Debbie's Garden

Let the season commence

2012-02-11T14:50:00.000-08:00

Today I stepped out thinking about sowing another crop of cool season veggies and saw to my surprise and delight that the daffodils are opening. I was thinking this week that anticipation may be one of my favorite things. Those who know me know I usually overdo it. But it certainly is affirming to look forward to daffodils blooming around Valentine's Day and then see them do it. The three shown here are now on my counter in celebration.

Altogether I counted 2 dozen kinds of flowers blooming, although only hellebores and violets are fully out. Hellebore hybrids do not seed true, as shown by this purple one blooming along with the whites.

I am amazed that the nasturtiums came through the winter with no ill effects. Usually those planted in fall do not have time to bloom well before they freeze, and the ones that are spring planted likewise are killed by heat. This one is Empress of India, a more difficult to grow clumping variety. I like the dark leaves and flowers. Looking forward to seeing these bloom for the next several months.

Another surprise is the asparagus, already pushing up. Peas are blooming. I am cutting broccoli and lettuce. I sowed more lettuce, spinach, carrots, chard and beets. I also sowed breadseed poppies, more nasturtiums and some other flowers. Altogether, I had a profitable couple of hours.

Apricots! Yum : )

Early spring bulbs

2012-02-05T09:57:00.000-08:00

Daffodils are to me the heralds of spring. However, they are not the first of the bulbs to bloom. The hyacinths began to open as they shoved above the earth this year. There are more there coming along and altogether make a lovely pot of bloom. These are so easy, I just stuck them in a pot, three bulbs the first year, and added a bit of water once it turned cold. As they begin to die back I move them to a sheltered place and allow them to dry in the pot and sit for the summer. In early winter I bring them out again and add water. Very simple! I grow them in pots because somehow it makes them more friendly. Hyacinths have always struck me as pompous, but their scent is amazing, and worth having.

The little muscari have also spiked up some bloom. These are very easy in the ground. Galanthus are another very early bulb, but mine have not yet put up buds. I hope that does not mean they are already declining.

And finally, the daffodils are up right on schedule and I assume will be opening right at Valentine's Day. It is just really too bad these are not red : )

February flowers, the first of the new cycle

2012-02-03T09:49:00.000-08:00

It seems like the season is off to a late start this year.
The violets are just now blooming, and they often are out by the first of December.

Hellebores are opening, and again, they are running a couple of weeks late.

This year the roses just never stopped. So nice to have roses!

broccoli

2012-02-02T10:01:00.000-08:00

I actually got some broccoli this year! The dry season helps. Last evening I was making alfredo sauce with pasta and chicken and remembered there were a couple heads of broccoli ready to cut so I ran out and cut them and added them to the dinner. Overall, I am not really convinced I get my money's worth from growing broccoli, but freshly cut is so different from the stalks in the markets.

24 degrees

2012-01-17T12:10:00.000-08:00

Blog post with no photo. Sorry, Robs, but I am just not thinking enough in the middle of the night to get a shot of the temperature display on the ceiling. : ) But last night it was cold. 24 degrees and holding most of the night. I love weather. Despite my frustration with relationships that do not seem to go any deeper than weather, I talk about weather every day to multiple people. 24 degrees is a big deal here. We do not get this every winter. In fact, it is a record low for this date. That's all. Just wanted to say, cool, it was cold last night! : )

Seed time, indoor vegetable sowing

2012-01-15T11:49:00.000-08:00

Mid-January in the San Joaquin Valley is seed sowing time. Many veggie and other seed packets will say sow indoors 8 weeks before last frost. Although realistically we rarely get frosts after Valentine's Day, and very very rarely we get a frost in April, the marker day for last frost is March 15. So what can be sown now? Tomatoes, green beans, peppers and chilis, all those warm season veggies we would buy ready to plant in March. These do need to be inside, with warmth and light. But in just a couple of weeks we can sow another crop of the cool season veggies outside, radish, chard, beets, spinach, carrots and so forth. If anyone has gotten into the new fad for parsnips, they are grown like carrots. Potato and onion starts will be out soon as well.

The time between

2012-01-08T07:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas is over. The daffodils have not yet appeared. It is the time between, winter. During the holidays there is so much extra going on the garden gets by on its own, with brief forays for flowers and greenery, or filling of birdbaths. Once the distraction passes, there is not much to do besides wait. Winter in the garden means time for pruning and really not much else. We wait and watch for the sprouting bulbs. My hyacinths have doubled since I took this picture a couple of years ago. I am excited to see if I actually get 6 flower stalks. The little things keep a garden going even in the slow times.

A New Year in the garden

2012-01-01T00:30:00.000-08:00

Here we are past the solstice and into the growing days of the New Year. These corydalis stay green and bloom all year, which endear them to me. Aren't they sweet in their fernyness?
There are a few other plants still blooming, through the past month's cold nights, pansies, snapdragons, alyssum, a few violets, and so forth. A few others we can anticipate this month, hellebore and grape hyacinth among them. Soon it will be time for bareroots, and winter seeding.
But the flower that has my interest right now is the rose. I won't post yet another picture, but I do keep thinking about how they are blooming better now, right at pruning time, than they did all summer. Last year I pruned them hard, as is typically recommended. I am seriously thinking that this year I won't prune them, beyond the few necessary cuts needed to keep them in bounds. Evelyn wants to grow ten feet tall and wide and does need some restraining, but I think the smaller bushes might be fine with very little pruning. An experiment for the new year.

Advent

2011-12-18T15:21:00.000-08:00

A week before Christmas. I walked out in the garden to cut some roses and to get a photo of this amazing nativity I bought last week. I love this piece because it is made of simple natural materials. I also love the story of the woman who made it, who spends her holidays roaming the beaches of California's central coast looking for small pebbles that remind her of the Coming of the Christ Child. Even so, may we all seek Him this season.

Garden cover- tree shade

2011-12-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

Nearly 15 years ago I started my vision for the side yard shady garden. In 1997 we planted two Chinese tallow trees. I had researched small shade trees for several years and these seemed to be the going choice. Little did we know the drawbacks...
However, my idea for the garden was two larger trees that would create something of a ceiling over the side yard, giving us shade in which to garden. Apparently it is working. After a week of 28 degree nights my nasturtiums are still alive! My pot of impatiens has frosted back, but otherwise there seems to be very little frost damage. How that may affect plants that prefer a cold winter, I am not sure, and won't be until summer. But it is interesting to see the results of an idea I had so many years ago. Of course I would probably do it differently now, but in spite of all their weak points I still like the tallow trees.

Reading the weather

2011-12-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

We awoke this morning to lowering skies and temps 10 degrees higher than the past week. My weather report said rain, Jerry's did not. But one thing we know, if the mountains stand clear, with clouds above, those are rain clouds. When the mountains are obscured as they were today, there is no rain.
I love how we learn to read the weather; whether by experience or teaching we seem to learn to understand our environment. I recall an early favorite memory of running across a field into the brisk fall breeze. Did I know at age five that the crispness meant fall? Was I learning from that experience or just enjoying it? This past fall in Ohio, Nathan noticed the rising breeze with apprehension. He has learned the wind means tornado, through frightful experience. My attempts to persuade him the wind is wonderful, and let's pretend to be kites, or birds, or planes, were met with incredulity. Crazy meema, wind is tornado weather.

Clear means cold

2011-12-10T07:47:00.001-08:00

All week we have woken to 28 degrees. We get that cold when it is clear in the valley. So with the cold comes gorgeous views of the Sierra Nevada. Also with the cold comes much work for citrus farmers who must be up all night running their smokers and wind machines trying to keep their trees warm. Here at home Jerry hangs a work light in the middle of the orange tree and turns on a dribble of water underneath. The moving water makes the air just a tad warmer.
The benefit of the cold is that many other plants, especially the stone fruit and nuts, along with the garden plants peony and lilac, just to name a few, need cold hours in order to bloom and fruit the following season. It is interesting to follow the cold at the Pomology Weather Service . There is information on various plants saying how many cold hours under a certain temperature each needs for optimal performance. 800 is sort of a minimal general number.
I love living where so many different things grow, with such varying needs, yet all succeed.

Hydrangeas for fall color

2011-12-07T15:49:00.001-08:00

Since we love the fall color of the oakleaf hydrangea above, it was fun to see the new paniculata , below, colors up as well. The macrophylla is still green, so not sure what it is going to do.

