I’m pretty sure there’s fiber in icecream

Sep7

Many people wax poetic on the joys of homegrown produce. The flavor, the nutrients, the connection with the earth…. all good things and all good for you (and deep down inside I agree) but on the shallow outside I’d still rather reach for a donut or chocolate bar rather than a carrot stick. Vegetables just don’t make my heart go pitter pat.

Because of that the vegetable garden always walks a fine line between productivity and extinction. I love the look of vegetables bursting from the soil, but the newly dug beds and open ground are just too tempting to keep free of flowers. At this time of year it’s more of a flower harvest.

Oddly enough a sunflower has come up in exactly the same spot as one grew last year. It’s the perfect spot actually, and I’m glad to have it!

The season starts innocently enough, and with a strong will I turn under all the persicaria and daisies and whatever else tries to sneak in. I need room for delicious lettuce seedlings and broccoli transplants and the flowers just throw off my industrially neat rows. Things go downhill from there.

Dahlias always seem to grow best in a vegetable plot and when you’ve got one or two extra roots it seems perfectly logical to sneak them in between the chard. This is dahlia “Tanjoh” which I barely noticed last year as it suffered under the shade of a wayward sunflower.

Harvest time is always a problem. If the broccoli is ready it needs to be picked, and there are only so many broccoli-cheese omelets you can reasonably fit into a weekend. Things go to seed and I’m strangely amused to see weeds such as lettuce, pumpkins, and chard popping up the next year.

When you lose control the broccoli turns into a froth of yellow blooms and green rattail seedpods. Several of these plants were self-sown seedlings which just showed up from last year’s patch.

One of the sore points this summer was how often the sweet corn needed watering in our pancake-thin topsoil. It seemed like every other day I’d look out there and see dry curled leaves begging for a little moisture. Shockingly enough even after giving up in disgust the patch managed to produce a few deliciously sweet and flavorful ears.

A space, water and fertilizer hog, freshly picked sweet corn is still worth the trouble (I guess). But it’s a tough argument when the supermarket has 6 perfect ears for $2.50 and mine probably cost me that much just for the seeds!

Another producer was a trellis of pole beans (which called it a year after being blown over in August). Beans are nice on a trellis, but the kids appreciate “love in a Puffs” much more than bean salad.

The pale green balloons of love in a puff (Cardiospermum halicacabum) with the ferny green leaves and red flowers of cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit). Both conveniently reseeded here at the base of the trellis from last year, something to keep in mind if you don’t like volunteer plants.

The kids share the love by picking the puffs and having a puff-fight but the real reason behind the name is found inside the puff on each of the vine’s black seeds.

A white heart forms on each seed, a kind of ‘belly button’ from where the seed was attached to the plant. Glad my hands were clean for this one 🙂

There is plenty of ‘real’ harvest that comes from the patch. Tomatoes never fail, even the fussier heirlooms, and here is a huge cluster of “Kellogg’s Breakfast”. In a rare second appearance in a single blog post (I hate having myself show up in any pictures), I left my hand in there to show just how big the fruits are. 2 lbs, 14 oz for the pair in case you’re interested.

Kellogg’s Breakfast tomato

When I finished planting the tomatoes I couldn’t resist adding a border of “Moldavian” marigolds (from Nan at Hayefield) and a few stray salvia and leftover zinnia seedlings. Might as well since the other side of the bed is edged in hellebore seedlings.

A vegetable garden is the perfect place for bunches of annuals that might not find a place in the rest of the garden. The brownish orange of these “Moldova” marigolds might be hard to fit in somewhere else.

And did I mention I like phlox? When you’re faced with a few new ones to plant and you’ve given absolutely no forethought to where they’ll go the vegetable garden makes everything better again.

Just coming into bloom now, phlox “Kirmeslander” seems almost too summery a color for the autumn-golds and yellows which are starting to appear.

With the season winding down one would think the vegetable patch would be safe, but fall is actually the most dangerous time of year for vegetable space. After you pull up a dead, mildewed patch of zucchini the vacant spot almost begs for a few tulips or daffodils which you can’t find a space for elsewhere. No worries though, I’m sure they’ll die down before I need the room for peppers!

