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.

How the Garden Gives Back to Nature

Bee enjoying a echinacea flower

It's high summer: The blue birds and cardinals have found the ripe fruit of the native pagoda dogwood. What fun! I get to watch it all happen and it’s all serendipity. George and I got the dogwoods years ago and we sold not a one. They grew crooked and stunted because we just left them in their small pots. Four years ago we put one in the ground and I saw how beautiful they were, but still no takers (maybe because the beautiful one was in our back yard that is private). Last year we put them all in the ground and I am so happy to have  bird feeders I don’t have to fill.

More signs of summer: The monarch caterpillars have found the Asclepias physocarpa (we call it monkey balls). The Asclepias are now reseeding in my display garden out front, and I just pull up the few I don’t want. I think the butterflies get hungry and feel there's an open sign that says Free Eats at the Morningside Butterfly Restaurant. Then they tell all their closest friends and relatives who also come back year after year to lay their eggs and belly up to the plant bar. And I love it. That's why I make sure those plants are in my garden every year. I love showing people their green, black, and white bodies making short work out of the leaves. One day they are fat and sassy, and the next day they are gone, having inched their way to a safe spot to prepare for the miracle of rebirth into winged messengers of future generations.

Finally, keep an eye out for the cone flowers, which are getting ready to feed the finches. Echinacea's pink, orange, white, and yellow flowers will be replaced by bright yellow wings as nature intended. Lets hear it for natives and non-natives plants that feed our inner soul and the outer world of nature. Sounds like two for one to me.

The Magic of Gardening

Ruthie and George

I have come to believe our place here is magic and that people come here to feel it. A friend who has suffered a great tragedy in her life has used gardening to ease her sadness. Working with the earth and making a special garden is her way of remembering a daughter. Gardens can be like the soul of someone we love, we are not left alone if we garden in someone's name and keep thoughts of them close. They will be with us always in the garden. I have my mother with me as I garden often.

I believe working the earth is a blessing to everyone who is open to it. We shut ourselves up and out of so much that is of the natural world, we limp along waiting for the next thing to make us happy whatever it is, and there is always a next thing. Well, you know what? I stopped looking for my happiness outside of what I already have: family, friends old and new, my happy dogs, the cats that eat their fill of mice and voles and leave the parts everywhere, what could be better then this?

This evening I picked some of my favorite zinnias tonight, like apricot. I also planted salvia ‘Phyllis Fancy’ which has pale lavender flowers because the hummingbirds know it’s better then anything else around (all you have to do is pick one of the flowers and suck on the end to see for yourself).  I DO love it when the garden is alive with bees and butterflies and hummers. Tonight I was cutting back the spent blooms of my salvia ‘Caradonna’ to encourage a second flush of flowers, but I had to be careful not to rub elbows with the bees filling up on pollen for the evening trip home.  They were honey bees and I have enjoyed watching them hover around those deep purple/blue spikes for weeks. Thinking about it now, I believe 'Caradonna' is the same color of our new shady rest pergola. Friends and family helped put it up and it’s almost time to rest in it’s shade. When life gets to hectic at the farm me and the dogs plan on resting up quite a bit.  Come and join us sometime. We will drink mint sweet tea and chat and laugh and that should be enough to make anyone happy. A bouquet of happy thoughts to you all and good night.

Progress in the Dog Days of Summer

Ruthie

I see the moon and the moon sees me. God bless the moon and God bless me (and you as well).

Tonight as I was watering the garden up by our sign at the entrance of the property I had the most incredible view of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the fading pink twilight (and they don't call them "Blue" for nothing). The mountains were in front of me and the full moon, as big as a pumpkin and just about as orange, rose in the slate-blue sky behind me. I couldn't believe that all that could really exist on one night in mid-August in 2008. I just stood there with the hose in my hand and laughed at how majestic and beautiful Virginia is. It has been a great season for us (and as the full parking lot today attests, it still is).

