Archive for the ‘Late’ Category

Echinops ritro – BLUE GLOBE THISTLE

Posted in Blue, Full Sun, Late, Mid Height, Perennial, Plant Portraits, Summer, Tall, Xeriscape, tagged , on November 16, 2014|

Perennial. Zone 2. Asteraceae, formerly Compositae. East-Central Europe, Asia.  The genus name is from the Greek echinos = “hedgehog-like” (in some references “sea-urchin-like”) – in reference to the spiky structure of the bloom; ritro = “of gardens”.

This is often the first Globe Thistle every gardener starts out with – my original plant is alive and well and giving great pleasure more than twenty years after I received a hefty division of it, overflowing its disintegrating cardboard box, from a fellow-gardener friend. I’d admired her gorgeous dried flower bouquets containing the perfectly round, frosted blue Globe Thistles at an early autumn farmers’ market, and she remembered my interest the following spring.

Though the common name “thistle” might cause the neophyte Echinops grower some initial concern, the prickles on this plant are soft and benign. The lush, dark green, raggedly-cut foliage is tipped with flexible points, but they do not detach, and the plant can be handled easily with bare hands.

Echinops ritro is a clump former, with a height of 2 to 4 feet or so, depending on soil fertility and moisture, and a spread of about half its height.

Sturdy stems covered by fine white hairs produce perfectly globular buds in mid-summer, and these enlarge and expand and take on an increasingly intense blue tint, until the tiny electric-blue flowers pop open one by one and immediately attract bees, butterflies, and a host of other nectar and pollen seeking visitors. Bloom time of the large golf ball-sized and -shaped flower clusters is extended, easily 6 to 8 weeks or more, and the aging flower heads stay attractive well into fall, when they will be visited by chickadees and other small birds which relish the seeds.

Echinops ritro aging seedhead - still blue, ans still showing its perfectly globular structure - Hill Farm - early October, 2013. Foliage in background is of Plume Poppy, Macleaya cordata. Image: HFN

Echinops ritro – aging seed head – still blue, and still showing its perfectly globular structure – Hill Farm – early October, 2013. Foliage in background is of Plume Poppy, Macleaya cordata. Image: HFN

Echinops ritro is hardy and drought tolerant, but produces the best show in good garden soil with summer moisture. It spreads modestly at the roots, expanding its clump year by year, and it will also self sow in a mild way. Plants are tap rooted, but mature clumps may be divided with care in early spring.

Full sun to light shade is acceptable to this plant. It combines beautifully with the other blue garden thistle, Eryngium planum (Blue Sea Holly), as well as fall-blooming sedums such as Hylotephium x ‘Autumn Joy’, any of the Rudbeckias, and all sorts of ornamental grasses.

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Aconitum carmichaelii ‘arendsii’ – AUTUMN MONKSHOOD

Posted in Blue, Late, Perennial, Plant Portraits, Tall, tagged , , , , , on November 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

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Aconitum carmichaelii ‘arendsii’ – Hill Farm – October, 2012. Image: HFN

Perennial. Zone 3. Ranunculaceae.

This is a very late bloomer; the photo here was taken in October of 2012. Many years the buds are frozen before it can bloom, so I’m not going to recommend it for Cariboo gardeners, unless you’re willing to put up with several years of disappointment to each lucky combination of circumstances which will give you bloom. But when it does bloom, it’s a lovely, unexpected thing!

Aconitum carmichaelii 'arendsii' - Hill Farm, October 2014. Image: HFN

Aconitum carmichaelii ‘arendsii’ bud cluster showing petal veining – Hill Farm, November 2014. Image: HFN

This is a tall Monkshood, with sturdy stems which can reach 6 feet. Buds are produced in August and take their time maturing and opening, but when and if they do they are classic monkshood cowls; smoky, dusky blue with green veining and sooty black stamens. The flower spikes are densely crowded, occasionally branched.

Very handsome, dark green, deeply cut foliage in healthy, ever-increasing clumps.

Site at the back of the border, with extra moisture during the dry times, and light shade if possible. Then cross your fingers!

This is another one you won’t often find for sale; we won’t be offering it this year either, but may one day in the future. Our own cherished clump is coming along nicely, but we are hesitant to disturb it until it gets a little larger and we can steal some pieces off the edges instead of digging the whole thing up.

