Perennials for Container Planting

Here are some of my favorite perennials for containers that are reliably hardy for zone 7, maybe even hardier. I fill my pots with these perennials then add annuals to fill in for added color to save on costs of filling all my containers.  All these perennials have beautiful foliage.

Woodland Anemones

So cute Anemone nemerosa double woodland white. It spreads fast and also comes in a single lavender, I love them both for my woodland garden.

The lavender one is Anemone nemerosa "Atley".  Both good in zones 4-8.

Here is Anemonella thalictroides with leaves that are dainty and similar to Thalictrum.  This is only 8" high and so pretty. zones 4-7

Woodland and Shade Plants

This is Omphalodes cappadociaca (Starry Eyes) an early spring blooming shade low growing plant. Blooms March-May and good for zones 6-9. Grows about 9-12" high.




This is the solid blue form Omphalodes verna (Blue-eyed Mary).

This one is Polygonatum ordoratum (Solomon's Seal) for the shade garden. Grows 24-30" tall with arching stems and white bell flowers along the stem, very graceful.  zone 3-9

Here is Oxalis acetosella )Wood Sorrel).  A beautiful woodland ground cover I saw in our Olympic National Rain Forest as an understory.  It's about 6-9" tall with white flowers in spring. zone 6-11







Forget-Me-Nots

Finally a post, I have been very busy setting up my new Etsy shop in the last few months. 

This is one of my first favorite flowers that I remember from my childhood, so sweet! I let them self seed all over my garden and later I just yank them out to make room for some annual plants for summer.  There are always some seeds left over for them to come back next year.  I just added pink ones to my garden last year.    These are great for pressing too!

Tropical Flowers in Barbados

Just back from Barbados and saw lots of tropical plants there, so beautiful but not my expertise.  If anyone knows the names of these I would love to hear from you.  It was like being in a house plant jungle. I was just oooooing and aaaaahhhing all over the place.   Course my favorite part was the aquamarine water and the beaches. All kinds of Palms everywhere and the perfect comfy temperature all the time including the water. I swam with big turtles, so amazing and saw beautiful schools of colorful fish while snorkeling. Here are some more flowers I saw:

This is a rare black Anthirium that the host of Hunts Garden showed me, so beautiful.

I don't know what this is but it was gorgeous all tucked in the tall foliage.

Winter finally

I think we finally have winter now, 13" total last week and down as low as 22 degrees.  That is for sure winter for us. I have been waiting to have my climbing rose Cecile Brunner go dormant so I can move it (see a couple of posts below about moving the rose).  Now I hope it survived these low temps, it's not one that can get into the 20's for very long without protection.  Luckily I did protect the crown of it at least. It was really fun to have all the snow around but now it's turned back to our usual, tons of rain and more rain.  I already see the bulbs coming up for spring so I know spring is around the corner, YAY!  I love it when the days start getting longer little by little.  I have been to the nursery and the Sarcococca or commonly called Sweet Box is blooming and it smells wonderful, like jasmine. This would be great by my front door on the north side because it likes the shade and would smell so good at my entry.  Another plant I don't have and here it is just January and I want a new plant.  Just when I think I have enough plants there is always something else I "need".  Well onward we go , next stop Spring! 

Winter dried flower project

Here's a great way to have dried flowers last longer, put in a shadow box.   You can make your own with any box about 4" deep that is the dimensions of the opening and cover with decorative tissue or handmade paper.  There is a bunch of baby roses, blue, lime and peegee hydrangea, yarrow, berries from a palm tree in this arrangement.

 Also make a box out of some heavy paper sprayed with gold paint splatter inside the box to hold the flower arrangement.  Do the arrangement first then wire the box onto the frame.  Hang in an area out of direct sunlight and in a dry area, not in a bathroom and inside of course although I took this picture outside.

This one was done years ago and given as a gift and the flowers inside finally faded. I was asked to redo the arrangement and now it's freshened up and will last for several more years.

This idea was seen in a shop years ago and it was 200.00 so I thought I would make it myself.  One of those things I saw that I really did go home and make. One time I saw a sign at a craft fair in a booth and it said "sure you can make it but will you"?  So true, I see so many things I could make but never end up doing it.

