The Garden Buzz

Winter Hardiness: The Benefits of Procrastination in the Garden

During last summer's garden tour, when I was asked what I was going to do with the two large, potted Japanese Maples once winter arrived, I didn't reply, "Oh, I'll have the best intentions of bringing them inside the garage until next spring, but then I'll get busy and leave them out the entire winter, subjecting them to sub-zero temperatures and a heavy snow load as well".

But that's exactly what I did. 

Flash back to last spring and panicked planning for the garden tour. I couldn't find the huge, black foliage/deep orange dahlias that anchored my entry container plantings the year before. I wandered around the garden center, of course the one that's a really long drive, searching for something with height, dark foliage and character. Without a big price tag.

Behind the bedding displays, half-hidden, I found a little group of deep red Japanese Maples, that seemed forgotten and out of place. Perfect. Not cheap. So I told myself I'd be good and bring them in for winter. After all, using Japanese Maples as annuals is beyond extravagant, even with a garden tour pending. I grabbed two of them and changed my whole color scheme to suit them.

They made a lovely little screen of pretty and graceful foliage, complementing the wine and lime shades of the plants beneath them. As fall approached, I made mental notes to drag them inside. I even considered planting one in a very sheltered microclimate outside in the ground and bringing only one inside just to see what would happen. In the interest of science, of course.

By then I'd re-planted the Jap Maple containers with fall edibles; the herbs, chard, kale and pumpkins looking so great against that dark red foliage that had deepened with the cooler temps. Instead of removing them from the entryway, they had once again become the stars.

But somewhere between Thanksgiving, out-of-state winter graduation and Christmas, I didn't get around to doing what the conscientious gardener would do. As snowfall piled on top of snowfall, the pots disappeared into the white blobby landscape with only the bare, skeletal branches of the Jap Maples remaining to remind me on a daily basis what a slacker I am.

During the January thaw that happened in February, I ventured out and peeked at what was peeking out of the melting snow. The maples were exposed and sad standing above the mushy remnants of my potted potager. 

Funny thing though, I thought I noticed what looked like buds. There along with the few leftover leaves fossilized in ice crystals, were tiny buds poking out at each juncture. The branches were pliable!

Hard to believe but those Japanese Maples are still alive after sitting out in temperatures that reached 15-30 below with wind chill, in containers no less. I have to believe that snow cover truly is a magical mulch.

I pawed through my box of plant labels to find the name of this polar bear of a plant. Emperor I, Acer palmatum, Wolff, an exclusive from Monrovia, hardy to zone 5. Remember I live in Minnesota. I'm impressed.

Now I can't wait for them to leaf out. Imagine them underplanted with chartreuse shades of lettuce.

I don't recommend procrastination as a garden method. It seems though, they had a better chance of survival when you think the alternative was a long winter in the garage, with the ever present threat of my son leaving the door open by accident. As he's been known to do.

Recently the Master Gardener discussion board was buzzing about big box store-bought potted mums tossed in the compost pile, only to come back and bloom the next season. Some plants have a lot of will to live.

Is there something in your garden that surprised you with its determination to thrive?

 

 

 

 

Succulents: New Trend or Old Friend?

This post is dedicated to my mother who passed away, way too soon, this week 24 years ago...

 

I get a kick out of these new hip and happenin' succulent container plantings. There's no gardening magazine this spring that doesn't feature them in some form or fashion. Instead of striking me as new and exciting, although they are exciting, they simply fill me with nostalgia for my SoCal childhood.

I guess this is one of those times when I've lived long enough to see something come around for the second time. You see, succulents figure big in my early plant memories. 

My mother would arrange these lovely little plants in shallow terra cotta bowls (that she made herself in pottery class) and then arrange the bowls in groupings on our patio back in Southern California. I'm lucky to have a backup memory with her painting of that first backyard. 

Santa Ana Backyard by Loree Fleming          The Garden Buzz

You can see it was a magical place and the succulents were just a tiny part of the whole scheme. Yet I think the jellybean shapes and candy colors of the succulents fixed them firmly in my young mind.

