3 Comments

two steps forward, one step back…

Posted by In My Garden (country edition) on May 23, 2012 in chores, rant

There are weeks like the past few have been that make me wonder why I ever thought writing a blog about gardening was a good idea.  The time of year when I have the most to write about, is the time of year in which I have the least amount of time to sit down at the computer and actually write.  My schedule right now looks like this; nice day work outside until drop dead exhausted, rainy day do everything you’ve neglected on the nice days in a total scramble.  Oh, and did I mention that the kids only have 21 days left of school.  I feel like that Seinfeld episode in which George’s father keeps saying, “Serenity now…”

I’m going to attempt to catch up on some of the tasks I’ve tackled recently.  First up is my hydrangeas.  I know I’ve often waxed poetic about my love for them – and it’s absolutely true.  This year with the early spring warm up, their leaf buds started to open a little ahead of schedule.  I should’ve known that this was not a good sign.  Then in the first week of May or so we had a couple of nights of hard frost and this happened…

Fortunately it didn’t happen to all of my hydrangeas, most had some protection of either stone walls or other plants (they just have tip burn, so who knows if they will flower?)  For the few that took the brunt of it, and just to be clear, they aren’t dead or dying as far as I am concerned, there were two options.  Either, remove them from the garden and acknowledge their time has passed and send them off to that great garden in the sky or give them haircut so severe the likes of which I would never consider under normal circumstances.  I opted for option two, and this is what they look like now.

These two of course were right next to the patio area of our pool, so leaving them in place would’ve just looked ridiculous.  They got moved to a random corner where no one would see them unless they were in my vegetable garden and there they’ll stay for 2-3 years until they fully recover.  They will not flower this year, but they’re hanging out in a shaded position until they are ready to take center stage again.  Then there is the hole left by these two formerly large shrubs – what should I put there?  Ah… the saga is never ending.  Anyone else having any hydrangea or any other challenges due to the weather?

Permalink
2 Comments

garden envy…

Posted by In My Garden (country edition) on May 17, 2012 in Photography

Just a few shots from my garden hopping travels this past weekend…

Permalink
4 Comments

tomato time!

Posted by In My Garden (country edition) on May 15, 2012 in growing veg, rant

It’s tomato planting time here in the Northeast. Enjoy this recycled post from a few years ago about those upside down tomato planter things…

Since those upside down tomato planters burst onto the scene a few years ago I’ve had tons of questions about them.  Do they work? I would say yes, but haven’t personally tried it.  Do they work any better than a regular plastic pot?  Probably not, sorry.  All the things that are promised on their packaging and website (no cutworms, no ground fungus, no harmful bacteria) are true of conventional containers as well.  So you could use any plastic container for a dollar or two fill with potting soil and have the same benefits.

In addition they claim that hanging upside down, “water and nutrients pour directly from the root to the fruit.”  I think this is questionable science at best.  Are you smarter or have higher brain function if you hang upside down and let all the blood rush to your head?  I won’t bore you with a botany lesson, but the xylem and phloem do a pretty good job and moving nutrients and water up and down the stem, they don’t need help from gravity.  In fact gravity may confuse the issue, and on many drive by sightings this summer I saw plants that had turned themselves around and started growing upright anyway.

In researching their website If found that the same company that makes this tomato planter also makes the roll n’grow seed mats. Oh brother… more on that another time.

Whether your planting your tomatoes in the ground or in a container – just plant them deep!

UPDATE – Don’t believe me?  See here!

Permalink
4 Comments

field trip!

Posted by In My Garden (country edition) on May 10, 2012 in Uncategorized

I’ve been a fan of the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program for many years.  Through this program, individuals open up their gardens to the public on specific dates  for a very nominal fee.  These aren’t your run of the mill gardens in most cases either.  Many represent a life’s work of gardening, some (here in CT at least) have been designed by well-known and respected Landscape Designers.  On a beautiful day, or better yet a cloudy one (better for the photogs amongst us) its great fun to poke around, get ideas and just experience different, yet each beautiful places.  It’s my not so secret desire to have my garden featured in the program at some point – but definitely not yet.  One and half years into this garden I am nowhere near ready.  Give me another 10 years or so (at least).  I try to get out to see gardens like this once or twice a year.  I’d like to do it more but kids, dog, friends, life and my own gardens to take care of often get in the way.

This Saturday as a Mother’s Day present to myself I’m taking a field trip to visit Margaret Roach’s garden.  Don’t know who Margaret is?  See here.  I’ve found Margaret’s horticultural work and written words to be very inspirational.  I intended to review her most recent book here on the blog, and in fact started several times.  I came to two conclusions; 1- I am a better reader than reviewer and 2- It was difficult to write about material that I felt a personal connection with.  If you’re so inclined check out her blog at A Way to Garden. I’m sure you will find some gardening inspiration there – I know I always do.  The picture below is from my garden, but if you’ve ever read any of Margaret’s works it won’t surprise you that I chose it for this post.

