The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Monthly Archives: April 2014

Podcast – Erica Glasener (“A Gardener’s Diary”)

Posted on by Posted in Podcasts .

Do you remember “A Gardener’s Diary” on HGTV? I sure as hell do. It was and is my favorite gardening show of all time.

Nothing comes close.

A show that focuses mostly on the plants (including their botanical names) and the unique story behind the owner of the garden is a recipe for perfection. I also loved the casual pacing of the show. It was like a peak in at a gentle stroll between visitor and garden owner. All we get today on TV is 22 minutes of a hyper makeover aimed at the coveted younger demographic.

Color me not interested.

Take a look at an old episode of the show here:

Ahhh, the good old days of HGTV.

Anyway, I was incredibly fortunate to interview the show’s host, Erica Glasener, on a recent podcast. She gave a ton of background on how she became the host of “A Gardener’s Diary”, the behind the scenes workings of the show, her path to becoming an esteemed horitculturalist and what she is up to now.

Awesome stuff.

To listen to our conversation, click here.

Enjoy.

Emerging foliage of spring

Posted on by Posted in Spring .

Spring refuses to fully embrace itself so we continue to move at a snail’s pace out in the garden. But the plants are finally revealing their emerging foliage, almost out of fear.

Like Crataegus viridis (Hawthorn) ‘Winter King’:

And Betula nigra (River Birch):

Some of the deciduous shrubs have finally shown emerging foliage, like this Cornus sericea (Redtwig Dogwood):

And Physocarpus (Ninebark) ‘Diablo’:

A few perennials decided to finally make an appearance. Hello Cimicifuga (Bugbane) ‘Pink Spire’:

Peonies unfurling at their own steady pace:

 

Now there has been some serious progress on other fronts. Viburnum carlesii ‘Aurora’ buds have turned full blown pink and look phenomenal: 

 

 

Speaking of this Viburnum. I count today as its first day of having “interest” and it will continue to do provide such “interest” all the way into early November. If you do the math, that is almost seven months of interest. And that means it is fantastic 7/12 of the year. And that translates to a 58% “interest” rate which I might just calculate for every plant I own and add it to the plant spreadsheet.

Just thought you should know that.

While we are at it, let’s enjoy the emerging foliage of the Astilbes:

And the buds on Fothergilla ‘Mount Airy’

 

 

And finally, the tulips I’ve successfully grown in containers (hand pats back):

Good stuff, right? Well now let’s move over to the not so good or potentially not so good.

My Amelanchier (Serviceberry) ‘Autumn Brilliance’ is blooming:

But from a larger view, eh:

But more importantly, or more annoyingly, we have some serious bare legs:

I understand that this is the nature of this tree, but this extreme? I need to work on this one in some way.

Do I worry about this? Tent caterpillars?

I’m all for letting nature take its course, but not at the expense of my beloved Crabapple tree. More to come.

And finally, I am already regretting not strongly pruning the Salix (Dappled Willow) ‘Hakuro Nishiki’ in early spring. That awesome variegation is missing:

 

Look at the same shrub from only two years ago:

Chalk it up to experience and a new task added to the 2015 ledger.

 

Daffodils

Podcast – “Shannon Currey (Hoffman Nursery)”

Posted on by Posted in Podcasts .

My second podcast with Shannon Currey, head of sales and marketing at Hoffman Nursery in North Carolina, is in the books and it is loaded with incredible information on all aspects of ornamental grasses. I personally guarantee you will purchase at least one of these grasses within 24 hours of listening to the podcast.  

Don’t hesitate and listen to it here.

Shannon provides her thoughts on the very best grasses out in the market today. After listening to this “OG Aficionado”, come back here and reference the listing below which include all of the grasses she recommends.

Each of the grasses listed below link out to photos and a detailed description on the Hoffman Nursery website.

Enjoy and “Go Grasses”!       

