One determined gardener

Posted on June 23, 2023 by jmarkowski Posted in Blooms, Garden problems, My garden, Perennials, Spring .

I have been at it for the last two weeks. I’m talking like, psychotic. Long sweaty stretches of moving plants, weeding, cutting back and cutting ties with plants (some that required a chainsaw) that had seen better days. Also, short dashes of five- minute weeding sprints between work meetings, ten-minute watering’s before the work day kicked off and three minutes hyper dashes spent moving a Joe Pye Weed a few inches to the left and a boxwood a foot forward because my OCD won’t subside until it’s done. If any increment of time was found, it was spent outside.

The motivation? Simple answer: panic. Panic is the motivator in all aspects of my life. With the garden, it was panic that things were getting away from me and soon I’d throw in the towel and give up like I’d done the previous few years. Not this time. I’ve come too far to not see this through to the point where I’ve envisioned it going for the better part of two decades.

The routine:

Open garage door while shoving a protein bar down my throat.

Slip on boots, hoping no snakes, mice or spiders found their way inside. Boots never tied. Time saved too vital.

Pull on nitrile gloves, fully aware poison ivy juices still reside on the palm and fingers.

Grab orange Home Depot bucket, chuck trowel and pruners inside.

Grab spade and twirl to show I meant business.

Head outside and wait for the inspiration to wash over me.

Kick ass.

I should also add that we’re expecting rain every day for the next week or so and that provided additional inspiration to get as much done as possible, physical well being be damned. I snapped the photo below to try and capture the impending bad weather which is really awesome weather as I can’t wait to sit back and watch every plant drink the H2O while I revel in my accomplishments.

The funny thing is I feel like I’ve done so much and transformed the garden for the better, but the common eye wouldn’t notice a thing. I imagine my wife thinking, “You’ve been working out there for hours on end and honestly, I see little difference.” She’d never say it as she’s too kind and knows I’d never recover, but I know she’s thinking it.

For example, this is the view at the end of the driveway. I’ve mentioned previously that I didn’t like how the “legs” of the Baptisia were exposed. Well a few weeks later and the Baptisia exploded; legs for days. For whatever reason, I had planted three here a few years back where there was really only room for one. I wonder how I can be so dumb after all of these years gardening.

As you probably know, moving a Baptisia is impossible. The taproot digs way freaking deep. So instead of taking on that herculean task, I … gulp … cut them all to the ground now that they’ve finished blooming. It killed me but I couldn’t take it any longer. The results:

I added a bunch of new annuals at the front, exposed three grasses that had been buried by the aggressive Baptisias and even found a white coneflower that had been growing inside one of the Baptisia plants. I also dug up a Clethra that had suckered badly and was half dead. That gave me room to add a Smokebush I had sitting in a container on my deck. Here, I hope it will be sheltered from the deer and thrive.

I’ll deal with the long term ramifications of the Baptisia at another time.

This one had me hot and bothered for a few years. Another example of not thinking long term when I constructed the vignette. Zebra grasses, IMHO, are fine as specimen plantings but are too much when grouped together. Here I had planted three when they were tiny plugs and they took off overnight. I hated how they looked.

So out went two, as did my back on multiple occasions, and we ended up with this:

Five mountain mints and a Little Bluestem ‘Chameleon’ in its place. This is going to kick so much ass when done and after the plants have been established. I can’t wait to share with you all.

BTW, the two zebra grasses I moved … here’s what I discovered to my horror a few days ago.

Might want to stay on top of the watering next time wanna-be-master-gardener.

Quick aside: I’m obsessed with all type of Mountain Mint. I’m still not sure what this one is, but it spreads freely all over my garden and I let it do whatever it wants. An absolute critter magnet and tough SOB.

I went hog wild on the annuals and right back to what I had planted last year in the pic below. I can’t get enough of the verbena and love how they look with a bluish grass (in this case a Panicum ‘Cloud Nine’) behind them. While I planted six of these, there were three others in the same area after seeding from last year’s plants. The gorgeous purple gift that keeps on giving.

There’s a lot going on here but I’ll spare you all the details. I moved around the Meadowsweet for maximum viewing pleasure and to ideally, to layer the garden bed appropriately by height. I like, so far.

