Individual Flowers

I preface this post with an important announcement.  In order to avoid being confused with my town’s Russian spy, I have decided to forego sharing any hydrangea photos for this rest of this summer.  You have been warned.  (Or maybe my hydrangea just looks like crap…?)

Anyway, here are some of my favorites of the summer flowers…

Blanket Flower with Bonus Bee

Shasta Daisies

Irish-Eyed Susans

Summer Phlox

Now I need to get out and take some photos of the gorgeous lilies that are finally (second year in the ground) doing their thing in the wild garden to the left of my front door.

Summer In The Garden

I haven’t posted in a long time.  Sorry.  Life gets in the way and frankly, I haven’t had a lot of time for gardening in the past month or so.  Fortunately, these perennial borders largely take care of themselves.

But here are some photos of my garden from about a week ago.

View of the garden take a few days ago.

This is the summer garden taken from the house next door.

This is a view of the garden taken from the back looking out toward the street.

I need some ideas for the small perennial planting under the weeping cherry. It is gorgeous in spring, but kind of a disaster by summer. I tried adding some annuals this year, but I’m not sure they did the trick.

Gardening Reading

So I’ve been adding to my knowledge base by the second best thing after doing… reading!  I’ve found a few gardening blogs I am really enjoying.  The best ones I’ve found so far are Garden Rant, This Garden is Illegal, and Rob’s Plants.  I discovered Garden Rant and This Garden is Illegal when I was searching for gardening blogs because I was looking for some stuff to read.  Amy Stewart writes on Garden Rant, and I’ve been really enjoying her books recently.  I read her first book, From the Ground Up, a couple of weeks ago.

From the Ground Up

I think I picked a good time to read this one, because I was reading the story of her first garden shortly into the second season of my first garden.  So a lot of her concerns mirrored my own… I loved her discussion of trying to figure out the culture of the nursery and look like she fit in.  There are times I still find the local nurseries incredibly overwhelming and intimidating.  I would do better if I asked more questions, I think.

But I’m very independent about my gardening.  Just this morning, at Center Ridge nursery, which is an excellent nursery, at least four people working there asked me if I wanted help.  And I (politely) blew them all off.  I am a very garden-by-happenstance kind of person.  I have a vision of where there’s a spot I want to fill, and the general needs of a plant in that area, and then I kind of wander until I find something that seems to fit the bill.  And then half the time, I rearrange when I get home anyway.  Like today, I bought most of the shade plants for Elizabeth’s garden, because she said she wanted more plants, but I ended up putting them all in the left garden instead.  However, assuming everything takes, I think the left garden came out perfectly.  I don’t see how asking advice of a worker at the nursery, however knowledgeable, would have helped me today.

I also read Amy Stewart’s Flower Confidential.

I really enjoyed this expose of the flower industry.  I’m not in full-on book review mode, but I enjoyed going behind the scenes at the various growers, the Dutch flower auction, etc.  I’ve never been a huge cut-flower person anyway, but I will say that I would far prefer organic cut flowers now (are you reading this, Mike!?!?!?) and that I got a chuckle out of the craptastic looking roses Mike brought me for Mother’s Day while I was reading this (sorry, Mike).  Yes, they were a product of Colombia.  Somehow, I wasn’t surprised…

Still on my shelf are a couple of Ken Druse books, a book about soil, and a new book on caring for perennials.  I’ll let you know as I read them.

But it was nice to feel knowledgeable this weekend.  My best friend bought a townhouse a couple of years ago, and has done nothing (but let the weeds grow) with the 15 x 10 foot rectangle that is his front yard.  The builder apparently put down a layer of gravel covered with a layer of mulch.  But the weeds came anyway.

So yesterday I went to visit him, and we spent the day working on gardening stuff.  I’d googled some Lehigh Valley area gardening blogs, and came across this gem:  Rob’s Plants.  This guy just seems to be a true plant lover, and he’s built a tremendous suburban garden.  He has tons of local advice that is perfect for my friend, including a list of better than average nurseries in the area.  I highly recommend checking out his blog, especially if you’re gardening in the eastern part of Zone 6.  We checked one of the nurseries recommended on his blog… Kuss Brothers, and a worker there generously pointed us (I think) to the free compost my friend could get in Bethlehem.  However, there is always a catch when something is free, isn’t there?  For us, it was the fact that the compost smelled like rancid pickles, and the smell got into everything.  My car still reeks.

