Category Archives: Gardening;Perennials

August 19, 2012 · 7:58 pm

VISION

Three years ago Elliott & Kristina bought their first home.

To say they had “vision” is an understatement.

Their timing was incredible.

The house had been on the market for sometime.

The front had a mammoth awning.

I’m thinking it distracted couples with lesser vision.

Then there was the backyard.

It was….well…frightening!

But this is no prima donna couple.

They are after all, both descended from gardeners, farmers & ranchers.

They could see what it could become.

Vision.

Not everyone has it.

But they possess it.

And they weren’t afraid of work.

So they began.

I guess you would call the first stage demolition.

Thankfully, I’m a state or so away so I missed this stage.

There was not a lot to save.

The decision was made to take out even the Aspen trees.

Since, though they are lovely

They actually are a bit of a nuisance.

A single wispy tree will turn into a grove of Aspen

Right before your eyes.

Great for mountainsides.

Not so much for backyards.

The giant deck

Was replaced with a lovely flagstone patio.

Carefully layed by Elliott with help from friends.

My parents used Colorado Red flagstone

Inside and outside the “new house” at the farm.

So there was symmetry here.

Meanwhile in my garden.

I was potting up babies from all over my garden

And buying a few.

By June my friend Vivi and I loaded it all up

And drove this garden to its new home.

The humidity in my car was stifling.

Kristina and I spent a long weekend planting away.

Adding roses and hydrangea from a local nursery.

There’s a saying about perennial gardens

The first year they sleep

The second they creep

And the third they leap!

Welcome to year three

We visited again a few weeks ago

What a transformation.

Perennials are oozing onto the grass.

Morning glories dance along the fence

Greeting each new day

Thyme suns itself on the flagstone.

Cleome spills over the edge of the narrow bed

And little juicy golden tomatoes grow practically wild.

Elliott seems to enjoy puttering around the yard.

Growing not only flowers,

But vegetables as well.

Kristina never misses a chance to make a flower arrangement.

Taking them to friends, her office

And sending guests home with a freshly cut bouquet.

They both enjoy foraging dinner from the garden

And entertaining as well.

This year the Kentucky Derby fell on Cinco de Mayo

Calling, of course, for a Cinco de Derby party.

It’s reported that a good time was had by all.

And…the creeping thyme can handle a lot of foot traffic.

Vision.

It brings sunshine to the world.

Enjoy this glorious week

Gail

Peg at the Morning Glory Gate

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Filed under cleome, Flower Arrangements, Garden Planning, Gardening, Gardening Friends, Gardening Mentors, Gardening;Perennials, Herbs, Hydrangea, late summer garden, Lupine, Morning Glories, Perennials, roses, Sunflowers, Tomato, Uncategorized, Vegetables

August 11, 2012 · 6:52 pm

The Morning Walk

When I first began to garden

I unconsciously created a habit.

The morning garden walk.

I distinctly remember going out each morning

To walk through my first garden

To observe the changes

That can happen over night.

For instance, Lilies open in the night.

As do the blooms on Hardy Hibiscus.

So even though I walk along the same path each day

The path in spring

It’s different every time.

And summer

Subtle changes.

But change just the same.

The irony of this is that

We used to laugh at Daddy

When he would go to “check on” the wheat.

We accused him of spending time

Watching the wheat grow!

Every farmer does it

And they should

Just walking through the garden or wheat field.

Helps find things.

The first buds of spring.

Hellebores in January

Things that need to be done.

Bugs that have arrived to do good

Or not.

Remember last summer’s Harlequin bug invasion?

Diseases at their beginnings.

Weeds – always a few.

But I don’t stop to solve these problems on the morning walk.

No, the morning walk is simple to take it all in.

To enjoy

Nature’s accident

To smile

To observe

Curious Peg

To wander

And to wonder.