Succulent planting with beach rocks                                       The Garden Buzz

Through the years I've done many of my own succulent creations as an homage to my mother and her forward-thinking garden style. It may be that California gardeners were all using them, but I like to consider that she did it with that same unique flair she brought to all our homes and gardens.

Longing for a little green, I recently set out on a cold and blustery day to the garden center, just to look, honest, and surprise, there was an entire display devoted to succulents (from Proven Winners, how about that). And like a kid in a candy store, or should I say a middle-aged woman in a garden center, I pounced on as many as would fit in the cart.

Note the little teacup-sized budding kalanchoes in another display that tempted me too; just the size of my blue willow demitasse cups. We're talking Lilliputian.

Teacup plant       The Garden Buzz

I decided to plant the narrow self-watering container that the Lechuza company was kind enough to send me last fall. It had a contemporary vibe and seemed to fit the bill. I'll be doing a post on "containers" soon and we'll dig deeper into the pros and cons of these particular pots. But I digress.

Succulent Composition         The Garden Buzz

Assembling this skinny composition was just the cure for my playing-in-the-dirt cravings. I used the following plants for this combination:

• Echeveria subrigida "Fire and Ice" Blue green fleshy foliage with deep pink edging
• Kalanchoe thysiflora "Flapjacks" Large, flattened foliage with a rosy tint
• Echeveria hybrid "Violet Queen" A beautiful rosette of gray with lavender tips
• Sedum rupestre "Lemon Coral" Lime green fine foliage for weaving texture throughout
• Echeveria rudolfhii "Metallica" Truly metallic looking gray-pink luster for a little edge
• Senecio vitalis "Chalk Fingers" For height and cool blue color
• Crassula coccinea "Campfire" Blazing red color intensifies with cool temps

Adding the diminutive blooms of the little common kalanchoe plants for a unifying touch of color, the container turned out more like an indoor windowbox, definitely helpful for fending off cabin fever.

Cool sunset colors!                                              The Garden Buzz

 

That's just another of the great things about succulents, they are truly year round plants. They survive even the most desert-like conditions of heated homes in winter while transitioning outdoors come spring. In fact, the change of light and temp seems to trigger blooming in many of them, especially the echeverias with their delicate flower stalks.

In indoor and outside container plantings I like to use rocks, crystals, beach glass and shells to play off the colors and textures of the succulents. I also might add that mounding the soil in the center above the rim (you can use potting soil or specially formulated cactus medium) not only helps to drain moisture to avoid rotting but shows these small and somewhat ground-hugging plants at a better angle.

For more ideas and inspiration let me recommend two books that I think are exceptional on the subject of succulents...

"Succulent Container Gardens" by Debra Lee Baldwin

"The Jewel Box Garden" by Thomas Hobbs

But mostly succulents just make you smile!

Frog pot by Isobel Bloom                                    The Garden Buzz

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: February 15 - Desperately Seeking Blooms

We are having the always anticipated "January Thaw" in February. The entire landscape is the consistency of a sno-cone; the snow is rotting and dirty, the roof is dripping, the grass is sodden and mushy and the dog poop is defrosting on the driveway. It's not a pretty sight.

But hey, that's just the filthy prelude to a glorious spring here in Minnesota. 

So you'll forgive me I hope, for cheating on Bloom Day and visiting the local arboretum in search of flowering plants. Lucky for me, my visit coincided with The Great Hall of Orchids: Timeless Beauty. When it comes to orchids, they've never met a camera they didn't love.

Just one of the stars at The Great Hall of Orchids: Timeless Beauty       The Garden Buzz

If you follow The Garden Buzz, you'll know I recently linked to my Star Tribune blog about another local orchid show I attended. I mentioned that my husband once implored me not to start growing orchids along with my other horticultural habits, fearing it was a slippery slope to growing African violets and owning multiple cats. (Apologies upfront to cat lovers and AV growers) I think he feared that they would overtake our home and it would cast that vaguely lavender florescent glow like the home up the hill. At least we think they're growing orchids.

