The Garden Buzz

A Dandy New Neighborhood

I've been between neighborhoods this week, moving out, moving in. We were fortunate to find a house to rent very near our building site, like, next door. I'll have the catbird seat for the whole process.

Our new hood is a great area, very village-y, and dare I say a bit like "Star's Hollow", for those of you who remember the ever-bantering Gilmore Girls.

There are gracious lawns and generous flower beds, welcoming front porches and across the street there's a tire swing. Yesterday we came upon three little girls picking dandelions and carrying them around by the fistful. And then I saw two more clutching the same yellow bundles at different times today.

Too bad I couldn't have taken a photo. Instead here's a field of the sunny flowers at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, if you're not too dazzled by the crabapples.

What a difference to see someone enjoying the the little loved/hated flowers, and not obsessing about their demise. I know they can seem unsightly in certain circumstances, but they are an important first source of nectar to early insects seeking out food. Plus I think they're kinda cheerful.

While I'm busy packing and unpacking why don't you check out this link to last year's post I did over at Herb Companion magazine, Three Reasons to Love Dandelions.

Tidy Up or Let It Be: Where Do You Fall on Fall Garden Cleanup?

No matter where you fall on the issue of fall garden cleanup, you have to appreciate a recent tweet by Benjamin Vogt. He's a poet, gardener and author of Sleep, Creep, Leap, which recounts his adventures in prairie gardening.

"Just prepped my garden for winter by glancing out the office window and sighing. Seriously, why do people do fall clean-up? Nature doesn't."

I guess I fall somewhere close to this 140-characters or less, garden-maintenance manifesto. I don't do much. But I do a little.

I would venture that fall clean up routines are dependent upon gardening styles, weather and peer pressure. The more naturalistic setting can get away with less. While manicured and groomed gardens, like women of the same sort, demand more intense seasonal intervention.

Of course, those of us up north know that good snow cover hides a multitude of sins.

Raking leaves in the crisp autumn air is as much psychological marker as seasonal chore. In neighborhoods where pride of place is present, it's just what you do. I've been known to simply rearrange the leaves to cover the beds for what's known as "lazy (wo)man's mulch". However leaves can get matted and deprive soil of moisture and they create unhealthy conditions when left on lawns.

It's probably most important to remove leaves and other dead material from plants and trees suffering from any fungal issues. Disposing of that debris will help to stop the cycle of reinfection from year to year. Keep it out of your compost too.

Leaving some debris provides beneficial insects and other animals overwintering sites. However it gives all insects, some undesirable, a place too. There is never an easy answer.

Pulling up spent annuals even presents a dilemna. While some people welcome re-seeding plants, others will regret the thousands of descendants that pop up the following year. I compromise and deadhead the ones that are the most notorious propagators like fennel, nicotiana, jewels of Opar, and even then there will still be quite a few survivors. 

I choose to leave perennials up over the winter unless they are already flopping before the first snow. I hate the cutting back in spring but find it a fair trade for feeding birds and critters. In addition to lovely seed heads like these...

Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum) provides statuesque beauty and food for the birds.

Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum) seed heads cut an interesting silhouette in the garden.

Yesterday at the post office I came upon the prefect illustration of the fall cleanup quandary.

Witness the carnage!

Across the street the parks crew were cutting down the Annabelle hydrangeas that flank the entry to a local park. I spoke with the head guy and he told me he would like to leave them up but just doesn't have the staff hours to deal with them come spring. 

I leave all my Annabelles standing over winter. The chore of trimming them back is still waiting for me when the snow melts, but worth it for this sight.

 

Dried panicles of Hydrangea arborescens "Annabelle", note the lovely leaf pattern too.

And that's probably where the fall cleanup question splits; do we do it in fall so we can settle down into winter guilt free or do we leave it till spring when we are ready to get out and tackle anything, just to be outside.

 

 

Bob Saget? No, Bog Sage, Really.

Still wit gathering, but you can get a bit of the 'Buzz' over at Herb Companion magazine. I've just added this beautiful herb with the unfortunate name to my herbal wish list. Click and read all about it.

Coffee No, Cappuccino Yes, Rudbeckia That Is

I'm not at all about coffee, no matter how macchiato, but I'm all over this new perennial, Rudbeckia "Cappuccino". 

Rudbeckia "Cappuccino"                                                  The Garden Buzz

Every year Renee's Seeds offers a selection of free seeds to garden writers, it's a generous gesture with no strings attached. They do hope if we find something that wows us, we will write about it. Well here goes...