Oh and I think the colchicums look nice blooming between the sweet corn stalks 🙂

In a vase on Monday: Goldenrod

Sep1

In celebration of Labor Day and a Monday away from work, I’m once again making a contribution to the ‘In a Vase on Monday’ movement. It may not exactly be a world changing movement, but it’s fun and does motivate me to bring a few flowers into the house so look at how it’s changing lives!

Another pluck and plunk arrangement. I didn’t realize how unbalanced it was until after I looked at the photos!

This week’s arrangement was inspired by Kimberley at Cosmos and Cleome. In a recent vase Kimberley had the good sense to add a few sprays of goldenrod in to fill things up, and it took that vase to make me realize I have a ton of the stuff growing all over the place and should do the same!

The just barely blooming goldenrod has a nice soft color and fills in well. It’s like a redneck version of baby’s breath plucked from the roadside.

Besides the goldenrod, this vase has the pink tipped blossoms of dahlia ‘Tanjoh’, a purplish red dahlia (maybe ‘Plum Pretty’?), a few zinnias, a couple pink sprays of ‘kiss me over the garden gate’ (persicaria orientalis), and a few fig leaves which were in the way of my boxwood trimming. I like it 🙂

The goldenrod makes up nearly half of the arrangement yet you really just notice the larger blooms. Such is the curse of a ‘filler’…

With all the goldenrod coming into bloom I may have to admit to myself that autumn is approaching. On the road to college I was always disgusted by the mass of goldenrod yellow filling the fields along the highway, and it’s always been a mental marker for the end of summer and the return to work. I guess that’s my bias against the plant, but because of its native status I tolerate it when a seedling shows up.

There are more than enough wayward areas around the garden for goldenrod to sneak in a rod or two.

Not to stray too far from my Monday vase, but I guess some goldenrod annoys me less than others. One of the species is only just starting to color, and I think it’s my current favorite.

Goldenrod just coming into flower along with some staghorn sumac which the starlings and robins will enjoy this winter.

This floppy one is not a favorite. Once it’s finished blooming I’ll run back here and mow things down to give the grass a chance.

Not a bad goldenrod, there’s just too much and I’d rather leave a little room for some of the asters which are yet to come.

Here’s my last goldenrod. I don’t know any of the species but this one’s a smaller, leaner version. I would almost say I like it.

Unknown goldenrod…. any ideas? This one’s about two feet tall and like the others doesn’t need a thing from me.

Thanks for staying with me for my little segue from cut flowers to roadside weeds. They’re wildflowers of course, and if I can just get past my stereotyping I may be able to call them all cutflowers someday.

If you’d like to see other cutflowers more artfully arranged I’d encourage you to visit Cathy over at Rambling in the Garden. You can check out what she and other bloggers around the world are doing for their own “In a Vase on Monday”. Have a great week!

Fluttering into September

Sep1

Keeping a monthly summary of what kind of butterflies are flying in and out of the garden is a good idea, and Cathy over at Words and Herbs already does just that. Each month she documents a summary of the regulars, the newcomers, and the rare surprises. This month I tried, and although neither my patience nor my camera skills match hers it’s still nice to give it a try!

I would bet the Monarch butterfly is North America’s favorite. Here it is catching the last of the white buddleia.

The one butterfly which swarmed this year were the skippers. There were dozens flitting around the front garden, and although they may not be the flashiest they do seem to have a character all their own.

Skipper butterfly (I have no idea which kind) sipping nectar in the verbena patch.

I like to think my garden is relatively butterfly friendly with plenty of nectar plants and plenty of host plants to raise caterpillars on, but the whole idea of gardening with butterflies in mind always struck me as going against every other plant growing principle. Butterflies are one of the freeloaders of the insect world. If they weren’t so pretty and entertaining I’m sure most gardeners would focus on getting rid of them rather than putting out the welcome mat. As youngsters they chew up your plants, and then as adults steal nectar away from the more industrious bees. Bees at least spread pollen around, but most butterflies (less so moths) have delicate legs and strawlike mouths that just don’t pick up or transfer pollen well. They fill their bellies up with nectar but the flower still has to sit and wait for a better pollinator to come along.

A table for two. I watched this skipper cozying up to quite a few single butterflies. No luck though, as each bloom went dry he left the nectar bar alone.

