Enchanting Gardens in the Valley, garden tours, Valley Churches United

Enchanting Gardens in the Valley

The LoFranco garden

It?s not everyday one gets the opportunity to visit an estate here in our neck of the woods. So if this sounds interesting to you get yourself a ticket for the upcoming Valley Churches United Garden Tour on Saturday June 22nd from 10am to 5pm . Enchanting Gardens in the Valley will showcase 7 beautiful gardens in Ben Lomond and Felton and directly benefit their year-round food pantry. You?ll come away in awe of the gorgeous landscapes some of our local gardeners have created.

You can visit the gardens in any order but I started at the largest garden near Quail Hollow. This 4 acre garden features a koi pond and waterfall in the front which is pretty spectacular in itself. But the back garden features a lake. Yes, I said a lake with a dock and an island and a huge waterfall. The owner, Vince LoFranco, told me that the only plant on the property 25 years ago was one redwood. The back acreage was then a spring fed marsh. They first had an engineer draw up plans to drain the boggy area but on second thought decided to go with nature and create the pond. When you visit look for Shadow, the black cat, the huge tadpoles in the lake and the blooming perennials, Japanese maples and grasses among all the other horticultural delights.

The Sikes garden

The Sikes garden was next on my list. Jeanne allows visitors to walk through the main living and kitchen areas as they are extensions of her garden. Using red as her primary color along with touches of vivid yellow, orange and blue with lots of white this garden features something to admire at every turn. There are many sitting areas to enjoy under the massive oaks. Jeanne adds new decorations all the time so if you visited this garden on the VCU tour a couple years ago there is a ton of newly created vintage garden art. Don?t miss it.

The Connolly garden

Sit a while in the retro metal glider bench at the Connolly garden next. Lisa told me that the property was ?just dirt? when it was purchased 20 years ago in the Ben Lomond sand hills. When the front lawn was removed it created an opportunity to add low water use plants. The back garden features a beautiful river rock pool and spa. Under the shade of the oak trees flourish perennials and a DIY manzanita branch fence that ?keeps the chickens on the other side? according to Lisa. There are many take-away ideas to glean from this garden that would be do-able for you, too.

The Swan garden

The Swan residence will keep your head spinning. Anatola has created multiple garden rooms that flow from one area to the other. Her modern garden design features hundreds of perennial shrubs and flowers mostly in shades of white with variegated silver and blue accents. Dozens of Japanese maples grow lush under the oaks and giant birch. Of the many tips she shared I liked the one about instant ?weathering? of a lattice to screen the neighbor using vinegar, baking soda and steel wool. The screen turned out great.

The Moran garden

The Brook Lomond Iris Farm is home to Chris and Rick Moran who pack much more than the stately tall bearded iris on their property. A few iris might still be blooming and the compost bins working hard. Take in the front succulent and cactus garden featuring Chris? renowned pottery to start your tour. The back garden features an organic vegetable garden, redwood fairy circle retreat, artist studio and a lush lawn that survives without sprinklers.

The Ross garden

Not to be missed is the garden of Adra Ross. Her huge spring fed koi pond is so big it has it?s own beach. Having a silting area at one keeps the water clean. On the day of the tour a local koi and pond expert will be on hand to answer questions. This is a huge 5 acre garden featuring many gardens rooms around the entire property. It?s a National Wildlife Certified Wildlife Habitat so you?ll come away with ideas and inspiration of your own.

And be sure to visit Hallcrest Vineyard in Felton to enjoy the perennial planters, vegetable beds and enjoy the view of the meadow from the tasting room. The Schumachers bought the property in1987 and have gardened here ever since. Take a lunch and purchase a glass of their renowned premium wine.

Get your $25 tickets for the tour at many local nurseries or Valley Churches United in Ben Lomond.

bouquets, California Native Plants, cut flowers, Uncategorized

Growing Flowers for Cutting

Wild Blue Yonder and Golden Celebration roses with alstroemeria

Go ahead and bask in the beauty of your spring garden this year after so much rain. Then start planning and planting to add more cut flowers so you can bring the outside in. Even if you have a lot of flowers already for bouquets there is always that nook or cranny that can fit one more.

A friend of mine has a garden that has so many roses and other flowers that she can cut huge bouquets for her own tables and still have enough to share with friends. Admiring a colorful mixed bouquet of roses and alstroemeria on her table the other day I was envious that my meager shady garden produces only enough flowers for the hummingbirds. If you yearn for more flowers in your garden I have some ideas for you.

Comapassion rose

?If I only had one rose in my garden?, my friend said to me, ?I?d plant ?Compassion.? I can tell you after receiving a bouquet of this beautiful double apricot, copper and gold rose from her that she?s on to something. Exceptionally fragrant, this profuse continual bloomer is also disease resistant even in part shade. It can be grown as a large shrub but is more effective when trained as a climber where its fragrance can be enjoyed along a path near your doorway or alongside a patio or deck. The fragrance is a combination of honey and peaches. A small bouquet scented my entire house.

If you are looking to increase your cut flower potential like I am, here are some suggestions. For starters it’s always good to grow perennial plants that come back every year but self sowing annuals are also great so don’t forget to plant some of those also. Self-sowing annuals that have a long vase life are bachelor buttons, clarkia, cosmos, flax, love-in-a-mist, nasturtium, cleome and calendula. Zinnia, snapdragon, statice and marigolds also make good cut flowers.

