Ghostwater Garden

My Favorite Plant

Japanese Forest Grass  (Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola')

From the moment this grass begins to show in spring, the very Gold that Rob't Frost celebrates, this plant has a strong prescence in my garden.

It's a supporting role everywhere it's planted, and gives an Oscar worthy performance.  Here it is, on stage with Peachleaf Bellflower (Campanula persicifolia) and Balloon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorum.)

A slightly different angle in summer, with an unnamed daylily cultivar (hemerocallis) and one of the perennial phlox (Phlox paniculata hybrid.)

In late summer, it throws delicate sprays of ruby tinted seeds, almost lost in the blades which also begin to blush pink.

For winter it maintains a tidy form, holding up to Michigan's random snowfalls until I cut it back in spring. 

A plant with a strong stance, perfectly complimentary to the showier bloomers, is always a welcome addition to my borders. 

Its one drawback, perhaps, is that it prefers a semi-shady spot.  Here it is located on the east side of my house off the drive, where it gets all morning sun and then reflected light in the afternoon.  In the muggy midwest it doesn't demand a lot of additional water, the hose you see is to quench the thirst of my many patio plantings. An overall winner, and a favorite in my garden. 

And yes, picking one plant?  Devilishly hard.  This one won for its all-season interest, and the way it brings a smile to my face every time I pass. 

My dogs like it too.  It's grass, right?  They can't understand why I won't let them eat it!

December 25th...

Have a very merry day, where-ever you may be. 

We've done all our family gathers, and today is dedictated to just hanging out with the pups.  A pop music seasonal CD is in the changer, and Burl is singing Holly Jolly....

Warm wishes to all. 

News on Heronswood

In breaking news, The Pacific Northwest Horticultural Conservancy (PNHC), a non-profit organization, has just been formed with the mission to acquire and preserve this internationally renowned botanical garden and plant collection at the former nursery property.

The goal is to establish a community-based, self-sustaining horticultural research and education center, collaborating with educational institutions such as the University of Washington and Olympic College. For updates and information on how you can become involved, visit weloveplants.org.

- Source:  The Renegade Gardener

Book Review: December

My Favorite Plant: Writers and Gardeners on the Plants They Love, by Jamaica Kincaid. 

Well.  And well.  This is an interesting assortment of pieces.  Interesting. 

I find I have to talk about the book itself, as Tracy  has done, only in a different perspective.  This book has texture.  The essays, poems and writings are smooth, and rough, and light, and dark.  Some are high and some are low.  I have to believe that this was the intention of Kincaid, else I can't fit one piece into this book. 

I have to come around from the back of the book, traveling back through my thoughts through the pages, to make the one jarring entry fit.  I'm not even sure it does then.  It's only eight pages.  Eight slim pages that seem entirely out of place. 

The flower in the title is not loved.  The plant that is the (literal) touchstone of the protagonist is a fungus.  The story is difficult to read.  It is low and dark. 

I was further dismayed to note that the piece appears to be a fiction work.  Something autobiographical might better sit with me, presented in this context. 

It is unfortunate that the tone and content of this one story should so affect my enjoyment of the book overall, but that is what has happened.  This may just be a personal failing.  Or it may not. 

Otherwise, this was a thoroughly enjoyable book to read.  The poems 'Bearded Iris' and 'Purple Anenomes' revealed themselves charmingly.  I've not read D. H. Lawrence, and was surprised by his sly humor and astute observations. 

I find myself wanting to seek out the clove carnations praised by Graham Stuart Thomas; and Ken Druse only maddens my desire for Arisaema.  Thomas C. Cooper wryly notes that Pelargorium are not Geranium.   Nancy Goodwin lists cyclamen for me to try.  I, like Thomas Fischer, crave the blue of the delphinium.

But finally, my favorite piece in the book is the dry text of Geoffrey B. Charlesworth, on the tiny but mighty Physoplexis comosa.  Sometimes you have to get right down to the level of the dirt to truly appreciate a small beauty.

But watch you don't pick up ringworm...

Winter Has Arrived

Winter never creeps in around here, like spring.  Oh no.  It crashes in like some rut-crazed buck, disregarding windows and doors and blasting through the house pell-mell. 

I'm cold.  My dog is cold.  Hat on head, mocs on feet, flannel lined jeans, turtleneck, shearling vest... I'm still cold.  My dogs just snuggle under the fleece blankets we provide for them.  Spoiled pups.

Winter is to be borne, as if in penance - althought what I might have done to deserve this, I surely don't know.  I'm counting the days to the solstice.  Winter isn't even official until that painfully short day.

How short?

Twi: 7:29am
Sunrise: 8:01am
Sunset: 5:05pm
Twi: 5:37pm
Moonrise: 10:09am
Moonset: 7:12pm

(source)

And then I start counting for spring.  Woe, that I live in Michigan.