Transplanting a climbing Rose

Whew, finally on the other side of Christmas and looking forward to gardening again.  My first thought is to move my favorite climbing rose called Cecil Brunner that have clusters of sweetheart pink baby roses with the most wonderful fragrance. Where I have it now does not get enough sun to get the most blooms.  It's a very vigorous rose and I'm going to move it to a sunnier spot on an arbor that already has Constance Spry pictured here on one side, a gorgeous large cupped rose and also vigorous.  I moved another climber , Lady Banks one summer because it was taking over my deck railing as an experiment thinking I didn't care if I lost it. It was not a good idea to move it in the middle of summer, I lost most of the length of the canes and it's struggled to come back.  The best time to move a rose or climbing rose is when it's dormant or late winter to early spring, for us in the Pacific Northwest that is January or February.  I look for when it loses it's leaves. 

Sometimes I will take cuttings in case I lose the plant I'm moving.  You can take cuttings in fall or early spring before new leaves start to break out.  Cut a 9" pencil size new stem not using the flimsy tip of that cane with buds that are close together and about 6 buds so you can put 3 buds below the soil level and 3 above.  Dig a hole about 6" deep in good well drained soil and in a morning sun area only. Put the stem in so that 3 buds are below and 3 above and take off any leaves except for a couple top leaves. Water well and don't let them dry out.  Take several cuttings so you are sure to have some that take and some may not.

Now back to moving the climber.  Prepare the hole first and dig a 2' deep  and 1 1/2' wide hole , prepare compost and processed manure mixture for the hole and mound the center for the roots of the rose to spread over.  Now cut back the canes of the climber by 1/3 to healthy outside buds at a 45 degree angle and cut out any unhealthy, old canes or crossing canes.  Now dig the rose up and dig deep to get as much of the roots as possible.   Try not to disturb the roots as much a possible, roses can be temperamental to move. Spread the roots over the cone of soil and fill in the hole with the good soil you have prepared.  The soil level should be at the bud union at the base of the rose. Make a water catching well around the outside of the soil and water well and keep well watered. 

I can't wait to get out there and move my rose, I still have leaves on my roses right now.  I think maybe mid January I may get to move it.  Here is a photo of my Constance Spry rose on the other side of the arbor, I don't have a photo of Cecil Brunner because it's just never bloomed much.  I hope to get a great photo this summer to post providing all goes well with transplanting.   Good luck! and Happy New Year! Happy Gardening! Time to start planning the garden, oh I'm getting excited now.  I took a break from posting but I will be posting much more now that the holidays are over.  I hope everyone had a great holiday.

Fly Agaric Mushrooms

Hey look what we found in Corvallis, Oregon on a walk on Thanksgiving.  I have never seen these mushrooms in person. It was so cool to find one and I mean just ONE, we kept looking for another but no luck. This one was not so perfect but it really stood out even under all the thicket I had to crawl through to get this photograph. It's botanical name is Amanita muscaria and is poisonous and psychoactive. I have read that they are usually found in the northern hemisphere , can't believe I have never seen one till now after all the outdoor hiking, ect I have done. This one was about the size of my fist.  Somehow I guess I never really thought they were real.

Pressed Leaves Art on Antique Table

Now is the time for indoor garden projects.  This is an antique tea table that I refinished and added a wood insert with a wood transfer of my pressed leaves and tapastry pattern art.  I had never done a wood transfer before and I found several posts of instructions on Utube, lots of fun. The wood grain shows through the art and small parts of the transfer is rubbed off giving it an antiqued look. I sanded and stained the old table with a dark stain then painted it with the turquoise paint then sanded off areas to look worn from age.  Lots of fun.   I was inspired by my friends at http://www.withatwistdesigns.blogspot.com/ who is also my neighbor and her best friend who have a business together upcycling old finds and has their work at the Faded Elegance Shop in Snohomish, Washington. Thanks for all your tips from your blog, I can't wait to try more.

New Shop on Etsy

Here is one of the journals I now have in my new 'Etsy' shop.   There is so much fun stuff on this site, some really creative artists.  I have lots more to add to my shop and I will get them added soon. Lots of fun to shop on this site! I hope you will visit.  www.etsy.com/shop/mypetalpress

Plants with Colorful Berries for Fall

There are so many cool plants with colorful berries to choose from like: Callicarpa bondinieri 'Profusion' (Beauty Berry) zones 6-8, Ilex verticillata (mispelled on the photo)'Winter Red' and 'Gold Berry' zone 3-9, Virburnum tinus 'Spring Bouquet' zones 8-10, Pyracantha Firethorn 'Mojave' zones 6-9, Cotoneaster horizontalis (Rock Cotoneaster) zones 3-9.

Sarcococca confusa (Sweet Box) zones 6-9,
Berberis thunbergii 'aurea' (Japanese Barberry) and (Helmond Pillar Barberry) zones 4-8,
Cornus sericea (Red Twig Dogwood) zone 2.
These are just a few choices.