My new Samsung Galaxy 7 phone should really be called a camera that has telephonic capabilities. I can take unbelievable macro shots with this phone and here are a few for your viewing pleasure.
Monthly Archives: August 2016
A tour around my garden:
Ornamental grasses are the dominant feature right now as they round into their peak form. So why don’t we start there.
I’m sure you are well aware of my affinity for Panicum ‘Rotstrahlbusch’ by now but if not, here is some visible propaganda.
More Panicum love here as well.
Not only do the grasses put a smile on my face but they also serve a very tangible purpose. Here they are protecting the tomatoes from the deer and doing a bang up job I must say.
‘Karl Foerster’, kicking ass in John’s garden since ’07.
A recent addition to the grass collection, Pennisetum ‘Burgundy Bunny’ has phenomenal color right now. I am going to liberally add these wherever I can find the space for them. Love.
Soghastrum (Indian Grass) has announced its presence in a big way of late but I’ll hold off on photos until they are just right. By just right, I mean when all of the blooms have arrived. For now, here is a taste of one of those blooms. Love.
Speaking of blooms on the grasses. Here is one of the Andropogon (Big Bluestem) ‘Red October’ blooms. I now get why this grass is often referred to as Turkey Foot.
Yes, there are plants other than ornamental grasses that tickle my fancy right now and some of these newly emerged this week. Like seen here with the first blooms of Chelone lyonii. This plant truly loves my often waterlogged soil and for that I am indebted for life.
This Boltonia bloom could be heard yelling “first” this morning.
Sedum ‘Matrona’ is playing nicely with Veronica ‘Royal Candles’ and my little hide-it-from-the-deer-game is still going strong.
Transition of seasons. It is coming.
Look at what we have here. The seedheads of Baptisia are slowly opening and that makes me think winter is around the corner and that makes me cold which in turn makes me both mad and sad.
Speaking of a transitional period, I just noticed this week that the stems on the Redtwig Dogwood are well, red and that also is freaking me out a bit. I love the red stems in winter and it is welcome winter interest, but for god’s sake, not yet.
This Rhamnus (Buckthorn) ‘Fine Line’ was inundated with Japanese beetles just a few weeks ago and looked nasty. Now I know how resilient and tough she is and that will be noted on the trusty plant spreadsheet.
This spring I ordered a massive quantity of small plugs of Packer Aurea (Golden Ragwort) from Izel Native Plants and while they all initially struggled with the heat and the humidity, they have all bounced back like a champ. I love the foliage. And I’m banking on mass blooms in early spring next year and post bloom, I plan on it being the plant to hide the ugly legs of others like Bee Balm and Sneezeweed.
I cannot for the life of me successfully grow Cimicifuga (Bugbane). It is official now. I’ve tried in full shade, mostly shade, partial shade and full sun. I’ve left alone for years and remained patient with no success. I’ve kept them consistently moist and no dice. It may be time to move on.
One last one before I go. I spotted this bloom of Hydrangea ‘Little Lime’ just laying in my front lawn this morning and thought it curious since it wasn’t actually eaten by the deer.
Upon closer inspection, there were Bee Balm plants knocked to the ground near it as well.
Upon closer inspection this was not the act of deer or any other animal.
Upon closer inspection, a certain 14 year old boy seemed awfully nervous around me this morning.
Upon closer inspection, said 14 y/o boy likes to hit a baseball across the front lawn and this area happens to be right in the way.
QOTD: How should I appropriately handle this situation?
As we hit the midpoint of August and slog through the dog days of summer, I realize that the plants in my garden can be broken down into three different categories:
Fading
Still going strong
Ready to take center stage
I guess these same categories exist throughout all of the gardening “seasons”, but it seems to be at an extreme right now.
And the garden, shocker, reflects life itself. Allow me to pontificate.
With the heat and humidity at what feels like an all time high (I’ll still take it over winter) I some times find myself caving and giving in to the joys of air conditioning. Likewise, so many plants have succumbed to the conditions and have thrown in the towel. No more fighting for that last new bloom or trying to keep up the facade of clean looking foliage. Uncle.
