Jorene's Perennial Gardens-May 1, 2010

In my two budget garden beds, all six of the Itea Virginica Henry shrubs are getting their leaves, so I am very excited about that because it was a really harsh winter for them. They were covered with feet of snow until early April, and I was afraid they would not survive. I was also incorrect when I wrote last week that the lily of the valley did not survive. There are a few sprouts of them, so I will move them after they bloom this Spring because this bed is not the ideal spot for them. The ajuga that I added last month seems to have survived the transplant, so I expect that it will spread quickly by the end of fall. I also added more liriope and hostas so that the bed will look fuller this year.


This photo is of my naturalized perennial bed. The plants have really grown since last month. Currently, nothing is blooming in this bed, but the purple roadside phlox, ox-eye daisies, and blue-star are about to bloom, so the next blog of this perennial bed should contain photos with some beautiful color.


The herb/cutting garden looks terrible right now because I have not weeded the front of it yet. The perennial herbs in the rear and behind the welcome rock (mint, rosemary, oregano) are coming up nicely. However, I will not be able to start the seeds for the annual herbs for a couple of more weeks because we could still get killing frost up here on the mountain. The gladiolus bulbs in the cutting garden have yet to sprout, but the Japanese iris have done well. They should bloom by the end of May.


The daffodils in the friendship garden have died off, so it does not currently contain any color. However, the peonies and bearded iris in the beds are about to bloom. Once that happens, this bed will bloom all year long. It will be incredible, and I cannot wait.


The bleeding heart located in the new shade garden is doing wonderful, and the columbine is about to bloom too. The hostas have really grown since the last blog.




The photos below are of my shade gardens in the front of the lodge. Only the woodland violets and black helleborus are blooming right now. The other plants and perennials in it are coming up nicely though. I transplanted a clematis to it this Spring. I must have not hardened it off well enough or babied it enough at the beginning of the transplant because it does not seem to have made it, so I will try to propogate another purple perennial plant to replace this one next year. There are also two bare spots on the right side of the bed that were created when I reorganized these beds last fall. I purchased purple cardinal flower and a yellow ground cover for these spots from Blue Stone Perennials. They will come in the mail this month, so I cannot wait to plant them to see how they do.


The boxwoods, day lilies, and hostas in my front beds have grown quite a bit since the last blog in April. The day lilies will bloom in June. Our friends gave us most of them last year, so I cannot wait to see what colors they are.

This front bed contains cannas, day lilies, lamb's ear, and gaillardia goblin. The cannas have not sprouted, and I am afraid they might not have survived the harsh winter. Cannas usually only survive to zone 7. We are in zone 5. In the past, I have dug them up every year, but I did not do it last year because it is a lot of work. Instead, I mulched them heavily which is a trick that usually works to winter over more tender perennials. However, I had no ideal we were going to get the harshest winter in history. Time will tell if they survived. If they did not, I will have to find another tall perennial to plant there instead. We might even put some veggies in the box. The day lilies and lamb's ear are doing wonderfully though.


I think I am going to be very happy with my full-sun front bed this year. The white clematis, woodland violets, and ajuga are already blooming beautifully. The delphinium, purple clematis, blue star, and bearded iris will bloom in the very near future followed by the Japanese iris, spiderwort, and daisies. The small blue hibiscus that I planted last year seems to be doing much better. It already has leaves, so I hope it will flower this year.