California Christmas tree

2011-12-03T09:38:00.001-08:00

I was thinking the other day that if the folk who live in cold dark places had not been the ones who brought our Christmas traditions, especially the needled evergreen tree, we might instead have these for our Christmas celebration. As seen from our garden room windows, we certainly enjoy ours each winter.

Fall tidy up/spring prep

2011-11-30T04:00:00.000-08:00

There is quite a bit of ongoing discussion as to whether it is better to clean up deciduous plants in the fall or spring. I prefer fall, primarily because the fog is not kind to dying plant material. I would rather clean up and have less mold. Also, our spring comes so early, and enough plants grow all year, I think it helps both the looks of the garden, and the chance for self sown plants as well as perennials to get a good start come February.

One fall task that seems to be universally accepted is preparing the soil for spring growth. I do not dig beds, as there is enough evidence supporting just covering the ground with supplements rather than digging them in to appeal to my lazy side. Supposedly not digging also cuts down on weed seeds sprouting, which I can also totally support. However, the dirt needs feeding. The idea is that mulch put down in fall breaks down and the nutrients washed into the soil throughout the winter, regardless of climate. The cheapest mulch for this purpose is cow manure. So I am in the midst of spreading manure on all the beds. Then there are a few more plants to cut, including these asparagus, and the garden will be set for winter.

The waning year

2011-11-28T05:00:00.000-08:00

Although the solstice is still a month off, I am so enjoying the waning daylight hours and the angle of the sun. I find myself noticing the shadows and the unusual light everywhere I go. The sharp low angle of the sun really highlights things I might not otherwise notice. And of course the solstice is herald to the new garden year ahead.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T07:47:00.001-08:00

From my garden home to yours, Thanksgiving blessings!

Finally, fall color

2011-11-21T10:18:00.001-08:00

We are loving the fall color in the front yard, and the way the design works with it. Just what we hoped for.

Always a lesson

2011-11-19T04:00:00.000-08:00

I went out and transplanted a number of small plants, both the ones which were carefully raised in the wheelbarrow, and others that had self sown.
While I was working I decided to pull up the 3 foot tall bird sown fig tree. I pulled and pulled, perhaps unwisely, and up it came with a single 4 foot long root which was growing along the soaker hose. I think there is a lesson there. Gardening really is a growing experience.

Lemon tree

2011-11-18T09:15:00.001-08:00

My little Meyer lemon tree was transplanted into a larger pot this year. As a consequence, I really hope anyway, there are only three lemons. My neighbor says she is going to sneak across the street and steal them when I am not looking. At this point having a lemon tree is not an effective source for lemons. I had read that Meyer lemons will bloom and fruit all year. I wish that were true.

Dried hydrangea blossoms

2011-11-15T15:30:00.001-08:00

I garden with an eye to gathering what I can for use in the off seasons. I like to collect interesting seed pods, red twigs, cedar cones and so forth. This fall I cut oakleaf hydrangea blossoms that dried on the shrub and used them for the front porch decor.

Pomegranates

2011-11-11T09:39:00.000-08:00

I got this mini pomegranate which stays a shrubby three feet size solely for the cute little fruit. For several years I had it in a pot and it was fine there, but much happier in the ground as it is now. It bloomed nearly all season and made a good half dozen or so pomegranates this year. Unfortunately, most split this year before they were red. These are purely decorative, and I want them for decor. I need to pick these now they are red and try once more to dry them. I think the secret is to leave them sitting out in the air for a year. The one time I thought they looked dry and put them into a decorative jar, they molded. Maybe this will be the year I end up with cute useable dried fruits.

Red branches

2011-11-10T09:32:00.000-08:00

We were so pleased when we found these manzanitas last spring and even more so when they lived through their first summer. We read up that they like mulch and overhead water, just like they have in their natural habitat. Their red branches are just lovely and a welcome addition not only to the general color scheme but to the fall coloring as well.

The branches on the red twig dogwood color up even before the leaves. It is so interesting that they gradually turn green as the weather warms then back to red as it cools down again. These branches are so useable as the best way to keep the shrub is to cut the branches back to the ground. I have learned to do that selectively so there are always fresh bright red branches each winter.

Burning bush

2011-11-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

My burning bush, euonymus alatus compactus, has berries this year! This shrub is planted in the front yard center bed and will eventually grow to six or eight feet, providing us with a bit of privacy from the street. Not only do the leaves turn the bright red shown here, but the berries cover the branches and remain after the leaves fall. We saw a beautiful specimen in the garden at Biltmore House when we visited there and the bare branches covered in berries sold me. Since then I have seen them in full red regalia in Ohio. They may be common place there, but still strikingly good looking. I am so pleased I found this one a couple of years ago bare root at Lowes and that it seems to be growing happily. Don't the little berries look like pomegranate fruits?

Fog and Chrysthanthemums

2011-11-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

Just week ago temps were still 60ish at night. Then we got a cold storm from the north over the weekend and today woke up to 36 degrees and fog. Just when we began to hope it was fall, suddenly it looks as if winter arrived a few weeks early. Hopefully not.

It finally cooled down enough to feel like fall so I was ready for my Thanksgiving mums, the red flowers there. I waited so long they were only $1.50 : ) although the selection was limited and there were only the small ones left. No matter, these will bloom for a few weeks then I will plant them out back to enjoy again next year.

Paver project complete

2011-11-06T13:21:00.000-08:00

After a race with dropping temps and expected rains, and two days nasty labor when he didn't make it, Jerry finally finished the paving. Or at least mostly finished. The porch still needs pavers put down with thin set. That will probably wait for warm weather on the other side of winter. There is also a sprinkler pipe that got cut in the process and needs replacing. But overall it is done, and amazing in both concept and execution. We are pleased. This will lighten weekly labor, make it easier to get the waste bins out, and give us a place to sit out with wider vistas. It also ups the curb appeal in case we have to sell. And it completes the vision and project we started about a year and a half ago. Good job, Jerry!

Corydalis ochroleuca

2011-11-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

This evergreen ferny little plant blooms on and off most of the year. It has happily reseeded so I have spread them throughout the shady garden. Yes, corydalis prefers shade. I also have corydalis 'Blackberry Wine', that dies back in the heat, but spreads a good six feet, producing its purple blooms for several months in spring. Most corydalis have blue or yellow blossoms. I prefer this white with green and yellow markings, but corydalis is a species I plan to pursue.

Propagating perennials

2011-11-03T08:39:00.000-07:00

A year ago I sowed seed for these (click) verbascum 'Violette', along with seed for several other perennials. Over the winter a few sprouted and in the spring I transplanted them to the wheelbarrow, as shown here, to get some size to them. So a year to get sixpack size, but at the cost of a packet of seed. Notice the price on the link is $7.95 for one plant, this size. One can do well growing perennials from seed if one has the time and space to wait for them. I am sure a primary reason there are so few perennials available in the local markets is just this time. Propagators must make money and when it takes a year or two to get plants big enough to sell, and of course buyers want to see the flowers which may take even longer, there apparently aren't many who want to invest. I imagine most gardeners are happy enough with the easy to grow stalwarts of the garden anyway. However, I love trying new plants and often prefer zone 8 plants which usually grow quite happily here, while our local nurserymen typically prefer more tropical leaning toward zone 10 plants that must be babied through our winters. So growing from seed is a good option, given I enjoy the experiment and challenge. I just hope these verbascum, and the others, stay happy in the ground.

November's promise

2011-11-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

November offers the promise of good things coming. The orange tree is laden with fruit that will become orange by Christmas and sweeter than sweet as we move into spring. November means fall color, finally, and cool days, at last. November turns our hearts to a focus on thanks and the hope of love come down. November 1 to me is the beginning of the warm lovely holiday season which for me ends somewhere around Valentine's Day, not for that day per se, but for the daffodils that herald another season and a different hope. May your winter days be cheery and your oranges sweet!

The scaredy little pumpkin

2011-10-31T04:00:00.000-07:00

Paver project update

2011-10-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

Another week and lots more progress to show. The edging is going in, getting ready for little neighbors Monday night.

Fall fungi

2011-10-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

I never thought of mushrooms/toadstools as being seasonal until I read that poem about fall I posted a couple of weeks ago.

