In the cold and snow of winter,
There’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until it’s season,
Something God alone can see.
Natalie Sleeth
Category Archives: Perennials
FREEZE TEASE
It happens almost every year
About this time.
A predicted freeze
That doesn’t materialize.
Most years
I’m ready for a freeze.
But not this year.
I want to hold on
For a few more weeks.
Enjoying the last of the Dahlias.
And making a few more arrangements.
I like the rhythm of fall.
Shorter days.
Cooler temperatures.
A little more time to linger
In the garden.
This weekend
I’ve watched a spider
Spin and re-spin
It’s intricate web
Outside my kitchen window.
(Which explains the poor quality of the picture.)
You have to admire
The ambitious little spider
Who works all day creating this miracle
That glistens in the sunlight.
Only to have someone
Or something
Walk into it
And do damage.
Yet when I wake up the next morning
There it is
Put back together.
Perseverance.
It’s one of the great lessons of nature.
Gail
“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there someday.”
A.A. Milne, “Winnie-the-Pooh”
Filed under Bouquets, cockscomb, Dahlias, Fall, Flower Arrangements, Gardening;Perennials, Perennials, Uncategorized
TINY TREASURES
I was raised by depression era parents.
They were not over the top tight
But let’s just say I never leave a room
Without turning off the lights.
They were however
Extravagant in all the right places.
Loving, giving, sharing.
I’m a lucky lady.
What I experienced in childhood
Shows up over and over again
In my garden.
I guess that’s what you can attribute
My seed collecting to.
I simply can’t throw anything away
That might turn into a plant
In someone else’s garden.
The problem is
In a garden the size of mine
That’s a ton of seeds.
You can’t just let them all drop to the ground
Or your garden will become
Even more of a jungle.
Now seeds are generally tiny
So you would think I’d have room
To store endless amounts.
That’s what I thought
Till it got totally out of control.
Last spring
I dug all of my seeds out
From the places I’ve stashed them
And put them in these clear jars.
Plants like Purple Coneflower
And Gloriosa Daisies
Are just too big
Or too prickly
For the space I have.
Luckily my friend Martha
Has five acres that she is planting
To flowers for pollinators.
We garden together at Faith Farm
Twice a week.
So I’ve been taking
Grocery sacks full of deadheads
To her for the past several weeks.
I love finding good homes for things.
Right now my potting bench
Is covered with German Bearded Iris
Waiting to go back in the ground.
Some will go here
Others still need a home.
Zinnias are drying
Along side dahlias.
Dahlias are a new challenge for me.
I really don’t know what I’m doing with them yet.
Much research ahead of me.
So what do I do with all of this.
Some goes into my garden
But most are
“Up for adoption”.
Because there is only
So much Larkspur
And Cockscomb
A garden can handle.
I hope you will come by my house
This fall and make a few selections
From my seed inventory.
Because seeds need to be spread around
And given homes
Where they can take root.
Loving, giving, sharing.
Thanks Mom and Dad.
Gail
SIMPLE DELIGHTS
Late summer provides a bit of a respite
From the heavy work of a perennial garden.
Sure there is still deadheading
To keep the blooms coming
And weeds to be pulled.
But my garden is in that “in-between” time.
It’s a bit early to start digging things up
And moving them around.
Something I love doing.
So late last week
When my friend Beth
Reminded me that
“the simplicity of a water drop on a petal
Can delight our inner self”
It helped me to slow down
And look for that simplicity.
Tonight when I was making a little arrangement
For the breakfast room
And a praying mantis popped out.
It was shear delight.
I quickly relocated it to the garden.
Then as I moved the arrangement to the table
Another appeared.
What are the chances of having two praying mantis
In the same arrangement?
Pretty slim I’d say.
It reminded me of the moment last spring
When all the babies hatched.
I was lucky enough to happen to walk by
At this moment.
A few weeks later
Nature repeated itself for Harper & Henry
When they found their own delight.
Finding delight in simplicity.
Thanks for the reminder, Beth.
Gail
RAIN, BLESSED RAIN
Most of the country has experienced
What seems to be the longest winter
In recent memory.
Our winter has been
In and out.
Bitter cold days
Sprinkled into sunny winter glory.
