FRIDAY FINDS

It's been a busy late summer so I haven't spent as much time on the internet as I might have otherwise and therefore there wasn't a lot of finds to share with you, but this week there's some can't miss stuff I want to share.

First off, don't miss the most charming little garden and plant show in Belgium, compliments of Rob from Detroit Garden Works. He's on a buying trip which means soon there will be pictures of all his amazing finds. What I wouldn't give to tagalong on that trip!

Nick at Thinking Outside the Boxwood shared some amazing containers he came across recently in Boston. Lots of good container inspiration to be had.

Speaking of containers, I shared some out-of-the-box ideas for fall containers on the Proven Beauty blog last weekend. Don't tell anyone, but I'm a little sick of mums and kale with a pumpkin jammed in. One never knows what the weather will bring but last year we didn't get a killing frost until mid-November. If that were to happen again, I'd get two and a half months out of new fall-planted containers and that's well worth it to me.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is always fun to see, and I urge you to check out Lisa's contribution at Greenbow Gardens. Her 'Fireworks' Solidago (aka goldenrod) is outstanding. I wish more people would appreciate that plant. Check out all the linked gardens at host May Dreams Gardens.

I haven't said anything about the impact of the hurricanes on The Impatient Gardener blog or social media channels, not because I don't care, but because I like to think of this as a place people can escape the worst of what is going on in the world. The devastation from both Harvey and Irma is terrible to see, and I'm particularly heartbroken to see what happened in parts of the Caribbean, which have far fewer resources helping than in the U.S. But this story about the damage to the Naples Botanical Garden is sad. I go there almost every year when I'm in Naples visiting family (who are fine, thankfully) so I'm sad to see what happened there.

But I don't want to leave on a sad note. Tanya at Lovely Greens (that's her above) has a great post chock-a-block with fall gardening tips and inspiration, so do check it out.

The weather here is for summer this weekend you know I'm excited about that! I'll be soaking up the sun on land and water, with some time in my garden and maybe a few others. What are you up to this weekend?

WHY YOU SHOULD BUY LESS-THAN-PERFECT PLANTS

You know how annuals at nurseries can look when things start getting picked over? Generally sad. It's hard for nurseries to keep up on the watering, it's getting hotter out making that even more difficult, and they might all be bunched up growing together. 

That's how you get plants like this Supertunia Indigo Charm. It's a favorite of mine (in my opinion all the "Charm" series of Supertunias are better performers than Superbells but look similar), but when I got around to picking it up toward the end of June the plants weren't looking their best.

It was a little leggy and the leaves were not as green as they probably should have been. In short, it was stressed. 

Here's what it looked like from above.

Sometimes when a plant is already looking a bit straggly, the best thing to do is cut it back right away, and that's exactly what I did with this one. Here's what it looked like after its haircut.

Then I potted it up by itself in a 10-inch (or so) pot, gave it some water, fertilized it every so often (whenever I fertilized my other container plants, which is whenever I thought of it) and just sat back and let it do its thing.

And did it ever. Here's what it looked like last week. I put the original pot next to it for scale.

I love how the flowers fade out a little so the overall effect is a two-tone plant.

So don't be afraid to pick up a less-than-perfect annual at the nursery. It might just turn out to be a stunner.

ONE PLANT, TWO GARDENS

It is always interesting to see how the same plant can grow differently in two almost identical locations. And in this latest case it was even a little disheartening.

Sweet Summer Love clematis is a prolific bloomer, but one that needs a good while to get established before it really starts showing off. Four years ago (I think), both my mom and I got one in a small quart-sized pot. I can't say mine had done much in terms of blooming in the past, although it's a lovely vine that always looks healthy.

But this year it's starting to do it's thing. In fact I was fussing over all the flowers—only about an inch or a little more each—on mine and all the buds yet to open. I spent a good amount of time with my camera capturing this beauty, which unfortunately is on a homemade support that rotted on one side and is starting to collapse.

Later that day I stopped by my parent's house. They live only about 15 minutes from me, just a touch farther away from Lake Michigan (which is THE weather influencer here), although much higher as I'm at lake level and they are on a bluff. 

