The Art Of Peeking In The Garden

For all season bloom it is important to use the art of peeking, especially in a small garden.  Sometimes it begins as an experiment to see if it works, like my plumbago under my daylilies.  Then there are some peekers you know will work such as Broadway Lights Shasta taking over for Red Rum Daylily (which will be cut to the ground when done blooming - will get a flush of new leaves but not as tall).

Gaura will bloom all summer from behind the impatiens, daylilies will bloom inside the Shastas, behind the roses.  Annuals in pots can peek out anywhere you need them, moving them if need be.  Nicotiana will take over for the daylilies by Rozanne and Perilla will grow quite tall to fill in around the Dahlias.  It's like a game called "What's Next," and with a little planning, you will always have something coming next into fall.

I am not real thrilled with some of the Clematis growing along the south side fence.  It should be sun, but it is not towards the back of the border because of the neighbor's foliage which I love so much in the spring.  I am going to choose more carefully such as bloom time so that the vertical garden is going all season. 

That's why gardening is such fun, there's never an end!

Major Storms And Tornado Warnings - Lilies

I took some photos of my daylilies and lilies late Wednesday afternoon before the storms hit.  I can't believe this weather, never before do I remember storm after storm without any let up.  Trains were stopped on the tracks, malls shut down, tornado signals shrieking to take cover and both sump pumps were working full time!

I don't remember a year like this with multiple storms, power outages and flooding.  I think we were lucky this time that we did not lose power.  I remember years ago when my children were little going to the basement with pillows and of course my purse.  Wednesday night I headed for the basement again, no purse, just my computer.

I had to cut back my Persicaria on Tuesday because it really took a beating in Friday's storm.  I deadheaded all of my roses, which have very little leafing out, and fertilized and trimmed back my annuals.  After the storms, I am sure there will be some further damage. 

I know there are some of my blogging friends that have been in the path of these storms, so I wish you only the best for your homes and gardens.  Thursday was bright and sunny, and I went about my garden work like nothing had happened.  Everything looked weeping and soggy but by midday were perking up and drying out.  Later in the afternoon I resumed my photo taking for Fertilizer Friday.  I am always amazed how quickly nature rebounds!

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!