Note: All monkshoods are poisonous, in all of their parts. Handle with care.

Aconitum carmichaelii 'arendsii' - Van Duen Garden, Vancouver, B.C. - October 2014. Image: HFN

Aconitum carmichaelii ‘arendsii’ – Van Dusen Garden, Vancouver, B.C. – October 2014. Image: HFN

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Physostegia virginiana ‘variegata’ – VARIEGATED OBEDIENT PLANT

Posted in Full Sun, Late, Mid Height, Perennial, Plant Portraits, Purple, tagged , , , , , on October 13, 2014|

physostegia variegate fall 2011

Variegated Obedient Plant – Physostegia virginiana ‘variegata’ – Hill Farm, late September 2011. Image: HFN

Perennial. Zone 3. Lamiaceae.  The species is native to eastern North America. This cultivar is a stabilized sport and is found only in gardens.

Clump former to 3 or 4 feet tall. Spreads slowly by creeping rootstalks. Sun to light shade; any soil fine; appreciates summer moisture in hot regions.

The genus name comes from the Greek: physa = bladder and stege = covering, referring to the inflated calyx at the base of each floret.  The common name comes from the hinged sockets which attach each floret to the main cluster; these can be gently twisted and turned, with the new configuration remaining for a few moments until the bloom slowly returns to its original position.

This handsome plant is one of my favourite fall bloomers. It starts to send out intricate bud spikes in August; these slowly extend and enlarge until mid-September when the first bright purple, cheerfully freckled, snapdragon-like flowers start to open. It is in peak bloom by Canadian Thanksgiving, lighting up the garden in stunning contrast to the yellowing foliage of the perennials around it.

physostegia variegate sept 2011

Variegated Obedient Plant reaches full glory as its garden neighbours start to fade, setting off their yellowing foliage to perfection. Here at Hill Farm it shares a bed with tall Joe-Pye Weed, Eupatorium purpureum, another eastern wildflower, taking over the show as its neighbour goes to seed. Image: HFN

Very cold tolerant, and lasts until the hardest frosts which finally blacken it in November.

In its native habitat Obedient Plant is found in meadows, open woodlands, and along stream banks. It is very adaptable, though it prefers not to be too dry in summer. The variegated cultivar is restrained in its spread, though it will expand to a sizable clump over the years. Keep an eye on more delicate neighbours. My treasured clump is due for division soon, as it is finally encroaching on its companion, an equally treasured clump of early spring blooming Liverleaf, Hepatica nobilis, after growing side by side with no conflict for the past 5 years.

Reaching a respectable 4 feet tall where happy, this plant tends to flop under the weight of its bloom spikes, so an unobtrusive staking mid-summer is a good idea. Years when I forget to do this I am punished for my neglect by the snapping off of full-flowered bloom stalks at their bases. Luckily it makes an excellent cutflower so all is not lost; however its value in the garden exceeds any bouquet so this is a situation one should strive to prevent.

As with many variegated plants, it is not as vigorous as its plainer relatives, so will take a few years to reach its full potential. The plus side of this is that it is very maintenance free, despite the staking recommendation and the occasional need for curbing/division in full maturity. Physostegia virginiana in all of its varieties is long-lived, and completely pest and disease free.

A grand plant, not terribly common in Cariboo-Chilcotin gardens, but very suitable for our conditions.

physostegia variegata close up 2 sept oct 2011

Just coming into bloom, September 2, 2011. Image: HFN

physostegia foliage detail variegata august 2011

The variegation extends to every part of the plant, including the intricately symmetrical bud spikes which start to form in August. Image: HFN

physostegia variegate close up 2 oct 2012

Another detail of the fascinating blooms and white foliar variegation. Hill Farm, October 2, 2012. Image: HFN

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Vernonia noveboracensis – NEW YORK IRONWEED

Posted in Full Sun, Late, Perennial, Plant Guide 2013, Purple, Tall, tagged , , , , , on March 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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Vernonia noveboracensis – Ironweed – University of British Columbia Botanical Garden, Vancouver, B.C. – September 2008. Image: HFN

Perennial. Zone 3.  Asteraceae. Eastern North America.

