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Garden journal entry |
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November 01, 2020. Because it's been altogether too long since I last wrote here, just a quick post highlighting the grassy growth in and around our waterfall pond. The two purple-leaved plants look similar (a happy coincidence) even though they are not remotely related. The one at left is a true grass, Pennisetum 'Princess Caroline', and grows in regular garden soil behind the pond. It has been evergreen through our last two winters, providing a steady mass of foliage as a backdrop to the pond; I give it a good haircut to remove frost-damaged leaves in early spring, and then just let it do its thing. Its lookalike to the right is a red bog lily (Crinum species or cultivar) that grows in the filtration zone at the top of the waterfall. It was planted as a small specimen when the pond was first installed, and at first didn't seem like much of a match for several vigorous companions that quickly took over initially. But slow and steady wins the race, and by now the crinum is undeniably the queen of the bog, delighting us with striking white flowers a few times through the warm season, and its sturdy foliage year-round. It too receives a good early-spring trimming.
In the foreground, the green forest of golden spears and bushy horsetail (which grow in the slow-moving stream at the base of the waterfall) is nicely offset by Princess Caroline behind it. Ignore the dead stick in the middle: it used to be a willow that volunteered in the boggy area in front of the stream. We allowed it to grow for a few years, cutting it back strongly whenever it got too big, but it suddenly gave up the ghost a few months ago. That's probably just as well, since it was never destined to become the tree it so longed to be. |
Last modified:
September 09, 2009
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