MySecretGarden: February 2014

Nature's Studio - Celebrating the Shade
AROUSE / EVOKE/ CREATE/GROW/CHILL
was one of my favorite display gardens at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show - 2014.

It appeals to me as a person who likes outdoors, woods, native plants and yes, shade.
There was nothing here that I didn't like: shrubs with colorful stems, big stumps as giant planters
exactly as in the northwest forests, a stream, rough stepping stones, boulders, interesting plants,
leafy vegetables...

I think this giant mushroom 'sculpture' is cool! Piece of organic art!

And what about the container it grows in? It's an old lobster trap!

The list of trees in the garden:

Vine Maple (Acer circinatum)

Autumn Moon Maple (Acer japonicum 'Autumn Moon')

Red Sentinal Maple (Acer palmatum 'Twombly's Red Sentinel')

Twisted Hinoki Cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Torulosa')

Tansu Japanese Cryptomeria (Cryptomeria japonica 'Tansu')

Weeping Norway Spruce (Picea abies 'Pendula')

Viminalis Norway Spruce (Picea abies 'Viminalis')

Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)

Grasses included:

Orange Sedge (Carex testacea)

Mondo Grass (Ophiogogon japonicus)

Dwarf Mondo Grass (Ophiogogon japonicus 'Nana')

Hook Sedge (Uncinia rubra 'Belinda's Find')

Bulbs in the garden:

Hardy Cyclamen (Cyclamen coum)

Hardy Cyclamen( Cyclamen hederifolium)

Snowdrops (Galanthus n. 'Double Snowdrops')

Snowdrops (Galanthus n. 'Snowdrops')

Daffodils (Narcissus 'Tete a Tete White')

Curly Red Leucothoe (above) description from Monrovia:

Excellent selection with brilliantly colored, twisted leaves that emerge orange-red, mature to dark green and change to intense shades of scarlet, then purple-red in fall and winter.
Thick, leathery leaves keep their color during the winter, showing off small red berries. With its compact, slow growing habit, this superb shrub is great for mixed containers, foundation and mass plantings.

Humongous metal sculptures look great! Rust color goes well with the green.

What a delightful plant combination:

Tropicals in this garden included:

Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum raddianum)

Fruffles Anthurium (Anthurium plowmanii 'Fruffles')

Fern Bird's Nest (Asplenium nidus)

Rattlesnake Plant (Calathea lancifolia)

Limelight Dracena (Dracaena warneckii "Limelight")

Hindu Rope (Plant Hoya 'Hindu Rope')

Florist Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana)

Fern Kangaroo Paw (Microsorium diversifolium)

Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes sp.)

Lemon Button Fern (Nephrolepis cordifolia "Lemon Buttons")

Lemon Cordatum (Philodendron cordatum 'Lemon Lime')

String of Pearls (Senecio rowleyanus)

Stromanthe (Stromanthe sp.)

Knotweed reminded me of its wild relative from my childhood in Russia.
It grew everywhere in the countryside where my grandma lived.
Sometimes we touched its leaves and then accidentally rubbed our eyes. It burned!

It was the reason for its common name 'bitter plant'.

This is Persicaria m. Red Dragon information from Plant Delights Nursery:

From the late plantsman Greg Speichert comes this fabulous perennial which emerges in spring

with dark burgundy-red stems that form a 3-4' tall x 4-5' wide plant.

Each stem is lined with exquisite, tricolor, chevron-patterned leaves of purple, silver, and green.

From midsummer through fall, the tips of the plant are covered in tiny, white baby's breath-like flowers.

Persicaria 'Red Dragon' is great in the perennial border as well as in a mixed container planting.

In climates with hot nights, the intensity of the leaf coloration will not be as dramatic.

Persicaria 'Red Dragon' is not a runner, but tips that touch the ground may root if the soil is moist.

List of shrubs in the garden:

Red Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea)

Winter Hazel (Corylopsis pauciflora)

Golden Winter Hazel (Corylopsis pauciflora 'Aurea')

Araucarioides Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica ‘Araucarioides’)

Little Champion Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica 'Little Champion')

Winter Daphne (Daphne odora 'Zuiko Nishiki')

Mountain Pepper (Drimys lanceolata))

Oriental Paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha)

Paperbush (Edgeworthia papyrifera)

Fabiana (Fabiana imbricata)

Hardy Fuchsia (Fuchsia 'Hawkshead')

Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens')

Salal (Gaultheria shallon)

Dwarf Boxleaf Hebe (Hebe buxifolia 'Nana')

Dwarf Chinese Holly (Ilex cornuta 'Rotunda')

Curly Red Leucothoe (Leucothoe axillaris 'Curly Red')

Scarletta Leucothoe (Leucothoe font. 'Scarletta')

Boxleaf Honeysuckle (Lonicera nitida 'Red Tips')

Mahonia 'Dan Hinkley' (Mahonia 'Dan Hinkley')

Firepower Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica 'Firepower')

Bureavii Rhododendron (Rhododendron bureavii)

Pachysanthum Rhododendron (Rhododendron pachysanthum)

Praestans Rhododendron (Rhododendron praestans)

Sinogrande Rhododendron (Rhododendron sinogrande)

Tsariensis Rhododendron (Rhododendron tsariensis)

Weeping Redwood (Sequoia Semp. 'Cantab')

Chinese Stachyurus (Stachyurus chinensis 'Joy Forever')

Groundcovers used in the garden:

Wild Ginger (Asarum caudatum)

Irish Moss (Sagina subulata)

Forest Moss

Rhododendron sinogrande description from Chimacum Woods:

Sinogrande sports the largest leaves of all the big-leaf rhodies.

In its native Yunnan, Tibet and upper Burmese forests, it can be found reaching a height of 50 feet!

This plants wins every prize for sheer grandeur of leaves, which range from eight to thirty-six inches in length.

Flowers are in big trusses of creamy-white or pale yellow flowers with a large red spot.

Our sinogrande trees have enjoyed living in the garden under stately tall firs, hemlocks and cedars on the Olympic Peninsula since 1999 and have grown to fifteen feet in fifteen years.
Sinogrande also makes a spectacular container plant.

We estimate it to be hardy to about 10 degrees.

This rhododendron will like: A woodland setting with high shade

- Small amounts of fertilizer on Valentine's day and Mother's day

- Protection from high winds

- gentle watering

- well aerated soil with good drainage

- protection from bitter cold under 10 degrees.