My Long Pergola in Spring
My long and winding pergola is putting on such a colorful display - all the spring flowers are just spectacular this time of year.
Soon after I bought my Bedford, New York farm, I built this long pergola along the carriage road leading up to my home, specifically for clematis. Over the years, I've added lots of bulbs and perennials that bloom at different times through the season. Right now, a gorgeous palette of purple, blue and lavender covers the area.
Here are some photos - enjoy.
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- I took this photo in the early morning around 6am just before leaving for work in New York City. Early morning is one of the best times to take pictures in the garden, when the sun is low in the sky.
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- My long clematis pergola runs alongside the carriage road to my Winter House – from the flower cutting garden all the way to the back of my carport.
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- Right now, it is filled with lots of blue and purple flowers, but in a few weeks, this border will also be filled with lovely shades of orange. The uprights for this pergola are antique granite posts from China – originally used as grape supports in a valley that was going to be dammed and flooded to create a reservoir.
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- If you recall, this is what the pergola looked like last November, when we planted thousands of spring-blooming bulbs. In addition to the clematis, the outside borders are planted with alliums, lilies, camassia and fritillaria.
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- All the bulbs were carefully placed along the pergola beds just behind the row of young boxwood that was also planted last fall.
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- The bulbs were fed and the beds were mulched. There is always so much anticipation for spring after planting all kinds of bulbs.
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- And then in early May, the Fritillaria ‘Red Crown Imperial’ started popping up all through the pergola garden.
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- Also known as crown imperealis, Fritillaria imperialis produces whorls of large bell-shaped orange, red or yellow flowers, set beneath a crown of leafy bracts on stems up to four-feet tall.
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- Here is the garden in mid-May – filled with Camassia. Camassia is a genus of plants in the asparagus family native to Canada and the United States. Common names include camas, quamash, Indian hyacinth, and wild hyacinth. It is best grown in moist, fertile soil and full sun.
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- Camassia leichtlinii caerulea forms clusters of linear strappy foliage around upright racemes studded with dozens of six-petaled, two-inch, star-shaped pale to deep lavender-blue flowers.
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- Camassia is incredibly valuable since it naturalizes well when left undisturbed in a good spot.
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- Here is Camassia in a darker shade of blue – so pretty.
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- This palette of colors is a big favorite at the farm – it grows more colorful and vibrant every year.
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- Alliums are often overlooked as one of the best bulbs for constant color throughout the seasons. They come in oval, spherical, or globular flower shapes, blooming in magnificent colors atop tall stems.
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- Alliums require full sunlight, and rich, well-draining and neutral pH soil. These alliums are from Van Engelen. This is Allium ‘Ambassador’ – among the tallest and longest blooming. It is intensely purple with tightly compacted globes that may bloom for up to five weeks. http://www.vanengelen.com/flower-bulbs-index/allium.html
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- This is Allium aflatunense ‘Purple Sensation’, with four to five inch wide violet-purple globes. Alliums are rabbit-resistant, rodent-resistant and deer-resistant, but adored by bees, butterflies and pollinators. They look so beautiful dotting this border.
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- Spanish Bluebells, Hyacinthoides, are unfussy members of the lily family, and native to Spain and Portugal. They are pretty, inexpensive, and good for cutting – they add such a nice touch of blue.
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- Symphytum is a genus of flowering plants in the Boraginaceae family. You may know it by its common name, comfrey. It is a dynamic accumulator in the garden – drawing minerals out of the soil and into the roots and leaves. It is also a wonderful compost accelerator and weed suppressant.
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- Comfrey has large, hairy broad leaves that bear small bell-shaped flowers of various colors.
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- At the end of each pergola section is a pair of wisteria standards – so colorful and fragrant.
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- The flowers drape down from soft green heads of foliage. When blooming, the compact head of a wisteria looks so sensational in this border.
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- Wisterias flower best and grow most vigorously where they receive ample sunshine – at least six-hours a day. They thrive in any type of soil, as long as it is well drained.
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- It is valued for its beautiful clusters of flowers that come in purple, pink and white.
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- I am so proud of this garden. I can’t wait to show you how it looks with all the beautiful clematis blooms, and then later this summer with its swath of gorgeous tiger lilies. What flowers are blooming in your garden? Share your comments in the section below.
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