Heavenly Hellebore

Above:Hellebours foetidus naturalized in "woodsy" @ Goodstone

Above:Helleborus orientalis x hybrida 'Ivory Prince' @ Goodstone Carriage House

  Helleborus orientalis is easily one of my all time favorite herbaceous perennials EVER!  They are not really used in everyday landscapes which is sort of mind boggling considering they are extremely hardy (zones 4-7) will take part sun to full shade and are usually evergreen.  Not to mention they are DEER PROOF-for real!!!  They are also one of, if not The,  first to bloom in the very early spring and continue to bloom prolifically until June, maybe later.  

They make marvelous mounds of leaves and flowers growing 16"x 20" at maturity and need very little care or maintenance. The heavenly Helleborus is extremely tolerant of all conditions and I've seen it naturalize rather fast in good soil.  It's exquisite habit and gossamer flowers will be admired and appreciated in any situation and the affection will grow as that plant is the gift that keeps on giving! From shady, woodland gardens to quaint cottage gardens or large perennial gardens the Helleborus is a must have!   

Above:Helleborus nesteled between Tulip 'Green Village' and Nepeta 'Sweet Dreams' which is a really pretty upright catmint that flowers pink & white and Tulip 'Angelique'! (front of Dutch Cottage)

I've used the heavenly Hellebore in pots and planters for the spring season and then planted them out in the garden when its time to change the pots ! ( I love to use perennails in spring pots and planters it's a much better way to spend you hard earned dollars!!!) In cut flower arrangements they will last forever! The mighty Hellebore will  leave you with it's strong, shiny, deep green leaves in that nice clump all throughout the hot and dry summer!  Seriously it's impressive!! 

There are many different types and varieties of Helleborus.  Most of the helleborus found at the nurseries are hybrids and they are showing up in so many beautifel shades!  You can find them ranging from a creamy green to a rosy green to spotted white to a dark eggplant to pink and all the while looking amazingly ethereal and just as tough as the day is long!  Last year I put in tons of  Helleborus and I'm going to keep on adding over the next 3 years !  I want them all over!  

Hellebours foetidus is really cool too!  It has a different growth habit and a finer foliage.  This one only blooms in a white/green with a sight rose edge.  An amazing creature for sure!  The foetidus has the same hardiness and naturalizing ability and is just as durable in every way.  It remindes me of a plant from the dinasour times.  Its got a sharp and crazy texture but still has that certain something that makes a Hellebore so special!     You can't grow wrong with a Hellebore!!!

Above:Hellebours foetidus in the 'Woodsy Garden" @ Goodstone 

Above:Helleborus orientalis x hybrida 'Ivory Prince'

Below:Helleborus @ Goodstone in shades of white and pink

Varieties you can find in our gardens as of now !!!

*Helleborus orientalis 'Red Lady'

*Helleborus hybridus 'Ivory Prince'

   Common Name: Lenten Rose

*Helleborus hybridus 'Pine Knot Strain'

*Helleborus foetidus

   Common Name: Bearsfoot Hellebore

*Helleborus niger 'Maximus'

   Common Name: Christmas Rose

*Helleborus orientalis 'Brandywine Series'

   Common Name: Lenten Rose

Varieties I'll be adding...

Helleborus argutifolius

Corsican Hellebore

Delicate yellow-green flowers attractively striped with purple contrast with coarse, spiny evergreen foliage that resembles holly leaves. Tolerates some sun. Fall protection is needed north of zone 8. Blooms mid winter thru early spring.

Helleborus niger

Christmas Rose

An elegant perennial with delicate, single white flowers rising above lustrous, dark green leaves. Mass under trees or place in beds of mixed plantings. Also useful against spring-flowering evergreens.

Helleborus x 'Metallic Blue Lady'

Lenten Rose

Beautiful purplish-blue nodding flowers complement leathery evergreen leaves. Highlights the woodland garden or landscape. Long-lived plant.

Helleborus orientalis 'White Spotted Lady'

Lenten Rose

Beautiful, long-lasting nodding white flowers with maroon speckles complement leathery, evergreen leaves. Highlights the woodland garden or landscape. Long-lived plants.

Spring Greens

There is nothing better or more beautiful than fresh baby spring greens!  They are so fun and easy to grow.  These babies are not only pretty but they are packed full of nutrients.  Lettuce and greens require cool weather to germinate and do not typically do well in the heat of the summer.  Once the soil temp reaches over 63 degrees, lettuce season is over! So it is important to stay on schedule with these guys to get the maximum yield for our growing season!  We will have a second shot in the fall but I have my best success in the spring for sure!