Freeloaders or not, butterflies are welcome here. Actually with all the bees and wasps and birds in my garden it’s amazing any make it to adulthood to begin with. Birds and wasps are always looking for a tasty caterpillar morsel to bring home… although I believe these blue dauber wasps are spider hunters.

Blue dauber wasps, I think these are one of those creepy predators which immobilize their spider prey, pack them away in a tube with a little wasp egg, and then when the egg hatches the paralyzed spiders are nibbled up alive… yikes.

Butterfly cannot live by nectar alone, and while walking in a local state park I came across these cabbage whites “puddling”. The damp spot where the butterflies were drinking was suspiciously downhill from the restrooms and their aging plumbing, and I suspect this seepage was rich in the salts and minerals that are otherwise missing from a nectar diet. Not to paint the butterflies in too gross a light, but rotting fruit and urine are two yummies for a nice puddling party. To each his own I say.

Cabbage White butterflies “puddling” at a damp spot, drinking in salts and minerals.

Also seen at the state park was this one.

Maybe an Aphrodite Fritillary(?) on joe pye weed? This one was also at the park although I’ve seen them in my garden too.

Everyone knows the Monarch, but the swallowtails are my favorites. In the spring there were a few black swallowtails on the fennel, but the real fancy pants is the yellow Tiger Swallowtail. This one seems to have run into one too many bird beaks.

I don’t know how long they live, but this tiger swallowtail looks a little worn and ragged. Hopefully he found some energy in the verbena blossoms.

A not-quite-as-yellow as a normal Tiger Swallowtail turned out to actually be a Giant Swallowtail and I was quite pleased. On the first visit I didn’t get the camera, but when he was back the next day I gave it a go.

A Giant Swallowtail, not much different than the Tiger when the wings are up.

If only the breeze would have calmed, maybe I could have had a clear shot, but as it was he kept on fluttering to keep his balance. I wanted to get a shot of the darker backside to the wings.

This Giant Swallowtail wasn’t much larger than the Tiger, but in much better shape. Too bad he wouldn’t sit still for his closeup.

So there it is, an August summary of some of the fluttering butter which has been passing through. Wish the shots could have been clearer but I’m just grateful I was able to get the ones I did! Hope you enjoyed.

(Almost) In a Vase on Monday

Aug26

This afternoon I dutifully plucked my choices, prepared to plunk them in a vase, and was told in no uncertain terms to remove the flowers from the house. Who is this woman I married who cannot tolerate the scent of garden phlox!? Allergies and a lack of any thoughtfulness were brought up but by that time I had already scurried back outside. So with camera in one hand and bouquet in the other, my vase is quite open to interpretation this week.

Late blooming garden phlox, all seedlings found scattered here and there throughout the garden beds.

I hope it’s not considered offensive to have a Monday vase without a vase, but Cathy over at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this weekly effort seems to be all for stepping outside the box now and then, so I don’t think there will be any hard feelings. Plus, when you consider my arranging efforts are usually not far removed from throwing everything down on a table anyway, even with a vase it’s not likely things would have improved much!

I actually ripped out the two plants on the right a year ago, but apparently they came back from the roots. I’m glad they did, and I should show them a little more respect from now on.

Hopefully the flowers speak for themselves. These are all unnamed garden phlox seedlings (phlox paniculata) that were looking nice scattered around the garden. So often I read the repeated advice that phlox should be deadheaded, don’t allow seedlings to grow, and if you do all sorts of chaos will ensue… but I suspect this is yet another bit of garden advice regurgitated yet never tested by the speaker. Sure if you grow your own phlox seedlings, the plants may not be as excellent as the parents, but I just want to say mine have reseeded, the original plants are fine, many of the seedlings are attractive, and no zombie apocalypse has descended down upon my garden. If you only have room for one phlox, by all means get a guaranteed color, but if you have a little room to experiment, give it a go. The surprise can be nice and if not there’s always the compost pile.

Have a great week, and if you’re interested in seeing what other gardeners are doing with real vases give Cathy a visit over at her blog!

