tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46209164514147036732023-11-16T04:37:48.513-08:00Outside/Inside - My Gardening LifeSusanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-88906285479667972912011-05-18T16:40:00.000-07:002011-05-18T16:53:27.720-07:00Better Than ChristmasEvery day for the last week, mail-order plants have been arriving at my door - sometimes twice a day. I really cut my orders to the bone this year, and tried very hard to select some really choice and/or unusual things. So far most everything has arrived in good to excellent condition (thank you White Flower Farm, for sending a potted rose, not a bareroot!), with the exception of 3 'Black Cat' petunia plants from Burpee's. They came in a 3-pack. One was fairly robust, one is currently hanging on by a thread, and one flat-out died the day after it arrived. Even though it annoyed me initially to have to buy 3 of them, I guess it was a blessing in disguise, because now I'd have none if I'd only bought one plant. Not worth making a stink about, on the whole.<br /><br />Most of the catalogs I deal with are highly reputable and eager to give good customer service. No complaints there. The only problem I still occasionally have with catalog operations based in the South is their eagerness to get me out there planting. This causes difficulties because, while they can be out there planting their fool heads off in early April, I'm crazy to try to do much of anything before the beginning of May. They don't always look at zone maps, apparently. Fortunately now, just about everyone gives you the option of choosing your ship date when ordering online, so it's almost a non-issue. A couple don't, so I have to call them and patiently explain where I live and why they simply can't send me my plants before the date I'm telling them. Oh, well....<br /><br />There are still some orders yet to come, so every day is a surprise. My husband typically orders the most stuff, so it's a real pleasure to go into the house with a box or two and see his face when I say that they are MINE, MINE, MINE! It's just like Christmas, only better - it's a damn sight warmer than it is at Christmas....Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-14244400412885293242011-04-10T14:06:00.000-07:002011-04-10T14:17:23.398-07:00Bluebirds of Happiness (and other spring delights)Happy, happy, joy, joy - we now have a nesting pair of bluebirds in our box!! We're so happy, because they came back much later than normal this year - we were afraid they'd forsaken us. It would have been especially disappointing because last year's birds were our first in about 5 years. Something got to those birds that year and killed all the fledglings. Bruce found dead babies several days running near the box, and then one day it was down to one very frightened baby bird who was perched on the bodies of dead siblings in the nest, while Mom and Dad kept trying to coax it out. We found that last one dead on the ground the next day, and no more bluebirds lived with us until last year. So we are happy and excited and shelling out money for mealworms!<br /><br />The other happy occurrence today was the discovery that my little sweet violets are out in abundance. These are the low-growing violets with the intense fragrance, in shades of white, cream, dark and light purple and pink ('Rosina'). They're always precious to me for many reasons: other than 'Rosina', which I grew from seed, these all came from a dear gardening friend and mentor. Violets always shout "Spring" to me, and they always remind me of my late mother; they were her favorite flower. When I was little, our yard in Ohio was full of them, and I would go out and pick as many as my little hands would hold, take them in to my mom, and she would put them in a small crystal basket. Seeing the violets out is like having my mom drop in for a visit, and never fails to cheer me.Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-65319344234117415972011-04-09T15:46:00.000-07:002011-04-09T15:57:38.392-07:00A Perfect Spring Day - and It Better Last Through the Weekend!Oh, to have had today free for gardening! Cloudless blue sky, temps in the 60's, a light breeze - what more could you ask for when there's cleanup to be done? Unfortunately, I had a garden club meeting, then other places to be after that. It was a good day regardless, but there IS cleanup to be done, and tomorrow is my day to do it. I hope. Tonight's weather forecast is for possible thunderstorms by afternoon. And I have to say, if that happens, I will have a crabby of Biblical proportions. This is the same thing that happened to me last fall. Every day that I was free all day for gardening, it was rainy and/or cold. Every day that I was tied up all day, the weather was superlative. It wasn't quite so bad when everything was dying, but now that growth is ramping up almost by the minute, every day counts. Already things are budded and ready to burst, so I really, really need tomorrow. We will see what the dawn brings.......Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-80771014837242974492011-03-31T17:05:00.000-07:002011-03-31T17:16:53.500-07:00March Goes Out - and None Too Soon!Today is the last day of March, and I for one am damned glad of it. While indoor spring is fully cooperative, with nearly all my seed trays and propagators full of green seedlings, outdoor spring (or what passes for it at present) is another matter altogether. This morning, I woke up to a lawn and trees covered with snow. Again. Fortunately it had disappeared by noon, but it still honked me off. The only cheering note was that new crocus have come out, and now the striped squill is nearly ready to open. And I will confess, it could be worse - the eastern part of NY and much of New England stand to get upwards of a foot of snow tonight and tomorrow! So I'm trying not to whine overmuch. Still, I was going through some old magazines this afternoon, and I found a quote that pretty much encapsulates how I'm feeling about winter at this point in time. It's by a woman named Kathleen Norris. "There seems to be so much more winter than we need this year."Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-58764953356055089442011-03-21T11:53:00.000-07:002011-03-21T12:17:10.692-07:00A Mother-in-Law's Tongue Can Be A Beautiful ThingI walked into my little conservatory the other evening, and was bowled over by the lovely fragrance in the room. It took me a minute, but I suddenly realized that it came from the large pot of sansevieria, or as it's commonly known, mother-in-law's tongue. I had seen the appearance of the flower stalks (for the second winter running), but I generally don't go in there at night. The strong scent made me grab my Mac and start doing a bit of research. Last winter, I had noted the sweet smell of the flowers, but it was very faint. This in-your-face perfume at night made me wonder if it might be a night bloomer - and that appears to be the case. Internet searching and my AHS Guide yielded some very interesting facts.<br /><br />First of all, Sansevieria trifasciata 'Laurentii', which appears to be the cultivar I have, comes from dry, rocky areas in Africa and some other countries. The plant seems to produce flower stalks only when potbound, as mine certainly is. It originally came from a dish garden that was sent to my mother's funeral nine years ago, and is now a large clump that's as tall as me (5'7"). It's grown on in the same pot all those years, undisturbed. Sansevieria will tolerate a good deal of neglect; in fact, it should be underwatered in winter, as too much water easily causes the plant to rot. The room temperature (a consistent 70-72 degrees) appears to suit it. According to the AHS Guide, a mature plant in happy conditions will send out flower stalks in late winter. The stalks vary in length from about 6" to 12" inches, and have bright, lime-green whorls of flowers all along them. I'd need to do more research on pollinators, because the buds are all dripping with nectar (similar to peonies) which might imply ants, but as night bloomers, moths would be more likely. Interesting. To interested parties, I hope to be able to post a photo, but I'm not a techie by any stretch of the imagination and I haven't figured out how to yet. You can see photos from similar species on GardenWeb.<br /><br />I had been fixated on the two flower stalks at the front of the plant, but further investigation revealed that there are 6 stalks in total, scattered throughout the plant leaves, so that explains the powerful fragrance. Once the flowers open, they quickly begin to fade and drop their petals. They're a bit messy, but if you're a fragrance freak like me, that's a minor matter. I'll enjoy it every minute it lasts!Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-24794428323523649862011-03-19T11:51:00.000-07:002011-03-19T12:03:15.016-07:00March Madness - Meh.After two glorious, warm and sunny days, we're back to the kind of late winter weather we here in Rochester know and are tired of - gray, cloudy skies and a chill northwest breeze. Inasmuch as spring officially begins tomorrow, it really shouldn't matter, but after being outdoors without a jacket, feeling the sun on my face (and seeing a nice pink glow looking back at me in the mirror) and seeing so many flowers beginning to bloom, being busted back to a de facto winter is just so disappointing. And I don't even have the consolation of going to the annual garden show this weekend. I gave up on the Rochester Gardenscape show after seeing the Philadelphia Flower Show in all its glory. Rochester's show, I regret to say, is a joke. Once upon a time it was an eagerly anticipated event. The Federated Garden Clubs (my peeps) had a standard flower show there that was a huge crowd pleaser. There were special exhibits by the area florists, tons of plants and seeds for sale, etc. Well, they kicked us (flower show) out first, moving us from prime floor space to progressively smaller and more cramped areas, until our last show which wasn't much better than a modified storage area! When they started wanting us to pay a premium rate for that crappy space, we left. Then the florists disappeared. After that, the number of plant vendors began to steadily decline, followed by other garden vendors. Now most of what's in the market area is totally unrelated stuff - foods, clothing, as-seen-on-TV junk. As a garden show, it's pretty much a bust. Even the landscape displays have declined in quality. What really makes me laugh is how the organizers love to tout it as "the next Philadelphia Flower Show". I've seen the Philly show folks - in your dreams....