The Garden Buzz

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.

Pleasant Surprises and News of the Strawberry Fields Project

Pulling into the driveway on Saturday I expected to find my garden all turned to black mush after the predicted freeze. Instead I found the garden much like I left it, only a little more mellow from autumn's first chilly weather. And other pleasant surprises...

The rampant Virgin's Bower had draped the William Baffin roses and Tollymore spruces with thousands of white star-shaped blooms. That wine-red dahlia finally flowered.The PeeGee Hydrangea panicles had taken on more of that soft shade of vintage rose. The zinnias were still blooming and taller than ever, and without any deadheading, lots of those spent flowers with that yellow corona to lend interest. Best of all, Monarch butterflies fluttering all around them.

With frantic cross country instructions for my husband to pick all the tomatoes left, I had a counter full of Costoluto Genovese, Cherokee Purple and Clear Pink heirlooms. 

Down in that low spot where the Heritage raspberries thrive on benign neglect I spied ripe berries, enough to fill a good-sized bowl. 

If you've been following the great strawberry growing challenge of the summer, you know no one can pick a strawberry without keeping count. Even though the contest ended, my husband reported 30 more smaller berries from the three, now tattered and exhausted  Stark Tribute plants. Enough little gems to combine with the raspberries for a rustic berry tart.

And...speaking of the Corona Tools Strawberry Fields Project, the most pleasant-est surprise was the small white box waiting for me. YES! I won the iPad. I found out at the GWA conference but was afraid to say anything until I saw it. I can't wait to get it "initialized" and start exploring all of its iPadian wonders.

I thought for sure my formidable competition, fellow garden blogger, Shawna Coronado would be the winner. With her winning smile, abundant energy and huge following, she is a force to be reckoned with. The Corona Tools people tallied all the criteria and found us in a dead heat. They flipped a coin and I got lucky. So here's a tip of my gardening hat to Shawna.

Thanks so much to the good folks at Corona Tools. What a fun challenge, I learned a lot myself while teaching others to grow food in the smallest of spaces.

Thanks to Stark Bros for donating the Tribute strawberry plants as well. For many years I drove past Stark Bros in Louisiana, MO on my way to visit family. On the hill is a white barn with a painted black bear, proclaiming Stark Trees Bear. That's so true.

And damn, if those strawberry plants don't have a dozen more larger berries (and many babies) ripening as I write!

 

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: September 15

There's not a lot blooming here in Savannah on my last day of this working vacation. Here and there you might see some blue plumbago or shrub sized lantana giving it a go. Of course it's still fun to go "courtyard snooping".

Hidden Savannah Courtyard                                                 The Garden Buzz

When I return to Minnesota there will be even less. Tonight there's a freeze, not a frost, warning. I know! Can you believe it?

My husband has been charged with bringing in houseplants and picking those tomatoes I planned to harvest next week. Oh well.

So Savannah is looking a little toasted after the long hot summer and it will be a few weeks before they start adorning it with all the fall regalia. 

Waning afternoon light at the Sorrell-Weed House                       The Garden Buzz

I did do a little gardening here. I helped my daughter pot up all her free sample plants from the Garden Writers Symposium in Indianapolis. Who knows she might be a gardener yet.

Hannah accompanied me to the GWA Symposium for two reasons; she's a food blogger and she wanted to see how garden writers approach their work and second, we were traveling onward to see her brother in Cleveland. The valets at that hotel were probably wondering about the slightly musty-smelling mini-forest in the back seat.

Since I live in zone 4 and she lives in zone 8b, she took both of the Bikini Tini Elephant Ears. They'll be perennials at her little carriage house apartment. This cute little colocasia with dark stems and smaller cupped leaves is part of the Tropi-cool series from Plants Nouveau, hardy to zone 6. Gee, I remember zone 6 like it was yesterday and all I ever did was push that zone. That grass is always greener, no matter where we live. 

But the best part about this petite elephant ear is what happens with rain or even dew...

Raindrop in Colocasia Elephant Ears "Bikini Tini" from Plants Nouveau                     The Garden Buzz        

Can you imagine when there are multiple leaves on a more mature plant? I can't wait to get some of these for next year. Because after that freeze warning, that's all I have left. Next year. 

Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. And thanks as always to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for hosting this great event each and every month.

 

September 11, Serendipity and Sea Turtles

The tales of September 11 often speak of timing, split-second decisions and the life-altering consequences that follow. Everyday we are at the mercy of traffic signals and small choices that put us at points on the map at random moments. Mostly they are without tragic results.

This week I'm taking a break from gardening and writing about gardening. I'm spending some time in Savannah GA where my daughter's starting her fall classes of grad school. Today as I went to meet her for breakfast I passed the fire station on Liberty Street and noticed a gathering of firefighters and family observing the solemn anniversary. 

