Summer is winding down, it’s hard to believe that Labor Day is this weekend! However, the gardens at The Frelinghuysen Arboretum continue to bloom and thrive. Lisa Bencivengo was at the Arboretum recently and captured the following beauties: A close-up of the unusual, vivid deep blue flowers of Clitoria ternatea (butterfly pea). This legume is native to the Indonesian island of Ternate. Its roots form a symbiotic association with soil bacteria known as rhizobia and is often used to improve soil quality through the decomposition of nitrogen rich plant material. The other photo shared by Lisa is of the Gravel Garden, located on the small hill above Matilda’s Cottage, now several years old and maturing nicely.
Including native plants in your garden adds beauty to your landscape and provides food and shelter to butterflies, bees, birds, etc. Following are four beautiful plants that are native to our area, unless otherwise noted:
Silver gem prostrate blue violet (Viola walteri) is a compact, multi-stemmed herbaceous perennial with heart-shaped leaves and tiny violet flowers which forms a slowly spreading groundcover. Viola walteri grows in partial shade and is very drought tolerant once it’s established.
Solar cascade goldenrod (Solidago shortii) is a clump forming perennial with beautiful, miniature golden-yellow flowers borne in axillary clusters along the stems from late summer into fall. Grow it in full sun to part shade in moist, average or dry soil.
Great blue lobelia or blue cardinal flower (Lobelia siphilitica) is a gorgeous native perennnial with a strongly upright habit and covered in tall stalks of strikingly blue flowers from mid to late summer. It’s a bee and butterfly magnet and will thrive in full sun to part shade.
Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata ‘Ice Ballet’), native to MIssouri, is an herbaceous perennial, offering clusters of white, vanilla-scented flowers in mid-summer. This pollinator plant is especially attractive to the larval stage of Monarch butterflies. The flowers are followed by attractive seed pods which split open, releasing the silky haired seeds to the wind.
All of the above thrive in my garden and the plants were all purchased at various plant sales held by the Friends.
Member Michele Blustein visited the Arboretum recently and shared the following photographs with us. A closeup shot of an Echinops ritro flowerhead (globe thistle), followed by a vignette including globe thistle in front of a group of Achillea millefolium’s pastel flowers (Yarrow). The genus name Achillea comes from the mythical Greek character Achilles, who legend tells us, carried it with his army to treat wounded soldiers. Michelle also sent a picture of the Campsis radicans (trumpet creeper vine) in full and glorious bloom. Native to Eastern North America, the trumpet creeper flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies and can be used in erosion control as well as for herbal remedies for women’s health issues.
Today we’re featuring photographs taken by Katherine Boyle and Heather Emelander.
Katharine Boyle’s photographs show the progression from bud, to partially open, to fully open pseudo-umbel of the beautiful, tropical-looking Agapanthus africanus. Native to southern Africa, we know it as Lily of the Nile or African lily, although it’s not in the lily family. It’s not winter hardy in New Jersey, but makes a lovely container plant with its long, strappy green leaves and periwinkle blue flowers.
Heather Emelander provided a photograph of the Cotinus coggygria plant (smoke bush) growing in a bed next to the lower parking lot. This multi-stemmed shrub can grow to 23 feet in height, with green rounded leaves covered in a waxy glaucous sheen; when in bloom the pinkish-purple feathery plumes present a smoky appearance, hence the common name. Also from Heather is a photo of an upright scape of white, pendulous, fragrant Hosta flowers, sometimes referred to as plantain lily or funkia.
Thank you Katharine and Heather for sharing your photographs with us.
I got an email from Shawn Allen yesterday, enclosing a group of pictures he took last week. His note read,
“I went for a walk in the Arboretum one morning last week and took some photos to highlight the surrounding beauty that day. In one image with a yellow water hose, if you zoom in, you can see the blur of a hummingbird flying. It was moving so fast that’s all I could capture. Enjoy! Kindly, Shawn Allen”
Thanks, Shawn, for the nice views of the Frelinghuysen.
Regular contributor, Katharine Boyle, sent a beautiful batch of pictures from a recent visit, saying,
“I had a lovely visit to the arboretum on Saturday; here are some of my photo highlights. I was especially pleased with the sunflower that looks like it’s winking! The agapanthus had a variety of different blooming stages on display (three examples enclosed). “
Thanks, Katharine, for sharing the arboretum’s summer beauty with all of us.
