It's always a joy to see beautiful potted plants displayed around the farm during the warm season.
Every year, I take out many of my outdoor ornamental urns and fill them with plants. They do so well outside in the summer months and look great arranged around my home. This week, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, planted the troughs in front of my carport with various hens and chicks - those charming mat-forming succulents with fleshy pointed leaves arranged in rosettes. These plants are among the first I see when I walk out of the house and some of the last I see when I return.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Hens and chicks are members of the Sempervivum group of succulent plants. They are also known as houseleeks. Hens and chicks are so called because of the rosette shape and habit of the plant to produce numerous babies.
Before planting, Phurba and Ryan carefully remove the existing plants from the troughs. These similar succulents have been in these planters for some time and were due to be changed.
Most of these plants are varieties of Echeveria and Sansevieria. They are loaded into the back of our Polaris vehicle and will be taken to my main greenhouse for repotting.
The trough is filled with a good quality potting soil. Using a proper soil mix will help to promote faster root growth and give quick anchorage to young roots. Fertilizer is also added to the soil.
Osmocote prills contain a core of nutrients including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. As the plant’s root system takes-up nutrition from the soil, it also takes up the needed nutrients from the Osmocote.
Ryan sorts the hens and chicks by variety, so they can be planted in like groupings.
This is Semervivum ‘Twilight Blues.’ This variety features silvery, olive-green leaves shaded in pale lavender and purple tips. Hens and chicks need lots of outdoor sunlight to show their best colors and maintain their rosette forms.
This is called Sempervivum ‘Grammens’ – a pretty pink to orange shade with dark plum tips. ‘Grammens’ is a giant rosette which turns a deep purple in winter.
Sempervivum ‘Larissa’ has smooth, waxy leaves of light green rosettes that open to a light coral color. Here, one can see the parent rosette, or the “hen” and the smaller baby rosettes which are the “chicks.”
And this is Sempervivum ‘Mount Usher’ – a cultivar that shifts between silver-green, pink, and purple through the seasons. Hens and chicks belong to the flowering plant family Crassulaceae, native to southern Europe and northern Africa. They are low-growing perennials that stay close to the ground to self-propagate.
Ryan carefully removes the plant from its pot and places it into the planter soil at the same depth it was in its original container.
All the plants are spaced evenly in the trough. This planter is long enough to accommodate five plants each.
These drought-tolerant plants need very little water once they’re mature and can go weeks without watering. Once established, water them only when the surrounding soil dries out.
Once planted, Ryan lightly tamps on the surrounding soil to establish good contact.
Small wooden shims are used to lift all the planters off the ledge. This is very important for good drainage. All the pots around the farm are always raised. We save any usable pieces of wood from year to year for this purpose.
Next, Ryan uses this battery powered handheld blower from STIHL to clean the ledge of any dirt and soil. This blower is less noisy and perfect for around my Winter House.
The troughs are now filled with these charming hens and chicks succulents. They will stay here through the gardening season.
Once a hen plant produces a chick, that chick will begin producing its own babies after only one season.
Do you remember this planter of hens and chicks? I planted it several weeks ago on the Today Show. The plants filled out nicely in this container.
My trough planters sit on the stone ledge in front of my beautiful white garden. These plants will thrive here all season long where they will get ample sun and light shade. Everything is looking so lush and green this spring.
It's a bit cooler here this week at my Bedford, New York farm - temperatures overnight dipped into the high 30s - but we're still carrying on with our spring gardening tasks.
My gardeners have been busy potting up some of our outdoor containers. I have a rather sizable collection of tropical specimens. During the winter, they are stored in special greenhouses. Once the warm weather arrives, they are all brought out for display around the farm. Ryan and Brian just potted up six sago palms, or cycads, which were cut as pups from a mother sago some time ago. They are displayed in six beautiful new pots I purchased from Michael's Garden Gate in nearby Mt. Kisco.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I have many, many cycads. The sago palm, Cycas revoluta, is a popular houseplant known for its feathery foliage and ease of care. Native to the southern islands of Japan, the sago palm goes by several common names, including Japanese palm, funeral palm, king sago or just plain sago palm.
In warmer weather, I display these and other tropical plants around the farm. This photo taken a couple years back shows large sago palms in my Winter House courtyard.
I also like to cut the pups, or the “babies,” from larger sago palms and nurture them. This photo shows a group of young sago palms which were cut right here at the farm several years ago.
Recently, I bought six large containers to use around the property. This week, I asked my gardeners to pot them all up with sago palms.
The first step is to line the inside of the vessel with some industrial weed cloth.
The cloth is placed into the vessel to protect its interior. This also makes it a lot easier come fall when the plants are removed from these pots and returned to their designated greenhouse where they live during the colder months.
Then we fill about a third of the pot with compost. This nutrient-rich compost is made right here at the farm.
Here is Brian pouring some of the compost to the bottom of the pot, weighing the cloth down in place.
This will provide level ground for the plant and keep it at its proper height inside the pot. It will also allow for good drainage.
This is actually one of those smaller sago palm pups now. Although sago palms are slow growing, this has grown quite a bit in the last five to six years.
