The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Author Archives: jmarkowski

This post is boring and you’ve been warned

Posted on by Posted in Spring .

After six years of willfully displaying my immature excitement at new spring plant growth on this blog, it’s time to slow things down a bit. A never ending supply of minuscule pops of green is not very entertaining. In fact, those types of posts are a turn off to the non hardcore gardener. And if I’m here to do anything, it is to convert the non-obsessive to the obsessive.

So with that in mind, forget everything I just said. I’m a happily immature 43 year old who still gets down on his hands and knees and pulls back the mulch/soil for signs that perennials survived the winter. I use my left hand to hold back dead branches while the right hand barely balances the camera and some how manages to capture the rosettes of newly emerging sedum.

Maybe next year I’ll spare you the pain of my spring excitement. If you have had enough of these types of posts, photos or have seen all you need to see in your own garden, you are now free to leave. For those who stay, I’m sorry.

The ultimate rite of spring, the emergence of the peony. Still fun.

peony

 

In the not too distant future, we will have carpets of moss phlox blooms.

moss phlox

 

I’ve struggled to grow lilacs of any sort but things are looking up already this spring.

lilac

 

lilac 2

 

Allium ‘Globemaster’ returning for another year. No flower garners more attention than this one.

allium

 

Rhamnus ‘Fine Line’ (Buckthorn) is going to really take off this year and I’ll be there every step along the way.

buckthorn 2

 

buckthorn

 

A rosette of Ajuga peeking through the dead foliage. Tells me it is time to strap on my shit kicking boots and get my gardening on.

ajuga

“The Perennial Matchmaker” – My review

Posted on by Posted in Book reviews .

If a garden genie were to swoop down from the high heavens and offer me one wish and one wish only, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt what I would ask for. I’ve been preparing for this moment for a long time now, just as I’ve prepared my family for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can’t be too careful.

My ultimate wish would be for Nancy Ondra to take the reins of my garden for a minimum of three years where she would be graced with an unlimited budget and unlimited time. I would provide her no direction and would have no specific requests other than she do as she sees fit.

Nancy would take up residence at our house while the family and I relocate to Bermuda for those three years. Our employers would willingly allow us to work remotely while on the island and the kids would be provided with a solid tropical education. After the three years are up, Nancy would be required to make quarterly visits on an ongoing basis to ensure I am not screwing up what she will have created in my garden.

In my humble opinion, there is no greater designer of perennial gardens than Nancy Ondra. I have used her website – Hayefield – as a reference tool for for years running now, be it for researching plant combos, flowers or most impressively, the power of foliage.  I am a also a proud owner of so many of her books. I still remember being drawn in by the cover of her book “Fallscaping” at my local library back in 2008 and immediately purchasing a few Amsonia later that night. The Perennial Gardener’s Design Primer hit shelves right when my perennial fever emerged back in 2005 and it had an enormous influence on my perennial choices from that point forward. It also helps that she gardens in the same zone as I do and is located only a hop, skip and a jump away in scenic Bucks County, PA.

Which brings me to Nancy Ondra’s latest book, “The Perennial Matchmaker”.

The Perennial Matchmaker

I received a copy of “The Perennial Matchmaker” a few months back (I must let you know upfront that a copy was mailed to me because one of my own garden photos made it into the book, more on that in a bit) and I’ve already mapped out 3 new perennial combinations I’ll be attempting this spring. It is a must have for gardeners of all experience levels and the book once again crowns Ondra as one of the queens of the perennial garden.

The book includes 80+ profiles of different perennials/grasses.

The Perennial Matchmaker

The Perennial Matchmaker

Each of which is broken down into three different sections:

Color Considerations – bloom colors are analyzed with multiple recommendations for other plants that both complement and contrast with those flowers. A sample:

“The rich colors of heleniums show up beautifully among the tans and browns of ornamental grass flower and seed heads , like those of ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass.” 

 

Shapes and Textures – the plant form and texture is discussed, and again, numerous plant partners are suggested based on said shape and texture.

“The blooms of most irises tend to be on the big and bold side, holding their own with other in-your-face flowers, such as those of giant onion (Allium giganteum) and peonies. For contrast, combine them with partners that have small, airy, or spiky blooms, such as catmints (Nepeta).”

