Chuck Gleaves has a creative garden full of fasinating plants, and kindly shared some of his favorites. Most of these are from his north central Ohio garden, but he also included some interesting plants he's seen elsewhere in the world. I don't know about you, but I'm adding all of them to my plant wish list for this spring.
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Comments
All snazzy but that Jeffersonia is a true gem!
That's a picture of you - right? not so long ago. ;)
Could you show a photo of the Jeffersonia in its usual state? I’m not sure about planting anything in my garden with the name cobra in it. Lol. Right Jesse?
Ahhhh, now Msssssss Rhonda,
Me thinksssss the name of ssssaid Lily sssaysssss it all:
DARLING!!
And, while we're adder it, perhapsssss we ssssshould add ssssome more with perhapsss a Rattlessssnake Masssster or two in the sssun and re-introdussssse ssssome ssssnakeroot back into our borderssss??? Afterall, whatssss life with out a little exsssitement now and then!!!
(from my Contained Garden last summer.)
Where have you been? We’ve missed you!!!
Hey, Rhonda!!
Sweetie, I had to take a seat in the nose-bleed section for a long while and watch from afar. There was a young lady back about a year or two ago on this post who commented that she was only able to enjoy the GPOD's like 3 or 4 or more days AFTER they were posted due to her hectic schedule. I now feel for her and know exactly how that can be.
My own doing, I'm afraid and I've come to the conclusion that I can't keep up with THAT many irons in the fire and remain healthy...emotionally, mentally, and not even physically.
So, I've given myself a stern talkin'-to and now embrace the idea that things must change or the ever-quickening and downward spiral will only continue to an early burn-out or worse.
So, in that vein, I've relearned THE word from my terrible twos: "NO." (I'm not going to re-learn my pouty lip, tho..it ain't considered cute at my age!!)
I've also asked myself, sternly: "What's REALLY important to you?"
I"ve spent some time pondering and answering that question, as we all should. I think that is one of the most important, if not THE most important issue any of us rational folks SHOULD ask ourselves. I don't share those answers with anyone else, save the Great Spirit, but knowing those answers clears away many of the smoke screens and more importantly, places virtually all other issues into perspective. One of those goals is to stay or reconnect with those who are important to me....and the ying to that yang is to figure out who is NOT important to me. No blame and no qualms, but no chronic negativity allowed either. I'm reminded of that poster on my teenage wall from back in the 60's and 70's which was titled "Desiderata". (It didn't have the black light colours of the art work on either side and overhead on the ceiling!)
And, there's also the related feeling that (and we've all heard this before:) You only get out of something that amount of energy and attention you're willing to invest. If I want flowers in my life, I need to plant the seeds and then nurture them. And, I ain't talkin' botany....well, mostly. The fact that I'm writing back should demonstrate how y'all fall into my priorities! I've missed y'all, too!!
Rhonda, I'm hopin' to be around a bit more this coming season and hopin'
I don't wear out my welcome, here! You should know that your simple and
sweet comment above spoke to my spirit and brought a very warm smile to
this olde face! Frank, Sheila, Lillian, and others have also been
askin' and to everyone, your concern is much more valuable than gold!
I'm also looking into this new programme my best friend (whom was actually foolish enough to marry me..) told me about. Now, i normally am NOT the first in line to try anything new, and you'll never find me camping in line outside a store to get the Latest/Greatest/Fastest Cabbage Patch Doll, but I'm gonna look into this new idea! I've heard it's offered by the Univ of Knoxville..no, wait... School of Hard Knox, that's it!! It's called: "Working smarter, not harder." Mabey it's not too late to get a "minor" in that course!!
Well said my friend. Join us when you are able. Just know, you are important.
What a pretty little green garden snake. If I saw him first, I would probably try to pet him; however, if he popped up unawares, I would have screamed and jumped back.
Sonya!!
These guys are "adorable"....kinda.
And, I doubt even you would screamed should one show up in your neck of the woods....unless it was at eye level...then an audible exclamation is totally appropriate even for such a harmless creature as this!
Olde-timers tell me there used to see these guys all the time, but lately they've become rather rare and even out here in the sticks, one may go years or even decades between spotting one. Kinda like Horney Toads a bit farther West of here.
We are fortunate in North America that we have only a small handfull of truley dangerous serpents, and these Green Vine Snakes are so timid, and very small. The adult above is as thin as a wooden pencil. They are camouflaged so well, and most of the time they're in branches of shrubs and trees. In fact I found this one in the young shrubs of my new perennial garden. If'n he hadn't moved, I would've never seen him!
One of the other things I like about these is that they're ALWAYS smiling!! They brighten my day whenever I find them!
(....copperheads, not NEARLY so much....to put it lightly.)
Great shot, Jesse!
Thank You, Ms. Robson!!
Do y'all have these in y'all's neck of the woods?
I was blessed and spotted 5 or 6 of these last year after going for almost 10 years and not seeing a one! 3 of these were in my own gardens and orchards, and another 2 or 3 were spotted along the dirt road I jog along here in the Ozarks. Must've been a good year for them!