So much is happening:

First, George is putting in a rain garden behind the greenhouses.  I call it the big dig. It's going to be fabulous when the planting is done...but for now it looks like several big holes in the ground connected to each other by smaller holes. We are going to be on the Culpeper Harvest Days Farm Tour the first weekend in October, so I'm betting the rain garden will be done by then. along with a wine tasting that Saturday, and are slowly pulling the gardens together to look their fall best.

Also, we finally got back to my original garden and have cleaned out the weeds and cut back some of the over-grown perennials. Time to do some serious picking and choosing in that garden, it is in it's 8th year and definitely needs some work. The tree peonies that a friend raised from seed, and were a gift to me so long ago, produced seedlings this spring. We will be digging them this fall and transplanting them into 2 1/2" pots. I have no idea how fast or slow they will be so that is a new frontier, who knew?

George and I were talking as we do at the end of a growing season about perennials that really worked and I thought I would tell you about two of them.

Catmint 'Joanna Reed'
This is the second year we have had this plant and it is a standout in my garden. It has silvery-green foliage with blue/violet blooms. It stands 12 - 16" tall and has a very long bloom time. I cut this back mid summer after it's first bloom and it's re-blooming now in the garden.

Herniaria Glabra

Herniaria Glabra
Also called Irish Moss or  "Green Carpet," it is a lovely ground cover for full sun to part shade that I also put in my garden this year. It is a beautiful soft green mat that stands up to some foot traffic and spreads to about 2 feet and has one single tap root that help with water conservation.

And there were many more. We had success with so many that George did from seed this year that it would take pages to write about them all. Now that I have more time I will include a few every time I write so as not to overwhelm anyone.

More later, and happy planting.

A Garden to Remember

It's high summer in our gardens now. The perennials are strong and the annuals are at their peak. Everyone who has come to see the gardens and picked up a few things has said I want to remember that...and that...and that for next year. Mostly everyone is noticing the late blooming annuals, which are spectacular now, and late summer blooming perennials.

The problem, of course, is that in the spring all of these beautiful bloomers look like , well, not much. Yes, in Spring, they're just small insignificant plants, but just conjure up the memory of your late summer visit to Morningside...

 ...ah yes, that bog sage that is a heavenly blue color matching the summer sky...those globe amaranth in shocking colors of wild purple, deep pink, and strawberry rose...

And that's just the beginning. We have a new color of cockscomb that a friend of ours shared the seed from (It's my favorite, sunset colors of peach, yellow, and soft pink...delicious). Then there are the big sedum that are starting to show their late summer color: Matrona with it's dark pink leaves and stems and soft pink flowers,  and Sedums 'Autumn Joy' and 'Autumn Fire' with their pink and brighter pink flowers. Our asters are just starting to show all the purple, pink, white, and blue colors that say Fall is coming. Boltonia 'Snow Bank' and 'Pink Beauty' have just come out, too, with their tall waving wands of pink and white flowers dancing on the breeze. Our ever expanding mounds of 'Profusion' zinnias are a nice holdover from summer, too. We have them in peach, cream, fire orange, and double cherry which has shades of pink to cream on the same plant. I used them in containers for the first time this year and they look spectacular now. I definitely will remember that for next year.

The new gardens seem like they have been here for years even though it has only been six months. It doesn't take long for a new garden to take hold of your imagination Just take a look at these pictures. Sometimes I can't even believe it, but the camera doesn't lie. Here it is: already a garden to remember.

Mulch and How to Use It

Mulch…We here in the piedmont of Virginia have been having a rough go of it this summer in the rainfall department. Mulch has saved our bacon this season. We put in a huge display garden around our new retail space, mulch like superman saved the day. We would never have been able to keep it watered and looking as great as it does without mulch. It is just the thing for keeping the moisture where it belongs around the roots. It also helps suppress weeds, which tend to grow faster than the stuff we actually planted.  The kind of mulch we choose and the amount used differs depending on what and where. Our personal view is about one inch of mulch put on once or twice a year. Applying mulch like this still helps retain moisture in the soil and lets rain or your watering through. Too much mulch can make an impenetrable barrier to water, not to mention an ugly mound. We are also careful to pull the mulch away from the base of each plant so if we get too much moisture it doesn't sit next to the stem of the plant and help to rot it. As to what to mulch with, that is up to your personal taste. The field is now so varied, and personal taste so distinct that I won't comment much on this. I will tell you we use double shredded hard wood that looks very dark on the ground. We think it shows off the plants better and looks more natural.

