Oh tall and handsome garden gnome, won’t you please, please assemble my new cedar arbor (eBay!) so that my vines have a place to grow?
Graham comes to the rescue…
Is it done?
Yes, done! Story and David approve of how Graham handles his wood in front of onlookers…
So erect! Thanks, garden gnome!
So maybe you’ve seen this before. It’s a cardoon. The first time I saw one was last fall at Denver Botanic Garden — that’s where I snapped that shot. They used them in several focal point areas, usually at the end of a walkway or to anchor a bed. Hard to tell from the photo but these suckers are easily 3′ across and as high. Want. Not to eat. Just for the drama.
Sorry for the lull in posts but I’ve been plugging plants in the ground like mad, every possible moment. Just noticed something funny. Check out the names of these two plants in the same recent order to Wayside Gardens, which will probably arrive on my doorstep today… definite garden porn. Children, avert your gaze.
First, the negligee of shrubs…
Sambucus Nigra Black Lace (Elderberry) | colorchoiceplants.com
Sambucus ‘Black Lace’ (Elderberry) A deep, dark black foliage elderberry shrub with a leaf somewhat similar to a Japanese maple but produces pink flowers followed by berries! video NSFW. Ha. Of course it’s safe for work, this is a plant!
Followed by a potentially X-rated perennial…
Tricyrtis ‘Guilty Pleasure’ | waysidegardens.com
Tricyrtis ‘Guilty Pleasure’ (Toad Lily) A sexy little woodland toad lily with bright, chartreuse foliage and an orchid-like flower. Toad lilies are pretty easy to grow. Who knew they could be naughty, too?
Isn’t it the best when your next-door neighbor drops by with a brand-new lilac bush? Just for you. Just because. Did I mention we have awesome neighbors?
And yes, it smells amazing.
Went to look at terrazzo tile from Fritz Tile because it just sounds so frickin’ cool. But alas, it’s not quite as cool as I’d hoped. The guys at State Rug in Cranston were nice enough to hand over all their Fritz samples so we could check them out at home. Take a look…
A whole spectrum of colors to choose from but up against our cork flooring selection only the neutrals and possibly black looked like they might work… (click to biggify)
One of the boxes of samples featured terrazzo with bits of mother of pearl worked in. The sparkly bits were a nice touch on a tile that mostly comes across as kind of meh in person…
The substrate for most of their tiles is this weird clear stuff that makes these look like headcheese. From a distance the Fritz looks like terrazzo but has the sheen of a vinyl. Blech…
How Barney is this?
I’m a big fan of terrazzo, don’t get me wrong. Definitely an awesome modern choice. But these just don’t come across as authentic. So I’m glad we took a look but the Angela Adams Argyle is looking more and more like the winner.
waiting. waiting. waiting. waiting. waiting. waiting. waiting. waiting. waiting. waiting. waiting. waiting. who wants to wait with me… anybody?
DAY 7…
DAY 14…
DAY 21…
Getting there. Come on, grass!!
So the Curlex has been in place for a few weeks now. Has it kept our slope from washing away? I am pleased to report that yes, so far, it has successfully b**ch-slapped our erosion issues.
Here’s where we were on March 30 after all that flooding…
More soil was added during the first week of April…
Then the Curlex erosion control matting was added and erosion control plants put in the ground…
And here’s what it looks a few weeks later after planting and some fairly heavy rains…
No dirt under the matting has washed out. However, dirt from above (not held by the matting) washed down over it. Just a little. And no wonder, with no grass, very few plants and absolutely no mulch, the water just rushed down the slope and took some of our new topsoil with it…
Very happy with the Curlex. I see a few weeds beginning to poke their heads through here and there…
I’ll have to put a stop to that immediately.
Remember the slope between us and our neighbor? The area where we found the lead levels so high and had the soil dug up and carted away?…
Our lovely neighbors and I thought it would be smart to put down Curlex on this slope, too, before the spring rains washed all the new soil downhill…
So I took care of that a few weekends ago and then started plugging in some plants sure to hold that slope back…
On the front slope, one of the native plants we chose was a Symphoricarpos var. albus (Common Snowberry), which produces big white berries in autumn. I figured that closer to the house it would be nice to have more color, so I chose Symphoricarpus x ‘Kordes’ Amythest (Coralberry)…
Not a native variety but it produces the most irresistible, insanely colored berries you’ve ever seen — good for the birds…
amethyst™ coralberry | colorchoiceplants.com
I also threw in a few native Arctostaphylos uva-ursi ‘Massachussetts’ (bearberry) like we have on the front slope…
Not only good for erosion control, it also produces bright red berries for the birds in the fall…
common bearberry | abnativeplants.com
And for good measure, I thought I’d see if some of my brilliant chartreuse Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’ might work here…
Like all sedums, it’s a tough little stonecrop that covers the ground quickly and doesn’t ask for much care or much water. Flowers for the butterflies in summer. And in the fall, it takes on the most gorgeous pinkish-orange overtones that will look fab with the colorful berries on the plants around it…
sedum angelina | awaytogarden.com the BEST gardening blog EVER
I’m not done adding plants to the slope…
Something ferny with a bluish or silvery cast would make a nice foil to the other shades going on. I’ll report back when I find just the right thing. In that far back corner slope starting at about the oak, I want to plant Rhus aromatica ‘Gro Low’ (Fragrant Sumac). I just discovered it during last week’s trip to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden…
A native great for holding slopes that fills in quickly, is undemanding and drought tolerant, and offers flowers and catkins (food for birds) in the spring. In the fall, it turns flamey red…
fragrant sumac gro-low | finegardening.com
What a showstopper. I haven’t found a local nursery that carries it, although there’s bound to be one. High Country Gardens has it, for sure. I think I may be able to use it under our dogwood out front as well.
For those of you have slopes like I do, I came across another great article on not-your-typical groundcover alternatives. Worth exploring.
* * * * * *
UPDATE: Okay, I’m having some luck in hunting for slope plants with blue foliage that can handle a mix of sun and shade. There’s Carex Glauca Blue Sedge…
carex glauca (or flacca) blue sedge | bluestem.ca
Or Carex Glauca (also Flacca) Blue Zinger…
carex glauca blue zinger | plantdelights.com
Ferny, no. But they have a similar upright and then arching manner that make them strong contenders.
Just a few weeks ago, April 6 to be exact, the first round of planting our front slope left us two-thirds of the way done…
Yesterday, elves descended and finished up the planting. Yay! My friends Shiva and Ellen tackled the last third of the erosion zone using the same plants as the rest of it…
Same story as before: Cut the Curlex. Dig a hole. Plant…
Later that afternoon, all done…
Amazing how much greener everything is in just the last few weeks. The oaks leafed out, our pathetic little dogwood (doesn’t like being planted in the shade of an oak) is flowering and the plants in the slope have really taken off. Definitely looks like Spring.
And now my little garden pixies are gone… Elvish has left the building. Victory dance.
I was looking through my snaps from Ann Sacks and thought maybe my fellow tile lovers might like to see some more — they don’t work in our entryway but deserved to be ogled.
Like linen tiles. That actually feel like woven fabric…
I’ll just shut up and show you the rest…
Glad I got that out of my system! Just a taste of tile to come, I’m sure. I’ll get more serious about exploring our options when we start looking beyond the entryway.