Croton Spiral, 2011, acrylic on panel, 24 in. x 24 in.

You may have noticed the last “blog” was a painting by my wife, Linda, and that the blog has a new look. The Theme is temporary.

A artist friend of ours, Mary Lingen, wants a web site. Her work reflects the Minnesota landscape, she lives “Up North, ” and her work can be viewed on www.mnartists.org, search on Lingen. I suggested a WordPress site and will probably be helping her set it up. I found this theme for her, as it allows for large images and the commercial version offers a portfolio feature.  Mary’s work can be seen in various galleries in Minnesota, and as part of shows throughout the region. (I think she should try and find a gallery in Chicago, but where do you start?)

Linda has show opening this week at Concordia-St. Paul, “Emerging Symmetry.”  The opening is the 17th (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.) and the show will be up until the holiday break mid-December. Her abstractions deal with the natural world, and botanical elements can be found in most of them. Although she spends more time painting than gardening, she’s still a big part of Carlsbackyard. My wife’s web site is www.lindadeglee.com. She also maintains a larger archive of her work at mnartists.org, but the pictures aren’t as big, best to search on Deg.

Here are a couple more examples of her work:

Dragon Flower , 2011, acrylic on panel 12 in. x 12 in.

It is mid-July and the Actaea (Cimicifuga) Racemosa are blooming. The Purpurea highlighted last September and November won’t start blooming for a while yet. The Actaea pictured above has a dried flowhead from last year hanging amidst this season’s bottlebrushes of blooms and buds.

Most of the Actaea’s flower stalks fall to the ground when winter comes. Those that don’t, add interest standing above the snow.  At four-to-six feet off the ground, even the 80 inches of snow we had this last year didn’t bury them.

Below is an image of one of the Purpurea’s dried blooms taken in early May.

My September blog focused on my favorite Actaea (formerly known as Cimicifuga), A. Racemosa purpurea. Since we’ve had such a wonderfully long Fall, I’ve had time to take more pictures between fall chores.

This is the same plant shown in the older blog. The first image was taken on the 28th of September, showing all the secondary blooms in their glory, while the primary blooms are going to seed. The second image was taken the morning of October 25th. It shows another feature that differentiates the A. Racemosa purpurea from the species (A. Racemosa) — fall color. (Some of the green leaves of the species, which flank the Purpurea, can be seen in the image.)

In 2002, I planted some barberries (Berberis), in the shrub border in the north yard, the Korean species, a little Royal Burgundy and a Golden Carousel. This area receives nearly full sun in the Spring and Fall, but light shade during the Summer. The Korean was a quick grower, but started looking like a very bad haircut after only six years, so I took it out. The Royal Burgundy, very similar to a Crimson Pygmy, is a tough little dwarf, and makes for a nice companion to the star of the show, the Golden Carousel.

Like so many other plants when properly sited, the Golden Carousel has grown larger than advertised. This specimen is over five feet tall and five feet wide. It’s a care-free shrub that both deer and bugs ignore, but its changing colors and bright red fruit attract the eye in every season. Due to its size and sharp thorns, it is planted behind other plants on the border.

Golden Carousel is a Bailey Nurseries introduction, a cross between Korean and Japanese barberries. While at the time I was hoping to get one of its top-rated siblings, Ruby Carousel or Emerald Carousel, I could not be more pleased with this year-around beauty. I have it backed by Diablo Ninebark, also planted in ’02. The dark, large leaves of the Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) provide striking contrast to this bright, small-leaved shrub through most of the season, but into the Fall the colors of the two plants begin to harmonize. Adding more interest in front of the barberries are the frosty, minty greens of Lamb’s Ears (Stachys byzantina) and a shimmering blanket of “Beacon Silver” Spotted Deadnettle (Lamium maculatum).