Save Mushrooms, and the Fungus race,That grow till All-Hallow-Tide takes place

Then I saw these and it just makes me wonder. Are fungi seasonal? It will be a bit interesting if they are gone by next week, don't you think?

Asparagus

2011-10-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

Asparagus in fall! We cut asparagus for a few short weeks in spring, but then must let the foliage grow for the summer to replenish and grow a larger root system for next year. In fall they die back and must be cut to the ground. In the process we get this charming look. The berries sometimes grow new babies, some of which I recently moved into the row with the big guys. A couple of weeks ago I bought some rather spindly, rather tough asparagus at Farmer Market. I wondered and wondered how they got a crop in the fall. Then when I was replanting the babies I noticed new stalks coming up under the browning foliage. Mine were already too big to use, but it might payoff to know about this next year. The key to the asparagus not being tough is to make sure the heads are still tight. So next fall maybe we will have a meal of asparagus.

Cardinal climber

2011-10-25T07:28:00.000-07:00

Cardinal climber as seen from the hammock

This year, since the arbor fell down last summer, I planted the cardinal climber to grow into the dead cherry tree alongside the grapevine. We are very pleased with how it looks. Cardinal climber takes its time growing. I plant a few seeds (which makes the packet last several years at least) when the weather is warm in May and it does not get big enough to really notice until August. But then it blooms into frost, making me and the hummingbirds so happy throughout the fall months.

Pumpkin sadness

2011-10-24T11:00:00.000-07:00

Robby told me to cut off all the extraneous branches of the pumpkin vine to give the little white pumpkin shown below the best chance to get big. So I went out and very very carefully cut off the branch growing the pumpkin! I am so sad. Some days little things are the last straw.

White pumpkin

2011-10-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

A little white pumpkin from the plant Candace started and shared. Let's see how big it grows in the next week. Maybe this is a Thanksgiving pumpkin.

Paver project update

2011-10-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

End of week two, the walk to the porch is complete.

Precision in the details = hours of careful work. This project may not be done before the New Year at this rate!

Off to a good start on another Saturday. This is the center patio section.

This day went well. Weed cloth went down easily, sand followed and although the leveling was a tough job, since the area was so wide, all in all the work moved faster. Rosalee came by with In & Out at lunch time, providing a happy break, and then in the later afternoon Robby and Candace dropped by to check on the progress. Of course Robby got caught up helping carry the pavers for Jerry to place. That is significant since each paver weighs 3.5 pounds. So the middle section is ready for edging and the precision work. Nice!

Peas, finally

2011-10-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

After three failed attempts to plant peas, as well as the other fall veggies, I sowed seed in leftover six packs. As you can see, I've now got peas! There are also some spindly beets and chard there, as well as the tiny foxglove next to the peas. The peas will go out sometime this week to replace the tomatoes I pulled out a few days ago. I do not grow many peas as a few meals of fresh peas is plenty. : )

Impatiens and the changing season

2011-10-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Forced to make the summer annual/winter annual choice, I decided to replce the potted impatiens with pansies. This year I plucked the impatiens from their pots and plopped them into empty places in the shady garden. They have cheerfully continued growing and the pansies are off to the good start they need. I think this was a good solution and hope to remember next year.

Salvia

2011-10-19T19:22:00.000-07:00

Salvias, both annuals and perennials, really earn their keep in the garden. While not my favorite plants, their consistent color makes them worth growing. These annuals, 'Lady in Red', and 'Victoria Blue' are some of the smaller salvias, which can grow as large as 6x6 feet. While salvias tend to be tender plants, 'Victoria Blue' will overwinter as a perennial if the season doesn't get too cold. Salvias are less picky about water retentive soil than penstemon which does not appreciate our long soggy winters. Perhaps because they both have spikes of tubular flowers, the two are often compared. Hummingbirds love the flowers, especially of 'Lady in Red'.

For a long time I had the perennial salvia 'East Friesland'. It was a lovely deep purple and bloomed most of the year but tended to be floppy. When it died, I found this 'May Night' for a good price at the Farmer's Market. This is its first year, so hard to say as it has not bloomed much, but it is supposedly the better plant as it should not flop. Hopefully that proves to be true.

Other than the fact that they do not like frost so must be cut back, salvias need little care other than deadheading and seem to be happy in most sunny locations.

Garden lore and garden books

2011-10-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Asters from 2006, also called Michaelmas daisies

I read a piece of garden lore today in Autumn Gardens by Ethne Clarke. I have read numerous times in British fiction that one ought not pick blackberries after Michaelmas, or St. Michael's Day, September 29th. Now I know why! Apparently when St. Michael the archangel tossed Satan from Heaven he landed in some blackberries and, stamping on them in retaliation, cursed them. Michaelmas was traditionally the end of harvest, fall equinox celebration, so it actually was a convenient time to stop picking the tail end of the berries.

Clarke includes this poem...

The Michaelmas daisies, among dede weeds,

Blooms for St. Michael's valourous deeds;

And seems the last of the flowers that stode,

Till the feste of St. Simon and St. Jude-

Save Mushrooms, and the Fungus race,

That grow till All-Hallow-Tide takes place.

Soon the evergreen Laurel alone is greene,

When Catherine crownes all learned menne,

The Ivie and Holly Berries are seen,

And Yule Long and Wassaile come round again.

A few years ago I realized I could get garden books for less than the cost of magazines. I have a shelf full and as I get better ones I discard others. I like real books and the orderliness of photos matched with sequential thought.

Paver project update

2011-10-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday. Discouragement. Exhaustion. A full week of work and still at it. The rocks were down, but then there was the edging, the weedcloth to minimize the amount of sand needed, and figuring how to level the sand...

And finally a taste of success...

Back to real work today. That computer chair is going to feel great! A week clearly was not enough time for this major project.

Potatoes

2011-10-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

I might need to replant lettuce for the 4th time, but look at how well my potatoes are growing! I start these by sitting sprouting red potatoes (or potato starts when they are available and cheap) on an inch of potting soil and then barely covering them. As the grow I add more soil to almost cover the foliage. They grow so rapidly they need more soil every day or two. Then in 10-12 weeks, if I am blessed, there will be a pot of potatoes. Since I almost always use potatoes that would otherwise go to compost, it isn't traumatic if the crop fails. It works really well though, just do not overwater.

And look at this! Last spring I bought a bag of potato starts and, not knowing what else to do with the extras, I stuck them in the ground. They didn't grow, so oh well. But now here they are growing away. I hope they make some potatoes!

Paver project update

2011-10-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

The paving project is off to a slow but sure start. Sure because that is the way hardworking perfectionists do things. Slow because that is the consequence of being a hardworking perfectionist. So the prep work took four days, even with Robby helping as he had time.

The hard working perfectionist.

The inevitable glitch, discovering the pillars are not sitting on their foundations, a construction mis-measure we are guessing, so part of the porch had to be left in place which meant all new leveling.

Piles of materials, and the van stuck inside for the duration.

Just imagine how gorgeous it will be.

Nasturtiums

2011-10-11T06:30:00.000-07:00

Nasturtiums are such striking annuals I wish they would grow here all year. They come in both clumping and climbing (or running since they do not actually climb on their own) types and I grow both. There are narrow windows here in the spring and the fall when they grow happily and even reseed when they have the chance. They come in all the warm colors, red, orange, yellow and pink. My favorites are the clumping Empress of India and the climber Moonlight. Empress of India has smaller, bluer leaves with reddish flowers, while Moonlight looks as it sounds, the palest of yellows, and can grow quite vigorously, with leaves 4 inches across running 6 feet across the garden. In rain, they are wonderful as the leaves hold raindrops. Too bad that both frost and heat kill these back. Another advantage to these is the ease in maintenance, do nothing beyond poking the seeds in the ground. The roots come up with a tug for disposal at the end of the season. I like nasturtiums enough that I sat through the third Lord of the Rings movie solely because a gardening friend said the nasturtiums were not to be missed. Bother, they were in the final scene in a Hobbit garden and only seen for a minute or two. Not worth the hours of watching and waiting when I have as good just outside the door.

