This time of year there's always something to admire in the gardens - right now, the striking, bold green foliage of my hostas.
In 2020, I planted hundreds of hosta plants down behind my chicken coops under the dappled shade of my stately dawn redwoods, Metasequoia. I first got the plants as bare-root cuttings and nurtured them until they were big enough to transplant. There were more than 700 hostas in a variety of cultivars including 'Wide Brim,' 'Francee,' 'Regal Splendor,' 'Elegans,' and 'Blue Angel.' Over the years, I expanded the beds and added more plants. Now, the entire area looks better than ever.
Enjoy these photos.
Right now, so many of the gardens are just brimming with color and energy. I tour my gardens on a daily basis. I check how much the plants have grown, how healthy they are, and whether they need more food or water. The diligence definitely pays off – just look.
These hostas are planted in a grove of Metasequoias. Hostas thrive best in partial shade and this area is perfect.
Dawn redwood trunks are eye-catching with reddish-brown, vertical, shredding bark.
It has feathery, fine-textured needles that are opposite each other and are approximately a half-inch long. Don’t confuse them with the bald cypress needles, which grow alternately. These dawn redwood needles will turn shades of red and brown before falling – it is one of the few deciduous conifers.
I also planted viburnums here. This large group of plants consists of more than 150 species. Viburnums include deciduous and evergreen specimens as well as small trees, mostly native to North America or to Asia. The leaves of viburnum range from glossy green to a dull, dark green to foliage that is thick and leathery.
But the main focus – these large leaf hostas. They look spectacular.
Before they fully open, they unfurl like this one.
Just a few weeks ago, the garden beds looked like this, with hundreds of young hostas emerging through the soil and a fresh layer of mulch.
Now they’re all showing off their large beautiful leaves. The hostas were strategically positioned and spaced, paying attention to variety, color, and growth habit.
Hosta leaves rise up from a central rhizomatous crown to form a rounded to spreading mound.
On average, hostas mature to about two feet tall, but depending on variety, they can also range from six inches to four feet in height.
Most varieties tend to have a spread between one and three feet.
Hosta is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies, and occasionally by the Japanese name, giboshi.
They are native to northeast Asia and include hundreds of different cultivars.
Hosta leaf textures can be smooth, veined or puckered. Their surfaces may be matt, shiny, or waxy but are usually satiny.
Unlike many perennials, which must be lifted and divided every few years, hostas are happy to grow in place without much interference. In summer, blooms on long stalks extend up above the clumping hosta foliage.
A new variety I planted this year is Hosta ‘Red Dragon’ characterized by its shiny, bright green leaves held upright on strong red petioles. The plant features purple flowers that bloom in late summer, adding vibrant color to the garden.
Interspersed among the hostas is Hyacinthoides hispanica, commonly called Spanish bluebell or wood hyacinth – a bulbous perennial native to Spain, Portugal and northwest Africa. Each bulb produces a clump of two to six strap-shaped leaves from which a rigid flower stem grows, typically containing up to 12 to 15 hanging, bell-shaped, bluish-lavender flowers that rise from the center.
These Spanish bluebell plants dot the garden with soft color amidst shades of green.
It’s hard to miss these beautiful flowers. Dicentra is an elegant, easy-to-care-for perennial for shady gardens. More commonly known as bleeding heart, it is named for its heart-shaped blossoms that dangle from slender, arching stems. Dicentra is a great companion for other shade loving perennials such as hostas. Here it is in pink.
If you have a shady area, experiment with shade-loving plants. Hostas, with their palette of different colors, textures, and sizes have tremendous landscape value and offer great interest to any garden. You’ll enjoy them.
This past Sunday, a group of colleagues and friends accompanied me to the event in the picturesque town of Lakeville, Connecticut. The philanthropic sale draws growers, dealers, and artisans together to sell unusual plants, garden antiques, and other unique outdoor objects. Trade Secrets was developed by interior designer Bunny Williams in the year 2000 when she conducted the very first sale to downsize her collection of plants in her greenhouse. It was a success from the very beginning and is now the principal fundraiser for Project SAGE, a non-profit domestic violence agency serving Northwest Connecticut and the surrounding communities in New York and Massachusetts.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I always like to get to Trade Secrets bright and early. I leave my farm promptly at 5:45am and always pull in to the parking lot shortly after 7am. Vendors and event coordinators already have everything in place.
Trade Secrets is held at Lime Rock Park, a natural-terrain motorsport road racing venue located in Lakeville, Connecticut, a hamlet in the town of Salisbury. The views on this day were gorgeous.
50-vendors from around the northeast region set-up under tents on the Lime Rock grounds. It is all very well-organized with lots of room for vendors and all the visitors.
Trade Secrets is a wonderful place to learn about interesting and unique plants. Vendors are extremely well-informed and willing to answer questions or offer tips.
Peony’s Envy of Bernardsville, New Jersey sets up their tent every year at Trade Secrets – most if not all their peonies always get sold.
Some vendors specialize in outdoor garden ornaments and planters.
There were items big and small. Do you know what these are? These are flower frogs. They are used to hold flower stems in place within a vase or container.
This table was full of charming potted plants and topiaries.
My longtime driver Andres also enjoyed perusing the different booths.
