Shades of Grey in the Garden: The Final Chapter

The swirling waves of an Ornamental cabbage 

I have a marathon of images to finish off my grey-themed posts, so I will keep this introduction short and sweet. 

I always learn something in putting these post together. The pictures are bookmarks that reference the important passages in last summer's travels: Note to self: Remember this plant or that planting combination. Even if a plant is as common as dirt, I often see it used in such a way that I find myself thinking: now isn't that a great idea!

So, let's dive right in:

I am pushing it with this first example of grey. I hope you will forgive me, but you don't see this old-fashioned plant as often as you should these days. This is Basket of Gold, Aurinia saxatilis 'Compacta'. Its foliage is greyish-green.

Here it is tumbling down the rocky hillside of a former quarry. (The Rockery at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, ON). Height: 20-30 cm. Spread 20-30 cm. Care: Full sun, average to sandy soil. Drought tolerant when established.

Snow-in-summer, cerastium tomentosum in my garden

My mom always detested this ground cover, but though it can take over in a hurry, it does have some uses. In my garden it holds a sloping bank on the eastern side of the house. In the image below, snow-in-summer cascades down a steep embankment at the RBG in Hamilton.

Snow-in-summer, cerastium tomentosum. Height 15-20 cm. Spread: 60-75 cm. Care: As you can see this plant is a spreader. It is perfect in hot sunny areas with poor soil. Clip it back after flowering to keep it tidy.

Cheddar Pinks, Dianthus Height: 15-30 cm Spread: 20-30 cm Care: Full sun.

I couldn't leave these out. Beautiful grey foliage and a delicious, spicy scent.

A front planting that incorporates a pale, pink dianthus as well as a few grey-blue evergreens. Private Garden in Mississauga, ON.

Sea holly, Eryngium Height: 60-75 cm. Spread: 45-60 cm Care: Full sun

Sea Holly with purple Monkshood in the foreground. Larkwhistle Garden on the Bruce Peninsula.

Yarrow, Achillea taygetea 'Moonshine' has lovely silver foliage. Height: 45-60cm Spread: 50 cm Care: Full sun. Blooms June to September (with deadheading).

I have this silver yarrow in my garden. It is very reliable, quiet and well-behaved (never the class clown). It puts up with any amount of neglect I lavish on it.

Lavender Cotton, Santolina chamaecyparissus Height: 30-45 cm Spread: 30-60cm Care: Requires good drainage. Drought tolerant when established.

This is a plant I saw at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton and knew nothing about. I liked the foliage so much however, I wanted to know more. Lavender Cotton was often used in traditional herb and knot gardens. Its dried leaves are nicely scented and are sometimes used in potpourri.

Artemisia schmidtiana 'Silver Mound' Height: 25 cm Spacing: 35 cm Care: Best in full sun. Makes a nice compact mound of silver. 

I have Artemisia ludoviciana 'Silver King' in my garden. Now, if you are familiar with this cultivar then you are probably questioning my sanity. In researching this plant, I found a reference that described it as "a little aggressive for the average perennial border". 

That's a polite way of saying it spreads like mad!!

I knew 'Silver King' was a spreader, but I thought I could outsmart it...so I planted it in the garden in a pot with a hole cut in the bottom. Foolish, foolish gardener!

'Silver King' laughed in my face and sent out runners that just skipped over the rim of the plastic pot. 

Despite the bad experience, I haven't given up on Artemisia. Look how great it looks in combination with the burgundy Barberry above. I am convinced that I just need to find another cultivar that is better behaved.

Artemisia 'Powis Castle' Height: 75 cm Spread: 45 cm Care: Full sun, well-drained soil. Excellent for hot sunny sites. Hardy zones 6-9.

What is your experience with Artemisia? Do you know a great cultivar we should all try. Here are a couple of options I saw last summer. Any comments?

Edwards Garden in Toronto Artemisia stelleriana 'Boughton Silver' with taller Calamint behind. Height: 15-30 cm Spread: 60-75 cm Care: Compact selection. Full sun. Clip back mid-summer to maintain low mat-like effect.

We had Lamb's Ears in the garden when we first moved in. Over time, the shade of mature trees made it harder and harder for it to prosper. Next summer, I would like to find a new spot and buy some new plants. 

I have to say that I am not fond of Lamb's Ear's in bloom. Stachys byzantina 'Silver Carpet' has dense clumps of soft, velvety silver leaves. Apparently this selection rarely blooms. Height: 10-15 cm Spread: 30-60 cm. 

Russian Sage, Perovskia atriplicifolia. Grey foliage makes a nice foil for warm colors such as pink and mauve. It can easily be a best friend for blue and purple.

The Music Garden, Toronto, ON.

Blue-grey evergreens in the Kinanen's backyard garden in Dundas Ontario. The garden's pond is right off the deck. Perfect for watching the fish dart around. Pond by Clearwater Ponds.

Really quickly, I will remind you that evergreens offer some beautiful garden greys.

Korean Fir, Abies koreana 'Siberlocke' You can read more about Koran Fir trees in this post by Alistair who writes the blog Aberdeen Gardening.