But it simply has not rained.
Fires 100 miles to our west
Attest to our dry fall and winter.
Thankfully it starting raining on a recent Friday night
And continued through Saturday.
Bringing hope to my garden
With each drop.
The Japanese Maple trees
Are sighing with relief.
They leafed out on schedule
Only to be frozen a couple of times.
Creating the saddest looking tree
I’ve seen in a long time.
Now, with this moisture
They have begun the process of
Putting on new leaves.
And things are budding out.
Iris
Allium
Peonies
With their attending ants.
And those stunning Japanese Tree Peonies.
They don’t last long
A few days of bloom and they are gone.
Yet, they are so worth growing.
With these buds
Comes hope
And so it is with gardeners.
Whose spirits have frozen
And thawed
And frozen
And thawed
More times than we can count.
But with the rain comes
Hope.
And gardeners thrive on
Hope.
Gail
SUMMER LOVE
There’s something about the flowers
Of late summer
That I love.
Maybe it’s because they are sturdy enough
To thrive in the normal August heat.
With the cool days
And unprecedented rain
We’ve been having
This year’s August garden
Is lush.
Out of control really.
The cockscomb is doing it’s usual thing.
Blooming EVERYWHERE
Zinnias are beginning to bloom.
They didn’t get planted till around the 4th of July
So they are just now kicking in.
Endless Summer hydrangea
Are putting on new blooms.
While their cousin Annabelle
Has never stopped.
And Cleome is still going strong.
The thing that I notice
Is how different each of these flowers is.
Their forms.
Their needs.
Their appearance.
Yet when you put them together
In a simple vase.
They not only
Play well together
They encourage one another.
How can you not love a garden?
Gail
Filed under cleome, cockscomb, Hydrangea, late summer garden, Perennials, Rain, self seeding annuals, Sunflowers, Uncategorized, Zinnia
CLAIRE AND CONSTANCE
On Wednesday we traveled to Vargeneville sur la Mer
On the Normandy Coast
To visit the Mallet sisters
Claire and Constance
And their homes and gardens.
Claire lives on the family estate
Le Bois de Moutiers
Built by her ancestors
One of whom was a Haviland.
As in china.
Gardens and china.
I’m in double heaven.
It was designed by the then young British architect
Edwin Lutyens in the Arts & Crafts style.
It’s a splendid house
A home really.
Unlike many period homes I’ve toured
This one was inviting
Full of life and light
Streaming into the house
Through large and plentiful windows
And back out with a view of the forest
Leading to the sea.
The grounds and the gardens
Were designed by Lutyens and the owner Guillaume Mallet
In conjunction with Gertrude Jekyll
The renowned English garden designer
Who brought us the perennial border
And a more relaxed feel to gardens
The garden is walled
And divided
With crisp clipped yew hedges.
There are sweeping perennial borders
Doing what they do best.
Amaze and inspire.
Claire is tall and stately
And ever so gracious
Walking the garden with us
Pruners in hand
Snipping away as she goes.
She reminds me of my friend Nancy
Elegant
Full of grace.
She tells us the stories of how the home and garden
Came to be.
Of the war years when it was occupied.
Of the art
And family treasures
That have been sold
To help pay for the upkeep of the estate.
When my family was struggling with
What to do with the family farm
Hers was having the same conversation
On another continent.
From Claire’s home
We traveled to see Constance.
At 85 she gardens 4 -5 hours a day.
I like this lady.
She is shorter
More casual
And fun.
Her garden reflects her personality
Less formal
Wild in areas
And on a smaller scale.
Widowed for 20 years
With both children living abroad
Most of the year
You might think she is alone.
But something tells me
People are drawn to her.
Kristina was.
Constance reminded her
Of her own spunky grandmother.
They had a long visit
Including a tour of her home
Which is much smaller
More intimate.
She told Kristina
Her garden was inspired by Gertrude Jekyll
Since she was a friend of her parents
And grandparents.
“She was in the milk of my bottle.”
Constance drank her in
In a sense.
Gardening is a common bond
Through generations
And across continents.
Gail
“A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.”
“The lesson I have thoroughly learnt, and wish to pass on to others, is to know the enduring happiness that the love of a garden gives.”
