Roses will be coming on soon! Blooming now…..
Every year is different, isn’t it? Even though we had a challenging Spring, we are moving right along with the new gardens in the back yard. Stone walkways are going in. I’m seeding a lot of easy plants directly – poppies, sunflowers, mallow, hollyhock and larkspur. We’ll see how that goes as the summer progresses. Patience is definitely a virtue I need to cultivate!
The perennials in the back gardens are a combination of 1 or 2 year old plants I moved from the front yard or got from friends’ gardens, small herbs I bought at Desert Canyon Farms on our way back from a trip to Santa Fe, and some very nice unusual perennials I ordered from Annie’s Annuals and Perennials. Oh, and a few interesting rugosa and noisette roses I ordered from High Country Roses. And I had to have another Darlow’s Enigma rambling rose, didn’t I? Endangered herbs, such as Osha, and some of the more medicinal herbs, like Elecampane, were obtained from Strictly Medicinal. Harlequin’s Gardens in Boulder had the currants and hostaberries I was looking for.
More on all of these later.
Here are some of the plants that are blooming now.
I love Spiderwort! This one gets morning sun and afternoon shade. Perfect!
I grow Spilanthes every year. The flowers have amazing medicinal properties. I dry some every summer, powder and blend into coconut oil with Prunella to make a stimulating, healing toothpaste. Can also be tinctured to be used as an antibiotic. Very young greens can be added to salad for an extra zing! If you ever get a toothache, this plant will help!
This is actually two clematis plants we installed together..It’s a very large trellis they are growing on, and we wanted to get maximum coverage and drama. They didn’t look so good last year, but they are very happy this Spring! A big pile of mulch (10″ deep) over their roots means they can take the hot afternoon sun that comes to their location around noon each day. Then back into shade around 4:30 or 5:00 pm. Love this color!
I adore this Geranium ‘Bill Wallis’ – tiny perfect flowers! Lots of them! This is a zone 5 perennial that reaches 15″ tall x 20″ wide, has a very long bloom season AND reseeds! Reblooms when cut back after the initial long bloom. So charming!
Electric Blue Penstemon (Penstemon heterophyllus) is one of my favorites! Loves a well drained hot exposure. Here, it is growing next to Sulfur Buckwheat – another one of my favorites for hot sun, low water locations. More photos later when it really gets going.
Rocky Mountain Blue Penstemon. A must have for every Colorado garden. Gets bigger each season, and is especially important for bumblebee populations. An infused oil of Penstemon flowers makes an amazing first aid remedy or moisturizer.
A hybrid Penstemon. Love the color! Yet another plant that likes hot sun, well drained soil and relatively low water. Bees, especially bumblebees, love this plant!
Arnica is a beautiful plant that spreads nicely and reblooms after deadheading, Linament!
Rosa Glauca! A species rose that REALLY likes growing here in my Berthoud gardens. It has reached 8′ or more, and there are buds lining every single arching branch from top to bottom! It produces small rose hips, which I will leave for the birds. Such a simple and lovely rose with blue/green foliage. Spreads by root runner when happy. Zone 3.
Prunella lanceolata is beginning to bloom! An antibiotic herb, it’s also great to use in dental formulas like mouthwash and tooth powder. Helps regenerate receding gums. A charming plant that is fun to grow.
Wood Betony (Betonica officinalis) is a nervine herb that is a lovely addition to the sunny garden. Here, on June 7, it’s in bud. Blooms with a vibrant lavender/purple bloom. Harvest leaves prior to bloom. Dry and infuse as a tea – tastes similar to black tea.
Shade garden with the very large, purple flowering comfrey and soon to bloom elecampane (to the right), violet, primula florindae (Giant Cowslip) and Osha. The comfrey is a nutrient generating plant, elecampane purifies the soil and is an amazing respiratory herb, Osha is an endangered antibiotic herb, while Primula and Violets are soothing, nourishing herbs. Flowers of Primula were used topically in olden times to restore and preserve the beautiful complexions of the ladies, and the tincture was given to calm hysteria. Violets are highly nutritious! We juice the leaves and add them to salads.
View from the mailbox. The Roxanne Geranium is stunning this year! Catmint is growing and blooming all along the front next to the sidewalk. It’s great for choking out bindweed and other weeds, and the bees adore it! Deadhead for reliable rebloom and save the seed! You can barely see the red rose next to the blue geranium – it’s just getting started – and you can see the Rocky Mountain Penstemon in the background. Bees are very happy about all of these plants!
Other plants in my garden that I’m looking forward to with great anticipation:
Angelica stricta ‘Purpurea’ – reaches 4′ tall and wide with large purple flowers.
Sunflower Italian White – a vigorously flowering plant, 4′ x 4′ with branching habit.
Verbascum olympicum – 8′ tall x 3′ wide – impressive! Major bee plant, respiratory herb.
Verbascum phoeniceum ‘Violetta’ – zone 4, 30″ tall, purple mullein. Reseeds. ‘Nuf said!
Hollyhock Alcea ‘Halo Cerise’ + Sunflower Lemon Queen = Oh Snap!!!
Nicotiana – the fragrant, tall white flowering version
Alpine strawberry – Produces highly nutritious, small, flavorful berries all summer.