I was taking a look around her garden, which always looks amazing as she is a dedicated weeder, turned a corner and saw this.

The purple cloud towering over this corner of the garden at my parent's house is Sweet Summer Love clematis, looking quite different than the one at my house. By the way, the three marked trees on the right are all ashes that have succumbed to Emerald Ash Borer, like hundreds on their property. They planted them by the dozen when they built the house in the 1960s and all are failing, so their property is undergoing some rather dramatic changes.

Not only is this corner of her garden—one she only recently started gardening in—absolutely stunning, but rising above all of that amazing color is a purple cloud.

That's her Sweet Summer Love. It would not be an overstatement to guess that there might be 5,000 flowers on it. There is a beautiful painted tuteur that is about 7 feet tall or more under all that, not that you can see it. 

If you look closely you can see the top of the tuteur sticking out the top.

I can't explain the difference. Perhaps her just slightly warmer garden made the difference. Or maybe her soil, which is heavier than mine and has more clay, is more appealing to this plant. Maybe she just has hers in a better spot all around.

Or maybe, just maybe, my garden is  just a week or so behind hers and mine will soon look like this.

A gardener can hope.

FRIDAY FINDS

Have you noticed that I've not shown you much (or maybe anything) from the vegetable garden this year? That's because I got so late planting stuff that even my kale is only a few inches tall. The only variety I grow anymore is lacinato, which, as you can tell from the photo above from Mackinac Island makes a pretty great ornamental, as well as being so tasty!

If you've read much on this blog you know I can't resist a good alliteration, which makes me even more excited to be one of the "Garden Gurus" contributing to the Proven Beauty blog. My first post there is about how to get your garden ready for your vacation. I'd love it if you checked it out and maybe even left a comment. Thank you in advance!

Most people in today have never stood under a majestic elm tree, but a huge effort to bring elms back has been underway for years. This story about the process of reintroducing Dutch elm disease-resistant cultivars and getting elms back is fascinating.

The size of the landscape projects Deborah Silver works on is astounding to me.

Warning: This next bit has a couple of Amazon affiliate links in it. Thanks for supporting The Impatient Gardener!

I have found a product that seems to keep the rabbits from nibbling! It's a spray by Plantskyyd. But oh my lordy, it smells so foul. The smell goes away as soon as it dries, but it will clear your patio if you spray it. It's also made of blood and it looks like it, so the garden takes on a bit of a murder scene look. The staining (unless you get it on your clothes) also goes away. BUT I just found out they make a granular product that I'm going to try. Seems like it would be a lot nicer to use. I'll report back.

By the way, I still swear by Messina's Deer Stopper II for the deer situation. And it smells like cinnamon and cloves, so you're basically spraying Christmas on your garden.

This is such a lovely podcast episode by Margaret Roach and well worth a listen, but I warn you, it will make you hungry!

We are actually going to be social this weekend! We have a very large party (it's sort of a work thing but also all of our sailing friends will be there) tonight and then we're having people over tomorrow (I have a bit of last minute weeding to do for that). That's quite a lot of socializing for us so some time in the garden on Sunday will be lovely.

Do you have gardening plans this weekend and if you're growing food, what are you harvesting now?

Have a great weekend!

ABUNDANCE OF GARDEN CHARM

I've been a bit slow in posting this week, in part because it's that horrible just-back-from-vacation thing where you're running around and feel like nothing is getting done, but also because I took SO many photos this year that it's taking me awhile to get through them. I tell ya, Mackinac Island is heaven for a gardener. There is so much color and inspiration everywhere you turn.

I'm a nut for fences and gates. I can't explain this, but I love them, and yet I have neither in my garden! This will have to change.  But how charming are these?

And plant-lined walkways to beautiful old cottages.

Mr. Much More Patient declared the Mackinac Island Post Office the most charming post office on the planet.

And of course gorgeous views of the Straits of Mackinac, where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron connect.

That's the prettiest lighthouse on the Great Lakes in the background: Round Island Light. It's also one end of the finish line for the sailboat race I do to the island every year.

My favorite climbing hydrangea arbor that I take a picture of every year.

 Amazing plantings in yards.