I was thinkin' about introducing a couple of them into my large greenhouse, but, then realized they would probably LOVE to find all the treefrogs which call that sheltered garden home during our winters, so decided not to do so!
We actually received a brief downpour on Monday. which was very much
appreciated.....we've been too dry, here... and when the blessed drops
began pelting the plastic roof of the greenhouse, the tree frogs inside
all began singing!! Magic in the middle of January!!!
Great pics!!! Love that Jeffersonia.
Wow. very nice. Second Rhonda's request: please share with us the more usual color of the Jeffersonia in your Ohio garden. Thank you!
I'm especially enchanted by the bugbane picture...must be hugely pleasing to see all those white spires moving in a gentle breeze. The serenity of the white is quite a contrast to the casual party atmosphere the picture below it presents with all the bold orange, golds, and reds.
Great plant selections to share. I've had the Jeffersonia on my wishlist for a while, but keep putting it off, and now see it is currently unavailable at my nearby neighbor, Plant Delights...Fail. I really like the shared vertical play of the Hemerocallis, Gladiolus, and Kniphofia. Thanks for sharing.
Wow... that Jeffersonia is indeed fabulous! Also, I am quite taken with the Actaea...I have not seen a grouping like that before ... sure makes an impressive display.
Thanks for sharing these great images, Chuck. Nice to see plants not far from my home. My Jeffersonia dubia is tiny and coming into it's third spring. I hope it can get to be as fabulous a this beauty. I've recently caught the Arisaema bug and am collecting as many as I can. A. ringens has the most amazing leaves!
Wow, the intense blue of your Jeffersonia dubia knocked my socks off this morning. The color is truly amazing flying solo as opposed to the riot of hot oranges and reds in the #4 combo photo. As Meander indicated earlier, there's a party going on with that grouping! Thanks Chuck... love it!
That's funny. I started writing my comment and then had to do something else. By the time I finished it you had posted yours, Sheila. I guess both our socks have been knocked off! Well, they say, great minds run in the same circles. They also say something about fools but I'm sticking with the great minds.
Haha Chris, I'm definitely going with great minds!
Wow, Chuck, that Diphylla is amazing! The cerulean blue just knocks my socks off! I looked it up and it seems it is usually a violet color. The Triosteum looks to be another good addition to the shade garden. That is a great photo of the massed Actaea. I'd love to have the cobra lily. I've always like Arisaemas. We're a little too far north for this one though.
I want to thank Joseph for letting us view larger versions of the photos. On a PC, you can just right click and choose "Open Image in New Tab" or something similar depending on your browser. I have no idea what you do on a Mac, tablet or smart phone. It would be nice to go back to the system where clicking on the photo popped up the bigger photo.
Also just got a peek at the beta version of the new Fine Gardening website. GPOD is now on the main banner menu instead of buried under blogs. Much cleaner looking page and probably easier to navigate for those on the aforementioned tablets and smart phones. Way cool.
Wow! Blue right off the start! Beautiful little plant for sure! Good morning Chuck. You have taken some great shots of great plants. The jeffersonia is on my list now. The cobra lily is awesome, from the start to the finish! Thanks for sharing with us!
Japanese Bugbane: Do deer eat it?
The beautiful blue Jeffersonia dubia: Do deer eat it?
They are both beautifully striking plants.
In my deer riddled garden, the bugbane has been untouched...fingers crossed.
Good morning, Chuck. Thanks for some interesting photos. I planted my first Actaea last summer and had to stake the flowers since they got so tall. I love the way you have it growing under a tree and may have to rethink its location in my garden. Wow, to that Jeffersonia color and also love cobra lilies for their weirdness.
Chuck, the blue of the Jeffersonia dubia is unreal. What a beautiful little flower. Does anyone know if it will survive in the hot , humid south? The Actaea is equally magnificent in a different way. But I loved the riotous party going on in the bed of Gladiolus, Hemerocallis(daylily), Kniphofia(redhot poker), et al. I have a narrow bed that currently has only Hemerocallis 'Stella de Oro' and Verbena Bonariensis; the addition of Glads and Redhot Poker plants would make it absolutely sing. Thanks so much for your postings and great ideas.
I also have visited the new Fine Gardening website and like the new look. Makes it very easy to get to the blog before I receive the email notification letting me know that it has been posted. It did take me a few minutes to find a way to get to previous photos of the day - Purple square with 3 white lines on right corner (The more computer savvy among you probably knew that right away.). The larger photos Joseph is posting now on the blog are also great - much easier for those of us with aging eyes to see all the plants. Thanks Fine Gardening.
Can't find a purple square with 3 white lines on the right corner, but maybe when my computer-savvy husband gets home, he will be more successful! Still would like more photos, though!
Oh my, be still my plant lusting heart! I about had a heart attack when I saw Weinheim as one of the places of your photos. We lived there for 3 years back when my husband was stationed at Mannheim. We might have visited there in it's early days and not known it would famous. Weinheim was such a lovely small town.
Plant lust galore!
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