The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Author Archives: jmarkowski

Now I know how to get the kids interested

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Last Sunday morning, my wife and I were still in bed sleeping (ahhh, the joys of the children getting older), when my daughter (who turns 7 today; happy b-day girlfriend) started yelling from downstairs. Even in an early morning stupor, I could tell from the scream that we weren’t being robbed and no one was bleeding. It was more of a “get your ass down here and check this out” scream. And my daughter is not one to cry wolf; it was probably worth checking out.
Turns out, there was an owl on top of the swing set in our backyard and everyone managed to catch a glimpse of it except me. I was too slow. But like the well schooled children that they are, they attempted to grab the camera and take a photo. Unfortunately, the owl had already disappeared at that point. And I know that it wasn’t a child’s imagination at work here, my wife confirmed that it was in fact an owl.
This scene has become commonplace of late, where we spot an animal through the sliding doors in the kitchen and out into the backyard. It’s as if the doors are framing this beautiful shot of nature at work. 
As I showed you last week, we witnessed a fox patrolling the ‘hood in the snow.
A few weeks ago, it was Deer Fight Club:

                 
Before that, we had the wandering pheasant:
There is a rule in the house where if someone sees any sign of animal/creature/prehistoric thing, they must let out a loud screech which signals all of us to drop what we are doing and head to the back of the house. It get the kids all excited and it is an awesome opportunity for us to drop some education on their impressionable minds.
And then today it all clicked in my somewhat limited brain stem. 
I have been trying to encourage the kids to join me in my gardening ventures, telling them “if we plant these perennials, the eventual flowers will attract hummingbirds” or “this tree, with its many berries will encourage the birds to visit” or “this dense tree will allow birds to lay their eggs in peace”. 
The focus was on the shovel and digging of the hole when it should have been on “look at this amazing hummingbird” or “isn’t that a cool looking bird” or “let’s watch the momma bird protect her newborns”. Maybe getting to know how the story ends first is the best way to get them to understand how we get there. 
And that is your deep thought for the day. 
But seriously, my next move is to walk the kids through all of my photos from this past year and show them just how many creatures wander in and out of our yard. I think they will be shocked. 
My son will be impressed with the House Finch and the fact that they were introduced to the east coast through New York City back in the 1940’s (or so the Internet says). Or even the fact that the male is the “red one”:                

My daughter would love to know that it is the Robin that lays all of those beautifully colored eggs:

Maybe now they’ll understand why Dad ignored their stories about school in order to hunt down the elusive  Eastern bluebird:

I’ll encourage them to wow their friends by reeling off the little factoid that this isn’t a “Red Headed” woodpecker but a “Red-bellied” woodpecker:

This thing is just ugly as sin but we can’t ignore the fact that it takes care of all of the roadkill for us, and that is an underrated task:

We can all rejoice in the fact that I finally got a somewhat decent shot of the Ruby-crowned kinglet:

I can teach them all about the benefit of native plants and how they provide an environment that allows our winged friends to thrive:

We can all practice imitating the tune of the Catbird:

And won’t they be thrilled to know that the American Goldfinch is the state bird of New Jersey:

Even I forgot just how many birds I’ve tracked down this year. Good for me!

I really think I found the key to eventually get the kids to dig all of the holes in the garden for me. It starts with the birds and other wild animals and eventually makes it way back to what we need to plant and why.

Well played John … well played indeed.

Wordless Wednesday – Waiting out the fog before getting a Christmas tree

Viburnum berries

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I love me some Viburnums. 
That is what consumed me on my ride into work this morning. And here’s why:  
They give you:
  • Stupendous flowers 
  • Phenomenal scents 
  • Gloriously lustrous foliage
  • Pleasant fall color
  • Mutha f’n eye popping berries (if you are so lucky)

For today, I would like to wax poetic on bullet #5 above. Berries. Can I get a “hell yeah”?

