Whites in the Garden

About once a week I grab my camera and explore the garden, documenting the changing nature of it all. While out this week I let my instincts do the walking and so shot what looks good and plants I may not have previously photographed. After going through the finished product, I noticed there are lot of whites and silvers in the garden right now - an abundant amount. So without even trying, the blog post almost wrote itself this week. Voila, that's this week's theme. I give you the white and silvers in the garden the third week of June.

I have tried Eryngium giganteum, a.k.a. 'Miss Willmott's Ghost' several times from potted plants and from seed and failed. Now I have seedlings all over that I never planted in this garden. Huh? Maybe she's visited me recently on the wind. At any rate, these "volunteers" are in a terrible spot, right in the middle of a gravel path, but I love them, so here they stay. Thank you, Miss W.

Simple Penstemon digitalis is a favorite, a parent of P. digitalis 'Husker Red'.

I have it planted in a meadow area and on the edge of the labyrinth, hoping for some seedlings to fill in gaps one day.

Marrubium incanum or horehound is a Mediterranean plant for sun. Planted last summer, it has already given me a seedling. It's so easy, great for a really well-drained, sunny site.

Beautiful and super fragrant Philadelphus lewisii, our native mock orange. These were already in place when we bought the property and I'm happy they are here.

Itea virginica 'Henry's Garnet' is a superb shrub. It has great spring foliage followed by what you see, white flowers borne on long racemes. I have three of these along the berm garden, they add texture and wonderful color in autumn. Definitely an easy care addition.

Leptospermum namadgiensis is a Xera Plants purchase, this is their description of this wonderful evergreen shrub for sun:

Rare shrub that is destined to gain popularity. From the highest elevations of the Australian Alps this large evergreen tea tree is beautiful in all of its parts. Known locally as alpine downy tea tree the fuzzy silver small leaves crowd the stems densely. In early summer masses of 1″ white flowers deck the boughs like snow. To 8′ x 8′ quickly it can also be trained as a small tree which highlights its incredible exfoliating trunks. Silver, copper, green and tan are all present after the bark sheds in mid-summer. Full sun and virtually any soil. Totally summer drought tolerant when established. Great hedging candidate. If sheared it becomes immensely dense. And cutting does not mangle the tiny leaves. Moderate deer resistance. So far undamaged at 5ºF.

Sounds great to me.

Lychnis coronaria, catchfly or rose campion. Seeds must have been everywhere in the soil here, for this is another plant I never planted. I allow this to go on until the flowers are done then I mow it all down to prevent two acres of hot pink flowers coming up next year.

Two sweet white flowers, a white form of Guara on the right and Veronica longifolia 'Charlotte' on the left which has white leaf margins and pretty white spikes.

Clematis recta 'Purpurea' starts off with deep purple foliage that turns green as the season progresses. After this bloom if I cut it back hard, new foliage growth will also be purple.

An unknown little salvia.

While the flowers are technically whitish pink, the foliage is silver of Dorycnium hirsutum or hairy canary clover. This low-mounding, spreading plant has given me many volunteers in the surrounding gravel. It's such a great plant for this super hot (reflected heat) site, I'm thrilled with it. At the end of the bloom cycle when the seed pods appear, you can literally HEAR them popping as you walk past, especially if water hits them. Oddest thing.

I have many cistus in my garden. We had a huge throw-away party a few years ago at work and I couldn't let them all go, so many came home with me. Many also lost their tags. This could be Cistus 'Elma'. Somewhere in the garden shed are about 50 cistus tags all mixed up. Someday I'll sort them all out. For now just enjoy the pretty pictures.

This could be Cistus corbariensis. Whatever it is, I have three or four in this area, they are about 3' high by 4' or so wide and are super floriferous, covered in small white blooms.

Another no idea one. Feel free to chime in, Cistus experts. 

 No idea, but it's petite with curled leaf margins and very felted leaves.

 One I know for sure, Cistus 'Blanche' is one of my favorites, a beefy gal at over 6' high, she flowered prolifically the earlier part of June and late May.

Another I know for certain, Cistus 'Paper Moon'. This is what the Joy Creek website says about it:

Although Cistus x argenteus 'Paper Moon' is reported to be the all-white form of this cross, our plant occasionally produces flowers with pink stripes. Flowers are quite large and showy with central golden yellow stamens. The narrow gray green leaves are lightly hairy. May to June bloom time.  20 in. x 15 in., White flowers, Sun, Zones 8, 9, 10

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Ruby Slippers' is a petite oak-leaved hydrangea whose flowers turn to shades of pink as they age.

An astilbe I brought with me from the old garden, A. 'Deutschland'. I've had difficulty with them in this garden, which is primarily a dry garden - we all know they love water. I think I've finally found the perfect spot for them, however, which is at the base of the berm garden against the low retaining wall in the shady section. This soil is nearly always wet and heavy.

Fatsia j. 'Spider's Web' was planted last year and has grown considerably for a first-year plant. Goody!

Athyrium niponicum or Japanese painted fern with Oxalis oregana, another white-flowered plant in my garden.

The grand white daddy of them all, Aruncus dioicus, goat's beard. I have many of these in shady locales and I think I've been spying seedlings here and there.

Aren't they fluffy? I adore these. After the flowers finish, the foliage looks smart and clean the rest of the year. Completely deciduous.

White speckled flowers? Do they count? I rarely if ever buy annuals, but at our local garden fair I spied these and decided to give them a try. Petunia headliner series - 'Starry Sky Burgundy'.

I end with this charming photo of my boy Hobbes showing absolutely no dignity and squishing the catnip against his face as hard as he can. The boy loves his nip. He has nothing to do with white in the garden, but it's his garden to enjoy and one of our favorite times together is taking him out to do just this. The garden is for everyone, after all.

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always, thank you so much for reading and commenting, we love hearing from you all! Happy gardening.