Thirty-Nine Steps

I think this was the name of an old movie, but it certainly became real for me as I climbed a hardly countable number of steps to my serious (serious because we do community service work) garden club meeting.  This was the last luncheon and meeting of the season, not beginning again until September.

The home we were at today is in a deeply wooded area, very high up, enough so that we were commenting on the lack of railings and our progressive eyeglasses.  This was a home without grass, which is a blessing in regard to mowing, but a lot of work considering the amount of plantings and the various levels in the front and back of the home.

Again, my anxiety level rises when I think of my ability to care for this type of landscape.  After lunch, we all trekked out to visit a member's garden close to my home.  It was a garden surrounding a 110 year old home, stained in a redwood finish.  This setting gave me a feeling of serenity, surrounded by natural meandering mulched paths bordered by large hostas, ferns groundcovers, daisies  and multiple woodland plants in various stages of bloom. 

Everything was small, contained, controllable and charming, even the small patio with potted plants and a dining table ready for an enchanting evening.

I have had small properties with definite planting restrictions and a large property where the sky was the limit.  I am now on a small property again, frustrated at times that I cannot grow all of the lovelies I see on blogs.  But, I remind myself that this is what I can handle.

Are You A Deadheader?

I am not talking about the Grateful Dead but us gardeners who religiously go around the garden each day decapitating plants. 

Many plants will bloom throughout the seasons if the dead flowers are snipped.  Many of the new petunias are self-cleaning and do not need to be snipped unless you prefer for looks.  During the season, prune from the bottom and the middle on these super powered petunias to keep them going until the end of the season.  Make sure you do not let coleus go to flower or they will stop spreading.  Geraniums need to be picked off when done and then the brown stems need to be snipped off (you will get many more blooms if you do this).  Don't forget, all annuals need to be fed.  I use a super bloom formula for all annuals - not perennials, about every two weeks.

Coneflowers will rebloom if snipped, daylilies, most will not, some phlox will rebloom, like Blue Paradise,  May Night Salvia will rebloom, nepeta will rebloom, Gaillardia will rebloom, Becky Shasta will not rebloom (at least in my area).  Roses need to be consistently pruned to develop new growth, except for the Knockouts because they will bloom no matter what you do, except they will look messy.  I just performed surgery on my Rainbow Knockouts today so they will look beautiful for the rest of the season because they will bloom until November.  Take no prisoners if you are pruning a large Knockout.  I shaped them, cut out wayward stems and will fertilize them again (every six weeks - stop in August).

Don't be afraid to prune/deadhead, it will keep your garden looking beautiful!

Heat, Rain And Darkness

On Friday afternoon, we had 90 degree temperatures, a micro burst and then loss of power.  We just got power back this morning after two days of living like "Little House On The Prairie."  We bathed in cold water, put make up on in the shadow of light, cooked our meals on the open flame of the grill, listened to the radio (battery powered), wore wrinkled clothes, watched a Thin Man movie on a battery powered computer (didn't last through the movie) and drove around for hours looking for a generator.  We didn't have luck with the generator but picked up a spare battery for our back-up sump pump.

The wind was like that which Dorothy experienced in the Wizard Of Oz, whipping, turning, bending the small trees to the ground, splitting and uprooting the big ones.  It had even snapped several utility poles in the area.  We had very little damage, but all of the plants looked wind whipped.  Luckily I have learned through experience to anchor my trellises and clematis vines.

So today, Father's Day, we quickly went back to our normal way of life, automatic coffee maker, ironing my clothes, juicing up the computers, calling the cable company to get our TVs working, flipping on the air conditioning, warm shower and being able to see where I am putting my lipstick.  How fast we forget!

Things Are Heating Up!

Lots of rain and now the heat and the surprise of how fast all of these lush gardens will dry out.  They have put forth an unusual amount of soft growth and will certainly balk at the above 90 degree temperatures.  Even though we have rain, extra watering will be required especially for the plantings we put in containers.

Think about the growth on top of these containers, instead of letting the rain through, the plants act as an umbrella and many times keep the soil dry (check them out).  As I walk around the garden, I am very aware that it is bug, slug, mildew, insect and very soon Japanese Beetle time.  Deadhead what is done blooming and you will be rewarded with many plants another flush of bloom, probably not quite as impressive.  Daylilies are just beginning and it does not affect reblooming to pick off the mushies, but it certainly makes the plant look much neater.  I cut my daylilies to the ground when done and they put forth new fresh leaves, again much neater looking.  I am also experimenting with Plumbago growing beneath the daylilies to take over for the late summer.

In my area, when Becky Shasta Daisy is done it is done, very little reblooming.  So, I also cut this to the ground and it makes a new beautiful green mat of fresh growth.  No flowers, but it looks neat and I am also trying Plumbago under shastas.

I Went To A Garden Party

I should say I went to a Garden Club Party (the fun group) at a gorgeous property that looks more like an arboretum than a backyard garden.  It is over three acres, and I know we did not see more than half of the woodland garden.  This property is owned by a real plantswoman who is a student of horticulture and has tended this expansive vista for almost forty years.

I dug plants here more than a month ago for a plant sale benefiting our local historical house, and today she opened her home for an end of the year festivity.  We all signed up to make an appetizer or dessert and had our last meeting of the season on the patio taking in the breathtaking views.  It has rained for the last few days, including during the morning and afternoon, but it seemed to have stopped just for our occasion.

Again, this is a property that requires a lot of work, daily work, until the snow falls.  The deer had broken through the protective fence and had a feast on some of the decorative containers, and I'm complaining about rabbits! 

This group is diverse, with different ages, backgrounds, small gardens, large gardens, no gardens anymore, and balcony gardens in the condo they have moved to as they aged.  Real gardeners live on through others efforts!

Wasn't it Ricky Nelson who sang, "I Went To A Garden Party," except he meant Madison Square Garden, not our type of garden!