Also to save some effort later, Ryan and Brian insert the potted plant into the larger container. The black plastic pot is also the perfect size for this sago palm. These plants prefer to be slightly root-bound, so it’s best to choose a somewhat snug pot for growing them.
And of course don’t forget the food. We use Organic Palm-Tone which is long lasting and provides slow-release feeding with special microbes.
Here, Brian and Ryan fill the rest of the pot with soil to cover.
Ryan cuts the excess weed cloth hanging over the side of the container and then tucks the ends into the soil.
He also tamps down on the soil to ensure good contact with the plant. And he looks to see that the plant is straight from all sides and makes adjustments where needed.
Notice the sago palm’s trunk. It is a rough, symmetrical trunk which becomes leafless as it ages and gives way to its evergreen crown of upward pointing fronds. When pruning, only cut off the old and dying leaves, especially towards the base of the tree where they are oldest. And cut them off as close to the trunk as possible.
Sago palm fronds resemble those of palm trees The glossy, pinnate leaves are typically about four to five feet long at maturity, and up to nine-inches wide.
Here is one all potted up outside my gym building. I think it looks so handsome in this new pot. The frond tips are quite pointy and sharp, so it’s best to plant it away from lots of foot traffic.
Here’s another near my long and winding pergola. Although they’re tropicals that can take full sun, sago palms need part shade to prevent their leaves from burning.
It sits across another sago on the other side of the carriage road. When watering, water so the top inch of soil is moist (check it with your fingertip if you need to) and let it dry out between waterings about once a week.
And here is a view of the same pair – I think they look great here and will thrive through the warm months in this location.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm all the spring flowers are blooming everywhere. My long and winding pergola is putting on such a colorful and gorgeous display.
Soon after I bought this property, I built a long pergola along the carriage road leading up to my home specifically for clematis. Over the years, I've planted lots of bulbs and perennials in the garden that bloom at different times throughout the season. Right now, the Camassia and alliums are covering the area in an eye-catching palette of purple and blue - it's just stunning.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
What a difference a few weeks make in a spring garden. This is the pergola garden in late April. The new growth is just beginning – everything around the farm is showing signs of life once again.
A week later, the foliage of many of the flowers has emerged. This pergola starts across from my perennial flower cutting garden and runs along one side of the carriage road leading to my Winter House. 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.
And here it is now, filled with beautiful blooms. This palette of colors is a big favorite at the farm – it grows more colorful and vibrant every year. In a couple of months, this border shall transform once again and feature lovely shades of orange.
Early morning is one of the best times to take pictures in the garden when the sun is low in the sky.
Bordering the garden on both sides are these boxwood shrubs. There are more than 300 boxwood shrubs planted here. These boxwood shrubs were grown from small saplings.
The most prominent plant right now is the Camassia – it’s blooming profusely and so beautifully.
Camassia leichtlinii caerulea forms clusters of linear strappy foliage around upright racemes. Camassia is a genus of plants in the asparagus family native to Canada and the United States. It is best grown in moist, fertile soil and full sun.
Camassia also grows in this darker shade of blue. On this, one can see the six-petaled, two-inch, star-shaped flowers.
Both the lighter and darker shades look so good growing together in this garden.
The flower stalks stand 24 to 30 inches tall and display dozens of florets that open from the bottom up. Camassia is also known as camas, wild hyacinth, Indian hyacinth, and quamash. The bulbs are winter hardy in zones 4 to 8 and both the plant and the bulbs are resistant to deer and rodents.
Another beauty in the garden – the alliums. 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.
This is Allium aflatunense ‘Purple Sensation’, with four to five inch wide violet-purple globes. An allium flower head is a cluster of individual florets and the flower color may be purple, white, yellow, pink, or blue.
Alliums require full sunlight, and rich, well-draining, and neutral pH soil. 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.
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.
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. Comfrey has large, hairy broad leaves that bear small bell-shaped flowers of various colors.
Catnip has jagged, heart-shaped leaves and thick stems that are both covered in fuzzy hairs. The botanical name for catnip is Nepeta cataria. The name Nepeta is believed to have come from the town of Nepete in Italy, and Cataria is thought to have come from the Latin word for cat.
Growing low to the ground is Ornithogalum. It features spear-like flower stems with multiple star-shaped white blooms.
In the center and at the ends of this winding pergola are wisteria standards. Right now, these beauties are cascading over the pergola and giving off the most intoxicating fragrance. Wisteria is valued for its beautiful clusters of flowers that come in purple, pink and white. Looking closely one can see flowers drape down from the soft green heads of foliage.
One one side of the pergola is this giant weeping copper beech tree – I love these trees with their gorgeous forms and rich color. I have several large specimens on the property.
On the the other side of the pergola and across the carriage road – a stand of stately bald cypress trees, now full of gorgeous soft green needle-like foliage.
And behind the pergola and across the “soccer field,” where my grandson, Truman, loves to play whenever he visits, are six matched standard weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus ‘Pendula’. Weeping hornbeams can grow to be about 50-feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 40-feet. These are very rare and precious trees and I am so happy they continue to grow well here.
I am so proud of this garden – it fills in and grows more beautifully every year. What flowers are blooming in your garden right now?
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