If you gave me the choice of berries or flowers on a particular plant, berries win about 78.9% of the time. Of course, getting said berries to even exist isn’t as easy as it seems. I am by no means smart enough to fully understand the science behind how they are produced (the male/female thing is a bit familiar though). 
To date, I’ve only once attempted to grow two different cultivars of a plant in order to produce berries and that failed miserably when both of the hollies I planted died in year one. 
With my Viburnums, I decided they kicked enough buttocks without berries so I didn’t even bother worrying about how to produce them. In the ground they went and that was it. 
Those beautifully colored orbs were nowhere to be found the first few years so I never gave them a second thought … until last year … when two of the cultivars produced berries like mad. Hot damn!!                  
From what I could gather from my research, Viburnums typically need overlapping bloom periods between two different cultivars of the same species and they need to be in relative proximity to each other in order to produce berries. 
*Disclaimer – I have no idea if that previous sentence made any sense. Please don’t judge. Also, I like run-on sentences. Deal with it.
And we’re back. 
Coming into this year, I didn’t want to screw up my fruit production on the Viburnums so I changed nothing. That strategy paid off, as I’ll show you below.
Here is Viburnum plicatum ‘Shoshoni’ at the end of April:    
And then in the middle of June: 

I can confirm there were no other Viburnums blooming at this time, and as far as I know, not another plicatum in the same zip code. So, not sure how this happened. But I will take it.  

Next, is Viburnum bracteatum ‘Emerald Lustre’ in early June:

And then in the middle of August:

Again, there doesn’t appear to be any sort of cross pollination going on here so not sure what suddenly  changed after years of no berries. I did read one comment somewhere that this cultivar may actually self pollinate (is that even possible, self-pollination?). Hmmmmm … little help here please?  

Finally, we have Viburnum carlesii ‘Aurora’ which typically blooms for me in the middle of April:

To date, this shrub has not produced a single berry. Maybe the waiting game will work for this one too.

So faithful readers, what have you experienced with Viburnum berries? Any words of wisdom? Just keep it simple so this dolt can understand it.

Thank you in advance.

John

Random pics

That was fast

What went well this year

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Last week I riffed on my frustrations and failures from this past gardening season and it reminded me, yet again, how frickin hard it is to grow a damn flower. I think my pass/fail rate is at about 50% and shows no signs of improving.
But enough of the negativity …
Upon further inspection/reflection, there were also a number of successes this past year. Since I am a “glass mostly/kinda empty” type guy, it can be difficult for me to admit to things that went well. Not to mention, the failures are funnier and wonderful fodder for my self loathing. 
But sometimes, things work out alright. It may have been luck, a green thumb, the use of “fool proof plants” or a combo of all three; whatever it was, let us celebrate a bit today, OK? 
Here are six positives, dating back to early spring of 2012:
1). New plant introductions to my landscape: This is a given each year as we all add to our ever growing plant collection. As I scoured through my incredibly complex plant spreadsheet and sorted it by month purchased and then read the corresponding comments, I found that most of these plants actually thrived in year one. How you like me now? 
Without diving into any level of detail, here are my winners. 
Bulbs first:      
Daffodil ‘Kokopelli’

Daffodil ‘Double Beauty’

Allium ‘Purple Sensation’
And the perennials: 
Iris versicolor

Geranium ‘Karmina’

Astilbe ‘Amethyst’

Astilbe ‘Amethyst’

Bee Balm ‘Colrain Red’

Northern Sea Oats ‘River Mist’

Geranium ‘Espresso’

And one shrub in the mix:

Hydrangea ‘Little Lime’

We’ll see how things progress in 2013, but for now, I’ll bask in the initial glory.

2). Blooming trees in spring: For most of you, this is a given. But for me, this has been a struggle since I moved into our home back in 2004. There wasn’t a tree of any significance on the property, so it has been a slow climb to make it more tree-mendous.

Nothing beats those first tree blooms of spring and this is the first year where I felt like I was invited to the party. Here is what I had going on back in April and May:

Serviceberry ‘Autumn Brilliance’:

Hawthorn ‘Winter King’:      

Plum ‘Thundercloud’:

I hope to add more in the near future but unfortunately, money doesn’t grow on …

3). Existing plants that exploded out of nowhere: These are all plants that had been progressing decently the past year or two, but then put on an awesome show like never before. Or a better way of putting it:

“Plants I some how managed not to tinker with too much so they actually had a chance to establish themselves”.      

They include:

Panicum ‘Northwind’

Mountain mint

Salix ‘Hakuro Nishiki’

Salix ‘Hakuro Nishiki’

Iris siberica ‘Snow Queen’ 

Iris siberica ‘Snow Queen’

Miscanthus ‘purpurascens’

4). The benefits and fun involved with experimental pruning: Back in June, I created my “Prune in June” series (I’m a killer rhymer), which was all about strictly following the pruning for size/delay in bloom laid out so beautifully almost a decade before by Tracy DiSabato Aust.

