Ranting About the Knockout Rose

I didn't really plan on blogging about the Knockout Rose this morning.  But since it is the topic on The Garden Rant, on which I felt compelled to make a comment, I guess I should just deal with it now!

The introduction of the single red Knockout is now ten years old.  It has become one of the most popular landscape roses ever.  I planted eighteen single red Knockout roses a little over six years ago.  I will bet I have no more than four of the original left.  After the first year and a few losses, I asked a Jackson and Perkins rep that I met at a local plant show what was going on with the Knockout.  He stated that it was never meant to be totally hardy in Zone 5 and that I should replace them with the newly introduced double Knockout.  So, this is what I did.  As each original Knockout succcumbed I replaced it with a double.

Some I replaced with pink, or single yellow, or Rainbow Knockout.  Rainbow is a single, but it is the hardiest of all.  It begins as a pink, morphs into a combination of yellow pink and slowly fades to a pale pink.  It will bloom without being pruned, but I do prune it for looks.  The blooms stay on the bush until November.  I now have more Rainbow Knockouts woven through my landscape than the red single or double Knockout.

Confessions of a Magazine Junkie

I stopped at the local grocery store today on my way home from work.  Well, OMG, the first garden magazines have arrived!  There were only two in my local store, and I put both of them in my cart before looking at the price.  I got quite a shock when I saw that one was $8.00 and the other one $10.00.  I took another look at each one and settled for the more expensive one because it had a lot more to it as far as pages.  Not a great way to choose, but I didn't have time to go through the whole issue.

For many years I subscribed to several gardening magazines, bought at least two per week during the gardening seasons.  I probably would have bought them in the winter if they hadn't stopped publishing!  Finally, I said to myself, "this has to end!"  I wasn't really getting a lot of new ideas or learning about new plant introductions.  The internet could answer all of my questions, so I settled on one beautiful gardening magazine http://www.finegardening.com/ and was satisified up until today.

Dinner in the oven, I couldn't wait to sit down and begin perusing this lovely publication called Great Gardens Made Easy, http://www.gardengatespecials.com/  The sections really grabbed me with titles like retreats, privacy, what color can do, heat up your escape, living walls and natural inspirations.  There are so many subjects, I can't even share them all in this short blog.  I have to say, I think this one is a winner!  It has multiple plans, not that I have the space to implement one, and references many new plant introductions. 

I have not purchased a plant magazine as the grocery store in a few years.  I am starting to worry about a relapse!

Seed Starting Revisited

I went to my garden group workshop today, great lunch, much conversation about holidays, snow, warm up, etc.  Seed starting was not on anyone's lips today! 

Our instructor arrived from the University of Illinois Extension group with dirt, seeds, starting containers and brochures in hand.  She proceeded to beguile us with her stories of how easy it is to grow the most fabulous plants in your basement under lights.  Rattling off a comple list of requirements, sterile germination soil, seed trays with styrofoam planting pockets with trays, plastic greenhouse covers, moisture blankets, heating cables, labeling sticks, flourescent light fixtures with chains, seeds, our eyes and ears were totally engaged.  Someone came out of their hypnotic state to ask the instructor, "why would you do this?"  She answered understandbly that you would do this to grow unusual plants that are not readily available on the open market, but her real answer was that, "you do it for fun!"

I grew plants under lights for many years and ,WOW, I never realized all of the work it was until I heard this presentation.  Although, I do remember having to get a babysitter to water my plants went we went on spring vacation. 

I am into the natural approach to seed starting now, every seed I purchase will go right into the soil at the appropriate planting time.  I think I'm over the fun of seed starting, but my lights are still in the basement!

A Tiny Cottage Garden

When you have a small garden, it is difficult to develop diverse, interesting areas throughout the property.  Sometimes, an area just speaks to you and you just know how it should look.  I have an area with a cedar shed where we store the snowblower, garden supplies and some garden containers.  It is on the side of my raised bed vegetable garden.  This is very small area, but it definitely is visible and not suited to formal plantings.

It is a house-like little shed, with a shake roof, window and hayracks on two sides.  Clematis Rouge Cardinal is a backdrop on one side with Rainbow Knockout Rose (this is my favorite Knockout, it is a free spirit, changing colors and very long blooming).  Art's Pride and Mango Echinacea look so appropriate in this setting.  They are much more whispy than White Swan or Magnus type varities.  The baskets are planted with Profusion zinnia, verbena (not the hybrid type -  think it is called Great Expectations).  Everything in this area looks a little looser than the other garden areas.

Beginnings

I remember exactly when I became a gardener!  Finally, we had a yard after living in an apartment for the first seven years of my life.  At about the age of eight I began to ask my mother if I could have a part of the yard and could I have money to buy some seeds.  This was not a large piece of property, just thirty feet wide, a typical city lot.  I dug out a small area towards the back and planted corn and carrots in an area around the catch basin (this was an old house which had this type of sewer to catch all of the grease from the kitchen sink).  My aunt and uncle lived upstairs (two flat) and she was my mentor gardener.  We crawled around the yard together on our knees, digging, planting and pruning.

My first harvest yeilded only about three ears of corn, but the carrots were a bumper crop, and my dad said they were the best he had ever tasted!