Best cool season grasses:

Nassella tenuissima – Mexican Feather Grass

Deschampia cespitosa – Tufted Hair Grass

Helichtotrichon sempervirens ‘Sapphire’ – Blue Oat Grass

Arrhenatherum elatius subsp. ‘Varieagatum’ – Striped Tuber Oat Grass

Best warm season grasses:

Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’ – Red Switchgrass

Panicum virgatum ‘Northwind’ – Upright Switchgrass

Sporobolus heterolepis – Prairie Dropseed

Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’ – Variegated Maiden Grass

Best partial shade/full shade grasses:

Deschampia cespitosa – Tufted Hair Grass

Hakonechloa macra – Hakone Grass

Calamagrostis brachytricha – Korean Feather Reed Grass

Sesleria autumnalis – Autumn Moor Grass

Best newly introduced grasses:

Andropogon gerardii ‘Red October’ – Big Bluestem

Schizachyrium scoparium ‘ Standing Ovation’ – Upright Little Bluestem

Sporobulus heterolepis ‘Tara’ – Dwarf Prairie Dropseed

Carex oshimensis ‘Everillo’ – Everillo Sedge

Dividing Karl Foerster Grass

Posted on by Posted in How-to, Ornamental grass .

UPDATE 8/24/17: I am writing this 3+ years after the original post. Just wanted to let you all know that the divisions are thriving and you can see how they look now by clicking here.

Thanks,

John

 

I am still in the process of recovering from all of the plants that were lost over this past harsh winter; specifically trying to replace said plants. I have purchased some new shrubs and moved some other plants around to fill the voids. It’s a pain in the ass but I love it. The challenge of pulling it all together keeps me going at 200 mph day and night.

Now we all know that plants are not particularly cheap these days. So one of the ways I significantly cut down on those costs is by dividing my existing plants. With a little bit of elbow grease, one plant becomes three or four new plants.

Recently, I identified a few open spots in my front bed that could accommodate relatively narrow plants with a decent bit of height. The exposure is about half sun/half shade. I consulted the plant inventory in my brain and had the perfect option within seconds … ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass.

I have had a bunch of these in the same location for four years now and they have never let me down. They look good as early as April (they are cool season grasses so start emerging pretty quickly in the spring) and hold up all through summer, fall and even winter:

It was dividing Karl Foerster grass time . I had yet to divide them but knew it would be an easy task.

So out came the shit kicking boots and I was ready to do the deed:

The grasses have shown signs of life the past week so I knew now was a good time to divide them before they grew out any more and became less manageable:

I decided to dig out one completely from the ground and placed it in the lawn. It couldn’t have been easier to dig it out:

With a few quick and strong daggers into the grass with my shovel, one easily became four. Dividing Karl Foerster grass is fun!:

One of the divisions went right back into the same hole:

And another filled in a bare spot between this Boxwood and Ninebark:

I eventually settled on adding all three of the divisions into the same garden bed for some repetition and nice contrast with their surrounding plant brethren. Dividing Karl Foerster grass is like super fun yo:

The entire task took no more than twenty minutes and very little physical labor. I immediately watered all of the divisions and it was a wrap. Dividing Karl Foerster grass is easy and way way super fun.

Next time you are looking to fill in some bare spots in your own garden, think about dividing some of what you already have. It couldn’t be easier as witnessed by my stellar dividing Karl Foerster grass process above.

A garden stroll on Easter

Posted on by Posted in Blooms, Bulbs, My garden .

A garden tour from this Easter afternoon:

Viburnum buds continue to progress. And I realize just how many ornamental grasses I have based on their need to constantly photo bomb:

See what I mean?

What is interesting with these Mt Hood daffodils is how the trumpets start off yellow and eventually settle in pure white:

The Summer Snowflake blooms are appearing in bunches now, but I was more intrigued by the early evening sun on these bulbs:

More and more leafing out on the trees:

The lilac shrubs have shown signs of life for the first time:  

The peonies continue to emerge and unfurl:

I planted two Leymus (Blue Lyme Grass) ‘Blue Dune’ in containers last summer and let them overwinter outdoors. They didn’t take long to appear again this spring:

The Dappled Willow (Salix ‘Hakuro-nishiki’) has fully leafed out and looks better than ever:

The tulips I overwintered in the garage actually bloomed (yeah buddy) so I made sure to bring them indoors where they could be gleefully ogled:

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend.

