The last bits

Nov22

Between working late every day and changing the clocks, my enthusiasm for the garden has dropped off the edge of a cliff. The leaves are down and the soil is still on the dry side so that’s not helping either. I guess winter is the perfect time to hibernate, but before I shut down completely here are some last pictures. Some selfsown mums are still blooming. I’m not crazy about the colors, but the timing is a welcome last call.The milk thistle seedling still fascinates me with its cool mottled foliage, but I still have my doubts about it overwintering. So far I’ve only ever managed to grow it as an annual, not a biennial (which I think is what it prefers)My one cyclamen hederifolium seedling which gets a pink tinge is coloring up for the winter. Now that temps are dropping into the 20’s I brought it into the garage for safekeeping even though I’m sure it’s hardy enough to overwinter in the ground (but I would miss it out there!)One job which I did get done before free time dissapeared was the tidying up of the compost pile. Not everyone has this much room surrounded by a fancy pink marble block wall, so I’m kind of grateful for that…. but I still wish I had more leaves and such to fill it up with. So that’s the story from here. Things are shutting down and I just don’t have any motivation, but that could change at any time. Just last week I noticed a bunch of seeds I wanted to plant this fall, and bulb clearance sales typically start on thanksgiving. It’s hard to be unmotivated when a couple hundred bulbs are shipping your way 🙂

Hope your end of season plans are going better than mine!

Someone thinks it’s winter

Nov17

I feel like I hit the jackpot! It’s not often that I get all excited over a plant, but this one has me visiting it as often as I can (ok, so maybe I do get a little too excited about many plants, hence the creation of this blog, and the insulation it provides my friends and family from too much plant talk)

I think this snowdrop is a fall blooming version of one of my springtime favorites. I bought the bulbs a few weeks ago at my favorite local PA nursery, Perennial Point, and since they were lose bulbs I (of course) poked around in there to pick out the 10 absolute best (they were all in good shape). One bulb was already sprouting in the box and I knew I had to have that one. Even though the bulbs were labeled galanthus woronowii I had a suspicion they may be incorrectly labeled as are many snowdrops in cultivation. I’m sure more photos will follow once my camera returns from Florida, but for now this one off my phone will have to do in showing what I think is galanthus elwesii var. monostictus. That’s quite a mouthful, but it’s basically the regular giant snowdrop with just one green spot rather than the typical two. Also it’s a fall/early winter bloomer as opposed to the normal late winter g. elwesii. fall snowdrop

Nothing is guaranteed, but if you look at the label you’ll see I potted the bulbs up Nov 3, and while its potmates are barely breaking the surface this one is already in full bloom. I wonder what next year (assuming I don’t kill it) will bring 🙂 ! also I wonder what the other bulbs in the pot will turn out to be…

btw, the cyclamen coum is also way out of season, but I bet it’s more due to relief for having survived my neglect this summer than it is to any new and unusual genetic quirk. In any case my winter garden appears to be off to a great start!

The best yard on the block

Nov8

In case you’re wondering, it’s not mine.

I’ve been keeping busy next door at the Mother in Law’s and the beds are much cleaner over there, the shrubs are much neater, the lawn has fewer weeds, and the grass is a much lusher green. She gets compliments on her lawn. I don’t.The effort I put into watering and trimming and fertilizing over there just doesn’t seem worth it in my own garden. I get too distracted by my own cool plants and pay more attention to them than to the dumb old grass and azaleas. Someday I might try for the nicest lawn on the block, but for now I’m much happier with my crowded buzzing flower beds and my mixed up, colorful foundation plantings.

Many plant lovers have excellent, beautifully designed gardens, I’m just saying I’m not there yet 😉

Hunkering Down

Nov8

Last weekend was the finale of the fall color. By the end of this week most of the leaves will be down and the doors will be open for winter to make its arrival.

