Golden Globe Flower

Red Cactus Dahlia on Ruby Tuesday

Red Cactus Dahlia on Ruby Tuesday

If you are here for WW please scroll down to the next post.

Since the teach asked me to join up for her meme ‘Ruby Tuesday’ I got this picture of a Red Cactus Dahlia yesterday.


This second flower is Dianthus ‘Ruby Tuesday’ and I had to really crop it down to get rid of some annoying background elements. I don’t think out of the thousands of flowers pictures I have posted on this site one has ever appeared with a square crop. The flower had started to go by a little but I still thought it funny when I was looking to shoot a picture for this post an actual flower named Ruby Tuesday was there.

Annual Dianthus

Japanese Wisteria

Japanese Wisteria
Wisteria floribunda
(wis-TEER-ee-uh)

This is from the Wisteria Tree at the Estate. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone because of the amount of pruning it takes to keep it looking good. When it is blooming it sure is beautiful and worth the work. This is its best year in quite a few for flowers. If you have never seen a Wisteria tree it is simply the vine that has been trained into a tree. It is quite vigorous but doesn’t need a support. I like to buy my Wisterias in flower although I don’t use them very often. I carefully consider where they are planted due to their invasive and rampant growth.

Trailing Calendula
Calendula suffruticosa subsp. maritima 'Skyfire Yellow'
(ka-LEN-dew-luh)

Sea Marigold is a critically endangered species in its native area of Sicily. It really has an intense yellow flower and while it was being sold in the perennial area of the nursery I don’t think it is hardy here. Calendulas are always fun to have in the garden. They are a well behaved and colorful groups of plants.

Siberian Iris

Siberian Iris
Iris sibirica
(EYE-ris) (sy-BEER-ah-kuh)

There is a lot to love about Siberian Iris. It is definitely one of my ‘go-to’ plants for tough conditions. It seems to be able to grow in very moist soil and if you need it to in fairly dry soil (water during establishment). The foliage is nice and often turns a reddish color in the fall.

This Iris was blooming in the border of one of the gardens I visited yesterday. I inherited it so I don’t know the cultivar. Since they hybridize freely there are many colors and heights to choose from. Siberian Iris is at home alongside a pond or in the border. It doesn’t ask for much care, I don’t think I have ever had anything attack it before, and is just about always reliable. One thing I found out is that it will grow in part-shade but doesn’t flower as well and the foliage gets a little wispy. The clumps don’t need to be divided but you can make many new plants if you do.

Since some of the Bearded Iris (Iris germanica) were blooming I decided to get a few snaps of those. The bi-color one was especially pretty.

A Rhododendron and Azalea

A Rhododendron and Azalea

Continuing yesterday’s theme of the unknown Dahlia here are some pictures of a Rhododendron and Azalea that I can’t identify. In the past I probably wouldn’t have even taken these shots because I want to be able to identify all the plants and flowers that are posted here but after further consideration I have decided to go ahead and post them.


With Rhododendron and Azalea there are several thousand cultivars to choose from, so unless it is a common variety there isn’t much hope of getting the name. Both of these were growing in public places so there was no quizzing the gardeners on the name.

Today I going to try and visit all 14 gardens that we are tending to this year. I was joking the other day that there are four people and 14 gardens that is 3.5 gardens per person. It is a bit ambitious since they are all pretty far flung but it should provide some photo opportunities. I am cleaning off some memory cards and charging up the batteries. I am even going to take my Coolpix 8400 with me. I haven’t used that camera in awhile and it is always fun to mix up the equipment now and then.

Unknown Dahlia

Unknown Dahlia

This picture is the best I can do today. I took this out in the Dahlia Garden this week on a rainy day. The exposure actually came out pretty good for such a dreary day. Not having bought identified Dahlias is sure going to be a source of frustration for me. Today we are going up to tend to the garden in Hyde Park. Since the owners have a staff we just take care of the pruning and some garden odds and ends. Unloading those trucks really kicked my butt yesterday. They were packed full of stuff including several hundred Boxwood. Now I remember why I don’t work at a nursery, too many trucks to unload!

I hope to have time to shoot a couple of pictures this weekend but I am not counting on it. There hasn’t been a lot of time for extra writing on this blog lately. I do want to keep sharing as many pictures as possible.