I planned to get back into seed starting in a big way this year. Going back to my roots you might say. As life has gotten busier and more complicated, I've turned to nursery-grown plants more and more. Yet I missed the thrill of coaxing tiny seeds into beautiful flowers and vegetables.

I asked my husband to construct a simpler version of my old seed starting set-up. He put together an inexpensive metal shelf with flourescent lights and voila, I was back in business.

Of course, I tried to restrain myself but as always my eyes were bigger than the time and space I had in the garden. This is nothing new to gardeners growing from seed. Furthermore I had to leave town several times and ask my son to water the seedlings. Although he watched over them faithfully some suffered from overcrowding, but this Rudbeckia was unfazed. 

In the meantime, the place I had planned to plant "Cappuccino", a new berm, wasn't finished yet, so as they grew bigger, stockier and full of buds, I put them in temporary holding pots that received sporadic care while other life-y things happened. 

With more traveling to do, I decided not to do any fall containers. But a trip to the nursery for shrubs found me wandering into the discounted tropical plant area, you know, those 75% off, sad-plant, orphanage-like, no man's land populated with crispy bougainvilleas and yellowing ficus trees (I bought one and now it's thriving).

Looking perfectly healthy and happy, some Heavenly Bamboo with alternately blue-gree and apricot foliage beckoned to me, and I could swear I heard them saying, wouldn't we look great with those rudbeckias and that millet you bought too many of too?

Cappuccino with friends                    The Garden Buzz

I had never bonded with my large summer entry containers, so I was easily swayed. Keeping the helichrysum and huecheras, then adding the bamboo, millet and rudbeckias, gave me a late summer to autumn transition that makes me smile each time I pull in the driveway now. And eventually they will get planted in the new berm.

The point of all this:

Rudbeckia "Cappuccino" is a gorgeous large-flowered rudebckia that comes in a mix of lovely russet, gold and mahogany with a chocolate brown center. The compact plants are dominated by the prolific blooms. It is drought tolerant, and in my yard, even neglect-tolerant, holding up to wind and less than regular watering. Butterflies love it. Best of all, they are in the easy category for seed starting, and that isn't always the case with perennials.

A much better value than Starbucks and calorie-free to boot.

Mexican Sunflowers: Carrying a Torch for Tithonia

I'm always stumped when asked to name a favorite flower. It's usually whatever is blooming at the moment. Of course, it's kind of like being asked to name a favorite child. And just for the record, I love both of mine equally for their equally different charms.

Mexican Sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, "Torch" with bee       The Garden Buzz

However this year, my choice is simple. The Mexican Sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, wins hands down, for ease, color, form, foliage and wildlife value. This bright beauty is a member of the daisy family, but it's more bodacious, with flaming orange flowers and striking green foliage. Depending upon your height preference there are three varieties from which to choose; "Torch", the tallest at 4-5 feet, "Sundance" at 3-4 and finally "Fiesta del Sol" at 2-3 feet. There's even a yellow Torch available now.

Potato-leaf shaped foliage is attractive too.

Tithonia is an annual flower that's easy to start from seed, growing best in full sun. It makes a great cut flower or container specimen as well. 

Artsy image of black swallowtail and tithonia                The Garden Buzz

Beyond it's dramatic beauty and statuesque shape, the greatest thing about Tithonia is what it brings to the garden...butterflies, bees and hummingbirds! Not many flowers draw all three in such numbers. And don't forget the goldfinches that perch on its sturdy branches to munch on the attractive seedheads.

Sturdy stems with raindrops

Plant Tithonia and I guarantee you will have a garden buzzing with lively visitors.

Another swallowtail visitor on Tithonia "Torch"         The Garden Buzz

 

Welcoming wildlife into your garden is so rewarding, you might want to check out my latest Star Tribune article, Planting for Pollinators, for more tips toward making a wildlife haven. 

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: July 15, 2011

Whoosh! That's me shifting gears right now for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. From foliage to flowers, that is. I just spent the morning interviewing a talented landscape consultant and scouting photos in her incredibly clever garden. Rather than relying on bursts of bloom to carry her design through the season, she employs a wide variety of foliage from perennials, grasses, shrubs and even veggies that exert a steady and beautiful influence on her yard.

But back to blooms.

Bouncing between heat waves and thunderstorms, my garden is both suffering and thriving. Here's a smattering of what's happening...

