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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Worth the Wait


Deutzia 'Pink a Boo' blooms every May, hundreds of blossoms covering its leaves. 





It's underplanted with lamium.



Dwarf sweetspire 'Little Henry', a fragrant shrub that smells like honey, blooms at the same time as the deutzia. Both shrubs are favored by bees and are often so covered with pollinators they seem to hum. 


After blooming, both shrubs will be cut back by half in order to guarantee flowers next year. Next year's flower buds will form on the new wood that grows this year. 


White columbine and sweetspire grow in the light shade under the dogwood.


Three sweetspire anchor the dogwood garden. A second sweetspire grows just past the blue cranesbill geraniums near the gate.


Sweetspire grows near monarda and geums.


This side of the dogwood garden faces the patio. Pink swamp milkweed, phlox, white trumpet lilies, campanula 'Summertime Blues' yellow columbine, and kalimeris grow near the sweetspire. Self-seeded impatiens have started to sprout at its base. 

25 comments:

  1. Absolutely beautiful. Those areas are really lovely and the blooms are fabulous!

    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  2. Really nice plant choices and they look great. The first set of pics remind me of lilacs from my childhood in Wisconsin.

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  3. What a sight, it really was worth the wait! Thank you for the pictures. How closely did you space the lamium plants, and do you prune them? Mine look scraggly and sprawly...

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  4. Nice combo. I've always been a Itea fan. I use to work for a nursery as a designer and I would use them in all kind of areas, differing soil types, sun to shade, muck to sand, and it has three seasons of interest.

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  5. That is some kind of wonderful! Such prolific blooms. I am sure the pollinators are happy to find your garden!

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  6. My goodness! That's the kind of bloom sequence we gardeners dream about. NOT a perfect storm, but a perfect bloom! How did you plan this all to happen at the same time? Wowza!
    I think I'd just sit in a chair the whole weekend right next to the flowers.
    David/:0)

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  7. The Deutzia is simply stunning - What a mass of blooms....and I can almost smell the sweetspire from here (almost)

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  8. Your deutzia is absolutely beautiful and lovely in combination with the lamium. I love the sweetspire too. They are such pretty, feminine flowers and the columbines, phlox and campanula complement them perfectly.

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  9. That deutzia is stunning. Great idea to underplant with lamium, it matches perfectly and continues the flow of pink blooms.

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  10. Your spring garden is amazingly evocative. Seeing the images gives a sense of how pleasing it must be to walk among these beauties.

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  11. Stunning blooming! I don't have these shrubs. I love your idea to cut the plants right after blooming ended. I often miss this moment. Happy gardening!

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  12. Your deutzia and your sweetspires are total flower factories!

    Do you actually reduce their overall size by half when you cut them back after flowering? (that is, cut all the branches). I would not have thought to do that.

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  13. liquid barley drops to control algae in the pond? Tell me more. I am skimming green gloop off our pond. So far I'm winning, but only if I am on daily duty!

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  14. Wonderful! I love the combination of the deutzia with the lamium. I planted Sweetspire last year for the first time. It was tiny then, but already I am impressed and planning to add more.

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  15. Yes, most definitely worth the wait. It's wonderful when shrubs bloom together.

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  16. I love the lamium underneath the deutzia, such a great look!

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  17. The deutzia is very beautiful; I don't think I've ever seen one. I guess I need to clear out some space for more shrubs! I'm glad I read what you said about cutting back the Virginia sweetspire. I have them for the first time this year (blooming like crazy already!) so it's great to learn this.

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  18. Today's blogging visits have been full of memories, places, and plants that I left behind. Thank you so much for showing the Deutzia. I used to have one in a pot, and I gave it to another gardener to put in her garden. I loved it, my heart sings over it's beauty, that's how much I loved it. Wonder if one will grow up here in zone 5?

    Stunning to see it so large, and heavily laden.

    Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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  19. what a wild spring garden - the bees and other pollinators must be having a lovely feast. I've never seen or heard of a deutzia. For a shrub with a not particularly lovely name, it is, as Sharon has said, very beautiful.

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  20. Love the sweetspire, but WOW - that deutzia underplanted with the lamium is absolutely breathtaking! What a gorgeous pairing.

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  21. I have deutzia pink minor and nikko. Love them both!

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  22. Pink a Boo--I love that name! Thanks for sharing info about both these shrubs. It would be nice to have more things to attract pollinators in my garden.

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  23. What lovely photos. Your plants look beautiful!

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  24. Last year I was so impressed that I dashed out and bought a white Deutzia after I saw one of your posts. Now, I think I may need a pink one too! That Deutzia 'Pink a Boo'' is just so lovely. The Sweetspire is really pretty too. And I like its neat compact shape. Both are going on my wish list!
    P.S. The peony shot is very nice, as is all the photography in this post.

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  25. Good golly, I will have to visit you more often! I have been missing out on so much amazing beauty! Thank you for sharing with us! xo

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