As the images above show (click for larger images), Golden Carousel changes throughout the year. It leafs out yellow, turning lime green in Summer, then to a dark green in early autumn, and takes on more oranges and reds until the green is gone in late Fall. Winter interest is provided by the thicket of red berries that hang like jewels from nearly every branch. A few branches get pruned off around the holidays to add some color and texture to the festive arrangements of pine boughs and other dried-flower arrangements for enjoyment indoors.

Blooms of A. racemosa atropurpurea opening in mid-September

By any other name, Actaea is still very sweet

Looking for a large, stunning plant that provides fragrant blooms in the late summer and fall? An Actaea may be what you are seeking.

Actaea, formerly Cimicifuga, is a very large perennial—a couple of my mature plants are about four feet high and seven feet in diameter, with seven foot tall racemes. The species and cultivars make for an excellent large specimens or back-of-the-border plants. Their foliage is outstanding throughout the season.

The large leaves of mature plants offer more than beauty: They allow little, if any, light to reach the ground below them, effectively keeping weeds and other plants from sprouting. So that its own seed has the opportunity to sprout and grow, in winter the tall racemes of the Actaea fall outward around the plant depositing the seeds well out of the shadow of the mother plant.

There are many species of Actaea, with most blooming between mid-summer and mid-autumn, and some blooming later. Actaea bloom for weeks, having bottlebrush-shaped flowers that stand erect or drooping above the plant. Their very sweet fragrance travels lightly on the breeze. I love the smell, however, I recommend planting them away from the house, or at least bedroom windows, as the bouquet of some varieties may smell medicinal to some people, hence the common name bugbane.

Some species of Actaea, like A. racemosa, were used by native peoples medicinally, and is still used by some herbalists. Like many plants and pharmaceuticals, it has toxic properties and should be sited out of the reach of children. Using A. racemosa when taken regularly as an herbal medicine has been linked to liver failure and susceptibility to hepatitis.

Specimen bed of hostas in mid-July with A. racemosa blooming

In the garden, Actaea have many fine attributes. The finest is they aren’t fussy. I have found them to be a pest-resistant and vigorous plant needing little attention, if properly sited. They can handle light shade or mostly sunny locations, growing taller in shade and shorter in the sun. The darker cultivars require more sun. They like a fairly heavy, dependably moist soil, neutral-to-acidic, with some leave mold, in other words, the type of soil found in woodlands, like the Oak Savanna woodlands here in the Twin Cities area. They native to the Eastern Broadleaf Forest, and are found in zones 3-7, from Ontario to Georgia, west to Arkansas, up and through Minnesota’s Arrowhead and across to Ontario.

I have my Actaea just inside the drip lines of oak trees getting some direct morning sun, but otherwise they spend most of the day in moderate to heavy shade. I have wood mulch around the plants that front them to the edge of the lawn, but under the Actaea I have the leaves I’ve raked in from the lawn in the fall.  

I planted my first Actaea in 1993. It was an A. racemosa; common names include Black Cohosh and Black Snakeroot. The plant creates a very dense canopy of shiny, dark, forest green leaves about three feet high, with racemes holding erect, bright white flowers in mid-July to two or three feet above.

In 2000, I purchased an A. racemosa atropurpurea (Black Snakeroot or Branching Bugbane). Unlike the species, it has greater height—a good foot taller, and a very late bloom of mostly drooping panicles filled with snow white flowers. The branching racemes and stems are dark maroon color. Also unlike the A. racemosa, the leaves of this variety are narrower, coarsely toothed, matte, and of a medium green color. It also has a nicer fragrance than A. racemosa.

In 2002, I divided the A. racemosa and planted it on either side of the A. racemosa atropurpurea. The three plants were planted behind a portion of an arc of hosta Honeybells in the northwest corner of my backyard beneath a Red Oak. Click the thumbnail next to last paragraph in this article to see this bed. Pictured are four of the five Actaea now there. A young A. racemosa atropurpurea is on the far left of the photo with A. racemosas alternating in the row with the blooming atropurpureas. 

