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FrontRangeLiving.com -> Garden -> Barbara Hedberg
THE SECRET GARDEN OF BARBARA HEDBERG
By Niki Hayden
 In Barbara
Hedberg’s greenhouse at dusk, a
frilly set of petals with elaborate pink streamers
opens slightly. Each flower is the size of a wine goblet. "Have you ever seen a night-blooming cereus?" Barbara asks. "If
not, be here in the early evening." Within hours, each flower will expand
to the size of a dinner plate.
The night bloomer drapes dramatically like a nine-foot botanical candelabra, waiting to
be pollinated by a midnight-flying insect from the jungles of the Amazon Basin.
That's not likely to happen in Colorado.
The night-blooming cereus or queen-of-the-night won’t be found in many
Colorado gardens. It won’t be found in a lot of botanic gardens. But it is
found thriving with nearly a dozen extraordinary blossoms, in Barbara’s
greenhouse. The Hedberg gardens are secret gardens, known to friends and
neighbors only. And like many Colorado gardens, Barbara’s reflect a lifetime
of study and careful choices, trial and error—all with an eye toward
perfection.
 Outside the greenhouse is a backyard
filled with the tall spires of
delphiniums—perhaps a hundred in all, ranging from whites, pinks and lavenders
to deep dark blues. These are raised from seed that is sold through the
Delphinium Society.
Clematis in blues, magentas, whites and purples crawl along chain-linked
fences and sweet peas the size of tiny teacups arch from thick wiry stems. Pink
poppies with rippled, gauzy petals march between the delphiniums. It’s a
feminine English garden in pinks and blues with ruffled blossoms.
 Huge willows line up next to a river creating a canopy that provides dappled
shade from the blistering summer heat and allows sufficient sun to grow garden
after garden of perennials.
GROWING DELPHINIUMS IS EASY IF YOU FOLLOW A FEW RULES
 It hardly matters if a brisk wind sweeps down from the Rockies. Barbara has
secured her delphiniums, which simply sway slightly back and forth.
"Our winds are so severe that I like to box stake my delphiniums,"
Barbara says. "That way you don’t tie every spire. Put four stakes around
your plants. And plant close together, use soft, plastic ties, some have a small
wire in it that I’ve used year after year. Three rounds of the wire about one
to two inches from each other will do it. Then in the winds they will move and
cling together. You won’t lose too many."
 "Delphiniums don’t have a long lifespan," she
adds, "so
they will decrease through the years. The first to die are pink—in my
experience—and it’s the hardest color to find in the garden centers. White
might be the next. When you think of delphiniums, you think of blue."
 Delphiniums are associated with the English cottage gardens, but Barbara says
they grow elsewhere too: one from Iran and Iraq is small and prefers a dry, desert
climate. Another is red and looks stunted. But the delphiniums
that Barbara grows are the tall spires--up to five feet high, filled with
splashy, big blooms—so big that each single flower can stand on its own. The
"bees" or center of the blossoms are furry and brown, black or white
and truly look like fuzzy bumblebees. Tall delphiniums are elegant and stately,
with an architectural spire that towers over other perennials.
 Barbara provides amended soil for her plants—compost with added cow manure.
Other than that, her perennials don’t need much in the way of fertilizing. She saves
every scrap from her garden for compost, making sure that there’s no herbicide
lurking. Then superphosphate or cow manure is added. With water and heat, the
mixture is exactly what her delphiniums adore. She applies the same soil
techniques for her clematis and sweet peas.
Except for the wind, delphiniums adapt well to Colorado, Barbara says,
because they can take cold, even the cold of high altitude: "They don’t
even need mulch because they don’t like damp
crowns." They grow as well in Vail as in the foothills.
GROWING FROM SEED
 While most garden centers can provide fine field grown delphiniums, Barbara
plants from seed that is hand pollinated in England. That’s how she gets
extraordinary colors of mauve and pale blue petals. Lavish delphiniums are
hybrids and their seeds won’t duplicate the parent plant.
To enjoy such extravagant blooms, you’ll have to order from England and
grow the seed in a cool location. An unheated garage at just under 60 degrees
with horticultural lights works well. Plant in January using sterile potting
soil; it will take about three weeks for the seed to germinate. Store the seeds
in a refrigerator to enhance their viability for about three years.