Here’s a small sampling of what’s blooming at the Arboretum this week. A large, vibrant red perennial hibiscus flower (Hibiscus moscheutos), a pretty pink cluster of canna blossoms (Canna spp) and a group of pastel yellow/pink snapdragon (Antirrhinum) flower spikes. Stroll around the gardens to see if you can find them!
As you stroll by the various garden beds and borders at the Arboretum, you’ll be treated to a colorful variety of plants. The following photographs focus on the annual displays made possible by grants from the Friends of The Frelinghuysen Arboretum – Your Dollars At Work!
The raised beds leading to the Haggerty Education Center (HEC) are planted with a wide variety of colorful annuals, such as calibrachoa, elephant ears, snapdragon, etc. When you visit, be sure to look for the sign in the bed identifying each plant. The purple tuteurs in the beds provide a nice focal point and contrast to the many red, orange and yellow flowers.
The borders along the entry path to the HEC contain a variety of tropical plants, i.e. bananas, more elephant ears, cannas, etc. Also a calla lily with lush green leaves speckled with white. Sadly, I don’t know the name of the lovely hot pink plant in front of it.
The espaliered Japanese plum on the carriage house sports a nice collection of colorful annuals at its feet.
And the overgrown Taxus bed at the main entrance to the Mansion has been replanted with a neat group of boxwood.
Plan to visit soon so you can see all the lovely beds and borders for yourself!
Thank you to Heather Emelander for providing the photographs.
Busy little bees going about their business finding nectar and in the process pollinating plants. A bee with its head way into the trumpet of a hot pink calibrachoa flower and two more nectaring on the white flowers of Asclepias incarnata ‘Ice Ballet’. The yellow object on the leg of the bee on the right is a pollen basket, used to harvest pollen and carry it back to the hive for food for the colony.
July in the garden is mostly about maintenance and watering. The hard work of spring cleanup, planting and mulching is behind us. Now our attention shifts to maintaining the garden beds, i.e., weeding, deadheading, adding plants where needed either for color or to fill an empty spot and watering.
July can be especially hard on planted containers as they tend to dry out really quickly in the heat of summer, sometimes requiring daily watering. It’s also important to feed your containers on a regular basis to ensure blooming for the whole season. A container in my garden planted with Salvia ‘Amistad’ (Friendship Sage), two Calibrachoas (Callie Hot Pink and Callie Apricot) and a trailing Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ (Golden Creeping Jenny) is a thirsty one, but keeping up with watering and feeding rewards me with a profusion of petunia-like flowers and the lovely tubular, dark purple salvia flowers. A word to the wise about Creeping Jenny, though, don’t let her escape the confines of the container because she is a garden bully, forming dense mats that become difficult to get rid of. Had I known this earlier, I probably would not have added this particular plant to my container.
A design aspect I’m particularly fond of is the “garden vignette”, an intimate spot in the garden that provides a focal point or scene. A couple of vignettes in my small garden:
A cobalt blue birdbath, nestled among the foliage of a Japanese Maple, Hakone Grass, Hosta and Sedum, is visited often by Goldfinches, House Finches, Robins and even Yellow Jackets, both to bathe in and to drink from. I make it a point to keep the basin clean and full of fresh cool water to encourage their frequent visits. It’s fun to watch them, especially the Robins, such enthusiastic bathers! The ceramic goldfish, a bit of whimsy, does not seem to bother the birds at all.
Another vignette is in my shade garden where the chartreuse leaves of Hosta ‘Fire Island’ provide the background for the colorful leaves of Coleus ‘Trailing Rose’ a perfect combination to brighten up their spot in the garden. In the spring, the colorful pink flower plumes of Astilbe ‘Rheinland’ add their own beauty to this scene.
What is a garden without a comfortable place to sit, relax and enjoy the results of your hard work? My front porch offers the perfect spot from which to watch wildlife’s comings and goings, among them a Monarch butterfly feeding on Asclepias incarnata ‘Ice Ballet’ flowers (Swamp Milkweed) or to just contemplate the garden and dream of what comes next: enlarging a bed, adding a favorite plant, or some new garden ornament to enhance the border.
By the way, many of the plants that fill my garden were purchased from the Friends’ Annual Plant Sale this spring, i.e., Salvia ‘Amistad’, the two Calibrachoas, the gorgeous Coleus and the Asclepias, among others.
Happy gardening and do remember to take time to enjoy your efforts!