Garden Bloggers Foliage Day -Aug.2014

Aug22

For nearly three years Christina of Creating my own garden of the Hesperides has been hosting the meme which focuses on foliage in the garden. I believe her intention was to explore the important role which foliage plays in the garden, and remind everyone that although flowers often steal the stage, foliage remains to carry the show. Going out this week with the intention of focusing on foliage surprised me in two ways. First of all I always assumed I was one of those “immature” gardeners who always falls for the flash of flowers and doesn’t have much foliage interest. That was wrong…. apparently nearly all flowers come with some kind of foliage (who knew!) and even the most flower blinded gardener will have foliage. Secondly I learned another important revelation…. my garden looks much, much better in close-ups!

Powis castle Artemisia, snow on the mountain, nicotina, and Echinacea

I’ve grown Artemisia “Powis Castle” before, but never here in Pennsylvania. It was planted this spring and I love the gray foliage mixed with all the other stuff that seeded in with the compost. (fennel, nicotina, Echinacea, snow on the mountain)

Starting with A and Artemisia is as good place as any, and while we’re here I guess we’ll just keep going along the front street border. Soil improvement this spring and moving things around brought in plenty of seed-laced compost, and “Hopi Red Dye” amaranthus is easy to spot with its dark red leaves.

Amaranthus “Hopi Red Dye”, as easy to grow as its more weedy relatives.

I like purple leaves, but I don’t think I can resist a plant with yellow foliage, and this “Golden Sunshine” willow was an impulse buy last year. Rabbits mowed it down last winter but willows don’t sulk and this one bounced right back. Actually I think cutting this one back to the ground each spring would probably be the best way to keep the bright new foliage coming.

Salix “Golden Sunshine”… or at least I think that’s what this willow goes by. I really need to have a better recording system for my plant IDs.

If pushed I might even admit to having too much yellow foliage around the yard.

arundo donax variegata in perennial border

Arundo donax “variegata” in the front perennial border. An explosion of color with “Black Knight” buddleia, pink agastache, and yellow fennel blossoms. Btw, the arundo is probably 8 feet tall and the butterfly bush 6. Also it’s unusual for the grass to have this much color so late in the summer. Usually the heat makes it go all green.

Here’s a little blue in the blue spruce I moved last spring…. and more yellow.

Have I ever mentioned my love for the foliage of “Tiger Eyes” sumac? It suckers around a bit, but in my mess of a garden that’s no big deal. I haven’t yet decided if this is a formal enough planting for the front of the house though.

A foliage post without mentioning a cyclamen is just crazy, so here’s my little c. purpurascens plant (probably two or three plants since I see at least two leaf forms).

Good things come in little packages, this cyclamen purpurascens is a baby at only maybe 5 inches across but it might be my favorite cyclamen right now…. I’m sure that will change as others appear 🙂

I took a lot of pictures so this may be all over the place, but I’ll try to finish up the front yard first. Sometimes people think of hosta when they hear the word foliage, and I’ve seen them in a few gardens here and there (just a few!). Here’s “August Moon” a favorite old variety which lightens to nearly white when in full sun.

Hosta “August Moon” in one of my few shady areas.

Moving into the back near the (another yellow) sunflowers is the new heuchera patch. Someday you’ll suffer through an all out heuchera post, but until they grow in a bit I’ll let you off with just one.

One of several new heuchera plants, heuchera “Circus Clown” is off to a good start with a nice mulch and some much needed rain. It’s amazing how the colors on these plants change throughout the year.

The reason the heuchera can survive here is from the shade of a Seven Sons shrub/tree (heptacodium miconioides). My plant gets cankers and loses trunks every now and then but I hope it someday gets past that. Right now I’m enjoying the rich green of the curled stiff leaves. Kind of a coarse look, but for a guy with so many cannas and dahlias refinement isn’t one of my strong points.

Heptacodium miconioides leaves against a perfectly clear blue sky.

Enough with the babbling. Look but don’t touch.

Ptilostemon diacantha with verbena bonariensis blossoms. Of course this is where all the missed baseballs end up rolling.

Almost good enough to eat, plants in the vegetable garden (or potager when I’m feeling fancy) also can put on a good show.

Red cabbage and fig leaves, the fig would be happier in Christina’s Mediterranean garden but it hangs on here and the perfectly cut leaves make up for not getting any actual figs 🙂

Not all the foliage news is good. Miscanthus giganteus was off to a good start but our dry spell threw it for a loop and killed off all the lower leaves.

