By Country - New Zealand

After a rare--for August--rainy morning yesterday, most of the taller perennials are bowed over from weight of the raindrops. Especially annoying is the Phlox paniculata and if its flowers werent so delectable to the swallowtail butterflies, I might be tempted to cut it all back. Sanguisorba hakusanensis Lilac Squirrel isnt leaning as badly. And it is my plant of the week! Check out the flowers and youll see why it is called Lilac Squirrel. This winter-ha...

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When I was about four years old, I distinctly remember the magic of fragrant flowers. It was the face of a pansy flowers soft petals caressing my nose. One of my parents had planted a bunch of them in our front yard on the other side of the driveway. To this day, when I stick my nose in a pansy blossom, Im that four year old once more. Circa 1964, My little brother Ronnie and me Fast forward six years and Im in Hawaii, discovering good and bad things about life. The good...

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In 2007, I bought Mukdenia rossii Crimson Fans after somewhere seeing--I forget now--photos of the pretty leaves. I remember that I spent $18 for a one gallon and at the time, it seemed like such an enormous sum to spend on a plant--such an extravagance for a penny-pincher like myself. It grew. Its an easy plant with no fussy requirements at all except moist soil. (But wait.) Its deciduous and in spring, it pushes up new leaves of bronze. ...

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Here is a cutie pie. Herons Bill ( Erodium manescavi ) is a long-blooming, sun-loving front of the border beauty. It is also a nice rock garden plant and will reseed a little if one is lucky. I got my plant from Robin Parers Geraniaceae Nursery back in 2018. I knew exactly where I wanted to plant it, under full sun, in loose soil by my outer pond. It has been growing here ever since, slowly expanding its ferny foliage and increasing its flowering stems each year...

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After a ridiculously long self-imposed hiatus from my blog, Im back. Again, it wasnt easy to pick a favorite because, as all plant people know, there are so many plants to love. But with Belle Etoiles exquisite fragrance wooing me as I meandered my garden paths, I chose to focus on her. After all, she is in her finest element right now. In early June Philadelphus Belle Etoile or Mock Orange explodes with hundreds of three inch flowers on lax branches. They...

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Hi Plant Peeps. What to choose, what to choose for the plant of the week So many plants are worthy of a post, as you fellow plant lovers know. After much contemplation, I decided to go with this lovely variegated Spiraea. Spiraea x vanhouttei Pink Ice. This plant is one of the legacies of the now-defunct Fry Road Nursery. It came as a spunky little thing, in a four inch pot or it could have been a plug since I bought a lot of my plants that way back in the day. This one s...

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I hope you all are enjoying your gardens. Ive seen on Facebook that some of you are getting snow. I think snow in April is just wrong and you have my sincerest sympathies. Speaking of the weather, Im sure it sounds like Im bragging when I say that the skies have been clear and sunny here for the past week or so. But its true, and ironically, we who live in this part of the world can only take so many days of sunshine without the nagging reminder that April is usually a rainy mon...

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