Getting Re-acquainted, Part IV

Here's the next chunk of garden space!

Ok, this picture really doesn't show up very well, but this is a Styrax japonica that I grew from seed. It has hellebores and a salvia which I believe is Salvia forskaohlei. I also grew the salvia from seed, which turned out to be a mistake in other areas of the garden as it is a rampant reseeder in part to full sun. In dry shade it grows very slowly, but still reseeds a bit and possibly spreads by long rhizomes.

Past a couple trees from the Styrax is this area. More rhododendrons to block the view of the neighbors, which isn't bad in this picture, but the man next to us basically has a junkyard in the trees. It's much more visible in person.

Looking out toward the road. The Styrax is just on the other side of that old pile of mulch, which has been slowly decomposing since we moved in. At least it's smaller than it used to be!

A climbing hydrangea grows up a Douglas fir. It started taking off last year after 3 or 4 years of not doing much. The cage was to protect it from the deer until it grew out of their reach. I think it's almost time to take that cage down...maybe. 

The bright green leaves and peeling cinnamon bark both contrast beautifully with the grey-brown trunk and darker needles of the Doug fir.

Cyclamen hederifolium. This was the first cyclamen I planted and for at least 5 years it was all alone. 

Not anymore! Look at all those seedlings, and most of them a gorgeous silver! I thought Cyclamen needed two plants to produce seed. I guess not!

Last year I also added two Cyclamen coum. This is one. A lovely silver with a thin silver-green edge. It also set a good amount of seed when I bought it, which I spread around the area. I've spotted quite a few of these seedlings coming up.

The second of my two original Cyclamen coum.  This one has more green and is also growing in a better area.

I need to weed, but that's not why I included this photo. Look at the little Cyclamen coum in the center and on the left! 

This was our only camellia until I brought back seedlings from North Carolina. I think it's 'April Kiss' or one of the other pink April cultivars. Unfortunately it's a favorite winter food for the deer. It should be moved to a more open area, rather than in the dry shade at the base of a Doug fir. Maybe then it could grow above the deer.

Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' glows in the shade. I need more of these, or maybe the new, bigger cultivar 'Alexander's Great'.

I love the forget-me-not blue flowers, even more so because I don't have to worry about them turning weedy and because once the flowers are done I can enjoy the beautiful leaves.

This petasites was a gift from a friend. It stayed small and struggling for years, but seems to be taking off now. I may come to regret this.

In addition to 2 or 3 grocery store-type primroses, I grew several of what I'm fairly certain is Primula bulleyana from seed. They bloom later than Primula vulgaris types and as the plants mature they develop candelabra-type flower stalks bearing gorgeous yellow/orange flowers.

Some of these primulas have grown into fair-sized clumps.

Aconitum 'Bressingham Spires' forms a nice clump of finely divided foliage in spring. I'm excited to finally see it bloom this summer. I planted it several years ago and was never able to visit during its bloom season.

These are both inherited rhodies that were relocated after we moved in. The larger one on the left has 4-inch wide, almost highlighter pink flowers in large trusses. It's also capable of putting on 2 to 3 feet of growth per year. Thus I call it "Big Pink". Front and center is a row of Hakonekloa macra 'All Gold' I got as a 6 inch clump after replanting a lady's containers for her. That original clump has yielded three 12-18 inch clumps in 5 years and this year I plan to divide those clumps again to spread it around. It's invaluable as an easy, deer-resistant splash of color in the shade.

This pieris was planted at least 10 years ago and for some reason has grown almost as a ground cover, staying about 1 foot tall. It may have something to do with the fact that it's growing on an old trash heap from when our junkyard neighbor lived on this property with his now ex-wife, who sold us the house. This spot also killed a monkey puzzle tree.

This bed is slated for expansion, enlarging it to include the pieris, bringing it further out in the direction from which I took this picture, and curving it up to somewhere in front of that tree closest to the driveway.

I think there will be two more posts, maybe just one, introducing the gardening space and property. I've already started on some of the projects I've listed, so I'm ahead of the game as far as my blog goes. Now if only I could find some buried money or bonds to cash in to pay for all the plants I need...