The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Monthly Archives: August 2011

Enjoying a rainy day

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Nothing but rain here since last night. Now this is fantastic for the garden, especially for all of my recently transplanted plants, but it did keep us cooped up inside … for most of the day.
My wife and son headed out to the movie theatre in the early afternoon to see the last Harry Potter flick. My daughter and I stayed home and tried to make the most of our time indoors. It worked for a while as we played Twister (holy crap I’m old) and Memory (I let her win of course) and recorded some fantastic tunes on her microphone. But, we still kept looking out the window longingly. I then suggested we head out with our rain ponchos and walk around in the torrential downpour. She freaked the freak out with excitement:          

It couldn’t have been more fun and as if nature knew of our plans, we ran into a family of deer:

And found this dude chilling in the driveway:

My mind and camera started to wander a bit:

But quickly focused back on what would make this day memorable:

Some times it is the simple things that make a day like this stick in your memory and I know I’ll cherish it for a long time.

John

Timber Press book giveaway – “50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants”

Posted on by Posted in Book reviews, Deer, Giveaways .

As you know, I struggle mightily with deer chowing down on my plants throughout the year. I’ve tried using deer repellents and while I have had success, there is a need to continue the applications on a regular basis, especially each time after it rains. It can be very difficult to keep up with.

As a result, I’ve come to appreciate the truly “deer resistant” plants which I can put in the ground and then give the deer the middle finger knowing they won’t touch them. It also reduces my over the top, plant stress level. Just ask my wife.

The problem I have, however, is that my “deer resistant” plant palette is quite limited. Well guess what? There is a new book out on the market that is music to my ears:      

And guess what else? Timber Press, the publisher of this gem, is giving away a copy of the book. You can access this contest on the Timber Press giveaway page and can follow along as the contest unfolds on the Timber Press blog.

So head on over and give it a shot. You can enter up to four times and the contest ends on August 17th.

** Quick side note showing you how cool I am. I sat at the same dinner table with both the author of this book, Ruth Clausen, and the photographer of this book, Alan Detrick, in the Dallas Arboretum during last year’s Garden Writer’s Conference. I am by no means exaggerating when I say they were two of the most kind and warm people I’ve ever met. I was a schlubby garden blogger who had no right being there yet they made me feel right at home. I’ll never forget the experience. **

How you like me now?

John    

Pruning Weigela ‘Wine and Roses’

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UPDATE: After reading this post, you can see where things stand 5 years later. Click here to see that update.
Earlier this spring, I decided to experiment a bit by pruning Weigela ‘Wine and Roses’ shrubs in three different ways, so I could study and document the results. You can read the original post here. Here is what I’ve found to date:
1)First up, the “selectively pruned” after a slight haircut:
And how it looks as of today:

It is only a tad bit smaller than it was at this time last year but it looks a lot healthier. I also like the fact that it kept it’s shape.

There were even a few sporadic blooms back in May:

2)The “severe” prune down to about 12 inches:

The foliage that first emerged within a few weeks was a fantastic color, an almost reddish/black:

As of today, the foliage still looks great and has grown to about two feet tall:

While it has remained on the short side, the foliage is by far more vibrant than the other two:

I’ll be sure to not touch this again next spring so I can closely monitor how it looks in year two, post severe prune.

3)The untouched Weigela:

And how she looks today:

Very uninspiring. Foliage has declined as the summer has dragged on and has really never looked good at any point.

Conclusion:

  • “Selective” pruning worked out well, foliage color was outstanding, shrub shape was perfect and there were even a few blooms to boot.
  • “Severe” pruning, while it obviously stunted the growth of the Weigela, it still resulted in outstanding foliage and shape and I assume it will look even better in year two.
  • “No” pruning on a three year old shrub resulted in the same uninspiring size, shape and foliage appearance. While this may also be due to other conditions, I’m determined to stay on top of the pruning of these shrubs to maintain their appearance as their foliage color is incredible among a sea of perennials and grasses.

John

What’s blooming today

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A sampling of what’s blooming, about to bloom and blooms on their last legs: 
Lobelia siphilitica

Hydrangea ‘Endless Summer’ blooms maturing to dark pink

Helenium autumnale (Sneezeweed)

Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’ (Stonecrop)

Eupatorium ‘Gateway’ (Joe Pye Weed)

Moved all my Northern Sea Oats to same location – “A sea of oats”

Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’ starting to rebloom after drastic haircut 

Coreopsis ‘Sweet Dreams’ 

Hibiscus ‘Kopper King’ blooms are endless

Physostegia ‘Summer Snow’ (Obedient Plant)

Althea ‘Lavender Chiffon’ (Rose of Sharon) 

What the phlox do I do with my phlox’n phlox?

