All Work and No Play

I am only in the second week of my annual spring work schedule with another six weeks to go, but it is already wearisome.  With only one day off, I have not had much time for my own garden or for keeping up with the blogging world.  It's a common complaint of mine this time of year, but at least I am fortunate that my vocation and my avocation are the same. So in that spirit, here are a few things I saw at work today.

This is a nice pairing of Chocolate Chip Ajuga (Ajuga reptans 'Chocolate Chip'), which is in full bloom now, planted next to a mixed bed of Golden Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea') and Angelina Sedum (Sedum rupestre 'Angelina').

My last blog post was about Stauntonia hexaphylla, and I had to use a Wikipedia Commons picture to show the flowers.  If I had been more patient, I could have used the vine planted at work as an example.

The rest of the photos are of Tulips, a plant the begs to be photographed.  Here in the South they are generally considered annuals, as we normally only get one good year out of them.  But we have found that some varieties are better at returning than others, especially if they are planted 10" deep, no matter what the package says.  Despite their reputation, the variety in the first picture has bloomed for the past 6 to 8 years.

Ripe peaches anyone?

How about this accidental pairing with Loropetalum?

The Pansy is Ultima Morpho and the Tulip is Monte Cristo.

We are in the process of redoing one of the gardens at work in memory of our friend JoEllen who died in January.  We are doing some serious editing and will add things as spring progresses.  It most likely will not be complete until Daylily season in June, and I am sure I will do a post on it then.  In the meanwhile cerise Tulips planted several years ago look good and will remain.

Stauntonia hexaphylla

In the blur of color that is spring, it is easy to be blinded by pink, yellow and white.  If a gardener can see beyond these distractions, then spring's other charms become more apparent.  Stauntonia hexaphylla has interesting evergreen foliage no matter what time of year and reminds me of tropical Schefflera, or of something else that will not grow here.  However, when the new growth emerges in March it is a distinct amber color before it darkens to a cool blue-green.  Stauntonia is listed as growing 20-30', but I saw one at Taylor's Nursery in Raleigh that had nearly reached the top of a very tall radio antenna tower.  It is also listed as preferring full sun to light shade, but mine only gets winter sun being shaded by a large oak the rest of the year, and it has apparently not been slowed.  I regularly have to unwrap or trim the vine from patio furniture.  It is listed as hardy in USDA zones 7 to 8, and it has shown a remarkable degree of drought tolerance as well.

Though I grow it for it's foliage, it also has a flower, but mine has never bloomed.  I think this may have more to do with the age of mine than the shade, because I have seen a specimen in the display garden at work flower in almost total shade.  Flowers normally occur later in the spring and their delicate appearance and white pastel-purple color seem in contrast to the the vine's vigorous, near thug-like nature.  I have never seen fruit on any local plant, but it is listed as having a red-purple fruit that resembles a sausage.  Pictures remind me of Akebia quinata fruit, which is in the same family (Lardizabalaceae) as Stauntonia.  In Japan, where this plant is native, the fruit is a prized delicacy. 


(photo from Wikipedia Commons)

If you would like to have a Stauntonia vine of your very own, good luck.  I have not been able to find any to sell at the garden center in nearly 10 years, which is a real shame.  I do know the seeds take years to germinate, but considering its vigor, it should be easy to propagate from cuttings.  Perhaps its narrow hardiness range and lack of a catchy common name limit its appeal to wholesale growers.  Maybe a marketing campaign is called for.