Gail

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Filed under Diseases, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Harlequin Bugs, Hellebores, Hydrangea, Japanese Tree Peony, Lady Bugs, Oriental Lilies, Perennials, Shasta Daisy, tulips, Uncategorized

July 22, 2012 · 10:27 pm

Mid Season

Yesterday was the first Saturday in a long time

That I spend the whole morning in my garden.

I didn’t dash to the farmer’s market

Didn’t run flowers to the church for Saturday Manna

I was selfish.

I started early in the sunshine

And as the heat came on

I followed the shade.

Weeding

Deadheading

Planning

Thinking

Praying

It’s mid-season here on the plains

We have an 8 – 9 month growing season.

So that makes mid- July just about the middle

Of the time between first and last frosts.

It’s too hot to transplant.

So maintenance becomes the routine.

But…mid-morning a friend came through my gate.

Hydrangeas were on her mind.

Her’s are planted under a Magnolia tree

A giant Magnolia tree.

Her Hydrangea on the other hand have

What we diagnosed as “failure to thrive”

We think the Magnolia is a bit greedy with the water.

And likely nutrients too.

So the solution for now is auxiliary water

In the form of a soaker hose at the base of the Hydrangeas

Turned on Oh So Slowly.

This should allow the water to go deeply into the root zone.

And not run off.

It’s worth a try.

I’m going to drop by soon and see if we can’t find some more hospitable homes for them.

She and I are close in age.

We are definitely at the same stage of life.

Empty nest

Worked a lot

Volunteered a lot

So what comes next.

She’s seeking

So, it occurs to me once again

That gardens do reflect our lives.

If we pay attention.

My garden is full of life

Here in the middle of the season.

Just like my friend.

They both have much left to give.

And hopefully time to give it.

So how do we re-arrange our lives.

Cutting out the stuff that overgrows

And crowds out the good things.

Even maybe shades them out completely.

Keeping extraneous thing cut back – pruned – deadheaded.

To let in the light.

It’s a challenge.

And a continual effort

To keep our gardens

And our lives

Going where we are to go.

Glad I have a garden and friends to share in the journey.

Gail

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Filed under Bouquets, Dead Heading, drip irrigation, Garden Planning, Gardening, Gardening Friends, Gardening;Perennials, Hydrangea, Uncategorized

July 8, 2012 · 11:58 am

Time & Weeds

Border Dahlia

When people visit my garden.

They often ask 2 questions.

The first

“How much time do you spend here?”

The answer is simple.

Not as much as I like.

Tall Garden Phlox

The last few summers have been well…hot!

Which means that my long summer Saturdays in the garden

Have been more like mornings and evenings.

But the truth is my garden does not require endless hours of work.

And because I enjoy it…it doesn’t seem like work at all.

I’ve also changed my expectations.

Endless hours outside just don’t seem to happen

So I do a bit here and a bit there.

It’s amazing how much can happen in a few minutes.

So I focus on weeding and deadheading in small areas.

Peg helps?

Which brings me to the second question.

“Where are the weeds?’

Once again the answer is simple.

Everywhere!

You just don’t notice them.

So how does this work.

There are two things that I’ve accidentally discovered

To keep the weeds away.

I’ve never planted according to instructions.

I almost always plant too close together.

Way to close together.

The pleasing results of overplanting

Which means the plants shade out the weeds.

Or simply don’t leave room for them to grow.

Granted it’s a little crowded

And some plants don’t have room to reach their full glory

But, for me, it works.

The second thing is those wonderful self-seeding annuals.

It begins with Larkspur in the early spring.

And ends with cockscomb from now till it freezes in the fall.

Throw in the zinnia and cosmos that I plant each year

And my garden is filled with “filler flowers”.

Zinnias & Cockscomb – “Filler Flowers”

Which is better than “filler weeds”!

The truth is that lately I’ve been pulling up as many baby cockscomb plants

As I have weeds.

So you might think of it as a friendly weed

That blooms nicely.

And is great in arrangements.

“Filler Flower” arrangements

I’m really trying to keep it out of the very front of my garden this year.

So, I guess it turns out that what some consider to be garden problems.

