In the background is the area which leads through the Arbor and as you'll soon see we've been busy planting!
As the design for the planting around the new Arbor developed, I realized what a pleasant spot this would be to incorporate a "Sitting Deck" in the design. The late afternoon shade provides a cool and sometimes breezy location where we could relax at the end of the day!
The deck was constructed in the spring of 2007 and by June the planting began. Numerous shrubs and a few small trees were planted which will eventually surround the deck with shade. Several Roses were planted to the right of the Arbor and a white climbing Rose was planted to climb up over the Arbor on the left with Clematis on both sides.