<br /><br />So what's a Rochester gardener to do on a day like this? Curl up with a cup of jasmine tea and write a blog post, I guess!Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-73501091082986203472011-03-15T10:41:00.000-07:002011-03-15T10:47:36.652-07:00Happy Bloom Day!!!It's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - woohoo! This is a fun tradition that I only learned of today, and I certainly will mark my calendar for next year. We garden bloggers are supposed to blog about what's coming up in our gardens on this date so, ever suggistible, I promptly went out to have a look-see. Since I live just south of Rochester, NY and we only just got rid of our season snowfall total of (I believe) 120", the pickings are a bit slim - but not for much longer. My half-acre here in zone 5 contains the following:<br /><br />winter aconites, 1 snowdrop ('S.Arnott'), 1 patch of bright orange crocus, 1 light purple crocus and some pussy willow stems<br /><br />The hellebores are all budded and just waiting for a few more mild days to open up. Daffs, tulips, glory-of-the-snow, striped squill, more snowdrops, hyacinths and other crocus are pushing up by the day. Peony tips have begun to emerge. There's no stopping it now, baby - spring is as good as here, no matter what the calendar says.....Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-90613393432728238332011-03-11T11:59:00.000-08:002011-03-11T12:25:57.530-08:00Idiocracy and Partial Redemption at the National ArboretumNow that the world and I are coming out of winter hibernation, I was giving some more thought to a couple of columns I wrote for my local newspaper on the azalea garden at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. For anyone who may not have been aware, late last fall a dastardly plan was uncovered (and outed in the blogosphere) in which the entire azalea and boxwood collections at the Arboretum were to be destroyed. Yep, the shrubs were to be cut down wholesale and the stumps drenched with herbicide to kill them. We're talking about thousands of azaleas that were the hybridizing work of one man, Benjamin Morrison, in his quest to extend the northern hardiness range of large-flowered azaleas. We're also talking about a boxwood collection that is acknowledged to be the most complete IN THE WORLD. Not something you rip out on a whim. Back then the Arboretum officials gave all sorts of lame excuses for why it needed to be done. I won't go into all of them, but my personal favorite was that the azalea display created too much traffic through the Arboretum at bloom time, and they couldn't handle it. Well, they've been handling it quite easily for the last 20 or so years, with shuttle systems and adequate restroom facilities - and since when, in a bum economy, is an excess of people spending money at a public garden a bad thing?? There were like excuses and weak explanations, and the opposition got up a good head of steam. All right, I'll put out another of the more lame stories - that the azaleas just weren't all that important. Now, bear in mind that one woman has been curator of the azaleas for 20 years now, and because the area had been neglected, she and volunteers were cleaning it out and identifying and cataloging the collection. I imagine she was mightily surprised to learn that she'd been pissing away the last 20 years for nothing! Even other public gardens jumped into the fray. Magnolia Gardens in Charleston, S.C. announced that they had received permission to come up and take massive amounts of cuttings from the azaleas (and the boxwoods as well, I assume). Their intent was to grow them on and then parcel the plants out among other botanical gardens nationwide to ensure their survival. Long story short, the plants have all gotten a temporary reprieve. All the furor inspired some anonymous, generous soul to make a $1 million dollar gift to save them. And a new executive who came on board announced that the plan had been tabled for the time being.