Kuss Brothers’ itself seems like a decent nursery.  The people were helpful, but the selection seemed really small to me.  I am not sure if I am assessing this accurately, or if I’m just spoiled by the amazing nurseries here northern NJ.

Anyway, my friend has now managed to spread about a foot of compost in his front yard, and our nursery tour gave him plenty of ideas to design a plan for his front yard.  I can’t wait to see the final product, and I’m thrilled to be passing on the gardening bug!

Bench

So I could write this long and involved post about moving the Irish-Eyed Susan because it wilted in place for no apparently reason after I transplanted it, but I won’t.  Instead, I’ll just show you the new bench I put in its place.  Yay bench!  Now the goal will be to spend more time enjoying the garden, and less time gardening.  Or will it…?

New Bench

I think the bench looks good in its new spot, and the Scotch Broom behind it right now really looks terrific.  I relocated an Irish Eyed Susan I’d put where the bench is when it flopped after transplant for no apparent reason.  And I’ve really been thinking I need a spot to just sit and be Zen in my garden.  Yay, bench!

From behind the bench.

This is the view from Elizabeth’s garden to the bench.  Her garden looks good: today we added the coral bells you see near the base of the tree, as well as the lily of the valley that is slightly to the right in the foreground.  Her garden also picked up some Sedum.  She is making progress!

Main Garden with the Bench

Here is my youngest on the new bench.  I think it’s going to be a hit, even at between flowers seasons like we have currently.

Bench

I moved the impatiens from the edge (where we would have stepped on them) to back under the bench.  I am hopeful that will do the trick.

So I am hopeful that the impatiens that I relocated from immediately in front of the bench to directly under the bench will survive down there.  But I think they’ll be okay.

I spent most of today working on the garden to the left of the front door.  I did do some planting in there last year, but I really half-assed it and did not amend the soil or really think about what was going in there.  So I worked on amending the soil and filling in the gaps today.  I added columbine, lungwort, toad lilies, another Japanese anemone, and a bunch of poppy plants.  I am really enjoying the bold of the alium against the poppies, especially compared to the pastels and purples of much of the rest of the garden.

Poppies, Alium, and a Wild Jungle Behind

Here is the Alium with the multi-colored poppies.  I added a lot more plants to this formerly very sad garden, and I am glad I did.  It is now starting to have that wild look I love.

I like the yarrow placed to block the cut-thruogh from the yard/driveway to the front door.  For some reason, as I first wrote this post and was drifting off to sleep, that said something about a school parking lot.  I am amazed at the odd things I manage to type when I am halfway to dreamland.

Yarrow

The yarrow on the left by the front door should fill in nicely.  I do not find throwing this house off balance a bit to be a problem.  Go house!  Okay, that was more random dreamland stuff (about the house being off balance).  I am awake now, and a bit confused!

Empty spot in the middle of the shade garden

See the empty spot in front of the rhododendron?  What should I fill in with there?  I have no idea, but it needs to be able to tolerate shade well.  Please comment if you have any ideas.  I am the anti-bare ground gardener, so I need ideas!

I like that the blue spruce is now surrounded on all sides by perennials.  He used to be so lonely anchoring this front of the garden.  Every so often I do find it helpful to go look at what this garden looked like when I bought the house, and to marvel at how much of a difference two years of perennial gardening have made.  Today I am particularly proud that the left garden is almost as full as the main garden.

Blue Spruce with his Perennial Friends

I need to do another post about all of the garden-related reading I’ve been doing recently.  But I think at the moment, the garden has worn me out and I need to get some sleep.

Part I: Veggies

My potatoes are going like gangbusters.  I’ve added a lot more soil to my potato box, but they keep bursting back out as soon as I get the next layer added.  

My cherry tomato plant has flowered:

Early Flowers on the Cherry Tomato

My spring garden is going like gangbusters (for the most part — some of the leaf veggies are not doing so well) and I finally got the marigolds in the ground.

Spring Garden

And the overflower garden does not look so bad:

Overflow Garden

Best of all, I have officially lost 40 pounds doing Weight Watchers (as of Wednesday evening), and I am hopeful that a summer of homegrown vegetables will help me shed the last few pounds and maintain this new healthy body.  After all, not only do I get delicious veggies to eat — but if my hands are covered with dirt all weekend, they’re probably not shoving potato chips into my mouth!