Miscanthus giganteus wants the steady moisture which I’m too frugal to supply. It might be easier to get something else for this spot.

Back by the house is a panicum “Cloud Nine” which is much more comfortable with drought. I hate this bed and constantly neglect it, but nature did its own thing and filled the gaps with rudbeckia, phlox, and patrina scabiosifolia seedlings. Sure beats the boring mulch I had there before.

The stepchild bed with Patrina, panicum, rudbeckia, and phlox.

So much for anything that even approaches subtlety. My tropicals come next, and first off are the geraniums (pelargoniums) which in my delusion and denial I have added to the overwinter and collect list.

I have to dig up the name for this one, it’s in its second or third year with me and keeps looking better.

A scented leaved geranium (pelargonium actually) with cut leaves, variegation and scent. Too much or something for everyone?

This scented geranium is another plant who’s ID is lost in the pot-full-o-tags database. I should probably work on that.

Another one to overwinter in the garage, my first aeonium is looking well. Hopefully it can handle the high-water location I planted it in -a pot with a variegated hebe and cape fuschia (phygelia).

This one’s label must still be near the top of the tag bucket since it’s a new purchase. A good gardener would go out there, find it and label it…. but all I’ve got for you is it’s not “Schwarzkopf”.

Now to wrap things up (so I can finally get to work on the stupid basement tiling job I started) here are my foliage stars.

Canna “Tropicana” might be the most obscene show of gaudy color in my garden. I love it with the dahlias and rudbeckia. Good thing there’s some green nearby to calm things down.

Morning light on the sunflower patch.

My ‘Polish cannas’ were a gift which traces it’s history back to a friend’s old Polish neighbor. It’s probably really canna indica “purpurea” or “Russian red”.

And same cannas at noon. A sculptural plant I think.

The small blooms aren’t much for a flower lover, but they have a graceful look and the hummingbirds appreciate them.

So that’s my foliage, thanks for sticking it out. I did manage to keep all the coleus out (but of course there’s still all of September for that) and I hope that gave a little relief, but I was really surprised by how much color and interest I get from foliage. Maybe I am growing up and my tastes are maturing…. but I hope not. I like my messes of color too much!

Thanks Christina for hosting and thanks for opening my eyes to all that foliage does in the garden.

Plant of the year 2014

Aug22

I know people have been on the edge of their seats waiting for this post, so to end the secrecy, stop the speculation, and quell the rumors I’m finally pulling back the curtain and reveling this year’s number one plant. Bearing the title of “Plant of the year” is not an accolade to be taken lightly, and although last year’s winner promptly died after receiving this distinction (from overwatering, a common curse for too fast and furious a rise in fame), I’m hoping the 2014 champion carries the torch a little longer. Without further ado, the co-winners for 2014 are my little lotus seedlings from way back in April.

4/27 Like some creepy alien stretching after being awoken from inside its space pod, the seed sends out a green shoot.

The seeds were one of those random things hastily tacked onto a HPS seed exchange order. “I can pick as many as twenty packets” is dangerous in December, and while the snow was flying, the irresistible tagline of “Flower color is a surprise! Worshipped by people around the world, the sacred lotus is a true showstopper” overcomes all lack of experience and lack of suitable growing conditions.

Three large marble sized seeds came, sat around, and on 4/15 were planted unceremonially onto some sand at the bottom of an empty margarine tub. Before going in, the seeds were scarified by rubbing against a file just enough to break through the dark outer coating. Two inches of water on top and then under the lights and onto the heat mat they went.

“Grower must have patience” was the other thing I glossed over on the listing, and although this is usually code for guaranteed failure, things moved fast this time, and in just over a week the seed shell split and a little green arm started to reach out of the pod. The margarine tub was already too small, so sprouting seeds were potted up into regular potting soil, covered with grit (to keep everything from floating away) and their new and improved water bucket went back under the grow light.

5/1 Thirty days after seeds were sown the Lotus seedlings already needed more room and deeper water.

I’m still surprised anything sprouted in the first place, let alone grew. Lotus seed can sit for a loooooong time without doing a thing. According to Wikipedia, they are the third oldest viable seed ever found, with seed recovered from a dry lakebed in China sprouting after 1,300 years of dormancy. I’m glad I didn’t have to wait that long. They sprouted fast and then grew fast. A leaf came first, which for a water plant makes sense since who needs roots to search out water when you’re surrounded by it? The stem looked ready to reach up through a couple of feet of water to reach a surface, but in my little bucket it was forced to twist and kink as it adapted to the cramped quarters.

