Garden Photo of the Day

Revisiting Nina’s garden in Massachusetts

My west side yard with hostas, 'Pinky Winky' hydrangea, weeping Larch (new this year), bee balm (saw a few hummingbirds in my yard this year), and assorted day lilies. Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Nina Schlosberg

You know I love revisiting gardens we’ve featured in the past. I hope you do, too! Today we’re revisiting Nina Schlosberg in Waltham, Massachusetts. You can see our past visits to Nina’s garden HERE, HERE, and HERE.

This echinacea is called ‘Milk Shake’ and of all the new introductions, this one is the most reliable in my yard. Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Nina Schlosberg

Nina’s giving us all the info we need today in the captions….Enjoy, and have a great weekend, everyone!

You’re running out of time to take some photos in your garden! So get out there with your cameras and send some in! Email them to [email protected].

Can’t have a garden without daylilies! Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Nina Schlosberg
Never enough daylilies… Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Nina Schlosberg
East yard with shed – Japanese maple in foreground, butterfly bush, caryopteris, and hydrangea in background. Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Nina Schlosberg
For now this is my favorite daylily, called ‘Blueberry Breakfast’ – it starts blooming mid July and I’ve had reblooms up until the 1st week of September. And the reblooms are not diminished in size….And the color is luscious….. Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Nina Schlosberg
Backyard/south side….more daylilies, of course, Hydrangea ‘Quick Fire’ on left- it’s bloom heads are a nice pink now. Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Nina Schlosberg
My best buddy, Lily. Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Nina Schlosberg
A late blooming daylily, which is still blooming now along with double pink knock-out roses. Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Nina Schlosberg
Helenium with phlox. Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Nina Schlosberg
Helenium blooming up into a hydrangea paniculata. Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Nina Schlosberg
Assortment of annuals and perennials in the back yard – I call this section the dog patch (grass doesn’t grow well….). Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Nina Schlosberg

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Comments

  1. wGardens 09/27/2013

    That IS a lovely daylily, "Blueberry Breakfast". I'll have to look for that one. It is also good to know what varieties of Echinacea work for folks; there are so many and I've heard that some are not reliable. Great photo with the Helenium and Hydrangea!

  2. User avater
    meander_michaele 09/27/2013

    Hi, Nina, your garden looks gorgeous in any season and today's pictures do not disappoint! That is quite a rave review on the Blueberry Breakfast daylily (such a fun name to boot)...to have one that is such a prodigious rebloomer is a treasure. I'm definitely going to do a google search on it and see if I can order it through the mail. Glad to see Lily back in your photos doing her job of being "best buddy".
    Have you had the 'Milkshake' echinacea for several seasons now? If so, I'm guessing you are giving it a thumbs up because it comes back true to form. Do you remember the names of some of the new hybrids that have disappointed you?

  3. gloriaj 09/27/2013

    You garden is beautiful. You drew me in when I saw your Hydrangeas, my favorite flower. I too enjoy taking pictures of my garden. Great idea of making calendars of your pictures.

  4. lijda 09/27/2013

    Beautiful. It makes me think I don’t have enough daylilies, although I also don’t have enough sun. I certainly don’t have enough sun for Echinacea but the following tip from Andrew Koelm, head gardener at Mohonk Mountain House, was news for many of us on a tour organized by Berkshire Botanical Garden: on the newer Echinacea hybrids, you need to cut down the entire flower stalk when deadheading, not just the bloom. If you cut just the bloom, the plant seems confused and languishes. That tip, of course, doesn’t help with hardiness, but I hope it’s of interest to those who can grow Echinacea.

    Mohonk Mountain House, by the way, is a joy to see for gardeners. Their primary flower display was jaw-dropping (I didn’t think I really cared about flowers but oh-my-word…) and they have incredible specimen shrubs and trees, including a weeping beech planted in 1899 that had formed a kind of room under its branches. I also learned that Hydrangea ‘Twist and Shout’ looks a lot like ‘Lady in Red’ (beautiful foliage and red stems) but blooms on new wood. I’d be able to prune it to fit its spot without sacrificing bloom (yes, I guess I do care about bloom).

  5. Wife_Mother_Gardener 09/27/2013

    Lovely daylilies, Nina! Thanks for sharing!!

  6. cwheat000 09/27/2013

    These pictures made me smile. First of all, I am a sucker for a cute dog. Is she a foxhound? She looks a little guilty in that photo, lol. Second, your garden is so full of color, joy, and enthusiasm. Some of your combos are really spectacular. I love the perky clear yellow helenium with the billowy creamy hydrangea. I also love the Frans Hals daylily with the daisies and the yellow helianthus? On a different note, I have had great success with the milkshake echinacea for 4 years running now. ( thank you, lijda. That echinacea pruning tip is definitely something I will use; and I will be planning a day trip to mohonk mountain house this fall.) I have had equally good success with hot papaya echinacea, it's tomato red double sister. Oddly, for me, the doubles are lasting longer than some of the singles. Thanks for the tip on blueberry breakfast. I can always find a home for another great day lily. Desperado daylily performs like that for me-amazing bud count.