Daffodil Boobs to Brighten a Rainy Sunday

Well, it rained today.  I mean, really rained.  I was thrilled, because my plants really needed it, but sad, because it means that I am a ways off from dealing with this:

I plan to plant the marigolds around the outside edges of my vegetable gardens, as a natural insect deterrent.

And this:

I picked up two flats of impatiens to get me started with creating borders for this year's front gardens.

But I did get a fair amount done yesterday and over the preceding few days.  Most importantly, I got my last vegetable bin planted (with rainbow tomato cages, to boot):

The rainbow tomato cages were an impulse buy, but I am in love! They are totally cute!

And I added some onions and leeks to the Edible Hill of Doom:

Onions and Leeks and Berries, Oh My!

A bunch of the extra vegetable plants got added to the Edible Hill of Doom.

The spring crops are coming along well, in case you were wondering:

Spring Vegetable Garden. I need to start poking around to see if those radishes are done yet.

And I added a flat of snapdragons to the backyard fence area.

Snap, Dragon, Plant!

In other news, the burnt round not-so-ever green bushes don’t look any better in the backyard than they did in the front yard.  But on the plus side, they don’t really look any worse, either (and at least they look like ass behind the garage, where no one — aside from you — can see them).

The Not-So-Ever Greens.

Now for the flowers…

White iris shot with purple. Yay!

The bearded irises are making me happy.  This is the fourth to bloom, and it is really fun to see what pops up next.  Presby sells the rhizomes in mixed bags, so I have no clue what other colors I might have coming.  So far we’ve had one cream, two deep purple, and this one.  I think I’m getting pretty close to my estimated 30% bloom in the first year.  Hopefully we’ll still get a few more.

Now, for those who might be able to give me some advice, please feel free to chime in.  My basket of gold is going like gangbusters, but it is kind of gangly looking and starting to open up in the middle.  Should I be thinking about dividing this already?  Like everything else, I planted it only last year, so that seems pretty quick that it would be in need of division.

The Basket of Gold is looking pretty ratty. Do I need to divide this already?

And Elizabeth picked a bunch of annuals and two more perennials to add to “her” garden.  I think it’ll look pretty.  She seems to be partial to petunias and annual dianthus.

Elizabeth's Garden

She did a pretty good job planting the annuals, if I do say so myself!

Here is more of a kid’s eye view of her garden:

Okay, is it just me, or does this pair of daffodils look just like a set of gorgeous breasts?

Boobalicious Daffodils

And now I have to share these gorgeous double tulips.  I am in love.  I don’t care if they need to be replanted every year.  They are gorgeous.  I feel like I have double peonies in April (with tulip foliage).  How cool are they?

I love the streak of red in this one.

And in other news, my indoor projects went pretty well today.  I got the front foyer cleaned out.  There is now a laundry bag filled with winter accessories, another bag with gardening and other summer accessories, and two more bins (so now we have a bin for mail, two bins for shoes, and one small bin just for plant tombstones (!!!)).  And there is a big pile of stuff for the yard sale sitting in front of the fireplace.

I moved along on the girls’ rooms too.  Neither is done, but both are in better shape, and I took a trip to Target for organizing stuff.  So I still have to finish their rooms, pack up what is getting sent off/sold, and then finish my room.  But I am making progress, and I think I will be done in time for the yard sale next Saturday.  Yay!

Speaking of sales… can I leave the yard sale to run to the Van Vleck Gardens plant sale?  Is that kosher?  Heck, even if it isn’t kosher, I’m going anyway!  Must.  Feed.  Plant.  Obsession.

And in my final gardening related news, I picked up three books today: Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart, Teaming with Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels, and a book about diagnosing and curing your plants’ malaises (okay, it doesn’t say malaise, but details…).  Anyway, the cures are all supposed to be organic.  Hrmm.  Maybe I should look up my basket of gold in there!  Anyway, good night.  I think that covers my plant adventures of the weekend!

Another Saturday in the Sun

I lucked out.  I missed the crazy March storm that left us without power for four days because my older daughter and I were in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for my brother’s wedding.

But aside from that storm, it has been (knock wood), an absolutely fantastic spring.  Today was another perfect day for puttering in the garden.  But more about that tomorrow, when I actually get off my butt and upload today’s photos.

