December 2014 - The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Our Christmas vacation

Posted on December 31, 2014 by jmarkowski Posted in Family .

It all kicked off with a baking marathon and the kids were happy to take part.

Our 2nd annual Christmas Eve/Eve dinner at “Inn of the Hawke” in Lambertville, NJ was another smashing success.

Xmas eve, eve dinner #Christmas #NJ #Lambertville #InnoftheHawke

A photo posted by john markowski (@jmarkowski0) on Dec 12, 2014 at 3:47pm PST

A side note: most of our “traditions” are the result of a change to our original plans in which the kids go screaming and kicking against their will. However, the plan change ends up being “awesome” and a new tradition is born. Of course they never remember not wanting to do it in the first place.

One tradition we’ve maintained for a decade now is the reading of “The Night Before Christmas” on Christmas Eve. They will never get too old for it … I hope.

Some day soon this will end and it will break our collective hearts.

The calm before the Christmas day storm.

Can I hit pause for a few years?

Football cards were all the rage this year … reminds me of someone else I know quite well.

Beanie Boo’s galore.

A lot of cousin time.

For you coffee lovers, I cannot stress enough just how life changing this Chemex is. Seriously, click the link and never look back. My wife knows me oh so well.

A life changing item. Coffee lovers throw away your Keurig and enter the world of Chemex. Holy crap’n crap. #Chemex #Coffee A photo posted by john markowski (@jmarkowski0) on Dec 12, 2014 at 7:16am P

Check this out. Guess who is going to be a guest DJ for an hour? What do you think, an hour of garden themed music? Or maybe half talk and half music?

So for a week now, we have run around like mad, chilled out, visited with friends and family, hit up the movie theater, eaten cookies for breakfast, chilled out some more and I even found some time to visit my lonely winter garden.

And chase the herd of deer away. Nothing to see here.

Here’s to 2015 my friends.

No resolutions for me this year. I want each day to proceed slowly. I refuse to wish time away.

Enjoy.

Salix Hakuro Nishiki

Posted on December 23, 2014 by jmarkowski Posted in Shrubs .

A little over two years ago, I created a ~~masterpiece~~ post about Salix Hakuro Nishiki (Dappled Willow) and my new found love of this shrub. I was immediately taken by the variegation of the leaves with its mix of pink, white and green hues. Not to mention the appeal of it’s fast growth rate and love of wet soil.

At the time, I wondered aloud about how best to prune it and when. I had quickly realized it could wear out its welcome in it current location yet I enjoyed having something substantial in my relatively young garden. I also wanted to determine the best way to maximize the variegation and stem color. How was one to deal with such a life altering dilemma?

Fast forward to this past spring and I had yet to touch it.

And she looked damn good.

Upon closer inspection, I even had catkins growing for the first time. Small and delicate in nature and a nice added bonus to its spring appeal.

And that fantastic Salix Hakuro Nishiki leaf color was still in play as the spring progressed.

The sight of the back lit leaves with the late afternoon sun grabbed my eye every time I gazed out on to my deck.

But as you will see in the following pics, homegirl finally outgrew her spot.

So now the time has finally arrived to prune Salix Hakuro Nishiki back hard in late winter 2015. I’m thinking a severe pruning down to about a foot hoping that by season’s end, this willow will recover to a size of about 4′ x 4′.

I’m also hoping to continue to have the appealing red winter stems I’ve seen on this willow with the current season’s growth.

More to come in 2015.

Favorite photos of 2014

Posted on December 17, 2014 by jmarkowski Posted in Blooms, Foliage, Ornamental grass, Perennials, Shrubs .

First off, I want to thank all of you for your kind comments on the last post and/or on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Text. Each one made the sadness just a little bit more manageable and that was so appreciated by my family and me.

We are all still bumming big time over the loss of our Casey and the new “normal” thrust upon us. It is so painfully empty in the house. And damn I had no idea what slobs the kids are; the crumbs Casey disposed of are now piling up. She did an awesome job of covering up for them.

So while I don’t have the drive or want to write up a witty post or research a favorite perennial, I did have the need to look back through ALL of my garden photos from 2014 for an energy lift out of these doldrums.

I find it so easy to immerse myself right back into the bloom and foliage colors like it is the middle of summer.

If I had any sense of smell (note to self – surgery in 2015) I could smell those flowers like they were in the room with me.

I can physically feel the warmth of that time.

This all feels damn good right about now.

So here is the what I think is the best of the best.

Goodbye Casey

Posted on December 14, 2014 by jmarkowski Posted in Dogs, Family .