Both sides of this house had these terraced beds just brimming with color.

And of course the most incredible displays of annuals designed by Jack Barnwell, including this gorgeous container.

This is just the tip of the iceberg folks. I have so many inspiring shots to show you. Stay tuned! If you want to see more though, consider going to the Grand Garden Show in August. You'll get "backstage" tours of the most amazing private yards on the island. 

THE SHRUB QUEEN

Stacey Hirvela didn't get into gardening the way many people do; it wasn't something she was surrounded by. But her grandmother grew lily of the valley by the garage, and young Stacey was allowed to pick as many of the flowers as she wanted. It wasn't until she was older that she discovered gardening for herself and realized how head over heels in love with it she was.

She was a senior linguistics major at the University of Michigan when she realized that the idea of gardening for living was more attractive than what she'd been studying, she said. The next stop was the New York Botanical Garden's school of professional horticulture, an eduction she credits with giving her a well-rounded horticulture education, rather than a more narrowly focused one that she may have gotten at a university graduate program.

Stacey Hirvela

"I got a plant-focused education that has done a lot of good for me," Stacey said. "I have to say, it's pretty hard to stump me on a plant ID."

That education led to jobs many gardening fanatics would classify as dream jobs. Stacey was the head horticulturist at Tavern on the Green in Manhattan, senior assistant garden editor at Martha Stewart Living magazine and now she's the horticulture marketing specialist for Spring Meadow Nursery (the folks behind Proven Winners Colorchoice Shrubs).

I first ran into Stacey when she was with Martha Stewart Living magazine, when she was a speaking at one of the first Proven Winners Outdoor Living Extravaganzas. I remember being completely entertained by this woman who was easy going, fun, maybe a little rebellious and not at all the straight-laced mini Martha I had been expecting. Our paths have crossed here and there over the years and I thought she'd be an interesting person to feature here.

Spring Meadow Nursery is located on the other side of Lake Michigan from me so I have a bit of an idea what kind of conditions they grow in there. Stacey, who has worked there for almost six years, said working inside the plant industry is treating her well. If you reach out on social media to Proven Winners Colorchoice Shrubs with a plant question, most of the time you'll be talking to Stacey.

Stacey's home garden has gradually developed to be particularly nature friendly but a true design is in the works after she and her husband finish an exterior renovation of their home. Stacey Hirvela photo

"This industry is so full of great people and I love my job because I get to work with home gardeners every day and help them one on one," she said. "And I get to see plants go from the trial gardens to the naming process to becoming a huge hit."

Working and living in Michigan has also offered Stacey the opportunity to have her own yard to garden in. Stacey and her husband are renovating their house and have been waiting until after they finish the exterior to really dig into a true garden design, but that doesn't mean there's no gardening happening in their yard.

Bugs are good. Stacey Hirvela photo

"I'm an equal opportunity plant geek, but the more that I work in my yard and select plant, the more I just fall completely in love with native plants," she said. "I've come to see my garden as more of a stage for nature. I sort of like to create a setting where nature and birds are the performers."

Michigan's lakeshore communities are typically full of sandy soil and Stacey said her yard is very sunny, so plants have to withstand an extreme environment to survive there (although the excellent drainage and insulation from the lake allows plants that may push the 6a zone to survive when they might not otherwise, she said).

Despite holding off on a "design" for the garden, one has formed nonetheless, she said.

"There was a big old veggie patch in the back that was all weedy and neglected and when we moved we basically just dug everything into that bed as a holding area," Stacey said. "Now that's basically a border. It's kind of hilarious because it's fairly haphazard, but it works."

See Stacey's list of her personal must-have plants at the bottom

Stacey Hirvela photo

Stacey and I share a certain garden-related pet peeve as well: Garden myths, particularly those perpetuated by Pinterest (I actually have a Pinterest board dedicated to gardening tips you shouldn't follow.)

"For me it stems from the fact that I cannot stand to see things that set people up for failure in the garden," she said. "People already have so much fear about being in the garden and when it doesn't work they blame themselves. There is this weird thing in gardening where if people fail once they take it so personally as if at the end of their life there is going to be a personal recounting of every plant they've killed. There's no such thing as a black thumb, just people who don't know how to garden yet."

