Gardening Offers Changes

Aurinia Basket of Gold

One of the bright spots in my whole garden this time of year is Basket of Gold. This plant definitely deserves to be spread more throughout my perennial beds, something I plan on doing this Fall or next Spring by root-division.

The daffodils behind it were deadheaded two days ago and the Clematis Jackmanii on the trellis is busy sending out climber tendrils and lots of leaves.




The entire landscape is in a sort of flux as I attempt to figure out how to arrange beds so they are in bloom throughout the year. Currently each of my seven perennial beds have blooms in Spring but once the bulbs have faded there will be patches of no bloom. Something I need to remedy.

One bed that is in transition is the Herb bed. Currently, the few herbs I have share this bed with a mugo pine, daylily, sedum, and a few bulbs. I had planted creeping thyme here a few years ago to fill in a huge space. It did it so well that I had to move a few plants that it was choking out. I am in the process of removing it and adding Chamomile, mint, rosemary and maybe a few other herbs. The bed will eventually reach out further into the yard as my knowledge and abilities matures.

One of the many things I love about gardening is it is a never-ending proposition. The 'look' and 'feel' of the garden will change both seasonally and yearly.

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Update for March - week 3

I took a break from pouring over last years garden journal and jumped into my herb bed. This bed is in transition, oh who am I kidding, every bed is in transition. Anyway,  the bed was in dire need of pruning so that's what I set out to and did it. Most of it anyway.

Daylily Stella de Oro and Chives

Monarda Blue Stockings aka Bee Balm

Mugo Pine 'Slowmound'

Oregano - a plant that keeps on giving

Thyme - another plant that wont quit

Looking much better after the chop job, still more to go

and what's Spring without a few surprises? I have no idea what this is

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Collector of Ideas and Frustration

Each year, during the garden-dormant season of winter, I go through the previous years garden journal - the hand written one - and I am always struck by how plans for my garden beds change just over the course of that year. And then I make an 'inspection tour' through the real-life garden and take note of how it is very different from what I had planned seven years ago.



I'm what might be labeled an 'idea hoarder'. Whether the ideas collected are in the form of hand-written notes or photos found on the internet and safely tucked into an appropriately named file folder, I am becoming over-whelmed with the seemingly insurmountable task of choosing and using one or more favorites.


I am quite sure I am not alone in this collector phenomena, but knowing I am not alone doesn't make the task any easier.


As the garden awakens each year and the fever to put new plans into place takes hold of me,my old nemesis is always there to greet me. This enemy is so persistent and onery that I almost want to give up. I'm talking about grass.


Grass creeps into my beds, some worse than others, but in every bed, save for the one that is surrounded by the house, a concrete driveway, a concrete sidewalk and a concrete porch, grass taunts me to no end.


All of these grass-ridden beds were started with the method of laying down multiple layers of wet newspaper, a layer of wet cardboard and a 2-3" layer of mulch. One would think that such a widely accepted means of starting a new bed would work for more than a a few years. I have edged the beds with that long ribbon of black edging six inches into the ground and buried a log on the outside of that. I still get grass in the beds.

So, once again, I am faced with having to dig up plants, separate the grass from them, replant them, and hope they can be enjoyed without sharing their space with grass.


My task list this week is laying wet newspaper down on the larger areas, covering the areas with cardboard, wetting it all down and covering it all with mulch.


As frustrated as I sound I know I'm not going to give up but I have to wonder yet again "when is gardening going to be more joy than work?"

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Things to do today (or next couple of days)

The outside temp has been very favorable for working in the garden these past few days. I see people around the neighborhood out walking again as well as doing yard work. The weather service tells us this will change for this weekend. Temps will dip back into the 40’s and the storm that is currently dumping snow on Washington state and Oregon will bring its ‘gifts’ to us.

