Tag Archives: Hellebore

Dynamic Garden Lighting

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The winter months are the dormant season for most plants here in the Pacific Northwest, so it can be easy to overlook what a landscape has to offer. Still, reliable favorites like Hellebore, Sarcococca (Sweet Box), Snow Drops and Witch Hazel have been in full bloom since the beginning of the year. These plants are excellent choices near entries or frequently used pathways where you will see them even on dark, rainy days.

While you may not be outdoors as much as you would like, you can still see and enjoy your garden from inside your home. This is a good time to think about the views and how to make the most of them. Landscape lighting can enhance focal areas and extend viewing time while creating some interesting after-hours effects. You can add depth and character to your garden with something as simple as strategically placed uplighting on the peeling bark of a specimen tree or wash lighting on a plant with big leaves that create dramatic shadows. Lighting can open up a nighttime world in your back yard.

Here are a few ideas for using accent lighting outside your home. In a woodland setting, I use lighting sparingly and prefer soft, muted effects. Washing the trunk and primary branches of a mature Douglas fir provides ambient lighting throughout the garden. An uplight focused on the canopy of a Japanese maple provides a focal point and sense of scale in the garden at night. Whether your landscaping is modern, natural or traditional in style, lighting can enhance and define it at night.

Consider using low-voltage LED lighting, which can be installed without involving an electrician — all it requires is a nearby electrical outlet. It’s simple to position lights exactly where they need to be for optimal affects and to move them around later as plants grow and your garden changes.

When I’m designing garden lighting, I consider the style, location and size of the garden. I take into account needs such as security, safety, ambient light, focal points and dramatic effects. Primarily, it’s a matter of deciding what kind and how much lighting supports the form and the function of your garden.

Winter is a good time to look at your current outdoor lighting. Does it meet to your needs for safety and security? Is it harsh or distracting? Does it flatter and enhance your garden at night? Now is a good time to get started on lighting and other outdoor improvements so you can enjoy them this summer.

I hope this blog post helps you get started thinking about enhancing your garden with lighting. If you need more ideas, contact me for a design consultation and learn about lighting, design or the best plants for any spot in your garden.

The Gift of Color in a Winter Landscape

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A garden is for all seasons, but it’s always possible to super-charge your landscape for your favorite season. For some people, it’s all about garden beds bursting with summer-blooming perennials (they can put up with barren-looking beds during the dormant season).

But winter interest will be a priority for you if you are fond of the way icicles glisten in the sun on a Red Twig Dogwood or the way snow on the branches of conifers lets the imagination see horticultural “caricatures.”

Coral Bark Maple

If winter is your favorite season, consider adding these plants to your garden:

  • Plants and trees with red bark. These include the Red Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’), the Coral Bark Maple (Acer palmatum ‘Sango Kaku’) and the Marina Strawberry Tree (Arbutus x ‘Marina’).
  • Colorful conifers. Consider the Blue Ice Arizona Cypress (Cupressus arizonica ‘Blue Ice’) and the Dwarf Golden Hinoki Cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana Lutea’).
  • Trees and plants that bloom in late winter. You might use the Witch Hazel (Hamamelis mollis sp.), the early blooming Hellebores (Lenten rose sp.) and the Winter Sun hybrid Oregon Grape (Mahonia x media ‘Winter Sun’).

It’s a bonus that most of these versatile plants can have a place in any garden.

Take a break from the holiday buzz to breathe in the clean winter air and take a look around your garden. Envision where you might like to give your landscape the gift of color.

— Season’s Greetings from Michael Muro Garden Design

 

 

 

 

Late-Winter Garden Design Checklist

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Witch hazel, Hellebore and Sweet Box are blooming

Some of my favorite times to get outdoors are clear, brisk winter days. For avid gardeners there is is plenty to do when the rain stops.

Bu, if you’d rather stay indoors, there is much to do on the planning front. Late winter is a good time to take inventory of your garden and see what might make it more appealing at this time next year. Winter is also a great time to get a start on those design projects that seem to stay on your list year after year.