Second stop on the road will be the Hollister House Garden in Washington, CT.  Although it’s only about 35 minutes away from where we live, I only manage to get there once every couple of years.  This garden is one of my all time favorites.  Every time I visit I vow that I need to see it in a different season so I can see all the changes.  This will be the first time I’ve ever visited this early.  The picture below is of one of my favorite vistas at Hollister House.  I’m sure there will be many more pictures to follow after my adventures this weekend!

Permalink
6 Comments

there is something very, very wrong here

Posted by In My Garden (country edition) on May 7, 2012 in growing veg, rant

Remember a few weeks ago when I was lamenting about how much I dislike seed starting.  I do it anyway though, to get the sometimes unusual varieties I want and to save a few bucks.  Also, when you are a dedicated gardener it seems like the kind of thing you just do.

So it’s almost planting out time here in New England and I’ve been doing the dance of moving them out of the basement for a few hours a day, watering from above, etc. all to get them toughened up for life in the outside world.  It’s also when I start removing transplants from the line up, because they just aren’t cutting it.  It’s survival of the fittest here.

This morning I put the transplants outside in a sheltered position from the direct sun and watered them with a  solution of one part fish emulsion to 4 parts water.  Pretty weak, but that’s the last feed they are going to get before going into the ground.  Everything was hunky dory until I absent mindedly let the dog out back instead of the front.

Uh, yeah.

About half my seedlings were spared the man-handling (or dog-handling as it were).

Permalink
Leave a comment

i’m not a doctor, but I play one on tv….

Posted by In My Garden (country edition) on May 7, 2012 in Uncategorized

This is what my life seems like lately.  In this spring, not really feeling like it yet, hoping it will be soon season.  Everybody, and I mean everybody has a question.  In the last two weeks I’ve fielded questions from family members, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, my physical therapist, the person who cuts my hair, former students and complete strangers. I’m not even joking.

Here are three things you need to know about your questions;

#1 I’m not judging you.  Okay maybe I secretly am, but would never humiliate you publicly via my blog (unless you somehow cross me, then all bets are off!)  I might however use your questions/problems for a blog post – this is often where I get my best ideas.

#2 I don’t know everything there is to know about plants (although I do know a lot).  Horticulture like all science fields is vast.  So it’s not so much about knowing everything, it’s knowing where to look for the answers.

#3  I always say it when I teach, and have said it before on this blog but it bears repeating.  Everything I learned in school is  enhanced by 10-plus years of trial and error, emphasis on the error. Don’t be afraid to take the plunge.  What’s the worst that can happen?  Plants are tougher than you think!  When I say try, I really mean it and have faith in you.

So bring it on spring…. now if mother nature could just cooperate!

Permalink
Leave a comment

we have a winner!

Posted by In My Garden (country edition) on May 4, 2012 in Uncategorized

Okay – sorry for the delay in this post. I’ve spent the last hour trying to figure out how to insert the widget into my post so you could see the random generator thingie. Let’s just say I’m not that tech savvy.  I took a picture of the number generator just in case I ever got audited, just kidding – I’m my own boss (and I like it that way!)

So, without further ado… our winner is Kathleen who says,

New to gardening this year so planning on trying lots of new things with the hopes of some success :) Definitely going to try some containers to start us off – thanks so much!!

These books are fantastic for beginners, I’ve no doubt that you will find some inspiration in their pages!  I’ll contact you via email to make the appropriate arrangements and Congrats!

Permalink
10 Comments

chionanthus virginicus – is this really happening?

Posted by In My Garden (country edition) on May 3, 2012 in beautiful things

So it’s the eve of the monthly “You can grow that” campaign**, and I’m thinking about how I’m going to grow a plant that probably 98% of you have never heard of or seen.

I’ve been obsessed with Chionanthus virginicus, the White Fringetree, since I was a student at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx.  My first spring there, it totally enchanted me with it’s fragrance and good looks.  It’s an unusual native tree, one you don’t see around too often.  I considered putting one in at our old house, but knew we wouldn’t be there long enough to enjoy it, so I waited.  It seems that the longer I waited, the more I coveted this special (at least to me) tree.  There is just something about it’s scent when it’s in flower that completely draws me in.  Michael Dirr in his Manual of Woody Landscape Plants describes it as “slightly fragrant” well Dr. Dirr, I must disagree (waiting to get struck by lightning now.)  It’s not particularly fussy, likes acid soil and will take full sun to part shade.  It has a reputation of being difficult to propagate, which may be the main reason you don’t really see it around.  It adds landscape value from Maine all the way to Florida, and the flower is delicate and unusual. Apologies for the iPhone photos below,  which were from my student days – no time for a camera, just a few seconds to snap a pic with the phone while scribbling accompanying notes in my memo pad.

I wish I could add a scratch and sniff sticker (hello fellow children of the 70′s) so you could get the full effect.

So the time has finally arrived – I installed a fairly good size (15 gal. container) Chionanthus at the end of my front border.  It’s a small tree, but really has more of a shrubby appearance and will probably max out at about 20 feet (and wider than that if anything).  It’s very slow growing, so it won’t hit nearly that height for quite some time.  It will do nicely as an anchor plant, as when it’s not in flower, it’s not particularly special in any way, so putting it front and center might not have been wise.  Although now that I’ve got one, of course I want another….