A garden tip for this time of year that I am dealing with now.

Daylily

Edit your garden. This is a good time to remove plants that didn't work out. Maybe they took up too much space where you put them (my yarrow), or didn't perform well, or it isn't the look you want for that part of your garden. Dig them up and give them away or move them to another part of your garden or return them to the garden in the form of compost (which means throw them on the compost pile, ashes to ashes dust to dust). Don't keep something in your garden you don't like just because it is alive and healthy. It is your garden and when you look at it I want you to smile. Aren't gardens wonderfully recyclable?

Forever Revising

Our gardens have filled up and are reaching for the sky. Now is the time to see where there are bare spots and a lack of color in a certain area. Change is always good in a garden. So many of my perennials in the old retail garden are so big that it has taken the diversity of the garden away. It's time to rethink that garden...something we do every few years with our gardens.

Actually we are rethinking all of the gardens here. Spending time with serious weeding and re-evaluating the space as to changing taste and acquired plants: some great new annuals that George has done from seed and cuttings that are ready to be put in. Both we and the mosquitoes were out working almost until dark on our rethunk garden last night.

Golden Tansy

The summer evening is our time to just be gardeners. We put in masses of coleus that will look like a patchwork quilt in a few weeks. Then we moved on to profusion zinnias (double cherry and apricot), salvias of all kinds, and anything else we like and have here at the farm. Come visit us this Sunday for the plant swap (more info in the "news" section of our homepage) and take a look at some of our updated gardens. As always it is a work in progress, come visit often.

As to garden advice…do as we are doing: keep ahead of the weeding and mulch...it's dry, dry, dry. Happy gardening!

Garden Grow Time

New Gardens

Our new gardens are growing, and fast. I have no idea what is in that soil, but it seems like magic. The pergola over the main entrance is finished, and it's painted a lovely violet blue. It's satisfying to see a lot of hard work pay off in an inviting and beautiful garden retail space. Actually, looking at our display gardens to see what is blooming at that moment and how big it really gets in the garden is worth the trip over here. It's amazing how big plants in little 3 1/2" pots will get, isn't it?

Gardening Hats for Sale

It makes me want to run around visiting all the other nurseries within an hour or so just to see what their places look like and compare and get more inspiration. Going to a local nursery (like ours!) is such a great experience; it's so much better than getting plants through the mail or from a catalogue (or from Lowe's!). Also the fun of a plant road trip with like-minded friends could make your week. I find it very satisfying to come home with a carfull of plants from everywhere on the map.  It will also help the local economy...AND when you put your new purchases in the ground, you'll get a good workout in the most Zen way by getting in touch with nature at the same time. Maybe now that garden season is slowing down a little, it's time to jump in the gardenmobile.

Garden info:  It's the second week in June, so it's time to cut back mums and asters. I also cut back my tall summer phlox, boltonias, and some sedums. Cutting back these plants helps to stagger bloom time and keeps them shorter for a neater appearance. Stay tuned and we'll see you soon!

Planting the New Garden

One of the new greenhouses

We have a new planting project here at Morningside Farm: our new huge display bed. It stretches on forever around the new retail area. The back side of the garden is going to be a rain garden, which will help with erosion and runoff problems into our new pond and on down the pond chain to the river system and the Chesapeake Bay. I am savoring the idea of planting this garden. Our friends Jeff and Bill came and tilled the whole garden bed. It's beautiful just as it is, but of course an empty garden to a gardener is a battle cry. We will all work on it. I like to imagine it will be the wonder of the neighborhood, and it will certainly be the wonder of our nursery. As children at Christmas with sugarplums dancing in their heads, our heads are full of dancing perennials and annuals, maybe a few small trees and shrubs, a few pieces of iron work maybe, beautiful blooming containers over-spilling with summer lushness. I am going to do the containers now so they will be ready to add to the garden after mother's day.

