The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Author Archives: jmarkowski

Photo time

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We survived Hurricane Irene (well sort of, still cleaning out a flooded basement) and consider ourselves blessed when seeing all of the devastation elsewhere. My heart goes out to all those who are struggling with the aftermath of this behemoth of a storm. 
Here in the Northeast, we were hit by a hurricane and an earthquake this past week so we’re now prepping for the inevitable cyclone or dust storm to hit. Friggin insanity.
The ironic thing is that it has been nothing short of perfect, weather wise, since late Sunday afternoon. Last evening, I couldn’t resist enjoying this incredible weather so I ventured out to my safe haven, the garden, to snap some photos as an “escape”. As usual, the focus was on the plants and I even tried to get creative with one series of shots, but all those photos were trumped by what I saw when I looked up. Here’s what I captured:                 
Yucca ‘Golden Sword’

Feather Reed Grass ‘Karl Foerster’ and Ninebark ‘Summer Wine’ 

Sneezeweed behind Hibiscus ‘Kopper King’

Have you ever seen a chef prepare the same food in three different ways and serve them together on the same plate? Well, I give you Itea ‘Henry’s Garnet’ served up three ways:

Lame attempt at getting artsy, huh? 
Yes, plant photos are nice and all, but when I looked up to the skies last night, I couldn’t believe what I saw.  It was stunning and I tried my best to capture it as the night went on:      

Pretty cool, huh?

Book giveaway from Timber Press – “Seeing Trees”

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Timber Press is running another contest with a book giveaway and this one is for a photography heavy book that takes a unique look at trees:

Seeing Trees, photographed by Robert Llewellyn, focuses on close-up shots (macros) of trees and gives the reader a new perspective on how we view the trees we pass by each day.

Want to win an autographed copy of this book and a signed, 16″×20″ print of a Robert Llewellyn photograph from Seeing Trees, custom matted and framed? Well head over and enter by clicking on this link:

Seeing Trees book giveaway

The contest runs through September 9th, so head over now and simply provide your email address. It really is that easy.

John

Random garden musings

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Some thoughts as I walked through my garden recently:
Thuja (Arborvitae) ‘Rheingold’ continues to grow on me each year. The foliage color and texture are friggin stupendous:   

Cornus (Red Twig Dogwood) ‘Arctic Fire’ may be the shrub I’m most excited about for next year. I bought the tiniest plug last year and actually forgot about it. It was lost amongst the weeds in spring but I babied it in a container and now she is ready to fly on her own. Get those twigs nice and red now, ya hear:    

Perennials I can’t grow due to poor drainage are now being kept in containers so I can move them around at will – sort of like rearranging furniture. This Sedum ‘Matrona’ is temporarily in front of Hydrangea ‘Lady in Red’ … I kind of dig it:

Berries on trees = good times:

Just thought this was kind of a cool shot – Lobelia siphilitica (Blue Cardinal Flower) through the blooms of a Panicum (Switch Grass):

This Asclepias Incarnata (Swamp Milkweed) is thriving at four feet tall:

But I liked it better when it was destroyed by the caterpillars:

I still prefer containers with only one plant in them – like this series of Cordyline. One day I’ll graduate to the big leagues and learn how to use thrillers, fillers and spillers:

Each morning I run, I look forward to seeing the blooms on Tradescantia (Spiderwort) ‘Sweet Kate’ and I’m cool with them disappearing soon after:

Have a great weekend and for all of you in the path of Hurricane Irene, stay safe. We’re already preparing here in NJ as we’re expecting 8″ to 12″ of rain.

John

Latest post with New Jersey Life Magazine

Ninebark Summer Wine

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One of my absolute favorite shrubs is Ninebark Summer Wine and I think it likes me too because in only three years, it has grown like mad:
While it is documented to be in the range of 4′ to 6′ tall and 4′ to 6′ wide, mine is easily 7′ by 7′. It has quickly become a monster sized shrub and that’s OK; I have the room for it and it makes quite a statement as a result. Some other Ninebark Summer Wine tidbits:
  • Prefers full sun or partial shade – mine is situated in partial shade and the “wine” color is still phenomenal
  • Blooms here in zone 6 New Jersey from about mid May to early June
  • Works in almost all soil types including my compacted clay soil
  • Can be pruned immediately after blooming to ensure next year’s blooms aren’t cut off
  • The common name Ninebark refers to the exfoliated branches that peel in winter (more on that in a minute)
  • I’ve rarely ever had to water this shrub beyond when it was first planted
  • Works well as a specimen shrub but would look damn cool planted in mass as a hedge (but who has that kind of room?)
Some photos of my Ninebark Summer Wine through the seasons:

Leafing out in early to mid April:

The foliage soon gets that delicious wine color with the blooms not too far behind:
A sea of blooms at the end of May:
An up close and personal shot of a stunningly hot, individual bloom:

The foliage color stays dark all the way into Autumn and contrasts beautifully with yellow, chartreuse or bright green foliage (Spirea ‘Goldmound’ below):

Even in Winter, SW is a dazzling silhouette against the snow:

And if you get close enough, you can see the peeling bark (hence the name) of the Ninebark Summer Wine which gets better with age:

I’ve also planted Ninebark ‘Diablo’ but the jury is still out there. I am anticipating it to get a lot bigger than Ninebark Summer Wine. With both cultivars, I should add, you can prune them hard in the Spring to control size. You may lose the blooms, but truthfully, this shrub is all about the foliage isn’t it?