Seasonal rhythm

2011-10-04T09:39:00.001-07:00

I was out this morning in the cool of a gathering storm cleaning up the withering annuals and perennials. I realized the the condition of the dahlia is due to my lack in cutting back in July. I have said before that I have learned to cut back most of the garden heavily towards the end of July. It might look lean during the long hot spell following, but bounces back for a good long spell in fall. Now, having not cut back this year, I find the cost is cutting back now, all the way to the ground. So there will probably not be any dahlias for the next month or two before frost. Even though I counted three dozen kinds of flowers blooming for October 1, the dahlias, zinnias, salvias and cosmos are the big color impact in the fall as well as summer. Hopefully next year I will pay attention and get that job done.

Satisfying Saturday

2011-10-01T19:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I fall cleaned the guest room and mailed this outfit I made for Eva. So silly it took me so long. It was intended for camping this summer and here it is coming on winter there. The overalls are repurposed from one of Jerry's shirts. I do not like the lining and that is what made it take so long. But I think those accomplishments prepped me for a great day today.

It has been a while since we had a fun yet productive Saturday. I started the day with errands, farmer market and scoping out the shops for things like towels for Deb and 'Cars' sweats for Nathan, and T-shirts I can use for a new idea for little cardigans for babys. Not much luck, except I saw some fun towels at Target, pink with multicolors stripes with appliqued owls, so cute for Deb's pink bathroom. Of course I would not buy anything that far from solid beige without permission, but they have made me smile all day.

This plant stand will go in the front yard as an accent.

Palest yellow pansies.

This afternoon Jerry and I went to the stone yard, the plant nursery, Lowe's, OSH and Starbucks, oh and Radio Shack. Jerry is trying to fix the coffee maker Jeff gave him for Christmas a couple years ago. At the plant nursery I got into the pansies, and bought three colors. I also got some orange snapdragons, just because I love the color. Luis' always has red pansies, my favorites. This evening I started planting them.

The big news is after more than a year of waffling about and thinking and planning, and waiting so long Home Depot stopped carrying the pavers we wanted, we finally decided what to do and found a wonderful company in Arizona that sold us pavers we love for price similar to Home Depot. It is great to do business with people who know their product. So we were out today figuring out what all else we need to get started. Jerry has a week off, week after this, and hopefully we will make good progress then. Here is Jerry breaking ground, digging out old bricks and tree roots. Thanks to Rosalee's generous gift we will soon have our front walkways, patio and tricycle track.

And finally we had some amazing french toast for dinner. For some reason this week I have just dreaded having to make dinner and then worried that after nearly 38 years I no longer like to cook. But when Jerry said that's fine we can eat out, that sounded so gross. He said maybe I am just not into dinner right now.

It has been quite the satisfying Saturday, with other chores completed as well.

Compost

2011-09-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

Another new book, Composting inside & out by Stephanie Davies, the urban worm girl, is one I will not be reading word by word. I compost. I do not want to be an expert in 14 methods of composting. Neither do I want to read any more closely about composting human waste. I do not want to compost indoors. And the worms in my compost bin are there naturally; I do not want to manage a little worm farm.

But beyond all my ew, ick, reactions to this book, it has really solid information. There are chapters on soil health and beneficial bacteria and fungi. When I see a yard where the soil has never been fed I cringe. I do think composting and mulching are not just beneficial, but essential. The pictures in the book of barren soil will convince you this is true, if you have not yet noticed for yourself. There is value here in the clear explanations of different composting methods and systems. If you are wondering how to start or which system to use, this will help. The nicest part is it begins with the simple things. Davies suggests simply burying egg shells, banana peels and coffee grounds, three nutritive power houses (not so icky to handle either) 8 inches deep. The 8 inches is to keep animals away. Denise does this in Alaska because their season is too short and cool for a compost pile to break down. Another simple suggestion is wrapping kitchen waste in newspapers and deposting the bundle in the composter. Or, similarly, using a brown paper bag. The papers are the 'brown' elements that are necessary for the 'green' kitchen waste to break down. Hmmm... I just noticed tips on composting in hot dry climates. I think I will go read some more.

Fall planting

2011-09-24T08:44:00.000-07:00

Backdoor herb and salad garden in spring

Fall is officially here and I am thinking we are through that last hot week. Fall planting started a month ago, but I ended up having to replant most of my veggies. I know some beets and peas sprouted, but they were gone when I came home from Ohio. I do not know if birds or snails got them. So new peas, chard and beets sowed directly into the ground out back. In pots I sowed more lettuce, spinach and carrots. I also started a new pot of potatoes. The photo above shows what the newly replanted pots will look like come spring.

It is just about time for new annuals as well. Lowes had their fall bedding plants in today. Pansies, poppies, snapdragons, sweet peas, and so many more can all be planted out from six packs now, or sweet pea, poppy, nigella, larkspur and other seed sown in the ground anytime from now through the end of October. I struggle with fall bedding plants. They must be planted out after the hot weather, but here in the valley they must get a good start before fog. With none planted, the garden will be bare through winter and spring, but the summer annuals, especially my zinnias and salvia, are making a great show now and will continue into Thanksgiving. What to do? Seeding is effective because the plants sprout amongst the existing plants. Otherwise, I like pots. I have decided that since summer annuals can be planted in early March and bloom through November or even December they have more value than the winter annuals which sit and pout through the cold and then die the minute the temps hit 80. A few pots of pansies or other annuals brighten up the winter months and make all the difference without redoing the beds when fall is in full swing.

The garden Mid-September

2011-09-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

As we near the autumn equinox I can see the garden sigh with relief from less sun. This morning I walked out and counted 40 kinds of flowers blooming. Several are a bit of out time, like a little foxglove, a new bloom on the oakleaf hydrangea, and lots of lavender. I do not recall lavender blooming the entire season before.
Problems that need addressing include the purple potato vine that has wobbled over inspite of careful pruning. It apparently needs to be kept smaller. The orange tree continues to put out diseased foliage. I am not sure what it is, some sort of leaf miner maybe, but we are dealing by cutting it all off. In the back corner bed the anenome and other spreading perennials continue to spread in spite of all efforts to dig them out. Now that it is cooling off I need to get back to being aggressive with those. For some reason the roses have not done well this year. It is disappointing to have so few roses, and those so small, and the bushes looking unhealthy as well.
On the bright side, there are several pumpkins growing and one is even turning orange. It is quite small, but there will be at least one pumpkin on the porch this fall. My new species peony browned and hasn been cut to the ground. I remember last year thinking oh, no, it has died but it came back just fine in the spring. I am hoping the same is true this year. Maybe it just has a short season. The Solomon seal is turning yellow and the eupatorium is blooming, both more signs that fall is on the way.

More thoughts on shrubs

2011-09-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

I did some more research on Enkianthus and Fothergilla and even though I am sure they are gorgeous shrubs I think they just are not fitted to our location. They want quite acid soil and plenty of water. At heart I am a northern gardener, that is for sure.
I did a walk around outside and decided the only place that might need more shrubs is the far back corner. We are still waiting to see how the lilacs do there. That area as a whole is still problematic. I did not make much headway there this year with the restructuring after the arbor came down. I am thinking dwarf fruit trees might be a better way to go.

Researching shrubs and perennials

2011-09-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

I am back in the mode of researching new shrubs and perennials. I love to look through books, magazines and sometimes catalogs for ideas. Catalogs are iffy since too often their pics are overly stylized and touched up and bear little resemblance to the real thing. Plus very few offer real info as to where plants actually grow. So I sit with the Sunset Guide to Western Gardens on my lap along with whatever else I am reading so I can narrow down thoughts to realistic ideas. I bought several new plants last spring at farmers market that have settled in happily either in front or in the back sunny garden. Now I would like to find more perennials for the shady garden. One I want to try is Alchemilla Mollis which has chartreuse flowers. I am also thinking about shrubs again, after reading Gardening for a Lifetime this week. I keep going back to fothergilla and enkianthus. I have tried enkianthus to no avail, but have come to realize that bareroot plants and very small container grown plants, unless annuals, need a year or so of coddling in a gallon pot.

