Winter Bouquet

 

 

A bit on the gothic side, I'll admit.

 

My daughter picked this for me the other day:

Echinacea seed heads, dried rose stems, dead corkscrew rush

 

My husband didn't quite see the charm.

I believe he said something along the lines of, "Now we're putting dead things in vases?"

On the plus side, they don't require any water, and will probably last as long as I'm willing to keep them around. (I'll give them a few more days, before discreetly disposing of them.)

 

I have to chuckle, though, when I think about giving it to someone.

What sentiment would you derive from this lovely bouquet?

What I'm Learning From BBC TV

When Erin over at The Impatient Gardener made a YouTube channel with all kinds of gardening shows linked, I decided to just take a look.

I'm addicted already and it's only been a week!

What I like most about it is the practical tips. Like most gardeners, I'm learning by trial and error as I go, and I've read all kinds of books. Sometimes, though, just having a person show me how to do a task while explaining why sinks in and makes so much more sense.

 

So without further ado, what I've learned so far from Monty Don and others on the Gardener's World 2014 series:

 

1. Pruning Roses

 

Winter pruning stimulates growth, therefore prune back the weakest shoots the hardest.  My 'Yellow Topaz' rose in back (pictured) is very vigorous, but an odd shape. I'm looking forward to March for a good pruning!

My 'Watercolors' rose and my burgundy iceberg rose will also get pruned based on this advice.

 

Summer pruning inhibits growth. 

 

2. Growing potatoes

 

potatoes planted last year with the square foot gardening method

 

I've been doing the square foot gardening method where you dig a hole, then fill it in as the plant grows up.  Also, I have cut up the seed potatoes and put 4 or 5 pieces in each hole.

I'm going to try Monty's method this year: chit the potatoes first (put it in a sunny place for the eyes to grow), then plant whole potatoes, small end down, 6 inches deep. One potato per hill. Done.

The closer together, the smaller the potatoes you'll get. I didn't know that.

So I'll plant them 12-18 inches apart.

It sound so much easier than the method I've been doing.

Also, harvest them with a fork rather than a shovel!

So many of them last year were sliced in half with the shovel inadvertently.

 

3. For fruit trees, strength and vigor of the tree make it want to grow upwards, but more fruit forms on the horizontal branches. It makes a lot of sense.  Apparently roses are this way as well.

So, for anything you want fruit/lots of blooms from, or that you're training to a trellis, fan the branches out horizontally or at a 45 degree angle for maximum fruit or flowers.

I just bought a climbing rose for the back flowerbed, so I will definitely keep that in mind.

 

Apple tree behind the shed, the first summer after planting.

It has not blossomed since and now doesn't even get that much sun with the completion of the shed.

 

4. This is more of just a mindset, but if it's not working, take it out or move it.

This is inspiring me to move my lilac bush off the slope. It has maybe grown 6 inches in the last 4 years. Obviously, it is not getting what it needs on the slope. It has never flowered, either.

If the roots look fine, I'll transplant it over to our East side terrace.

Also, the apple tree behind the shed needs to move.

Looking at it with what I know now, almost every branch is vertical, no doubt reaching for the light.

It just gets too much shade back there. No wonder it hasn't blossomed since the first year.

So that will be moved as well, probably to the East side terraces, although I'm toying with the idea of trying espalier on the west side of the house.

 

I would love to add a Japanese maple back there, if there is one that would cope with the clay soil.

 

 

Similarly, the blueberry bushes that have struggled for so long need to go. I either need to move the strawberries away from them, refresh the bed's soil and plant new ones, or just take out the acidic soil, replace it with regular stuff, and make it part of the garden.

 

5. With trees, don't add compost to the hole. Make it wide and fairly shallow. The tree's roots need to spread out into the surrounding soil as quickly as possible, so if it's a lot different than what you've put in the hole, the roots won't want to leave and the tree will be weaker. 