At the same time, there are those plants in my garden that say “f you” to these conditions and keep kicking ass. Not too unlike a certain gardener I know who can’t get enough of the stinging sweat in his eyes, the burning in the calves and easily runs through three t-shirts a day. A gardener who accepts the chuckles from his neighbors and keeps pulling weeds like it was hot yoga.
And then there are those plants who sense the cooler weather is coming and are ramping up for a big time display. There are subtle signs from some and not so subtle signs from others. You can feel their excitement, their turn to take the lead in the play. Fall is their time and they f’n know it. Hopefully my kids feel that same type of energy and excitement as they soon head off to high school and 5th grade. Because all kids feel that way,right?
FADING
No plants better represent the concept of fading than the coneflower. Phenomenal in peak bloom but in my humble opinion, still killer as the pink and yellow and white washes out, turns black and eventually becomes all cone.
Almost all of the Bee Balm blooms are in full fade mode yet still have a presence. That is if you take them in from a distance and ignore the slow takeover of powdery mildew.
Fading Agastache still pulls in the bees and who wants to get in the way of that?
STILL GOING STRONG
The dwarf Sneezeweed (‘Mariachi’ series) are still blooming strong and the deer have no interest.
Providing a nice contrast in form and color with the emerging ornamental grasses.
If it takes surrounding hydrangea by grasses and other deer despising plants, so be it. It has worked and this hydrangea continues to thrive even with the extreme heat of the past few weeks.
Veronica ‘Royal Candles’, one of the few plants I cut back religiously, always provides multiple rebloom periods. These were cut back only two weeks ago.
Of course it isn’t all about the flowers and one of my favorite foliage plants right now is Diervilla ‘Cool Splash’. It brightens up one of the few shaded areas in my garden and holds up all spring/summer.
I have tried for years to find a blue evergreen that would be ignored by the deer and say “no problem” to my clay soil that can sometimes be a bit waterlogged. Some how, Juniper ‘Wichita Blue’ has been the one to take the crown and three years in I am beyond thrilled. Upright, untouched by the deer and very little winter damage has made it a winner.
READY TO TAKE CENTER STAGE
The first signs of bloom on the Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’ appeared this week, which is always a reminder that September is fast approaching.
Boltonia blooms aplenty are here with plenty more to come. Of course once all blooms are present it will lean over and not be as fun to look at but I’ll be sure to never show you that photo.
Eupatorium ‘Wayside’ or Hardy Ageratum (but not really an Ageratum) finally survived the winter for me after two previous attempts. It seems to have reseeded more than it actually survived but who can complain. I love the late season color. A fun one to photograph in fall.
BONUS – Ornamental Grasses
I kind of like ornamental grasses in case you are new here. You’ve been warned.
Pennisetum ‘Hameln’ in full bloom as of this week.
First signs of blooms on Panicum ‘Northwind’.
Same goes for Miscanthus ‘purpurascens’ or Flame Grass.
Panicum ‘Rotstrahlbusch’ and their airy blooms.
I “attempted” to rid my garden of all Northern Sea Oats and while there is still a ways to go, I’ve made major progress. Having said that, I can’t deny these NSO that have grown right through an Itea shrub look kind of awesome. Oh well.
QOTD: Do you like this time of year in your garden? Why or why not?
After hours of research, reminiscing, comparisons, self evaluation, honest arguments with myself and numerous drafts thrown in the garbage in a fit of rage, I’ve finally completed my long awaited “Top 14 Favorite Plants List”.
Why 14? Why not, I say. Truth is that was the natural cutoff point and there was no way I could limit it to 10.
10 is so 2015.
Consider the “extra 4” a bonus for your botanical viewing pleasure.
A few suggestions before the reveal:
- Print this list and take it to your local nursery when shopping for plants in fall.
- Memorize this list and share it with your friends while at your kids soccer game.
- Email it to all of your friends and show them that you’re thinking about them.
