Sporting Life

In Virginia, if you talk about the sporting life, almost everyone thinks that you’re talking about football or some other game of sport or maybe fox hunting, here in Virginia that's big. But I’m actually talking about how plants can move around in a garden and change color, shape and size. I think people can make a lot of money on the sporting life of plants. I would imagine lots of the new plants that make it big out there in the gardening world are just random sports that an observant person noticed in a garden. I have been pleasantly surprised with some of my own sports, and laughably disappointed in others. The sports or seedlings I have found need to hold up to a couple of seasons of trials before we at Morningside give them names and turn them loose on our customers (OK I am lying a little bit, I name them all). The two plants that seem to sport the most for us are tall summer phlox and the old fashioned garden mums. So I will start off with my phlox experience.  After neglecting one of our gardens for a few years, there seemed to be phlox colors I hadn't planted in that garden, could they be worthy sports? I watched these new plants for powdery mildew and made sure I really loved the colors so different then the parents, they seemed like they had potential.  At the end of the season I dug them up and moved them to another garden where I could keep an eye of them and trial them for a year or so.

This was their first year of flowering in their new home and my gosh, what was I thinking? They looked just like two other phlox we already have and one of them got powdery mildew so badly I had to cut it down. How could I have thought they were special?  One of my problems is I don't have a real trial garden where they can be separated and spaced to really see what they look like.  I just mixed them up in my overflowing garden and what happened? Not good. By the end of the season I didn't know what was what anymore. So cross off the new phlox for now. On a happier note, the new garden mum is still a stand out going into its third year. Beautiful color, nice habit, a great plant in the late summer/early fall garden. This year two more mums decided to sport and I’m thinking we should start a new mum line, call it something catchy, and make a million.  I wonder how many I would have to sell to make a million?

Changing Gardens

Cardoon in our garden

The big horse-shoe garden down by the greenhouses, where you will find me hanging out most of the spring and summer, changes everyday. No one else notices these changes, but like the mother of a young child, I notice every change, everyday. Buds appear on plants, flowers open, plants get taller and fill out. The mix of annuals, perennials, and herbs make the changes both more dramatic and, perhaps, harder to recognize. This year, I took a lot more pictures of the garden determined to share them with you, my garden blog readers.  Now I wonder why so many of those pictures  look the same.  They seemed so different to me at the time! Every day, there's an important change in a garden's color and texture as its flowers open, mature, and go to seed, but its as subtle as if its nothing more than the changing light in the day. Even my cardoon, which has only gotten bigger and is unfazed by the frosts of October and November, is never the same. All the plants change everyday, or so it appears to me. How important could all this be, me seeing changes no one else would notice? In that way, a well loved garden is like a beloved child: we see them changing everyday; it is our joy as gardeners (and parents) to watch these small changes that make up the life of our gardens and families. And rejoice at every single one every day, even if only for ourselves. Because, as we all know both gardens and children can be a challenge (and I mean that in a good way).

Pesto Weather

I love working with our herbs.  One of my favorite jobs is watering them everyday, and I have to take it seriously. They are my tasty aromatic charges and no one is going to die on my watch if I can help it. Today I had one of my best friends over for lunch.  As always, I changed my mind about the menu 10 times.  I finally settled on 'Golden Corn Salad with Fresh Basil' from this month's Cooking Light.  It sounded SO GOOD and it didn't disappoint. As always when I am cooking something I will sample it along the way to see how it tastes, and I knew I had a keeper recipe from my first taste.  What I didn't know was how basil would elevate it from keeper to sublime.  The last ingredient is basil so after putting the whole salad together I went out to snip the basil from the garden, brought it in, chopped it up and sprinkled it on top.  Oh my gosh what a difference! Such a small act, adding a half cup of the quintessential summertime herb basil made this salad extra special, delish.  I should have taken a picture because it was a beautiful salad as well as tasty but alas I just ate the last of it as I was writing this.  There is a very good picture in Cooking Light if you want a visual.  As our summer is winding down I want to make lots of basil dishes; the time is fast approaching when it will be gone like our warm weather. Because of the cooler nights, plants are slowing down and not growing as much as they were even a few weeks ago. Soon basil will follow this summer and just be a memory. Some of the other herbs will hold on through the winter but not basil; it is even hard for us to grow in the greenhouse.   We keep two mother basil plants which are done from cuttings so we must overwinter them, not easy during those dark days.  So I guess it's time to think of that old saying 'make hay while the sun shines' or for basil, 'make pesto while the sun is hot and high in the sky'.  Not quite as catchy but just as true.

