December 2015 - The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

ONG is back

Posted on December 22, 2015 by jmarkowski Posted in Winter interest .

ONG is back for one day that is.

I may have changed focus on this blog (for better or worse, discuss) but the ONG will always be chilling in my DNA. The love of gardening and even the love of garden writing never waned, I just wanted to open myself up to other writing possibilities … blah blah blah … I’ll stop there. You are all very busy and most likely skipped over this paragraph any way because the photos to follow are so damn enticing and invigorating when there is very little color out there in our El Nino inspired abnormally warm landscape that my kids tell me is ruining the Christmas feel but I’m all like, this rules, especially when you have to take a new puppy out in the middle of the night to do her business when it’s difficult to focus, let alone carry a dog and put on warm clothes before heading out into the wildlife filled night which threatens to devour your now 4.6 lb mutt.

So here’s a chance to escape for a few minutes as I compiled all of my favorite photos of my garden (narcissistic much?) from this past year with a quick blurb as to why I enjoy each pic so much.

Time for you to now enjoy:

It took me a while to jump on the Baptisia bandwagon but the deer have ignored them, they’ve bloomed like mad for two years running and that color is potent as all hell, in a great way.

A little yellow Baptisia as well and love the way they peek above the slowly emerging grass in the foreground.

My first white peony bloom on this plant. Hopefully many more to come in the years that follow.

An early season view of my favorite part of the garden when the sun sets each afternoon and provides incredible back lighting of the plants. More of these same views to follow.

I picked up a Clematis at a trade show (Mr. Important that I am) and planted it just to keep it alive before I figured out what to do with it. Month later it bloomed hammering home the point that it is better to be lucky than good.

A spring bulb combo, I’m like a garden designer or something. Normally I’m just happy to see one Daffodil on a plant. Go me!

I’m easily excited, so seeing an actual hummingbird was a big deal to me.

Allium ‘Drumsticks’ are seriously the cats’s meow. This was my first experience with them and pray they come back even stronger next spring.

The beauty of rainy and foggy weather and the power and beauty of the ornamental grass.

Repetition is pleasing to the eye.

And the winner of the foliage color of the year goes to Ninebark ‘Amber Jubilee’, which is also the name of an exotic dancer and a My Little Pony character.

The colors clash a bit, but all of these blooms create quite the buzz when the bees flock to them in summer.

This represents the peak of the garden, when all of the Joe Pye Weed are in bloom. Oh how I miss it.

I love how the coneflower blooms are reaching towards the sun and how the Astilbe in the background have granted them the OK to take center stage.

Remember that favorite view I mentioned a few photos back? Here it is again in the sweetheart of summer.

A color combo I love and only got to enjoy this summer since the deer left the daylillies alone for the first time in years. Thank you deer.

My garden will be completely taken over by Bee Balm in 2021 and I’ll love it. The humming moth agrees with me as well.

Yes, purple coneflowers are everywhere, but how can we complain when something like this happens?

Remember that view? Yes, here it is again.

Fly milkweed seed, fly.

Yes, again.

The frost in fall is beyond magical.

Brown, as a color, is way underrated.

New puppy observations

Posted on December 16, 2015 by jmarkowski Posted in Dogs, Family .

Yes, it’s only been 4 days with the new puppy, but she has already made quite the impression. Girlfriend loves to love on the whole family but when that snarky side emerges, watch out. The perfect recipe for a dog.

With that in mind, here are ten observations I’ve already made thanks to little ‘ol Mia:

Sleep deprivation will make you do strange things. I remember when we got our first puppy, Casey, back in 1999. We had been married for less than 3 years and only had responsibility for ourselves. When the dog came along, we quickly learned the concept of sleep deprivation. Hosing down the crate outside at 2:00 AM, baths in the sink at all hours of the night, walking the dog barefoot at 3:00 AM all over town in a state of semi consciousness and my ultimate fave, caring for the dog and then showering for work only to realize it was still 2:00 AM.

While Mia has been a decent sleeper so far, I did fall asleep face down in the carpet with my hand stuck in between the grates on her crate last night. What we do …

Witnessing a new puppy brings back floods of memories of our first dog. Our first dog Casey was a senior citizen for what seemed like years, and as she got older it was harder to remember the early years. Watching Mia chew everything in site and play with boundless energy made me miss Casey as a puppy. I hadn’t thought of her in that way for so long but it all came flowing back these past few days. I still miss the hell out of that dog.

No matter how many times you tell them, kids just don’t understand what having a new puppy is all about. I threatened the kids with a contract that they would have to sign before we could welcome a dog into our home. In it would be strict guidelines around their responsibilities/chores and acknowledgment that some of their stuff would get ruined along the way. I never followed through with it because I’m an “empty threat parent” but I really wish I did. While they love the dog to pieces, their faces scream “Will life ever get back to normal?” Yes it will my little ones … in like a year or two. This is what dog ownership is all about.