 

Seasonal Features – covers the impact each perennial has throughout each season and how it can impact design.

“Fall-colored bluestars make a great contrast to the brown-black seed heads of echinaceas or rudbeckias and the flattened, reddish heads of upright sedums, such as ‘Autumn Fire’.”   

 

Beyond that, there is a “Perfect Match” section accompanying each plant profile that highlights Ondra’s personal favorite companion(s) for that particular plant. Here’s a sample using one of my favorites, the bee balm:

“When I choose bee balms for my garden, I look for cultivars that have interesting bracts as well as colorful flowers. Red-flowered ‘Jacob Cline’, for instance, has dark, purplish red bracts that make an excellent echo for purple-leaved shrubs, such as ‘Royal Purple’ smokebush.”

 

And finally, each plant description includes a “Bloom Buddies” box which provides a listing of other perennials that bloom around the same time as that perennial. A super easy reference when we’re in the planning phase of our gardens or trying to correct a prior mistake – my personal sweet spot.

The Perennial Matchmaker

 

Yes, the descriptions are delicious, informative and passionately detailed, but the photos, oh those photos, are the creme de la creme of this book. Like a 2 year old, when I first received the book all I did was leaf through each and every page only absorbing the photos. If this were solely a picture book, I’d still be on board.

The Perennial Matchmaker

 

The Perennial Matchmaker

 

The Perennial Matchmaker

 

The Perennial Matchmaker

Quick aside – my perennial combination of Astilbe ‘Deutschland’ and Ninebark ‘Diablo’ made it onto page 46 of the book. My 15 minutes of fame are slowly evaporating.

The Perennial Matchmaker

Part 2 of “The Perennial Matchmaker” covers the “Exploring of more options”. Here Nancy Ondra educates the reader on how to really look at a perennial to understand it’s attributes, how to do your homework before purchasing perennials and ultimately how to find partners for your perennials. This section is perfect for the beginning gardener and admittedly, a nice refresher for those of us who think we know it all.

For me personally, “The Perennial Matchmaker” has provided a new and fresh outlook on how to combine and design with the perennials currently in my garden. I made a point to look up each and every perennial in my garden today in the book’s index to ultimately see all of the suggested pairings. It has invigorated me to try some new combos, combos I never considered before.

Along those same lines, “The Perennial Matchmaker” is also an incredible resource for determining where to place all of those plants I ordered over the winter. A perfect example is as follows – I ordered 1o Vernonia noveboracensis (New York ironweed) from a native plant online retailer after having seen this plant at the High Line in NYC last summer. I had made no plans (shocker) as to where it would go and who it would be planted next to. Sure enough, my answer was on page 281 where a photo of New York ironweed and Joe Pye Weed paired together made the decision easy for me.

This is how I will use this book for years to come.

A plant will not go in the ground until “The Perennial Matchmaker” has been referenced.

I suggest you do the same.

An early spring garden tour

Posted on by Posted in Bulbs, Foliage, Spring .

Even with temperatures dipping into the 40’s here in Central New Jersey and wind gusts of up to 40 mph, I still managed to spend a good deal of time in the great outdoors garden on Sunday. There was still dead perennial foliage to be removed, a first wave of weeds to eradicate and the never ending task of cutting down all of the ornamental grasses. When there is an available window of time for garden chores, you take it, no questions asked.

After the “tasks” were completed for the day, I grabbed the camera and did my best to capture what’s going on. Things seem to have slowed down a bit in the garden after the colder weather arrived this past week but there are still signs that we are in fact moving forward. And that is a good thing.

Bud break on the Viburnum ‘Amber Jubilee’ promises stellar foliage is coming in the very near future.

viburnum emerging

 

Same goes for the Sambucus ‘Lemony Lace’ which lived comfortably in a container last season but has now made the jump to the big leagues and is in a very prominent spot in the garden.

emerging foliage

 

Variegated Siberian Iris will enjoy it’s first spring in my garden and here’s hoping it enjoys it’s stay.

emerging iris

 

Bee Balm rosettes threaten to take over all other perennials and I’m OK with sitting back and watching how it will all play out.

emerging bee balm

 

Daylilies … um … are green or whatever.

daylily emerging

 

The cool season ornamental grasses are showing signs of life as seen here with Calamagrostis ‘El Dorado’.

grass emerging

 

The buds on Viburnum carlesii ‘Aurora’ have turned to their usual pre-blooming pinkish hue and it won’t be long before that killer scent is wafting in my front windows and carrying me away to my happy place.

viburnum bud

 

I couldn’t bring myself to cut down the Panicum ‘Northwind’ yet. With nothing but cold temps and wind on the horizon, I still need to watch them dance a bit more before I can bid them goodbye.

northwind blowing

 

And on to the bulbs.