5/23 Four weeks after sowing, the bucket went outside onto the cold driveway. The first leaf was quickly followed by a second and now the seeds were also sending out roots and a small rhizome began creeping out of the seed shell.

Once things outside heated up, the lotus (along with algae) really took off. In just a week leaves expanded, new shoots came up and the plants really seemed excited to have some actual sunlight.

6/4 The lotus seedlings are soaking up the warmth and sun.

As the seedlings kept growing, my lack of even the smallest water garden was starting to become apparent. No matter and no worries, there’s a sizeable pot ghetto that forms on the driveway each spring, and what’s one more plant in need of a home?

6/25 Three weeks later and we reach a milestone with the first two aerial leaves. All lotus leaves shed water, and even the least plant-interested child loves playing with drops on the green pads.

Just recently I finally did my little lotus proud by plugging up an unused planter and moving them on up to a bigger apartment on the east side. They had been sulking for most of July since I think they used up the nutrients in their little starter pots, but after visiting four stores I finally found the plant tabs I wanted and in they went. Growth is back on track!

8/12 The little guys in a tub on the “patio”. They don’t look much bigger here, but their former home was about half the size of the nearby blue planter.

So my lotus plants are now officially the plant of the year, and although the pressures of marketing, plant appearances and market demand which come with this distinction could be overwhelming, I think my seedlings can handle it. I just hope they can handle winter when it comes….. we’ll see.

Hope you’re enjoying your own plant of the year, and special thanks to Aquascapes Unlimited, a Pennsylvania aquatic plant nursery and consulting firm (who have a great website with an exceptional aquatic plant database), for donating seeds last winter to the Mid Atlantic HPS seed exchange and through them to me!

In a vase on Monday

Aug19

Surprisingly enough I’ve made the Monday vase twice in a row, unheard of!

Not a bad group of sunflowers, all volunteers from the birdfeeder.

The sunflowers inspired me, and their carefree summer spirit made it easy as pie to put this arrangement together. After they were in place I was told they needed some other vase, and the red didn’t look good, but “don’t push me” is what I said! I added the blue wine bottle, I guess I was feeling very primary with all the sunflower yellow.

I didn’t do much fussing over them and I think they look fine, but I noticed this evening they had done a little of their own arranging, and heads were lifted and there was less of the droopy down facing that you see here. It’s kind of like a vase of tulips in that they keep growing and twisting to get into a better position. This should have come as no surprise from a flower that keeps turning its head to face the sun.

The birds have been enjoying the seedheads outside for weeks, I guess it’s time for me to enjoy a few myself indoors.

You would think a bunch of volunteer sunflowers grown from seed out of the feeder would all just run the range of yellow, yellow, yellow, but there is some variation in these. They’re taller and shorter, branched higher and lower, longer petals, shorter, quilled petals, darker centers, pale yellow, splash of brown, deep golden… it’s quite the surprise.

Different colors and sizes, nothing real fancy, but nice surprises none the less.

I feel like I splurged in cutting these all for a few days in the house, but I’m sure more will come. The patch still has plenty to look forward to and even a steady stream of goldfinches can’t eat them all.

Sunflowers at sunset. They’ve officially taken over.

So that’s my Monday vase. I may jump back in here and there to fill a vase, but work is gearing up again and the shorter days really kill my gardening vibe. The vases are fun though and if you’re interested in joining I’m sure Cathy at Rambling in the Garden would be happy to have you. Thanks for hosting Cathy!

And the clouds opened

Aug17

For some reason my little valley has been missing all the rains again, and up until last week it’s just been dry, dry, dry…. until Tuesday. The cold front came through and we enjoyed two days of on and off rain, and the garden just soaked it all up. It reminded me of one of those nature specials out of the Serengeti.

You can’t even weed this rock hard “topsoil”. My new heucheras are toughing it out, but this bed sure won’t make it onto a postcard any time soon!

The grass dried up, the trees started dropping leaves, the waterhole pulled in all the wildlife, and animals were on the move. Anything not within hose range shriveled up, but at least the temperatures were low. Last year we had a hot baking which killed off the weak, this year I think everyone should recover.

