Friday, June 10, 2011

Oh What A Night!

Early Thursday morning I was awakened by a loud whooshing sound.  I thought it was the air conditioning as we had just had another day in the high nineties, but then I noticed the clock flashing.  The generator we had put in last fall had kicked in, we were in the midst of a power outage.  The area I live in has numerous outages, supposedly because of all of the big trees, out for three days last summer.  We have not had an outage since we put the generator in last fall so I was glad to see that it actually worked!  Along with the power we also lost cable and the Internet. 

At three in the morning I was up checking the sump pump and I decided to make myself a cup of coffee in the middle of this horrendous storm.  The rain came down in torrential sheets, my garden is so sad looking but I had just taken some photos of how it used to look.



Allium Schubertti
This allium blooms later and the spheres are sixteen inches in diameter.  I will be saving them when dried to spray for the holidays.

Eileen Clymer is the earliest daylily I have ever had!  It is blooming at least two weeks before Happy Returns.  Eileen Clymer is the hybridizer's mother-in-law who he asked to pick her favorite out of other daylilies, and this is the one she chose.  I have to say I agree with her choice, just stunning 6" wide.

Clematis Fireworks is a type II and needs to be lightly trimmed in the spring or cut down after blooming to rejuvenate.

I think this one is General Sikorski as it does not grow very tall but then again I think it is eaten down by the rabbits each year.

This is Bourbon a smaller clematis, growing ony four to six feet (Type II - prune after flowering or lightly in spring), love the color on the obelisk.

I am having a major war with rose midges, something I never heard of until last year.  My roses look great but the bud gets eaten before they can develop.  I am out to find that Bayer product that can get rid of this awful insect!

Pow Wow Echinacea has been trialed by the University of Illinois and given very high marks for being an echinacea that can be started from seed and bloom the first year.  I bought mine already potted because I did not order any of these seeds this year - just couldn't wait!

Blackbird Euphorbia I am growing as an annual for its great color.

Geranium Magnificum with a sport of Max Frei
I moved this last fall because it was not flowering - good move


Geranium Karmina

Caesar's Brother
I moved this also last fall because it had not flowered in many years.  Don't be hesitant to move plants if they are not performing.  I remind myself to listen to this.

Peony Krinkled White


North side of garden
I did not fertilize the Carex grass this year because it flopped heavily last summer from too much of a good thing.


I am growing four tomatoes this year two Celebrity plants (determinate), a Better Boy and a Supersteak, several peppers, mostly hot, some small eggplant and of course lettuce and onions.

Oops, forgot to mention I am growing Cucumber Fanfare on this lean to, works great in small garden.

Fanfare is a recommended cucumber by the U of I for disease resistance, bush variety, had to order the seeds online.  I am growing parsley in each corner Italian and Curly.


Herbs are doing great in their own container!


Home Run Rose
This is the one I ordered from California, larger but all are doing great so far!


33 comments:

Beth said...

Eileen, What lovely flowers! So sorry to hear about the storms taking a toll on your gardens. Your allium are great! What a neat shape. Love your geraniums and peonies too. Beautiful photos, Eileen.
Beth

cherry said...

I'm loving all of your magenta and blue's sorry about the bad weather would love to get a little rain down this a way..

Happy Friday hope you and yours have a beautiful weekend.
hugs from Savannah, Cherry

Larry said...

Hi Eileen... You have some lovely clematis... I had General Sikorski for years and it was always a favorite... I should look for a replacement plant of it. I think it will be an excellent year for clematis overall... they seem to be thriving! I put in a few allium schubertii last fall and only a couple came up and will be fully open before long... do you allow them to dry on the plant for using as decorations? We have turned cool... around low 60's yesterday... what a great day for working outside! Larry

Danielle said...

We had rain in sheets also... from about 9:30pm till about 9:00am when it all stopped. I knew I was going to wake up to damage. Our power was out most of that time. I woke up to lots of leaves and "logs" from trees... not sure how they lose these "logs" one of my huge astilbe was completely smashed, and just before flowering too.

Karen said...

Hello Eileen, I'm glad to hear your generator kicked in. I was afraid you were going to say your basement had flooded.

Your garden is so beautiful, the clematis are amazing. Two of mine did not come back last year, but I replaced them in a different area and we'll see. Your idea of moving things around if they do not like their current home is very true!

I can take a lesson from you on vegetable gardening, too. What an amazing space and so much yield.

Thank you for the kind comment the other day, too, I really appreciated it.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

Sounds like a terrible storm. I hate when it gets windy here, we have so many huge trees around us.
Your garden looks beautiful! I love all of your Clematises. I'm looking for a shorter one and Bourbon looks like a good one!
Hope your weather improves. We are back to overcast and cool. I'm beginning to think our whole summer will be this way, we've hardly seen the sun this year.

Carla said...