I picked four different perennials to experiment with and all taught me something unique.

I like the look of a sedum when cut back as it produced more flower heads and delayed bloom later into Fall when color is at a premium:    

By cutting back significantly in early June, I was able to keep my Boltonia upright into September:

I really like the layered look achieved when pinching back the lower blooms on a mass of Joe Pye Weed:

And finally, despite all of my efforts to keep Sneezeweed standing at attention:

I realized it may be an impossible task, even after pruning for size control along the way:

5). Get to know your weeds as well: Back in the summer, I wrote a post on Red Sorrel and through my own research and reader comments, I realized I went about its eradication all wrong:

Remember, weeds are plants too and they all have unique traits that change how you confront them. Hoping to do more of the same in the new year.

6). Got to know my camera much better: My wife gave me a lesson with a local photographer and it completely changed how I look at photography. While I still rely on the “Auto” function a bit too much, at least I have an understanding of shutter speed and aperture.

Trying to capture action shots became a hell of a lot easier:        

What does that have to do with gardening you say? Well it helped me identify the beauty of movement in the garden and hopefully these pics are only the tip of the iceberg:

Camera upgrade in the future? All depends on the Powerball results Wednesday night.

So there you have it.

Me singing my own praises.

Feels a little dirty. I need to screw something up real quick.

John    

Wordless Wednesday – Don’t go any further

10 things that annoyed me this gardening season

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As I reflect on this past gardening “season”, I find it easy to recall a lot of what I did wrong or what annoyed me to no end. 
Now the key is to turn those moments into something educational. A learning “opportunity” if you will. 
With that said, here are ten of my “opportunities”, in no particular order:

1). I need ANY Anemone to thrive for me. I have tried for years to successfully grow a Japanese anemone. And each year there is promise early on in the Fall, only to see it all fall apart soon after.

I have relocated ‘September Charm’ three times in the past two years (yes, I am in denial) and they looked to be good and healthy and on their way back in September:            

And all I ultimately ended up with was one friggin bloom:

Anemones should work for me based on their requirements and I would kill for that late season color and unique leaf shape. But 2012 was yet another failure. So logically, I should give up and move on, right? Nope. I added an ‘Honorine Jobert’ this Fall and will try yet again.
2). I am not physically capable of growing tomatoes in containers. With all of the deer roaming my property and with the soil draining so poorly, I never entertained the idea of growing fruits or vegetables. To combat that, I figured why not grow them on the deck in containers. Can’t be all that difficult. 
Here are the wonderful results:            

This one can be chalked up to laziness on my part as I tend to forget how cumbersome the watering schedule is in the dead of summer. Throw in vacations where we are gone up to a week at a time and you have a recipe for failure.

But I’ll do it again …

3). Tropical plants and me do not mix. I tried to mix it up a bit this summer and added a few “tropical” plants and they looked out of place from the get-go:  

Maybe some day I’ll figure out how to incorporate these annuals properly, but for now it is not worth the time, effort and cash.

4). Keeping up with the weeds. Nuff said:

5). Taking things blooms for granted: I swear I have no memory of enjoying these blooms for even 10 seconds. I just assume they will bloom each and every Summer and move on to other problem areas. Bad job by me:  

6). I let my guard down and as a result, the mutha f’n deer ate every peony bud:

This was a first and one I’ll never forget. I went out to cut a few buds/early blooms for my wife and almost fainted in shock. Next spring, I vow to sleep outside with a shotgun in hand.

7). Poison Ivy is slowly taking over and I am terrified to try and stop it. I have three Russian Sage plants that are slowly being strangled to death:    

I am brutally allergic and fearful to try and save them. Maybe a blow torch?

8.) Collapsing/sprawling perennials. I get it. It happens. Even after I’ve taken the time to cut back earlier in the season or pinch a bit along the way, it is still inevitable. Especially with a lot of the native perennials. I should just grin and bear it, but there is no denying it doesn’t look good:  

I’ll continue to tinker with ways to control it (more appropriate conditions, staking, leaning on neighboring plants) but I guess I have to come to grips with the reality that this is going to happen no matter what I do.