 

  I start in mid march and grow mostly in salad boxes as I don't have a greenhouse set up yet.  The boxes work great and are very inexpensive to build.  Mine were built last spring and are holding up well in their second year of production.  The boxes are constructed of un-treated    1"x 6" pine lumber.  The frame is tacked together with small nails.  A sheet of  hardware cloth and a sheet of window screen are tacked to the bottom of the frame with a staple gun.  The window screen and hardware cloth provide drainage and air circulation.  I also set these boxes up on pallets to avoid rot from ground moisture.  I find this to be an excellent system for production!

Once germination has occurred and the babies have filled in and formed tiny versions of themselves at maturity, I begin to transplant them out.  Some go to the garden to grow into full sized lettuces.  Some are transplanted back into the boxes spaced evenly apart to grow into cut and come again baby greens.  If they are not divided and transplanted with room to grow they will be stunted and remain too small to use.  This step in the process is the most labor intensive and requires a lot of time but the results are well worth it !

Beyond lettuce I always do a few boxes of pea tendrils.  They are great for salads and very high in vitamin C.  This year I'm trying turnips in the boxes for baby turnips.  I also grow mustard greens, kale and  beet greens too!  Almost any green will work in here if proper care and space is given.

Above:Baby lettuce at transplant stage.  These little guys are easily separated and transplanted.  If done so on a cool grey day they will take immediatly and thrive

.

Above: Box of baby Dandelion greens!  

Below: Millions of baby lettuce awaiting transplanting!

I fertilize my baby greens with Neptune's Harvest liquid fish fertilizer.  This is an organic product that will not burn the babies and gives them their healthy glow!  I use this product of the veggie garden as well as a foliar feed.  It really makes a difference!

These are Tom Thumb lettuces.  This is a mini butter head lettuce that I grow every year!  I just love it.  When given room to mature they will form the most perfect little head perfect for an individual salad!  I am currently growing 4 boxes of these for the kitchen and have some out in the garden as well!  They will be featured on our menu very soon!!!!

Above: Tom Thumb lettuce spaced in salad boxes to grow out for the kitchen

Above: Baby bull's blood beet greens and baby kale next to three boxes of pea tendrils

Below: Thom Thumb babies maturing in the garden after being transplanted out of the boxes.

Below: Green Deer Tongue lettuce next to Red baby Oak Leaf loving the room to grow in the garden beds!

I do a lot of direct sewing in the garden as well.  Below is a bed of baby spinach mixed with some kale that over wintered in the garden.  We have had a great year for spinach.  I had a large crop in late March that had over wintered and I also direct sewed 3 large beds of spinach, all different varieties.  When the temps get hot the spinach is done.  My crop of winter spinach bolted as soon as we had a week of hot weather in April, so it was good that I had the baby back ups growing!  We have harvested a ton of spinach and have more coming!  What the kitchen doesn't use we sell to whomever is interested in our over flow.  Tarver is great at calling other local chef's to share the harvest and our over flow produce will also be available at the Fields of Athenry home market!  We are also looking to get into the local farmer's market circuit!  so look for us~ We're coming soon !!!  If anyone is interested in produce and herbs feel free to give us a call!

Below: Beds of a Gourmet Lettuce Mix next to Arugula both direct sewn in March.  These are treated as cut and come again!  We go through and give them a massive hair cut and then just days later a new crop has shot up and are ready for cutting again!  This continues until the hot weather comes!

Above:  An Abundance of radishes!!! Direct sewn in the garden in mid march.  Chef Tarver King will use them in all stages,  from barely a sprout to the rotund  radish we all know, you will find them featured on our menu throughout the spring!

Above: Direct sewn cut and come again lettuce used for baby greens

Below: Transplants from the boxes in the garden to grow to maturity

Below: Bags of Pea tendrils freshly harvested from the boxes on their way to the kitchen and Fields of Athenry

Above: Spring Bounty!!! Pea tendrils, lettuce, arugula, asparagus, radish and dandelion greens on their way to the kitchen!!!

Homage to Tulips

I have never been one to plant a lot of Tulips.  When I plant fall bulbs I want to make sure that all the effort is going to result in a spring show that will only get bigger and better as the years go by.  Tulips have always given me the impression that they are more trouble than they are worth.  I have always thought of them as wonderful as accents in a small and easily controlled garden and that's about it.  I guess it's due to all of the creatures that love them in all of their forms.  Chipmunks and squirrels LOVE the bulbs and deer Love every other part of them.  That mixed with the fact that I have had many Tulips revert from their pretty color back to their parent color, usually a bright red or yellow, after only a year!!!  

Last summer I poured over the bulb catalogs reading each one cover to cover, picking my tried and true favorites, learning about all the new stuff  and comparing prices and reputation for a quality product.  It took about a month to come up with my final order!!!  While compiling my dream list I noticed that a lot of Tulips were showing up on that list and I questioned myself for a second.  I'm soooo glad that I threw caution to the wind and got them !  (I also ordered a case of Deer Pharm and a case of Hot Pepper Wax ) This year they have proven themselves once again in a BIG way !  I can now understand Tulip Mania ! HAHA  Sort of ! ( And I haven't even had to use the wax or Pharm which will come in handy in the Veggie garden soon!)

