Garden Pigs: Worth the Oinking

The sun is moving higher in it's arc across the sky and that's good news for us gardeners. My own gardening time is limited now, but as I walk by the garden my mind is at work. What can I do with the half hour I have to share with my garden today? Some of the plants in my garden are plants that I call garden pigs. Plants that, years ago when we first made the garden, were just right for the place we put them are now, 6 years on, all over the place. Their piggy behavior, while tolerated when I had more time to garden, is just too much for me these days.

These piggy garden thugs are creeping all over the garden and I think the oinkers have to go. My beautiful summer garden phlox that I love are coming up everywhere, seeding and spreading out like they own the place. Euphorbia, lamium, and those great old garden mums are also popping up in any open space they can colonize. My daylily bed, already thinned just 2 years ago, is just too much daylily again. Now that I think of it the whole garden is just out of control!

The solution is obvious: start a new garden. Learn the lesson from my old over-grown garden and plant picky perennials. You know, plants I have to nurture and fuss over. These plants will not spread everywhere, they will have to be coaxed to grow. Never mind that they will look sickly and pale; at least they won't be taking over. Hm.

You know, on second thought,  I really do like those piggy plants. They are some of my favorites, and I like working in my garden even if it means ripping out buckets of spreading plants. So I guess in the end I will stick to the good news about the sun getting higher and tomorrow morning go out and enjoy the spring sunshine in the garden with a few extra buckets.

The Peeper Frogs are Back

The wind is rattling the windows; spring is closing in.  Another way I can tell is that our greenhouses are full to bursting, with no where to put another plant.  We only have so many covered greenhouses or heaters to go in them.  Our friends Hilda and Clara, who come every year to help us "pot up," came in February and then again last week.  This time they brought another friend, Helen, who along with everyone else poked holes in pots filled with potting mix and filled them in with small plants.  At this time of the year they grow so fast, it is one of our spring miracles. 

We are going to have so many new plants this year.  I can't wait to see two new achilleas we have gotten (achillieas are also called "yarrows"). One is called "Apricot Delight" which is  apricot colors fading to soft peach, very fruity. The other is "Pomegranate" also fruity with a deep red coloring almost like, you guessed it, a pomegranate.  I couldn't resist them, achilleas are drought tolerant, beautiful, and low maintenance (OK: well-drained, full sun low maintenance).  We will also have the vibrant heuchera villosa hybrids "Caramel," "Christa," "Citronelle," and "Miracle" just to name a few. These are the colors of yellow-orange, rose-purple, and citron yellow, among others.

We have two tree paeonias this year: one is red and the other is wisteria blue.  If you've never seen a tree paeonia, it is an amazing little shrub with huge tissue-paper flowers.  I've heard that in China there is one that is a thousand years old.  People will just sit and contemplate it when it is in bloom.  They are definitely a long term plant. Well, I could go on and on about all the new plants, but I'm thinking you will just have to visit. Trav has posted our events and happening, and if I can manage a few more I will let you know. I love that the peeper frogs are enjoying these warm evenings.  I opened the window just so I could hear their serenade as I wrote this. Yes, it's spring.

Here She Comes

The days are getting longer.  It's six in the evening and the sky has a few pink patches off to the west, a hopeful sign of lengthening days.  We have so many seedlings coming along.  They are being well-tended by George and myself (OK mostly by George).  We are starting to take herb cuttings and perennial cuttings.  For us spring is just around the corner and there never seems to be  enough time to get the seedlings up, but before I know it they are big and strong, ready for their next assignment which is getting big enough to sell to you all.  So much care and attention goes into them and I think my little green leafy brothers and sisters know who loves them and they thrive. 

We put a new garden in at the road under our Morningside sign.  It went in when most of the plants were dormant, or at least not much top growth.  I tried to choose some that have a winter profile such as Heuchera  'Amethyst Mist', Geranium 'Karmina', Dianthus 'Heart Attack' and others. It will be exciting for us to see just what it does really look like by late spring; it may be a total disaster. Gardens can be that way.  Sometimes  I think this group of plants will look great together and that I have the golden garden touch, other times I'm not sure.  We will see which way it goes, thumbs up or down.

Work is ongoing in the other gardens.  My old first garden is going to get a revamp.  So much needs to be divided and rearranged, new plants taken for a test drive pushing the envelope on zone and sun or shade tolerance. Redoing a garden is like going shopping for a new wardrobe without worrying if I have gained weight over the winter!

We have left so many of the grasses and tall perennials standing in the gardens, and I do so enjoy the winter garden, in it's own way, almost as much as the other seasons. Everything is starting to get a little ratty by now, though, and it's almost time to cut them down.  Another turning of a season.

Welcome back, Spring.

Goodbye to Gardening, 2007!

Well it finally feels like fall.  The nights are cooler and the days shorter. The trees are putting on their fall glory for all of us to see.  Today the blessing of falling rain is also gracing our area.  The four ducks in our neighbors pond which I see from my window are sailing by enjoying the downpour stark white in a sea of olives, gold, red, brown and orange. This also means  a good drink for our parched soil I can just see the plant roots clapping their little hands. We were lucky with the rain as George has just put in a new garden with grasses  in the retail area. This rain will give it a good start.  It will be fun to see how beautiful the gardens we put in this spring look like come May after a year of growth. By the end of the season they were spectacular.

I will post some pictures I took not to long ago. This garden was only going to be a one year garden so lots of annuals went in, easy to delete those without too much hand wringing when it's time to really do the garden and till the whole thing. Most of the annuals reached gargantuan size in just a couple of months and the perennials were filling out nicely.  By September the garden looked like it had been there for years.  Gardens can be that way. They can look full and mature without an English pedigree--you don't have to be the Queen of England with  a 400-year-old garden to be impressive.

As you will see our first year garden was pretty nice. It just takes some creative thinking in regard to what you chose to plant.  Will this be a short term garden? Will you be moving or changing the garden in a few years.? All of these things can make a difference in what you choose to put in.  With planning a fall garden put in in the spring can be a show stopper.  Every new garden teaches us something.  What flops and what shines in this particular garden. Soil conditions, sun or shade, crowding, the list goes on. Always new insights

Hello and Goodbye

Lucy

Our most dear dog Lucy now rests quietly under a stone bench next to the pond that she so loved.  Our limited time with these wonderful creatures is a true gift from God, and what can you say about a gift from God but thank you for every part of it even the end that is so painful.


So many people that came here knew her as the beautiful greeter. This past year, though, she had slowed down in her dog duty and could be found resting  under a bench. On some days she could only make her way out at the promise of a belly rub. In Lucy's younger days, every person who got out of a car here at Morningside was treated to her excited greeting. I will miss her so.

I am going to plant rosemary close to her bench because it is for remembrance, and someday I will want to remember lots of things about her, but not today. As fate would have it, we have also been dealing with another daily tragedy, a new puppy who chews everything and torments the cats every chance she gets.  Due to her handiwork, almost all of my shoes look like I have hiked the Appalachian trail.  Her name is Stella Artois and she looks like a clown with huge bat ears and a bandit mask. She brings us much joy despite her tragic faults, another of which  is not being house broken quite yet.  She runs through the garden with abandon and nips at anything green, could possibly be a digger (please God no) we will train her to be a good, people-greeting garden dog. Not much garden info this time, but there is always more to come.

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?