Asclepias tuberosa is a tough one. I planted these seedlings out last summer and after a few weeks they shriveled up and died due to neglect. Spring resurrected them and they are now trying so hard…. but they’re not cacti!

It looks horrible though. The front yard had two sprinkler days and just looks dry, the back looks dead! Here’s the director of cinematography following me around getting the shots that I missed.

I would call this dormant. The weeds even gave up.

But just like in the nature specials, when the rains return the landscape springs back into life. I took a couple pictures at the end of the two days and although a few things look a bit battered, even the dead back lawn is giving out a sigh of relief.

The front street border starts to put on its best show at this time of year, and although polite people would refer to its plantings as “a riot of color” others would call it a mess. Suits me just fine though!

The front foundation bed is a much calmer mix this year. No bright oranges or over-bright coleus, but all my good intentions from last year of removing the overgrown evergreen and NOT letting any sunflowers grow up kinda fell to the wayside.

I don’t think I can physically pull and compost a sunflower, it’s just unethical to me…. sunflowers and dogwood seedlings, can’t pull either one.

I spend way too much time admiring the “Limelight” hydrangea. It’s just about at full bloom now and I love its green going into white phase and the way its heavy flower heads are held up on strong stems. It’s the only white plant out there, and it does stick out, but each spring I look proudly at its buds and imagine how much bigger the show will be!

“Limelight” hydrangea nearly overwhelming the border….More of a purple-yellow theme going on here, but none of my planting plans are ever set in stone.

For some reason prior to the rain the yard was overrun with birds. Flocks of starlings, catbirds, sparrows, house finches, hummingbirds, goldfinches, cardinals, doves, robins and mockingbirds would swarm each morning. A large cherry and staghorn sumac berries brought in the fruit eaters, but the others were just all milling about looking for what-nots. With all those hungry eyes it’s no wonder I’ve seen so few butterflies.

The day after the rain the back lawn was riddled with all these bill holes. I don’t know what they found in the freshly wetted grass, but there was a flock of around 50 who kept milling around going from lawn to cherry to sumac to lawn.

Strangely enough since the rains came there seem to be far fewer birds. I need to get out there and explain why their straying from script is throwing off the documentary. On TV the return of the rains always brings on the migrating hordes!

The rains were just in time for the former tropical bed. Leaves were starting to wilt and I just didn’t have it in me to add another bed to the water-triage list.

So we are back in business. I hate drought and I hate watering and between the two of them dry spells always get ugly. Now if it can only get a little warmer again this could have the makings of a great end of summer rally.

Maybe the birds can stop pecking off the tips of the cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit) long enough for it to scale the arbor. It’s heading for the top but the birds are relentless. Good thing it’s not a bunny though, the other side for some reason is abused daily by our single resident baby bunny, and can’t even start climbing.

I should be thinking fall garden but I’m going to hide behind denial for a few more days. The cool weather is supposed to warm up again and hopefully summer will stay strong for another couple weeks. It’s hard to deny though as the cyclamen sprout and the corn ripens. Go away autumn, I’m not a fall person!

In a vase on Monday

Aug12

I’m usually far too distracted and disorganized to keep up with any of the blogging memes but every now and then voila! It happened today, and I’m joining in with Cathy from Rambling in the Garden and putting together a vase full of freshly plucked blooms from the garden.

The fat blooms of chrysanthemum “mellow moon”, yellow buttons of “Isla Gold” Tansy, and a few sprays of patrina scabiosifolia.

I feel a little outnumbered here as a male participant, but I’ll give it a go anyway. As you can see accessorization is not my strongpoint, the flowers were picked and plunked into one of those fat little vases (probably saved from some Valentine’s day past) and dumped naked onto the table. The generic yellow teapot was pulled out of the cupboard to keep it company…. might as well since it’s been sitting around uselessly since the day we were married 🙂

cream flower arrangement with chrysanthemums

Why these mums are blooming in August I don’t know, but I’m glad they are. Pale creamy yellow is one of my favorite colors.