Brown Eyed Susan – smaller, more plentiful flowers than blacked eyed variety. Bees!
Pink Muhly Grass – 3′ x 3′ cloud of pink grass in September. I must be patient!
Anthemis “St. John’s Chamomile” – vibrant orange flowers
Aquilegia vulgaris ‘Blue Barlow’ – violet blue blossoms to 30″ tall in part shade
Rosa chinensis ‘Mutabilis’ – color-changing flowers! Lovely!
Penstemon pseudospectabilis – hot pink flowers for the hot dry garden.
… and lots MORE!!!!
As always, we enriched the soil with compost, manure, glacial rock dust and mycorrhizal inoculant. My favorite organic plant food is Age Old Grow. Amazing!
Blessings to you and your gardens,
More on swales and greywater later on! The books I referenced for this project: 
I put two rugosas in our front yard, Rosa rugosa rubra (left) and Rose rugosa alba (white). These roses are so old, they are labeled as “ancient.” Originating in Japan, each one gets at least 6’ tall and 4-6’ wide. I gave them plenty of room to reach their full potential and to spread out, which they evidently really like to do. I planted them about 8’ apart in a large garden with other substantial, medicinal herbs, namely Elecampane, True Comfrey(purple flowering), Thyme, Penstemon, Yerba Mansa and Mallow. Why such big roses? Why not, if you have the space? These are species roses that produce large, almost crabapple size hips. Super delicious, extremely nutritious. They bloom all summer with large, stunning, exceptionally fragrant flowers and are very hardy and vigorous roses who dislike chemical fertilizers of any kind. Perfectly suited for my organic medicinal herb garden. Did I mention they are Zone 3? Adaptable, too. Best results are seen with generous amounts of compost, manure and the addition of glacial rock dust and mycorrhizal inoculant. If you are willing to do an initial soil amendment, and then generously add some compost and/or manure once a year, and if your garden offers 6-8 hours of sunlight, you will probably be able to grow these roses very successfully. Go on, you know you want to!
I’m also growing two Apothecary roses, one I brought from our old location, and one I added this year. This is another very old rose, dating back to the 12th century. It blooms once, with great fragrance and vitality, for several weeks in early to mid summer, and then produces large hips in the Fall. The dried petals of the Apothecary rose are know to retain their fragrance for years. Perfect for dream pillows, kitty cushions, or used fresh for making infused honey, elixirs, or distilling into a fragrant hydrosol. Rose hip jam is one of the most delightful foods on earth. LOVE!
Rose de Rescht is another very old rose originating in Persia. The roses are small, with many petals, perfectly formed, and exceptionally, intoxicatingly fragrant. The bush usually measures 3-4′ x 3-4′, although can get larger. Zone 4, so quite hardy here in Colorado. Blooms and reblooms all summer, and the two I brought with me are loaded with buds and have sent out some runners already (which rarely happened at the old location). Looks like I will have a small hedge of these delightful little roses very soon. This rose seems to enjoy a moist, compost-rich soil.
When this plant is happy, it sends beautiful, long runners out to root and form new plants. When it blooms, it sends up odd, yet pretty white flowers. Harvest the whole plant when in bloom, and use leaf, flower and root to make a powerful tincture or infused honey. This is a great remedy for coughs and colds, and can also be used topically as a compress to relieve painful joints. Grow it in your vegetable garden and treat it like a perennial green. Just leave some of the plants for next year. If it gets too big, or ends up in remote corners of your garden, pot it up and give some to a friend!
Chamomile is a wonderful sedative herb. Also anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal and muscle relaxing. Helpful for treating digestive complaints and discomfort, skin conditions such as eczema and diaper rash, insomnia and headaches. Freshly gathered and dried Chamomile is so much nicer than any chamomile tea or loose herb you can buy. Chamomile-infused honey is delicious and excellent as a 20-minute facial, fabulous to add to an evening tea, and is also useful for dogs who need to relax. Grows in any sunny location, even in very dry spots. Easy to grow from seed in a large pot.
Calendula flowers make some of the best infused oil of all time. Somehow their beautiful medicine turns ordinary organic olive oil into an amazing healing and beautifying substance. Really wonderful. Flowers can be dried, powdered and added to green formulas for people and pets to aid in healing the digestive tract. Grow Calendula from seed in a sunny location. Easy peasy! Best in a garden, not in a pot.
I first learned about high-dose vitamin C from Dr. Wendell Belfield’s books How to Have a Healthier Dog and The Very Healthy Cat Book. He treated, with great success, “incurable” diseases like Distemper in dogs and Feline Leukemia in cats. Despite all the doubters and nay-sayers, of which there were many, he persevered and is one of my personal heroes. He saved the lives of many animals, and improved quality of life for many, many more. All of my animal friends now receive extra Vitamin C every single day.
Thank you, Dr. Belfield! Vitamin C has been super helpful for Lily and Zandra. Recommended dosage for animals under 20 pounds is 500 – 1,500 mg in divided doses throughout the day. Animals who weigh 20-50 pounds would receive 1,500 – 3,000 mg a day, 50-100 pound animals receive 3,000 – 6,000 mg per day, and animals over 100 pounds benefit from 6,000 – 7,500 mg per day in divided doses. Puppies and kittens can receive pediatric vitamin C drops.