Take one of the most popular garden myths, for example. Epsom salts are supposed to do everything from make plants grow perfectly to kill weeds (I still struggle with how both of those can be true) to magically making tree stumps disappear.

"First of all, it's salt, so people should know that salt and soil are not good friends," Stacey said. "But people love this idea that there's this thing sitting on their shelf that's going to provide horticultural miracles. And the recommendations for Epsom salts are ridiculous when you look at what it contains. Magnesium and sulphur are essential nutrients but they are rarely lacking in soil, so when you use it you're just polluting and using an unnecessary chemical. I just dislike that it pulls people farther from understanding plants."

Other common myths that draw Stacey's ire are putting a whole egg in the bottom of a pot before planting ("It's just going to rot and you might be in for a really nasty surprise when you empty your pot in fall") and putting a diaper in the bottom of a hanging basket ("It holds water, it doesn't give back water. It just serves as a water reservoir that is going to cause a disposal issue. It's unnecessary and takes up room in the container so it's really just making way more work for zero benefit.")

Even though there being no scientific reason for some of these myths to work, why do people swear they have success with some of them?

"The people who seek these things out tend to be people who take good care of their plants anyway," Stacey said. "If it works, it's them, not the Epsom salts."

And while these myths are annoying because they just don't work, the bigger issue, says Stacey, is that they continue to make plants seem like complicated things to be kept at arms length.

"There's not a lot of awareness of the benefits of gardening," she said. "People will walk by a yard with a beautiful garden and think 'I could never do that,' but that's because they haven't tried. Cooking used to be seen as a huge chore for people and now people are really into it. It became this huge thing and I think that could potentially happen for gardening. If more people gardened it would be great."

STACEY HIRVELA'S MUST-HAVE PLANTS FOR HER OWN GARDEN

• Native edibles including weeping persimmon, currants, pawpaws and Amelanchier aka Serviceberry: "It does everything: it's edible, it flowers it has fall color. You'd be crazy not to plant it!"
• Geum triflorum aka Prairie Smoke: "I just love it and will allow it to seed around and make itself at home."
• Hydrangeas: "When I came to this job I wasn't a super hydrangea nut, but when you find yourself exposed to a plant a lot, you appreciate things you might have missed before." Favorites include Hydrangea arborescens: "There are lace cap varietals I would not want to be without. I have never seen as many different pollinators on a plant as I've seen on 'White Dome.' It represents the best of hydrangeas don't associate with a plant that's really landscape worthy."

Other gardening experts I've written about:

Jack Barnwell

Renee Shepherd

2016 CONTAINERS

It's high time I tell you a little about the containers I planted this year. I like to show you them early in the summer if only to prove that no container looks great when it's first planted (and some look positively pathetic), unless you start with enormous plants, which few people do. It takes time for them to grow in and look their best.

This year I tried to be a little more cohesive in my plan and as always, it started with the window box. This looks positively pathetic right now but I have hopes that it will fill in nicely without getting totally overgrown and blocking the entire view out the kitchen window.

I used a palette that was at least partly dictated by the 'Autumn Sunset' climbing rose that grows on the trellis on the front of the house. Its flowers vary from yellow to apricot to peach and I wanted something that complimented that. My first thought it always blues, which is by far the color I turn to most often in the garden. I used a coral flower for the center, blue petunias, a bit of lime green and even some pink.

Here's what's planted in it (some affiliate links used):
Verbena bonariensis 'Meteor Shower'
Coleus 'Lemon Twist' (currently very small and not even really visible)
Superbells 'Coralina'
Surfina 'Heavenly Blue'
Oranmental Oregano 'Kent Beauty'
Helichrysum petiolare 'Lemon Licorice'

I repeated this color theme in the big box by the front door. I saw Eupatorium capillifolium 'Elegant Feather' in a garden for the first time last year and knew I had to have it. I found it at a local nursery I'd not been to before, but the landscaper who planted it at the place I originally spotted it called it a "Dr. Suess plant." It does have a tendency to follow the sun around. Around it I planted three purple-leafed dahlias ('Roxy', I believe), which I expect will do as much with their flowers as the dark, broad, foliage will do against the fine-textured Elegant Feather. I also repeated the blue petunia, added in a purple sweet potato vine for some drape, and a new striped Superbells in a coral-type color.