Crab Apple

I was thinking of a seasonal Spring, Summer, and Fall garden starting with Spring at the big blue house and continuing around. The whole garden would be of interest all the time, with an emphasis on a particular season in a particular area. I haven't broached this with the men yet; I'm trying to get it straight in my own mind first. I plan on making a list of all sun blooming Spring perennials, a list of Summer perennials, and a list of late Summer/Fall perennials. I'll start with a list and veer off entirely by the end.

I would also like to have bays of annuals in the garden that stay the same every year, kind of like annual islands in the perennial bed, with their own area they can be planned as a garden within the garden every year. That's the end of my garden musings for now.

A small, funny string of tips about old-fashioned clothespins (the ones with a coil of wire between the pieces of wood):

• Use an indelible ball point pen to write on them, snap it onto the rim of a flower pot to identify the plant
• Put on opened packages of seeds to keep tightly closed or to separate different packages
• Flank a partly broken stem with pieces of wood and hold in place with the clothespin
• Hold the pages of a book open to free both hands
• Hold covers in place to shade a plant.
• The last part of the tip..."Keep in your basket of tools at all times"

That's it for me this week. I will let you know about our garden progress, or better yet, come visit.

Some of What's New at Morningside ...

Future retail area

While I was away visiting family in California, we started work on our new retail area. I say we, but it was actually a young man with a big machine. He came and changed the natural slope of our land into (what seems like to me) a very big, flat space where our new retail area will be. We also had him put in a real pond close to our rock-lined spring. The pond is filling directly from the spring, and with snow melt it is not taking the month the pond digger/land changer said it would take. In fact, it only taken about a week and a half so far. Now it is a small pond, but we are proud of it. It will be a beautiful addition to our display garden area.

On this new, graded area we will build two greenhouses and a much bigger retail area with plenty of room for parking; no more blind curve around a greenhouse. I have to say, I have no idea how all of this will happen by early April. We still have all of the seeding, potting up, and everything else we do every year to finish. It will look raw this year, but we hope that you can see the future in our new big display garden along with us. It looks huge at the moment (it is huge), but I bet we can plant it up very quickly.

Enchinacea

The greenhouses are also filling up. We will have all kinds of new Echinaceas, such as "Summer Sky," which is the first bicolor Echinacea. The huge 5-inch flowers are a light orange with a rose-colored halo and orange cone. It is prolific bloomer and highly fragrant. Another new one, "Harvest Moon (pictured left)," is a vigorous, fragrant earthy gold with a golden orange center cone. Some of our new Echinaceas are even fragrant! I can’t properly explain how show-stopping these new plants are. We will also have all of the great prairie Echinaceas such as "Magnus," with its large rose-pink petals and a coppery-brown cone, and "White Swan," with a white ray petal that flexes down away from the coppery-brown cone. I could go on and on...new retail area, lots of new plants, what could be better?

Pruning Artemesia

A few reminders before I head off to bed...now is the time to prune your buddleia, caryopteris, russian sage, and artemesia to within 6 inches of the ground. In late February, cut ornamental grasses to 6 inches also. Cut or mow (so much easier) liriope to 3 inches. Cut hydrangea arborescens to the ground and fertilize lightly. These hydrangeas, like Annabelle or Limelight (the ones with big white blooms in the summer), bloom on new wood. But be careful! Blue or pink hydrangeas (Macrophyllas) generally bloom on old wood and shouldn't be cutback until after they flower. Feed iris with bone meal and top with wood ashes. Circle herbs with lime, especially lavender. Okay, that’s it for now.