Author: Susan

Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’ smokebushes make quite a statement in the back acre. To their left are branches of one of the weeping willow trees, growing fairly enthusiastically, despite the low rainfall amounts we’ve had.

The native willows, viburnums, bayberries, witchhazels and dogwoods in this same general area are soon to be joined by buttonbush, clethra and allegheny serviceberries.

A few years ago, this area was overgrown with multiflora rose, buckthorn, some phragmites, and other invasives.

Someone touring our garden once asked, “What is that beautiful plant that almost looks like milkweed?”

Surprise, surprise – it actually is milkweed! A number of diverse species depend on it for food and shelter, including Monarch butterflies.

A large swath of it likes to grow on a part of our upper slope, where all the Japanese knotweed used to be, so we generally leave it be. Asclepias syriaca also has a lovely scent.

Remember September 2015’s mysterious case of stunted growth? Well, that certainly does not apply to this elm on the slope, thriving, though it was planted at the exact same time as the other two, and has received identical care.

This definitely provides a clue to solving the mystery!

These alders are small trees that fix nitrogen in the soil. They like to grow fairly aggressively right next to the pond, however, they’re easy to take out, and are amenable to being pruned however you’d like.

Here, they provide for a nice, shady pathway that leads to a resting spot.

Although the bright pink rose campion (Lychnis coronaria) is not native, it’s a good temporary filler to prevent erosion on the slope, as low junipers take their time filling in.

And, they seem perfectly at home with the unexpected native daisies that also decided to bloom!

Note: those little flags you may notice in the photo are used, in this case, to remind me of where the little bluestem grasses are planted. They’re also great at preventing erosion, yet are usually among the last to come up in early summer.