<br /><br />The plot did continue to thicken, however. About the same time that the plants got their stay of execution, it was announced that the Arboretum would be adding a new Chinese garden, in partnership with the Chinese government. They'll provide the plants, statuary and other accessories; the Arboretum will provide site preparation and staffing. Now, this is interesting on several levels. First of all, another rationale for the whole azalea fiasco was that funding for two staffing positions had been lost. Sounds to me like those people were simply transferred over to the Chinese garden. And it seems that more people would be needed to maintain a newly planted garden than an old, established area. But what really arouses my suspicions is this: obviously, this new garden area has been in the works for some time. Did the Chinese want the azalea area for their garden, and did the Arboretum go ahead and promise it to them, figuring it would be easier to ask forgiveness than permission? I wouldn't be surprised, seeing that we tend to kiss China's ring at every opportunity. And what really makes me angry is that we're talking about the NATIONAL Arboretum, meaning it belongs to EVERYONE, not just the bureaucrats. They bloody well should have asked the owners' permission first! It will be extremely interesting to see future developments........Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-48068656089680569592010-12-26T16:46:00.000-08:002010-12-26T17:09:30.031-08:00Planting the Seeds for Next Year's GardenFor several weeks now, the seed catalogs have been arriving in the mail. First to show up was old reliable Thompson & Morgan, followed quickly by most of my other standards: Nichols Garden Nursery, Pinetree Garden Seeds, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, just to name a few. Because of the Christmas rush, they've been stacked up in the conservatory. There they sit, speaking softly but persistently, just waiting for the holidays to end so that I have whole days to wallow in them. <br /><br />And wallow I always have, unfortunately letting what my husband refers to as the "gimme-wants" dictate my purchase lists. There at least, I've been able to exercise some discipline. It's a ridiculous exercise, but eventually it works. I go through each catalog, damn the torpedoes, and put everything that catches my fancy make the initial list. Then, I go through a second time and whittle it down considerably. Once round two is done, I start comparison shopping, making sure to get the best price I can on everything I want. Only then do the orders get placed. Regrettably, my garden record-keeping skills have been lax over the years. However, I finally got tired of wasting time and money buying seeds that a) I didn't need or b) didn't perform as well as I would have liked, so last year I got serious about documentation and now I'll be able to order wisely. In fact, I got so serious last year that I gave my husband a good laugh one morning - he saw a list on the conservatory table that was captioned, "DO NOT PURCHASE THESE SEEDS. NONE. NOT ANY." I told you I was serious.......Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-78399529919411772632010-12-23T13:50:00.000-08:002010-12-23T13:52:45.606-08:00Seaon's Greetings!All I have to say is this:<br /><br />"Holly and ivy, box and bay<br />Put in the church on Christmas Day"<br /><br /> -15th century Christmas carol<br /><br />A Merry and blessed Christmas to all, and a green New Year as well!Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-75929601341962774032010-11-25T17:36:00.000-08:002010-11-25T17:42:53.013-08:00Happy Thanksgiving!Where do I begin? So many things to be thankful for (in no particular order):<br /><br />I have FINALLY finished all the outside work. All that remains is cutting back and covering the roses.<br /><br />I rediscovered the healing power of a soaking bath, and I no longer crawl around in pain for days at a time after a marathon gardening session.<br /><br />I was able to go outside here in zone 5, on Thanksgiving Day, and pick my own lettuce and herbs for our meal.<br /><br />The voles seem to have vacated the premises, for now at least.<br /><br />My husband still seems to be crazy about me after 25 years of marriage.<br /><br />The seed catalogs have begun arriving in the mail. No rest for the wicked.<br /><br />Have a Happy, everyone!Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-32227527971088606752010-11-12T18:11:00.000-08:002010-11-12T18:17:24.014-08:00Winding DownThis has been a most annoying autumn for me. I'm trying desperately to get all the outside cleanup work done before winter finally hits, and I just can't seem to catch a break on this score. Whenever I've had free time to work outside, it's been rainy/freezing/windy/all of the above. Whenever I'm tied up elsewhere, the weather is stunningly beautiful. Like today - we finally had a sunny, windless day with temps in the low 60's, and did I have time to work? Nooooo. If I could have had today, I think I could have gotten most, if not all, the remaining chores done. Now I'll probably have no choice but to freeze my hindquarters off, working outside, in a race to beat winter to the punch. Bitch, bitch, bitch.....Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-71616559131163475252010-10-02T12:07:00.000-07:002010-10-02T12:14:58.698-07:00Voles - More Tales from the Dark SideThey're baaaack.......