Here I thought, I had been too busy this month delivering kids to colleges across the country to think of doing something in remembrance. I do think, probably too much about how things can change quickly in life. it's probably why I go the trouble of making sure these kids settle in and feel comfortable returning to school and their other lives.

Writers with their vivid imaginations always ruminate on morbid possibilities. I want my kids to know how much I love them. Just in case.

On a gentler note, the timing of traffic lights and our dinner choices resulted in a life-affirming experience we didn't expect to encounter this evening. 

The day before we'd stopped by the Pig and Shrimp, an outdoor cafe that's only open 4 days a week, usually not the ones when we pass by. A colorful character named Gerald runs this unique venue that warns its customers that friends don't let friends eat imported shrimp. His delicious shrimp po-boy reiterates this fact.

Tending BBQ at The Pig and Shrimp

We got to talking with Gerald and told him we might come back the next night to try his BBQ. But when we got there, after a string of red lights and a few minutes before closing time he was flustered and turning away customers because his help had failed to show up. We took our food to go so he could close up and then headed to the beach.

Sea oats on Tybee Island at sunset

Sticky and gritty with sauce and sand we took our limeades (he makes a killer limeade too) for a walk down the beach. and saw a group of people gathering. It was hard to tell what it was all about; a prayer service,a beach wedding? 

Rescuing sea turtle hatchlings

Turns out we were lucky enough to happen upon a Loggerhead sea turtle hatching and rescue. Daily volunteer patrols at dawn monitor sea turtle nests and often reolocate them to the slope closer to the dunes since the first slope of the beach puts them in danger. From May to October, 60 days from egg-laying they hatch and make their way to the sea.

This little guy didn't make it

They face predation from animals, habitat disruption from sea wall construction, confusion from lights on shore, fishing nets and a host of other obstacles to survival. 

An unhatched sea turtle egg

This particular group of hatchlings were affected by the wave actions of Hurricane Irene. Unfortunately the marine biologist was only able to find two babies alive. She pulled out lifeless little turtles suspecting that fire ants in the nest might be an issue as well. An unhatched egg resembling a leathery ping pong ball was pulled from the sand too.

The two survivors

The two babies were taken to the water's edge, enabling them to imprint the area and physical action of crawling. From there they have a two day swim to reach the warm currents of the Sargasso Sea. If they were females, and if they survive, 35 years from now, they will return to lay their own eggs within miles of this very spot.

Assisting the baby sea turtles on their incredible voyage

Assisted by the voulnteers they were set upon the wet sand, then washed up and down the sand by the waves, one step forward and two back over and over until they disappeared into the surf at sunset.

Maybe there's some sort of symbolism there. 

Stump the Garden Blogger: Mystery Solved!

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions and very educated guesses. Lots of people in emails and comments thought the mystery plant was a type of tomatillo. A couple said African eggplant (which it might be also), while others thought fig or squash. However, a reader named Elizabeth nailed it in detail.

Here's the ripe version of the green pumpkin pepper from the previous post...say that three times real fast!

The mystery plant is a Pumpkin Pepper, that is really an ornamental eggplant. But to confuse matters further it looks like a mini-pumpkin going from green to red. It holds it color and shape when dried for crafting and decorating purposes. It's AKA as...

Pumpkin on a Stick
Pumpkin Tree
Pumpkin Bush
Ornamental Eggplant
Hmong Eggplant - Hmong tribes are found in Laos and Vietnam
Solanum Integrifolium
Mock Tomato
Japanese Golden Eyes
Chinese Scarlet Eggplant

Seeds are available from Pinetree Seeds and other sources online. 

Thanks again for all the responses, what fun and how fast. And thanks to the Etsy website for the photo.

Stump the Garden Blogger: Plant ID Please?

It's not often I run into a plant I can't identify. Especially an edible.

During our visit to the Slow Food Garden in Indianapolis, they challenged us to identify some of the unusual crops growing in this urban setting, no problem though, I know what okra and peanuts look like, even when they are growing with a backdrop of skyscrapers.

Funny, that later on in the trip, it would be a restaurant kitchen garden that would stump this garden blogger.

On our last evening in Cleveland we ate at the charming Lolita in the Tremont neighborhood, an offshoot of the popular restaurant, Lola. There by the patio grows a lovely potager with tomatoes, eggplant and lavender among other things. On the left hand side of this photo is the vegetable (perhaps fruit or herb) in question.

It has large leaves and a small green pod that resembles a small unripe tomato. I'm sure I could eventually ID this mystery plant. However I just returned from visiting my son's new school and still have two more kids and their accompanying crap to leave at schools across the country. I'm hurting for time.

Stay tuned for unexpectedly fascinating garden stories from Cleveland (who knew?) and the Garden Writers Association symposium in Indianapolis.

Meanwhile, what the heck is it???