Are really just how you look at it.

Much like life!

Gail

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Filed under cockscomb, Daffodils, Dead Heading, Fall, Garden Planning, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Larkspur, late summer garden, Perennials, self seeding annuals, Tall Garden Phlox, Uncategorized, Zinnia

June 9, 2012 · 2:03 am

GLORIOSA DAISY

There’s a reason someone named them Gloriosa Daisies.

They are glorious!

Or maybe it’s just sentimental on my part.

They are, after all, the first perennial I remember in my garden.

I remember the day very well.

It was December.

I was decorating for a party for Shirley Jones.

You know…of “Oklahoma” fame.

She was in town doing a concert.

The party was across the street from my friend Sally’s house.

Sally was well….distraught.

There was a backhoe in her garden.

Chewing things up.

She scooped up some plants and asked me to take them home.

They needed a safer place to reside.

So home we went.

Thus began my first perennial garden.

When they bloomed the next spring

I thought it was the most glorious thing.

Sally’s garden always has great patches of this bit of floral sunshine.

Now, all these years – decades – later I do too.

They begin blooming as the larkspur is waning.

The gold and blue combination is stunning every year.

Gloriosa or Rudbeckia if you like the Latin

Are easy to grow.

They like a sunny spot where they can become a small bush.

About the size of a peony.

They can get tall and fall over

So support is a good thing.

I put small portable green wire fencing around them.

Gro-Thru hoops also work.

If you deadhead them.

They’ll bloom off and on all season.

They are a good cutting flower.

Bringing the same sunshine to any arrangement.

Just be sure to remove the leaves below the water line.

And slit the stem and inch or two to increase water intake.

I don’t know what varieties I have.

We’ll call them Sally’s Mom’s Gloriosa.

Since that’s their lineage.

They do self seed and make lots of babies.

To share.

Most recently with Megan and Torry.

There is one variety I don’t recommend.

Rudbeckia Goldstrum.

The flowers are great.

But the root system is greedy.

It spreads into a giant mass.

It’s like digging up a tree to get rid of it.

Be warned.

As I look across my garden it occurs to me

That Gloriosas are like the exclamation point.

The patches here and there give accent to the colors around them.

Blasts of happy faces everywhere.

Just love this one.

Enjoy the week.

Gail

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Filed under Bouquets, Dead Heading, Garden Planning, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Gloriosa Daisy, Gloriosa Daisy - Rudbeckia, Larkspur, Uncategorized

June 3, 2012 · 12:07 am

FAST FORWARD GARDEN!!

Rosa Colorific on it’s second round of blooms

This has been the most incredible spring.

It began early

and is lingering.

I love it.

Lilies and Larkspur

It seems we haven’t had a freeze since almost Valentine’s Day.

The result is one of the prettiest springs I can remember.

It also means that my plants are blooming way ahead of schedule.

At least 3 maybe 4 weeks ahead.

A fast forward spring.

People were picking tomatoes on Memorial Day for heaven’s sake.

All of this means I’ve hit that “peaceful puttering time” early.

The “peaceful puttering time” is when the rush of spring ends.

Everything is planted.

And moved.

And tucked in to grow.

So now begins the first big weeding sweep.

Last Summer’s Zinnias

When the weeds are gone I”ve sprinkled zinnia and cosmos seeds.

And this year the cosmos seeds are actually sprouting.

Especially where I dropped an entire pack of seeds!

Puttering also includes deadheading.

Gloriosa Daisies

Which is often done on my morning walk through the garden.

This year I’m also taking an oath to truly thin out the cockscomb.

You remember cockscomb.

It absolutely takes over the garden in fall.

So I’m determined to manage it better this year.

We’ll see.

Then there is the field of nut grass moving toward the strawberry patch.

It is the hardest weed to get rid of.

If you pull it up

It multiplies.

So as much as I hate to admit it I’m going to spray it with round-up.

It’s the only way over the years that I’ve found to rid it from my garden.

I promise not to use much.