Working from home with a dog is a fun little challenge. Between us, my wife and I work from out of our home 4 out of 5 days each week. That is great for training a new puppy and hilarious to watch the execution of the multi-tasking. I’ve taken to using the top of Mia’s crate as a work station and conference calls with a 3.5 lb dog curled in one arm is a fun new way to chat with your co-workers.

You kind of can’t go anywhere. And that kind of slows you down around pre-holiday time. Although, there is clearly a lesson to be learned here.

We must keep our eyes to the sky when taking the dog outside. I shit you not, the hawks will snatch her up in no time if we’re not looking.

My voice is capable of reaching octaves previously unknown. The kids have stared at me in awe numerous times already with a look that says “Who is that guy?” And while it can’t be proven, I may have uttered the phrase “Who’s daddy’s puppy wuppy?” in a tone that may destroy all that is left of my street cred.

Time management. When that new puppy is down and sleeping, time to grab that to-do list and get to work.

Pictures of puppies on Facebook trump everything else. Seriously, if I climbed Mt. Everest while juggling lawn darts, I would get fewer likes than a simple picture of a puppy. And people who gave up Facebook last decade suddenly emerge when puppies are on display.

The rescuing of an animal feels better than I ever imagined. That poor thing was stuck in a shelter in South Carolina. And there are so damn many like her. I just wish I could adopt a bunch of them and let them run free here.

Hmmmmm.

Mia

Posted on December 14, 2015 by jmarkowski Posted in Dogs, Family .

Please say hello to Mia, the newest member of our family.

She is a rescue from North Carolina who made her way up to Pennsylvania this past weekend. We can’t thank the great people of Lulu’s Rescue enough for the entire coordination and unbelievable dedication to these animals. We’ve followed them for years now and always knew they were going to be our source for our next dog.

While we knew we would eventually want another dog (in an ironic and bittersweet twist, we picked her up exactly one year to the day after our Casey had passed) we never imagined it happening this quickly. All it took was one photograph of this little angel and we were in. We saw her on Facebook last Tuesday and made the decision to adopt on Wednesday. Insane move for our not so spontaneous family.

Mia is only 3.5 lbs at 9 weeks old and possibly the smallest dog I’ve ever witnessed live.

The kids are still in complete awe of their new sibling and the smiles haven’t left their faces to date.

To say this dog is loving doesn’t do her justice.

It’s only been two full days, but she has shown an incredible ability to run herself ragged, explore every nook and cranny in the house and then melt into the arms of the first person who touches her.

We feel incredibly blessed to have found her and cannot wait to watch her grow up each and every day.

Calf cramps and phosphorous smoothies

Posted on December 10, 2015 by jmarkowski Posted in Edibles, Health .

I’ve been getting horrific calf cramps the past few nights. They typically hit while I am in full REM sleep and I wake up in temporary horror when they kick in. Once I am awake enough to comprehend what is going on, I become a bumbling idiot trying to point my toes towards me and then away from me until the pain subsides (I still don’t know which is the better option). Once they subside, I develop cramp paranoia and have trouble sleeping comfortably again. Fun.

I’ve read all I can on the cause of calf cramps. It isn’t dehydration because I drink 8- 10 glasses of water a day. It isn’t due to excessive exercise as it hits at all different times; the night after a hard run and nights after I haven’t exercised for days. I don’t take birth control pills and I’m fairly certain that I’m not pregnant.

The only explanation and one that makes a whole lot of sense is a lack of potassium and/or calcium. Here’s why:

I hate bananas – probably the best way to get the necessary potassium. Until someone creates a new breed of banana that doesn’t have that nasty texture, I’m out.

I hate milk – ever since my kindergarten classmate threw up her milk all over my shoes, I can’t stomach the stuff. That smell never left me. My parents made me drink it and I still resent them for it. It was the greatest part about leaving for college, no more forced milk. Pathetic, i know.

Knowing all this, and knowing the calf cramps are … cramping my style … it’s time to make a move. Bananas in smoothies works (no texture issues) and daily calcium pills are now on the docket. We’ll see just how much of an impact this will have.

Which brings me to my giant lemon …

Don’t get the transition? Here we go.

I talked a few weeks back about the soon to be beautifully ripe Meyer lemon I had growing on my Meyer lemon tree. You can read it here.

I finally picked it yesterday as it was time to finally enjoy it. Off it came and the first thing I needed to do was measure the giant.

About 5 inches wide and 15 inches in diameter.

I had personally never seen a lemon that large and I started to wonder if just maybe I am the lemon whisperer. I could envision a future of people coming from far and wide to view my lemons. A potential book and a movie and a legacy passed on to my kids.

And then I cut into it.

Um … what

Holy rind Batman.