The list of things I need to do to get this garden up and running is the usual spring list but with a few additions. Last Autumn I laid out water line to carry water to two spigots at the back end of the yard so I don’t have to drag my hoses out that far every watering day. I was either getting tired or lazy and did not bury the line in the ground but instead opted to cover it with mulch for over winter. Well, that didn’t work out very well because several sections split and need to be replaced. I had only run water through them once to check for leaks but the line must not have emptied well enough. So, another thing to add to my list is to make sure the line is angled so that it will drain more completely.

Chores for the next few days are:

• rake the front lawn of Catalpa tree seed pods. I will store them near the compost pile for when I bring the lawn mower out and then chop them all up to use as mulch.
• Fill the newest planting bed from the compost pile
• Plant peas in B9
• Move the Aster Snowdrift from F1 to B1. It spread out much further than I was told it would, so it needs more space plus I will no longer hear my wife complaining about it taking over our front walkway.
• Do something about the grass encroaching into B3 from the neighbors yard. I’m thinking I will dig a trench along the chain link fence and bury boards deep enough to block the roots (expected success is iffy at best) and cover the area with wet newspaper and cardboard as if I’m starting over. I do so much hate having to repeat what was already done, but grass is forever persistent.
• Spread manure over the vegetable beds so that it mellows before planting out in a month or so.

I seriously doubt I will get all of this done before the coming rains and possible snow, but it sure feels good to get back out into the garden.

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Ok, I'm ready for Spring

The Crocus and hyacinth are ready. The Roses are sending out new leaves, therefore its time for pruning them, even though the Forsythia has begun sending out its yellow leaves.

Crocus 'Four Color' although only one has opened up there will be dark blue, light blue and white

Since we haven't gotten much snow this winter, to have it all show up at the end of the year when the plants are waking up is, well, its just plain cruel.

Scilla 'Spring Beauty' Siberian Squill are some of the earliest risers and these few are especially eager

My garden beds are almost completely planned out and the seeds have been ordered. Let's get this years party started.

Tulips are very eager to get up into the sunshine.

These photos were taken as our late winter snow dump of 3" melted away after one day. I love winters in Utah.

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A Day in the Life

"Maybe a person's time would be as well spent raising food as raising money to buy food. "-- Frank A. Clark

Up before the sun again. Went out into the garden and yard for a little communing with nature and was greeted by a big beautiful full moon just above the Western horizon. Also to meet me were a couple roosters down the street and some robins – one with a very large worm.

The wind is a bit cool for the what the thermometer says is 70 degrees. Feels nice after the high heat of the afternoons. You know it’s going to hot when its 70 degrees at 5:30 AM.

Filled the bird feeders, poured fresh water into the bird baths and then was off to care for some plants. After attaching the liquid plant food sprayer to the garden hose I fed all the containers and hanging baskets as well as the earth-bound annuals.

There’s a low-hanging branch of the dogwood tree in the front yard that has been bothersome when I mow so I pruned that off. Also, while I had the pruning shears in hand I took off the suckers from around the apple tree. Next up is the plum and cherry trees. The Cherry Tree. I have to pause a bit whenever I think of this ole girl. Something has a hold on it and it isn’t pleasant. Each year, more and more of its once stately branches are staying bare through summer’s heat. In the past we have gotten many, many pounds of sweet juicy fruit from this old lady. Enough so that we freely share it with the birds. But something evil has moved in and this year we haven’t gotten one cherry from her. It’s too sad to contemplate her future but I fear it is going to be needed soon.

Along the same line – that being pests – I set out six small containers of beer for a little slug suicide party. Only two of the containers caught anything for a total of six slugs. Not a very good catch especially since I know there there are a lot more than that out there. So, the party will be extended through tonight.

Pulled all the veggie containers out from under their protective row covers to catch some early morning sunlight, the best time of day for them. They being well-fed and well-watered should recover nicely from the harvest we took yesterday for our salads.

That’s it for this morning from the Utah Valley. Hope everyone’s day is pleasurable and at least productive in some way.