I’m not rushing it out but I think I have to call a time for the 2013 growing season. It’s lost its joie de vivre and from now on until snow flies it’s all downhill. So far so good though. I’ve been remarkably organized this fall and had most of the tropical were safely under cover a few days before the first frost. This year I’m putting some under lights, maybe it will help them look a little less pathetic come March. overwintering tropicals under lights

The rest will sit out winter in the back of our semi-heated garage. No watering, little light, but it should be enough to bring them through the winter. When I get the motivation I’ll move them back away from the door…. just like I’ll move all the other crap that tends to accumulate and fill the spot where my car should be. overwintering tropicals

Weekend plans include digging up dahlia and canna roots and finishing winter cleanup. So far it hasn’t felt like much work and maybe my early start and the late frost date worked in my favor, but usually things happen at a different pace. My usual method is wait until I’m in bed, see a freezing weather report, grab a flashlight, and then stumble through the dark in my pajamas, flashlight in mouth and a load of cold wet plants in my arms. Good times, good times.

The freeze-dash makes you grateful for hardy “tropicals” such as musa basjoo. This one is going on winter #3 here by the porch. I think the protection of the house helps bring it through the winter, although a little extra protection would probably give it a much stronger head start in the spring.Now that the summer garden is packed away and additional rain has finally made for good planting soil I’m thinking about bulbs. I bet I could hit a few clearance sales and add a couple more bulbs cheaply before the ground freezes. I bet I’d be real proud of myself come May….. I just have to remember the time change has me leaving for work and returning home in the dark, and that doesn’t make for good bulb planting. Oh well. I already know how this is going to turn out 😉

Ho Hum

Nov3

Finally more rain has arrived. The grass that greened up when cooler temperatures came in was starting to brown again with only about half an inch over the last four weeks. I don’t like fall to begin with, and a dry fall makes me want to just sit inside. Dusty flower beds doesn’t make for good transplanting and bulb planting.

Other than the hardy cyclamen only the fall blooming crocus are enjoying the season. I bought these as crocus zonatus (now c kotschyanus?) and always thought they were a little under whelming until I saw a few pictures over at Cold Climate Gardening . Apparently fall crocus can be beautiful and not just a fall blooming curiosity (such as mine seem to be).

A little online poking around and I found that mine are a “somewhat weedy” species known for small blooms and seeding around. I can think of worse weeds, but I guess next fall I might have to reconsider my garden’s lack of decent fall crocus flowers and maybe do something about it!

In the meantime the rain and killing frosts (happened last week….) have re-inspired my garden motivation. I spent today cleaning out the dead summer vegetables and frosted summer annuals. Maybe I’ll find the time and energy to tackle spots like this poorly planted, weed infested hellebore patch.

Being outside and having a little moisture in the ground (it’s still bone dry ‘zuckersand’ a few inches down) have me feeling better. Maybe I do need to add a few tulips and such if the warm weather holds out….. I do have a few open spots in the vegetable patch now that the veggies are gone 😉

Cyclamen on the move

Oct22

Rather than do the right thing at the right time I like to test the limits of my plants, so if you’re looking for good advice you might want to move on to your next search result 😉 but if you’re like me and can barely get around to half the stuff you want to (even at the wrong times), well then I say “Tally Ho!”

Cyclamen should be transplanted when dormant if possible. It’s easier and probably less stressful for the plant. I’ve found they don’t really care all that much and do it whenever the mood strikes, so when the mood struck last week (about two months too late) my little guys got roomier quarters. Winter blooming cyclamen coum was my target and this replanting is to get them ready to come indoors and brighten up my winter garden.C. coum is perfectly hardy outdoors around here (zone 5/6ish) and I only keep them potted because they’re so easy to grow and bloom in the back corner of our semi-heated garage. They’ll bloom throughout the darkest days of winter, unless for some reason one decided to start now.

For repotting, a gritty good draining mix is perfect, but mine do well enough in a blend of 3 parts purchased potting soil mixed with about 2 parts sand robbed from the kid’s sandbox. Sometimes the kids complain, and the mix gets less sand. Replant the round bulbs with the top of the corm just at the soil surface and then cover it up with about an inch or so of gravel or grit. I prefer chicken grit since it’s easy to find around here and was the topping first recommended to me by Carol, my cyclamen mentor and enabler.