In the months of lavender, late summer

and early fall…

…in the ageing fields

ironweed opens bright fur to nectar moths…

Purple Asters ~ Robert Morgan ~ 1981

My first glimpse of Ironweed at the UBC Botanical Garden in Vancouver left me completely smitten. I’d certainly heard about it before, often recommended as a back-of-border fall-bloomer, but the reality of the eye-popping neon purple and the intricacy of the flower clusters was hugely more appealing than any of the rather washy photos I’d seen.

Vernonia is a huge genus estimated at over 1000 species worldwide. A number of the tropical species are important food plants, producing edible foliage. I have not yet heard of a similar use for any of the more temperate varieties, though a study of ethnobotany would doubtless find culinary and medicinal uses on this continent as well.

Of the 17 Vernonia species documented in North America, noveboracensis is probably the best-known. It is named after the English botanist William Vernon who first collected specimens of the plant in Maryland in 1698. The specific name, noveboracensis, refers to its wide occurrence in the state of New York, and indeed through a large range on the eastern seaboard from Massachusetts to Mississippi. It does not appear to be native to Canada, though it is now widely available from specialist nurseries in this country.

Ironweed’s common name most likely comes from the rusty-red colour of the seedheads. As the vivid purple petals eventually wither and turn brown, clinging to their calyxes, small puffs of rather dandelion-like seed clusters emerge. These are eagerly consumed by chickadees and other small seed eaters, who love to perch on the sturdy ironweed clumps to forage for food and to survey their surroundings from a safe height.

The stems of ironweed are also iron-strong, as one of the UBC gardeners joked to me. This is not a flower to be casually snapped off – pruning shears are definitely in order when harvesting blooms for bouquets. And you will definitely want to do that. The vivid purple tassels contrast perfectly with other fall bloomers; the paler mauve Joe-Pye Weed, any of the Rudbeckia, Echinacea and taller Sedums, late-blooming Phlox paniculata, plume poppy, the Michaelmas daisies and the last of the annual sunflowers all combine to make a sweetly fragrant and long-lasting autumn arrangement.

Ironweed is definitely a wildflower; unkind souls might even dismiss it as rather weedy. Undeniable – I certainly would not place it in a front-row position. At the border back it provides a nice foliage presence to frame more “domesticated” earlier flowers, and, once these are over, a welcome burst of colour to usher in autumn.

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A closer look at the bloom clusters. Note the unique “checkering” of the buds. Image: HFN

                         October inherits summer’s hand-me-downs: the last of the ironweed, its purple silken tatters turning brown, and the tiny starry white asters tumbling untidily on the ground like children rolling with laughter…

Rural Free ~ Rachel Peden ~ 1961 

This is a rambly sort of Plant Portrait; I really do like this plant. Perhaps I should concentrate on its garden attributes. Read on! (If you so wish.)

Brilliant purple, sweetly fragrant tassel-flowers emerge from clusters of elongated, geometrically-checkered buds mid-August through September.

Foliage is undeniably rather coarse. Heavy, pointed and lightly serrated 6 to 8 inch long, lanceolate leaves are dark green with paler undersides. THese are arranged alternately along the sturdy stems.

This ironweed is a sturdy clump-former, 4 to 6 feet tall, with a 2 to 4 foot spread. It grows largest on moist soils. It does not run from roots. It may self seed, but is not invasive in my experience.  For shorter, bushier plants, cut back when 24″ tall; new growth will quickly re-sprout and produce double the flowers in late summer on more compact plants.

Handsome in its own rough way, Ironweed is best sited as a back-of-border or wild garden plant. It comes into its own in late summer and fall when the main perennials bloom seasons is over.

Rather similar in effect and garden use to Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium) but colour is much more vibrant, being a “neon” shade of bright purple. Blooms fade to red-rusty brown, which is likely the reason for the common name.

A grand bee and butterfly flower, and an important nectar source in late summer. It is visited by migrating hummingbirds as they travel southward. The seed heads may be left on plant to provide seed for wild birds (though this may result in self-sown seedlings next year), or clipped off. Sturdy stems stand up to heavy snowfall; a favourite perch for small seed-eating birds if the seed heads remain.

Oh, and it’s deer resistant.

Widely adaptable to most situations. Likes moisture but tolerant of dryness. Prefers soil on the acidic side, but happily tolerates alkalinity.

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