Time Energy and Health

2011-09-13T08:47:00.000-07:00

I am thinking about the concept of not trying to do it all myself. I no longer wash my van because of my shoulder problems. Likewise, pruning is really difficult when it involves wide shoulder motion. For now Jerry is doing all that, and 'little tree', my purple potato vine standard, shows the quality of his work. It hasn't looked so well shaped in years. But I imagine it will at some point need to go. We are cutting back the fruit trees to a height where we can pick from the ground, and as I hopefully add more they will be the five foot dwarfs.
Other than pruning, the garden work that is the most difficult is dealing with roots. Especially in the case of seasonal annuals I do not want to be digging out tenacious roots such as those on rudbeckia and sunflowers and the annual coreopsis. I prefer plants like poppies that can be simply plucked from the ground. So the plants that require routine digging are becoming fewer as I find more congenial alternatives.
So I think for the garden there are ways to minimize labor to fit what we can do, and continue to do it all ourselves.

Wiser Garden

2011-09-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

Deb gave me some Border's gift cards since they were going out of business and even though I had to sort through the dregs and settle for whatever looked OK, I found four new books at 70% off. I read through one of them, Gardening for a Lifetime: How to Garden Wiser as You Grow Older by Sydney Eddison, this weekend as I came home sick from Ohio. Keep in mind that in true gardener style Sydney is talking being older as meaning being 80ish : ) However, her tips and ideas are useful and wiser for anyone who does not have the time and energy to really get out and garden as a primary activity. The basic idea is to focus on easy to no care shrubs, underplanted with a no care ground covers interspersed with hardy bulbs, and protected with a good layer of mulch. She warns against the labor intensive self sowing annuals and too many perennials. I do have next to no care perennials, but the typical sunny perennial border needs quite a bit of upkeep.
Mrs. Eddison reached the older stage of gardening only after 50 years in the same four acres, the death of her husband, and a hip replacement among other physical ills. I found it interesting that she talks about the overwhelmingness of work as being not her beloved garden, for which she now needs a few hours help each week, but the paperwork formerly handled by her husband. Her solution was to hire someone to come in once a week and deal with bills and mail and office supplies and all that other work of that type. She does say it took someone else to help her learn to prioritize and plan before she could get both the garden and home in order. However, I think it fairly genius to decide to continue in her home gardening as best as able and pay someone else to do the part that was so distasteful. I pretty much read straight through this book, stopping to add to my paperbackswap wish list as other books were suggested. I will need to read it again, but right now I am challenged with several thoughts. One, what are the areas of work I would be happier paying someone else to do once I am in a situation where I cannot do it all myself, two, what are other shrubs to add to my garden to begin a process of less labor with equal enjoyment, and three, I need to add more unique perennials while I am in the prime gardening years. : )

Late perennials

2011-09-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

Aster 'Purple Dome'

Today I saw goldenrod blooming along the freeway in Ohio. I have never seen it outside a book before. As pretty as it is, it is the yellow I do not care to have in my garden, so it can stay in Ohio. : ) This is one of the 'fall' blooming perennials, and yes, fall has arrived in Ohio. Apparently fall begins at Labor Day and progresses into November, just like we all wish fall would always do.

At home the asters have begun to bloom, as well as the helenium. Japanese anenome is budded up as well. The Eupatorium 'Chocolate' waits for October and is just so lovely as a true fall bloom, looking like cocoa foam on the chocolate leaves. The advantage of late blooming perennials is that the foliage stays nice all summer. When plants bloom early they are done and the foliage begins to die back in preparation for the new year. For those of us with a long season, too many spring blooming perennials means an old tired garden come August.

My mums died this year, no great loss. I saw a pretty double red at Lowe's that I might buy if they get new ones in once it actually cools down. Mums do not keep blooming. What you see at the store is what you get and if they have already opened that means about two weeks worth of flowers. I will wait and see what's available in October, then after the plant blooms, cut it back and plant it outside for next year's color.

Many of the summer blooming perennials are still blooming, but the new ones get the ooh's and ah's.

August and annuals

2011-08-23T08:40:00.000-07:00

I felt vindicated for my nothing happens in August comment when I read in a gardening book from the UK, "This is the month that tests the gardener's skill and ingenuity. The garden can look very tired." Annuals are the key to the garden looking like a garden through the long hot season. My shade staples are impatiens and wax leaf begonias. However, I have been amazed to see my neighbor's front yard edged in begonias out in the full hot sun blooming away week after week. My choices for sun have evolved into Jerry's favs, the little Star zinnias that he calls Taco Bell flowers, and the California poppy colored cosmos. The little single Stars do not need deadheading, which means stick them in the dirt and let them go until frost kills them. Nice! The impatiens and begonias need no care either. That is a real plus when it is too hot to enjoy puttering. I know all of those are the ubiquitous gas station kind of plants but again, that is what makes them work here. I have a grown a single red zinnia but it seems no longer available. I might try the green ones next year, but basically I do not care for zinnias. Other annuals are out there of course, such as petunias whose foliage gives me the weemies, and whose flower buds are much loved by worms. EW! I tend to think of salvias as perennials but there are some good annuals and I have two this year, the Lady in Red, and the Victoria Blue. Eh! They are OK. I do not seem to grow marigolds well. I have a couple that grew this year from a whole packet of saved seed. I am sure there are some I am not remembering, but most of the rest do not like the heat. Annuals are essential fillers in the garden, but for me they are just that.

Mid-August and raspberries and blessings

2011-08-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

There just isn't much to say about the garden mid-August except hang on another month or so. The heat stretches on and on, and other than watering the plants in pots and filling the bird baths and watching for weeds and being thankful for mulch, there isn't much going on.

But there are raspberries. : ) There is always something for hope, isn't there?
These raspberries fruit twice a year. This is the second year for these from tiny bareroot twigs that Robby picked up for me for 25 cents at Lowes at the end of bareroot season about a year and a half ago. Last year they languished but evidently were busy putting down roots. I moved four plants this year, up from the two that started, and they fruited on the small little plants in the spring then threw up these stronger 3 foot canes with these clusters of berries. I understand from my reading that the earlier blooming canes, which are now all shriveled and brown, should be removed and these currently growing cut back a third. Next year they will fruit again for spring before putting up new canes for late summer fruit. I always thought raspberries only grew in cold climates so this is quite exciting for me.

Having time for other things right now, I have had my socks blessed off the past few days as I set up a seminar for parents of children with all kinds of special needs, to be held here in November. It was just amazing to go from concept to planned event in about 24 hours. And then someone stepped up and offered to cover the costs of the event, which include expenses for a well known guest speaker. Just amazing!

More on winter veggies

2011-08-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

It is so annoying that I cannot post comments on my own blog. What is that all about? So anyway, Candace, bush peas get about 18-24 inches tall and wide. I like sugarsnap peas, and I have a packet if you want some. They have so many seeds it takes a few years to use them up.
Most herbs are perennial, excepting basil of course, so they will keep going. Cilantro is also annual but mine reseeds fairly consistently.

Planning for winter veggies

2011-08-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

Now that it is August I am thinking about where to plant my winter veggies. Mid August is apparently the time to plant all kinds of vegetables. I will plant beets and chard which both have red stems and look great growing with the flowers. I will also plant peas, carrots and broccoli and hope that they really will grow when planted in August. I have typically planted these much later, then they stand and pout all through the cold. I want tp start another pot of potatoes. And of course I will plant lettuce. Spinach I think comes a bit later. It really does not like the heat. The lettuce man at Farmer Market says he grows lettuce in the open field year round. So the question is, where shall they all go? I have a couple of weeks to think about it.

Pale yellows

2011-08-02T12:52:00.000-07:00

yarrow

Carnations

I am not a fan of yellow. In the garden I particularly dislike that bold brassy school bus yellow of rudbeckia and coreopsis. Oh wait, I even less like the acid yellow of yellow daisy bushes. So oddly enough I am enjoying this pale yellow... I have nasturtium this color, and I am thinking about adding coreopsis 'Moonlight'. I suspect these stand in as off-whites which go with my bold orangey reds and purples better than the true whites.

End of July is not so bad

2011-07-31T20:22:00.000-07:00

We wandered about the garden this evening, pulling a few weeds, moving a few spider webs, giving the pumpkin vines some extra water, counting kinds of blooming flowers (over 50), and nibbling on the harvest. We picked a basket of nectarines and I ate all the ripe raspberries, a half dozen maybe, while Jerry tried the wild grapes that are growing in the dead cherry tree. For us, this is a perfect 'date'.

I really enjoyed the summer weather this week. Temps were mostly mid 90s and there was often a breeze blowing. It has been nice to lay out in the hammock at sunset.

