When I first started the garden twenty some years ago I planted a few thousand bulbs in early autumn, mostly tulips, but also lots of daffodils and some spring flowering crocus. Occasionally I’d walk the area where the tulips were planted to find scattered divots where squirrels had pilfered the bulbs, but the first spring…
Month: September 2012
No mulch, lots of plants
A friend of my wife recently remarked that our large garden must require truckloads of mulch each year. I don’t know how my wife responded, but she should have told her that no mulch is added annually, and most parts of the garden haven’t been remulched since they were first planted (twenty some years ago)….
Surprise
Long ago I planted several tall verbenas (Verbena bonariensis, below) in the garden, and as it is prone to do, it seeded itself about so that tall seedlings sprouted just about anywhere with a bit of sun. The plant is barely obvious until it blooms, with tall stems and few leaves, and it’s easily mistaken…
Aggressive or invasive?
I’ve been warned. You’ve heard, I’ve heard, I’m certain there’s not a single gardener who hasn’t heard horror stories about planting mints (Mentha). They run amok, overwhelming everything in their path, particularly in damp soils. I know, I know. So, what have I done? Well, I’ve planted a few varieties of mint, and not only that,…
Not so bad after all
I was considerably distressed early in the summer when my wife hacked back arching branches of the tall nandina that partially obstructed steps down from the lower deck. I was not so much concerned with the nandina as the wonderful white clematis (Clematis ‘Henryi’, below) that climbed through it. ‘Henryi’ had grown to be intertwined…
What I’m planting
What did you do on your summer vacation? I didn’t take one. Haven’t since the kids have grown up and moved out. Not that I’m all work and no play, but nowadays I’d rather putter around the garden. This is about as much excitement as I can stand. For various reasons I happened into a…
Late summer – and all’s well
Despite storm related disasters that have broken and uprooted trees, the general health of the garden is good and the mental state of the gardener is as good as ever. Through much of August and into September rainfall has been more regular and heat has not been so extreme as earlier in the summer. At…
The Sun King
The flowers of ‘Sun King’ aralia (Aralia cordata ‘Sun King’, below) are not entirely inconsequential, but the small globes of tiny white flowers are unremarkable from more than a few paces away. This does not deter abundant pollinators (mostly wasps and ants in my garden, both quite harmless) from visiting the blooms over the period…
Oh no, not again!
I’ve made mistakes in planning and planting the garden, plenty of them! In some parts of the garden it’s difficult to distinguish where one plant starts and the other ends. There is a mass of foliage with differing textures and colors, and here and there a bunching of flowers or berries will poke out. It…
Hummingbirds and butterflies on a September morning
A pair of hummingbirds have been particularly active in the garden in recent weeks. Unfortunately, I don’t have the patience to wait to catch a photograph of them, but the likely spot to capture a picture would be when they visit the flowers of ‘Black and Blue’ salvia that borders the garden’s largest pond. This…
Disappearing coneflowers
My garden seems particularly ill suited to growing coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea, below). These are tough native perennials that require a mostly sunny and well drained location. They are not particular about soil, and need little care. Through the years I’ve planted a handful or two, mindful to provide a dry, sunny environment, but eventually they…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 