When the tender shoots develop a second pair of leaves, transplant them to a
larger pot, but don’t place them in the garden until April. That’s because
slugs love delphinium seedlings. As the delphiniums grow, Barbara lowers the
light to about two inches above the seedlings and feeds fertilizer at quarter
strength each week. Once they are four to five inches high, they’ll be safe
from slugs.
Most delphiniums will bloom with about four hours of sun. But the tall
bloomers will need six full hours. After the bloom, cut down the spires and you
may enjoy a shorter bloom in late summer. "It’s a big job, so give
yourself some time to enjoy them," Barbara says, "You’ll feel
terrible about cutting them. In the Delphinium Society, they feel that once your
plant is established you should not allow more than five spikes. That’s hard
to do and I haven’t brought myself to do that. But I do pinch off the side
branches," which gives a boost to the main stalks.
SWEET PEAS
 Barbara travels to England occasionally to visit gardens. The
Chelsea Flower
Show is a thrill; Kew Gardens enthralls. But Wisley Gardens, she says, is best
of all. "They have demonstration gardens that give you ideas." She
became acquainted with the Royal Horticultural Society and, eventually, the
sweet peas of Robert Bolton & Son.
"The English take so much time and care with their gardens," she
says. "We have more space in this country. They treasure every inch of
space. Most families have a small cottage garden. And they have so many people
who specialize. You can find them gathered together. In America you’d have
to travel the country to meet the specialists."
She discovered English sweet peas with wire-strong stems and bold blooms.
"They don’t get the 95-degree days that we have. Sweet peas can take
cooler temperatures and not so much sun as we have."
Barbara plants sweet peas by March 15, the traditional Colorado day to plant
garden peas.
She’ll pinch them back after their first two pairs of leaves, which will make a
shorter and stouter vine. Although some gardeners dig a trench that they
fill in as the vines grow to protect them from the cold, Barbara does not.
"I don’t do anything special. I watch the first few weeks because birds
or slugs will eat the tender shoots."
 Sweet peas do have to be tied to a trellis; their vines will not cling. They
need temperatures of about 60 to 70 degrees to germinate. And the seedlings
should not be allowed to become leggy. Fertilize them every week at half
strength with an all-purpose perennial fertilizer in the mornings or evenings
when the temperatures are cool. They are subject to thrips and leaf miners,
Barbara says. But she’d never be without their blooms. Their old-fashioned
perfume scents the air and chiffon petals bob in the slightest breeze.
CLEMATIS
 Like delphiniums, clematis vines grow easily in cold climates. Some will take
temperatures to 20 degrees below zero. Barbara concentrates on those that
survive zone 4, which is typical of the Colorado foothills. She plants several
colors together so that a rich red will intertwine with a magenta purple. Some
twine up trees; others stretch along a fence.
The dark shades of clematis, if planted in bright sun, may fade. So Barbara’s
thrive in dappled shade to preserve dark colors. Pale pinks or blues run along a
sunny border. "There are three different kinds of clematis," Barbara
says, "the larger flowered ones you never want to cut back. I just trim the
dead wood. The species, which have tiny flowers, can be cut back. Otherwise they
may grow rampantly. Species clematis you’ll usually find in the mountains
where they may be classified as a weed."
 The general rule for clematis is that they love cool feet and sunny heads.
Spread mulch over their roots and allow their tops to be exposed to full sun. It
will take about three years for clematis to bloom furiously—longer if the
ground is dry. They do need to be tied to a trellis or fence because clematis,
by itself, is not a climber. There is a set limit to the growth and won’t
take over to become invasive. That’s why they are safe to crawl up
trees; they’ll never damage another plant.
"They’re perfect to cover chain link fencing or a utility pole,"
Barbara advises, "I have
perhaps 25 to 35 varieties and the species clematis will grow nearly everywhere
trouble-free. They’ve been known in the Far East for over 400 years and grow
everywhere in the temperate region of the northern hemisphere."
Helpful websites: Barbara recommends the Master Gardener program through
Colorado State University. To find a program near you, contact your nearest
extension service: www.ext.colostate.edu/coop/ctylist.html
Robert Bolton & Son: www.martex.co.uk/hta/mb43500.htm
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