Water/Moss Garden in June

 This part of the stepping stones path that goes from the old sidewalk to the entry to the moss/water garden room, was very over grown, with clover and other weeds.  It took quite a few hours to get it all dug out.  It needs to have Corsican mint re-introduced to it.  Also need some gravel added between the stones.  The grass area that is under the apple tree is full of clover and ajuga.  The clover is suppose to be good for the bees, although, I have not seen bees on my clover.  Also the clover is a nitrogen fixing plant.  Interesting information on how these plants are good for the garden HERE

 The waterfall on June 15.  The mermaid is back in its place.  But I really need to make a good revision of this waterfall.  Maybe get a big rock that has been drilled for a water feature.  

 This is the Brunnera 'Jack Frost' newly planted out into the moss garden.  As you can see this is before I cleaned up and weeded this area.    It is now all cleaned up, but the leaves from the bay laurel are constantly falling and need to be picked up. The lantern is moved to a better spot closer to the water, next to the stump from the old plum tree.  This old stump is beginning to decay.  I can use it as a planter for some sort of special little plants that like a woodsy soil.  

 The mountain laurel is in bloom on the 19th of June.

 This is the side of the pond that is next to the deck.  The Wulfeni is growing very well in the clay soil between the edging rocks and the cement slabs for the walking path.  Wulfenia x schwarzii: this tough and compact perennial is perfect for morning sun or part shade! In the Plantain family, it is related to Veronica & Parahebe.  Dense rosettes of leathery leaves are crowned by spikes of soft violet-purple flowers for 3 or 4 months in spring and early summer. Neat & tidy and oh so pretty! It is evergreen, too.

 I really like this coral bells plant with the purple leaves.  It is a fairly new addition to the water garden room.  It grows in a little niche at the feet of the towering clematis that provides ample shade for it.  When I am standing on this little 'viewing cement platform' it is right beside my feet.  There is a stepping stone path (made of plastic that looks like rock) that goes under the deck.  And on the other side of the platform there are astilbes, lily of the valley then the dry stream and more moss with a hepatica, a small maiden hair fern that is indigenous to our area, and few other special shade plants. I let the bright yellow Welsh poppies seed around the moss.
The special little fern:   adiantum aleuticum subpumilum (VIRAGS $5) a lovely fern.  A Truly DWARF MAIDENHAIR Fern, and a very slowly spreading ground cover.  
Shiny, glossy black stalks hold aloft contrasting, limey-green pinnae.  Rarely available, it takes good drainage and light shade and rich soils.  Deciduous   Size: 6" - 9"   Height and Spread: Small - Under 1' in height or spread in 5 years.  Garden Use: Ground cover, Rock garden ferns
Origin: Pacific Northwest.   Soil: Sand  Clay  Chalk  Loam   Moisture:   Moist but well-drained   pH: Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/143603/i-Adiantum-aleuticum-i-Subpumilum/Details
 needs to be kept moist.  It grows in the moss near the hepatica 

This is the waterfall side of the pond.  If I squeeze past the clematis; trying not to step on the wulfenii, or the London Pride saxifragia, I come to the tall dark green leaves of the golden loosestrife.  This is a good sturdy plant and is lovely in bloom now.    Lysimachia punctata, commonly called loosestrife, is native to central/southern Europe and Turkey,
but has over time escaped gardens throughout many parts of the northern U.S., particularly in the northeastern states, where it has naturalized in waste places, ditches and along roadsides. It is a rhizomatous perennial that grows to 3’ (infrequently to 4’) tall on stiff upright stems clad with pubescent, ovate to lance-shaped, medium green leaves (to 3” long)in whorls of 3 or 4 (occasionally opposite). Cup-shaped, five-petalled, bright yellow flowers (to 1” across) in axillary whorls bloom from May to September. Additional common names for this plant include yellow loosestrife, garden loosestrife or whorled loosestrife. Notwithstanding the common names, Lysimachia is a member of the primrose family and not the loosestrife family (Lythrum). Lysimachia is not as aggressive a spreader as the infamous purple loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria.   grows by the cedar hedge and the pond. 

This is the Lebanon cedar.  I have cleaned up around it and clipped it into its tight shape.  We see the water hawthorne below it in the water. 

This is the side of the pond opposite the clematis and wulfenii side.  It leads to the waterfall.  It is bordered by the little boxwood hedge that has the yews growing above.  This hedge separates the cutting garden from the water garden.  We see the little silver willow and the closest corner and going down the path, the pendula willow  grows next to the waterfall.  When transplanting both of these willows I tried to stretch their roots into the water.  It seems to have worked because both of them are doing well and liking where they are planted.
In my old notes I found some scattered information on the willows:  Salix repens Boyd's Pendula BOYD'S DWARF TRAILING WILLOW
Aka Alpine Willow. This weeping pussy willow originally introduced from China is now found throughout the U.S. and Canada. The Willow is an old world tree, much celebrated in poetry. Twigs and branchlets divide into thin stems that hang in pendulous curtains to the ground. Leaves sometimes with whitened or silky undersides. The stubby catkins are silver maturing to cream. Only 16" to 20" when fully grown. Likes sun. Deciduous.

I believe this one is Salix helvetica - Swiss Willow
The one with large pussywillows and cinamon bark.   Truly lovely 'in bloom'.  Apparently this one is very forgiving to being pruned to shape it.  I may start to do that to keep it within its space.