Harvesting again

2011-07-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

It is really exciting to have as many tomatoes as I can eat! The past few years I have just had a handful for the season. Saturday I bought a spaghetti squash at Farmer's Market. Jerry said it must be cooked and consumed while he was at work. So today I roasted it for lunch and stringed out the spaghetties and tossed it with a freshly picked juicy tomato, fresh basil, parmesan and salt and pepper. Oh yum, it was good! I used a fourth so I can eat it all week. Fresh tomatoes make anything taste better! And by the way, I am liking the Solar Fire tomatoes. They are small, but very productive, very meaty and very flavorful.

The great mulch adventure

2011-07-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

Side yard path notice all the green from the leafy branches. It should turn brown soon in this weather.

Back garden with mulch already browner just from two days in full sun.

A few months ago we thought we would buy bark to mulch the yard. We way over estimated and went for the most expensive stuff and got a quote of $1000. Crazy! We hunted around for a while and then just let it drop. Two days ago a tree trimmer company pulled up in front of our house and I ran out and asked them if I could have the shredded trimmings. They told me they would empty the truck in my driveway. Oh yay! Mulch for free. Much more like it! : )

Jerry's pet Tuffy, in the front yard

Robby got some of his youth group to come over and help me move it to the back and spread it. We were happy to have them help and to pay them for camp expenses next week. Together we moved about 2/3 of the pile. Then last night Jerry and I worked on the front yard and our neighbor whose trees got pruned took enough for her yard and there is still some left for other neighbors. What a really great deal! I am really sore from all the work but thinking of all the weeds we will not have to pull in the coming months.

Red Orange Pink

2011-07-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

Too often plants labeled either orange or red end up being pink. This 'Orange Perfection' phlox is a good example. We had decided two years ago that it was too pink to look OK and I took it out. However, phlox roots are persistent and I evidently missed some. This year I let it grow up into the 'Bishop's Children' dahlia and we actually like it! Somehow the very dark foliage makes all the difference.

Fertilizer

2011-07-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

An early Hot Cocoa rose.

It has been a crazy week! Occasionally I have to stop and remember I work. I may not have an ordinary job, but the multifaceted one I do have sometimes takes quite a bit of time. This morning I finally had time to get out into the garden in thankfully cooler air to spread compost on the roses and other heavy feeders. This should have been done in May or early June I think. For years I sprinkled the cheapest available synthetic fertilizer over the entire garden every month. Eventually I began to see an unexplainable decline of my plants. Then I heard Paul James, the HGTV gardener from Gardening by the Yard, explain that synthetic fertilizer contains salts that build up in the soil over time. Since our valley soil tends to be salty (as in mineral salts) anyway, it apparently wasn't helping as much as it first seemed. So now I add compost and other organics to my soil. I find the roses in particular really show when they are not getting enough, as they become smaller and sparser. So nice yummy breakfast today for hungry plants via N Rich by Kellogg. I do make my own compost but it isn't enough for year long feeding.

Maltese Cross

2011-07-06T09:20:00.000-07:00

When I visited Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island with my sisters maybe ten or so years ago now, I got seeds for these Maltese Cross, lychnis calcedonica. do you see how each little flower forms a Maltese cross? I have seen them growing in David and Kate's yard in Anchorage and they were about three feet high and just gorgeous. Mine limps along, but I really like it so I keep an eye on it and keep hoping for more. This is the best photo I got, but usually the heads are bigger, a cluster about 2-3 inches across.

Harvest

2011-07-02T20:50:00.000-07:00

This morning Jerry picked the plum tree clean and I went to Rosalee's and picked about 50 lbs of apricots. Then I worked all day getting them 'put up'. I made plum jam and apricot jam. I froze apricots, canned apricots and put a pan in to dry under the lights in the oven. I put about a third of the apricots in a sealed bowl in the fridge, thinking of apricot tart for the 4th of July. I filled the fridge fruit bin with plums and gave a bagful to the neighbors. Then I made somc cookies! Whew! What a day. I did not join Jerry for a bike ride this evening. No pics. Too tired to make it pretty, but feeling quite virtuous. : )

Summer shade flowers

2011-06-29T17:17:00.000-07:00

The shady garden mostly blooms in spring, with a few plants waiting until fall. But these polemonium are just now blooming, a welcome shady addition.

Other blooms that are hanging on from spring include hellebore, geranium, huechera, corydalis, and astilbe. Impatiens, begonias and fuschia will of course continue until frost. But one of the most interesting is this arum. It bloomed in spring and the leaves died back leaving this fruit stalk behind.

Hammock

2011-06-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

Robby and Candace gave Jerry this hammock for his birthday. Yesterday we got it all set up and we love it. It really does hold two people, although getting in is a bit like getting into a canoe. : ) We like the way the colors blend with the fence and the windmill, and the dead cherry tree branches make a nice partial cover. We laid out in the early evening and watched the hummingbirds buzz between the cherry tree and the feeder, and the crows chat in the huge cedar tree next door. Next up, star gazing.

Summer tidy time

2011-06-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

Last evening I had a chance to get into the back garden and tidy up for summer. Amazingly, many of the spring annuals lasted all through June. I wanted the larkspur in particular to have time to reseed before I pulled them out. Now all tidy, the garden is looking much better. Typically I would be whacking plants back hard to give then a good chance at rebloom from mid-August into fall, but this year things seem late and I did not see the need. I did remove an annual red coreopsis, much to Jerry's dismay, but I left some and that one was smooshing my salvias.

Summer bouquet

2011-06-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

Green beans

2011-06-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

I was reading Sunset's The Edible Garden this week while we were traveling and learned something I have battled for several years. I plant bush beans rather than pole beans. I discovered that they are determinate plants that bear all at once, in a week or two, then are done. Crazy! How did I miss that, and continue to plant them and try to make them produce and wonder what I was doing wrong? Next time I am planting pole beans. I love green beans!

Summer bounty

2011-06-20T20:10:00.000-07:00

Chocolate cosmos actually smells like chocolate! It is a bit persnickity about drainage and cold weather, but I have kept it going several years in a pot.

Back to the garden, I am delighted to find new plants blooming. There are about 60 different flowers right now. A few like the larkspur are on their way out, others like the echinacea are just gearing up for a four month run. Polemonium is budded up; this is a second try, so I do not know what to expect. There are a few, crepe myrtle, anenome, eupatorium, aster, yarrow, penstemon, and so on that are still to come. Quite the promise of abundance.
Likewise, for whatever reason, the tomatoes have set by the dozens this year! The cherries are gone, but we are picking blueberries, apricots and plums. The nectarines won't be ready for a few more weeks. I spied two pumpkin plants already six inches tall. The lettuce has bolted (gone to flower and thus to seed), but I was able to cut salads from November into June. Altogether the garden is looking productive, thanks to that long cool May weather.

Potato crop

2011-06-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

Here is what I got from one pot of potatoes. Not much, and the second pot was less. Too bad! I think maybe they had too much water. Only one plant, one seed potato, grew in this pot, and then it just died this week. Something ate the leaves in the second pot. Small crop but it made a tasty dinner ; )

Whites

2011-05-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

There are so many ways to do white! I am loving all the variations in shading and color. These are all blooming now.

Geranium 'Biokovo' has a pink tint, due to the pink stamens

Penstemon 'Husker Red' has both green and burgandy tints

Corydalis ochroleuca with green centers.

This hydrangea macrophylla opens greenish, my favorite kind of white.

Star jasmine which is not jasmine, but properly named Trachelospermum jasminoides.

'Star' zinnia

Calla lily, not a lily but Zantedeschia

Just opening, 'White Swan' echinacea. The center cones eventually turn a deep copper.

Lychnis coronaria alba, too white with pale gray foliage, looks out of place.

Oakleaf hydrangea

Alyssum

Cilantro

Astilbe just opening next to hellebores which have faded to green.

Other whites not now blooming include viburnum, eupatorium 'Chocolate' which is more the color of cocoa foam, anenome, lilacs, other hydrangeas, phlox paniculata 'David' which is another too white white, orange blossoms, and cherry blossoms.

Watching and waiting

2011-05-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

Blueberries and cherries are almost ready to eat! We are finding the blueberries to be excellent shrubs with nearly year round appeal. They are worth planting just for the fall color! They do need quite acid soil, so I added peat to the soil, along with iron, which I will repeat each year. We decided to keep this cherry tree low growing, so although cherries are the easiest of fruit trees, requiring next to no pruning at all, we will keep this one cut to 5-6 feet for ease in care.