9). I hate pink flowers on yellow foliage. Time to eradicate this problem:   

10). It may be time to label my plants. It is at the point where I can’t tell what is a weed or what is a native plant I stuck in the ground months ago:

I was confident for years that I could memorize where every plant was placed even when they were dormant in winter. Those days are gone as my memory gets worse with age and the number of plants has reached an extraordinary level.

There you have it. I could come up with ten more if I had the time, but this will have to do for now.

Coming soon – “What I did right this year”.

Prepare yourself for a short read.

John 

Panicum ‘Northwind’

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One of my favorite things to do is purchase small plugs of plants online late in the season, stick them in the ground and forget about them. By the time spring rolls around, I pay little attention to them or don’t remember that they are even there.

If they don’t survive, I figure it was worth the risk for such a small financial investment.

But most of the time, in the spring, I’ll notice something, that isn’t a weed, is growing and I’ll have to jog my memory to remember what it actually is. Once I am able to recall said plant, I get all excited and consider the purchase a “win”.

In the Fall of 2010, I bought three tiny Panicum ‘Northwind’ ornamental grasses from Santa Rosa Gardens at a deep discount. I planted them and put them through their “test”. In year one, they didn’t do much but they looked healthy enough for me to know that they were going to be a keeper.

Fast forward to Spring of 2012 and these puppies kicked some major tail. They emerged in mid spring once the temps warmed up (hence they are “warm season” grasses) and I immediately fell in love.

As promised, they are extremely upright and I love the blue/green color of the leaves:

 

This US and Canadian native grass absolutely thrived in a full sun bed that is riddled with clay soil and drains poorly. These “switch grasses” worked well with other native perennials and grasses with their upright stature taking center stage:

 

By mid July, they began to show signs of blooming:

 

Within days, the blooms turned a pinkish shade and absolutely covered the grasses:

 

 

When in full bloom, they lent an awesome “airiness” to the their surroundings:

 

By mid Fall, the leaves began to turn yellow but the gentle blooms still persisted:

Good times, eh?
This grass typically reaches a height of about 5′ (6′ in bloom) with a spread of about 2′. From what I’ve read, it survives as cold as zone 4 and as warm as zone 9.
They held up OK after our recent storms and will hopefully do the same as we move into Winter.
Why not give ’em a try? And let me know about your successes and failures.
John

Strategic bulb placement

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There is nothing better than getting outside this time of year to plant your spring blooming bulbs. It’s cold as hell, snot drips from your nose, the hands become borderline numb and the sky is overcast. Sweet!
And while it is fun to brave the elements, nothing beats trying to strategically determine where to plant the bulbs. I carry all of my bulbs around in a wheelbarrow and survey the landscape like a detective. This is work to be taken very seriously. A few questions that need to be answered: 
Where can I get the biggest bang for the buck?
Where are the best views from inside the house to see these bulbs?
What color schemes can I create between the bulbs and early blooming perennials?
How can I hide the decaying foliage of the bulbs once they are finished blooming?
That last question can be the trickiest of all and one I take very seriously. While the spring bloom display is sensational, I don’t want to then have the spent foliage take away from other plants that are then ready to put on their show. 
The key is to hide the dying foliage because you don’t want to cut it down. That dying foliage is what feeds the bulbs for the next year and is key to their survival. And there is no better way to hide the foliage then with  perennials that are putting on their heavy growth in spring. 
Case in point:
Here is a spot where I decided to plant some daffodil bulbs between the sedums:

I knew that sedums are quick to grow in spring and would be perfect for disguising the spent daffodil foliage.

Fast forward to spring and the daffodils were in full bloom:     

After they were done blooming, you can see the foliage still looks OK (top right in photo below):

By the time late summer rolled around, you wouldn’t even know they were planted there:

Which takes me to today.

I found another spot for more daffodils (‘Ice Follies’):

They would planted between a Spirea ‘Snowstorm’, a bunch of siberian irises and a few grasses. I figured the irises would shield the dying foliage from the most common view and eventually, everything else would crowd out the foliage all together.

And so the hole was dug (and did it ever feel good to do so):

Bulbs placed accordingly (I usually plant just a few to test drive a new bulb I’ve never had before):

And then boom, the soil is back in, the mulch is raked back over and we are good to go:

Now we just wait until spring and hope the floral display delivers as promised.

John