I might have been a bit critical about that show; too much crushed velvet and sparkly baubles detracting and distracting from the flowers' natural beauty.

Rare Peruvian Orchid: Phragmipedium kovachii                       The Garden Buzz

The orchids in The Great Hall proved that it's all in the presentation; shown in footed urns of pottery, brass and aged concrete dressed with moss and other natural materials, they were elegant and exotic, making them a tempting alternative to my usual wintertime recreational kvetching about the cold.

Especially enticing was The Orchidarium, a new take on the Wardian Case of Victorian times, planted with numerous species of smaller orchids arranged like a woodland vignette. Ooooh. It was like a ginormous terrarium, yet I detected a slight movement of a delicate blossom, I suspect a built-in fan for controlling humidity. How clever.

 

 

 

So I'm rethinking Orchids, I wonder if my husband would notice just one or two?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This show courtesy of Orchids Limited of Plymouth, Minnesota

Happy Valentines Day from The Garden Buzz!

You never know where you might find a beautiful heart...

 

Epimedium rubrum                                          The Garden Buzz

Spring Over to a Proven WInners Outdoor Living Extravaganza!

Spring...it's on every gardener's radar right now...when will it arrive? Soon, but until then you can get a glimpse of what's to come at a Proven Winners Outdoor Living Extravaganza. 

What is an Outdoor Living Extravaganza, you say? Well, I compare it to a kind of mini-version of Oprah's-Favorite-Things for the horticultural set.  You won't win a Volkswagen but you'll have lots of fun with engaging regional speakers, fabulous food, wonderful ideas for this year's garden and great giveaways.

I attended last year's event in Minneapolis and really enjoyed seeing all the new plants from Proven Winners, learning about their plant development programs and having lunch with gardeners from all over the area. Not to mention I went home with a trunk load of garden goodies.

This year the Outdoor Living Extravaganza takes place in the following cities...

• Atlanta -- March 4
• Seattle  --March 18
• Milwaukee --April 8
• Toronto -- April 15

Proven Winners will be giving away a free plant of Superbells Coralberry Punch to all attendees as well as selling new 2011 varieties if you can't wait for the garden centers to get them. Plus companies like Dramm, Corona, Seedkeeper and Cobrahead will be raffling off their products to many lucky gardeners. Here's a hint...don't be shy about answering questions to the audience, those brave souls last year got even more free stuff.

For more information go to Proven Winners and see if this might be your ticket for a little time travel towards spring. 

 

 

Just in Time: P. Allen Smith's Seasonal Recipes from the Garden

Every time I see more snowflakes falling from the sky I have to turn my head to the heavens and ask, "Really?"

So when P. Allen Smith's Seasonal Recipes from the Garden showed up, it was not a minute too soon. If I can't be gardening, cooking and reading are next on the list; better yet when the two are put together. But be warned, don't read this while you're hungry, you'll stop mid-book and start rattling some pans.

 

Just in time for spring, and for some of you that will be sooner, way sooner than for me, this book is plum-packed with delicious ways to prepare dishes from all the great produce in your garden. Cooking from the garden is such a joy; instead of asking yourself what's for dinner, the garden tells you what to make. Having P. Allen as a guide only makes it nicer.

Mr. Smith and my family come from the same neck of the woods. Like the family photos at the front of his book, mules loom large in mine as well. I may have been a California kid, but I was raised on beans and cornbread. My mama made sure I knew the pleasure of shelling peas on the porch and picking blackberries in the sticker patch. So I don't so much as read the recipes, but hear them in a familiar voice. Don't think you have to be a southerner though to enjoy it.

I love how the book isn't just about vegetables, but includes recipes for the meat, eggs, fruits, herbs and flowers he raises at his new home, The Garden Home Retreat. I was able to visit there with fellow Master Gardeners as it was being built  and I can tell you it is a gorgeous fantasy homestead brought to life.