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July 11 2011 New Blooms and High Hopes

Pumpkin 'Rouge d'Etampes cinderella' Cucurbita maxima

Aurinia 'Basket of Gold' Aurinia saxatilis

Clematis 'Jackmanii' Clematis x jackmanii

Hummingbird Trumpet 'Mountain Flame' Zauschneria garrettii

Geum 'Lady Stratheden' Geum chiloense

7 AM this morning

Catmint 'Walkers low' Nepeta x faassenii

Salvia 'Nymph Coral' Salvia coccinea

Coreopsis 'Nana' Coreopsis auriculata

Bluebeard 'Sunshine Blue' Caryopteris incana

Thyme Thymus Vulgaris

7 AM this morning

Hollyhock 'Brilliant Miniature' Sidalcea malviflora

Hollyhock 'Chater's Double' Alcea rosea

Clematis 'Niobe' Clematis

Asiatic Lily Lilium asiatic

Squash, summer 'Patissons Panache Jaune Et Vert Scallop' Cucurbita pepo

Bean, pole Emerite filet Phaseolus vulgaris

Pepper, sweet 'Golden Bell' Capsicum annuum

Pepper, Sweet 'Purple Beauty' Capsicum annuum

Pepper, Mild 'Anaheim' Capsicum annuum

Eggplant 'Ichiban'

Raspberry 'Heritage'

Tomato 'Cherokee Purple' Lycopersicon lycopersicum

Tomato 'Juliet' Lycopersicon esculentum

7 AM this morning

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Pinch Your Mum and Go for More

You ever see big beautiful Asters and Mums in full bloom? Well, they got that way from having their growth stunted until around the first of August. Pinching their flower buds every time you see them might seem a bit counter-intuitive to why you grow flowers but in the case of these two plants, you are doing yourself a huge favor by squelching their urge to bloom.

I didn’t learn the importance of taking this seemingly irrational action until just recently and allowed my Shasta Daisy bloom whenever it wanted to. I got flowers but way too early in the Summer and nothing in the Fall. Plus the plant looked scraggly and I was very disappointed in its performance. This year I’ve been happily pinching off flower buds every time I see them knowing I’m finally helping this beautiful plant reach its full potential.

six cuttings of Mums

Three hardy mums I bought last year and planted among some Tulips have been pinched as well. Since they were among the Tulips they got leggy and they really need to be bushy. This was a blessing in disguise although I didn’t realize that until today. I found some info from other mum owners who said they keep their mums cut to 6” tall but will occasionally allow them to grow a little taller so they can take cuttings. Mine are already tall and need to be cut back quite a bit so I took this opportunity to take some cuttings.

After cutting them so you have at least two leaves to trim off of the bottom, wet the bottom of the cutting to cover both wounds, dip it in rooting hormone (again cover both wounds) and put them in any potting mix you have available. The rooting hormone helps prevent any bacterial growth from occurring at the wound site. Wetting the cutting only helps the rooting hormone to adhere to the stem. Be sure you have a couple of leaves remaining on the cutting, put the containers somewhere so they stay hydrated and in as little as three weeks you should have new cuttings.

I’m going to keep mine in the basement under grow lights until they root.

Now, I’m going to do the same thing for my Shasta Daisy and a couple of Asters.

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Early July Update

'What was Paradise? but a garden, full of pleasure, and nothing there but delights.'  -  William Lawson, 1617.

Not too much happening around the homestead. All the plants are busy soaking up sunlight and heat building up their energy to produce their goodies.

Deck Side Garden - too much grass in it

I on the other hand have been busy helping these same plants along by deadheading, feeding and pulling weeds. And grass! Two of my beds have grass growing right up through the plants, which is extremely frustrating because I can’t get them out by their roots without damaging the plants themselves. I’m sure a solution will come about, I’ll just have to bide my time and hope I recognize it when it does.

As I dig deeper into my ‘to do’ list in a desperate attempt to get anything on it done and crossed off, a laughable endeavor to say the least, I keep finding new things to add to it.

One item that is currently on the list that seems like it should be the most pressing task is to get the irrigation system in. But honestly, after getting my watering done sufficiently well by dragging a hose around for the last six years, even that task is not really pressing. It’ll get done eventually.