Doesn’t really smell like a lemon.

And the pulp is very dry.

What a f’n colossal disappointment. Where did I go wrong?

It didn’t take very long to figure it out. After a quick Google search, it seemed to be very obvious. Two different things actually (best description here):

Too much nitrogen

Too little phosphorus

Hmmmm. I’ve kept up with the feeding over the last few years, but nothing excessive. I’ve used a balanced citrus fertilizer but maybe it is time to switch it up. Maybe start using a better organic option like bone meal.

But then again, the fruit to follow looks normal, appearing to have that patented thin Meyer lemon rind.

Do nothing? I can’t. Need to take action.

So in conclusion:

Me: Banana based smoothies and calcium supplements

The lemon tree: Phosphorous based smoothie and bone meal

See what I did there tying it all together? I know, impressive.

What my daughter has taught me

Posted on December 8, 2015 by jmarkowski Posted in Family .

My daughter turned ten years old yesterday.

Shit.

I’ll spare you the “It seems like yesterday …” spiel because we all feel the same way. In the blink of an eye we go from diaper changing to evaluating the first potential boyfriend.

We are warned by those trailblazers before us on how fleeting the time really is, but until one goes through it, one doesn’t truly appreciate just how damn accurate that assessment is.

Son of a …

In honor of my daughter’s first decade, here are eight things she has taught me over the years:

Ingenuity – I am not handy at all. My wife knew it from the day we met (I think it was referenced in our vows) and the kids now know it as well. The care and concern is there; the execution, not so much.

I think my son accepted his father’s flaw at an early age and gave up asking for help. Poor guy is destined to carry on the Markowski tradition. Perfect example – his bedroom door has not closed all the way for years now and makes a horrifically loud sound every time he shuts it. Attempts to fix it have been … attempted … and still no resolution to date. He doesn’t even complain any more.

My daughter, on the other hand, doesn’t accept her father’s shortcomings. She calls me out on it when I deserve it. I think dad’s weakness has been used as an impetus to “just do it”. I can remember her fashioning a birdhouse out of cardboard, a coaster out of duct tape (still in rotation to this day) and numerous hats made out of simple construction paper.

We have a tradition of reading “The Night Before Christmas” each Christmas Eve right before the kids go to bed. She loves it but figured why stop there. When I told her books do not exist for the other holidays, she simply created them herself.

Why purchase baseball cards for your brother when you can make them yourself?

Always dream big – Yes, it is easy to dream when you are young and wonderfully naive, but this girl takes it to another level. She uses it as a to-do list. Our goal is to simply stay out of the way. Scratch that, stay out of the way but tag along and maybe learn a thing or ten.

We all need something like this.

And why not tell the world about it while we’re at it.

Don’t let anyone tell you “no you can’t” –

When we were in Vermont a few weeks ago, the boys had planned a big football game against the dads. My daughter insisted on playing even though she had never done so before. You don’t tell her “no”. To say she was our team’s MVP is an understatement.

A sign tells her she can’t ride, she simply sneaks on while hiding behind her brother.

A simple note is quite powerful – This one gets me more than anything else she has ever done. This is not one of those “you should make something for your dad” or a school assignment. This comes from that precious little heart of hers that I pray is never broken by anyone. I will seriously put quite the smack down if that happens.

And it doesn’t end with her parents. She knew how to bring a smile to great-grandma’s face each and every visit.

Feigning interest works – I bought it hook, line and sinker. Killer boots too.

Selfies are always fun – a boring event can become a legendary one with the simple use of a camera phone.

A zest for life is contagious – fun is right around the corner if you simply look for it.

I kid you not, from the day she was born, she would wake up each morning with a smile on her face. EVERY MORNING. She still greets every day like an opportunity for fun and adventure and experience. She even talks about forcing herself to dream positively each night. Where did this girl come from?

Bedtime is a sacred event – We have always been strict about the kids bed times. No staying up until you fall asleep nonsense. Part of the reason is that we wanted to give ourselves enough time to read to them and just slowly shut down the day.

To this day, my daughter still loves it. I carry her on my back up the stairs each and every night and we hang in bed and just chat. No distractions, just an opportunity to allow the night to take over and slowly wind down. When we’re done, my wife comes in and rubs my daughter’s back as a “scratch-a-bye” (guess who coined that phrase?).

Are there times we resist the bedtime routine? Ashamedly, yes. But she holds us to it and damn I love her for that.

Rainy day garden photos

Posted on December 2, 2015 by jmarkowski Posted in Fall color, Foliage, Ornamental grass .

Two straight days of nothing but rain here in central NJ and so I did what every warm blooded middle aged man would do … I took rainy day garden photos. Always a fun time and proof positive that my garden writing/photography days are still hanging around.

Here’s how things are looking outside right now, all sorts of wonderfully brown and dreary and upliftingly depressing.