Dianthus deltoides ‘Double North’

Dianthus deltoides ‘Double North’
(dy-AN-thus) (del-TOY-deez)
Synonyms: Maiden Pink

This is the first time I have seen this Dr Keith Hammett (New Zealand) introduction. I thought it was beautiful. The grey-bluish foliage had formed a nice mound and the flowers were on short stems. I really love Dianthus but it has been finicky for me before. I keep trying it anyway. The garden I was working in yesterday had a whole walk way planted with the pink version of this plant and it made a wonderful edge.

I am not going to try and explain my day today. Let’s just say it has 4 tractor trailer loads of plant material. From 1-gallon perennials to some 14 to 16 foot White Pines. I am going to be planting the stuff in a couple of weeks. Someone else designed the garden and bought the trees. I just get to dig the holes!

As a follow up to the Nova Zembla Rhododendron bud I posted a couple of days ago here is the flower after it opens. It looks more red when viewed from a distance.

Scarlet Begonias and Sunflower Abstract

ABC Wednesday and
Wordless Wednesday

‘Eternal Flame’ Hybrid Tea Rose

‘Eternal Flame’ Hybrid Tea Rose

There seems to three roses with the name ‘Eternal Flame’. This one is also known as Meifacul. This is the only Hybrid Tea with the ‘Eternal Flame’ name. It has a nice fragrance and the color is a very nice yellow.

Bred in France in 2007 this is another of the roses from Alain Meilland. It is nice to able to be posting some roses. The big rose garden is coming along nicely even though it is on a very cold and windy site. I can’t wait to begin taking some more rose photographs.

My day off was really nice we had about 15 people over and I think everyone had a good time. I have 5 houses planned for the rest of week.

'Nova Zembla' Rhododendron Bud

'Nova Zembla' Rhododendron Bud

The Red Rhododendrons were starting to bloom at the farm. The White Azaleas were in full bloom underneath them and it was a nice combination. I know some gardeners don’t like white and red together but it is one of my favorite color combinations. The picture I took of them together didn’t come out and the Rhodos really needed a few more days to be in full bloom.

‘Nova Zembla’ was introduced in 1902 and it is considered one of the hardiest reds. There are certainly more exciting red Rhododendrons but Novas seem to be very dependable. They can get up to 10 feet tall and have nice foliage. Since this is only picture of the bud you can’t see that the flower has nice black spots when open.


What are you going to say about White Azaleas? They have really been spectacular this year (like most years). I am not sure of the cultivar on these but if I had to guess it would ‘Delaware Valley White’. These planted in front of the Rhododendrons with some semi-dwarf type of Juniper. When I first saw the Azaleas and Junipers together I thought that doesn’t look good but when they bloomed it was actually pretty nice. The Juniper needs to be pruned since it is kind of taking over.

Today is a holiday in the US and I am not working. I think I went 40 days straight without a day off and it feels weird not to be at work.

Cannon`s Double Azalea

Cannon`s Double Azalea
Azalea x 'Cannon`s Double' (Exbury hybrid)

It would hard to describe the color of this Azalea because it was several all at once. It was very easy on the eyes. It gets to about 6 feet tall and has red tinted foliage. I am going to have to try one of these.

Here is a partial list of the plants we planted at the small farm the last couple of days. Sorry for the mix of common and botanical names. It is just how it came out. The plants marked with star are the ones I haven’t grown before. Since it is the most northern of our gardens I have to watch what we plant. It gets a lot colder. Lucky about 3 miles is a large wholesale nursery that I am very familiar with. They grow a lot of their own stock from propagation so it is a nice test on the climate and the plants are acclimated already.