Salpiglossis

2011-05-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

Whew, how is that for a flower name? These annuals, also called Painted Tongue, are new to me this year. I have tried growing them from seed to no avail, so bought a sixpack and got three to grow. These come in assorted colors but I am glad all mine are this deep maroon. I cut some penstemon 'Husker Red' this morning and was holding that when I thought about cutting the Painted Tonge and they blended so well I made this bouquet

Baptisia

2011-05-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

This is a new perennial for me. This is third year from a 4 inch pot, about three feet tall and two wide now. I have read that they may have dozens of these flowering stalks. The bloom is fleeting, already come and gone, just during May. They have tap roots, like California poppies, so do not like to be moved. The foliage is pretty, but overall a pretty so-so plant. Probably as close to lupine as we will ever get in our gardens here though.

Clematis

2011-05-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

Several changes in the garden focused my attention on clematis. First, the back arbor fell down so I moved the clematis growing on it to the shady side yard. I love these growing on each side of the side gate. They get afternoon sun coming over the fence.

Clematis 'Violacea'

The post below shows the other clematis growing in this bed, 'Madame Julia Correvon'. These are both viticellas which apparently are a type that does better here in the heat. Sunset used to say clematis did not grow here, but I find these bloom on and off from May into fall, and if kept from the harshest sun do quite well.

Another variety that does well in the heat is texensis. Last night I went out and moved my 'Gravetye Beauty' from under my roses to the new trellis in the front yard. I do not have a picture yet, the poor plant was not too happy to be ripped from amongst the roses. I had thought it would be great seeing red clematis with the apricot roses, but they went unnoticed. So we will see how they do in the new location. Clematis are deciduous, and in spite of greatly detailed information on care and pruning, I find cutting them down in early February when they first begin to grow is all the care they need.

Color blending

2011-05-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

Here is my Mother's Day present, a purple bedding dahlia in a burnt clay pot. This composition is something I love to do, put several of the same or similarly colored plants together. I just happened to have gotten the new gomphrena 'Buddy Purple' the day before I got the dahlia. The clematis was there waiting. Happy color blending!

In from the garden

2011-05-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I redid Robby's old bedroom. It started out to be a blue and white guestroom. That was the plan. It ended up this color...

The beds moved to new homes so I thought the room would be an office for Jerry, but he never went in there. Eventually it morphed into a sewing room. The problem was I could not bear to sit in the coldness of that turquoise, even when livened up with orange and lime green. So a couple of weeks ago I abandoned my sewing project and redid the room this color...

One thing I realized in doing this is the reality of the cost of small changes. One gallon paint $28, a new ironing board cover $15, and framing for a 100 year old portrait of my great-gramma $40, which was a real deal. But still, almost $100 to redo a tiny tiny room with basically no changes.

I took out all the citrusy flower power accessories and brought in antiques from all over the house. That is why I decided to hang the old portrait, other art work didn't look right. Now that it is too late I realize I could have brought in the old embroideries from the living room, but I like those there, and the portrait is more in keeping with the other old antique colored items. The quilt is the one splash of color. I think I may hang antique baby dresses over the quilt, I will need to dig those out and see. Now to get back to the sewing.

Front yard redo continues

2011-05-08T07:36:00.000-07:00

Our broom bush died over winter so Jerry took it out and then took out the old ugly holly bush, leaving a lot of bare space. We decided something structural would be different yet pleasing. So this is what Jerry came up with...

Note the openings between panels for the neighbor kids to use for ball retrieval. This is not yet finished, but it shows the idea. New plants are ready to go in, including a ceanothus 'Tuxedo' with chocolate brown leaves and Australian Bluebell Creeeper, both of which I found at the nifty stall at Farmer's Market.

More ideas yet to be decided and executed, one of which may be a fountain.

ABC flowers in my garden

2011-05-05T22:40:00.000-07:00

OK, so why did I do this? It was a crazy stressy week and I had a headache all day and Jerry came home crashed and I just needed to do something fairly brainless that demanded focus. They are upside down because I thought they would post the other way. Crazy post for a crazy week. : )

Z is for zinnia. The only good thing to say about a zinnia is they bloom like crazy when it is over 100. These tiny orange and white ones are less obnoxious and go nicely with Jerry's favorite cosmos.

Y is for yarrow. The millefoliums tend to make a tuffet which I do not care for but at least the one I have now, 'Walther Funke' is a nice deep red that fades gold instead of cerise.

X is for ixia. A South African bulb, ixia makes sweet little spires of flowers, although the foliage is floppy sloppy.

W is for watsonia. A South African bulb type plant, it grows into a two foot high and wide clump with many flower stems. It dies down in summer.

V is or violets. The queen of the foggy weather and oh so fragrant. I love seeing these all winter out the bedroom window.

U is for no flower I know...

T is for thalictrum. These look a bit like columbine with blue green ferny foliage but get a good five feet high, or at least mine does.

S is for scarlet runner beans. A cute vine for summer, the birds and the bees love these! Plus you can eat the beans if you choose.

R is for rudbeckia. A real pain of a plant with a glaring school bus yellow color, they nontheless bloom all through the hot season.

Q is for no flower I grow.

P is for pelargonium, that cheerful in a pot plant...

O is for orange blossoms.

N is for nigella. Love the seed pods.

M is for monarda. Crazy mopheads standing 3 feet tall.

L is for lilies.

K is for nothing I grow...

J is for Johnny Jump Ups, which evidently don't warrant a photo.

I is for impatiens.

H is for helenium, a favorite of mine...

G is for geum, a favorite sweet flower.

F is for freesia, an early blooming sweet scented bulb type plant.

E is for Eupatorium 'Chocolate' one of the few true late blooming perennials.

D is for digitalis commonly called foxglove. Not a plant for children.

C is for corydalis a sweetly scented, long blooming shade plant.

B is for begonias a garden mainstay.

A is for astilbe. This one said red...

Annuals for easy gardening

2011-05-03T11:29:00.000-07:00

Breadseed poppies with larkspur, a favorite picture

Hah! Annuals are not easy! Their primary purpose is to set seed since they only have the one chance. So for the most part growing annuals is a constant game of deadheading, then waiting long enough to pull the plant to make sure seed has set and spread. And do not even get me started on over seeding. : ) It's like poker, know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. Then there is the cost for setting out bedding annuals, should one choose to do that. Annuals are not the easy way to garden.
However, there are a few annuals that are actually easy. Impatiens is one, although they pretty much need to be replaced each year, so there is the cost. They do not need deadheading or any other care, and that makes them easy. Waxleaf begonias is another, and for me they are perennial, continuing on year after year and, unless it gets really cold, blooming all 12 months. There is a tiny single zinnia that comes in white gold and orange that likewise does not need deadheading. And speaking of zinnias, they and cosmos are pretty much all that bloom here all through the really hot season. We have learned to just yank cosmos when they get too seedy and let new ones grow. They are Jerry's new hot season flower, following his crop of California poppies that grow all the rest of the year. Alyssum and bedding lobelia are two others that will just keep coming all year, although alyssum will seed as densely as grass if not pulled soon enough. Others I love enough to justify include poppies of all sorts and larkspur. They do leave huge gaping holes in the garden since they come up in the fall and die back as soon as the weather hits 85ish. I fiddle with other annuals, and have learned a few pots well placed keep the color without a total commitment in space and labor.

Perennials for easy gardening

2011-05-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

'White Swan' echinacea

Perennials are my gardening love, the stalwarts of the garden. Whether they die back each fall, leaving me to excitedly watch for their return in spring, or whether they are evergreen, serving as bones and structure for the ebb and flow of the deciduous and annual plants, perennials provide the mainframe of my gardens. The really cool thing is that perennials can be no care plants. For the most part the perennial season lasts about four months so people with a shorter growing season can do even more with them than we can here, but we can still get some bloom from February into September with some management. Evergreens requiring next to no care include all the Mediterranean herbs such as rosemary, oregano, thyme, lavender, rue and so forth. Of course those are perfectly suited to our climate. Other easy evergreens include helleborus, some corydalis, geraniums, lambs ears, columbine, huechera, thalictrum, polemonium, geum, stokesia, and more I am not thinking of right now. Easy deciduous perennials include peonies, Solomon Seal, astilbe, aster, eupatorium 'Chocolate', baptisia, monarda, echinacea and helenium. All these require nothing more than cutting down the dead foliage at the end of the season, or as new growth begins, whichever you prefer. Some of them can be manipulated to bloom later and all plants look better when dead headed, but these are really easy care plants. I love my perennials.