 

6. Repetition is what turns a random collection of plants into a garden.

I've been thinking about my front, top terrace.

 

The top terrace.

Daphne at the bottom front of the picture, with hardy hydrangea, boxwood, snowball bush, and elderberry as you move around towards the top.

 

The other 2 terraces have all kinds of lovely repetition going on.

That one I just plunked down 5 different shrubs and it has always bothered me, but I couldn't put my finger on why. Now I know. So I'm going to move the tiny little daphne on the end and plant another boxwood there, to add a little more repetition and continuity.

I'm debating moving the snowball bush as well, but haven't decided on that yet.

 

7. Plants I want to add after watching:

buddleia (butterfly bush): my front flowerbeds are supposed to attract bees/butterflies and I have quite a few plants that do that, but I need a buddleia. I don't have room for one unless something comes out, or I can put some in on the east side terraces.

 

ornamental grasses: I had this thought as I was watching last night--if weedy grass does really well on my back slope, there must be some ornamental grasses that would do well, right? I'm going to do a little research and see what I can find out.

Also, research "clay slope wildflower mix" and see what I can come up with.

The mix I tried a few years ago did absolutely nothing, but then, it had all that weedy grass to compete with.

 

dahlias: I've always avoided these, beautiful as they are, because I didn't want the bother of digging them up every fall, storing them, and replanting in the spring. So the brilliant (ha! see, the lingo is sinking in as well) thing to do is to plant them in pots. Then the whole pot can be put in, or at the very least, they will be easy to dig back up and take care of, as you will be emptying the pot in the fall anyway.

 

 

I was going to start taking notes then I thought--oh yeah, that's why I have a blog. Cracking!

This year I'll be filling in the rest of the east-side terrace, so I'm busy thinking about what I want over there. I also just bought some roses to plant down in front on the west side of the driveway, to begin changing that blank landscape into something worth looking at.

I'm excited to get started on some of these changes!

Only 2 more months to go!

 



Garden Evaluation: Herbs & Vegetables

Overall, I was late getting just about everything in this year.

Spring veggies didn't go in until May 1, and with the garden expansion still going on, the summer veggies didn't get in the ground until the end of June.

Even so, we had some success.

Let's talk about it.

 

Oregano: Even with having divided this last fall, we still harvested quite a bit. I cut them back in June again, then we dried them. This time we dried the whole stems in the dehydrator, then stripped and crumbled the leaves afterword. It was much faster that way! We ended up with a pint, which I gave to a friend, since we still have a lot from 2 years ago.

 

 

Other herbs: I planted some basil and pineapple sage in a pot. They started out strong, but were done about mid summer. Surprisingly, I couldn't find any rosemary starts to buy this year. So we were a bit sparse on herbs.

 

Peas: I did 2 packets, one each of 'Little Marvel' and 'Oregon Sugar Pod II'.
We really enjoyed these this year. The kids got many big handfuls to snack on. Every year I think--we need more peas! I wasn't super thrilled with my trellising. I need to figure out a better way to do that this year. The peas had just about pulled it down by mid-season.

Potatoes: 5 hills 'Yukon Gold', 4 hills 'Viking.' Smaller harvest than anticipated this year. Once again we had some hills that just rotted without growing at all. However, I'm going to try Monty's (yes, first name basis with my friend Monty from Gardener's World,)  potato planting method next spring and see if it makes a difference. Namely, chit the potatoes first, plant the whole potato, and space them a little further apart.

 

Spinach: 2 varieties: 'Tyee' and 'Olympia Hybrid.' We were loving the spinach this year! I need to plant it further apart so we don't have to thin as much. Or start it from seed earlier in February and plant out when it's a little bigger.  

 

Beets: 2 varieties: 'Chioggia' (red/white striped) and 'Cylindra.' We got some this year! None were very big, and I'm not sure if we just picked them too early or what. We like the Cylindra best. Chioggia looked better raw, but by the time you cooked them, it was just kind of a dirty white color. I learned how to roast them and that was my favorite way to eat them. I want to try them again next spring.