  7. cwheat000 09/27/2013

    Meander 1-if this helps, my echinacea failures include Burgundy fireworks and tiki torch. Both disappeared the next season. I will probably try again. They were both really pretty.

  8. User avater
    Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 09/27/2013

    Great garden, great virtual visit. Have never been a big fan of daylillies, but you are changing my mind!

  9. tractor1 09/27/2013

    Blueberry Breakfast is beautiful, however not sure why blueberry as its fuchia hue is nowhere near the color of blueberries, still it's a show stopper. Everything in your garden is well tended, I love it all, but my humble side likes those blackeyed susans best. Thank you Nina, for yet another tour of your garden.

  10. GrannyMay 09/27/2013

    Nina your daylilies are wonderful! I've long been a fan of them, despite the deadheading, and the newer colours are amazing.

    Count me in as one who keeps trying with echinacea. I have lost far too many to relate, only one whose name I documented - "Pow Wow Wildberry". I do have some survivors though (sorry I didn't document the names) a white and a pink, both for at least 7 years, and another pink and a flaming orange that I grow in containers, both in their 3rd year. I so love the new colours that I am willing to treat them as annuals, that is why they are in containers, and that some survive is a bonus!

  11. sheila_schultz 09/27/2013

    Nina, your gardens are a delightful explosion of color. You must be so happy every time you look out your windows! I'm with Vojt, I've never been a huge fan of daylilies, but you are changing my mind!
    I have had trouble with Echinacea, too. Hot Papaya and Tiki Torch never made it to the second season. I went through at least 15 plants over 2 or 3 years. Thanks for the tip lijda, I may have to try them again!

  12. wildthyme 09/27/2013

    Your daylilies are gorgeous. They're a plant that I think is way underused and underappreciated here in Montana. Your dog is adorable, but she does look guilty . . . probably those crop-circles in the lawn!

  13. mainer59 09/27/2013

    I love color, and you have it. Thank you for sharing again. Question: any idea the name of the late blooming daylily with the rose? I have one that looks a lot like it. It came labeled as Chicago Royal Robe, but that daylily is supposed to bloom early, and be more purplish, and the one you and I have (if it is indeed the same one) is definitely a late bloomer. Also, thank you lijda on the echinacea pruning tip. Nina and others are making me think I should do more with them (besides purpurea). Do you have to deadhead to prevent non hybird seedlings from muddying the waters, so to speak? Anyone with experience with tomato soup? I have seen it several times in gardens this summer, but always new plants and not ones that have wintered over.

  14. tractor1 09/27/2013

    I love daylilies but unfortunately I can't have them here, I've tried but as soon as they bud the deer gobble them (in the orient daylily buds are a gourmet ingredient). I'm safe with spruce trees however so I planted another 'Fat Albert' Colorado blue spruce yesterday to complete my trio, and I have one in my front lawn that gets lit up for the Holidays, now too tall for me to reach the top but after dark no one passing can tell that the lights only go about 2/3 of the way. One of my gingkos and my spruce trio:

  15. user-7006921 09/27/2013

    Thanx for your comments - sounds like I might have some new daylily converts....Daylilies just don't disappoint.....I don't recall the name of the rosy daylily photographed with the roses - I think that I got it from Olallie daylily Farm in Vermont. They have a great selection of tall reds.
    Yes, I agree with the other gardeners here that the new hybrids of echinaceas are real "iffy", unlike the tried and true purpurea....Besides 'Milkshake" (in its 3rd season for me), I've had success with Hot Papaya, Merinque and Double Pink Delight. The failures include Tomato Soup, Tiki torch, Bubblegum and some others in the 'sun' series. Wish I knew how to keep them around for more than 1 season. Removing the entire stalk instead of just deadheading the bloom seems drastic, but I might try it and see.
    My pooch Lily is a rescue hound from somewhere in Virginia - her markings do suggest foxhound and she does 'bay' like one at other dogs out my window....She can also smell a thunder storm coming hours before it arrives.....
    Would like to visit the Mohunk Mt. House that Lijda mentioned - where is it?
    -Nina

  16. User avater
    meander_michaele 09/27/2013

    Thanks so much for the follow-up info on what kind of success you've had with the various new echinacea hybrids. I tried one called 'Cheyenne Spirit' which I loved but I'll see if it comes back next year. I'm definitely a devotee of daylilies and there always seem to be room for a new one.

  17. karenm7459 09/28/2013

    Your garden is absolutely beautiful. I collect Daylilies and your really look beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

  18. thegardenlady 09/28/2013

    Your garden is beautiful.Love the 'Blueberry Breakfast' daylily (certainly evokes the color of blueberry juices) and the 'Milkshake' coneflower. Would like to try them both. Hmmm, they should both look and taste well together!

  19. wGardens 09/30/2013

    My "Green Envy" Echinacea does very well here mid-state NY... 5th year- though it gets 3-3 1/2 feet tall and needs to be staked.

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