2 YEAR MOVE - rose of sharon

Some landscaping requires longer term planning, in this particular case a two year move but three or more years before the desired look could be achieved.
Good thing perennial gardeners have patience.

Both a blue and pink Rose of Sharon graced our back yard in Toronto, and while they looked lovely apart, when the Dogwood in the back left corner passed, I bet that they would look even lovelier if I could get their pastel blooms mingling together.

That fall I started a sort of rejuvenation pruning and cut back the Rose of Sharon by one third, I let it grow in the same place for one year before cutting it back again by one third the following fall, then finally transplanting it.

The space left by the Rose of Sharon seen above was quickly filled in by transplanting some of the yellow Rudbeckias closer to the fence. I also pruned back the lower limbs of the Japanese Maple, letting more light to the understory.

They say that shrubs are the skeletons of the garden and if so, apparently I like mine 'bear bones'. To me it felt a bit cramped before, even though I like a full garden.

The Blue Rose of Sharon looked comfortable in its new home, however I moved away and will never be able to know for certain if it got enough light and intertwined with its pink sister. 

Hopefully I did enough to help it along:

- I pruned back branches above it (from our neighbour's tree) quite extensively to give it more light, 

- I pruned it substantially to lessen the overall foliage the roots would need to support post-transplant

- I used a root-stimulating fertilizer post-transplant and kept it well watered

Perhaps I will just have a peak over the fence next time I am visiting Toronto in the summer...

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Sharing with Outdoor Wednesday

VEE'S NOTE CARD PARTY - March

Four shots previously shown on my blog for Vee's Note Card Party.

Enjoy.

Hibiscus (Rose of Sharon)

German Iris with lake in background

Lily-of-the-Valley & Periwinkle

Hydrangea

FOR A GUY WHO DOES NOT LIKE PINK

Along with the enormous benefits of having someone else having done all the work, there can be some drawbacks when you inherit a garden.  Chances are the previous artist-in-residence did not share exactly the same aesthetic.

I have always been of the mindset to work with what you are given, it is part of the challenge.  Where I have felt the impact of someone else's conflicting tastes has been with colour selection.

A lot of the flowers in my Cabbagetown garden were pink.

Hardy Geranium front right

Hardy Geranium's blooms are discrete but pink nonetheless

• Pink Spirea (bottom left) I eventually transplanted to the cottage for its stature as much as for its colour; it was simply too big to be at the front of the garden.
• And let's face it, a good reason to say 'Echinacea' instead of  "Purple Coneflower" is because the latter is somewhat misleading - the blooms fall more into the pink than purple camp if you ask me.
• And way in the back some beautifully tall Asiatic Lilies that fell pray to hungry red lily beetles a couple of years ago.

And earlier that spring, this amazing Bearded Iris. Very tall and very sturdy, but for a plant named after the Greek goddess of the rainbow you might think the odds against me getting another pink bloom were in my favour.   

• 

In the back yard the Rose of Sharon on the left was pink.

As was the Weigela.

Unlike Beth at  "Beyond the Garden" gate who has sung the praises of pink in a few  posts, it is my least favourite colour in the garden. Over time I replaced pink plants when they died, moved some to the cottage, and simply added many other colours so it became less prominent.

Every garden I have had, I have inherited and now that I have two blank canvasses (one of them in full sun!) with my new lasagna gardens the planning can sometimes feel quite daunting. One thing is for sure though, there will not be a fraction of the pink in the gardens I will plan from scratch as there were in their inherited predecessors.

I better get back to planning!

ROSE OF SHARON - photo update

The Rose of Sharon does not get as much sun as it really should and so has fewer blooms, but under a maple the size of ours I am happy to get anything that will bloom, so I have two Rose of Sharon side by side. 

Tall blue and short pink.

 I would appreciate any comments on the photography. 

What do you think about the various croppings? 

They all start with this image above.

 This is my preference. You can get added depth and contrast from the greenery in the background and still a close enough look at the details.

 My eyes actually linger the longest on this one because the detail in the petals is surprising. 

They looked so flat from far away but are gracefully twisted and textured.

 More for fun than anything, it was interesting to see how much detail my camera would capture in it's "close up" mode.

 The sun streaming through makes it appear ghostly. 

When seen in the shade, as it is most of the day, the bloom is a pale blue.

 

This is my favourite of the three.

We lose some of the colour but with the camera and sun conspiring to act as microscope the plant's inner workings are revealed.

What catches my eye here the most is the 'fallen pollen' that has collected on the petals.

Was it deposited by bees or breeze?