Ajuga ‘Burgundy Glow’
Artemisia schmidtiana 'Silver Mound'
Azalea ‘Fashion’ Azalea ‘Lorna’ Azalea ‘Gartrell Pink’ Azalea ‘Gibraltar’ Azalea ‘Girard’s Crimson’ Azalea ‘Girard’s Fuschia’ Azalea ‘Golden Lights’ Astilbe 'Montgomery' Red
Astilbe Pink
Black Bugbane (Cimicifuga simplex 'Brunette')
Buddleia davidii “Dark Knight’ Buddleia davidii 'Nanho Blue'
Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)
Carefree Shrub Rose 'Carefree Celebration'*
Coral Bells (Heuchera ‘Caramel’)*
Coreopsis grandiflora ’Flying Saucer’*
Crimson Wonder Hardy Hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos)
Cutleaf Lilac (Syringa laciniata)
False Forget-Me-Not (Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost')
Fern-leaf Bleeding Heart (Dicentra ‘King of Hearts’)
Golden Spiderwort (Tradescantia 'Sweet Kate')*
Golden St. John’s Wort (Hypericum androsaemum 'Golden Tutsan')
Hairy Toad Lily (Tricyrtis hirta)
Hardy Chrysanthemum Sheffield Hybrid
Japanese Painted Fern (Athyrium niponicum)
Knockout Roses
Liatris spicata 'Kobold'
Lungwort (Pulmonaria 'Blue Ensign')
Lungwort (Pulmonaria 'Majeste')
Montauk Daisy (Nipponanthemum nipponicum)
Meyeri Lilac
Morning Light Miscanthus
Rhododendron ‘Nova Zembla’
Rudbeckia 'Herbstonne'
Sneezeweed (Helenium 'Mardi Gras')
Summer Wine Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius 'Summer Wine')*
Spirea ‘Neon Flash’
Tatarian Dogwood (Cornus alba 'Elegantissima')
Tatarian Dogwood (Cornus alba 'Ivory Halo')
Tiger Tail Spruce (Picea alcoquiana ‘Howell’s Dwarf Tigertail’)
Variegated Blue Holly (Ilex meserveae ‘Blue Maid’)
Variegated Iris
Veronica ‘Red Fox’
Weigela ‘Wine and Roses'
Weigela ‘Minuet’
White Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan')
White Globe Thistle (Echinops sphaerocephalus ‘Arctic Glow’)*
Yellow Ice Plant (Delosperma nubigenum 'Basutoland')*

Two Pink Flowering Crabapples

Two Pink Flowering Crabapples

As usual I enjoyed the Crabapples this year even though their flowers were cut short by the wind and rain we had. These two pink-red Crabs were outstanding and I am glad that I planted both of them. The first one is Malus x 'Prairie Fire' and it is a hardy tree (US Zone 3), which gets to about 15-20 feet tall. Although I have been keeping it a little smaller. It is disease resistant which maybe the most important cultivar selection criteria for me now. ‘Prairiefire’ has been around for some time now, it was introduced in 1982.


This second Crabapple was new to me but it performed nicely the last two years. 'Cardinal' Crabapple (Malus 'Cardinal') was introduced by Princeton Nurseries of New jersey and is also considered disease resistant. The flowers a deep pink but the best thing about this tree is the purple color of the leaves. Mine didn’t set a lot of fruit and I hope that changes but overall I am very happy with this tree.

'What A Peach' Rose

'What A Peach' Rose

I saw this strongly fragrant Miniature Shrub rose at the nursery when I was buying a 8 to 9 foot Norway Spruce. The tag said it was a Shrublet rose, which is something I hadn’t heard before. It was bigger than what I would normally call think of as a miniature rose and the final height was listed at 4.5 feet tall. The color was gorgeous and overall it had a classy and cultured look. Right after I took this picture I walked further down the line of roses and when I turned around someone was taking it home.

Christopher H. Warner bred this rose in the UK in 2000. Weeks Roses introduced it into the US in 2002.

Parentage: Laura Ford ® × Sweet Magic
Synonyms: CHEwpeachdell

Dahlia 'Bishop of York'

Dahlia
Dahlia 'Bishop of York'
(DAHL-ya)

I planted the Dahlias in Claire’s garden the other day. For the first time in 24 years I bought some pre-finished plants as opposed to potting up the tubers in early spring. It just has been that type of year. I bought 12 different types and this one of three dark leafed varieites. It was already stunning to me so I can’t wait until we get deeper in the season. Having always admired the bronze leafed (is bronze leaf, purple leaf or dark leaf the proper way to refer to these?) varieties I am happy to finally be trying some. I got a couple of the other ‘Bishop’ series and I am sure you will be seeing them here soon, although this is my favorite.

Apparently there is no ‘Bishop of York’ in real life, only an Archbishop. This variety was hybridized by Van Der Linden in the Netherlands and was introduced in 2002.