Finished product.A few of the plain green ‘Meadens Crimson’ went into garden beds since winter garden space is limited, but this was a good start, and not as many plants as I thought, so it inspired me to take a leftover c. coum pot and bring them in too.

How could I resist? I love the one with the ring of pewter patches, and the silver leaf with the small Christmas tree center….. also a favorite. It’s been a few days and the plants have settled in well outside. I feel like the cooler temps and good air circulation help avoid any rot or fungus, and I think the fact they are actively growing helps too, but untangling the leaf and bloom shoots is like separating Velcro.

Most of the fall blooming cyclamen hederifolium will stay outdoors. There are still a few blooms coming up, but from now through winter it will be the foliage which steals the show.

In this dark dry spot under a weeping cherry I’ve been putting a few of the too-large or excess cyclamens.

They might be too close together. I think I’d prefer to be able to enjoy each different leaf pattern separately and some of the smaller plants don’t compete well with the bigger guys. I’ll just have to put that on the to-do list.

Also on the to-do list is finding homes for all the cyclamen hederifolium still in pots. Last year my brilliant idea was to pot them up individually so I could get the full effect of each separate plant and maybe take them all in under lights. Not enough room, so I tried to find a sheltered spot, dug in the pots and gave them a little winter cover and crossed my fingers. Most died either over the winter or during the summer, so I will not test that method again. These surviving treasures will either enjoy a winter garden spot or find a permanent planting bed. The plants near the center are from (like nearly all the other cyclamen) Green Ice seed, these were from the ‘fairy rings’ strain.

I like how this one’s more silvery leaves stand out.

Here’s one that develops a pinkish center as temperatures drop. This one will get a windowsill spot for sure.

I do like my cyclamen…. addiction might be a word you could throw around here…. Just wait until the c. coum start to flower this winter, you’ll be avoiding this blog for sure as the entries fill with the same blooms over and over again. I will try to show a little bit of restraint, but I don’t think I’m the only cyclamen fan out there 😉

If you’re craving more examples of great foliage, check out the garden blogger’s foliage day (GBFD) hosted over at Christina’s Hesperidesgarden. It’s a great chance to check out each month’s best foliage plants from all over the world (and a great blog every other day of the month too!)

Tis the season for orange

Oct19

The view from the back deck is changing. As fall color moves down from the mountains into our valley, the woods and weedy edges of the yard are losing the tired green of a droughty fall and going gold.

Dry soil and warm night temperatures don’t make for good fall color but there’s still plenty to go around, and inspired by this last hurrah I trudged out to my trusty favorite nursery, Perennial Point, and cracked open the wallet for a mum, ‘redbor’ kale and some pansies. I’ve been trying to stick to a budget, and mums and pansies that may or may not survive the winter don’t fit well into the spending plan. Still it’s always nice to bring home even a small patch of instant color.

The budget is helped immensely by home-grown pumpkins and cornstalks, and a couple butternut squash fit in perfectly until I draft them for soup duty. The pansies in orange and purple are not what I’d pick in spring, but seemed a perfect fall theme. Orange is definitely the color of the season, and now that the front stoop has been re-decorated (by someone over the age of seven) I’m starting to notice orange all over the place.

The last of the Tropicana cannas are managing to get in a couple more blooms before frost cuts them down (any day now) tropicana canna with ninebark

These seed grown marigolds (I believe Sophia mix… although they don’t look too mixed) did well in spite of neglect, soccer balls, and drought, and I’m almost a little nervous about saying I really like them. Orange marigolds…. a color and plant frequently looked down upon by more refined gardeners…. perfect for my yard!