Next I think I’ll tackle the area around my compost bins.

It’s filled with this spring’s empty pots

And last falls end of season leaves and stuff

That hasn’t hit the composter yet.

I’ll stake up a few of those Orienput lilies I planted last fall.

Their heavy budding heads are drooping.

My other weekend task is to move some mums around in the front bed.

We reconfigured it a bit earlier in the spring

So I need to move some to fill in gaps here and there.

As you can see there is a different pace in the garden.

Slower.

Less list driven.

More relaxed.

Easy days to putter

And play.

And enjoy.

I plan to take it all in.

Slowly.

Hope you have some puttering time in your week.

Gail

P.S. Here are a few pictures of last weekend’s wedding. Thanks for the pictures, Pat.

My nephew Will

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Filed under cockscomb, Compost, Cosmos, Dead Heading, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Orienpet Lilies, Timing, TRANSPLANTING, Uncategorized, Zinnia

October 28, 2011 · 10:44 pm

PUTTERING

On a glorious October Saturday afternoon

Much of the country is glued to college football.

Which if fine

For them

But not me

I can’t bring myself to sit still

The garden calls

No screams for me to come and play

It’s puttering season

I love to putter

Spending the day in the garden with no real agenda.

I begin to re-arrange things in my mind.

In the back perennial bed there will be some changes come spring.

Moving the dahlias to more sunshine will displace that Aloha rose.

I’ve found a new home for it.

But that means that I need to find a place for 2 veronica spicata plants.

I have plenty

More than enough

So I think they will move to the farm

They’ll like life with Pat and Ann

They are always looking for plants that attract bees.

This is the one.

There is a sage plant gone completely awry.

Gay thinks she would like it for her herb area.

And since she’s a much better cook than I

Off it goes.

I still have another giant one left.

OK that leaves the Stella d’Ora

(sorry can’t seem to find a picture of them)

These are a terrific plant

Their golden blooms appear along with the purple of larkspur

God is such a great gardener.

But they get lost later on in the season

So I think I’ll move them to the front of the bed.

I’ll likely divide them when I move them

So some of them, too, may take up life in the country

Well that should make a nice open home for the Aloha rose.

It gets pretty big so it needs space.

Once the dahlias are moved

I’ll have more room for Hydrangeas.

Believe I’ve mentioned this before.

There are a few new varieties I want to try

But I’m thinking I’ll try taking some cuttings from the Endless Summer Hydrangeas in the front.

I know

I’m terrible at taking cuttings.

But I keep trying

What is there to lose.

And so much to gain.

Finally figuring out a way to vastly increase the plants in my garden.

Being able to make babies to share with friends.

And something to watch over in the winter.

I just hate it when my fingernails get clean when it gets cold.

Another thing it’s time to do is plant basil.

I know

Cold is on the way

And it’s a warm weather herb.

Not if you plant a pot or two or dozen

For your use indoors this winter.

My winter basil plan is to plant several small pots

Over a period of several weeks.

Plant a couple at first

Then a few weeks later plant another one

Keep going till your sunniest window sill if filled.

If you really get going

You can plant some now for Christmas gifts.

There’s nothing like the smell of fresh basil when there is snow on the ground.

It’s also time to start moving things inside.

I carry over the Foxtail Ferns from the deck

There’s a secret to this.

They aren’t really planted in the clay pots.

I’ve planted them in large plastic pots

And put the pot inside the clay ones

Filling in around the edge with soil.

So, instead of digging them up each fall.

I simply pull up the plastic pots

Put them in the wheel barrow

And off they go to the garden house.

It’s also time to pick all the tomatoes and peppers that are ripe or nearly ripe.

Then the next question – green tomatoes.

Take a chance that they will somehow ripen

Or pick them green

Anyone have any good green tomato recipes?

I’ve got more green than I had ripe ones this year!!!

Happy puttering.

