Podcast #3 is in the books.
Tonight I talked to Scott Weber, the author of the blog, Rhone Street Gardens. This dude has an absolutely stunning garden (which I’m sure you know already) and he likes The Walking Dead.
Coolest
Guy
Ever
To listen to our conversation, click the following link:
John
As I start to type this post, it is 12:48 A.M.
I had finished watching the TV show “The Walking Dead” and had faded into my dreams of zombies and how I would survive in the zombie apocalypse (“with flying colors” for those of you interested and I could write a nice little dissertation on it too). A typical Sunday night for me.
But then I awoke to sound of some creature howling in agony right in our front yard. It sounds (and I use the present tense because it is going on live as I write this) like the combination of a wounded owl and a rabid dingo. Or maybe a rabid dingo eating an owl. Or possibly an owl trying to notify us all that there is a rabid dingo on the loose. Whatever it is, it started out as terrifying (especially when zombies are fresh on the mind) and now is beyond irritating. I cannot sleep so I’m writing a post hoping it will help me tune out the hybrid creature.
So with that as a backdrop, here we go.
It had been a few days since I paid attention to anything out in the garden, so I took some time out on Sunday afternoon to catch up. My football team, the Oakland Raiders, were embarrassing themselves yet again so it was time to put the NFL to bed for the day. There were plants to review, analyze and coddle so off I went.
The yellow colors have never shined brighter and it actually stands out right now like it never had in previous years. Sweet.
The colors on the Barberry shrubs are also fantastic right now and may make me rethink the option of chucking these next year:
I am not the biggest Barberry fan but the deer do leave them alone. We’ll see if I change my mind come next spring. For now, I’ll enjoy the fleeting unique hues.
The fall color on the various geraniums has been tremendous this year and has held up longer than it has in previous years. The color on ‘Espresso’ has been phenomenal in year two and I’m leaning towards adding some more next year:
My Viburnum ‘Aurora’ finally came into its own this year as I managed to successfully hide it from the deer. That includes its wonderful autumn color which is at its peak right now:
Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’ continues to provide bloom color into November thanks to my decision to pinch them back severely back in June:
More solid fall color with the Hypericum ‘Albury Purple’:
While it pains me to say it, the Poison Ivy color is fantastic. I have plans to eradicate this very soon (rash be damned) but I can still enjoy it while I hate it:
It was a super windy day, so the ornamental grasses were dancing away:
And the Butterfly Weed was spreading its seed to parts unknown:
Well that was a nice distraction. The creature is still carrying on but I am going to attempt to go back to sleep and ignore its whimpers.
Wish me luck.
John
I am going to take you through my recent bulb planting in rapid fire fashion because, well, that is also how I put my plan together before I started.
Here we go:
1)Narcissus ‘Jack Snipe’:
Quick logic behind location (see photo below):
Negatives after evaluating my location decision:
2)Narcissus ‘Tahiti’:
Quick logic behind location (see photo below):
Negatives after evaluating my location decision:
3)Allium ‘Grateful’:
Quick logic behind location (see photo below):
Negatives after evaluating my location decision:
A potential positive spin after even further review:
4)Allium ‘Globemaster‘:
Quick logic behind location (see photo below, will be in the middle of the bed):
Negatives after evaluating my location decision:
And then to top it all off, since I have failed numerous times in the past to successfully grow tulips in my wet soil, I figured why not give them a shot in containers. I will just store them in my garage over the winter. I’ve done it once before with moderate success so I am optimistic that I can pull it off again. And since I used bulbs from Martha Stewart, nothing can go wrong:
Wish me luck.
John
It has quadrupled in size but as you can tell, it is a bit awkward as many leaves have dropped from the branches over the years. As I move the container indoors each autumn, the tree becomes unhappy and sheds some leaves in protest. The tree manages to hold on OK through the winter, but it is your classic “one step forward and two steps back” situation.
So now I’ve decided to make some changes to hopefully get me a nice looking and well limbed tree and most importantly, some friggin fruit. Actually, my first fruit appeared this summer and here’s hoping I can keep it on the tree over the winter:
Fingers are crossed.
Back to my changes:
I’ll be closely tracking the development of the tree this “off-season” and will share the results. In the interim, I beg for your feedback on what has or hasn’t worked for you.
As always, thank you.
John
When we first moved into our home back in 2004, it was a complete blank slate in terms of plant life. There wasn’t a tree or shrub to be found. I was excited and beyond terrified at the same time. The options were limitless which unfortunately meant my stress level was also limitless.
Where the hell was I to begin?