Zinnias, the essence of summer bloom, with the frothy seedheads of Deschampsia "Hair Grass" in the background. Having fun with my iPhone camera for this shot.                    The Garden Buzz

Marigolds, old summer standbys, look fresh and new next to lemon thyme  The Garden Buzz

A little Martagon Lily peeking from out of the hydrangeas

Insects on False Spirea shrub.                   The Garden Buzz

Trial plant: Campanula "Viking", compact, non-invasive and hummingbird-friendly

Trial plant: Rose "Candy, Oh", a sweet rose bred by a sweet guy, Dr. David Zlesak       The Garden Buzz

A different sort of catmint, Nepeta "Souvenir D'Andre Chaubord with bigger, looser flower spikes that draw hummingbirds        The Garden Buzz

Hydrangea "Let's Dance Starlight" blooming big this year!

Bumblebee in the background of Asclepias incarnata, Swamp Milkweed, milkweeds are the sole larval plant of the Monarch butterfly

Alien pod, or macro shot of a blueberry?

A thick carpet of Chameleon Plant, Hottuynia cordata, attractive but aggressive to somewhat invasive in my garden.

Trial plant: Proven Winners Leucanthemum "Daisy May" emerging from where the mesclun bed is bolting. I'm a sucker for a good daisy.

On the other hand, invasive Oxeye daisies, that I allow to bloom on a limited basis in my garden, love the high meadow look.

Another macro shot, a painterly image of Dahlia "Mystic something or other"

And finally my little green visitor...

Happy National Pollinator Week!

Celebrate National Pollinator Week by planting trees, shrubs, flowers, herbs and fruits that attract and support these vital forms of wildlife. It's what puts the buzz in The Garden Buzz!

Check with your local extension office for lists of pollinator-friendly plants for your region, it's easy.

I've posted this article link below recently, however I'll repeat the link since it provides an emphasis on pollinators and their behaviors, along with plant information.

http://www.herbcompanion.com/gardening/attract-pollinators-to-your-garden.aspx

 

 

 

Bad Hair Day - Great Butterfly Gardening Tip from Garden2Blog

You can skip ahead to the video...or listen to me natter on.

When I was told that for part of the P. Allen Smith Garden2Blog event we would be filmed giving a 30-second gardening tip my heart sank. Oh, don't get me wrong. I can give gardening tips until the cows come home. With one hand tied behind my back.

It was the filming part that had me a little worried. You see when it comes to having my picture taken, in any format, I have much in common with former British prime minister Tony Blair's wife, Cherie. What, you say?

Ever since living in England, I've  kept up with their country's news and cultural events, in good part by being a regular reader of The Times of London. So it didn't escape me that whenever I used to see a photo of Cherie Blair, a formidable woman with her own career outside of politics, I would cringe and sigh.

You see, we share the trait of being unphotogenic in a most spectacular way. Mostly in the form of duck lips and double chins, eye rolling and frozen fish faces. It's uncanny. 

There is even a google auto-category for her misshapen smile. While there is a special and voluminous gallery of "bad mama pictures" in our family Flickr account. I envy people that can flash the camera a gorgeous toothy smile without a second thought. I don't think I'm unattractive, yet while I doth protest about being photographed, it's not vanity, but posterity that concerns me. From my grave I will be shouting, "I really didn't look like that..."

But back to butterfly gardening. When asked to give a gardening tip, I wanted to be truly helpful, not too general or too specific. I thought back about my most popular blog posts and immediately thought of those dealing with attracting and supporting beautiful butterflies in our gardens.

For this video date, I made sure my hair was freshly tamed. I wore something structured to avoid lumpy body parts appearing where they shouldn't. I thought was pretty pulled together and had high hopes for not embarrassing myself.

Then the bad weather and surrounding tornadoes came and I could feel my hair going "Sproing-g-g" in the heavy humidity. They changed the event schedule and seemed to scrap the video thing getting done. Well, sure enough, at the end of the next day when we were dressed for mucking about the farm; windblown and wet from that day's bad weather, they told us to get ready for our closeup! Maybe it was all a plan to make sure none of us were better looking than P. Allen.

Turns out the video is not all that bad, but the butterfly tip is better. I'm including links below to those butterfly posts in case you missed them before.

 

EIght Great Shrubs for Your Butterfly Garden

Top Ten Butterfly Plants: This List Might Surprise You

 

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: May 15, 2011

 

Thanks as always to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day! After all this is the month she dreams about.