- Share this on all forms of social media so you can say that you read this list before it exploded and became the go-to list for gardeners all over the globe. #WhatAList
When compiling this list, I took a lot of different criteria into account from multiple season impact, ease of maintaining, prettiness level, level of creature attraction, focal pointed-ness, etc. In the end, there was no official scoring system and all of these plants (perennials, shrubs, grasses only) naturally fell into their ranking. Some are ubiquitous and others not so well known.
All of these plants currently reside in my garden and I eliminated all plants from contention if I haven’t had years nurturing/killing/crying with them.
Each plant has a hyperlink to the original blog posts I had dedicated for each or were part of another story that I’d think you’d enjoy. Go ahead, click them and get educated.
So here we go, in reverse order starting with:
14. Mountain Mint
13. Viburnum carlesii ‘Aurora’
12. Sorghastrum nutans (Indian Grass)
11. Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’
10. Redtwig Dogwood
9. Astilbe arendsii ‘Amethyst’
5. Miscanthus purpurascens (Flame Grass)
2. Amsonia hubrichtii and/or tabernaemontana
What do you think of the list? Any surprises? Any strong disagreements? Fill those comments up now and let’s get a discussion rolling.
Read at your own peril:
- When a “farmer’s tan” becomes all the rage in fashion, I’ll be on the cover of Esquire. People were literally alarmed at the beach a few weeks back and my daughter got a case of the giggles like I’ve never seen before. It’s that bad … or good.
- I’m way late to the party, but I just finished Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Big Magic”. A must read for those wanting to explore their creative side more. Too many quotes to add here but just know that I’m creating things like this on Instagram as a result. Scary, I know.
- Speaking of inspiration, I’m still all in on Gary Vaynerchuk and vow to one day work for him in some capacity. He lit a fire under this mid 40’s dude like I didn’t think was possible. I’m also creating things like this on Instagram as a result.
- I have many book ideas rolling around in my head and they range from a “An Illustrated guide to what not to do when gardening” to “How Joe Pye Weed changed my life” to “How to survive deer and shit soil”. Would you read any of those?
- I’m negotiating with my daughter to dispose of her swingset/playground so I can install a large and fenced in vegetable/fruit garden. On one hand, It’s killing me to end that era as I remember pushing her for hours on end just based on her smile and remember teaching both kids how to jump off a swing in style. On the other hand, this could be epic and I could teach her all about growing your own and how to tend to a garden that bears food. On the other hand part II, do I have the time for such a venture? #GardenProblems
Today was one of those magical garden days where I was incapable of thought.
Incapable of planning.
Incapable of finding fault.
Incapable of tinkering and pulling and snipping.
The garden just was and that felt fucking awesome.
I appreciated all that it took for these visitors to make it here and personally thanked them for bringing my garden to life.
I wish I could remember the exact day when I allowed Joe Pye Weed to come into my life. Because that day should be celebrated each year.
There is nothing like the feeling of the sun burning your neck, the dirt under your fingernails and the feeling of warm earth in your fingertips. But it can be eye opening and rewarding to take a step back and enjoy the fruits of your labor every once in a while.
and then stepping back some more …
and some more …
Shit, I created that and it’s kind of great.
When this blissful type of day arrives, I can even tolerate the clashing of colors because they had to bloom their asses off to clash in the first place.
So why not enjoy them for what they are on their own and not sweat how they interact with others. The fleeting nature of flowers/perennials is why we love them so damn much.
The fading of flowers is part of the process and one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned over the years. Sure, I could cut the spent blooms to promote new blooms and keep things all tidy and sometimes I’ll do just that. But allowing the blooms to fade gracefully while others take the lead role just feels right. Take yourself out of the equation.
And some times plant combos create themselves through some sort of divine intervention. Like this Anemone bloom crawling up inside this Blue Grama Grass. I have no memories of planting this Anemone and have never successfully seen one bloom in my own garden. Now we sit back and enjoy.
QOTD – Who is better, “Blissful John” or “Let’s take all the fun and enjoyment out of gardening John”? Not that I can control who appears when, but I’m curious just the same.