Daffodils, not the most original and unique of blooms but it is still color and they come back without fail year after year after year. An underrated attribute I do not take for granted.

daffodil

 

More Narcissus not too far away.

daffodil buds

 

daffodil buds 2

 

Leucojum aestivum (Summer Snowflake) is starting to bloom and is one of the few bulbs that can withstand wet soil conditions over the winter. Hence, I have got a lot of it. Loved how the back lit sun was captured here.

leucojum

 

leucojum 2

 

The Hyacinth blooms are mini in stature but I’m just psyched that they came back at all again this year. It is the first time I’ve had repeat bloomers. It’s the little things that make me happy.

hyacinth

 

The garden “trumps” all else

Posted on by Posted in My garden, Spring .

Chaos reigns right now.

Every other day there is a heinous act of terrorism that no longer shocks but has become background music. The sight of people running for their lives on CNN doesn’t even faze us.

After a waiting period of approximately 51 seconds, both sides of the political aisle provide their expected take on the attacks and our existing division just grows larger and larger.

Did he really just say “I alone can solve”?

Donald Trump has managed to make this presidential race both fascinating and utterly embarrassing. The optimist hopes this is the necessary low point in order to course correct our political system. The pessimist says “dude we’re a fucking disaster”. I’m leaning towards the latter after watching Trump on CNN last night, where pictures of wives on Twitter was the topic for the first ten minutes.

And guns, oh those guns. Guns are the sole cause of all our issues. Take them all away. Never mind the impact of the mental state of these shooters or those who handle them responsibly.

On the other side we hear that guns solve all issues. If only those dining in Paris were properly armed. Take my gun away and I promise more gun violence. Is a background check unreasonable? This may be my favorite Onion article of all time:

Emotional Wayne LaPierre Honors Victims Of Background Checks

Don’t even think about breathing a word about politics or religion on social media because the concept of “gray” no longer exists. I’ve witnessed many long time friends become non-friends within one Facebook post. People are angry and while it may be justified, I’ve seen plenty of angry rhetoric based in not even one tangible fact. The number of garbage websites dedicated solely to feeding the insanity of those blindly following both the left and right is out of control. They make the Onion look like hard hitting news.

I’m not one to voice my political or religious opinions but I will say this: As this nonsense unfolds my “Independent” thinking only gets stronger. And I’m doing my best to pass that type of thinking on to my children. Take each issue on its own merit and feel comfortable mixing and matching your beliefs. But really take the time to understand the issue, grasp both sides of the argument and feel free to sometimes not have a strong opinion one way or another.

And above it all, treat everyone equally and don’t fall for the conveniently categorized stereotypes. Everyone should enjoy the right to marry. Everyone has the right to be themselves. Respect all religious beliefs and those without religious beliefs. Seems easy to me and hope they agree.

That my friends is why I love my garden.

I’m incapable of thought when in her presence.

The ultimate escape.

I enjoy the control I have there and have to come accept what little control I really have.

Patience is rewarded and some times it’s fun to tell patience to suck it.

My garden is my laboratory and my garden is not mine at all.

I hate the deer but cherish the challenge in trying to fool them.

Success is overrated, failure is underrated.

I am more than willing right now to take the dog out just so I can savor the emergence of the early spring garden.

front bed

Bulbs are revealing themselves, perennial foliage appears overnight and buds on the trees and shrubs promise a greater tomorrow. The need to go, go, go dissipates and I’m comfortable sitting and staring and taking it all in for minutes on end. It’s the closest I can get to meditation.

And nothing is better for temporarily forgetting about the chaos.