For sunny spots grow perennial penstemon and kangaroo paw. Coreopsis attract butterflies and are long lasting in bouquets. Coneflowers, dahlias, gloriosa daisy, delphinium, foxglove, scabiosa, aster, shasta daisy and yarrow also make good cut flowers. Penstemon are good for cutting and the tubular flowers attract hummingbirds.

Native flowers that last for a week or more in a bouquet include clarkia and sticky monkeyflower. Yarrow and hummingbird sage will last 4-6 days in a vase. Our native shrub philadelphus, also called mock orange, has flowers that smell like oranges and will grow in some shade as well as sun.

Mixed bouquet of Oakleaf hydrangea with Marjorie Channon pittosporum

The secret to a fabulous bouquet is not just the flowers but the interesting foliage and that is something we all have in our gardens. Great foliage plants come in all shapes and sizes. In shady gardens, fragrant variegated daphne odora is a wonderful small shrub for both flowers and foliage. Sweet olive or osmanthus fragrans is a large evergreen shrub with apricot scented blooms. Pittosporum ?Marjorie Channon? will add white with a hint of lime to your bouquets. Oakleaf hydrangea foliage and flowers look great in bouquets during the summer and the leaves turn red in fall as an added bonus.

Foliage from shrubs such as abelia, breath of heaven, California bay, ornamental grasses, grapes and other vines, herbs, woody tree branches like smoke tree and Japanese maple also look handsome in a bouquet.

Compassion rose in a bouquet

To make cut flowers last, pick them early in the morning before they are stressed by heat. Pull off any foliage or flowers that will be below the water level in the vase. Fill a clean vase with 3 parts lukewarm water mixed with 1 part lemon-lime soda, 1 teaspoon vinegar and a crushed aspirin. Another recipe for floral food is 2 teaspoons sugar, 2 tablespoons white vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon bleach in 1 quart water. The sugar helps buds open and last longer, the acid improves water flow in the stems and the bleach reduces the growth of bacteria and fungus. Change the water and re-cut the stems every few days to enjoy your bouquet for a week or even longer.

Flowering trees, trees

Tree Varieties You’ll Love

We have Joyce Kilmer to thank for her poem ?Trees? that starts with the famous line:
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

In nature and in the garden it?s the trees that get most of the attention. Cambridge Dictionary defines the Wow Factor as a quality or feature?that makes people feel great excitement or admiration. Majestic and dramatic, no matter the size, a tree makes a garden or landscape speak that it?s here to stay.

Brahea armata – Mexican Blue Palm

Recently I had the pleasure to spend some time in a historic garden that dates back to the 1800?s. Last year this garden was featured on the Garden Conservancy Santa Cruz Open Days. The Conservancy?s mission is saving and sharing outstanding American gardens so I was thrilled to tour this garden, be introduced to several new tree varieties plus see some old favorites that might just work in your garden also.

Many of the hundreds of tall bearded iris were still blooming in the garden as well as early flowering perennials and shrubs. I didn?t see any dragonflies flitting about on this particular day but the stunning ornamental gate and mosaic created on one of the garden paths both feature dragonflies and I?m pretty sure they are regular visitors. The garden is called Odonata which is the order of carnivorous insects encompassing dragonflies and damselflies.

An unusual flowering dogwood from Mexico. Cornus florida ‘Pringle’

One of the most unusual flowering trees in Odonata was the Mexican flowering dogwood. This small ornamental tree, a cornus florida subspecies called ?Pringle? had the most unusual flowers. Their white bracts don?t fully open giving them a Chinese lantern look. This tree holds its foliage later than the more familiar Eastern dogwood and has reddish fall color. Glossy red fruit that forms later in the season is readily eaten by birds. This tree is showy and best used where the flowers can be appreciated.

Wedding Cake Tree or Cornus controversa ‘Variegata’

Another dogwood variety growing nearby was also new to me. Cornus controversa ?Veriegata? (Wedding Cake Tree) is graceful and spectacular with beautifully layered horizontal branches. Winner of the prestigious Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society the tree was covered with showy creamy white flowers in flattened clusters. Later the blossoms will give way to black berries in late summer that is, if the birds don?t get them first. Fall color is a lovely yellow color.

Golden Chain Tree aka Laburnum x watereri ‘Vossii’

Also in bloom, a laburnum x watereri ?Vossii? (Golden Chain Tree) looked spectacular with long, drooping clusters of lightly fragrant, bright yellow flowers. This handsome tree has a beautiful spreading canopy of bluish-green foliage and is a great choice as a single specimen or even in a group planting.

Honorable mention awards would have to be shared between the red form of Henry Lauder Walking Stick ?Red Dragon? and the white Flat Rock leptospermum. Well maybe the cryptomeria japonica ?Dacrydioides? (Whip Cord Japanese Cedar) or the pinus wallichiana ?Zebrina? (Striped Himalayan Pine) would also place.

Pittosporum ‘Silver Magic’

There were so many other note-worthy specimens in this garden. From showy shrubs like pittosporum ?Silver Magic? to large palm specimens such as Mexican Blue Palm and a giant bromeliad variety called a puya this garden is a landscape designer?s candy store. I even enjoyed the more common plants like lomandra ?Platinum Beauty?, variegated fortnight lily, a huge heuchera ?a la Rochette? blooming alongside a brilliant blue native pentstemon as well as gold flowering Moonshine yarrow.

It was an afternoon to remember between rain storms.

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