Gardening and Gardens

Houttuynia cordata , also known as Chameleon plant, Bishop's Weed and Lizard Tail is said to have medicinal uses and widely used in cooking in it's native Asia. But here in my garden on Long Island, it's invasive and from what research I've done, its not going to be easy to get rid of. At first, I was excited to have such a lovely groundcover. In one area of my garden, the previous owners had even planted a variegated leaf variety of the plant, which is really quite attractive. But then I noticed how it continued to spread and grow upright (nearly 15 inches tall against the stone wall). It's choking out my hostas now, competing for space and light. It spreads by rhizomes and unless every bit of that rhizome is removed, the plant will continue to sprout. The leaves and stems have a strong odor when crushed, a bit like really strong cilantro (in my opinion). So even when I tried to remove some of it, the smell remained on my hands and gloves for hours afterw...

It's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day! Here's what's growing and blooming in my new garden this month: The Iris are in full bloom. I planted some Impatiens in the foreground and now I'm just waiting to see how the rest will fill in. So many Hostas - some of them quite beautiful! These are backed by Astilbe against the wall. The Astilbe have lots of buds on them. I'm curious to see what color they are! The ferns look fantastic in these containers. The two on the left are Ostrich Ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris) and the one on the right is Cinnamon Fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum) which emerges later than the others . Curb appeal! This garden is in the lower corner of the front yard, right along the sidewalk. Behind the Hostas are Coral Bells, Barberry and purple Iris. In the front sidewalk garden, I just recently planted Butterfly Gaura (Gaura lindheimeri 'Whirling Butterflies'), Salvia nemorosa 'May Night' and Coreopsis. Ma...

Spring is here. Time for rebirth, new growth and the start of a new cycle of life. I've been on a bit of a hiatus these past few months and for that I apologize. But it's been a busy winter here. In December, we moved to a new house. Then in January, I gave birth to twins. And now it's May and I'm finally starting to settle into the rhythm of life with four kids and a new house.  Having moved from a rental house where I only had containers and a small deck, I am fascinated to see what is popping up at this new house. From what I gathered from the neighbors, horticulturalists used to live here and as a result, there are some really nice plantings on the property already. However, the people that we bought the house from had let these plantings take over. As a result, there are a lot of overgrown shrubs, a bizillion hostas and lots places of neglect. In addition, the back part of the property is very wooded and on a slope. There is one level spot where I assume held a s...