 

 

 

Plants I’m bullish on this year

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

Here are 9 plants I’m hoping show big improvement this spring/summer over how they performed in my garden last year. 8 are relative newcomers, 1-3 years in the ground, so time alone should aid their jump in prominence. And 1 has been around my parts forever but only last year managed to avoid the wrath of the deer herd. Here’s hoping this is a new trend.

Coneflower ‘Sunrise’: Full disclosure – I’ve moved this three times in three years. And to the shock of no one, it finally bloomed last summer after a full year in its current spot. The flowers arrived later than all of the other coneflowers (late July) but that is OK. I expect taller and fuller plants this year, assuming the itch to move them is fought off successfully.

h

sunshine-cone-flower

 

Abelia ‘Bronze Anniversary’ – Another oft moved shrub but one where I’m happy with its current destination. I love the golden leaf color, especially in partial shade and especially in spring as the foliage emerges, but I can do without the clashing white blooms. In fact, the plan is to immediately remove the flowers for fear of ridicule from the neighbors.

d5

abelia

 

Daylily ‘Little Grapette’ – This is the oldie I referenced above that always suffered at the hands of the deer in summer. For whatever reason (my intimidation factor?), they were ignored last year. While I’m not a big daylily guy, I do like how these combine with other dark leaved plants (As seen with Penstemon ‘Husker’s Red’) below.

d17

c9

c10

 

Ninebark ‘Amber Jubilee’ – No, not an exotic dancer or My Little Pony character, but the best foliage color of any plant I own. But as you can see in the second photo below, the deer get it each winter and in effect, prune it back hard for me which ultimately compromises the size of this shrub. If I can remember to defend her better this year, the sky is the limit. Remember though, “remembering” is not a strong suit of mine.

ninebark amber jubilee 2

ninebark amber jubilee

 

Allium azureum – I blew it with this one. I mistook these for wild onions and yanked them out without much thought last spring. This is the only one that actually bloomed. Luckily for me I was lazy when pulling them so the bulbs remained in tact. No such error will be made this spring.

allium blue

 

Peony ‘unknown other than it is white’ – This is as good of a lock as any. First flowers appeared last spring after two years in the ground and we all know that the peony is indestructible once established.

white peony

peony white

 

Baptisia ‘ Carolina Moon’ – Based on the success I’ve had with my other Baptisia plants, I’m counting on this one to fall right in line. Big, big things this year from this one. I cannot wait to photograph it and share it with you all.

baptisia carolina moon

baptisia lilac

baptisia carolina moon

 

Clematis – This appeared out of nowhere last year after I stuck it in the ground and completely forgot about it. There appears to be new growth this spring so I remain optimistic for a repeat showing. And this time, I’ll even use a real trellis to maximize the show.

clematis

clematis 2

 

And last but not least, the fickle …

Cimicifuga ‘Brunette’ – For three consecutive years, this perennial has looked great in spring only to fall apart when the weather really heats up and when it attempts to bloom. I’ve stayed on top of the watering and it, along with its 7 other siblings (I’m way invested at this point) get plenty of afternoon shade. The pessimist in me says, “wrong plant for you John” while the optimist says, “give it time to get established”.

Cheers to optimism.

bugbane

 

 

 

Baptisia australis

Posted on by Posted in Perennials .

Almost six years ago, I transformed the front bed of my parent’s house using Baptisia as the anchor because honestly, it blew me away when I saw it at their local nursery. The color of the blooms drew my eye in as soon as we set foot on the nursery grounds. Score one for the marketing department. No research for preferred conditions necessary, we liked it and we were going to plant it.

Fast forward three years and the Baptisia went bananas. My father did his best to control it but the end result was it was moved from its original spot because it was threatening to eat all of the other plants. Strike one against the son who claimed to be a gardening expert. Remember kiddies, always take into account a plant’s ultimate size when planning your garden. Don’t follow the lead of Uncle Johnnie.

Fast forward another year and it’s time for me to add Baptisia to my own garden. Space wouldn’t be an issue and I needed to prove to myself that I could grow it successfully. On top of that I could no longer take all of the stunning photos of this perennial in others’ gardens without giving it a shot myself. From all indications, Baptisia preferred a more dry soil and it was debatable whether or not it was deer resistant but I didn’t care. It was time to throw caution to the wind, wet soil and herds of deer be damned.