Do I become the local drug kingpin and sell narcotics outside the country store and then take that money to buy mature trees? It was tempting but I wasn’t up to putting the family in danger (although after the success of Walter White on Breaking Bad I may want to hop into my time machine and rethink this one).
Do I hire a local landscape architect? My pride wouldn’t allow it.
Do I chunk it off a section at a time and develop a tight plan? Remind me again what is this term “plan” you speak of?
As expected, I just started buying shrubs and perennials I liked (ignoring my new conditions) and then tried to make them fit based on my whims for that day. In fact, this was the modus operandi for a few years and shockingly, this didn’t work out so well.
As a result, I finally made a concerted effort to consult my many thousands of garden/landscape books and surfed the interwebs determined to come up with a plan. I can remember taking notes on “foundation shrubs” while on the graveyard-feeding shift with my newly born daughter. I was all in and ready to do this the “right” way.
The first targeted area was the foundation planting at the front of my home. Like a good landscaping scholar, I purchased and planted some wonderfully generic evergreens and had my “bones” filled in. Next, I identified some smaller shrubs that could be placed in front of said “bones”. Finally, I made plans to fill in the remaining voids with sensible annuals for color in the spring/summer. Boo ya!
When all was said and done, I had me my first “garden” at the new home … and holy shit was it awful. I couldn’t believe that I allowed myself to follow such a plan. If I remember correctly, it was around the early summer in 2006 when I realized I needed to start over. Time to do what I like, the so called rules be damned.
I was going to put in deciduous shrubs that exposed the foundation in winter and didn’t care.
I was going to load up on perennials and allow the seedheads and messy foliage to stay on all winter.
I was going to add in ornamental grasses and accept their stubs in spring before the new growth would emerge.
And I did just that … with a number of stops and starts along the way of course . But the important thing was I was going to do what I liked.
Fortunately, I do not have photos of the “early days” of the front bed so my reputation may hold up a bit more than it should. But I do have a photo from a few years ago of my attempt at “doing it my way”:
Not a bad start but nowhere near my final vision.
Now we fast forward to the last year or so where I can honestly say I am finally happy with the results.
Late spring:
Mid-summer:
Winter:
And from a different angle:
Late spring:
Early fall:
And yet another angle.
Mid-summer:
Mid-fall:
Can I still tweak some things? Absolutely. In fact, I have come up with some ideas just as I am posting this.
I enjoy the constant changing of the shrubs/perennials/grasses throughout the spring/summer/fall and the winter interest is sufficient enough to allow me to make it through those long cold and dark months of December, January and February.
Many other areas in my landscape are nowhere near where I want them to be but it only took me nine years to get the front as I wanted it so we should be good to go around 2049.
Viburnum ‘Shoshoni’ is like all purpley and whatever:
Viburnum ‘Aurora’ is a little behind some of the other viburnums but that’s OK:
Fothergilla ‘Mt. Airy’, while still in its infant stages in my yard, is still displaying that frickin kick buttocks orange color:
As if we needed another reason to praise Panicum ‘Northwind’. The Fall color is a sweet yellow/gold as we transition to Winter:
Even the brownish/wheatish/beigeish color of Panicum ‘Rotstrahlbusch’ ain’t so bad:
Ciao y’all.
I’m off to fill my growler at Triumph Brewing Company with their stellar Pumpkin Ale.
John
Back in June, I visited the Garden at Federal Twist and found myself inspired like never before. This friggin garden smacked me upside the head and said “This is what you love dummy. Stop with all the small groupings of plants and endless mulch. Think architectural plants and Piet Oudolf and grasses (that one I have nailed down).”
The memories of the garden still resonate today but hot damn I had no idea how much more inspired I would be after visiting Federal Twist again this past weekend. The visit was part of the The Garden Conservancy’s “Open Days Program” but before I share the photos with you, you MUST read the following article that just appeared in the New York Times on the garden and its owner, James Golden:
Seriously, don’t move on until you have read this article. It provides such a wonderful backdrop before viewing the garden. And I couldn’t be more fortunate to live ten minutes away from this gem.
Now we move on to the photos … without interruption of my words … because my words will do it no justice:
My second “Gardening Talk with ONG” podcast is in the books.
Tonight I interviewed Montreal’s own Allan Becker – garden designer, consultant, coach and jack of all gardening trades. I had an awesome time as I found Allan to be incredibly engaging and was fascinated by his career trajectory … not to mention the fact that he is an aspiring singer.
To listen to it, click the link below:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ongardener/2013/10/18/an-interview-with-allan-becker