Here are some things to consider as you do your late-winter planning:

  • Screening and privacy: Do you have enough when your deciduous trees lose their leaves?
  • Circulation: Are pathways in the best location?  Is it easy to walk the whole garden and keep your feet dry?
  • Structure: Are garden focal points positioned for views inside the house, too?
  • Color: Do perennial borders need something additional for winter interest?
  • Moisture control: Look for standing water and muddy areas that don’t seem to drain all winter. Pay attention to annoying wet spots 
and make decisions about drainage issues so they can be resolved in drier months during landscape construction or as part of other summer gardening projects.

For these and other landscape planning questions, contact us for a design consultation. We can provide insight into the best options for your garden.

April Plant Of The Month

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For April we’d like to introduce you Paeonia japonica or Mountain Peony.

Shade Peony BloomThis choice woodland species from Japan thrives in the dappled shade in contrast with other species of Peonies that require full sun.  It has delicate,clusters of ovate leaves and simple single white, cup-shaped flowers that hover above its stems during springtime.

It requires shade with dappled morning sun or bright light but never direct sun.

As a perennial, it also has a dormant period at the end of summer so it’s a good accent amongst other plants with a longer growth cycle while it is dormant.  Peony japonica blends with favorites such as Ferns, Hellebores, Hosta and Trillium.  However, it needs loose, fertile soil to grow well and will be overtaken by more vigorous plants so give it some breathing room.

It is captivating as a shade specimen or in a pot nestled among others in light shade.  Pictured here in bud and bloom.

Not for the impatient, it is slow to establish, grows slowly and needs ideal conditions to thrive.  A great plant for the connoisseur gardener!

To learn more about garden planning, landscape design, and easy plants for your garden, please contact us.

Shade Peony 2 BloomsShade Peony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February Plant Of The Month

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The Silver Dollar Lenten Rose is one of the first Hellebore to bloom during winter.  Its muted emerald green foliage is mottled with soft yellow variegation and begins to emerge in late fall just a couple months after going dormant.  Once the stems and leaves develop in late fall, flowers buds begin to appear at the end of the year.  Each blossom consists of a profusion of intricate flowers clustered on large, arching, stems. The creamy moon yellow flowers bring out the same color in the foliage.  Together they create an eye catching display at a time of year when most plants are not doing much.

In contrast to other Hellebore, it foliage is as interesting as its flowers and holds up throughout summer, even though it is technically a perennial.  Because of it long life cycle,  it can be a mainstay of an ornamental landscape.  It prefers some indirect or morning sunlight to keep the foliage robust, large and brilliantly colored, but keep it out of deep shade or afternoon sun for best results.  Like most Lenten Rose it is pest resistant and doesn’t need rich soil or much water once established.

Silver Dollar is a good companion with dark green or blue-toned conifers, burgundy foliage and any rich, deep green.  Pure white and bright yellow are best avoided in direct vicinity as the tend to compete with the otherworldly lemon chiffon color of the flowers.

Contact us to learn more about garden planning, landscape design, and stunning plants for winter landscapes.

Look For Winter Blooming Perennials Now!

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Lenten Rose, Snow Drops and Cyclamen are flowering now. It is a good time to think about adding these to your garden for next year.

It is also a good time for a stroll through The Washing Park Arboretum, Kubota Gardens and other local parks and botanical gardens to see what is blooming now.  You will notice other plants and trees that stand out.  Many extraordinary and colorful  varieties of conifers and deciduous trees with intriguing bark are striking during the winter months.

Enjoy the view and fresh air or take notes and pictures if you are looking to update your garden and make it more “winter friendly”.

Back home, look at your own garden and decide what adjustments would make a show at this time next year.  If you are getting ideas for a new garden or major renovation, a garden designer will help you to select the right plants and incorporate the best choices into a comprehensive plan for your site.

Whether you need help with plant selection or a comprehensive landscape plan, I tailor my services to you project and lifestyle.  Contact me if now you are looking to make changes to your garden in 2015.

Heleborus niger 'HGC Jacob'