Fast forward to 2015 and John is a happy boy.

baptisia

Two years in the ground and it was already kicking ass. Those blooms draw in the eye and put a smile on my face each and every morning as I walked out to my car on my way to work. The deer left it alone and as of current day, the poorly draining soil doesn’t appear to be an issue.

baptisia

Some additional Baptisia australis (Blue False Indigo) info:

  • Native to the eastern U.S
  • Blooms from May to June
  • The pea-like blooms are a blue/purple
  • Speaking of peas, Baptisia is part of the pea family, Fabaceae
  • Survives in zones 3-9
  • Mature size is roughly 4 x 4
  • Prefers full sun as it tends to open up with more shade (my parent’s garden as scientific proof).
  • Deer resistance is questionable but I’ve had no issues the first two years.
  • Can be slow to establish but once it is, it is a bear to move due to its deep taproot.
  • Can handle all soil types and it drought tolerant once established.
  • Baptisia comes from the greek word “bapto” which means dye. It was used back in the day as a blue dye replacement for Blue Indigo.
  • Tough to divide due to the taproot and it can be slow to establish if grown by seed.
  • Baptisia australis opens up a bit after bloom and if the plant is cut back at that time, it will result in a more upright and appealing shape. The downside is the ornamental seedpods will be lost (more on that in a moment).

And now a little chronological tour of this shrub-like perennial:

First emerging in spring.

emerging baptisia

Then the first signs of bloom appear.

baptisia 2

baptisia

Almost there.

baptisia

baptisia australis

In full bloom.

baptisia australis

baptisia

baptisia 2

And once in bloom, drawing in the critters.

moth on baptisia

bee on baptisia

moth baptisia

By the time fall/winter has arrived, the ripened seed heads have turned black, eventually opening up to reveal the seeds inside.

baptisia seeds

And finally the opened seed heads still adorning Baptisia australis in late winter.

baptisia seed capsules 2

 

 

Learning to love a small dog

Posted on by Posted in Dogs, Family .

So I’m watching “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” a few weeks back and I’m about to have a panic attack. I shit you not.

In case you’ve never seen this 2008 classic (wink), it is about a bunch of talking Chihuahuas and some sort of need to rescue one of the dogs in Mexico or something. And there is a lot of George Lopez talking. That’s all you need to know. It is utterly awful and annoying, especially if you’re like me and hate talking animals or talking babies.

More on that in a bit.

As you may already know, we adopted a puppy back in December. Mia is now about 5 months old and we are all in love. We have no clue what breed(s) she is and have heard everything from Dachshund to Terrier to Mountain Dog. Who knows? We’re considering running a DNA test to get a definitive answer but truth is we don’t care at this point.

When we got Mia, she weighed 3.5 lbs.

mia 5

While she was this fragile little thing, we knew in time she would grow to be a nice and healthy and at least average sized dog. Right? I will always remember our Puppy Kindergarten trainer’s words when she first met Mia “She’s going to be a small one, huh?” What? How does she know this already? How small are we talking? We are not small dog people. What did we get ourselves into?

About a week or so after that, we had a friend over to the house to meet Mia for the first time. After the requisite “She is adorable” and “What a cute little thing”, the next words out of her mouth made me fall to my knees and weep, “She might be a “Chiweenie“. Come again? What exactly is that?

ChiWeenieLuigiVonHunkledinkSaboDog

Oh OK, that isn’t terrifying or anything, a mix of a Chihuahua and a Dachshund. Could this be true? I spent every waking second checking out Mia’s ears to see if they were transforming.

Mia

I didn’t sign off on this. Are we going to carry her around in one of those large purses too? Is she going to wear a dress? Listen, I’m not a fan of cats and will never comprehend their “way”, but I may be more willing to care for a cat than this bizarro hybrid we acquired.

So when my daughter puts on “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” that was the last straw. I don’t know this world and don’t want to get to know it. I want my Labrador Retriever back. I get big dogs and I like big dogs.