Eupatorium capillifolium 'Elegant Feather'
Superbells 'Tropical Sunrise' (A trial plant from Proven Winners available next year)
Surfina 'Heavenly Blue'
Ipomonea 'Sweet Caroline Raven'

There was more repetition in the urn in the middle of the patio garden, which makes sense as these three containers form a triangle. Again I used an Elegant Feather here and then kept it simple with just more 'Coralina' Superbells and blue lobelia.

Eupatorium capillifolium 'Elegant Feather'
Superbells 'Coralina'
Lobelia 'Laguna Sky Blue'

I did go away from the theme a little for the smaller blue pots I like to stack on the stairs to the front door. I quite like this particular geranium and I found it for a great price so it made the cut, along with the need little oxalis I found. The two square pots also got a metal rings for a little interest (scavenged from a rotted out wagon wheel on a neighbor's property).

Pelargonium 'Vancouver Centennial'
Oxalis 'Molten Lava'

Over by the garage, the boxwood planter (which spent its second winter in the unheated garage and did well) again got a skirt of white impatiens and I love how it's looking a little unkempt with it's new growth right now. It will get a trim in a couple weeks.

That planter moved between the garage doors to make room for a new planter this year, a metal trough style. The lack of interest on the garage and the pergola has been bothering me, so this bigger planter helps fill a blank space. I've also planted two clematis in it, ones that get quite tall, in hopes that they will flop over onto the pergola at some point.

The clematis are a bit of an experiment, as this west-facing wall gets a lot of bright light but almost no direct sun. Both of the clematis—'Perle d'Azur' and 'Alba Luxurians'—are supposed to be able to tolerate a bit of shade, but I am always wary of those reports. I had hoped to have Mr. Much More Patient build a trellis for the wall to help the clematis make the leap to the pergola, but that's on hold until later in summer when everyone has more time. For now, a couple of bamboo poles will suffice. Both of these clematis are group 3, meaning they can be cut back in late winter/early spring, which will help keep the pergola (should they ever reach it) looking tidy.

In a rather remarkable show of restraint (I have a bad habit of putting too much in a container), I keep the color palette very simple, just using white impatiens, variegated ivy and Plectranthus argentatus. Maybe there's something to this whole "keep it simple" strategy as I'm loving how this container is looking.

Clematis 'Perle d'Azur
Clematis 'Alba Luxurians'
Plectranthus argentatus
Impatiens New Guinea 'Infinity White'
Variegated English ivy

We haven't mowed the lawn in almost two weeks because, well, life. Fortunately we have patient neighbors who haven't asked what we're up to.

This doesn't count as much of a container, but the tree stump that we "planted" in the garden by the garden got a dose of hot pink this year in the form of New Guinea impatiens and I love the effect of it over there.

The final containers in my garden are the white fiberglass containers on the deck which I almost don't want to show you. I first planted these this weekend and they look pathetic. I have been desperately trying to wrap up the major work in the garden and they became just one more thing on the to-do list and they look like it. Let's hope they grow in, but I almost feel bad about what an afterthought they were this year.

Pink mandevilla vine (I don't remember exactly which one)
Euphorbia 'Diamond Delight'
Creeping Jenny
Superbells 'Hollywood Star'
Zinnia grown from seed that I lost the tag on

I have just a couple more containers to show you that I'm happy with. A neighbor down the road asked me if I could do his containers for him this year as he had been trucking them to a nearby nursery every year to plant them. The project consisted of six 6-inch terracotta pots that sit in a holder under the windowsill and two 18-inch pots at the entrance to the small entry deck. The terracotta pots had to have red geraniums in there because for the last 32 years, that's what's been there. I'm not thrilled with planting anything in a 6-inch terracotta pot that I know will dry out very, very quickly, but I'm also not going to mess with tradition. So red geraniums it was.

I took the cues for the larger planters from those geraniums and put in 'Fireworks' grass, purple sweet potato vine, Euphorbia and a red calibrachoa.