 

Carrots: Our carrots struggled! First we did a Rainbow Mix and Scarlet Nantes, which I just scattered, but hardly any germinated. So next I did a couple furrows of Danvers Half Longs. We got some here and there, but didn't ever harvest enough at one time to process or freeze.
The multi-colored ones were very sweet and good-tasting. I want to try those again. 
Next spring I'm going to do rows. I just haven't decided if they're going to be all along the front, or several short ones going front to back in one section.

 Beans: I found a tri-color bean mix, with purple, green, and yellow beans. I had two separate bean patches going, which both produced a steady yield. Enough for snacking.

 

Tomatoes: Mostly 'Oregon Spring' with some 'New Girl,' and 2 'Sungold'. We had good yields this year. I made some salsa to can, and I also had enough to do several batches of homemade tomato sauce, roasting them in the oven with onions and garlic.
Marked difference from last year--I'm crediting the compost and manure we added before planting.

Peppers: We harvested several small ones, all green. Once again I am underwhelmed by the peppers here. I didn't do any kind of plastic cover on the ground, though.

Zucchini: Our one plant up top produced for us this year. It was nice! We had enough to make some zucchini bread and some to eat, too.

 

 

Pumpkins: The kids especially enjoyed these this year. We had enough for each one to carve one for Halloween. We harvested probably 8 or 9 minis, which were brought in as decorations. Eventually, we ate the minis.  There was one variety that was particularly yummy and one that was really stringy and not very good. I don't remember which was which. Darn!  The perils of waiting to evaluate things. I think next year I will plan a meal to eat the minis soon after Halloween.

Squash: We harvested 2 butternut squash. One we just ate a few weeks ago and it was quite tasty. The other got rotten in storage before we got to it.

Cucumbers: These were a no-show this year. Died right off within a couple weeks of planting.

Watermelon: We actually harvested a few baseball size watermelons this year! They were good, but I think next year if we do melons I want to try cantaloupes instead.



Let There Be Grass...sort of

 

It is time to record the saga of the grass.

 

This is a story that starts, really, 4 years ago, when we decided to add a few features to our backyard. Namely, a shed, and a garden.

Both of these projects required very large tractors to rumble around in the backyard, along with the truck bringing up loads of supplies periodically.

To call our space a "yard" was almost a mockery.

We figured there was no need to even try to plant grass until we were done with the tractors.

We had the vacant lot vibe going on--not just weeds, but DEAD weeds.

There were ankle-twisting ridges and furrows all over the place.

On the plus side, the kids could dig holes or do whatever they wanted, because nothing they did would make it much worse than it was already.

And meanwhile, the garden and my flowerbeds were thriving.

 

So, finally towards the end of the summer, my husband completed the 3rd and final garden expansion. Done with tractors in the back!

It was time to start talking about putting in a lawn.

 

First things first--there were several areas that need levelling.

So we hired a local landscaping company to come out.

 

Dirt work.

 

At this point, we realized that we needed a sprinkler system, as well.

The thing is, we realized that we are basically incapable of keeping grass watered.

I don't know what it is.

Wait. Actually, I do know what it is.

I just don't care about grass that much.

I'll make sure my garden and flowerbeds stay watered. You bet!

But grass? Not so much.

 

So, insert another month of work here, while they put in sprinkler lines.

Bonus: they added an extra water faucet right by the garden! Score!

Also, one over by the side walls, that we can hook up to water that whole area.

Finally, in mid-September, they hydroseeded.

 

They used the "Playground Turf Mix."

60% Triumph Perennial Ryegrass

15% Argyle Kentucky Bluegrass

15% Kenblue Kentucky Bluegrass

10% Creeping Red Fescue

 

Sept. 28: a few patches of green here and there.

 Oct. 20: filling in a little...