Spoiler alert: As the weeks have rolled on, as have the visits to the vet, Mia continues to put on the pounds and as of yesterday, she is up to 18 lbs. That alone puts to bed the possibility of the horrid Chiweenie. She is small but tall, and has very long legs. I’m still rooting for an eventual 25 lbs but if we don’t get there, I’ll be OK with it. I’ve managed to adapt to the concept of the smaller dog, the lap dog if you will. Here’s our lap dog’s current routine:

  • Wake up between 6:00 and 6:15
  • Bathroom trip outside where she does “both” consistently
  • Wolf down the breakfast kibble
  • After the last kibble is downed, Mia races upstairs and jumps into our bed
  • Once in our bed, she greets Jodi with 8-10 licks and then climbs under all of the blankets and goes back to sleep at the foot of our bed
  • I get back in bed and fall back to sleep until 7:00
  • Jodi gets up for work
  • At 7:00 I make coffee and Mia trails Jodi wherever she goes and even partakes in some in some coconut oil
  • At 7:15 I place Mia in Jack’s bed so she can wake him up
  • At 7:25 I place Mia in Jamie’s bed so she can wake her up
  • By 7:30 Mia has put a smile on all of our faces

This is our new normal. And it ain’t so bad.

mia 2

And I should mention she is rather intelligent.

Time to sit back and enjoy the ride from here.

 

Good times

Posted on by Posted in Blooms, Spring .

This is a great time of year, even if there is a threat of snow this weekend here in New Jersey. A few bulbs have quietly bloomed, baseball is inching closer to meaningful games and that little juggernaut known as March Madness has arrived.

This past week, I finally took the plunge and bought myself a telephoto lens for my Nikon 5200 (this one). I’ve been threatening to do so for a long time so I could capture the kids in action during baseball/softball and so I could also grab some better pics of the wildlife in my backyard (like this guy who is aiding in our fight against PennEast). I am very excited to experiment and up my photography cred.

I’m not a “read the instructions guy” so there will be a lot of trial and error with this new lens in my arsenal. And that trial and error began yesterday with the few aforementioned blooms in the Markowski garden. I’ve always relied on the macro lens for my garden pics and it’s done me well. But now I’m ready to expand my horizons to see what the telephoto lens has to offer.

So first we took a photo of some Crocus blooms using the macro lens:

crocus

And then from a greater distance using the telephoto lens:

crocus 3

On to the newly emerging Daffodil blooms. First the macro lens:

daffodil 2

And then further away with the telephoto lens:

daffodil

I’ve got a lot to learn, but a lot to experiment with over the next few months and I look forward to blowing all of your minds with my new found camera skills. Feel free to critique at will.

Beyond the new blooms from the Crocus and Daffodil bulbs, there are other signs that spring has arrived. Here is one of the few Viburnum buds that the deer left alone this winter:

viburnum bud

And an Allium that arrived just yesterday:

allium emerging

And finally the arrival of the Summer Snowflake bulbs:

bulbs

Good times indeed.

One final note. While I may skip out on the college basketball season November through February, I make up for it with my excitement during NCAA March Madness. I’ve been known to fill out a bracket or eight and this year the entire family is in on it. If by chance the University of Virginia manages to win the entire thing, just know there will be a big bash and you are all invited.

Have a great weekend.

 

 

Dangerous Garden Advice Ahead

Posted on by Posted in Comedy, How-to .

“Over promise and under deliver”

“Measure once and cut twice”

“Fool me once, shame on … actually, let’s fast forward to the fool me twice part.”

Mantras I live by, albeit unintentionally, in life and in the garden.

I’m not proud but I own it. My therapist would be proud.

With that in mind, here are six things I won’t be doing in the garden this season. I’m sure you’re sick of all those positive blog posts encouraging you with ways to make your garden shine. You want justification to be lazy and skimp on all that work. I get that and that is what I am here to do for you today.

So with that in mind, my goal in sharing these shortcomings with you is that you’ll either:

a. Do the opposite in order to not be like this lazy and uninformed gardener
or
b. Feel just as comfortable as I do in ignoring them as I’ll share my twisted justification with you.

