This time of year can be very hectic - my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew are busy keeping up with all the growth in the garden beds.
Summer is coming to a close in less than two weeks, but there is still lots of work to be done - weeding, pruning, and grooming the many perennial plants and shrubs. Recently, Phurba Sherpa tackled the boxwood border on both sides of my clematis pergola.
Enjoy these photos.
These boxwood shrubs along both sides of my winding pergola were grown from small saplings nurtured right here at the farm. There are more than 300 boxwood shrubs planted here.
Phurba Sherpa is my resident boxwood pruning expert. He has been with me for many years – in fact, he helped plant these boxwood shrubs seven years ago.
Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. They are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The leaves on boxwood branches are arranged opposite from each other, making pairs.
In September 2017, this pergola went through a big transformation. I decided this area would be great if planted with a row of boxwood on both sides. This photo shows the area all ready for planting.
The boxwood we used had been growing in this patch for about three years. Finally they were ready to transplant to their more permanent spots under the pergola.
Each shrub was placed in a plastic pot and then carefully transported to the pergola. Every boxwood was positioned perfectly, two-feet apart from the next.
The shrubs were only about a foot tall when planted, but every one in excellent condition. Boxwood can grow in full sun and partial shade.
And now they’re thigh high and very full. They are all more than double the size. It is amazing to see the growth difference.
Here, one can see the newest growth. Boxwoods are slow growing compared to many other shrubs, with growth rate depending on the variety. Typically, the growth rate for most varieties is three to six inches per year. These needed a thorough grooming.
To groom the tops and sides, Phurba keeps the shears close to him with his hands midway down the handles. This allows the best control.
He turns the shears upside down to get the lower areas. I prefer this method of trimming because the cuts are very clean and smooth when done by hand.
We groom and prune the boxwood at least once a year.
Everyone on my crew uses Japanese Okatsune shears specially made for trimming hedges. These shears are user friendly, and come in a range of sizes.
Phurba also tackles the big boxwood located at the end and center of the pergola. There are four of these giant specimens.
Any clippings are blown away with our battery operated STIHL blower. It’s lightweight, compact, and so easy to use.
In the back bed, I also have Perovskia atriplicifolia, commonly called Russian sage, growing. This plant shows tall, airy, spike-like clusters that create a lavender-blue cloud of color above the finely textured, aromatic foliage. It is vigorous, hardy, heat-loving, drought-tolerant, and deer resistant.
In a matching lavender hue are these charming asters that bloom during the late summer months and into the fall.
Behind the pergola is this giant weeping copper beech tree – I love these trees with their gorgeous form and rich color.
It’s admired greatly for its weeping glossy purplish leaves.
Look how beautiful the border is after the shrubs are all groomed. They’ve grown so well here and continue to thrive.
My pergola garden is constantly growing and evolving – in spring when it blooms with gorgeous
shades of blue; in summer when it features all the bright orange lilies; and, in autumn, with all its bold greenery.
There is always so much to see and learn about at my Bedford, New York farm.
Over the years I have designed many gardens around my home. One area that is constantly evolving is my pinetum - an arboretum of pine trees and other conifers I planted in a field behind my large Equipment Barn and near my weeping willow grove. This collection has grown extremely well and I continue to add additional specimens every year.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
When I first bought my farm, I knew I wanted to plant many, many trees – young trees, to replace the older ones when their lives ended. This collection includes pine trees, but I have also included many spruces, firs, and other interesting evergreens.
Once trees are mature, they need little maintenance except for regular mulching and removal of dead or diseased branches. I keep the ground well-mulched using material made right here at the farm.
On one side of this pinetum are the tall and gorgeous weeping willows. Weeping willows are wide and tall with beautiful curtains of drooping branches that sweep the ground. I have several groves of weeping willow trees growing at my farm.
Their graceful branches “weep” into an arch, creating a round canopy.
The leaves are long and narrow with a light green color and a finely toothed margin.
Weeping willow trees can grow to be 30 to 50 feet tall, with a spread of roughly 30 to 40 feet. They’re often planted near damp areas, but can also grow in other places as long as they get enough water and sun.
Other trees growing here include this dwarf white pine tree. If you’re not sure how to tell some of these popular trees apart, here are some key tips: pines have needles that are arranged and attached to the branches in clusters of two, three or five. Spruce and fir trees have needles attached individually to the branches.
The needles on this dwarf white pine are soft and blue-green in color.
Picea abies ‘Pendula’ is used as a collective term that describes the myriad weeping and pendulous forms of Norway spruce. The Norway spruce or European spruce is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe. Its uniquely trained form adds so much interest in this pinetum.
This is a baby blue spruce, Picea pungens ‘Baby Blue.’ This dwarf blue spruce tree stays under 25 feet.
This is a fir. Firs, Abies, have needles that are softer, flatter, and cannot be easily rolled between the fingers.
Picea orientalis ‘Skylands’ has bright yellow needles in full sun or yellow-green needles in part shade. The yellow color typically fades as summer progresses. The interior needles are always green. This is one of my favorite trees in this pinetum because of its name, but the name ‘Skylands’ has no relation to my home in Maine. Actually, this tree was introduced by Skylands Botanical Garden in New Jersey, in 1979.
These are the branches of a Japanese Yew, Emerald Spreader, a cold hardy, evergreen shrub that is strong, sturdy, and retains its green color even in winter.
Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Filifera’ is commonly known as Sawara cypress, a large, pyramidal, evergreen conifer that grows in the wild up to 70 feet tall. In cultivation, it more typically matures to a much smaller 30 feet tall. It is native to the Japanese islands of Honshu and Kyushu.
Picea orientalis is a medium to large tree that commonly grows up to 50 feet tall. It has a dense narrowly conical form, horizontal to upward sweeping branches, and drooping lateral branches.
Callitropsis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’ or weeping Alaskan cedar, is a slender, strongly weeping form that grows to as much as 35-feet tall.
It has widely spaced ascending to horizontal branches with flattened sprays of blue-green leaves.
This is a Cedrus deodara ‘Wells Golden’ – an upright true cedar with rich, golden color, which is beautiful in winter. It can grow up to 30-feet tall.
I add more specimens to this collection every year – some are very rare and slow growing, but I love the variety of plantings I’ve amassed.
Over time, this area will fill out more and more. I am so pleased with how it looks, and so happy these trees are thriving here at the farm.
As summer wears on, late season flowers continue to add vivid colors to the garden.
Down by my chicken coops in my former vegetable garden, I now have a space dedicated to annuals, where varieties could be organized in beds by size, color, and bloom time. All the flowers are started from seed in my greenhouse. Earlier this season, I had delphiniums, cornflowers, foxgloves, hollyhocks, snapdragons, and scabiosas. This week, the big showers are my sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos, amaranth, and celosia - all so pretty and perfect for indoor arrangements.
Enjoy these photos.
When I redesigned this garden, I wanted a space for raised beds where I could plant flowers by type specifically for cutting. This garden has such excellent, nutritious soil, I knew whatever was planted here would thrive.
I planted flowers that do best in full sunlight, meaning they get at least six to eight hours of sun per day.
These are the simplest of flowers. A favorite of my dad – zinnias. They come in extraordinary colors and sizes and shapes and are easily grown in one short season.
Zinnias are native to Mexico and Central America. The Aztecs originally called them “plants that are hard on the eyes” because of their colorful flowers. Zinnia is named after Johann Gottfried Zinn, a German botany professor who discovered the plants and brought them to Europe in the 1700s.
Zinnia plants range from six-inches tall to about four-feet tall. There are varieties with single or double petaled flowers in almost all the colors of the rainbow.
Zinnias flower mid to late in the season and are great for attracting hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. The large-flowered varieties provide pollen and nectar in late summer when native sources run low.
Cosmos are annuals with colorful daisy-like flowers that sit atop long slender stems. They attract birds, bees, and butterflies and come in a variety of colors including white and various shades of pink, crimson, rose, lavender and purple, all with yellow centers.
The lacy foliage and silky flowers bloom from midsummer to the first frost.
Garden cosmos measure three to four inches across, and may be single, semi-double, or double.
Sunflowers, Helianthus, are the popular and cheerful annuals whose round flower heads look like the sun. Sunflowers come in vibrant yellow, but they’re also seen in orange, red, bronze, and even white. I have large sunflowers growing around the perimeter of this garden. Young sunflowers turn to face the sun as it moves across the sky. They face east at dawn and then slowly turn west as the sun moves. During the night, they slowly turn back east to begin the cycle again. This is known as heliotropism and is due to the presence of auxin, a growth hormone in the stem. This process continues until the sunflower is mature.
Sunflower is the only flower with flower in its name. “Helia” for sun and “anthus” for flower. Sunflowers are also the symbol of faith, loyalty and adoration.
Enma cuts some of the long stemmed amaranth. Their velvety flowers are dense – some with drooping tassels. Blooms come in richly saturated harvest hues, and they hold their colors and shapes even when dry.
There are 2 main types of Amaranth grown for cutting – one with an upright growing habit where the plants produce spikes or plumes that add height and drama to arrangements. The other is a trailing type of Amaranth with a draping growth habit.
Celosia is a small genus of edible and ornamental plants in the amaranth family, Amaranthaceae. Its species are commonly known as woolflowers, or, if the flower heads are crested, cockscombs. The plants are well known in East Africa’s highlands and are used under their Swahili name, mfungu. Celosias thrive in full sun and require well-drained soil.
Enma cut lots flowers to bring indoors for arrangements.
After bringing the flowers inside, it is important to get them in water right away. Enma removes any leaves that would otherwise end up below the water line. Leaves and flowers that sit below the water line can rot.
She also holds each stem up to the vase to see where it should be cut to fit. The height of the flowers should be in proportion to the vase’s height. A common rule of thumb is that flowers should be one and a half to two times the height of the vase. Enma also cuts them at a 45-degree angle to allow water to flow up into the stem.
These dark pink amaranth flowers drape nicely over the vase. And look at the stems – they are thick cylindrical, fibrous, succulent, and bright colored.
Next, Enma works on an an arrangement of dark pink to burgundy colored blooms. One can stick to like colors when arranging to find complementary colors. This arrangement includes the zinnias, cosmos, and celosias.
All finished, this sunflower arrangement is displayed on a side table in my sitting room just off my servery.
This colorful arrangement is on the table in my foyer.
And this vase of gorgeous amaranth flowers is on the center table in my servery – in the colors of autumn, just a little more than two weeks away.
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