Another looked-down-upon plant which I love is ‘Tiger Eyes” sumac. The wild version of staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) provides most of the color in the backyard but I try to keep those weeds back a ways. Here in the front, the slightly more refined chartreuse foliage of ‘Tiger Eyes’ is almost acceptable. I can easily ignore its suckering ways when it glows like this.

Here’s another one poking up by the house. Even I think it may be a little too wild for a foundation planting, but until something better comes along the sumac stays. It actually looks good right now with the blues of the spruce, catmint and fescue grass. Between that and the rusty chrysanthemums and orange amaranthus it almost looks like I planned it this way. If anyone asks I’ll say I did 😉

The rust colored mums stick with todays orange theme but it’s the purple ones I like best. There’s a little fading in the blooms to give some depth and even without pinching they keep to a low mound. I’m really appreciating the chrysanthemums in general this year and spring may bring some new additions. How can I not like a plant which never got a drop of watering or fertilizer and still puts on a perfect show? purple and orange mums

I’ll have to enjoy these last splashes of color as fall starts to fade. We’re on borrowed time as long as the frost stays up in the mountains, but our days are numbered. This weekend the smart gardener will bring his tender plants indoors. The other gardener will remember his plants just before bedtime and regret his procrastination as he fumbles with muddy plants, a flashlight, and cold fingers in the dark.

Sunset over Suburbia

Oct15

A pretty sunset is a pretty sunset, and at this time of year when warm colors abound throughout the garden as well as the sky, I can sit back on the deck and imagine I’m just where I want to be.

Squinting really hard makes all the white vinyl fencing disappear, the hill on the left is no longer the super Walmart access road, and the distant lights no longer illuminate the Home Depot truck lot. A small patch of water reflects the colors of the sky and from this far away it’s not a puddle from industrial park construction, but instead a scenic duck pond.

Now if I could only get rid of that stupid beeping noise the trucks make when they reverse…..

Movin’ on up

Oct11

The calendar and weather are beginning to agree, and both are now saying autumn is here. While daytime highs flirted with the 80 degree mark it was easy enough to ignore first frost preparations, but cold and rain finally came through and it’s time to face the inevitable. To get things moving I collected all the cacti and succulent pots and staged them close enough to the back door to make things near at hand in the event of some late night freeze emergency. cacti and succulents on the deck Moving them around might give stray bugs and frogs a chance to find better winter quarters. It’s always a nice surprise to grab a pot rim and find a nice squishy frog instead of gravel. Apparently I was much more disturbed by the incident than this little guy.

Where all of these pots are going is still anyone’s guess, but I suspect most will go into the heated garage to sit out the winter on some dimly lit shelf away from any direct blasts of freezing weather. As long as the soil stays dry enough they should settle down into some kind of dormancy that will take them through to spring. Only the tall purplish euphorbia and pinkish pencil plant will stay in the brighter, warmer house (and get a few drinks of water throughout the winter).The summer vacation did them well, and many have come close to doubling in size since I put them out in April. Cacti and succulents always seem so slow growing, but then all of a sudden you have a 5 pound cactus sitting on your windowsill and realize once again ‘slow and steady’ won the race.A favorite new addition is this clump of ‘living stones’ or lithops. The name pretty much says it all and I can’t believe everyone doesn’t love these little guys…. little dull pieces of liver, boring stones…. who would say such nonsense! They bloom too, and if you want to start a new obsession, check out this lithops post at the anxious gardener. I hope winter care really is as easy as just a windowsill with no water -because I can do that.

This collection grows each year not just from the tiny pots I pick up here and there, but also from the little gifted bits and cuttings that any fellow gardener is almost always willing to pass on. Tiny leaves and pieces dropped into a open spot quickly become new specimens.

In the above pot there’s a barely noticeable scrap of cactus pad at the lower right of the pot. If it grows I’ll call it Disney magic, in honor of it coming back to life from a shoe trampled bit on the side of a frontierland path…. and so the collection multiplies….