The Tale of Black Beauty

I purchased a Hillside Black Beauty, a cultivar of A. simplex, in 2002. It is grown for its purple leaves, turning more burgundy and bronze (depending on the light) in autumn, when it begins sporting erect panicles of milk white flowers emerging from burgundy buds.  I decided to plant it next to some August Moon hosta on the south side of the backyard.

It typically takes three or four years for an Actaea to start blooming, but their foliage compensates in the meantime. However, after three summers, the Black Beauty was barely showing signs of growth. So, in the fall of 2004, I moved it to the northern end of the line of the other Actaea, as they were doing quite well.

In 2006, I discovered a young A. atropurpurea growing within inches of the base of the Black Beauty, so I moved the little plant to the south end of the line behind a specimen bed of hostas. This gave me a line of five Actaea forming a weak S-shaped curve about 35 feet long, reflecting a truer S-shaped line created by the edge of the lawn in that corner of the yard.

Showing better growth, but still not blooming, in the spring of 2009, I moved the Hillside Black Beauty to an even brighter spot, filling its hole with another young A. atropurpurea that had sprouted up between two Honeybells. The new spot seems to be working out well, as I have gotten nice growth this year. I have it planted next a Gold Heart Bleeding Heart. The dark purple leaves of the Black Beauty contrast very dramatically with the light yellow leaves and scarlet flowers of this Bleeding Heart. (Look for a picture of this pair in 2011.)

Actaea are very lovely plants. If you have room and the minimal conditions required, it makes a great addition the woodland garden. Their foliage provides value all season, but in the fall when colors are beginning to change; to catch a bit of its fragrance as its tall blooms gracefully sway in the breeze is a delight.

Actaea behind hosta Honeybells, click for larger image.

Woodland garden by the patio with hostas and Pulmonaria. Click for larger image.

Pulmonaria are flowering while some spring ephermerals are still blooming, which helps give the bed interest until the hostas have opened up. Pulmonaria blossoms can be white, or shades of blue, violet, or pink. They can also have blossums of more than one color on the same plant, such as the Excalibur blossums seen in the photo inset on the left.

At the Front of the Border, too

Pulmonarias also make great specimens. In the picture on the left, below, a P. longifolia is paired with the hosta Pineapple Upside-down Cake. They play well off each other having a similar leave shape and habit, but contrasting color and texture. In the right photo, a Raspberry Splash makes a nice specimen. Its leave shape is contrasts sharply with those of the hostas around it.

Pulmonaria make great specimens. Here are two P. longifolia varieties with hostas.

Pulmonarias are quite reliable in Zones 4 to 7, with some rated for Zone 8, and are fully evergreen in the more moderate climes. They do well in relatively moist, fertile soil, and shady conditions. High heat and humidity can lead to a bout of powdery mildew from which they will usually bounce back once drier air returns. They are easy to divide and move in the spring or fall. Another advantage of these plants slow-growing groundcovers is they will fill in any space where they can find room and light, so like the hostas they do a good job of smothering weeds, reducing maintenance. 

To maintain vitality, pulmonaria should be divided about every three to five years. They are not invasive, but if you don’t cut off their flower heads, you may find one or two pop up somewhere in your yard.

Hosta Decorata (click for larger image)

Hosta Decorata was one of the first hostas brought to Amercia from Japan at the turn of the last century. It’s a classic “groundcover” hosta. Several hosta like this one are classified as stoloniferous or somewhat stoloniferous, meaning they can grow and spread by rhizomes beneath the soil. 

The round, blunt, soft-green leaves of the Hosta Decorata provide a nice contrast to other hosta and plants. It grows less than a foot off the ground, but sends up large, deep violet flowers on tall stems, which rise to around two feet. It’s low, compact growth and tendency to spread make for a carefree and elegant mass planting. I’m using it at the base of a Black Walnut near the edge of the bed.