Here we go:

1)Get a soil test – every year I say I am going to do it and every year I forget about it amid the excitement and pressure to add more plants to my garden in spring. Call it lazy or call it having one’s priorities messed up, it simply doesn’t happen. While I get the benefits of understanding my soil and all that it is comprised of and what it is lacking, I’m to the point now where I know what plants I can stick in the ground and feel confident that they’ll survive in their new surroundings.

milk9

2)Fertilize – no chemicals for this guy, as I’m talking about natural options. I’ve read up on what works best for what plant and I’ll even go as far as purchasing the supplements, but that is where it ends. Maybe it is due to the fact that I have a “survival of the fittest” mentality when it comes to my garden; if you don’t like my clay soil and poor drainage and deer, f you, I know many others who do and they never complain. Or I could just be plain lazy (sensing a trend here?).

3)Careful planning before planting – I could barely type this due to my howling laughter. L O frickin L. Planning is boring, true gardeners buy what they like and ask questions later. Almost all Some of my greatest plant combos/vignettes were created by accident.

misc g

The few times where I actually developed a well thought out plan, it bombed terribly and I ended up starting over.

4)Always properly space your plants – If you have “Plant Location ADD” like me, this doesn’t matter. No plant gets a chance to reach its full size before I relocate it. So I say stuff those plants as close together as you can and enjoy the lack of bare earth. If you are a patient gardener, my hat is off to you but just know we can never be friends.

5)Do not plant or transplant on hot sunny days – I’ll do it when I want to and nobody can stop me. Plus all of my best design ideas occur in summer when all plants have emerged and are thriving. That is when we have the best view and perspective. And I sure ain’t waiting until fall to realize those ideas.

If we continue to make it so easy and coddle our plants, how are they going to survive when times really get tough? Teach them young that it life is tough and they will thank you later. Give them some water and they’ll find a way to make it through.

6)Stop and smell the roses:

a. I don’t grow roses – thanks soil and thanks deer
b. Who’s got time to actually enjoy the garden when there is work to do.
c. Damn kids and their activities getting in the way
d. I’ll enjoy it tomorrow … after I divide this grass … and extend this bed … and divide these irises.
e. I have a deviated septum and have virtually no sense of smell

 

Bee Balm (Monarda)

Posted on by Posted in Perennials .

I spent a few hours outdoors this morning tending to some spring cleaning chores – cutting down the dead perennial foliage, shearing down the smaller ornamental grasses and making my son pull the exposed poison ivy vines (he is not allergic). As I was traversing the garden, clearing the dead growth and looking for emerging foliage, I came to a realization I hadn’t really well, realized before: my garden is dominated by Bee Balm.

The purple-green rosettes are everywhere right now.

bee balm rosettes

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I’ve written previously about Bee Balm thrives in my wet clay soil and does it ever multiply in no time wherever I’ve planted it. And not in an invasive way. The underground rhizomes spread happily and fill in empty spots along the way. If it ever stretches where I don’t want it, I simply pull it out by the roots and plant it somewhere else in the garden.

At this point in time, I have so many different cultivars of Bee Balm (Monarda) that I’ve forgotten all of the names. All I know is that they all bloom like mad starting in early summer and the blooms last for weeks, and even longer if they are deadheaded along the way.

Bee Balm looking good in late spring, even before the blooms have revealed themselves.

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And kicking butt and taking names when in bloom.

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Drawing in the bees and other critters.

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They look great even as the blooms start to fade in mid summer.

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And remain interesting into winter.

bee balm frost

bee balm winter

Some additional facts on this perennial:

  • Prefers full sun but will adapt well to partial shade
  • As mentioned previously, prefers damp soil and thrives in clay
  • On average, the size maxes out at 2 to 4′ x 1.5 to 3′
  • Blooms from early summer through late summer
  • Survives in zones 4-9
  • North American native, typically in moist woodlands
  • The leaves/stems have a fantastic orange-like scent
  • As a result of the scent, it is deer resistant
  • Bee Balm is prone to powdery mildew if not given proper air circulation. Personally, I find it easy to deal with by simply ignoring late in the season and allowing the leaves to fall followed by a simple clean-up.
  • Monarda also known as Bee Balm also known as Oswego tea, was introduced by the Oswego Indians to botanist John Bartram who learned of its healing powers when brewed as a tea. It was used to treat chills, fever, insect bites and even bronchial congestion.

I planted a white cultivar of Bee Balm last spring and I’m hoping it really takes off this year. Either way, prepare yourself for even more Bee Balm pics this gardening season.