What's Flowering at Skylands
I hope you all had a lovely Independence Day weekend. Here in the Northeast, we had excellent weather at my Bedford, New York farm and up at Skylands, my home in Maine, where there are many flowers now in bloom.
I love Maine - for me, it is a magical place and I always wish I could spend more time there. In May, I go up to carry out my annual task of planting the large ornamental urns and planters that adorn the exterior of my home. And later during the summer I go up there again to spend a few weeks with family and friends. Unfortunately, I don't always get to see all the beautiful flowers that blossom at Skylands, but Cheryl DuLong, who helps me care for Skylands, and Wendy Norling, one of my gardeners, keep me updated by sending photographs from time to time.
Here's a look at what's been blooming over the last couple of weeks, enjoy.
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- The garden in the center of my circular driveway at Skylands is so lush this time of year. It is planted with hay-scented ferns, purple smoke bushes, and spruce trees, Picea orientalis ‘Skylands’. When I found this variety, I just had to get many to plant up here at MY Skylands.
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- This columbine plant, Aquilegia, is blooming on the edge of the Council Circle where friends and family love to gather. Columbine is an easy-to-grow perennial that offers seasonal interest throughout the year. Columbines aren’t particular about soil as long it’s well-draining and not too dry. It blooms in a variety of colors and forms, which emerge from its attractive dark green foliage. The bell-shaped flowers are also a favorite to hummingbirds and may be used in cut-flower arrangements as well.
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- Here’s another columbine in dark purple and white.
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- The woodland up near my lost pools is filled with beautiful moss. Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants that typically form dense green clumps or mats, often in damp or shady locations. Moss is a slow growing wild plant that should never be harvested in large amounts – in fact, it is illegal to take any moss from national forests without permission. Whenever we use moss, we are always very conscious to return it to the forest once the season is over, so it can regenerate and flourish.
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- Calendula has daisy-like bright orange or yellow flowers and pale green leaves. Commonly called the pot marigold, Calendula officinalis, the calendula flower is historically used for medicinal and culinary purposes. Like most herbs, calendulas are adaptable and do not require a lot of maintenance. They can be grown in containers or in the garden bed with full sun to shade conditions.
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- Both my herbaceous peonies and my tree peonies are finished blooming at Bedford, but they’re looking wonderful at Skylands. The peony is any plant in the genus Paeonia, the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae.
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- Here is a gorgeous large white peony flower. Herbaceous peony blooms range from simple blossoms to complex clusters.
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- Wendy captured this image of the Nicotiana – a genus of herbaceous plants and shrubs of the family Solanaceae that is indigenous to the Americas, Australia, southwest Africa and the South Pacific.
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- Iris flowers bloom in shades of purple, blue, white and yellow and include many hybridized versions that are multi-colored.
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- Also looking very vibrant right now is our Astilbes. Astilbes are wonderful shade perennials, known for their dark green foliage and plume-like blossoms.
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- These lupine flowers are attractive and spiky, reaching one to four feet in height. Lupine flowers may be annual and last only for a season or perennial, returning for a few years in the same spot in which they were planted. The lupine plant grows from a long taproot and loves full sun. The flowers are produced in dense or open whorls on an erect spike, each flower about one to two centimeters long. The pea-like flowers have an upper standard, or banner, two lateral wings, and two lower petals fused into a keel.
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- Alliums are also growing at Skylands. Allium species are herbaceous perennials with flowers produced on scapes. They grow from solitary or clustered bulbs and come in a broad palette of colors, heights, bloom times and flower forms. They will grow in most any soil, as long as it is well-drained. And they love sunlight and will perform best when planted in full sun.
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- These little ferns are growing out of the side of the cliff walk. They’re called common rockcap ferns – a native evergreen fern found in moist rocky areas.
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- Heliotrope is a plant of the borage family, cultivated for its fragrant purple or blue flowers, which are used in perfume.
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- This is Mountain Laurel. This shade-tolerant North American shrub has beautiful flowers that bloom in late spring and early summer. A close relative of rhododendrons and azaleas, it’s a great option for shady gardens. It’s also evergreen, so after the blooms have faded, its leathery deep green foliage continues to add beauty to any space.
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- On my large terrace, Cheryl took this photo of one of the agaves we planted just a few weeks ago. Agaves are exotic, deer-resistant, drought-tolerant, and make wonderful container plants. It’s not easy dealing with giant, prickly agave plants. One must be very careful of one’s eyes, face, and skin whenever planting them.
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- Clematis is a genus of about 300 species in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. The name Clematis comes from the Greek word “klematis,” meaning vine. Clematis, pronounced KLEH-muh-tis, are native to China and Japan and known to be vigorous growers.
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- The hellebores are still going strong in Maine. I’ve had hellebores in my gardens for many years. Hellebores are members of the Eurasian genus Helleborus – about 20 species of evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. They blossom during late winter and through spring for up to three months. Hellebores are widely grown for decorative purposes because they are easy-to-grow and are able to resist frost. It is common to plant them on slopes or in raised beds in order to see their flowers, which tend to nod.
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- These are the flowers of the golden chain tree at the little chapel at Skylands. Laburnum, sometimes called golden rain or golden chain, is a genus of two species of small trees in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. It has golden-yellow flowers that grow 10 to 20 inches in length. but beware – all parts of the tree contain cytisine and are highly toxic to humans and pets.
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- And here’s a view that never gets tiring. Taken through the woods, this view looks at Seal Harbor and Sutton’s Island in the distance. I can’t wait to return to Skylands for my next visit. Thanks for the photos, Wendy and Cheryl!
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