Gail

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Filed under Basil, Fall, Garden Planning, Gardening;Perennials, Green Tomatoes, Hydrangea, Larkspur, late summer garden, Peppers, TRANSPLANTING, Veronica Spicata

October 21, 2011 · 2:36 am

DAHLIA FEVER

Dahlias are the showiest flower I grow.

They come late in the season here.

Imagine their tubers growing silently in the ground all season.

Waiting patiently for everything else to have its moment in the sun.

Then, just when you think it’s too hot and tired for anything else to happen

Dahlias bloom.

And bloom.

It’s no small bloom.

The giant dinner plate Dahlias are just that.

Giant.

The size of your head giant.

Kevin Floodlight Dinner Plate Dahlia

Who can resist growing flowers that big.

Certainly not me.

And now I seem to have hooked Elliott and Kristina.

They have wonderful Dahlias growing against their neighbor’s garage wall.

I’ve had a Dahlia bed ever since we moved here.

This garden had the perfect place.

A skinny spot near the fence where the garden’s edge curves.

And so it was that first spring I ordered Dahlias.

Way too many Dahlias.

All of them the giant dinner plate variety.

For years they have supplied me with drama for fall arrangements.

White and burgandy dahlias with Belinda's dream roses and green hydrangea

People literally gasp when they see them.

September arrangement for church

But not so much now.

The neighbor’s Mulberry tree and a Redbud that John’s planted in the back of my garden

Are now shading both ends.

So it’s time to move.

The Dahlias that is.

When Elliott was here last month we found a new location.

The east side of the garden house

Dahlia's future home

It gets full sun till the middle of the afternoon.

And there seems to be nothing growing in its direction.

So it should stay sunny for years.

It’s at the back of the garden.

So it can provide support for the taller than anything else in the garden plants.

The problem is.

It’s all ready full of plants.

So my big fall project is to find homes for everything there.

And move as many of them as possible.

I began with the Digitalis.

I’ve transplanted all of them to the south side of the arbor.

They seems to be happy.

It actually rained shortly after they were transplanted.

Zinnias and Cockscomb are blooming there now.

They will simply be pulled up at the end of the season.

The biggest part of the project is the large Aloha Rose.

I brought it from my previous garden.

So it’s accustomed to being dug up.

I’ve found a new home for it on the other side of the path.

This is good for many reasons.

Not the least of which is the fact that with roses on both sides of the path

I often do a zig zag as I walk through to avoid the thorns on long rose canes.

I’m hoping to get it moved this fall.

But will wait a bit since it’s finally blooming.

I’d like to enjoy a few more blooms before I start digging.

After the rose is moved I’ll cover the area with manure and compost.

I’ll work it in a bit to allow it to further break down over the winter.

Come spring it will be a rich home for Dahlias.

Now the only question remaining is when to dig the old Dahlias.

Technically, I should dig them every fall since they are only hardy to zone 8.

But…my little zone 6b – 7 garden has kept them warm for years without digging.

If I dig them now I have to keep them someplace cool and dry this winter.

I think I’ll give it a try because….

Guess what I want to plant in their now semi-shady location.

I’ve been seeing some new varieties in my garden catalogs.

What else…

HYDRANGEAS!!

Enjoy the sunshine,

Gail

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Filed under Compost, Dahlias, Fall, Garden House, Garden Planning, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Hydrangea, Perennials, roses, TRANSPLANTING, Uncategorized

May 14, 2011 · 1:36 am

CATCHING UP

CATCHING UP

Perhaps it’s time for a little catching up.

A review of where I am this spring.

Remember the roses that froze to the ground last winter?

Well, they are doing quite well and….

They are still pink!

The roses and peonies were in full glorious bloom last week when we had an unfortunate few days of mid to high 90 degree weather – with wind.

As it happens some years, the bloom life of these glorious spring standards was shortened.

I hate it when that happens.

But it’s a fact of gardening life.

So…I’ll begin dead-heading a bit earlier than usual.

Dead-heading?

Sounds like a rock band doesn’t it!

It’s actually one of the most important things I do to keep my garden blooming all season.