Shrubs for easy gardening

2011-04-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

Although when I began my gardens I was only thinking of the grand perennials called main event flowers, I soon realized it took more to make a real garden. Shrubs have made a great addition, adding height, fullness and color. A huge advantage is the easy care. Nandina rarely requires any attention at all. Azaleas require none. Lilacs might be pruned once a year but we know they go on and on for generations with no care at all. Hydrangeas, camelias, red twig dogwood, and viburnum are more great looking plants that require little to no effort. Let them go a few years and they are fine. Or you may like to tidy them up once a year, or cut the flowers to bring indoors. There are of course others, but these have won a place in my gardens due to their color, longevity, and flowers.

Iris

2011-04-27T07:19:00.000-07:00

Two years ago a gardening friend Jen gave me these iris. I have never been a fan of iris, and they require replanting every few years so I thought them not worth the work. However, I love the the wide bluegreen blades o the foliage. So I decided to try more, and these are exceptional. The purple in the falls blends with the other purples blooming now and the tall flower stalks are justly regal. They are impressive during this short bloom time, then I will have the foliage as a foil to other colors and textures through the year.

Peonies

2011-04-26T07:17:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I saw peony plants for sale in a local nursery for the first time ever. Costco usually has bare roots that need several years growth to flower, but peonies have not been a plant of preference here. I really do not know why. Perhaps because we are called zone 9, and perhaps because most of our local nursery people are Puerto Rican, we get a lot more tropical type plants which do not take to our sloppy cold winters. SoCal is where you get your real zone 9. But now Monrovia has taken to growing and selling the old time plants like lilac and peony. Good!
So peonies are blooming! The key to growing peonies is to get the eyes (those little pink shoots at the top of the roots) situated correctly in the soil. Peonies need chill, and while we have enough for them to grow, the eyes need to be very shallow, even sitting at the surface, to grow well here. As perennials, peonies shoot up dramatically in the spring. The buds come up with the peonies, they flower at various times, all in April and May here, and then sit all summer with rich green foliage, and then die back in the fall, again at varying times. The dead foliage needs to be trashed, not composted. While peonies are lovely here, they really come into their own in cold climates with shorter growing periods. In Alaska, Denise has peonies blooming nearly all summer by planting early, mid and late blooming varieties. Her lilacs do the same. I am just happy enough to have some, even though my main plant is pink. My new species plant that Rob and Candace gave me last year does not have flowers this year. I am not sure if it is just settling in or if it actually needs more cold. We will see as time goes by.

Resurrection Sunday

2011-04-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

Orange blossoms: Jerry's little taste of heaven : )

Back door garden

2011-04-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

This is my herb and lettuces garden, right outside the back door. Maybe you can tell I often step out for a piece of aloe for my hands. I have veggies and herbs in various places but it is nice to have these right outside to step out and snip a bit for meals. What's growing right now? Across the bench, aloe, seasoning celery, parsley, cilantro, and then a pelargonium for color. At the end, lemon verbena, rosemary and potatoes. Coming back along the ground, two kinds of chives, spinach and several kinds of lettuce. Time to get some basil going!

Front yard redo in spring

2011-04-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

Here is our front yard before the peach tree died and fell down. Everyone loved that tree, but we are so much happier with the new front beds. I have read that beds connected to anything need to be 2/3 the height, so a six foot deep bed in front of a typical rancher house would be appropriate. We lived for years with the skinny little strip of azalea and fern before taking this big step to redo it all.

Paving still to come.

Spring shady bed

2011-04-09T08:29:00.000-07:00

The new shady bed

2011-04-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

After moving the oakleaf hydrangea to the back garden, where it is quite happy, and so lovely to see out the bedroom window, I had this space to refill. So far I moved in the pot with the azalea, and transplanted things from other beds: a clematis from my fallen arbor, two starts from my Japanese painted fern, a white astilbe that needed a home, being a *second* good plant in a bagged bareroot last year, a heuchera, and a clump of geranium 'Biokovo' that I have spotted all along the shady beds. I purchased one six pack of polemonium and planted five of those in a curvy row through the middle of the bed. Then I added an impatiens that I likewise plant throughout the shady areas during the warm season. The polemonium will have a lavender type bloom; I did not have much luck the first time I tried these, but $2 was worth the try for a new shady perennial. The bed also has the corydalis a the front of the picture, another type of clematis on the trellis, some Solomon Seal, creeping Charlie, and the ground cover sweet woodruff. I need to add more, in particular something taller against the wall, but for this is a good beginning.

Morning pleasures

2011-04-05T07:19:00.000-07:00

I was up early for the second day this week. I just love watching dawn break over the black line of the Sierra's, whether there are pink clouds or not. It is the mountains themselves that I like. I am also entranced with these green puffs on the Viburnum Opulus Compactus, the snowball bush. They glow in the early morning light. They are slowly growing and will turn white, then fade back to green and then to brown. This is the fourth year from bareroot twig and the first year with really good bloom. I started this shrub after seeing pictures of snowballs arranged with lilacs. I am looking forward to seeing these with the new white and purple lilacs we just bought. I think the three colors will be amazing together. I may not have patience for the day to day bits and pieces, but in the garden I can wait a few years to see the dream.

Snail stompin' time

2011-04-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

I wandered outside this morning and found a dozen or so snails trailing over the tops of plants. I stomped those and spread more snail bait. These gorgeous spring mornings are as welcome to the snails as they are to us! : ) I use safer snail bait, the iron phosphate stuff, primarily because with all my allergy and coughing the last thing I want is poison dust in my lungs. Another benefit is the snails do not die immediately so you do not get gross piles of dead snails as you do with the other snail poison.

Satisfying Saturday

2011-04-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

I am so excited! We spent the day doing yard work, Jerry steadily working away all day and me running in and out, in and out, pulling weeds and making drinks and lunch and watching bits of P Allen Smith at Home which has been picked up by our local PBS station. Then, inspiration struck! What a great creative compromise! I have always wanted to fence in the back garden, thinking it would look better and make more sense in the yard if it were contained. Jerry on the other hand loves wide open spaces and has absolutely not wanted any fences inside the yard. Today I very suddenly thought of using the pile of what used to be concrete edging to make an enclosure, or at least the idea of such. I have 'ruins' made from the same concrete in the side yard, so the theme is continued. I love this! It reminds me of books where the characters stumble into some old ruined cottage remains and find the decades old garden still growing. I will feel terrible tomorrow I am sure, as it was hard work, but so worth it.

And more March blossoms

2011-03-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

Solomon seal with corydalis and helleborus in the background

New white lilac

New lilac 'Burgandy Queen'

Alstromeria

Cherry blossoms

More March blossoms

2011-03-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

Calla lily

Early azalea

Corydalis ochroleuca

Corydalis 'Blackberry Wine'

Ranunculus in bud

Columbine

2011-03-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

I love columbine! These red and yellow Granny's Bonnet variety are blooming very early this year. Note the short spurs. I like the ferny foliage at least as much as the flowers.

Tomato quandry

2011-03-18T09:11:00.000-07:00

I planted two kinds of tomatoes, the previously mentioned Solar Fire, and Celebrity, a pretty standard early tomato. Then yesterday I was reminded in the Master Gardener colmn in the newspaper that both varieties are determinate. Determinate is a trait developed in tomatoes that makes the bush grow just to a certain size. They tend to produce their whole crop at once, not that I have ever had one big enough to make a difference. Indeterminate tomatoes grow to be giants and will grow all over if not heavily staked. The typical tomato cages and stakes will not hold these monsters. Yet, the indeterminate bushes will keep right on producing until they are killed by frost. Last year I had dozens of green fruit when I pulled out the vines. So what to do? Buy another plant and wrestle with it all summer? Buy another plant and figure out how to do something like I saw when we visited an elderly relative in Missouri a few years ago, involving the wire grid they use in cement foundations, and 2x2 8 foot stakes? Or just go with what I have and enjoy what we get and not worry about it?