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I’m this close (imagine my hands really close together) to trashing my Phlox paniculata ‘David’. Yeah the blooms are nice and all:

And if you get close enough to the screen you can pick up on that phenomenal fragrance:

And if you keep up with the deadheading, they rebloom like mad in a short period of time:

But the truth is, most of the time they look like this:

Or this:

I’ve read all there is to read about the root cause (pun intended) of the issues and to date, I haven’t been able to solve the “riddle”:

  • It isn’t powdery mildew as is so common with Garden Phlox and ‘David’ is one of the most resistant cultivars.
  • Each Fall, I cut them down to the ground and remove the infected leaves.
  • I have them all spaced properly to allow for proper air circulation. 
  • They are in full sun.
  • I never water overhead so the leaves remain dry and aren’t susceptible to disease.      

It appears that the yellowing, browning and eventual death of the leaves occurs when the temps are high (over 90) and humid and wet. That describes our recent conditions perfectly. But, we had virtually no rain last year and the same thing occurred. Riddle answer still outstanding.

This year I made sure to cover the “legs” of the phlox so the blooms could be enjoyed from afar with all the ugliness shielded. Well, they still look bad and I’m coming to the conclusion that they just don’t work for me. Some times you just have to cut your losses and move on. I’m about there now.

John              

After The Rain

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We had a nice, long cooling rain last night that was music to my ears as it pounded on the windows. I could also tell that the plants were very thankful this morning as they all seemed to have a little jump in their step.

Quick diversion though, before I show you some of the “After the Rain” photos.

When I typed in the title for this post, it immediately brought me back to one of the “so bad it’s good” MTV videos from the late 1980’s. I grew up on MTV and admittedly was a “Hair Metal” fan back in the day (I’ll give you a second to let those words sink in).

“After the Rain” by Nelson is so awfully good and I urge to watch it before proceeding:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFLggqjddKM

Fantastic, right?

Photo time:    

Loving this time of year

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Funny thing happened the other day. I started taking photographs of some newly developing blooms:

And while they were interesting and a nice jolt at this point in the summer, I soon found myself taking photos of other parts of the garden. I think it was inspiration from my recent visit to the New York Botanical Gardens and the “foliage lushness” of their perennial gardens. 
My grasses, perennials and deciduous shrubs are nearing their peak, foliage-wise, and their contrasting colors and textures are meshing well. Throw in some blooms here and there and I realize that this may be my favorite time of the year out in the garden:      

How you feeling about your gardens these days?

A visit to the New York Botanical Garden

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Where the hell do I begin?

When I recently ended my short visit to the New York Botanical Garden, I felt like an infant who freaks out after being overstimulated. I had to crawl into the fetal position, take some deep breaths in order to recover. It was like Disney World for the plant lover. GOOD FRIGGIN TIMES!

I won’t bore you with a lot of words since you can read up on all there is to know on the NYBG web site. The truth is, I’ll never be able to truly convey the feeling I had while there. NYBG is located in the Bronx, NY and to call it an oasis in a big urban city is an understatement. I love the excitement of driving in NYC (not joking) but when you enter the grounds it’s like a 1,000 angels playing the harp just for you. You no longer comprehend that you are in a city; it is a world unto it’s own.

We took the 1/2 hour trolley ride around the grounds and learned all about the history of the garden dating back to the 1800’s. There were a few stops along the way, including The Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden where many of the blooms were past their prime but you can still appreciate the beauty, the scent and effort involved with this slice of heaven:

For someone who has struggled to grow roses successfully my whole life, it was awe inspiring. I will be back next year during prime bloom time and hopefully will pass out from the sight.
I have voiced my frustration with daylilies in a prior post, and have considered removing them completely from my gardens … until I came face to face with the Daylily Walk:      

I know very little about Waterlillies but you don’t need to be all that educated to appreciate how stunning they are, especially on a beautiful, sunny day like we had:

But truth be told, nothing got me more fired up than the Perennial Garden. I recently saw the gardens featured on an old episode of Victory Garden so I already knew the background and what went into the choice of plants here. With the conservatory in the background, it is a stunning locale. As I walked the grounds, the term “lush” kept screaming in my head and you can see why:  

A quick stop at the Herb Garden was all we had time for but what a site scent it was. I have virtually no sense of smell (long story) but even I could smell the intoxicating scent of curry in the air (still not sure exactly what it was as we were in a rush at that point):      

My wife and I have a pact to visit the NYBG at least three times a year going forward as we missed out on:

Some of the fascinating landmarks:

Fantastic collections of rock walls:

Stunning vistas:

And the conifer arboretum:

We did manage to walk through the incredible exhibition “Gardens of the Alhambra” which was beyond words but unfortunately, my batteries died in the camera and I was only able to get a few pics:

I can’t wait to get back again in the Fall and will be sure to share the experience with you once again.

John