Dead-heading is simple.

It’s removing the spent blooms of plants so that they can begin the bloom cycle again.

Now…not every plant will re-bloom.

Peonies for instance do not. So you just remove the stems of the spent blooms to tidy them up a bit and leave them be for the rest of the season.

I don’t usually cut mine back to the ground until the next spring when new growth appears.

Iris both German Bearded and Dutch also should also have their bloom stems cut back as far as possible once the last buds have bloomed.

Spent bloom stems of German Bearded Iris waiting to be dead headed.

But…leave the greenery to die back on it’s own.

We’ll fiddle with them a bit more later on in the season.

Many roses on the other hand will repeat bloom if you deadhead.

Hybrid tea roses and any old-fashioned rose that is remonant or repeat bloomers will give you more flowers.

To dead head them cut off the spent bloom to at least the first set of 5 leaves.

If the rose-bush needs shaping you can cut them even further down the cane.

Pink Belinda's Dream rejuvenated and ready for dead heading.

That’s it – no big mystery here.

For me it’s kind of a zen experience.

Doesn’t require loads of concentration so you can lose yourself in this bit of gardening.

And…you’ll be rewarded with new buds and blooms within a few weeks.

Now, the spring flush is by far the most breathtaking but the scattered blooms throughout the season bring me great joy.

Then there are things that I don’t dead head.

I want them to go to seed.

Digitalis or Foxglove are among them.

Digitalis

I’ve worked hard to get them going in my garden and I want them to spread so I’m restraining myself from cutting any for a few more years.

Hopefully someday I’ll have patches of their amazing towers of bell-shaped blooms all over the place.

Columbine is a mix of these methods.

The more you cut it the more it blooms.

But at some point usually when it starts to warm up I quit cutting and let it go to seed.

Once the seed heads have dried up – late June or so – I’ll pick them and scatter them in shady areas.

It’s worked pretty well in my loamy soil and I have new columbine babies each year.

Self seeded Columbine by the garden bench.

I’ll give more deadheading instructions as the season goes along.

Other activity includes finally planting my Caladium and Elephant Ear bulbs.

I’m a little behind on those but better a little late than too early with bulbs.

Remember – both of these like to be planted in the shade though their faces can extend into the sunshine.

The basic rule with any bulb is to plant them as deep as the bulb itself.

Not a big deal for Caladiums,

But…you’ll have to dig a BIG hole for the Elephant Ears!

Both will have to be dug in the fall here in zone 7.

Since we are expecting a week of glorious low 70’s weather I think I’m going to finally transplant a Blushing Bride Hydrangea to a new roomier home – got a little carried away with my purchasing a few springs ago – no big surprise.

This morning Pam cut flowers and made them into bunches to sell at the Farmer’s Market tomorrow.

I’ve added some herbs – Rosemary, Sage and Mojito Mint along with bags of mixed lettuce.

So drop by the coop table at Grand & Garriott between 8 & 11.

Last weekend I spent time with Elliott and Kristina in their garden.

We planted new Dahlias – one of Kristina’s favorite, set out tomatoes and peppers and put out Lady Bugs.

Giving lady bugs a new home.

But mostly we simply enjoyed being in their garden, having meals in the garden, talking about gardening and visiting the nursery.

As Elliott was growing up I sometimes wondered what part of that experience he would take with him into his adult life.

Although he didn’t really garden much then he was constantly exposed to this need to dig in the soil and grow things in our home and with both sets of grandparents.

It stuck.

He is drawn to the earth.

I am thankful.

Enjoy this glorious weather.

Gail

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Filed under Columbne, Dead Heading, Digitalis, Farmer's Market, Gardening;Perennials, Peonies, roses

Category Archives: Gardening;Perennials

VISION

The Morning Walk

Mid Season

Time & Weeds

GLORIOSA DAISY

FAST FORWARD GARDEN!!

COLUMBINE

PUTTERING

DAHLIA FEVER

CATCHING UP

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