Two notes:

The window all the way to the right is the window I stare out of 8 hours a day while working from home. Because of that, this is the section of garden that is the most critiqued.
The container in the lower right is a grass gifted from my brother-in-law who lives down the street. Aren’t I a lucky dude?

In:

Annuals that should spill on to the sidewalk. I can’t remember the name because I’m annual clueless.

Out:

Three Liatris that never thrived in this partial sun spot.
Four Speedwell that had seen better days – RIP
A variegated Northern Sea Oats that had become no longer variegated and seeded like a mutha f’er.

And here’s where the Liatris was relocated to a full sun spot.

I should also add that the Liatris blooms reached towards the sun in their old spot and that drove me insane. I need them to be more upright. Hopefully no problem, no more.

Also, forgot to RIP the variegated NSO. Look how pretty she looks in this photo.

I removed a ton of poison ivy all over the garden and paid for it with a rash on every appendage. I haven’t addressed it here yet. It’s comingled with almost all of my Catmint and I need to make a call soon. Eradicate it all and start fresh? Or try to save the catmint and keep the poison ivy at bay?

To be continued …

I love these Carex. Hold on one second.

Pause, pause, pause.

I’m back. Ran to the garage to find the tag and can’t locate it. Inexcusable. Not sure of the name but I will find it and let you know ASAP. They do claim to deal with full sun and if that claims holds true, I’ll be loading up on it as a groundcover all over the garden.

Have an awesome weekend my friends.

Gardening burnout

Posted on November 28, 2018 by jmarkowski Posted in My garden .

True confession: I haven’t done one thing in my garden since September 17th. I didn’t plant a single bulb. I didn’t pull one weed. I didn’t snip, clip or tug.

Nothing.

I could easily blame it on my septoplasty surgery on September 18th, and while that is partially true, it isn’t the full story.

I wore the hell out.

I tired of it all.

I didn’t fight to find as much as a minute of gardening time.

This is typical this time of year for us hardcore gardeners. We’ve spent months on end in the dirt, digging and pulling and tweaking. We’ve spent hours planning. We’ve spent more time than that self-loathing because of our gardening failures.

Oh, maybe that’s just me.

We get tired and we wear ourselves out.

But I feel like I’m beyond the normal burnout. I’m physically worn out but even more than that, I’m mentally drained. I’m tired of fighting the deer. I’m tired of the soil never draining. I’m tired of all that I’ve built the past 13 years.

Looking back even further, I didn’t place one online order last fall/winter. I only purchased a handful of plants in total in 2018 and I made only a few trips to my local garden centers.

I’ve threatened to stop this blog a few times since it was introduced back in February of 2010. Each time I took it all back within days. It’s actually comical if you locate those old posts in the archives.

I’m not looking to bring this blog to a close. I’m not even looking to make any major changes. I just needed to voice the fact that I’ve been burned out. When I do that I typically get a jolt of energy.

So I’m selfishly using this post to pump myself up. I’m banking on this to get me back into the plant catalogs and back to shopping once again (cha-ching). And more than anything else, I want to jump back into my favorite gardening task of all: planning.

And I’m going to do that by showing you (and me) all the progress I’ve made over the years. A reminder of where it all started not so long ago. A peek back to the blank canvas and where things have progressed to in the garden’s current state.

So my apologies for my narcissism. My apologies for the following self-congratulations.

I need it and I hope you understand that.

Thank you.

I searched through all of the photo I’ve ever taken and found that I’ve only once snapped a pic of the garden bed directly toward the front of my house. It’s the one below, taken on a cold winter’s day back in 2010.

While the “after” photo that follows it isn’t from the same angle, you can see how things have changed in this spot.

This series is looking from my driveway into the backyard. What was once a stone-filled driveway and a whole lot of nothing, is now a paved basketball court and lots of mature plants.

A super narrow bed was expanded numerous times over the years and filled with lots and lots of perennials.

The wooden planter and raised bed have since fallen apart and none of the plants in the first photo are with us any longer. But hot damn, what an improvement. Even in the quality of the photography. Ha.

That same area of the garden from a different angle. A River Birch was added and lots of perennials and grasses.