These are 1930s Francois Carre Frensh Art Deco garden chairs. They are actually very comfortable.
Oblong Books of Rhinebeck, New York and Millerton, New York had my two latest books for sale – my Gardening Handbook and The Martha Way: Essential Principles for Mastering Home and Living. I hope you have your copies!
Here I am with antiques dealer, Judy Milne. Judy has a shop called At Home Antiques and Design in Kingston, New York. She carries folk art, furniture, decorative accessories and garden antiques.
One can always find interesting planting containers of all sizes and shapes at Trade Secrets.
There were even chicken coop nesting and laying boxes.
I was eyeing these planters on the ground. What do you think?
Training stems blends plant care with creative shaping to achieve this decorative and artistic look.
Allium schoenoprasum, also known as chives, the small bulbous perennial herbs with that mild onion flavor topped with showy purple flowers.
Trade Secrets has so many beautiful plant specimens from which to choose. This is called Krylova’s Monkshood, Aconitum kryloovii.
This is Cyripedium ‘Sabine Alba’ – a rare and beautiful orchid hybrid with very large egg-sized white to cream pouches.
I have many of these plants in my shade gardens. This is Syneilesis aconitifolia, the Shredded Umbrella Plant.
And I know you recognize the hosta. My hosta garden is coming in so beautifully this season – I’ll share photos soon.
I always find something to bring home from Trade Secrets. All the plants are always unloaded right away and given a good drink of water.
And yes, I brought these planters home also! It was another successful Trade Secrets event. Will I see you there next year?
Time to bring all my beautiful potted plants outdoors for the season.
I have a rather sizable collection of tropical specimens at my farm. During the winter, they are all stored in special greenhouses. Once the warm weather arrives, they are all brought out for display - some go to my home in Maine, and the remainder of the plants are placed in various locations here at Cantitoe Corners. It's a big undertaking to move all these plants when the weather changes. Thankfully, I have the help of a strong outdoor grounds crew and some heavy-duty farm equipment to get the job done.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Every year around this time, the tropical plants are taken out of storage, cleaned up, and repotted if needed, and then moved to their warm-weather locations. This year, my citrus collection is displayed outside the hoop houses on a bed of gravel. Citrus plants are considered high-light specimens and need intense, full-spectrum light, ideally 12–16 hours per day.
Each potted plant is transported one by one and carefully placed outside until I decide where it will be moved for the summer months.
This is one of my favorites – the sago palm, Cycas revoluta. It is a popular houseplant known for its feathery foliage and ease of care. Sago palms prefer to be situated in well-drained soil, and like other cycad plants, do not respond well to overwatering.
Below the foliage of the sago palm is the bare section of trunk where leaves were once cut. The rough trunk becomes leafless as it ages.
Here is a closer look at one of the fronds. The tips are quite pointy and sharp, so it’s best to keep it away from lots of foot traffic.
I have a very large collection of sago palms. As the plants are removed from the hoop house, they’re all grouped by type, but never touching.
Sago palms can grow up to 10 feet tall and can spread up to 12 feet wide, depending on species, growing conditions, and whether they are planted in the ground or in containers. This one is maturing so perfectly.
This is a Bismarkia palm, Bismarckia nobilis, which grows from a solitary trunk, gray to tan in color, and slightly bulging at the base.
I chose this spot for two potted Bismarckias, where they will thrive under full sun. For optimal growth and flowering, Bismarckias need full to partial sunlight, with at least six to eight hours of direct sun daily outdoors.
Here are potted bird’s nest ferns. Bird’s-nest fern is a common name for several related species of epiphytic ferns in the genus Asplenium.
The bird’s nest fern is known for its tropical fronds that grow out of a rosette in the middle of the plant which closely resembles a bird’s nest. It is also occasionally called a crow’s nest fern.
Here is a green colocasia. In contrast to Alocasia, the leaf tip of colocasia points downwards.
This is Oxalis triangularis, commonly called false shamrock. It is a species of perennial plant in the family Oxalidaceae. The trifoliate leaves resemble a shamrock and can be green to variegated to deep maroon in color. The leaves close up at night or when disturbed.
Another plant in my tropical collection is Bird of Paradise, Strelitzia nicolai – a species of evergreen tropical herbaceous plant with gray-green leaves that grow up to 18-inches long out of a main crown in a clump. The leaves are paddle shaped, similar to banana plant leaves, and attached to a long, upright stalk.
The foliage of philodendrons is usually green but may be coppery, red, or purplish with parallel leaf veins that are green or sometimes red or white.
Shape, size, and texture of the leaves vary considerably, depending on species and maturity of the plant. I have many philodendrons that are growing so well here at my farm.
This day was very warm, 90 degrees Fahrenheit, so Ryan gave everything a thorough drink.
Down in my stable complex courtyard, Pasang positions bricks for this large potted sago.
Four of these in like pots will sit here for the season. They look so inviting and beautiful seen in front of my stable from my Boxwood Allée.
Here is another one – moving slowly and carefully to its designated spot. Notice, my crew uses strong straps to keep the pot in place, and moving blankets to cushion it during transport.
It is so nice to see my potted tropical plants again after the long cold winter. There are so many more to take outdoors. I am so fortunate to be able to store all these plants when needed, and then enjoy them all around my farm from now until the fall.
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