Gertrude Jekyll
http://www.boisdesmoutiers.com/index.php
EDITING DAYS
You may not know this
But there are two “gardening deadlines”
Here in my Zone 7 garden
That fall on the 4th of July.
I’ve learned over the years
That the 4th of July is the last time
To plant Zinnias for fall bloom.
I know
Most of you planted yours weeks
If not months ago.
In my over-planted piece of this planet
I don’t have space for Zinnias
Until I pull up the Poppies and Larkspur
That have gone to seed.
Yesterday I went a little beyond just pulling up the dead stuff.
I went a little crazy.
My garden is now 11 years old.
As a result
It’s overgrown in may places.
So along with the waning Poppies and Larkspur
I dug up two Rose bushes
About a dozen blue Veronica Spicata
Several white Iris
Some Purple Coneflower
An a lonely Gloriosa Daisy or two.
Normally, I wouldn’t excavate quite so much
Especially since I have no idea who will adopt these plants
So, I’ve taken a new approach.
Let’s call it the “Urban Dumpster Method”.
In cities if you want to get rid of something
Just lean it against your dumpster
It will disappear long before
The Sanitation Department has a chance.
So this afternoon
I put my garden abundance on the curb
With a sign saying
“Free Plants
Take what you want – need a sunny home”.
When I last checked they were all still there.
I’m hoping for a swarm of midnight gardeners.
To take this stuff off my hands.
So I’ll feel good when I attack the rest of the garden
Tomorrow.
The second deadline has to do with mums.
If you have the old-fashioned kind
That grow and grow
This is the time to give them one last
Harsh trim
So that they will be thick and full
Come fall.
May have to fudge on this one a bit.
That’s what I love about gardening.
There’s always grace.
Gail
A SIMPLE DAY
Yesterday dawned cool and cloudy.
Rain had been predicted for the day
But it didn’t materialize
And so we had a simple Saturday.
My maiden voyage as a grandmother
Meant that my garden
Was completely ignored
For the last half of August.
Abandoning my garden for grandchildren
Is a no brainer.
But it does mean that the garden
Is well….overgrown
It needs serious deadheading
As well as a clean sweep of weeding.
But instead of going head long into the garden
I was more in a meandering mood.
So I slowed down
And worked at a more relaxed pace.
Along the way
I ran across a few late summer friends.
Orb spiders are making there return
After a year’s absence.
The count in the back is up to 3.
I’m thinking we should name them this year.
They hang around for quite awhile
So it seems a naming is in order.
And the monarchs are beginning to migrate.
They love the zinnias that are just now coming into their own.
A late blooming Hollyhock
Kept a bumblebee happy for some time.
And all the while
Coco kept watch
Over the garden.
They joys of simplicity
They are ours for the taking.
Enjoy the week.
Gail
Filed under Bugs, Butterflies, Dead Heading, Fall, Gardening;Perennials, hollyhocks, Orb Spider, Perennials, Zinnia
A SIMPLE DAY
Yesterday dawned cool and cloudy.
Rain had been predicted for the day
But it didn’t materialize
And so we had a simple Saturday.
My maiden voyage as a grandmother
Meant that my garden
Was completely ignored
For the last half of August.
Abandoning my garden for grandchildren
Is a no brainer.
But it does mean that the garden
Is well….overgrown
It needs serious deadheading
As well as a clean sweep of weeding.
But instead of going head long into the garden
I was more in a meandering mood.
So I slowed down
And worked at a more relaxed pace.
Along the way
I ran across a few late summer friends.
Orb spiders are making there return
After a year’s absence.
The count in the back is up to 3.
I’m thinking we should name them this year.
They hang around for quite awhile
So it seems a naming is in order.
And the monarchs are beginning to migrate.
They love the zinnias that are just now coming into their own.
A late blooming Hollyhock
Kept a bumblebee happy for some time.
And all the while
Coco kept watch
Over the garden.
They joys of simplicity
They are ours for the taking.
Enjoy the week.
Gail
Filed under Bugs, Butterflies, Dead Heading, Fall, Gardening;Perennials, hollyhocks, Orb Spider, Perennials, Zinnia