Shield your eyes with the blurry first pic. My apologies for the dizzying experience but I needed to give you the first so you can soak in the beauty of the second shot.

The only plants to survive the years are the red Heuchera along the front of the bed. And I’m happy to report that my photo cropping skills have improved over the years. Check out my camera-wielding arm in the shadows.

Another blurry pic, this time of my front walkway. That is followed by the new and improved from both spring and fall. Go me!

I’m most proud of the fact that I never moved the Thuja (Arborvitae) ‘Rheingold’ and the Clethra (Summersweet) ‘Hummingbird’ over the years and I’m happy to see how well they’ve matured; even if they still can’t hide all the piping, the hose and the filthy foundation.

I apparently had no issue taking photos during the height of sunlight in the garden. Another lesson learned over the years. Here’s to more garden bed expansion.

Add more grasses and all will be fine.

Fill it with nothing but plants and there will be no opportunity for weeds to emerge. Oh yeah, and arborvitaes are ugly and do not mature well.

Garden tour – 10/3/18

Posted on October 3, 2018 by jmarkowski Posted in Fall color, My garden .

It’s been awhile I know.

Between the septoplasty surgery, recovery, a wicked cold where I couldn’t blow my nose because of the recent surgery, rainy weather and softball weekends, I haven’t spent as much as five minutes in the garden. And that sucks because it’s the best time of year with the grasses in full swing and the slow introduction to autumnal color.

I did manage a few minutes outdoors yesterday morning to see what was going on and snapped a few pics for your viewing pleasure.

Nothing dramatic quite yet but it’s coming.

Eternal flame

If you’ve been around here the past few years, you may know already that Flame Grass (Miscanthus ‘purpurascens’) is the star of my garden September through October. It’s just now started to show off its killer foliage color and in tandem with the silver blooms, it’s kind of awesome.

Sedum and weep

The blooms on the Sedum are fading quickly but they are also a reminder as to how much they are a must in the garden this time of year.

Container fading

The one advantage to all of the rain we’ve received this summer and early fall is that there’s been little need to provide supplemental water to all of the containers.

They’re still holding strong and I’m enjoying every last minute of joy they provide.

Other signs of autumn

Viburnum carlesii ‘Aurora’.

While half the size because of the deer, the Redtwig Dogwood still shining with the good old red stems.

The Ajuga ‘Black Scallop’ with great dark color in contrast to the yellowing Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’. This combo looks phenomenal on an overcast fall day.

My go-to mash-up of Joe Pye Weed, Amsonia hubrichtii, Itea and of course, ornamental grasses.

Newly added

I planted three Aster ‘Lady in Black’ a few weeks back and they are now blooming. We’ll see if the deer stay away as advertised (ha, as if) and how they ultimately fit into their new location.

Deck views

When there’s nothing but rain and the garden is drenched, the only option is to enjoy it from above on the deck.

Grasses

Let’s end it with some ornamental grass photos.

Sorghastrum (Indian Grass).

Miscanthus ‘Variegatus’

First few blooms on Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’.

Pennisetum ‘Foxtrot’

Garden tour – 9/12/18

Posted on September 12, 2018 by jmarkowski Posted in My garden .

Another trip around the yard for this week.

The best time of year

There’s no denying it any longer. My garden looks its best in September and October.

Thank you grasses.

Same shot but with some lighting edits.

Which is better?

The inconsistency of deer

They always keep us on our toes, don’t they? Last week many of you mentioned that the deer eat your Obedient plants yet I’ve managed to get mine through without a munch for years running.

Of course that could change by next week and if you believe in deer jinxing, well I’m screwed now.

Willow-leaved sunflower

I just received my first bloom this week.

With many more to come.

Dwarf liatris

I added five of these perennials to a partially shaded area of the garden. Maybe that’s why they are flopping. Or maybe that’s their nature. This is my first rodeo with these guys.

Calamagrostis brachytricha (Feather Reed Grass)

It’s taken some time for this grass to get established but this is my first run of blooms since it was planted a few years back. The blooms are killer.

Signs of fall

On the Viburnum.

And the Thalictrum (Meadow rue).

On Joe Pye.

The oats of Northern Sea Oats ‘River Mist’ are a bit, ahem, toasted.