<br />One day last week we had some very mild weather for the end of September, so I decided to eat my lunch out on the patio with my fountain turned on to provide a soothing background. Well....the minute water started to bubble up in the urn, a really nasty stench permeated the air. I can only compare it to an ad I saw on TV a few years back - I don't remember what the product/service was, but a guy comes out of what's clearly a bathroom, waving a newspaper behind him and saying, "I think we can consider this wing of the house closed!". That kind of odor. The kind that means the voles have returned to use my fountain's catch basin as a toilet. My comments ran along the lines of "!@#$%^&***"!!! I then unplugged the fountain, waited for the aroma to die down, and consumed my lunch in gloomy silence. At this point in the season, I saw no reason to go to the trouble of cleaning out the catch basin for the third time this year; I'll just wait a few more weeks and do it when I dismantle the fountain to put it away for the winter. Sigh.Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-86857734368905533672010-09-30T18:28:00.000-07:002010-09-30T18:53:27.610-07:00A Grand Evening OutI really need to keep up on what's happening at my alma mater! I just arrived home a short while ago, having had the unexpected and tremendous pleasure of hearing Amy Stewart speak. A short sidebar notice in the local paper the other night was how I found out that she was appearing at the college. For those who may not be familiar with her work (and if you like reading and gardening, you need to remedy that), she's written several best-selling books: "Flower Confidential" (a thorough exploration of the cut-flower industry), "From the Ground Up" (a memoir of the first garden she ever made) and her most recent book, "Wicked Plants" (anecdotes and information on poisonous plants). She is also familiar to legions of garden bloggers as part of the great "Garden Rant" blog.<br /><br />Amy gave an overview of her books, but also discussed writing in general, which was wonderful. She's a natural speaker - energetic, funny, and passionate. She's also one of those fortunate writers who manages to tackle a subject head-on, acquire mountains of data, statistics and interviews - and then manages to distill it down into an informative book that doesn't read like a textbook. I don't know how she does it, but she does it brilliantly. If she wasn't such a nice person, I'm afraid I'd have to be bitterly envious of her! If you ever have the opportunity to hear Amy Stewart speak - do yourself a favor, drop everything and go. Definitely time well spent!Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-5662534821770455372010-09-27T15:32:00.000-07:002010-09-27T15:58:12.312-07:00Flower Arranging in the Time of Dahlias<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNDn9wPUw0g1CnUJupR9lZkPvgaP3Wnw2yBCwfXe04KGaMfHBWYD16YP2xiRx3F12tmcfb5YSJ4fqd-6kxN5E-TsZI-XbvbRtYQponagqSG4ossAvVFx9xmb1zvkAXIx3RAy7x0N-4plxY/s1600/L1010151.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNDn9wPUw0g1CnUJupR9lZkPvgaP3Wnw2yBCwfXe04KGaMfHBWYD16YP2xiRx3F12tmcfb5YSJ4fqd-6kxN5E-TsZI-XbvbRtYQponagqSG4ossAvVFx9xmb1zvkAXIx3RAy7x0N-4plxY/s320/L1010151.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521725019061893922" /></a><br />Even though it means that winter is inevitably, inexorably creeping up on us, I do love fall (before frost, anyway) for one particular reason - my dahlias are blooming, and oh, the colors! The shades of dahlias, even the most pastel of them, are at once subtle and intense. I've gotten several new ones this year, and at least a couple of them are heirloom varieties from Old House Gardens in Michigan. Two of them appear in this arrangement I quite literally threw together this morning. <br /><br />The dark maroon dahlias at the base of the arrangement are a newer cultivar called 'Nuit de Ete'. The larger dark pompom type is called 'Karma Choc'; a luscious dark shade that would work well in a chocolate-themed garden. The multi-colored pompom is one of the Old House Gardens heirlooms, 'Kaiser Wilhelm'; the multiple colors make it very adaptable to different companion flowers as well as containers. The other Old House offering is the hot pink-shaded dahlia 'Winsome', a dahlia I fell in love with a few years ago when visiting Stan Hywet Hall in Akron, Ohio. The large, dinner-plate type at the top of the arrangement is another new one for me this year, called 'Vancouver'. It's an indescribable garnet/fuschia shade with vague white edges on the petals - it's a prolific bloomer, and it will be back next season. As an aside, the other flowers appearing here are a couple of small double 'Pamina' Japanese anemones and an aster that I found in a vacant lot in my neighborhood. I have no idea whether it was an escaped garden variety, a chance seedling or what. I just liked the color: petals of a pale blue/violet with a pink center. It plays well with anyone you pair it with, so at this time of year, it's one of my "indispensables".Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-71028012249262523002010-09-13T17:32:00.001-07:002010-09-13T18:02:49.488-07:00Sedums Great and SmallNow that the sedums are in their full glory, I'm amazed at the variety of the genus. I have probably half a dozen different ones, ranging from the dainty cauticola to a new one this year called 'Postman's Pride'. Beginning at the tiny end of the scale, there's Sedum cauticola; small and almost perfectly formed, with blue-green leaves and bright pink flowers. It's no more than about 4" high, and it cascades ever so slightly - really lovely. I also have Sedum rupestris 'Angelina', with its starry yellow flowers and ferny green stems, as well as a sprawling groundcover sedum that I haven't bothered to identify. It blooms infrequently, but when it does it sends up a stalk about 8" high in midsummer topped by mauve flowers. Of course I have 'Autumn Joy' (who doesn't?), but I also bought Sedum telephium 'Matrona' several years ago, and I like it better every year. This elegant sedum has maroonish stems and leaves, and pale pink blooms. An added bonus is that it stays very erect even under wind and rain - pity the same can't be said about 'Autumn Joy', which flops all over the place when the weather is bad. My latest acquisition, 'Postman's Pride', promises to be quite a sight. It does look a bit lanky this first year, as it spent the better part of two months in its shipping pot, on a shelf on the patio - it ended up with curvature of the spine. The color is fantastic; a deep, dark wine red with sort of orange-red flowers. I've not seen anything quite like it, and I'll really be interested to see it next year.<br /><br />As I've mentioned in a previous post, I have begun to acquire plants with cultivar names that have the names of family and friends, and came across a sedum last year called 'Carl', which also happens to be the name of a very dear friend. It has a rather different growth habit than many large sedums. The stems, rather than having sets of large leaves, have many smaller leaves all the way around. I especially like the flowers on 'Carl' - they're as dark as "Autumn Joy', but a much more intense fuschia color. It's a living reminder of my friend, and it has the added benefit of being a nectar source for the butterflies. A satisfactory plant, indeed!Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-77227568309529762322010-09-09T09:28:00.000-07:002010-09-09T09:48:06.814-07:00In or Out - Make Up Your Mind!Today is a gray day. Sullen clouds drift across the sky, occasionally spitting rain out as they pass. It's not the kind of day for working outdoors, even though I have a boatload of weeding to do. Of immediate concern is weeding underneath the pergola. I want to get this done before the sweet autumn clematis draping it bursts into bloom. It's safer that way - it attracts so many bees that being around it is like sitting in front of a stereo with the bass cranked up. The clematis is a stunning sight in bloom, if I do say so myself. All those masses of starlike white flowers give the vine that blow-your-eyeballs-out quality of June bloomers. It's been there for 6 years, and it now covers nearly the entire length of the pergola.<br /><br />I still have my doubts as to whether it actually is Clematis terniflora/paniculata. All the reference books say that sweet autumn clematis has a delicious fragrance, and mine has none whatsoever. I'm inclined to think that it was mislabeled, and in reality is Clematis fargesioides ('Paul Farges'), also sometimes referred to as 'Summer Snow'. That variety isn't listed as being fragrant, but the two look nearly identical and bloom around the same time. Still, fragrant or not, it's a sight to see in the fall when everything else is dead, dying or gone. And goodness knows, here in the Northeast, those days are fast approaching. Uncomfortably fast......<br /><br />Maybe working in the conservatory would be more productive today. I think I'll haul out the BotaniWipes and clean up the Christmas cacti (a constant battle with the mealy bugs), then clear off the counter and put them there, out of the light, so that they can begin setting buds for the late-fall display. As my late mother was fond of saying, "It'll do you some good besides helping you!".Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-90628773979114077372010-09-06T12:09:00.000-07:002010-09-06T12:18:00.626-07:00What to do on Labor DayWell, here we are at Labor Day - what the TV weathermen annoyingly refer to as "the unofficial end of summer". Changes in the landscape, albeit subtle, are cropping up daily - tons of goldenrod blooming, here and there the odd maple beginning to color up. It really is a bittersweet time of year, and because we elected to spend our holiday at home rather than at my sister's in Pennsylvania, I'm nagged by the thought that time for planting and transplanting is rapidly evaporating. You're home, you should be out there using the afternoon to start getting the Big Dig plants back into the ground - that's what the gardening side of my brain keeps saying to me. However, the hedonistic, indulgent - all right, LAZY - part of my brain is saying, "Screw it - it's a holiday, you've been goofing off all weekend, why stop now?". The lazy side is very persuasive; plus, I just checked the radar and there's rain heading this way. The problem of what to do on Labor Day has now been solved!Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-37551731229779864022010-08-27T19:27:00.000-07:002010-08-27T19:47:09.032-07:00The Finishing Touches on the Big DigToday, I finally FINALLY got the plants replaced along the new front walk!! Things weren't looking too optimistic initially - I had to dig up 6 peony divisions before I found two with eyes. I was a bit surprised that out of 6 plants, that few had eyes. It makes me wonder how many of the dozen or so pots sitting in the vegetable garden are worthless..... Anyhoo, once I got my peonies reinstated along the walk (I had replanted the roses a week ago), I then dug up the spiraeas and put them in. Last were 2 sedums, one on either side of the dogwood. One sedum is special - a cultivar called 'Carl' that I bought in honor of a very dear friend. I started buying plants named after family and friends the year after my mother died. For her, I bought a hardy lady's slipper called 'Hilda', which sadly didn't make it. Crocus 'Dorothy' for a "second mom" and narcissus 'Dottie's Dream' for an elderly relative followed. Hence, the appearance of 'Carl'. There are still many people who need to be represented in my garden, and in time to come I hope they will be. For the time being, my front walk is itself again (all save bulbs), and that feels good. Very good.Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-38347960592443130672010-08-24T13:43:00.000-07:002010-08-24T13:46:58.770-07:00Death Before Lunch - EpilogueThere were good things and bad things about finishing up the replacement of the fountain pump. Before I went in to lunch, I loosely put the basin cover and the screen over the basin to try to keep the water clean. I came back out, removed the cover prior to putting in the new pump, and what do I see? Yep, you guessed it - one of the little buggers was scooting around the rim of the basin. Bad thing. I chased him/her out, then got back to work. Good thing: the new pump works exactly as it should, the mellow sound of gently splashing water is once again heard on the patio. Life is good. For now.Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-89441550727278053182010-08-24T09:30:00.000-07:002010-08-24T09:42:57.941-07:00Death Before LunchThis morning, I undertook a task that I've been putting off for too long. I knew weeks ago that the !@#$% voles were mucking about around my water feature on the patio. I have a large, cobalt-blue ginger jar urn that sits atop a basin holding a pump - this becomes a small fountain, very pleasant to sit and listen to while enjoying a glass of wine. The pump has never been what you'd call energetic, and this spring when I set things up, it was positively anemic. So I purchased a new pump, and this morning I began to dismantle the whole set-up.<br /><br />Now, I knew going into it that I'd undoubtedly have to clean out the basin, because when the voles muck about, they literally muck about - there would be mud and small stones in the water. Oh, and they also seem to use it as a toilet. It's tons of fun. Anyway, I got the pavers out from around the edge, only to find a very flat, ossified vole. It had been dead for a bit. OK, fine. Then, I took the cover off the basin and started bailing out the bilge. When I was down to about 2 inches of water, what did I find? A bloated, dead baby vole floating around. Lovely. I quickly disposed of the corpses, finished cleaning out the basin, covered it up to try to keep the water clean, and then (amazingly) came in to eat lunch.<br /><br />Now that lunch is over, I am preparing to go out and put everything back in place, with the sincere hope that the new pump will A) work and B) pump vigorously. I take this opportunity to announce that if neither of these hopes are realized, I will be officially honked off. That is all.Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-7355840529481516152010-08-19T15:26:00.000-07:002010-08-19T15:46:08.546-07:00Farewell to Sweet PeasToday began rather sadly - I finally made myself yank out what was left of the sweet peas. Now that the weather has cooled somewhat, I've been getting some sporadic flowers, but most of the vines were dry and brown. I cut the two flowers that were open and proceeded to yank. Once they were gone, and the pea fence removed, things did look better. Two rows in the back garden were now open, so I planted more lettuce. Pluses and minuses, as my husband likes to say.<br /><br />On a really positive note, the Great Replanting along the new front walk has begun. After lunch, I went out and started transplanting the three rosebushes that I wanted placed there. First to go in was 'Gertrude Jekyll'. 