Golden Corn Salad with Fresh Basil

8 ounces small yellow Finnish potatoes (I used fingerlings of different colors)

3 cups of fresh corn kernels (about 4 ears)

2 cups assorted tear drop cherry tomatoes ( I used different sized and colored cherry tomatoes) halved

1 1/2 cup s chopped red bell pepper (I used several colors)

1/4 cup minced shallots

3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

1tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

6 cups arugula (I used arugula and spinach)

1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves

2 ounces goat cheese sliced (I used mozzarella as I couldn't get a good goat!)

1. Place the potatoes in a small saucepan; cover with water.  Bring to a boil; cook 11 minutes or until tender.  Drain and chill.  Cut potatoes in half lengthwise.  Combine potatoes, corn, tomatoes, and bell pepper in a large bowl.

2. Combine shallots and next 4 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Slowly pour oil into shallot mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Drizzle over corn mixture; toss well.  Add arugula; toss. Sprinkle with basil; top with cheese.

Bungle in the Jungle

I have been indulging my garden for several years now. I love it in the spring: beautiful, neat, tidy. In summer, things much more blousy and overgrown but still basically OK. Now it's end of summer and all my indulgences along the way are making it hard to make out a garden for all the over-grown stuff I felt sorry for. I have coxcomb, three or four foot tall that seeded right at the front of the garden. Also, the infamous 'Monkey Balls' which everyone (including me) loves have, after 3 years, seeded everywhere in my little garden. Way too much of a good thing. And did I tell you about the morning glories that have over taken one end of the garden? They have also over shadowed some of my spring perennials so much I am afraid they are no longer with us, gone to glory as a very dear friend used to say.

You may be asking yourself how this came about. I am a diligent gardener, so I work at least a little bit in the garden everyday. How could I spoil these plants so much that they hijacked my garden? It started in a small way when they were small plants: I just didn't want to pull them out.  Who wants to pull out a perfectly good plant? My problem is I had so many perfectly good plants that I knew would grow up to be beautiful, they were just in the wrong place and way too many. As if I needed encouragement, I was egged on by customers and friends who exclaim how beautiful it is. By now, all I see is a mess. I have at this late date started to rectify the situation by pulling up these plants that started life so small and innocent and became so big and bullying...which means I now have huge holes in my garden. Morningside Farm is on the Culpeper Farm tour the first weekend in October--uh oh. What do you think sunlight, space, and expert watering can do by then? Stay tuned.

Summer Sale

Ruthie checking out the sale items

Welcome to our sale, it's time again to load up on our great perennials and herbs. You too can have gardens galore with everything you have wanted that we have and save money.  Thinking of trying something new, this is the time.   Visit now while the selection is at it's best.  Once they are gone, they are gone.

Sale dates: July 31st to August 8th, 10 am to 6 pm all week

Cutting Back and the Garden in Transition

Achillea Apricot Delight

My garden at the front of the nursery is heavy on spring bloomers because that is our busy season and it makes sense to have it that way. At least it does in the spring, because, well, it’s the second week of June and so much needs to be cut back that it’s a dilemma. The dilemma: I don’t want the garden to look like a bomb went off in the middle. Now at the moment there is a beautiful golden Tansy and yarrow ‘Apricot Delight’ next to each other, they make a stunning combination. The only problem is that they are next to so many plants that need to be cut back. First there’s the veronica ‘Georgia Blue,’ and then there’s the Dendranthema (cold hardy mum) we discovered (I call ‘Raspberry Thursday’ because it has raspberry colored flowers and I found it on a Thursday). Next, Catmint ‘Joanna Reed’, Penstemon ‘Huskers Red’, salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna.’ I decided to cut back a few and leave a few to cut back later. Not too harsh, it’s working out well.
 
With some plants, cutting back isn’t enough. I took out and moved two very big baptisias because in the three years they had been in, they have gotten way too big for the space. So there are more holes in the garden to be filled, more decisions to be made. I am waiting for inspiration to strike as to what to put in those spaces, and how much to cut back. For now the space holders are a few of my mixed container pots. I kind of like that, mixing the pots in the garden, but I need to plan it a little better than filling large dirt spaces with pots because that’s what it looks like, and it’s not very memorable.

So what do I put in there? These are good summer bloomers to help my one season garden:

1.Phlox paniculata: I have had this in my first garden next to the old retail area. Years ago I put in my favorites ‘Nicky’, ‘David’, ‘Laura’ I tried to choose mildew resistant cultivars, and over time they crossed with happy abandon. The few that showed the most promise (mildew resistance, good color) I dug up and moved to one of the empty spots in the new garden.