Lovely. What a sweet garden, love the idea of a bush cucumber growing thru a leaning frame. And I LOVE your side area-darling.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Eileen your garden is looking wonderful even after such a storm .. we lost some of the foliage of the Stag Horn Sumac .. wind whipped a few things around for sure .. very eerie weather indeed ! .. I love your white peony .. I would like to have that next to "Flame" .. your side view with the hosta on one side and the carex on the other is so pretty!
I have a question about the stepping stones .. do they get slippery after rain or watering ?
I want to have my pathways done with random ones but I worry about slipping on them when they are wet.
All of your plants are doing great girl : )
Joy

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Thanks Beth,

We have days of storms predicted, hanging basket fell into flower bed damaging several perennials and itself.

I'm not sure what's going on this year with the weather.

Eileen

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Cherry,

Thanks for the nice comments. Savannah is a lovely city, I have a friend in South Carolina and I know she goes to Savannah a couple of times a year.

I haven't been there in a long time but have great memories of the lovely homes and the town square.

Eileen

mrbrownthumb said...

I love your Allium Schubertti! It is my fave of all the alliums and the inspiration for the logo for my blog. I should probably think of adding more to my garden since mine has disappeared.

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Larry,

I think I will let the Schubertii dry a little before I cut them, but I think they would dry fine even if cut fresh. I am drying a bucket full of purple sensation, not sure what I'm going to do with all of this allium.

Eileen

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Danielle,

We are really getting pounded aren't we. I had some plant damage but nothing too serious.

Eileen

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Karen,

I was concerned even with the generator that the sump pump might give out. I had some damage in the garden but nothing too serious.

Eileen

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Catherine,

It is difficult to find the shorter clematis, some are just too tall and rambling for my garden. I like the ones that I can train on obliesks.

Eileen

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Carla,

The leaning frame did a great job last year. It has an extra side to it so you can do a tee pee effect, too big for my garden.

Eileen

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Joy,

I found the stones on the north side at a small nursery. They are handmade with leaf and fern imprints in them, natural concrete and not slippery.

I went back to get some more a short time later and they were all gone with no hope of getting more.

Eileen

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi MBT,

Schubertii sure makes a statement, looks like it is an alien plant. I am going to dry them as I have heard they are great in arrangements.

Eileen

sheila said...

Your flowers are beautiful, I just love that blue Clematis. All your flowers are lovely. Sorry to hear about the storms.
Sheila

Jennifer@threedogsinagarden said...

Hi Eileen, That Fireworks clematis is really pretty and I love the single white peony. A single peony is going on my list of future purchases. Your roses are all nice, but I have to say you can't top that pink Mary Rose. I think it is my all time favourite. Your vegetables and herbs are looking as advanced. Mine are still a work in progress.

Anonymous said...

Your garden is absolutely beautiful, Eileen.

St Louis has a lot of outages. The big trees get on the lines. They've started an aggressive tree trimming project, I believe. We have underground wiring and have fewer outages. However, the trees can still cause outages up the road, that can affect our power. A generator is an excellent idea!

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Thanks Sheila,

One can never have too many clematis.

Eileen

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Jennifer,

Fireworks is a real stunner. I picked this one up at Home Depot a couple of years ago.

Eileen

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Pat,

It's funny that after the day after the power outage we were scheduled for the first six month maintenance.

The man laughed and said at least we know that it works.

Eileen

GRACE PETERSON said...

I'm glad your generator works. Hopefully you won't need it very often. Gorgeous peony. I love the Geraniums you have pictured. 'Karmina' tends to reseed. I love it. The 'magnficum' is just fabulous with 'Max Frei.' My 'Pow Wow' Echinacea is in its second year and doing great. Not blooming yet though. Love yours.

Diana LaMarre said...

Sorry to hear about the storm damage to the garden. But at least you found out the generator works.

I love that big allium. I had Christopherri, but it was only big the first year and got smaller each year thereafter until it disappeared - all alliums seem to do that in my soil.

The clematis is very pretty and so full of flowers.

Your veggie garden looks like it is doing well. You should be eating salads in no time.

Balisha said...

Hi Eileen...Your garden looks just beautiful even with all the storms we've had. I think it wise to have a generator. We seem to lose power often, but not for long...yet. It's clouding up right now...probably more rain. Have a nice evening...Balisha

Rosie Nixon Fluerty said...

Oh no that's terrible news about the storm. I hope there hasn't been too much damage and that the plants are recovering well. Your photographs are wonderful especially the deep blue from that Clematis fireworks. I grew Allium Schubertti one year but they never appeared the next year. Oh they sure were some size!

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Grace,

We were also glad the generator worked because we had not needed it for months. The storms here have been worse than I ever remember.

Eileen

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi ZOey,

From what I am hearing the Schubertii does not always come back the second year. That's a bummer because they are expensive.

Eileen

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Balisha,

We lose power often here also, but our biggest concern is having the sump pump fail and end up with a flooded basement.

Eileen

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Rosie,

I am hearing that Schubertii does not come back. This makes me sad because they are so unusual. I will dry the spheres.

Eileen

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Your 'Fireworks' Clematis looks so gorgeous. Too bad about 'General Sikorski'. You should try spray on deer repellant to keep the rabbits away. It's interesting (and unfortunate) that you have rose midges this year. I that's what's wrong with my sister's roses. I'll suggest she try that Bayer product.