I've been using his recipes for some time via his online Garden Home newsletter, so I know they're straightforward and not the least bit fussy. I have a knack for being able to taste a recipe as I read it, and let me tell you, I can't wait to try these.

Divided into four seasons, I'm anxious to make the Crawfish Etouffee, Broccoli with Lemon and Hazelnuts, and Radish Top Pasta for spring. I'm defintely curious about his Speckled Strawberry Ice that uses lots of cracked black pepper!

Summer includes among others: Grilled Summer Salad, Savory Grit Cakes with Oven-Smoked Tomatoes, and Peach Moon Tart. Fall features Allen's Favorite Sweet Potato Pie, Killer Apple Cake and White Cheddar Parsnips. And while I'm so over winter, the Winter recipes for  slow-cooker lamb, roasted quail and duck gumbo seem like a tasty culinary distraction from all the white stuff outside.

And like the good boy that he is, he includes his mother's cinnamon rolls, even though they don't have a garden conection at all.

More importantly, the recipe for Cornbread Dressing, not 'stuffing' y'all, sounds the same as the lost recipe for my mother's version...could this be the holy grail of cornbread dressing I can now pass onto my daughter? Let's hope.

Besides the inspiring recipes, the beautiful photographs along with gardening and cooking tips make this book one I would have bought anyway, but thanks again to P. Allen and his people. It's a winner!

 

 

 

Multiple Garden Blogs: Just More to Love?

Blogs are a lot like children; they're a lot of work, still you seem to find the time and love for all of them. Each one develops and expresses their own personality too. So when I took on yet another blog, I thought long and hard about my capacity to give enough attention to it while not neglecting the others. You don't wany any blog-ling rivalry.

Some garden bloggers slack off during winter, but I keep slogging through. It's tough to find subjects appropos to the moment when the snow is piled high up to your eyeballs. It's tempting to take off for the winter and report from some sunnier clime. I don't rule that out for the future...someday.

Meanwhile I thought you might like to see what's going on at my other blogs. At the Minneapolis Star Tribune "Your Voices", I try to do gardening or wildlife topics with a much more local twist. Every now and then I venture off the gardening path and usually get myself in deep mucky mud. The general gardening audience is nice, even amenable; but the general public can be pretty brutal on bloggers, it's bloodsport at best.

This week in the Star Tribune I blog about my Afternoon at the Orchid Show, in the beautiful, vintage conservatory at Como Park in St. Paul. It's a tropical oasis in the middle of the snowy city where you can go to see and smell plants growing. Think green anti-depressant. Make sure you read to the end before you get all over me about orchids!

 
Graceful Orchid at Como Park Conservatory                   The Garden Buzz

After Herb Companion magazine recently asked to reprint an article of mine from The Herbarist in an upcoming, enlarged issue; they also offered a guest blogging gig. I think it's a great opportunity to get back to my herb gardening roots, while bringing in a bigger audience for The Garden Buzz. I will probably just post twice a month there.

 
The Herb Garden at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum        The Garden Buzz 

With so many people new to gardening and herb gardening too, my first post is Growing Strategies for Beginning Herb Gardeners. It talks about the best ways to propagate herbs for a bigger, better herb garden whether by seed, division or cutting; this helpful list is a good leaping off point.

With all these blogs I try to dig up the same quality of writing you find at the "Buzz. In addition I always supply my own photography 98% of the time.

Speaking of photography, during the winter I received several photography awards; Blue, Red and White Ribbons for three separate photos in the Wild Ones (that's a native plant conservation group, just for the record!) Native Plant Photography Competition and an Honorable Mention in Horticulture Magazine's annual photo competition.

 
Prize-winning photo: Native coneflowers at sunset, Minnehaha Headwaters   The Garden Buzz

Garden writers are supposed to toot their own horns, but self-promotion still makes me uneasy. But there you go. I'm always trying to improve upon my photography skills, so these awards are meaningful in that I'm better communicating the story to my readers through visuals as well as the written word.

Am I getting too big for my gardening britches? I hope not. There's just more to love.