2.Cone flowers (echinacea): Now, I love the new colors and have used them in the garden but I have noticed that echinacea magnus and ‘Ruby Star’, and all the old varieties attract so many more butterflies and bees. It has to be a pollen thing. The new varieties were bred for beauty not helping nature; eye candy I guess you would say. Which is fine just be aware of the difference.

I have also learned that both of these plants do much better with some space around them. I have put some of the newer varieties of echinacea like ‘Sun Down’ and ‘Harvest Moon’ crowed together with everything else in my garden and they disappeared after a year or so. George has some in his garden which are not crowded and they are beautiful three years later. I have found it is the same with phlox, which are prone to powdery mildew, when planted too close. Choose cultivars that are mildew resistant and give them some space. Consistent water also makes all the difference in how they look and perform. I am also using annuals, which I do every year, to help the garden transition from one season to the next. OK that’s it for now…time to water again.

Smelling the Garden

I walk outside and I smell honeysuckle. I come out of the grocery store with no apparent honeysuckle and I smell it. It is in the air everywhere. It’s one of the first things I remember about moving east: spring honeysuckle. Taking walks in the evening and being overwhelmed with the smell. Yes, I know it is a terrible invasive, but at least it smells good. I love plants that smell good. Few new plants seem to have fragrance these days, not high on anyone's preference list. It seems people are more inte.rested in the color of the flowers and the bloom time then if it has a fragrance.

We still have a few, Clove Pinks or Dianthus, lots of the phlox family are native and otherwise are good smellers. Some cone flowers are very sweet smelling, Moonflowers on a summer evening... yum. Nicotinia. Some of the old roses. Heliotrope with it’s baby powder fresh scent, even catmint: not quite what I would call sweet but still pleasant brushing up against it. Me and the bees think it smells grand. The blue Wave petunia smells great, too (no other color that I have found). Angles trumpet...well OK so I could go on and on. All of the herbs, of course...

How many smellers do you have in your garden? Not what we think of when we go to the local nursery these fragrant plants. Anyone ever asked the sales person “what do you have that will make everyone remember my garden because it smells nice?” I for one have never said that. But when I pay attention to fragrance it makes the garden so much more interesting and memorable, even something I enjoy working in more. It's not just something to appreciate with my eyes. In fact, if I close my eyes I can still smell the garden. It’s like a fresh cut lawn in summer, something we remember forever. If I take care to add plants with fragrance, the garden is more memorable for me. Just like smelling that old invasive honeysuckle: sweet spring. Next time we'll talk about herbs that smell... hmm . They all smell. How about my favorite scented herbs? Until then, night all.

Nature's Symphony

Peonies

When I walked up to the house this evening the cacophony of sound was unbelievable. Are there birds that sing in the evening?? And the peepers have migrated all over the yard I hear them from every corner (either that or there is a weird echo thing going on). I never remember hearing anything like it. The plants are feeling the same; they are going gangbusters. I am so excited about all the different kinds of Peonies we have this year. Watching the buds swell and the color start to show is just so darn much fun.
Everyday I thumb them to see a little more of their color. They are my flower children. 
 
This evening along with nature's symphony I loved seeing the shadows our weeping willow branches make as I pass under. We have so many different kinds of willows on the property and for sale I can’t keep up but George knows them all. I do know the Rosemary willow I put in my first garden so long ago. It now shades my tree peonies and blows gloriously in the wind, just as I intended. With willows it doesn’t take a life time to become mature and beautiful and that’s a good thing because I hate to wait too long for anything in my garden. Joyous spring everyone.

Spring

This evening the old spring ritual of potting up perennials in the gloaming began. Garrison Kellier on the radio and potting mix under my nails, a time honored ritual. George swears he heard spring peepers at the pond the other day but I think he is dreaming on that one, although in one of the many puddles in the rain garden I did see big fat pollywogs. 

Looking at all of the green shoots emerging out of the pots in the greenhouses makes my soul sing. The miracle of barren roots turning into healthy plants and then sighing into flower gives new meaning to the phrase "love what you do" (plants do seem to love what they do, too). Our dear friends Hilda and Clara, who come every spring to pot up our plants have come and filled up a greenhouse with George's seedlings and cuttings. 

We have so much great stuff now! I can’t wait for the show to begin. Here is a small list...four different carexes with names like Red Rooster, Prairie Fire, Indian Summer, and Toffee Twist...bronze and copper and brass. Origanum ‘Kent Beauty’ which I love, love, love because of it’s pendulous pink to green hanging flowers; everyone notices this one in bloom. We will have Achillea ‘Saucy Seduction’ and Eupatorium ‘Chocolate” with names like that they have to be great. We will have strawberries and rhubarb this year and oh so much more. And you know with the advent of warmer weather this week maybe we will hear the peepers. Come on spring, we're ready.