Red Foliage of Coral Bells

Not too many flowers in the perennial garden yet, but some of the foliage is quite attractive wearing this morning’s rain drops.

The start to the Memorial Day weekend was a rainy one. I watched the sky for awhile this morning, the gray clouds massing dark and brooding. Then the clouds thinned ever so slightly and a patch opened, a portal of blue sky.

We planted the perennial garden 3 years ago, and we spent a long, hot month digging up grass, adding mulch and compost and more black rich earth, and then choosing perennials according to size and color and blooming time. There was this big plan drawn out on paper, but we’ve lost a a few plants each year, so the plan has gone awry. We started putting in whatever we were attracted to, and our spur-of-the-moment choices were not always the right size or color, or they bloomed all in one area at the same time. But I always pick perennials with foliage I think is lovely, so there are yellow green leaves, deep green shiny leaves, variegated white and green leaves, and dark purple ones all tumbled in with the usual garden greens. Almost like a mixed salad of foliage.  Today there were only the starts of a couple of flowers in bloom, so I photographed leaves in swirls and curly leaves, all with rainy bits dressing their surfaces.

It was a great way to begin the long weekend!

Smooth Sumac

Sumacs are famous for their red foliage and fruits throughout much of autumn.  The fruits remain over winter and even throughout the following spring, providing much needed winter food for birds. It’s not that the birds are particularly fond of the berries (the berries are really drupes as they have a pit, not a seed), but that it is one of the few available foods. Moose and deer, however, are more than happy to chomp on the foliage and fruits, and often crop the bushes quite close to the ground.

I think the sumac is at its most attractive when the fruits are bright red, and the red berries are surrounded by foliage that is just turning from greens to blue/purples to reds.

Garden Pest - My Permission to Kill if Found!

The Japanese beetle has invaded my gardens and yard. They have been voracious this summer and really inflicted a great amount of damage. The beetles eat the surfaces of the leaves, but avoid the vein which remains intact, and therefore the foliage looks lacy. However, it is not a pretty sight to any gardener.

Lacy Leaf Damage on Filbert Tree

The beetle was first discovered in the United States in 1916, and it is thought it was accidentally introduced in New Jersey in imported Japanese iris. The beetles are controlled in Japan by natural predators, but are unchecked in the US. They are found in every state east of the Mississippi River, except for Florida.

The best defense in my smallish garden is removal by hand – yuk! There are traps using pheromones, but some studies show the traps can actually attract more beetles than they catch. I’m not one to use much in the way of chemical control if possible, but I”ve been using Bonide from Garden Naturals in the worst areas and that seems to have helped.

Anyone else fighting these pests successfully with other means?

Lots of work for a measly cuppa joe.

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Taken in Madison, Wisconsin (See more photos here)

43°5′ 31″ N, 89°19′ 54″ W43.091863-89.33155

Olbrich Gardens
Madison, WI