Ours was kind of awesome.

Progress

Posted on by Posted in My garden .

“Stuff” is still happening out in the garden even as we experience wind chills in the teens and a bit of snow:

Buds on the Viburnum carlesii ‘Aurora’ continue to march towards actual blooms:

The buds are in full effect on the Amelanchier grandiflora (Serviceberry) ‘Autumn Brilliance’:
  

An initial bloom can be seen on the Leucojum aestivum (Summer Snowflake) ‘Gravetye Giant’:
 

The to-be monstrous bloom on the Allium ‘Globemaster’ has made its initial appearance:
  

The foliage on the Viburnum plicatum ‘Shoshoni’ has emerged: 

We have the first signs of the Astilbes:
 

And the cool season ornamental grasses have arrived:  

You have to love this time of year.

Time to get dirt under the fingernails

Posted on by Posted in Uncategorized .

There were new blooms to visually consume this weekend and that was cool:

And more to come in the immediate future:

But this weekend was all about getting shit done … in the dirt … with tools … and the bare hands.

Here is a running list of what failed to survive the winter and was subsequently removed:

6 Emerald Green Arborvitae
1 Arborvitae (forgot the cultivar, had white tipped foliage, oh who cares, she is cooked)
1 Variegated Boxwood
1 Green Velvet Boxwood
1 Ilex glabra (Holly) ‘Shamrock’ (with one to go as seen in my foundation planting below):
  

The cupboard is bare with lots of work to do. Annoying, frustrating and exciting all at the same time.

Oh, there are three more Arborvitae that need to go (for those keeping score at home, we are down ten arborvitae in total):
  

A lot of death to handle but in my world of crappy conditions you quickly grieve and move on. Truthfully, good riddance to all of the Arborvitaes. I won’t make that same mistake again.

On a more uplifting note, I planted 5 bare root trees that were given away at my local park as a means of tree restoration after Hurricane Sandy. Two Red Oaks, a Pin Oak, A Bald Cypress and a Sweetgum were all added and it will take some nursing to keep them going but I am up for the challenge:

Most of my winter online plant orders are in and after a day or two of them breathing outside of their boxes, they all went in the ground. Most of them replacing their aforementioned fallen brethren.

A Viburnum ‘Brandywine’:

Two Pennisetum ‘Desert Plains’:

An Ilex ‘Berry Poppins’:

Additional plantings included: 3 Andropogon ‘Red October’, 1 Schizachyrium ‘Blue Heaven’, 1 Ilex ‘Mr. Poppins’, 2 Viburnum ‘All That Glitters’ and ‘All That Grows’ and 1 Rhamnus ‘Fine Line’. Good times.

There was additional dead foliage clearing to allow the new growth to come in:  

Exciting times to see the deciduous shrubs starting to really leaf out:

Even had some critters to chase around:

We were all happy to be outside again:

Keeping It Real

Posted on by Posted in Garden memoir .

“I just want to let you know that I drool quite a bit when I sleep.”

That statement was uttered by yours truly back in October of 1990. It was one of the first sentences I directed towards a beautiful young lady I had just met while a freshman at Trenton State College in bucolic Ewing, New Jersey. That woman just happened to become my wife six years later.

Now before you blast me for one of the worst pick-up lines in the history of courtship, just know that I may have been slightly inebriated when I said it, and I may or may not have been hanging upside down on a bicycle rack when those words spilled out of my mouth. It is all a little blurry in the memory bank. And yes, it was a little forward of me but it felt like an important piece of information to share with the future Mrs. Markowski. She had to know what she was getting into from the get-go.   

The truth is, I have a knack for not only giving up too much information about myself, but also taking self- deprecation a bit too far. I’ve always been that way and it hasn’t slowed down as I march through adulthood. I’ve never stopped to ponder why I am that way or even worried about how people perceive me because of it. I guess if I had to sit in the psychiatrist’s chair and analyze it, I could come up with some reasons for it.    

