Piet Oudolf Designed Garden

Hello again,
As promised, some pictures of the Piet Oudolf designed garden.  It was completely my pleasure to come in before we opened, when nobody is around and shoot some pictures of this garden. Without further ado, here are some of the best sights to be seen.

Monarda bradburiana
Taking the world by storm, is this great native plant to the Ozarks.  Missouri Botanical Garden has promoted this plant extensively, followed closely by Roy Diblik.  I have had it in the garden here for several years, and only in the last part of November did I ever see any mildew.  The spotted flowers bloom earlier than other Monarda.  I have yet to see them reseed in the landscape, but I'm sure it's possible.  I just wouldn't worry about it taking over like Monarda fistulosa can.  These only stand 12" tall and spread a little further than that.

It also combines well with other plants. Panicum 'Northwind' is in the foreground, with Sporobolus heterolepis, or Prairie Dropseed, behind it.  The purple blooms to the back left are from Salvia 'Wesuwe'.  The combination of the Salvia and Monarda is stunning.  With all the new plantings from last fall, we have watered a lot more than normal this year.  The ground is really dry around here, and I assume it is around you as well if you are in this general vicinity.  In the front right of this picture is Allium atropurpureum which is very interesting as well. A few remain from the original planting, and they seem to move around.

If you are having a spring baby, and you aren't sure if it's a boy or girl, you can plant Amsonia x 'Blue Ice' with Scabiosa 'Pink Mist' and it will cover the baby pink and blue colors.  Scabiosa is new to the garden.  I honestly didn't expect it to come back as nice as it has.  This section used to have a large "blob" of Amsonia 'Blue Ice' and Piet didn't like it, so we broke it up with the Scabiosa and yet to bloom Gillenia trifoliata.  The older Gillenia are in bloom however, and are quite the interesting flower.

Zizia aurea, Tradescantia 'Concord Grape', and Salvia 'Pink Friesland'

This was one of my bigger fears when planting in the garden. I've tried so long to eradicate the Spiderwort from the landscape, but to no avail.  Then Piet came and saw how nice it looked with the Zizia, so we planted more of it.  The Salvia nearby was a nice addition to the combo.  The combination of the two natives though, is how this combo became so stellar.  Minimal maintenance is needed except for possibly pruning the Tradescantia back after blooming.

Coreopsis 'Golden Showers' and Salvia 'Rhapsody in Blue'

The combination of the fine textured foliage of the Coreopsis and the purple flowers of the 'Rhapsody in Blue' is quite effective.  The Salvia have reseeded around a little bit and we've seen many plants in pink and different shades of purple.  It's very interesting.  We've chosen 'Golden Showers' because it is a very reliable variety that I have yet to lose in the landscape.  'Moonbeam', 'Creme Brulee', and some others have not done so well.  But 'Zagreb' and 'Golden Showers' are the real deal. 
As the season progresses, I'll continue to highlight this garden from time to time.  It's to the point, where it looks different every week.  Something new comes into bloom, and something old goes away.  Every year a new seedling comes in and sparks our interest as well.  Thanks again for reading, and until next time, have a great day!

April Gems in the Garden

Hello again,
This week we have lots of new plants looking great. The cool temperatures of our normal spring are back and slowing down the process. Night time frosts have been scary at the nursery, but for the most part, we've been able to protect what's needed protection and our plants still look great. In the landscape, a couple things have declined due to the frost, but 99% of everything looks better than last year.
Thermopsis 'Sophia'
I had promised someone last week that I would talk about this plant, and then I got excited about all the others instead. Oops. This one deserves our attention though. In the same family as Baptisia, this looks great in our landscape. An evaluation group I'm a part of, called Perennials in Focus, has been buzzing about this plant in our yards. Everyone loves it. Some have it mixed in combination with Geum 'Mai Tai', and it looks very nice. 'Sophia' grows 20" tall and 30" wide in my garden. This picture was taken on the 6th of April and it still looks great.
Syringa vulgaris 'Prairie Petite'
I've had this plant in the landscape for a long time now. I always describe it as the landscape meatball for the meatball lovers. These have never been pruned, yet they keep a very compact pruned-like look. On one hand, the size and mildew resistance are fantastic for a common lilac. In 7 years in the landscape, I've never seen mildew on it actually. They are 40" tall and about as wide. My only problem with this plant is that the flowers barely reach above the foliage when in bloom. Is this a problem designers and architects? If you feel it's not a problem and you want us to grow it, let us know.
Sorbiria sorbifolia 'Sem'A returning member of the blog, one of my favorite shrubs is 'Sem'. This plant is 6 years old and 4 and 1/2' tall. The spread is about 6' wide with some suckering. What's not to like about the new growth on this plant though. White flowers will come later in the season, but the highlight is now when the new growth makes people sprain their necks double taking. In this instance, this plant is grown in full sun and very dry conditions. Last year was a wet one, and for the first time, I started to see suckering, encouraging me to recommend it for dry sites.
Kolkwitzia Dream Catcher™ I've begun to really like this plant over the years. Our plants are growing in the shade of a State Street™ Maple and have retained their color well. At this time, the plants reach about 4' tall and then create the illusion of Dr. Seuss's The Grinch's fingers as they extend to the woods. New growth displaying an orangish-red cast. For the shady area, it really gives a nice color to brighten up this spot.


Veronica whitleyi and Sedum sexangulare These two plants have learned to play very well together. While at first separate after planting, they now create an effect of spilled water over moss. The blue flowers of the Veronica are her for a month or so, and then the Sedum will follow with a display of bright yellow flowers. A nice groundcover combo.
Heuchera villosa 'Caramel'
Always a favorite of mine since I first laid eyes on it. The color throughout the season is great. This year, I think it may be the best I've ever seen. The These plants are 12" tall and nearly 2 feet wide. They are surrounded by Dodecatheon so they should be even more interesting to look at next week.

Nepeta 'Early Bird'
Mark this one as the earliest flowering Nepeta in our catalog. It blooms a couple weeks before 'Blue Wonder' in our gardens. Last year this was an addition to our Piet Oudolf designed garden, and so far I like the effect. We basically used this in areas near the walkways or the roads and they "spill" over the sides. At this point they haven't gotten quite big enough to spill, but they're almost there. Never having been a fan of Nepeta in general, I wasn't sure about this one. But it is starting to become more appealing. Every plant has its place, right? I think this one has found its spot.

Thanks once again for taking the time to read. It has been a nice and busy spring. Attitudes this year have been excellent, and that will lead us into better times. Until next time, I hope you have a great day!

Piet Oudolf - Second Phase

Hello again,
The second phase of the Piet Oudolf planting is finished. Gustavo and Fakundo have been working hard on this garden.

This week we again removed the Panicum 'Dallas Blues' from the garden. In its place, we will be planting Eupatorium 'Little Joe'. Also another area where Epimedium x rubrum was planted before, we will be incorporating Zizia aptera. Originally, we had tall Hamamelis vernalis in the garden. They were removed a couple years back, and now there is more sun than there used to be. So to give them some protection, the Zizia will provide some shade for those plants. At my request, we will keep the Epimedium there because in combination with the Muscari that bloom in spring, it is stunning.

Other weeds have been removed this week, such as milk thistle. This has been a little bit of a problem this year. They were about to bloom, so I had to take the guys from a different area of the gardens to remove them before they set seed. We don't want to have a perennial issue with this. Plants that we are waiting on for this section of the garden include Monarda bradburiana, Gillenia trifoliata, and Geranium soboliferum.




Thanks again for reading, and hopefully next week, we will have more excitement in the garden. Until next time, have a great day!