Another item that really must get done this year is to find the time to dig up all of the bulbs so they can be divided. It’s a bit embarrassing that this will be the first year I’ve done this. Everything I read says to do it every 2-3 years so after 5-6 years I rather imagine they really need it. I pulled up some Grape Hyacinth a week ago and I could not believe how many bulblets there were, many still attached to the Mom. Of course the other part of getting this task done is to find room after I dig them up. Which brings me to my next tast: making new beds.

Deck Side Garden - before and after expansion

The expansion for my Deck Side bed is finally finished, for now. It would be no surprise for me to want to expand it yet again sometime in the future. But right now there are no plans. After the expanded area sits over winter it should be ready for new plants. I’ve got a bunch of new plants from cuttings that need somewhere to go but they’ll have to wait for this area until Spring. Can I keep them alive that long? I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

birdhouse welcome

I finished the birdhouse-on-a-stick thingy and it needs to be put into one of the front yard beds.

There is another trellis to be built for the newly planted beans along the back fence. This should be fairly simple to build out of a pile of tree limbs I’ve been collecting.

An idea I’ve been kicking around for sometime is to make some solar powered light to spread around the yard and pathways. Really simple and cheap is the way to go here. My non-gardening partner and I have been discussing attaching rope lights around the deck too. A couple more things to add to my list.

A couple of ideas for what to put in the B1 expansion at the west gate is an old-fashioned Weigela or the lilac taking up space in one of the raised vegetable beds. I’ve tried the newer varieties of Weigela and have lost them all, so maybe the old-fashioned type will do better. Which ever one I decide to plant here, I’m sure I’ll change my mind before something finally goes in.

The Butterfly Bush is finally getting flower buds and the Hydrangea has bloomed. First time ever.

As this all of this wasn’t enough, tiny grasshoppers are beginning to show up so I need to be ready with some organic means of kicking them out should they start getting out of control.

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Jun 30 Update – part Two

Echinacea Bravado

I transplanted this Echinacea Bravado from a front bed to a much sunnier location in the backyard and it is clearly stressed. I have to water it almost daily to keep it looking like it could make it. These things are drought tolerant once they are established. It ust needs to be babied right now. On a positive note, it is sending up flower buds, so there is hope yet.

Salvia East Friesland cuttings

These are one of my attempts to practice propagation. Stem cuttings of Salvia East Friesland. The test to see if they are ‘taking’ is to gently pull on the leaves, if there is some resistance then they are rooting. I am happy to report that all six have rooted and since they have been in a plastic bag for three weeks, today they are getting a few hours of sun to harden them off.

Salvia Coral Nymph

Another salvia, this one is an annual, is sending up new stems that will have coral colored trumpet-like flowers running the length of the stems.

Eversweet

Strawberry Eversweet is beginning to produce some berries. Since this is the first year for these plants I think I’ll let the birds have them. It is good to see them finally start doing their job.

Pumpkin Orange Smoothie

Can’t wait for these 8 pound pie pumpkins. Some say they are the best for pies. Cute as a button.

Eggplant Ichiban

For those of us who like eggplant this one has a really nice flavor.

Pepper Golden Bell

My peppers are re-growing their lower leaves after being eaten by something earlier this year. Never did find out what it was.

Raspberry Heritage

The raspberries were transplanted into a raised bed in May of last year because they were spreading under the fence into the neighbors yard. Hey, free raspberries, what’s not to love? Anyway I moved five of the best plants in this 8’x4’ bed – may not be big enough – and they are absolutely flourishing. Last week I saw this wilted stem and got worried it was verticillium wilt – a soil borne fungus. I will need to watch it further before doing anything drastic.

Hydrangea Annabelle

This is one blossom I cannot wait to see. It will be the first for this plant. It was planted here October 26, 2007 from a 4” pot. Long time coming.

Hosta Piedmont Gold

Seemingly unaffected by the cooler than normal weather that the rest of the garden felt this guy is blooming right on time.

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