'Gertrude' has spent the last two months out in a huge pot in the back garden, and my task now was to somehow maneuver her, first out of the fenced enclosure and into the wheelbarrow, then out to the walk. The first part of this didn't go quite as easily as I'd hoped. Recent rains made for a VERY heavy pot; heavier than I'd expected. Long story short, I was on the verge of caving in and begging my husband to help me out when I suddenly remembered that I had one of those Potlifter gadgets! I brought it out, slipped it over the pot - and after an inordinate amount of huffing, puffing and swearing got it into the wheelbarrow. The only casualty was my left knee, which sustained a good bruise, so on the whole I did all right. 'Tiffany' and 'Nancy Reagan' (yes, I was so taken with this rose that I temporarily abandoned my anti-Reagan scruples) followed quickly. They've promised rain tonight, and I'm devoutly hoping for it. After all, nature does a far better job of watering than I can do. Peonies will begin following the roses tomorrow. Onward!Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-52026000884062577402010-08-17T18:16:00.000-07:002010-08-17T18:39:57.888-07:00Go, and Let Us Have Done With You!Why won't they just go away?<br /><br />I speak, of course, of the ubiquitous vole. Apparently they had a lot of hatchlings over the last few weeks, and now I'm running into the little buggers all over the bloody yard. Scurrying hither and yon, they duck under low-hanging plants and scuttle across my patio. They scoot under the downspout trays and they've worn a track in the grass along the raised bed out front. They are EVERYWHERE. <br /><br />Of course, it doesn't help that I'm behind in my weeding in every area of the yard, thus affording them ample cover. I'm usually a staunch advocate of keeping cats indoors, but this is almost enough to make me wish for a few good barn cats - they'd make short work of the little critters. Come to think of it, so would some dogs. We had a dog when I was a teenager that was forever bringing dead moles up on the front porch. (My mother, like Queen Victoria, was not amused.) However, I lack any outdoor animals that could take them on. I guess that I'll just have to endure until I can finally get the beds cleaned up and then lay down a veritable snowfall of Shake Away granules. In the meantime, I can only echo the words of Oliver Cromwell: "Depart, I say. Let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!"Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-66917837110297437552010-08-13T13:52:00.000-07:002010-08-13T13:59:28.162-07:00Goin' to the Chapel.....I just returned home from delivering the flowers I did for a wedding in Rochester, at the Colgate Divinity School. Wedding flowers are a hobby for me, something I just sort of fell into years ago. I started out doing silk flowers, then progressed to fresh after working for a florist for a couple years. I love working with fresh flowers; particularly coordinating shades and colors. The right combination of colors makes an arrangement simply sing!<br /><br />Today's bride chose light and dark purple, with touches of blue and white. I made hand-tied bouquets with the two colors of lisianthus, light blue delphinium, small white asters, all centered around a large light blue hydrangea. The interplay of light and dark hues was striking, and of course, the hand-tied assembly gave the flowers the appearance of just having been picked from the garden. The bride was immensely pleased, so - job well done!Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4620916451414703673.post-54653525366686064342010-08-12T18:20:00.000-07:002010-08-12T18:31:38.805-07:00Corn SeasonWell, it's been a while since my last post, but I've been busy with a wedding I booked earlier this year. It takes place tomorrow afternoon, Friday the 13th. (When I asked the bride how many people had given her a ration because of the date, she replied that her fiance wanted a date that would make their anniversary easier to remember! Nice touch.) I've done the flowers for the wedding; in fact, putting those together is how I spent my day today. The results are, if I do say so myself, pleasing. However, working intensely like that means that I'm not much interested in cooking anything elaborate. And now that it's corn season, I don't need to! Herewith is one of my favorite corn recipes. It originally comes from the New York Wine and Culinary Center (I've streamlined it a bit), it's dead simple and it's delicious. You can make it year-round using BirdsEye Steamfresh corn - no need to thaw/cook first.<br /><br />Roasted Corn<br /><br />Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut corn off the cob (as much as you need to supply your particular number of people). Put in a bowl, drizzle lightly with olive oil. Add ground thyme to taste, lightly salt and pepper. Stir to coat corn. Turn out onto a baking sheet and spread in a single layer. Bake at 375 for approximately 10 minutes.<br /><br />Enjoy one of the best things about late summer!Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18408261796860672027noreply@blogger.com0