Hosta Decorata is very hardy, to Zone 3, and is easy to care for, move and, if desired, divide. It like lightly dappled shade and somewhat sandy soil I have it in, but it also does well in part sun and loamy clay.

Click for short video

There’s nothing like the call of the Loon or the Pileated Woodpecker to make you aware you are somewhere in the North Woods. In my case it’s Minnesota, but not quite “Up North,” so we only hear our State bird, the loon, occasionally. Pileated Woodpeckers cover much of the Loon’s northern territory into Canada, and even more to the south and east in the United States.

Click for larger image

Whether its their call, territorial drumming or the rapping at trees for a meal, we have been hearing Pileated Woodpeckers in the neighborhood on and off since we moved in our suburban home over 20 years ago. We’ve always seen them in the yard individually, at least until this past Sunday morning.

The image to left shows the female holding a bug she plans to feed the male. His red crown is in full display mode. This feeding behavior is seen in many mating birds, however it is often the male feeding the female. (The female is in foreground in both images.)

For more information on the Pileated Woodpecker I recommend Nature Works. Below  the link.

http://www.nhptv.org/NatureWorks/pileatedwoodpecker.htm

A problem area in our yard for many years was the hill of fill coming off the northwest corner of the garage. After taking out the apple tree that had died and the raspberries that covered the rest it when we moved in, we built a deck (pictured  is the current deck). We enriched the soil with organic matter, and tried any number of shrubs, perennials and annuals on it. The only shrub that remains is just off the hill by the corner of the deck, a boxwood that is now over six feet in every direction. It’s visible on the right side of the image that will open to a larger one, if you click it.

Click for larger image

Astilbes turned out to be the answer.Since almost nothing else did well in the soil on that northwest facing slope, of which a large part only catches sun in the middle of the day, Astilbes are pretty much all we planted there. We had different kinds and varieties of Astilbe in several locations in the yard, but now most of them are on this hill. There’s also some Japanese Painted Fern and Ostrich Fern on the edges and to the back, as these grow almost anywhere in our yard.

 The hill was also boring as it lacked a feature and something to separate the Astilbes from the hillside of Ostrich Ferns on the north side of the garage The ferns are shaded from the morning sun by the only apple tree still standing on the property, unseen, off the northeast corner of the garage.

Before re-arranging, transplanting and adding a couple more Astilbe three years ago, I built a short, nearly-circular retaining wall which features a Pinky Winky Hydrangea. The retaining wall adds a layer of visual interest and enabled me to enhance the soil for the hydrangea, which catches sun from late morning to mid-afternoon. To edge the inside of the retaining wall, I’ve put in some annuals along with some Lamium “Aureum” that will ultimately surround the hydrangea.

Rodgersia, Rodgersia, where for art thou, Rodgersia?

A large, striking and very interesting broad leaf plant is the Rodgersia. It’s named for Admiral John Rodgers, who brought one back from Japan in the late 19th century. These plants are ideal for a boggy shade garden. They like constantly moist soil and the leaves can dry out quickly in wind, so putting them in a protected and moist area is important. We don’t have a bog, so I planted these in a low area next to the woods in the southwest quadrant of our yard, which is rich in humus and always damp. They get some morning sun and are protected by ferns, shrubs and Pagoda Dogwood to the back, and flanked by Ligularia on the left, which also enjoy constantly moist soil and protection from the afternoon sun.

Click for larger image

The Rodgersia have done very well in this protected spot. Additional protection is provided by some anti-deer/rabbit spray after the plants start coming up in the spring and until they are fully leafed out. This will insure a nice flower spike in late spring.

This picture was taken in June and shows their flowers, which have a slight licorice scent. Early in the season the leaves are a light to medium green, but as the season wears on they will take on an attractive bronze cast. It’s a great plant for contrast against the dark greens and purples of the Ligularia and the blue of the Sieboldiana hosta that can be seen behind them, and, not shown, the hosta “June” with its yellows, greens and blues bordering the lawn in front of them.