It could be a defense mechanism where I beat you to the punch before you can point out a deficiency of mine. For example, at family get-togethers, I’ll immediately say something like “How do you like this pathetic attempt at a beard?” (which by the way, is completely accurate) before someone can give me that look that says “What a pathetic beard”. It is me proving to you that I am completely self-aware.

It could also be a means to avoid any nonsensical small talk and get right to “keeping it real”. I spend most of my time at my “day job” letting people know that everything is under control and that there are no “issues”, only “opportunities”. There is no room for admissions of failure or talking about your weaknesses. But once I get outside of that environment, it feels refreshing to tell it like it is or to not be afraid of how you will be perceived if you openly admit to not being so in control. Discussions of flaws can feel liberating as hell.

Or maybe, self-deprecation is simply “funny” and I love nothing more than to make people laugh. The best stand-up comedy comes from a place of brutal honesty where one can easily relate to the topic at hand. I have been listening to Howard Stern on the radio for more than two decades now and the appeal has always been his ability to be completely open with the listener. You may think he is crude and disgusting, but for me it goes beyond that. He openly admits to being unattractive and awkward looking and who can’t relate to that type of neurosis in some way? The comedy here is almost a sense of relief as it makes it OK to admit to our own faults and shortcomings.

Where is this type of discussion going on a gardening blog you ask? Am I announcing a career change to “garden stand-up comedy”? No … but that could be a unique and cool direction to go in. At a minimum, I bet it is an angle no one has attempted before. I’ll give it a try:

Q. Why did the gardener cross the road?

A. To pick up a stray apple peel for the compost bin. Not funny.

A. To take a picture of a mysterious blooming flower in a ditch. Never mind. A lot of work to be done here.

The reason for today’s pontification is I am looking to fully explore the use of video in and about my garden. In doing so, I realize I am opening myself up to exposing some serious flaws. With photography, it is easy to crop out the bad parts and focus on the good parts. With video, it will be a much larger and comprehensive view of the garden and there is no way to shield readers/viewers from the truth.

But that is good.

There are so many beautiful gardens to visit in person and even more to ogle at in books, magazines or on-line. I love and drool (here we go again) over them like the next guy, but I realize I will never reach that level with my garden. Instead, I am looking to portray a more realistic version of how our gardens actually appear and perform. There will be highs and some sweet looking plant combinations, but there will be just as many lows and “what was he thinking?” moments. I hope to capture both of those with these upcoming videos.

So attached below is video #1. It is short, but it is a start.

You can see what the deer did to one of my foundation plantings this past winter. I felt so vulnerable as I recorded it (unlike most, I use a ton of perennials in my foundation plantings so it looks quite bare right now) but I am determined to push on.

You will see/hear plenty of self-deprecation and honest thoughts and just know I am more aware than you are of what doesn’t look so great.

That would be my gardening defense mechanism in full affect.

Enjoy.

More Unhealthy Spring Excitement

Posted on by Posted in Spring .

This dude, meaning me, seriously needs a hobby. I have spent hours just staring at the crocuses in bloom, in awe that there are actual bees paying them a visit:

I’ve never felt more desperate for the spring gardening season to take hold and I apologize for my desperation.

But it gets better, and more desperate, as I type this sentence.

I had taken a few photos of the branches on my Salix (Willow) ‘Kaga Nishiki’, excited to see that it was leafing out. But now, upon closer inspection, I see that there are f’n catkins on there. Take a look:

That is a first for me and I am way pumped up! Bring it the hell on. I may set up temporary residence right next to this shrub just to watch these catkins fully emerge. Too much?

I am even intensely excited just to see the buds on my Crabapple tree:

 

Riveting ain’t it?

It may seem like nothing to y’all, but I have had enough getting my only landscape thrills from the peeling bark on the River Birch trees:

 

Ain’t gardening grand?