A Collector's Garden with Style

In my garden dreams, this is what I see, a lush shade garden. I walked into my dream last Sunday when I visited Park Place, a private, 3-acre Barrington Hills garden open for the first time for the Garden Conservancy's open days program. It was clear and sunny when I arrived at the garden at 10 a.m. (I apologize for the quality of the images in such harsh light).

The garden exists due to a big, honking deer fence that completely surrounds the 6-acre property. On walking through the gate, I knew I was entering somewhere special.

Yes, those are rhododendrons blooming like that in Chicagoland

The first thing the visitor notices is the the color bursts of rhododendrons, azaleas, woodland phlox and flowering dogwoods.

Azalea in bud with Tiarella

This border of Fothergilla major and Rhododendron screens the detached garage,

Then one notices the towering mature trees

as well as young new trees. Most of the garden is woodland, but there is also a large prairie garden. I hope the owners opt to open their garden again in the fall so it can be viewed in its full glory. There's also a pond with waterlilies and huge, very loud frogs

and a couple of large rock gardens filled with tiny treasures.

The Plants
In addition to the common woodland natives, the garden boasts some choice gems I didn't recognize.

This cute little plant looks like a cross between a Geranium and a Corydalis.

This plant could be an Aquilegia.

Then there were familiar plants with a twist, such as this diminutive Stylophorum

and this Geranium maculatum on steroids.

the hand is the girl's, which is smaller than mine, but still, the plant was 3 feet tall with blooms about twice as large as the norm

I admired this color combination of Japanese maple, Rhododendron, Primula, Corydalis and Phlox divaricata,

The colors of the primrose and the Japanese maple echo the red of the Rhododendron and the yellow of the Corydalis.

but this is the combination I'd most like to copy.

Faded Eranthis, Saruma henryi, Trillium lutea and Primula and the foliage of what I believe is a Uvularia, with a purple Geranium in the background and variegated pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia 'W. Stackman' (Golden Shadows)).

And then there were the tree peonies.

note the reddish tint to the foliage

I asked the owner the name of this one, as it is even more beautiful than mine. She couldn't recall its name, but having a half dozen different varieties, she's excused. She got all of her tree peonies from Song Sparrow, so I emailed Roy Klehm to find out.  He believes it is 'Guardian of the Monastery', a rockii type. I'm going to order one, then figure out where to put it. I have to have it.


Sculpture and Accents
The gardener has used sculpture and accents throughout the garden to tie it all together. The photo at the top of the post shows the first of several owls tucked around the garden to be found by the observant visitor.  This one was hard to miss.

I found myself thinking of my friend HelenYoest when I saw this sculpture of a mother carrying her baby on her back.

Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' and Hosta

It looks like something she'd put in her North Carolina garden.

Greenman behind a Japanese maple

I was particularly enamored of the kinetic sculpture,

the Park Place prairie garden

but this mosaic fox was the girl's favorite.

Euphorbia species

There were also birdhouses used as a repeated design element,

and old watering cans

and other rusted sculptures

something like this would look at home at Squirrelhaven

and objects

beautiful and functional

including a bread box (useful if you need to compare something to the size of one).

Some rock garden plants were displayed in hypertufa containers,

which also reminded me of Helen and of Frances of Fairegarden. I even saw a small Japanese maple in a hypertufa container.

I wish I could show you more of this wonderful garden, but we must obey the sign.

note the deer fence in the background

P.S. I forgot to mention that I paid attention to my feet too. A primrose path had a flagstone walkway, and the wilder part of the woodland garden had mulch paths lined with logs, like at Squirrelhaven.

Wildflower Wednesday: May-apples!

Podophyllum peltatum, the mayapple

It's the fourth Wednesday of the month, so that means it's Wildflower Wednesday, hosted by Gail of Clay and Limestone. Herein is a selection of what's native and currently blooming. I had to lead off with the mayapples because it is still May. The Nanoprairie is starting to bloom. In addition to the Phlox pilosa 'Eco Happy Traveler' at the top of yesterday's post, Baptisia 'Purple Smoke' is also blooming there.

Most of the wildflower action is still in the woodland garden though.

from front: Geranium maculatum, Phlox divaricata 'Clouds of Perfume', a non-native Dicentra and Dodecatheon media alba

Here's a closer view of the Dodecatheon.

shooting stars

Jack is in the pulpit.

Arisaema triphyllum

 This is one of the all green forms. Squirrelhaven also has jack-in-the-pulpits with purple in the pulpit.

Maianthemum racemosa

The plant formerly known as Smilacina racemosa, or false Solomon's seal has just started blooming.

Also just starting to bloom is Zizia aurea.

It echoes the color of the celadine poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum) growing nearby. This is the end of the big spring wildflower show in the woodland. It's my favorite time of year and the best time for the woodland garden.