The queen of autumn, Amsonia hubruchtii.

The harvest is ending

I struggled to keep up with the tomato production and now we are at the end of the line.

I probably should’ve cut those basil flowers off along the way.

Spider season

Thanks for the display.

The deer are still working hard

They didn’t touch Joe Pye Weed too much in season’s past. Remember what I said about deer jinxing? It’s a thing.

Hummingbird

I’m fairly certain this is the same hummingbird we get year after year. We only get one and this one sticks around well into September. If only I could get a better pic of her.

Poop

Is this gross or interesting?

Better late than never

The base for the fire pit is finally done. We’ve done one round of smores so far. Will be sure to share them virtually with you soon.

Note: Use peanut butter cups. Delish.

My garden – September 6, 2018

Posted on September 6, 2018 by jmarkowski Posted in My garden .

Still in denial that autumn is right around the corner.

Keep coming back for more

The Veronica ‘Royal Candles’ are on their third flush of bloom this summer. Even though they look toasted after each bloom period with browning branches and general ugliness, they always bounce back for me.

Nice, but could’ve been better

After years of trying to grow anemone of any sort, I can finally say I’ve had some success. There are a ton of blooms originating from the one plant added here and there’s been massive spread in only a year’s time.

The deer did chow them down along the way this spring/summer so the bloom height is much shorter than expected.

But I’m not complaining.

If at first you don’t succeed …

… plant the Hydrangea in a container and hide it on your elevated deck.

This is ‘Little Lime’ hydrangea and I’m hoping I can keep her in this container year over year because those blooms are killer. I especially dig them right now as the pink hues emerge.

Best option for weed control

You’ve heard me say it many times before, but it’s worth repeating.

Obedient plant (this one is ‘Vivid’) can easily fill in an empty area in the garden in no time and prevent weeds from seeing the light of day. Yes, they are aggressive, but I find them easy to pull out where needed.

They are rapidly transforming into bloom as we speak.

More grasses

Your weekly dose of ornamental grasses stealing the spotlight.

Here is a shot nearing dusk with the Miscanthus ‘Variegatus’ adding a nice pop of light and bright (don’t steal that phrase, I’m trademarking it).

And Panicum ‘Rots’ happily providing a happy background for Joey Pye.

This Panicum may have outgrown its spot but I’m in no rush to move it.

He works hard for the money

Not that I’m getting actual cash for my garden labor, but your feedback is really all the currency I need.

Did you just spit out your sweet tea? Too corny?

Regardless, it’s true.

Anyway, I continue to attack the garden with reckless abandon and fervor as I clean up the weeds, move things around and prune/tweak/deadhead here and there. This little clean-up below resulted in me going through three shirts, two pairs of shorts and about 49 mosquito bites.

Heat and humidity be damned.

It will be worth it if I can fill it in quickly and avoid the same weed issues heading into next year.

Same goes with the photo below.

While I’ve created a new path to traverse in the garden, that wasn’t the intention. I now need to find as many 3 to 4 foot in height perennials as I can so I can finish this section and finally move on.

Tip of the week

Putting apple cider vinegar directly on your mosquito bites stops the itch better than any other topical option out on the market. I may smell vinegary in bed at night, but my wife is spared me waking up multiple times feverishly scratching my legs and moaning.

You’re welcome.

Surgery, sadness and hot sauce

Posted on August 30, 2018 by jmarkowski Posted in My garden .

A little bit of everything this week.

Stop and smell the roses

That is my literal plan on the morning of September 19th. Well maybe not that exact date, depending on my recovery, but a day or few after that. Actually, let’s call it no later than September 26th.

I’m finally doing it. I’ve scheduled septoplasty surgery and it will be on September 18th.

It’s been a long time coming and I’m super excited. I’m ready to be able to smell for the first time in a long time. I’m ready to be able to breathe through my nose while running. I’m ready to, fingers crossed, be able to sleep more comfortably and snore a whole lot less.

So if it all pans out, you’re going to read a lot about my enjoyment of smelling flowers for the first time.

The spit is the least of my concerns

One of the plants I’ve been touting a ton this spring/summer was this newly planted willow-leaved sunflower (Helianthus salicifolius).

