The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Author Archives: jmarkowski

Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’

Posted on by Posted in Perennials .
I’m pretty sure the very first perennial I ever purchased was Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’. It was advertised as “fool proof” and the perfect perennial for beginning gardeners in all the books I had read. That’s all I had to hear so I went out and bought two of them (planting in odd numbers was still a foreign concept to me).
I loved it at first with it’s unique foliage and the fact that it emerged so early in the spring. When the blooms came in late summer, I was pumped up. But then it happened … it started to sprawl and I was devastated (slight hyperbole). I gave up on them for years but admittedly would look longingly at them in other people’s gardens.
Fast forward ten years or so and I’ve found the perfect solution to my sedum envy, she’s called ‘Autumn Fire’:             
I’ve owned this beauty for three years now and have been thrilled with the results. I could swoon over those sedum blooms:
Without worrying about this happening: 
Some Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’ facts:
  • Maxes out at about 2′ x 2′
  • Prefers full sun
  • Needs good drainage to survive and some how I found a spot where that works
  • Is not deer resistant and again, I’ve some how managed to hold them off … for now
  • Survives in zones 3-9

Personally, I love watching the blooms slowly change from mid summer all the way into the middle of Fall:

Give it a whirl, won’t you?
John

Willowwood Arboretum

Posted on by Posted in Uncategorized .
This past Saturday was our annual family photography session and each year, we have it done by Emily Allen Photography. She does truly amazing work and some how manages to get the children to actually pose for photos we could only dream of. They listen to her and are game for whatever she suggests.    
We change up the location for each session and this year we headed out to the Willowwood Arboretum in Chester, New Jersey. This may have been the best setting to date, so I made sure to snap some pics with my Android phone. I even managed to catch the kids in posing action on a few of them. Enjoy:      

Can’t we just sing and have cake?

Posted on by Posted in Uncategorized .
My daughter’s sixth birthday is right around the corner and we’ve started to discuss her party options. Maybe some cookie decorating or ice cream sundae making? After this past weekend, that shit ain’t gonna fly. 
On Sunday, we attended the birthday party for our friend’s five year old son and it was quite the shindig. Not only did the host make a spread of legendary proportions (I’m talking apple sausage mac’n cheese, butternut squash apple soup,etc.) but she had live farm animals brought in for all of the kids.        

My daughter’s face lit up whenever she held any of the week old chicks but that was only the beginning. She fell in love with Oreo the goat:

And rode the pony at least five times acting as if she was a professional cowgirl:

While it was heartwarming to watch her having so much fun, I couldn’t help but wonder how we were going to live up to this one. I’m thinking “Duck Duck Goose” or “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” won’t quite cut it.
While my daughter loved mauling all of the animals, my son could not have cared less. Just look at this weak effort of trying to pretend to enjoy the pony:     

After his poor performance trying to pretend he cared, he was off with all of the other boys playing football:

It then became a balancing act of trying to participate in the chaotic and poorly planned football game the boys put together while also enjoying the animals with my smitten daughter. I think I managed to satisfy both children as I put the beat down on the kids while playing football and also showed my daughter that Daddy liked the baby chicks too: 

In truth, the party was a blast for both kids and parents alike:

And I’m pretty sure I know what will be added to my daughter’s Christmas list:

Time to start researching how to raise chickens which sounds awesome but with little time to tend to the garden already, can I even manage it? Talk me into it or talk me out of it. Your feedback would be most appreciated.

John  

Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Lady in Red’

Posted on by Posted in Shrubs .
“Good things come to those who wait”. 
Really? Does that apply with plants also? Cause I ain’t feeling that dawg. I’ve waited and waited and for me at least, the good never comes. In fact, it usually gets worse. 
That is, until my Hydrangea ‘Lady in Red’ took off this spring, and I never saw it coming:

I planted this lacecap hydrangea back in 2006 as I was seduced by the promise of stunning fall color. She was given a prominent location along the path to my front door and I was pumped. 
Well, for three years, I waited for something – reddish/purple fall color, blooms, the deep red veining  – and I got a big bag of nothing. It looked like one of my ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangeas. Nothing terrible, just “OK”. 
In 2009, I relocated LIR to a minor league location to let it fade into the sunset. If the deer found it, so be it. Over the next two years I forgot about it and moved on. 
Fast forward to 2011. LIR decides to put in an effort and damn if she didn’t look good y’all. The foliage was clean as can be with a nice reddish hue and with red veining on the leaves/stems as originally promised:                
She also bloomed her butt off:

So I should leave it be and let her enjoy the new location, right? Wrong. I moved her immediately back to my front bed, where I’m sure she will disappoint again. I just can’t help myself. We’ll see … I’m hoping this will work out, even if she struggles a bit at first in her new home.

It’s been about two months now since the big move and the foliage still looks great. Here she is in late August:

And this week as the cold weather approaches:

At this point, LIR is about 4 x 4 and is located in a spot that gets afternoon shade – hopefully the perfect location. This time I’ll be more patient (you believe that?) and hopefully we will continue down the same positive path.

Have a great weekend.

John

New Jersey Life Magazine – Still Enjoying The Flowers

Posted on by Posted in Blog stuff .

My latest post is up at New Jersey Life magazine and I think you’ll recognize my take on the Fall arriving. You can read the post by clicking on the link below:

New Jersey Life – Garden State – Still Enjoying The Flowers

Thank you all for your support in reading my posts with NJL and for all of your kind comments. I’m still shocked that people actually want to read my nonsense some times. Thank you!