We lost our beloved dog Casey yesterday.

Even though she was 15 1/2 years old (how lucky were we?) and frail, it doesn’t make it any easier to accept that she is now gone. The void left behind hurts like hell and the entire family is officially out of tears. I will never forget the kids saying their final goodbyes to Casey and how a whirlwind of old memories flashed by in an instant and punched us in the gut.

Seeing crumbs on the floor now hurts. We never had to worry about them before.

I struggle looking at the peanut butter jar. That is what we used to get Casey to take her medications over the years.

Twice I have moved to refill her water bowl.

I will forever think I hear her paws on the hardwood floor in the early morning.

But I don’t want to this post to be a downer; ha, too late. But seriously, we’ve had enough of that for now. Our therapy over the past 48 hours has been about reminiscing and laughing at all the memories Casey has provided since 1999.

We watched old videos to remember when she was young and spry. That felt good. She also clearly invented the idea of “photo bombing”, as she is literally in almost every home video.

We took out the old photographs (no digital for us in those early years) of when she was just a pup. We shared stories with the kids of Casey before they were born or just too young to remember.

So selfishly, the following pics and commentary are additional therapy for us and an homage to the greatest dog we’ve ever known. As I write this, I hope she is curled up on a couch made of bacon and is chewing away.

Here we go.

We picked Casey out of her litter solely based on the fact that she ran under a nearby car away from her siblings. She had a naughty streak we immediately took a liking to.

The first night she was home with us, she pooped in her cage and rolled in it. Good times. We had to give her a bath 2:30 in the morning. Game on. This dog thing wasn’t going to be easy.

Casey literally never sat still that first year and wiped us the f out. Great, great practice for having children.

Casey was there while we tackled projects in our first home. On this day below, she and her uncle managed to get loose and I ended up picking thorns out of her eyelids.

A few things here. Casey loved car rides and I still hadn’t learned my lesson to not put my wallet on top of the car.

When I say she was our first baby, I am clearly not exaggerating.

She wasn’t cared for or loved at all.

The entire street would smile as they walked by the house and saw her welcoming mug.

Trips to the family lake house were not only enjoyed by the “humans”.

She ALWAYS managed to put a smile on everyone’s face.

Casey never took to any toys other than a football. One of our most distinct memories is of Casey munching on said football as she hung with the family.

But if I had to come up with one lasting image of our beautiful girl, it is of her laying her mouth on our laps while we ate breakfast, lunch or dinner. The girl adored food.

Maybe we tortured her without her knowing once in a while.

Even up until her last day when she was ready to leave us and cross over that rainbow bridge in the sky, she looked like that cute puppy.

There will never be another dog like you Casey and we all want to thank you for the impact you have made on all of our lives. We love you and will never forget you. I would kill to give you one last pizza crust and watch you crunch the hell out of it.

Amsonia Blue Ice – through the seasons

Posted on December 11, 2014 by jmarkowski Posted in Perennials .

Included below is a tour of Amsonia Blue Ice from my garden. It runs from May through September of this year.

I’ve included the actual dates each of the photos were taken to show the long season of interest for this native perennial.

Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’ – May 14th

Amsonia Blue Ice – May 25th

Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’ – June 3rd

Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’ with Dwarf Monarda – June 15th

Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’ – October 5th

Some notes about this perennial:

Averages 12″ in height
Averages 24″ in width
Hardy in zones 3-9
Prefers full sun but will tolerate partial shade
Blooms in late spring as noted above
Deer resistant
Native perennial
Trimming back after bloom creates a fuller plant later in the season

Veronica Royal Candles

Posted on December 8, 2014 by jmarkowski Posted in Perennials .

It is late September 2012 and I’m mourning the transition from summer to fall while I hum Taylor Swift’s “We are never getting back together”. I am in complete denial of the impending cold weather and in order to further facilitate that denial, I head online to find me some plant deals. The hunt for a bargain is always exciting and it allows me to dream of a better, warmer day.

One of the places I always check out is Santa Rosa Gardens. They are always good for some heavily discounted plants near the end of the gardening season. I have purchased a ton of ornamental grasses from them in September/October/November of each year with wild success.

On this day however, I find no grasses to my liking. But I am still desperate to acquire some new plants. After long deliberation, I remain calm and conservatively decide to buy a few bulbs. Nothing overly exciting but I still get off fantasizing about March/April blooms.

Right before I submit my order, I check out the “Bargain Bench” section one last time and without much thought, throw in an order of 6 plants at a super cheap price. To prove I’m not fibbing, you can see my actual order below.