 

...if you look sideways, at an angle.

 

We've had a typical very wet fall and early winter, which means that the grass got watered extra well.

Unfortunately, it also means that we haven't really been able to step on the lawn since September, unless it is frozen solid. Otherwise, you leave footprints 2 inches deep that promptly fill up with water. We are REALLY hoping that by spring our yard will be ready to play on!

Or even just walk across. We would take that, too.

 

At times we wish that we had just paid the money for sod.

There are a few problem spots that may need sod anyway.

For now, we'll stick it out and see how it goes in the spring.

Fingers crossed!

 

Bulbs are Finally In!

I wasn't going to plant any bulbs this fall.

I know! Craziness.

I don't have any more spaces ready for tulips and daffodils, other than the slope, which tends to chew them up and spit them out.

Then my husband talked me into it. It took some real arm-twisting.

After about 1/2 a conversation I said, "Oh, alright. Alright! Okay?! I'll put some bulbs in!"

I ordered 120 smaller bulbs, early bloomers:

50 each of rock garden iris mixture & muscari mixture, plus 20 snowdrops (Galanthus Nivalis 'Flore Pleno').

Then I procrastinated. No other word for it.

 

To my dismay, after an extra long fall, it froze solid for 3 weeks, with daytime temps in the 20's.

I thought I had missed my chance, after all.

Lo and behold, the last 2 weeks have warmed up.

A reprieve! Yes!

 

I just got the last of them in today.

Scattered around the top terrace out front, and a couple small patches by my front steps.

Glad to have that done!

I'll be even more glad early next spring, when these little beauties start their show.

 

 

Flowerpots' Last Hurrah

We had some good times this summer, these flowers and I.

 

[These pictures were taken about a month ago, before hard frost had set in.]

 

 The succulent boat in front sent up alien stems with strange little blooms on them.

 

The geraniums (middle) were awash with color at several different points, despite uneven watering.

The herb container didn't do much of anything, actually.

It smelled nice for a few months.

And would you look at that asparagus fern?

Incredible! It almost makes the dead bellflowers look picturesque (or so I tell myself.)

The round blue pot in front obviously gave up quite some time ago.

These were pretty awesome while they lasted.

Now in death, they too have taken on alien life forms.

 

I might have mentioned it [twenty times] before, but the decision to get our yard done pretty much sucked the gardening life out of me there at the end of the summer.

I didn't have access to water outside for a good month and a half while the yard was graded and the sprinkler system put in. This all coincided with a decent heat wave. By the time the thought occurred to me that I could actually water these containers with a pitcher of house water, it was too late for most of the flowers.

 

I did finally get them all winterized a few weeks ago (before hard frost killed off the succulents.)

Go me!

The succulents now live inside as houseplants, where the lack of water will probably not come as a shock to their systems at all. I couldn't willfully kill off the asparagus ferns, so in the end I planted them all in my vegetable garden, bottom terrace, front and center.

They are still green, even after 2+ weeks of below freezing temperatures!

 

All the flowerpots are now tucked safely away in the shed.

I have high hopes that next year will be better all around.

We'll have a lawn that we can walk on!

That makes a pretty good starting place, I'd say.

Fall Colors

So my last post was all about how I'm ready to be done done done with the vegetable garden.

My flowerbeds, on the other hand, just continue to delight me.

 

Check out the fall colors I'm enjoying out front!

 

That lovely orange is a peony.

I know!

I don't remember it doing that before!

Maybe I had already cut it down in years past?

I feel sure I would have remembered that gorgeous color.

 

These mums provide a nice spot of pink right as I pull up to the house.

Closeup of the peony.

Snowball bush on the top terrace.

So pretty!

Add them all together, with the green from the boxwood and the deep brown of the Echinacea and wow! I could stare at it all day!

When I planted these I didn't realize how much I would enjoy them in the fall.

Plus, there is no work involved for me at this point, just enjoyment.

Makes it even better!