This was a good summer for blooms. Agaves put on their first ever show and the blooms were a hit with the hummers.This one sent out several blooms.And this no-name cactus from my aunt in Maine blooms and multiplies year in and out. Just about every family member has a couple of these 🙂 cactus on deck

Sure the in and outs of cactus growing are more work than planting a daylily, but my succulents and cactus collection still isn’t out of control. Aside from taking them in for winter they’re as close to no-maintenance as one can get for a tabletop or deck planting… I pretty much rely on rain to keep them going. Maybe when I run out of old fishtank gravel I’ll have to look for a new collection limit but until that happens I think it’s my duty to see how far this can go.

Now if only everything else was as easy to winterize!

Winding Down

Oct6

The oddly warm weather continued today and I was in no mood to do anything constructive in the sweat-inducing humidity. So I basically wasted the entire day. In my defense it’s only natural to sit outside and sip a cold beverage on a day like this, but more so in August, not October.

I think the plants agree. Most of these pictures were taken earlier in the week and it’s unsettling how quickly the dry soil, heat and cooler nights have things spiraling down into the little death of winter. My warm weather friends on the deck such as the vinca and coleus look ok, but the cool nights are making them drop leaves and get all sad and brittle.

The ones that seem just as happy as in July are the blue fanflower (scaveola), rosemary, and the chartreuse leaved geranium (pelargonium). Right now I’m imagining myself taking these into the garage to try and save something from frost. The geranium is actually a survivor from last year and to look at it now you’d never imagine how close to death it was in March.

Overwintered coleus are another plant that somehow escapes death on a windowsill and then comes back just fine when the warm weather returns. I usually plant a couple in the front bulb bed, and by summer’s end whatever’s not filled with hosta is overtaken by coleus. Hopefully the dormant bulbs that sit underground are none the wiser. front bed with coleus

The ‘hot biscuits’ amaranthus which looms over the bed is probably not the best design move here, but I had a weakness for them this spring and their weedy looking stalks are scattered throughout the yard. Plus for some reason this year’s baby tree frogs are also strangely fond of this plant. I find more baby frogs on the amaranthus than anywhere else.

I got lucky and one of the chrysanthemums on the stoop last fall must have seeded out. This little dwarf couldn’t flower more if it tried, it looks more like someone dropped a bouquet while walking in instead of a poor commitment to weeding on my part.

I’m really pleased right now with the annuals and tropicals in the front bed. The colors may not all go together but I just don’t get tired of looking at the mix of fresh flowers. Unfortunately the hydrangea flowers have gone brown due to lack of water in the couple days since I took this picture, but the coleus and profusion zinnias carry on. mixed border with coleus

It’s hard to believe all these coleus owe their existence to a water filled mug on the windowsill. Since I’ve added a few new ones this year I’m afraid I’ll have to sneak in a fourth mug this winter. I only hope the boss doesn’t pick up on it, any houseplant that requires either dirt or water or risks bringing in bugs is in not on her preferred list.

The zinnias are putting on a last stand against the shorter days. This lavender used to be my least favorite color but the hot pink I usually prefer didn’t germinate well this spring, so I’m left with these…. I don’t think either color would have had a chance of blending well with even more orange amaranthus.

Most of the annuals will be lost when the first frost hits (probably in the next two weeks) but I’m having trouble letting go of my senna alata (candlestick bush) seedling. This is one of two that germinated, and I love the oversized grayish foliage! Unfortunately our growing season is just too short and I’m just too lazy to give it an earlier start. So now I have to choose between a sure death by frost and possible death by my hand.

It’s so much easier to point the finger at winter. senna alata candlestick plant

I read somewhere that if frozen they may sprout again from the roots. To me this means I may be able to get away with overwintering the root ball in the cold yet heated garage. It may not work, but if it means I may start next year with a much larger plant I’m game! So I think I know where this will end up going….

Am I the only one contemplating all the annuals I wish I could rescue from the inevitable? Wiser gardeners have probably learned the lesson years ago, but every fall I can’t help but try and save a little of the summer gone by.

sorta like suburbia

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Category Archives: fall