Garden log 6/8/26: I’m finally able to shift into summer gardening / writing mode. I did a sort of desperation clean-up with some student worker help just before last week’s intensive workshop, but I haven’t had time to do my normal mid-May weed & mulch of the entire garden, so that starts today. Later is better than never…
Pictured here, starting top left — I added a climbing purple shrub rose (“Rise Up Lilac Days”), which will take a while to get established, but I’m hoping it’ll climb up and spread across the pale purple spindles and dark blue frame in a pleasing manner.
Just in front of it is a purple beautyberry, I think, that I planted a few years ago, and which hasn’t ever done the purple berry thing it’s supposed to do — we’re going to give it one more year before giving up on it. If I switch it out, I’ll probably go for a native coralberry or chokeberry.
Also in that corner is some native wild ginger ground cover — I’m hoping it’ll spread and cover that whole area. If I get a chance, I’ll probably buy some more plugs to supplement and get it to fill in faster. In the meantime, there’s a bit of lamium groundcover that can hang out there — it does make pretty flowers in spring.
If you keep going counter-clockwise, you’ll run into a pot of callas — they aren’t staying there, but I plopped them in to fill the bare space until I figure out where they actually go.
In front of them is a native New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus) — it’s quite wee right now, but should make a compact three foot shrub with beautiful pom pom white flowers in early summer. Not sure if I’ll get flowers this year, but it’s okay if not. I can be (a little) patient.
And tucked in behind the temporary calla is a similarly wee native ninebark. I went with a cultivar, Tiny Wine, which should stay small enough for this spot, fingers crossed — it’s supposed to reach 3-5 ft tall and 3-4 ft wide at maturity, with dark maroon foliage and spikes of pink buds and white flowers. Should be a nice anchor for this space, which has so far just held alliums, which give a dramatic show for a few weeks, but then it’s boring thereafter. (Fingers crossed, the alliums should play well with the new shrubs going forward…)