Above:Carriage House Courtyard @ Goodstone Inn

Below: The little pond is a new addition this spring and it's also the beginnings of a complete make over for our beloved courtyard! When I planted this fall I wondered if I should have used Cayenne pepper in the soil to keep the critters away.  I stressed about the deer and planned on spritzing the new Tulips the second I saw life in the spring!  I awaited anxiously for any sign of them as soon as spring officially showed up.  I knew the ones in the courtyard would be safe from deer but I was not so sure about the others!  To my complete surprise I haven't had to do a thing except sit back and watch the show!  A few did get munched by deer on the woodsy side of the Dutch Cottage.  A few others, really pretty creamy yeallow ones,  got eaten by some frisky sheep that broke into the yard of the Bull Barn Cottage!  But all in all I have to pay homage to the Tulip this year!  Thank You for your stunning performance this spring Tulips !!!  Looking forward to your next show !

These "Black and White" Tulips are breathtaking!  I love this garden with the different textures. Cat Mint, grasses, nippon daisy, hydrangea, yellow twig dogwood, dark purple heuchera, lime light spirea, hosta and more.  This garden is on the side of the Carriage house closest to the Dutch cottage and they are both bordered by the woods with a view to Goose Creek!  

Above:Tulip 'Black Hero' and Tulip 'Mount Tacoma' looking fabulous together ! I love the sleek "black" with the voluptuous white !

Below: Tulip 'Black Hero' with Cat mint

 

  Above: Tulip 'Green Village' Is a beautiful pink and green!  Tulip 'Angelique' is a  baby pink puff

 Below: An arrangement of Tulip 'Green Village', Tulip 'Black Hero', Tulip 'Happy Family',  Helleborus, Daffodil & Viburnum 'Korean Spice' fresh cut from the property!  I love it !

Below: Boquet of fresh Tulips~'Green Village', 'Spring Green'

 & 'Happy Family'

Tulip varities planted last fall

Tulip 'Greenland' ~ Tulip 'Green Village' ~ Tulip 'Spring Green' ~Tulip 'Happy Family' ~ Tulip 'Angeliuqe' ~ Tulip 'Black Hero'~  Tulip 'Mount Tacoma' ~ Tulip 'Yellow Mountian 

Spring has arrived at the Goodstone Inn!

Goodstone Inn and Estate ~ Spring

Goodstone Inn & Estate ~ Veggies Welcome to the Goodstone Gardens!  I am so excited to be able to share with you my passion for gardening and all that it entails.  I began my adventure at the Goodstone Inn last January and have just completed my first full year cycle on the farm.  During that time much was created.  We now have an amazing vegetable garden that allows us to bring our guests the most fresh and natural herbs and produce available!  We have 55 chickens and collect our own fresh eggs every day.  We have a very new little orchard planted with apples, pears, cherries, peaches, edible crab apples and persimmon and watercress is harvested from our small streams.  

All of this fresh food is harvested and brought immediately to our kitchen where our Chef, Tarver King, in turn works his magic on these raw ingredients to create a dining experience unmatched by any other.  Any food that can not be grown or raised on our farm is acquired from other local farmers and gardeners who share our passion for responsible farming/gardening and local food. Visit Tarver's blog www.goodstoneblog.blogspot.com to get a taste of his adventures and creations.  Along with my passion for veggie and herb gardening is my love of perennial gardening! 

  The Goodstone Inn had a nice "woodsy" garden already started when I arrived.  Immediately I began to build upon that location to include and develop the surrounding areas as "woodsy"  or woodland gardens  by adding all my woodland favorites!  Ferns, Columbine, jack in the pulpit, native ginger, witch hazel, hellebore, Bird foot violets, bluebells, trillium, foam flower, blood root and sooooo much more! I will be building on this collection every spring and fall.  The goal is to have all of these amazing specimens naturalize in our woods.

  Last year every house on the farm, there are 5, along with the pool gardens and the hot tub garden began to get a horticultural make over! This process will continue on this year and many more !  The garden is never done !  I will be starting the "native plant trail" which involves reintroducing native plant species along our 3 1/2 mile hiking trail.  This will not only result in adding beauty and wonder to our hiking trail but add a lot of diversity, food and habitat to all of the important species and creatures that reside on our land and the areas surrounding.  

 Every fall we will be planting thousands of Daffodils, snow drops, allium, ornithogalum, wood hyacinth, crocus and other bulbs.  The evidence is abundant already!!!  Our Daffodil display is amazing this year!   I look forward to being able to catalogue and share our dreams, plans, practices, goals, achievements and adventures via this blog!  Happy spring and Happy gardening !!!!

Airynee~The Goodstone Gardener