Until next time …

John

My new gardening buddy?

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I spent most of Saturday helping my sister and her husband get their yard in shape in preparation for putting their house up for sale. I won’t get into it now, but while I was planting some asters, I started to wonder if maybe “staging” in gardening/landscaping is a business not yet explored. I digress …
When I came home late Saturday afternoon and stepped out of the car, looking awesomely filthy, I did my usual quick tour of the garden. 
I said “Hi” to my handsome looking Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’:       
Noticed the Sorghastrum ‘Sioux Blue’ (Blue Indian Grass) has made great strides after planting only a little stub of a plant this spring: 
Questioned why the Chelone glabra (Turtlehead) looks like hell each summer as the blooms quickly turn to a state of death:   
When my daughter suddenly ran out of the house in a state of euphoria. She had something really important to show me and ordered that I come in the house … pronto.
You don’t tell my daughter “no” so I headed inside. When I entered, she had my camera in hand and made me look at the photos my wife had taken earlier that morning. She looked over my shoulder as I went through them and provided commentary:
“Look Dad, I cut the flowers myself and didn’t care about all the bees. Aren’t you proud of me?”:       

“They smelled sooooo good”: 

“Look, I even … what’s the word? Arranged them”:

I was grinning from ear to ear (most excited by the non fear of the bees) and then learned she now has her own set of gloves and shovel and she can’t wait to use them. If it weren’t raining all day today, we would have been getting our hands dirty for sure. I need to jump on this opportunity and feed her interest so I can truly have a “gardening buddy.”

John

Subtle changes in the garden

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With two active young children, full time jobs and various trips to and fro while trying to enjoy the summer, we seem to spend most of our time getting into and out of our cars. Even though it always feels like we are in a rush to go somewhere, I make it a point to always sneak a peek at all of the plants in my driveway garden bed. 
This bed is planted with mostly ornamental grasses, native perennials and a few deciduous shrubs. Right now, it is my favorite part of my landscape (and this is of course, subject to change) as it has been the most challenging to put together, yet by far the most rewarding. This bed stays wet longer than any other since the rain is routed off of the driveway and pools here. Also, this is the area where the deer feel most comfortable setting up shop. There are no windows on this side of the house so I can’t scan for them and scare them away like a wild man.
What I enjoy most as I get into my car each morning and out of each evening, is noticing the subtle changes that are passing right before my eyes. I feel like I have superpower-like vision and can spot the most minute of changes. A rough day at work can become a distant memory just by noticing that the viburnum berries are changing from green to purple. 
Here is what I’ve observed of late in my driveway garden bed and while it may not jump out and grab you, it works fine for me:
Miscanthus ‘Variegatus’ is putting on major growth and it shines when back lit by the sun, but also stands out when the sun goes down with it’s light foliage. It is now starting to emerge from behind the taller perennials (Boltonia in the photo below):   

And behind the Viburnum ‘Emerald Lustre’:

A very young Panicum (Switch Grass) ‘Northwind’ is only about two feet tall, but a few blooms just snuck out this week:

The foliage on Itea (Virginia Sweetspire) ‘Henry’s Garnet’ has begun it’s autumn transformation as you can see on the underside of the leaves:

And even more so on the bottom of the shrub:

The “oats” on Chasmanthium Latifolium (Northern Sea Oats) are maturing to their brownish/tan shade:

The aforementioned Boltonia is just showing the first signs of bloom:

And last but not least, the Panicum ‘Rotstrahlbusch’ blooms are a sea of red and look fantastic en masse:

I am already looking forward to the next trip to my car!

John  

Blogging for New Jersey Life magazine

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I wanted to pass along that I have started a new writing gig with New Jersey Life magazine: 
On a weekly basis, I will be writing about “all things gardening in New Jersey” for the on-line magazine, under the blog heading of “Garden State”. You can read my first entry here. 
I am super psyched to branch out with my garden writing and so thankful that New Jersey Life gave me this opportunity. If you get a chance, check out the blog and let me know what you think.
John     

Wordless Wednesday

Enjoying a rainy day

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Nothing but rain here since last night. Now this is fantastic for the garden, especially for all of my recently transplanted plants, but it did keep us cooped up inside … for most of the day.
My wife and son headed out to the movie theatre in the early afternoon to see the last Harry Potter flick. My daughter and I stayed home and tried to make the most of our time indoors. It worked for a while as we played Twister (holy crap I’m old) and Memory (I let her win of course) and recorded some fantastic tunes on her microphone. But, we still kept looking out the window longingly. I then suggested we head out with our rain ponchos and walk around in the torrential downpour. She freaked the freak out with excitement:          

It couldn’t have been more fun and as if nature knew of our plans, we ran into a family of deer:

And found this dude chilling in the driveway:

My mind and camera started to wander a bit:

But quickly focused back on what would make this day memorable:

Some times it is the simple things that make a day like this stick in your memory and I know I’ll cherish it for a long time.

John