December 2015
Spring 2016
Scott Arboretum – containers
Grave Garden
2016 brought a new gardening opportunity at the Woodlands Cemetery near my home in West Philly. The visionary staff of the Woodlands launched a program pairing garden volunteers with cradle graves in need of tending. John and Evaline Miller Wiler are my charges. Our goal is to illustrate the Victorian practice of gardening the burial plots of one’s family while adding blooms the Woodlands’ already beautiful landscape.
My garden peaked in late June and early July with Alcea ‘Blacknight’ and Papaver rhoeas. The Digitalis was unhappy in such an exposed location this hot dry summer. For next year I will add some spring bulbs, late season perennials, and a few annuals with a long bloom period to bridge the gaps.
6/25 Longwood
Longwood boasts several large groves of Aesculus parviflora. This visit was timed perfectly to see the bottle brush flowers glowing.
Invariably, a visit to a public garden sheds light on a plant identification mystery or two.
Plectranthus ciliatus ‘Troy’s Gold’ – the name of a mystery cutting I acquired this spring.
The silver leafed Pelargonium sidoides in the lower right is another recent acquisition. Nice in combination with purple and white/grey variegated foliage.
Tree scabiosa (pale yellow pompoms floating in the photos below) stumped me at Chanticleer yesterday. I love when a plant mystery is quickly resolved!
Cephalaria gigantea (Tree Scabiosa) is the pale yellow pompom floating in front of the Physocarpus.
I am a big fan of Acanthus but I’ve struggled to come up with good companions.
Longwood’s vegetable garden always has excellent structures.
Clematis texensis ‘Zoprika’
Peony’s Envy
Lillian Wild – a late season white rose flowered bloom.
Frosted Rose
Westerner
Coral Sunset – Semi double bloom that fades from vibrant coral to creamy yellow.
Barnes 3/15
2016 is shaping up to be a very different spring…. Magnolia show is beginning 3-4 weeks ahead of 2015.
Other blooms:
Unassuming surroundings
For a beautiful monarch chrysalis! When I went back to admire the chrysalis about twenty-four hours later, there was only a shriveled husk and the butterfly was gone. 
August Chanticleer
Bright shade lovers
Delicious yellow blooms in August – Hemerocallis (Voyles unnamed hybrid)
Brooding shade lovers
Bouteloua graciis
View of the cutting garden from beneath the Katsuratree.
Also beneath the Katsuratree: Cyclamen hederifolium
Another framed view of the cutting garden.
Natural Sculpture
July Chanticleer
Lablab purpureus II
And it twined up my porch rail and bloomed!
Delighted Gardener 