While I'm aware that today, the day before Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, is World Naked Gardening Day, I think I'll spare the neighbors and give it a pass. It's been cold, windy, rainy, miserable and damp up north. Most Minnesotans are too busy with the Fishing Opener today to give much thought to gardening, much less in the nude.

So I donned my light down coat and wrapped a wooly scarf twice around my neck before heading out to photograph the latest buds and blooms in my garden. Even with that my fingers were numb halfway through. Just when you think I've run out of ways to complain about the weather up here, I manage to find another. 

I can't get used to the compressed gardening season, daffodils blooming alongside tulips, well, it just seems wrong.

 

Just like Margaret Roach of A Way to Garden, I've lost the tags and can't remember the names of these beautiful varieties of narcissus. Although I do recognize the one here as probably "Poetica" from the pheasant-eye style daffodils. They possess a haunting clove-like scent. Any other help with ID? Is one possibly "February Gold"?

 

 

 

 

Then on to the more subtle signs of spring with lots of understated native plants.

 

Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum commutatum) The Garden Buzz

Large-Flowered Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) The Garden Buzz

Lovely shrub...Fothergilla major "Mt. Airy"    The Garden Buzz

Ground hugging blooms of Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense) The Garden Buzz

Serviceberry Tree (Almelanchier alnifolia) The Garden Buzz

Red Barrenwort (Epimedium x rubrum)  The Garden Buzz

River Birch catkin closeup (Betula nigra) The Garden Buzz

Ending up with a few fruit blossoms...

Buds of Blueberry "NorthSky"          The Garden Buzz

Cherry "North Star"    The Garden Buzz

"Red Lake" Currant blossoms     The Garden Buzz

Fragaria vesca, Alpine Strawberry      The Garden Buzz

 

And here I didn't think much was happening in the garden!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Landscaping with Native Plants: A Book Review

Checklist before leaving on vacation tomorrow:

1. Pack for all weather possibilities but hopefully WARM weather, woo-hoo.
2. Put houseplants in bathtub with instructions for hubby to water.
3. Get Henry dog bathed and take him to "boarding school" to learn better impulse control (not going ape-crap around unfamiliar people and pets) and general manners reminder. More peaceful and safer (ice ice baby) dog walks to follow, yea. 
4. All that other pesky pre-trip stuff
5. Write that book review for my blog.

Here's #5...

This book is targeted for Minnesota...HOWEVER I'm going to share some of the valuable non-regon specific advice it contains for those of you that don't live "up north".

First let me recommend this book to Minnesota and cold climate gardeners already growing or thinking about growing native plants. "Landscaping with Native Plants of Minnesota" (second edition) by Lynn Steiner is a thorough but easily digestible volume with lots of great information that identifies Minnesota's native plants and plant communities while showing home gardeners how to use them effectively.

Lynn Steiner is a longtime gardening editor,writer and photographer with more than twenty years of extensive gardening experience. She knows her stuff.

Landscaping with native plants has often been regarded as a messy, lazy method of gardening; looked down upon by neighbors and city councils alike. Lynn's tips can help you to design a landscape that is pleasing for humans and habitat. Here are a few...

• Maintain at least a small area of turf
• Use a buffer of grass or mulch between planted areas and sidewalks/streets so plants don't flop onto paved areas, making visitors uncomfortable
• Add embellishments such as sculpture and benches to make it look more like a garden and less like a field of weeds
• Use natives that are "more controllable" in their growth habit; these tend to be the clump-forming plants rather than spreaders.
• (Natural gardens have curvy lines, yet) Install some straight edges, either around garden beds or in the form of fences and paths

Along with real-world landscape photos (one of my friend's gardens is in the book) and comprehensive plant profiles with instructions for cultural and maintenance requirements, the book includes ideas for landscape placement and design concepts often lacking in other books on the subject. 

If you've been hesitant to work with native plants or if you're just starting to flirt with the idea...I highly recommend Lynn's book. If you already garden with native plants...send a photo, and I'll try to use it with a follow-up post.

Here's a few favorite natives from my garden...

Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)                The Garden Buzz 

Large-flowered bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora)        The Garden Buzz

 

Serviceberry tree (Amelanchier laevis)        The Garden Buzz

 

 Wild ginger (Asarium canadense)             The Garden Buzz

 Red baneberry (Actaea rubra)                                     The Garden Buzz