John  

Wordless Wednesday

Looking over the Fall to-do list

Posted on by Posted in Fall color, How-to .
  • Dedicate some serious time the next few weeks to planting a TON of bulbs. Admittedly, I’m tiring out and losing a little juice when it comes to garden work but I will not live through another spring of “bulb envy/regret”. I have a lot of space to fill on my two acre property so we’re talking mass plantings. I am a huge fan of white daffodils and can plant them fearlessly knowing the deer will leave them alone: 

 

  • Now is the time to pull out and destroy those plants that have officially been deemed “poor performers”. If I wait until spring, I’ll be suckered in by their lush new growth and will give them yet another chance. Time to cut my losses and move the ‘f on:
Geranium ‘Brookside’

Chelone glabra

Phlox ‘David’

  • I must finish digging out the two new garden beds I’ve started AND mulch them before winter. Too often I’ve stopped and let a new bed go unfinished into winter/early spring and the weeds explode, I get frustrated and pretend that bed is not there (or at least hide it from the camera).
  • Start thinking more “gardening outwards”. It has been a challenge battling the poor draining soil, little to no shade and the herds of deer, but it is now time to plant further away from the house. I have an opportunity to incorporate the wooded area at the back of my property and dammit it is time to shit or get off the pot:

  • Enjoy the time with my 9 year old son who wants to toss the football around day and night. This will not last forever so cherish these times. And also cherish the fact that he can wear a New Orleans Saints helmet with an Oakland Raiders jersey:
John

   

Let’s take a walk my friend

Posted on by Posted in Uncategorized .
Knowing we are due for some serious rainfall the next two days, I woke my arse up early this morning and set foot outside into the foggy, damp and spider web infested yard. There may not be many photo opps in the foreseeable future.  
Some times a blog post idea pops into my head and after some serious reflection and self-editing (maybe one day I’ll tell you the ideas I passed on) I’ll take the photos to support the post. This morning I wanted to grab the camera and let the photos tell the story. 
As I write this post in a quiet house and drink my all worldly black coffee (big shout out to Grounds for Change) I already know I’ll look back on this morning in the winter and wish I could have it back. As much as I bitch and moan some times, there is nothing like a simple walk out in the garden in the early morning. Good f’n times.
This vignette caught my eye this morning – it contains fall color, persistent flowers and a kick butt ornamental grass. I like it:          

As OCD as I can be, I really do dig it when there is a surprise that defies all logic – like this purple coneflower popping up in the middle of Weigela ‘Wine and Roses’:

I never expected Tradescantia (Spiderwort) ‘Sweet Kate’ to still be blooming into late September but she is still blooming her ass off … and I thank her deeply:

Call me crazy, but I have always loved fading coneflowers, not sure what that says about me and don’t really want to know:

How have the birds left these alone? I wanted to chow down on them, spider webs and all:

More spider art:

Speaking of spiders, it is absolute panic time every September/October as the spiders make their way into our house. I have become immune to the sudden gasps and screams when the family sees another spider of gargantuan proportions. Without batting an eye, I grab a paper towel, scoop up the arachnid and put them back outside. The family then looks at me with awe and respect as they know I am The Protector.

One last one, the oats on Northern Sea Oats look awesome but I am so determined to limit their re-seeding this year. They caught me off guard and got me bad and I may have spent the better part of a month pulling the seedlings. Not this time:        

Have a great weekend!

John

Why do I bother?

Posted on by Posted in Uncategorized .
Here’s a pretty cool pic of Swamp Milkweed blooms that fell on to Itea ‘Henry’s Garnet’: 

OK, good, we got the positive out of the way. Let’s dig into some negative:

I really love Helenium (Sneezeweed) but it pisses me off to no end. I made sure to cut it back pretty severely in June to ensure that it didn’t get too large and topple over. Well, guess what, the f’er toppled anyway:

Even more frustrating, the one plant I left untouched stayed upright. But that one lost all of it’s leaves on the bottom half of the plant:

The bare legs are hidden from most views but I don’t care, I know what happened and that is all that matters:

Speaking of toppling over, all of my Boltonia are doing it for the second year in a row and yes, I cut them back for size control. Maybe it was the result of all the rain we’ve had … yeah that’s it:

Three weeks ago all of my Blue Lobelia (Cardinal Flower) looked like this: 

And now they look like a bucket of crap. They get one more year and then I’m done:

I had such high hopes for Panicum ‘Ruby Ribbons’ but it is still super lame in year three. Son of a …

Enjoy your day!
John

The onset of Autumn

Posted on by Posted in Uncategorized .

Bittersweet – pleasure alloyed with pain

  • The temperature outside could not be more comfortable.
  • The humidity is gone.
  • The mosquitoes have packed their bags and left.
  • The foliage and leaf colors are fantastic:

  • NFL football is in full swing:
Yet I can’t get rid of this feeling of dread that threatens to take over me. 
How did this?:
  
Turn so quickly into this?:
I have come to truly appreciate those plants that “die well”, but I get the most pumped watching foliage continue to grow or blooms rounding into form like in the two photos below:
Caryopteris ‘Sunshine Blue’

Obedient Plant ‘Summer Snow’
  
I know the change of season is inevitable and a fact of life, but that doesn’t mean I have to simply accept it, right? 
Of course, I also reserve the right to change my mind and rant and rave about how beautiful the Fall is.   
Give me one second, I need to look up the definition of schizophrenic.  
John