Those 6 “throw-in’s” were Veronica ‘Royal Candles’.

A plant I had zero experience with.

A plant I had never researched.

A plant I had no plan for in terms of location (shocking, I know).

A plant that didn’t necessarily work with my conditions.

And a plant of which I now own over two dozen.

Isn’t that how it always works? The best plan is no plan at all.

After I received these 6 Veronica (Speedwell) through the mail, and in a move of desperation, I stuck them in the ground in a known wet spot just hoping they would miraculously survive the winter. Solid decision making there.

Not only did they survive the winter, they survived Hurricane Sandy only a few days after I planted them. And they bloomed their little asses off that spring. I figured the rabbits or deer would eventually get them but they remained untouched all the way into fall.

Was it a stroke of a luck? I was leaning in that direction, so I didn’t touch them as we rolled into and through 2013. This would be the true test.

Sure enough, they kicked more booty and were once again OK with the waterlogged clay soil, the rabbits and the deer. I was hooked. Time to add a bunch more for that great punch of color.

I found them dirt cheap at my local nursery this spring and purchased a few trays. I literally placed them everywhere at the front of my beds.

And all I’ve gotten in return is purple awesomeness and hosts of happy critters along the way.

One of the complaints I’ve read about these perennials is how the blooms start to “brown up” from the bottom which takes away from the overall look of the blooms.

While this is true, I’ve found that with a quick snip of the blooms, they are quick to recover, usually blooming again within two weeks.

Yes, it is solely the blooms that make this plant interesting, but some times you simply want large bursts of color all at once and to date, this dwarf perennial has delivered the goods.

A few additional notes on this Speedwell:

Prefers full sun, but I have most of mine in partial sun with outstanding results
Size maxes out at approximately 12″ x 18″
Survives in zones 2-9
Apparently easy to divide and I will test this out next spring

You’ll be sure to hear more about these from me in 2015 as together we’ll see if they hold up well in year 3.

After the snow is gone

Posted on December 4, 2014 by jmarkowski Posted in Ornamental grass, Winter interest .

Now that all of the snow has melted, it has become obvious again just how much my garden is dominated by ornamental grasses. Call me crazy, but I’ll take all of the browns/buffs/beige/reddish browns over the white stuff any day. I find it oddly soothing, especially during one of our warmer and foggy days like today.

I kid you not, these pics are all from different sections of the garden even if they appear to be repeats. Even I had to look twice at some of these. I guess you can’t have too much of a good thing.

It was hard to locate angles without a grass in the shot, but I did manage to find a few.

Sorghastrum Sioux Blue

Posted on December 2, 2014 by jmarkowski Posted in Ornamental grass .

As you may have heard or read, I kind of like the ornamental grass. No other plant performs better in my garden and welcomes my wet and deer infested conditions with open arms.

One grass that I haven’t promoted all that much over the years has been the Blue Indian Grass – Sorghastrum nutans ‘Sioux Blue’. This U.S and Canadian native prairie grass makes a bold statement in my garden from August through the winter.

In bloom it now reaches (after five years of ownership) 7′ tall and about 3′ wide. It took a while to establish in years one and two when it started out as a small plug, but did it ever take off after that. As a means of comparison, the picture above is from mid September of this year, 2014 and the photo below is from that same time back in 2012.

I have it located in full sun but from all that I’ve read, it can work in partial sun as well. The deer have never bothered with it and it sits in rather waterlogged soil without much of an issue. Indian blue grass survives in zones 4-8 and typically starts blooming in early August here in zone 6B New Jersey.

A chronological tour from spring to fall:

This warm season grass doesn’t truly emerge until early June as seen below.

But even while small in stature during the early to mid summer months, it combines well with others shrubs/perennials. The blue/green blade color is fantastic as a contrast to darker leaved and colorful neighboring plants.

And then by late August, boom.

As you can see, the blooms are fantastic and draw the eye from all angles.

By late September, the fall color arrives and while it is fleeting, it is still damn attractive.

Even after the autumn shades disappear, the interest remains.

Would love to hear from you, have you had success with this grass? Have you had success with other cultivars? Have yours held up through the winter? Any success with dividing it?

John

The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Monthly Archives: December 2014

Our Christmas vacation

Salix Hakuro Nishiki

Favorite photos of 2014

Goodbye Casey

Amsonia Blue Ice – through the seasons

Veronica Royal Candles

After the snow is gone

Sorghastrum Sioux Blue

Pages

Archives

Categories

WordPress

Subscribe