Squirrelhaven's Squirrels vs. Havahart Critter Ridder

Phlox pilosa 'Eco Happy Traveler'

When the Havahart company asked me if I wanted to trial* its Critter Ridder® repellent products I eagerly agreed. I was particularly interested in trying the shake on product, which claims to deter critters, such as squirrels, from digging. With high hopes and great expectations, I sprinkled it around an Astrantia that the squirrels dug up repeatedly last fall. The only way it survived the winter was that I put a metal basket over it. Basket removed, product sprinkled, I retreated from the garden to see what would happen.
The next morning, I eagerly checked on the Astrantia. The result was, to quote the boy, "Epic Fail!" The Astrantia was no longer in the ground. I could swear I heard snickering from the trees.



But the squirrels weren't laughing, nor were the deer after I sprayed the Phlox pilosa, Heucheras, and 'Cobra' lilies out front with the Critter Ridder® spray repellent.

In addition to the tulip bloom incident, the deer had been snacking on the Phlox and the Heuchera, along with Symphyotrichum laeve. I didn't spray the ex-aster with the Havahart spray because I had already sprayed it with something else when the free trial products arrived. The lilies hadn't been sampled by the deer because they weren't large enough at the time.












I've applied the spray repellent to the growing lilies, which now look like this:

Lilium 'Cobra', oriental lily

perfect deer candy. I'd call that a success. I also sprayed the 'Purple Prince' lilies that the squirrels repeatedly dug up and munched on last fall. They have remained unscathed, so the result there is "squirrels thwarted!"

Deer aren't one of the nuisance animals that the Critter Ridder® spray is designed to repel, but it seems to work for this off-label use. It's probably best to alternate it with another spray-on repellent like Liquid Fence®. I like both those products because they don't spot or discolor foliage or buds the way other spray repellents can. This spray repels by taste and scent, which is very important, as you don't want the wildlife to have to sample your plants before discovering that they are unpalatable. It is safe for use around kids, pets and wildlife.

Bottom line, I can't recommend the shake on product for repelling squirrels, but I can recommend the spray-on Critter Ridder® when applied to new growth. I don't know if it lasts for 30 days because it hasn't been 30 days yet, but so far, so good.



*The Havahart company sent me one canister of the shake-on product, one bottle of the spray, and a really nice polo shirt with the company logo for free. As should be evident, receipt of these items did not affect my review.

Wordless Wednesday: Ranunculus

The Lush Life: May Bloom Day

Malus 'Prairiefire'

Northern Illinois doesn't have flowering dogwoods or rhododendrens, but we've got crabapples in abundance and never have they looked so good as they do right now, all over. The three days of unseasonable heat cooked all the tulips and daffodils except one that just opened, Narcissus poeticus, that Kathy, of Cold Climate Gardening, gave me last summer. Because of squirrel interference, only one of the three bloomed.

The heat also put an end to the Hepatica show, but brought on the last of the native woodland ephemerals.

Dodecatheon media alba, with Phlox divaricata 'Clouds of Perfume' and Dicentra 'Bountiful'

The little merrybells is not having a good year. It has been crowded out by bigger plants, so that there is only one bloom.

Uvularia perfoliata

It will be moved to a better location.

By contrast, it's been a great year for the Trilliums. Both Trillium flexipes

Trillium flexipes

and the other white Trillium have doubled in size, and I found a lone T. sessile plant with just foliage.

Blooming for the first time this year are Phlox divaricata 'Montrose Tricolor', which is a wimpy little thing I'd be happy to unload on whoever wants it, and Phlox divaricata 'Lemon Slice', which I got last year from Plant Delights. 'Lemon Slice' is really strutting its stuff. I'm not seeing much of the yellow varigation in the foliage, but it did have ruby foliage all winter, making it much more showy than other Phlox divaricata.

Phlox divaricata 'Lemon Slice' and Geranium sylvaticum  'Mayflower'

The non-native Geranium sylvaticum 'Mayflower' and the native Geranium maculatum are blooming now too.

Geranium maculatum seedling

This darker flowered form might be the result of a cross with 'Mayflower'.

Enough with the text, on with the show.

Stylophorum diphyllum the native celadine poppy

Polemium reptans 'Stairway to Heaven'

Tiarella 'Pink Brushes'

Dicentra 'King of Hearts' with Viola labradorica

Allium aflatuense 'Purple Sensation'

Aquilegia vulgaris seedling (Heart of Gold)

Epimedium grandiflorum 'Lilafee'

Good scents:

Corydalis 'Blackberry Wine'

and

Iris germanica hybrid.

along with the crabapple blooms make being in the garden a delight.

Finally, because it wouldn't be spring here at Squirrelhaven without them, a couple of Anemonellas.

Thalictrum thalictroides 'Oscar Shoaf'

Thalictrum thalictroides 'Cameo'

Also blooming: a load of hellebores, the white and the pink single flowered Anemonellas, the redbud, the Chaenomeles, Tiarella 'Iron Butterfly' and 'Oakleaf', Heucherella 'Burnished Bronze', Zizia aurea and a bunch of stuff I've probably forgotten. (I'd forgotten the Brunneras, 'Jack Frost', 'Hadspen Cream', and 'Looking Glass', and Pulmonaria 'Roy Davidson', Muscari, little violets, Arisaema triphyllum, and Geranium macrorrhizum.

As always, thanks goes to Carol, of May Dreams Gardens, for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.