Serendipity in the Summer Garden
With heat and drought beginning to feel like the plagues of Egypt it's time to start looking on the brighter side - because there is almost always a bright side in the garden, no matter what problems we face. Take a long, gentle tour of yours. Get acquainted personally with all those plants that so far have only formed a "big picture". Discover their hidden delights.
And while you're taking that slow, extra good look at all the beautiful individuals that make up your garden, you may find that you have a few welcome surprises, as well.
For instance, earlier this week I went out to find two gladiolus in bloom.
That may not surprise a lot of you, but it did me, because gladioli aren't hardy in my climate zone. I never bother to dig them up in autumn because it's not worth the trouble. They are gone. Doomed. But not these babies! Between a mild winter and a sheltered microclimate they have survived to bloom again.
My walled garden really is a microclimate that allows me to grow many things that, theoretically, I shouldn't be able to grow. For several years I astounded bamboo enthusiasts by successfully growing the ebony stemmed Phyllostachy nigra. In its case, the climate is ideal. The plant is sheltered enough to allow it to grow - but not so mild that it runs away as bamboo is wont to do. So we are both happy - and I have my own bountiful supply of plant stakes in my favorite color - black.
Many more people are surprised that I have grown sauromatum quite successfully in that garden for at least 10 years. Not only grown it, but it has increased and divided and once, unfortunately, even bloomed. (One does not want to be in a garden with sauromatum blooming unless one has an unusually severe cold.)
The secret to my success, I suppose, is mainly the stone walls that surround the garden on two sides. The stone absorbs the heat during the day and reflects it back to the plants at night, so that even in the winter they get some extra warmth as long as the sun shines. The walls also protect plants from winds and weather - to the point where when that infamous tornado swept through several years back not a single stem was disturbed in that area.
The areas is further protected by a hedge of hemlocks on the opposite side of this garden "room", and, in the winter, by the tall growth of Lavatera 'Barnsley' , Miscanthus 'Morning Light' , a red twigged dogwood, Cornus alba 'Elegantissima' and a tall rosebush or two. So essentially these plants grow in a room that just happens to be roofless - a situation that allows me to cheat a zone or two (or three) with many plants. Which is exactly what microclimates are all about.
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