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.
Category Archives: My garden
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.
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.
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.
This is not a paid endorsement. I wasn’t given these to trial and this isn’t a sponsored post. My wife bought me gardening gloves two years ago and they are easily the best I’ve ever owned. They are the Atlas Nitrile 3701 gardening gloves.
As you can see, I’ve beaten these up something good and yet they hold up like a champ. Not one tear in the glove to date and my precious little hands have been preserved as a result.
And while they’re tough as nails, they are thin enough to allow me to pick even the smallest of weeds with my fingertips. The best of both worlds.
That’s it. Get them. They’re the best. When I wear them, I wield my rake like I’m indestructible.
QOTD: Which gardening gloves do you use?
Some observations from out in the garden:
This white bee balm is the only one to have survived last winter and while it is nice to see it blooming, it honestly doesn’t do much for me and the powdery mildew is real bad, worse than with all of the other bee balm. We don’t know until we try, right?
Right plant for the right location = happiness, as seen with the Physostegia (Obedient Plant) below. This first photo was taken back in May when I dug up and divided a massive batch of these and relocated them to my newly extended and very empty garden bed.
Two months later and they are thriving in a very wet and full sun location. I am very psyched for the massive pink display to arrive next month.
You’ve all seen all of my numerous pics of Veronica ‘Royal Candles’ and read my raving reviews of this perennial but in the spirit of my last post and with full disclosure, here is the reality of the “legs” on these right now.
Fortunately, I’ve shielded most of them with other low lying plants so the blooms remain the attraction.
I love how one ‘Karl Foerster’ grass (Calamagrostis) can break up a mass of perennials and not only lend a different height/uprightness, but a different texture as well.
I cleared this area of nasty Canada Thistle by cutting them all at soil level and not by attempting to pull out the roots like a dope which has failed me miserably for years now since it actually multiplies the number of weeds when pieces of root break off.
I will now finally track the results properly. Here is one example of the cutting.
And about one week later. I’m going to now cut it back again soon and will continue to do so until it kills itself by sapping all of the plant’s energy. Or so I hope. More to come.
I just purchased a few ‘Delft Lace’ Astilbes solely because I fell in love with the red stems and red tinged foliage. I’ll be sure to track this one for you and hopefully I don’t fry them since you know, they need constant moisture and it is the dead of summer. Smart.
My attempt at a path with a true destination worth visiting.
These purplish bee balm are incredible right now and are my favorite current place in the garden.
They are bringing in a ton of visitors.
Check out all of the action with this video.
A video posted by john markowski (@jmarkowski0) on
QOTD – Where do you purchase most of your plants? And I want specific names and locations please.
Thank you.
A few thoughts:
We’re always trying to piece a garden together that has visual interest all year long. Ideally, we’ll construct it where one perennial stops blooming and takes a step back, while another takes center stage. Continuous succession of bloom or emergence of interesting foliage or texture. That’s the game.
Below is one of those situations where I’ve managed to play it perfectly. The pink Astilbe blooms have had their day in the sun but are now fading and losing color just in time as the yellow coneflowers are emerging. Yellow and pink, not so great together and fortunately, the world will not have to bear witness to it.
I’m really starting to buy into the ornamental grass as deer-loving-plant-protector. This hydrangea bloom is proof. Now the challenge is how to design an ornamental grass moat and make it look pleasant and natural.
You can only say it so many times before the message is lost on people. So here is my last plea for you to find a way to get Panicum ‘Northwind’ into your garden. Even if you have a smaller garden, please add one and thank me later. What a handsome and massively upright specimen (how I’m often described as well).
Do not underestimate the “see through-ness”of certain grasses like this ‘Karl Foerster’.
While you are adding a Panicum ‘Northwind’ to your cart (virtual or metal) also throw in Amsonia. They play nice together.
Nothing has reseeded more in my garden than Mountain Mint. It pops up everywhere in spring and even with my OCD tendencies, I’m able to let it do whatever the hell it wants. My therapist calls that incremental progress.
Bee Balm, friend or foe? Discuss.
I’ve been trying to up my container planting game for a few years now and I’m still not happy with my progress. I have learned to experiment more and stuff each container to capacity but I still need work. I’d love your feedback on this one. It seems to be thriving in its shady location. Be gentle but be honest.
QOTD – What is your go-to container planting combo? I have no shame in stealing all of your brilliant ideas.
We’re going to jump around a bit as I am way fired up about my garden these days. And when I say fired up, I don’t mean 100% pumped. If I had to estimate the “pumped up happy” versus “pumped up annoyed and rattled” ratio it is at about 60/40 right now.
Gardening, that relaxing hobby.
Here we go.
The section of my garden along the front of my home is providing some serious color right now.
And here are my thoughts:
- Is it too much color? Too loud? I think I love it but maybe I hate it and can’t bare to allow myself to know it.
- I do know for sure that I love the fact that there is no room for another plant and therefore no room for weeds. It is full and lush and that feels good.
- Is it a bit overwhelming for visitors upon entering my home? I didn’t want the traditional “foundation planting look” and I’ve succeeded on that front but again, is it too much?
- I’ve received a lot of props from visitors so I should shut my mouth and move on to the more needy and weedy (see what I did there) areas in the garden.
Next.
I have no idea what cultivar of Campanula I have here but holy hell they are taking over. Do I enjoy it and ride it out or panic and remove them as a good manager of plant invasiveness?
Tell me what to do already.
Next.
I’ve struggled with Ligularia ‘Britt Marie Crawford’ many times previously and killed two others but now it looks kind of healthy. But, none of that great red foliage color. Hmm. Glass half full or half empty?
Next.
My massive bee balm collection is about to bloom and when it does, it is a wallop of color and draws in more creatures than any other plant in my garden. Brace yourself. Major photo explosion is coming.
Next.
Compare this section of the garden to what I showed you previously with all that color. Which do you prefer and why? Seriously, put it in the comments as I would love to get a conversation going.
Last one for today.
We all know one shouldn’t move a shrub on a warm sunny day in summer.
You guessed it.
I did.
Can’t help myself.
When I have an idea I can’t get it out of my head until I act on it.
True story, I came up with the idea to move the Ninebark ‘Amber Jubilee’ below while in the shower. Before the shower was complete, I got out, put on my gloves and moved the SOB. I love where it is but now I’ve had to severely baby it to get it through the harsh weather.
So no, that is not some super cool new colored Ninebark, it is a severely stressed one that looks like it would on like October 23rd in full autumn color decline. Not smart but at least I own it, right?
QOTD. What dumb thing do you do in your garden over and over again even though you know it is dumb?