Aren't these grey pinecones interesting?

The Harrison Sister's garden in Hamilton, ON

A beautiful story in color and texture.

Here we are looking back the other way in the same garden. The Harrison Sister's garden in Hamilton, ON

Hostas also come in a nice range of grey and blue-grey colors.

Heather Bradley's garden in Mississauga, ON.

Finally, if you want to add grey to your garden next summer, don't forget to consider 

ferns like this Japanese Fern.

Edward's Garden, Toronto, ON.

I end with a mystery. I'm not sure what the name of this grey beauty. (You see, I really do learn from doing these posts.) Any ideas?

Shades of Grey Part 1 (The Rant)

Nepeta, 'Dropmore Blue'

True confession: I recently went to my local bookstore with the aim of searching out a good book on the subject of preserving/canning fruits and vegetables...but there was also a secondary component to my bookstore mission-

I wanted to pick up a copy of 50 Shades of Grey.

I had heard a lot of buzz about the series of books and all the hype had succeeded in leaving me feeling frankly curious! It is not everyday that a series of romance novels take the 1, 2, and 3 spot on the New York Times Bestseller list.

What started out as an E-book had grown, through simple word of mouth, into a publishing phenomenon. In the U.S. alone, the three-book series, had over 20 million dollars in sales.

I had heard the book variously described and dismissed as "mommy-porn" and "poorly written", but man, who can argue with those sales figures. Someone was reading those books and liking them...alot!

So what was so special about this particular series of romance novels?

I was curious to know!

Backyard Pond in Mississauga, ON

I must also confess that am not one for reading romance novels generally speaking. I like a fairly wide range of books- everything from classical literature to garden books to mystery novels, but romance novels have never appealed to me. The previous two books on my night table were Prisoner of Tehran and Half Broke Horses (both excellent books by the way). Its just that I find romance novels are a little too over-the-top; the characters are too perfect and often too silly.

I am also a pragmatist I guess. I like my heros and heroines to be a bit more original and authentic. I tend to prefer a more traditional Jane Austin or Jane Eyre sort-of-love-story, where the central character is a bit more plain and homespun (I can identify better), and the man of her dreams may be darkly handsome and mysterious, but also real and even flawed...

Annual Licorice and Dusty Miller at Edwards Gardens

By the time I hit the second paragraph of 50 Shades of Grey, I knew I was definitely on foreign soil.

The central character has the romantic sounding name: Anastasia. The author probably got tired of typing out "A n a s t a s i a" again and again, because she most often goes by the name Ana. To counter the fluffy first name, author E. L. James has given her heroine a James-Bond-sounding last name.

Anastasia Steele!

It goes without saying that she is stunningly beautiful.

Ana meets Christian Grey when she stumbles (literally) into his office to interview the highly successful, fabulously rich, business tycoon for her college newspaper. Though she is supposedly smart, she bumbles through the interview and even makes the mistake of asking Christian if he was gay. (I was mortified on her behalf. I can't seriously imagine, in a business situation, asking a man I just met, about his sexual preferences.) Far from being put-off by Ana's clumsiness, Christian is enthralled.

By page 115 their already in bed together.

Lamb's Ears at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, ON

Just a quick word about Christian. Not surprisingly, he is devastatingly handsome. Christian is also big... and I am not talking about his hands or his feet here ladies!

The man also has some serious skills.

Sweet little Anastasia goes from a innocent in chapter seven to experiencing multiple O...oh dear, can you use that word in a gardening blog post?...hmm, maybe not...suffice it to say, she discovers in her first experience of lovemaking an insatiable appetite for more...

And it here that the novel takes a turn for the unexpected.

It seems Christian has unorthodox tastes when it comes to sex...the man has a fully equipped playroom for one thing. These preferences might have made Christain seem weird to a good portion of the reading audience, so the author has wisely given Christian a darkly mysterious and troubled childhood by way of explanation for his unorthodox predilections.

Private Garden, Rosedale, ON

So what kept me reading?

It is honestly unlike anything I have ever read before. The question, "Where is the heck is this book going?" kept me turning the pages.

The writing is not brilliant and often repetitive. Ana is forever using explicatives like Oh my! and Holy shit!. Half way through the novel I swore that would throw the book across the room if she blinked or bit her lip one more time!

The author does understand pacing though. Just when things were getting a tad dull, there would be a curve ball introduced that propelled me forward.

Now there is a movie is in the works and I predict there will also be many copycat books in the same way that Bridget Jone's Diary spawned a whole new generation of "chick lit".

Do I admire the character Anastasia Steele?

How can I really! She is the kind of fantasy character who graduates with an English major and does not regret for a second the somewhat impractical nature of her degree. You want to bet that she does not get stuck serving french fries at the local McDonald's restaurant!

No, even in these recessionary times, our plucky little Anastasia leaves school and one week later as a job as an assistant in a prestigious publishing house.

I think I prefer my fictional heroines to be a bit more real.

P.S. There is a new post under the Page header Cooking. Check out Brenda's Green Bean Noodles here. Up next, I am going to continue to run with a grey theme, but I'll put the color grey back into a garden setting.