Over the last few months I’ve decided to embrace my inner 13 year old (acne and changing voice not included) and have spent an inordinate amount of time on two younger skewing social media platforms – Instagram and Snapchat. I don’t know if I’m in age denial, trying to hang with the cool kids or if I’m really into making the most of these channels as it applies to my storytelling desires. Whatever it is, I’m all in and having a blast.
I’ve been on Snapchat for 6 months now and I love it because it’s difficult to grasp. I played around with it for weeks and made stupid mistakes like sending pictures of flowers directly to people who could give a shit. But I couldn’t stop trying to master it. Once I understood the basics, I felt like I was a part of a cool secret club. Even at 44 years old, it’s fun.
Once my 10 year old daughter joined (and guess who gets to monitor her activity?) it took her no time to show me Snapchat’s full capabilities. I picked up a lot on my own and I’m proud of my ability to be a practitioner, but these kids just have that intuition and it is fascinating and interesting to watch. Say all that you want about “millenials” and youth culture today, but these kids are creative and persistent and I love it.
And now this week, Instagram announced the launch of Instagram “stories” which is a direct ripoff of Snapchat. I’ve only had two days to play with it, but here’s my take:
- It is Snapchat but with a more user friendly interface
- It is much easier to promote your own stories to a larger audience
- It lacks the whimsy and fun and youthfulness of Snapchat.
- The filter function on Snapchat, which is not part of Instagram “stories” is a big difference maker for those who love showing off their travels.
I’m sure you’ll be reading more about it in the weeks to come as the battle between social media platforms intensifies. I see no reason why both can’t exist on their own and I’ll be using both for different storytelling reasons.
I’ve created a few Instagram “stories” so far, including one that documented my trip to my local garden center. I can’t show you the videos here, but if you hurry, you can see it on my Instagram profile but do it quickly, because just like Snapchat, the stories disappear after 24 hours. This “here and gone” theory creates an immediacy not so different from how we communicate when we talk to each other each day. I get it and like it. Your Instagram photos are pretty and nicely filtered and well thought out. Your Instagram “stories” are more off the cuff and raw but more of who you are. It’s nice to have both capabilities within the same platform.
My Instagram “story” from today:
It is a bit incomplete without the videos I included, but you get the point.
I’ll be diving into this more and more and lucky you will be able to view these stories over the next few weeks.
Before I go, have any of you planted Oregano ‘Kent Beauty’? That is what you see in my haul above and I’m curious how it has performed for you?
QOTD – any interest in Snapchat or Instragram? If so, let’s connect and if not, let me know why. I won’t be insulted … easily.
I need your 100% honest opinion below.
If you’ve visited here before and know me even slightly, I struggle with my OCD tendencies and need for control when it comes to gardening. While I enjoy and even prefer others wild and bold and out of control gardens, it takes a lot for me to create that same vibe in my own garden. I’m getting better, but I still fight the need for order and tamed plants.
And if I could play amateur psychologist for a moment, this personal need for control but a love for the more “out of control” extends to my “real” life. I find myself attracted to those people who are more outspoken, have a louder personality and aren’t afraid to say what they feel. They are an outlet for me to live vicariously through them. I’m jealous of their fearlessness.
So are our gardening lives a true reflection of our real lives? Or can we use gardening as an outlet to explore a different part of our personalities? Me thinks this is something I’ve been working through for years now, even if I wasn’t conscious of it most of the time. There is a much deeper discussion to be had here at a another time. I just need some more time to mull it over. Because the same parallel can be drawn with writing.
Moving on.
So as I was touring the garden this morning, I came upon this bit of “wildness” (relative term of course).
It took all I could handle to allow the white and purple coneflowers to coexist previously, but I could justify it since they were of the same genus. But now things are getting all sorts of wacky with that random Phlox ‘David’ appearing out of nowhere (not really “out of nowhere”, I know how it found its way there. I’m smart.) I so want to pull it out to restore order in the garden and more importantly, in my troubled cranium. Proudly, I managed to hold off so we could discuss together.
Progress.
So what would you do? Are any of you as insane as me? Do you stare whimsy in the face and say “not in my house” or are you a normal human being who appreciates such fun and random and fascinating garden happenings?
Please tell me I’m not alone.