I’m surprised by how much I like this chrysanthemum in the garden, and they look even better in the vase. Although I was informed by the boy that the round yellow things are stinky I like the way the tansy and patrina bring out the yellow in the mum. Who knew garden mums could be so nice? I guess I just got used to those big disposable blobs of unanimous color that show up in autumn that I forgot about the older daisy types and the fancy bigger blooms. I can see a problem developing with these 🙂

By dinner time the arrangement was joined by the season’s first ripe tomato. A golden “Kellogg’s Breakfast” was sliced and plated with salt, oil, and bluecheese crumbles on top. Unsophisticated yet Mmmm. I’m not a big tomato lover but this mild meaty beefsteak is tolerable.

Tomato Kellogg’s Breakfast. I wonder how golden pizza sauce would go over?

I didn’t quite make the cutoff for Monday, but hopefully late entries are accepted 😉 and if you get the chance take a look at some of the other contributions that roll in each Monday at Rambling in the Garden. It’s great to see what’s blooming in gardens across the world, and I’m repeatedly amazed by the talent and creativity out there.

Have a great week!

Hello dahlias :)

Aug10

I’ve always dabbled a little in dahlias, but last year I treated myself to a few named ones from Swan Island Dahlias. Last year they did great, this year even better!

Dahlia “moonstruck” would look great in a border, it’s got a nice height and really puts out the flowers.

I did lose a couple (my overwintering technique is sloppy at best) but I like to think of it as natural selection. Eventually I’ll be left with only the dahlias that can tolerate my abuse! Right now if I can only keep them watered and possibly fertilized once more they should put on a great show until frost cuts them down.

Dahlia “Tanjoh” barely bloomed last year, this year it’s in a much better spot and is really starting to put on a nice show.

I consider dahlias to be as easy to grow as a cabbage. Maybe that’s why some people look down on them, they grow so lush and showy that there’s little room for subtlety and finesse…. which is just fine with me. I grow them best amongst the vegetables where they can be fussed over and freely cut for the house, and they relish the easy life amongst the tomatoes and beans.

This was supposed to be my favorite from last year “Plum Pretty”, but apparently it’s dahlia “Mathew Alan’. He’s a nice enough dahlia, but this means it was the plum that died over winter and went onto the compost pile….

I love all kinds of dahlias, but seem to be stuck on the quilled ‘cactus’ types. A six inch wide cactus bloom and a height of about four feet seem just right for my taste, but a look through any dahlia offering will show plants from a half a foot to six with blooms from one inch to twelve…. and daisies, pom poms, dinnerplates, waterlilies, collarettes and more and more in the way of bloom types.

With a generic white flower name such as ‘Bride to Be’ I would guess this one would be perfect for a wedding arrangement. It’s a waterlily type, with broad, perfectly arranged, rounded petals.

Water, rich soil, and full sun are all these ask of me. They should be staked, but I’m the sort who waits until a storm knocks them all down before I do anything….. I should really reconsider that plan, especially since I just picked up some suitable wood at the DIY store (no excuses!)

Slugs, earwigs and Japanese beetles are the only troublemakers I get in the dahlia patch. They’re never much of a problem, I just dispense punishment, clip the bloom, and wait for a new one to come up in its place. This is dahlia “Groovy”, a darker leaved variety.

I’ve been through dahlia phases before and usually after a couple seasons of digging and replanting I either get bored or end up losing them all to bad winter storage. We’ll see. This latest phase is still burning hot and fierce, and I’m tempted to turn over the entire vegetable patch and fill it with dahlias!

My oldest dahlia. This unidentified one from the box store has been surviving the in and outs of winter storage for at least 9 years…. practically a record in responsibility for me! (If it was taller it could be the 1963 dahlia “Alfred Grille”, but named or nameless still a nice one)

So we’ll see what happens. Dahlia season is just starting and there are more to come, but opinions may change when the temperatures drop. Digging soggy dahlia roots on a cold windy October weekend can really kill a plant lust and I’m far too frugal to just buy new tubers each spring.

Do you bother with dahlias?

sorta like suburbia

more than you ever wanted to know about my garden

I’m pretty sure there’s fiber in icecream

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Fluttering into September

(Almost) In a Vase on Monday

Garden Bloggers Foliage Day -Aug.2014

Plant of the year 2014

In a vase on Monday

And the clouds opened

In a vase on Monday

Hello dahlias :)