Pink Dawn

One of the few flowering gems at this time of the year is the lovely Pink Dawn Viburnum (Viburnum x bodnatense 'Pink Dawn').  This deciduous shrub drops it's leaves in fall and bursts fragrant powder pink blooms, from red buds, on its rough branches from Fall until early Spring. These blooms are later followed by bird-attracting red berries that mature to black. These shrubs look absolutely at home in a woodland garden bed and especially when in close proximity to a Winter blooming Witchazel and a mass of red twigged dogwood.  Quilchena has three Pink Dawn Viburnum shrubs massed in the centre of the garden bed adjacent to the parking lot and the pond at the #18 hole. When you're making your way to the #10 hole take a look to the right and check out these Winter wonders. These bushy shrubs eventually reach a height of up to 10 feet with a potential 6 foot spread by maturity.  They prefer full to part sun with well drained soil.  It's an excellent Winter specimen plant for the Westcoast.  If you have some extra room in your back border I would highly recommend picking one of these up.

White Gardens

The last article I wrote was in reference to Moon gardening, using the moon cycles to dictate proper stewardship of the land.  The ideas of Moon gardening made me think of the white gardens in Sissinghurst Castle, which in my mind stands as a model for the modern day moon garden because it is most appreciated at twighlight. Vita Sackville-West, and her husband, designed and built the gardens in the 1930's on the grounds of Sissinghurst in the county of Kent in South East England .  She designed the gardens to have different "rooms". In one of these rooms she filled the space with white blooming flowers, and plants with foliage in silver and grey. This monochromatic design was created to reflect the brightness of the moon and fill the garden with light and enchantment in the darkness of the night.

When I owned a Garden business, a client of mine requested a white garden be built in her "back 40" as a memorial to her late husband.  It was a charming space underneath a Horse Chestnut tree carpeted with moss.  She wanted the garden to feel like it was just chanced upon and that it held stories. She wanted a small table and two chairs to have conversations with her husband, if by chance he came by for a visit.  But also as a space for serenity and reflection.  A small rock gurgler water feature was placed near where she sat and two ornately carved concrete planters anchored the entrance. They eventually softened with a moss patina. A large urn concrete planter filled with white blooming plants and trailing ivy sat underneath the base of the tree.  Soft grey cobblestone pavers were embedded into the moss to create a small pathway leading into the space.  Mass plantings of shade loving ferns and perennials, in shades of silver and white, bordered the forest floor and cascaded down the planters.  It certainly became the enchanted and serene space that she had imagined.

White gardens are pure, transcendent, fresh, luminescent and magical.  When the green backdrop mellows in twilight, the brightness of the white plants really start to shine. When building a white garden it's important to remember all of your senses are enhanced in the darkness of the light.  There is a certain drama that precedes white gardens.  As the lights dim our other senses are more dominant. I think it's valuable to take advantage of these qualities.  A wholly thyme groundcover underfoot softens the space and fills the air with the essence of herbs. Consider planting ornamental grasses, like the gentle Mexican feather grass (Stipa tenuisima), that move in the lightest breeze and make the space come alive. Mirrors can be attached to a wall, fence or trellis to reflect more light and create the illusion of a keyhole into another garden. A well placed stone or concrete structure demand attention and can create the most interesting shadows.  A water fountain or pond contribute to the space through light reflection, movement and sound. Wooden structures, like fences, arbors and walls, can be painted white to reflect even more light to the space. They can also be stained in dark colours to soften the background and provide the illusion that the plants are climbing on their own. Backlight a tree or illuminate a pathway with soft lights to really awaken the space. There are so many tricks to complete this magical story.

There are plenty of our perennial favourites with white blooms. Some of my personal favourites are white blooming Wisteria (Wisteria floribunda 'Alba'), White Lavender (Lavendula x intermedia 'Alba'),Visions in White Astilbe (Astilbe chinensis 'Visions in White'), Iceberg Rose (Rosa floribunda 'Iceberg') and the double flowering Clematis 'Arctic Queen'.

There is of course new varieties of plants being hybridized every day with silver and variegated foliage that would be really successful in a white garden.  Silver foliaged Artemisia, Lamb's ear (Stachys byzantina), and Glacier Blue Mediteranean Spurge (Euphorbia characias 'Glacier Blue'), Siberean Bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla "Jack Frost"), Lungwort "Silver Shimmers", Snow-in-Summer (Cerastium tomentosum), and Sea Holly (Eryngium maritimum) to name a few.

I hope you have the opportunity one day to create a white room in your garden some day! Have a serene and reflective day!