Pennisetum 'Fireworks'
Euphorbia 'Diamond Delight'
Superbells 'Pomegranate Punch'


P.S. Thank you all for your kind words and understanding about the loss of our dog Rita. It's very comforting and I'm happy we live in a world where so many other people understand the sadness of losing a beloved pet.

P.P.S. Don't forget to check out the giveaway for a Sneeboer Royal Dutch Hand Hoe and enter to win this great tool.

P.P.P.S. As part of my Saturday6 gig with Troy-Bilt I'm taking over their Instagram account this week, so make sure to check me out over there. As a disclaimer, I get paid to work with Troy-Bilt in their Saturday6 program.

ABBONDONZA OF ANNUALS: A PEEK AT A FAVORITE GARDEN

God bless the cloud. When my phone took one bounce of the deck of the boat last week before plunging into the depths of Lake Michigan I had no idea what had all backed up to the cloud before it offed itself. Thankfully, upon returning home I found all of the photos I had taken on Mackinac Island safely delivered to my computer, so although I'll be having serious communication issues for a bit, at least my photos are safe.

I write about the gardens on Mackinac Island pretty much every year and although I didn't get to many of them, I did spent a fair amount of time wandering around one of my favorites at the Hotel Iroquois.

The entrance garden, looking toward the street.

The garden is designed and maintained by Jack Barnwell Landscaping, which is located on the island and responsible for pretty much all of the flowers downtown as well as at many of the lavishly landscaped private gardens on the island.

The bulk of the garden is made of annuals, which comes as no surprise as its a Proven Winners Signature garden. There are some perennials that help create a framework of the garden.

Boxwood are accented with begonias in every bright color imaginable.

This shady corner by the entrance is one of my favorite spots in the garden. Ferns, lamium, hostas and a birch mingle nicely together. I'm quite taken with the lamium as a groundcover.

This is a bright garden. I'm not sure if such a colorful palette would work everywhere but it certainly works on Mackinac Island and definitely on this particular property. The natural palette here is the light blue of the Michigan sky, a darker blue of Lake Michigan, green grass and the white building, so the color is dynamic in this setting. The gardens flank the entrance to the Carriage House restaurant and wrap around the back where (at least when I go there), tables are set up on the grass for al fresco dining.

This garden is on the dining room side. There were tons of 'Meteor' verbena bonariensis in the beds, a new plant that I'm also trialing in my window box this year. So far it's my favorite new plant of the year and I absolutely love the look of it in these beds. 

The most beautiful outdoor dining chairs ever. I looked them up when I got home. For a cool $1,000 or so per chair, they too can be yours.

I've been talking a lot about Tiny Tuff Stuff hydrangea and there were several planted in the garden. Although they were in need of a little bit of deadheading, I wasn't as taken with them as I anticipated I would be.

Long planter boxes flank the edge of the water next to the ferry dock.

This container planting was a dark but cheery at the same time. 

Only on Mackinac Island are the gardens so magical that a cedar tree can literally grow out of a rock.

On the back side of the property, weigela is a beautiful backdrop for purple and red flowers.

The front of the hotel was mostly planted with dahlias.

Farther down the street, another restaurant had interesting window boxes (that I'm 99% sure were planted by Jack's crew). The were mostly intriguing to me because of the surprising addition of 'Summer Shandy' hops on the ends. I think it's a great idea for a different plant to bring a lime color to a box.

That's it for my annual review of some of the plantings on Mackinac Island. Here are some of my posts about the gardens on the island from past year (and most feature the Hotel Iroquois gardens so you can see how they change from year to year).

• 2014
• Q&A with garden designer Jack Barnwell
• 2011 (window boxes)
• 2012
• A hanging basket from 2010
• Iroquois gardens from 2010

The Iroquois Hotel garden is always a stop on the Grand Garden Show on Mackinac Island every year. Jack Barnwell also takes attendees on tours of some of his most impressive private gardens as well. I've not attended but one of these years I absolutely must.

And I leave you with the very last picture ever taken on my phone, snapped just minutes before it took the big plunge, looking back after passing under the Mackinac Bridge.