I’d show you a picture of what it looks like now, but it really just looks like a bunch of twigs as it does not leaf out until a little later in the spring.  With the schizophrenic weather we are having here in the northeast who knows when it will really bloom.  Regardless, I’m just so happy it’s finally mine.

**You can grow that is a monthly organized effort to share gardening knowledge organized by C.L. Fornari of gardenlady.com.  Some of the other blogs that are participating can be found here.

Just one more day to enter my first spring giveaway – two fantastic books you shouldn’t miss. Drawing will be on Friday, May 4th at noon ET. Comment on this post to enter!

Permalink
2 Comments

why some heirlooms become heirlooms

Posted by In My Garden (country edition) on April 30, 2012 in growing veg, rant

I’ve discussed before here on the blog the difference between hybrids and heirlooms.

For some crops, hybrids with disease resistance are the true winners and allow both home gardeners and farmers have tremendous success.

Then there are tomatoes – a wide majority of us prefer heirlooms.  The heirloom tomato plant/seed market has literally exploded in the last 10 years.  Every year I grow several types of heirlooms that have consistently performed well for me.  Of course, I can’t resist the opportunity to try out a few new varieties just in case I can discover a new found favorite for taste, or one that is so prolific I’m in tomatoes up to my ears.  I’m always looking for something else I don’t already have.

With only one minor snafu my indoor seeds are coming along very nicely.  However, it’s clear to me why some plants become heirlooms/fall out of fashion.  These tomatoes were grown under identical conditions. The Green Zebras, Paul Robesons, and Black Krims are all standards for me.  The Jujube and Purple Russian are new, purchased from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds via Comstock, Ferre here in Connecticut.  Unless they start doing something stellar in the next two weeks they won’t be grown again next year – and they may not even be worthy of a space in the garden.

Healthy looking soon to be transplants

No wonder people stopped growing these??

One happy new discovery (so far) had been the dwarf tomato ‘Hahms Gelbe Topofmate’ (pictured next to Black Krim for comparison) from seeds I procured from my friends over at You Grow Girl.  They are doing beautifully and I’m sorry that I didn’t start more of them, darned space concerns.

Are you trying anything new this year?Just a few more days to enter my first spring giveaway – two fantastic books you shouldn’t miss.  Comment on this post to enter!

Tags: , Permalink
13 Comments

back to basics

Posted by In My Garden (country edition) on April 27, 2012 in growing veg

I’ve been teaching a bit lately, tis’ the season I suppose!  I’ve been prepping some containers for an upcoming class this weekend.  It occurs to me that this is where people need to start.  If you’ve been in one of my sessions lately, or have found my blog because you are thinking about taking the plunge, containers are the place to be.   Seed starting can be tough, and starting a new in the ground veg garden is back breaking work (worth it, for sure but…).  Containers are the easiest, most economical, easily expanded  way to begin if you’re just dipping your foot in the pool.

Here’s the thing – you can grow most things in containers.  You can go out and buy fancy pots if that’s your design aesthetic, or use 5 gallon buckets from home depot.  Either will do the job perfectly, the plants certainly don’t know the difference.  All you need is some holes in the bottom for drainage.  Even the most basic plastic pots will generally have holes in the bottom.  If you’re thinking about repurposing or using an “un-conventional” container just break out that old drill you’ve got sitting on a high shelf in the garage and get to work.

It’s really simple to get these kind of containers going.  All you need is some organic potting soil, and either transplants or seeds.  The example below is of two kinds of lettuce, put in an inexpensive purchased pot from a big box store.

Below is a repurposed metal container, now a new herb garden.  Herbs do especially well in containers.  Containers tend to dry out quickly.  Herbs respond to that stress by putting out better flavor, for real!

Holes drilled in the bottom

Yes it’s planted one-side heavy, as that’s mint all by itself.  Mint is a bit of a bully and will take over everything (don’t EVER plant it in the ground) so I figured I’d give it a little more room.  Give it a little extra space and, hello mojitos!

Have you heard of micro-greens?  They are the hottest things with chefs this spring, you’re sure to see them on the menus if you dine out.  Here they are growing in repurposed chinese food take out containers.

One of the best things about containers is the ability, as I will need to with these, to pull them into a garage or other shelter if there is a danger or heavy frost or freeze.

Have I convinced you yet?  Just in case you need a little more inspiration I’m having a giveaway of two essential gardening books for any new gardener (or an experienced one who needs some fresh inspiration!)

Book one is Grow, Great Grub by Gayla Trail of You Grow Girl.  The ultimate book for small space gardening.  Even if you aren’t limited by space – this book has some really fantastic ideas.

Book two is my end-all, be-all gardening book.  The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch is my bible.  If you only have one gardening book in your library this should be the one (if you can stop at one, good for you, because I certainly can’t!)

Here are the rules; one entry per person, U.S. addresses only!  To enter simply leave a comment with something new you are going to try in the garden this year.  If you’re not sure – just say so, any comment will include you for the drawing.  The winner will be chosen by random number generator next Friday, May 4th!  Good luck!

Permalink
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.