In the meantime, I still have some photos to share from a few days ago…

Here are the Columbine, about to bloom:

And here is another of my mini-bearded irises.  By the way, a cream colored iris and a white shot through with purple iris were both in bloom today.  So far, I am very happy with these minis.  Yay Presby!

This is the last of the purple tulips planted by the prior owner.  I saw some foliage from a few of the others, but none of the others have flowered.  I am hoping to be more diligent about my tulips.  I am certainly reaping the rewards of planting bulbs now.  I will post photos later, but the double tulips are outrageous.  They are as showy as double peonies.

But the former owner’s hyacinths are still going strong.  I just clipped the last of these dying flowers today.  I want the plants to put their energy back into the bulbs.  So far, so good… this is their third excellent season since I’ve been here.

In other news, Elizabeth has decided to try her skill at photography with my D40.  I only let her use it while standing on the grass with the strap around her neck and the tiny 50mm fixed lens mounted.  But some of her early results have not been all that bad…

Yes, that’s me.   That photo makes me glad that I can say that at least one part of my life isn’t about growing.  I have been doing Weight Watchers for the past ten months, and very slowly, with life happening along the way, I have managed to lose almost 40 pounds.  So I am starting to be a lot more comfortable with photographs of me than I was at this time last year.

However, my favorite subjects are still the girls and my garden:

Okay, this was a very boring post.  Even worse than usual.  I apologize.  Blargh.  I should not blog when I am out of energy.  Please forgive me.  Next time I won’t let the sun fry my brain prior to posting.

The Casualties

EDITED TO ADD:  What the heck did WordPress do to my photos?  I have definitely learned my lesson, and am returning to the linking photos from flickr method, that is for certain!

Okay, I am very excited about my overgrown, somewhat wild, but in full bloom garden below the weeping cherry tree.  My moss phlox are out in style, as are my yellow leopard’s bane, and another random mini-bearded iris.  And the columbine are just barely starting to open.

Here are the columbine:

And the combination of white daffodils and white and pink tulips by our neighbors’ driveway is really quite lovely:

I am having a lot of fun this gardening season, even though I’m also starting to realize what isn’t coming back.  The biggest offenders so far seem to be some thrift, my Irish-eyed Susans, my primroses, and my pincushion flowers.  Oh well.  Yet another excuse to haunt the garden stores…

Short But Sweet

This morning:

My husband to me: “So, hon, what’s on your agenda today?  Do you have any gardening planned?”

Me: “Not really, I really want to focus on inside the house and getting things sorted and organized for the yard sale.”

*          *          *

Around 2 P.M., my husband, to me, as I’m out in the backyard, my hands covered with dirt:

“I really should know that when I ask you if you’re going to be gardening on a beautiful spring weekend, I should simply ignore you if you tell me no.”

Me:  ”Yes, I think you’re probably right on this one.  But I’m only gardening for a little while!”

I do seem to have a problem keeping my hands out of the dirt these days!  But the daffodil bulbs growing in the compost pile really couldn’t stay there!  Anyway, moving the daffodils and a little dead heading of hyacinth, a random daffodil or two, and tulips that… ahem… someone ran over with the car while backing out of the driveway.  That really is all of the gardening I did today.  I am impressed at my restraint.

I will be more impressed when I finish the great toy sort!  At least I made some serious progress.

Dirt On My Hands

I am trying to figure out how I became this person who needs to get dirt on my hands to feel like it’s been a solid spring weekend day.  Today was the great au pair switcheroo — Mike (bless him) took the old au pair of doom to Newark Penn Station this morning to catch an Amtrak train to Maryland, and Elizabeth and I took a little adventure up to Scarsdale to pick up our new au pair (she seems very nice and normal so far — she came back with us, got her stuff unpacked, and, as planned, took off for the city to meet up with her boyfriend.  Phew.).

Today’s gardening consisted of setting out seed potatoes in one of my new gardens, planting horseradish, shallots, and garlic in my berry hill, and digging up some thornless blackberries from the neighbors and transplanting them to the berry hill.  We will see if they take or not, but my neighbors offered and it seemed worth a try.

In other news, I think a combination of the weather and not-enough-time means that tomorrow is going to be devoted to getting the interior of my house cleaned up, and beginning the sorting of items for our yard sale.  Good times!