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...

It's been unseasonably warm the past few weeks and the fall foliage is loving it. Everything is in peak color right now. Here are some of the great looking trees in the neighborhood: As for my pots and containers - not much is blooming anymore, save for a few hardy mums. But the foliage on the hostas and the ferns still look attractive: And this poor container - it was planed with lovely fall colored pansies. But the silly squirrels keep digging in the soil thinking they have buried some food treasure. I had been dutiful about putting down "squirrel-be-gone" repellent, but at this point, I've given up trying to keep them away. Ah well!

Halloween is just around the corner and with a little imagination, everything can look a little spooky these days... An Evil Eye? (or just Rubeckia hirta ) Dried up brains? (or just a fungus) Long, sticky fingers of a witch?  (or just an ornamental pepper) Hairy arms reaching out to strangle? (or just an old vine on a tree trunk) A magic electricity ball? (or just pine needles) Pimpled, decaying flesh? (or fungus on a tree stump) Sweat on the green monster's face? (or morning dew on a leaf)   Bloody fingers? (or just Amaranthus ) Skeletal fingers, reaching out to grab you? Maybe. Mwahahaha! Happy Halloween!

One of the spookiest trees out there, in my humble opinion, is the Black Locust tree ( Robinia pseudoacacia) . It's trunk is covered in thick, deep furrows (grooves) making it look sinister to the touch. In addition, the branches are gnarled and twisted, which can create an eerie silhouette on a leafless, winter evening. The Black Locust tree can grow to a height of 50 feet if given the right amount of space. A tree that large is too big for the inside of my house. So instead, we decided to make our own spooky looking tree, complete with spiders and monsters: I found some twigs in my yard and had my children paint them black. I stuck them into a pumpkin container filled with rocks and covered the base with artificial black leaves. Then we created monster heads - some have five eyes, some only have one! The kids had a great time creating different monster variations. We added a few store bought spiders and cats to the tree as a finishing touch. I think it looks ...

The last stop on the Garden Blogger's Seattle Fling tour was to the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island, just east of Seattle, across the Puget Sound. The private and public gardens we visited in Seattle were beautiful but the Bloedel was truly spectacular.   The Reserve's 150 acres were filled with quiet trails through woodlands and landscaped gardens, including a Japanese Garden, a Moss Garden and Reflection Pool.  The Bloedel Reserve was once the home of Prentice Bloedel and his wife, Virginia, who resided on the property from 1951 until 1986. He was deeply interested in the relationship between people and the natural world, and the power of landscape to evoke emotions ranging from tranquility to exhilaration. You can read more about the Bloedel Reserve here .  True to Seattle's reputation, it rained the entire day we were at Bloedel, but somehow the wet and the mist added to the beauty of the landscape. My favorite was the...