I have another big day planned. I have three meetings with people and probably won’t get much gardening done.

Wordless Wednesday - Fuchsia 'Eden Rock'

Fuchsia 'Eden Rock'

Hybrid Tuberous Begonia

Hybrid Tuberous Begonia
Begonia x tuberhybrida
(be-GON-yuh) (too-ber-HY-brid-uh)
Synonyms: Non-stop Begonias

This year I decided to plant a lot of these and they seem to be a big hit. Valley View grew a mix of yellow, salmon, pink and a couple of bi-colors. They also had some of the Mocca series, which has a dark leaf. I just have been putting the colors together in some big mixed plantings and it makes a colorful carpet in the moist shade. I have read that they are deer resistant and will report back with my actual experience as some of the plants are in pretty heavy grazing territory.


Previously I grown these in containers with good results so I am anxious to see how they do in a bedding situation.

White Crabapple

White Crabapple
Malus sp.

This Crabapple had the most enticing fragrance. I shot this picture at the little farm. At 25 acres it really isn’t little but it smaller than the other farms we work on. I call it the little farm since it has a smaller garden then the others. I am not sure what variety of Crab this is and trying to figure it out was impossible. It might be 'Snowdrift' but that is just a guess. I knew that Crabapples are fragrant but this one went a little beyond what I consider normal. It was extra nice since there was a patch of white Lilacs blooming nearby and this tree was overpowering them.

Going through the archives of shot but not selected pictures I found this Orchid. (Asian Corsage Orchid, Cymbidium 'Milk Tea').


I finished another house yesterday but my appointments yielded more work so it was a wash. One of the houses I visited had a collection of yellow Rhododendrons, which I found quite interesting. I wish I had my camera with me! They will probably be done blooming by the time I get back to do the work. Sigh.

Geranium 'Stephanie'

Geranium 'Stephanie'

This is another beautiful hybrid perennial Geranium. It was developed from a seedling at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland and is a distinct cross between Geranium peloponnesiacum and G. renardii. They like moist sites and full sum but I have grown them in less than ideal conditions and been happy with them. This cultivar is very floriferous and can rebloom later in the season with a little light shearing after the first wave of flowers.

I know last Sunday I said I was going to work this Sunday but oh well. I have a job I will be finishing off today which is always a plus. I have a couple of appointments, also. The planting job went well on Saturday and we got everything in. I need a couple of more trees and some mulch and that job will be finished up too.


It was funny to see this daisy in a sea of Alyssum. I wish I had a wider angle to show the 100's of flats of Alyssum.

Mountain Cornflower

Mountain Cornflower
Centaurea montana 'Amethyst in Snow'
(sen-TAR-ee-uh) (MON-tah-nuh)
Synonyms: Mountain Bluet, Perennial Cornflower

This is a new variety for me. The contrast between the two colors is very eye catching. I will have to try some in the garden. One thing I like about Centaureas are the fact they are low maintenance and thrive in poor and somewhat dry soils. I have read that they will also live in part shade but don’t have any experience with that. The foliage is interesting as the leaves get quite long (6+ inches) and has kind of a silvery grey appearance. This plant was introduced in 2005 from the breeding work of Kees Sahin. The breeding on this genus is really starting to amaze me.

I don’t have much time to write today since I have to leave early. The people I am working with like to get to work early and leave late. They want me to pick them up at 5:30 am but that is just too early for me. I haven’t had time to respond to the comments here but I want everyone to know that I read them all and appreciate hearing what you have to say about the pictures and the flowers.

I have a planting job today. Here is a list of what we have to plant:

6 Dwarf Norway Spruce (Picea abies ‘Ohlendorffii’). These are about 3 feet high and 4 feet wide. 20-gallon pots.

3 Baby Blue Spruce (Picea pungens 'Baby Blue'). This tree has its own website . It is a seed grown strain of Blue Spruce. They are about 6 feet tall now. This is worst tree to plant as far as having sharp needles.

3 White Pines (Pinus strobus). 6-8 feet and heavily sheared.

Not too many trees except they have to go on top of a four-foot high stonewall into a narrow planting strip. They are some 10-foot tall ‘Hoopsi’ Blue Spruce planted up there already to add to the fun.