I’m in love with the texture and would be happy even if it never bloomed.

But one morning this past week I noticed this all over all of the leaves.

I’d seen it before many times on other plants but never did anything about it. It never seemed to cause the plants any harm.

But this was excessive and it made me panic. So I did my research and I’m proud to say that I’m now educated on the spittlebug. And if I’m interpreting what I read accurately, there is little reason to worry about long term damage.

Bullet dodged temporarily though.

This plant has begun to flop and it hasn’t even bloomed yet. I couldn’t get a good photo of the collapse but just know it isn’t pretty.

My dreams have been crushed.

It’s getting hot in here

Contrary to what you may think, I do grow plants that one can actually eat. I have a bunch of tomato plants grown in containers on my deck where I can keep them away from the deer. While I don’t eat tomatoes (please don’t judge), my wife happily consumes them and I at least think they’re pretty.

This year I’m growing a habanero pepper that I think will be in regular rotation moving forward. It’s called Cheiro Roxa and she is beautiful.

While not exactly a chef in the kitchen, I do have plans to use these peppers to make my very first hot sauce. I’m thinking this one.

The peppers can be harvested once they transform from black/chocolate to a light pink which a few are at now.

To top it all off, the foliage of these plants is killer. Check this out.

Add this grass

I mentioned it last week and I’ll do so again.

I love Molinia (moor grass) more and more each year as they continue to mature in my garden.

This one is ‘Skyracer‘ and it’s majestic right now. This is the view off of my deck.

And from around the corner (top middle of the photo).

Am I right?

Facebook anyone?

Many of you have told me that you shun the Facebook. If you fall in that camp, please ignore the following request.

I’ve created a “John Markowski – Author” FB page and I’d love for you to throw it a “like” if you’re so inclined. You can access it here.

It’s becoming a place where I can share my non-gardening writing as I continue to pursue that option moving forward.

Thank you in advance.

Making progress

Posted on August 16, 2018 by jmarkowski Posted in My garden .

I’ve never worked harder in my garden than I have these past two weeks. I’m outside every free moment I get; heat and humidity and endless downpours be damned.

It’s exhausting but I love it.

Ideally I would’ve kept up with things on a semi-regular basis but you know; family, kids, vacations and life tend to get in the way.

I’m nowhere near done but thought I’d share some of the results with you today as a means for you to help me keep going. The majority of the work so far has been weed pulling and I guess I should be thankful for all the rain; it makes weed removal that much easier when the soil isn’t bone dry.

So here are some pics for your viewing pleasure. Some of the photo quality isn’t where I like it, but I couldn’t wait for the right lighting to take many of these. That’s not the purpose any way.

I’d like to think I’ll be able to take some killer photos as we head into September when this garden is popping with awesomeness and early fall color.

At least I can dream. It keeps me going.

Not only have I meticulously cleaned out the bed that runs along the front of my home, I’ve also done the same with the walkway. Every freakin weed was pulled by hand and I vow to now control them through a natural weed spray I’ve concocted.

A big part of the front bed clean-up was cleaning up the six Catmint (Nepeta) plants. I trimmed them all back aggressively and they’ve all bounced back within no time.

Here is an example of one pre-haircut.

It’s embarrassing to admit it and I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ve always been bad with maintaining a deer prevention strategy. Call it lazy or call it giving up too easily, there’s still no excuse for the lack of effort.

Well no more. I’m regularly spraying and experimenting with different options. This has allowed for blooms on the Sedum ‘Matrona’ for the first time in years.

And the Hydrangea ‘Lady in Red’ has been allowed to round into form without nibbles up and down the front of the shrub.

Now I remember why I planted it in the first place. That leaf color is fantastic.

One negative discovered here. While the deer had been pruning this Redtwig Dogwood back regularly all spring.

It has also been hit by the dreaded Dogwood Sawfly Larvae. They’ve nibbled the leaves quite a bit and my only means of addressing it so far has been to allow the pounding rain to wash them off the shrub. Ugh.

Don’t laugh, but while this section of the front garden takes care of itself these days since there is little room for weed growth, the addition of the black wrought iron post thingy really adds to its overall appeal. Right? Please tell me I’m right.

One other thing with this section of garden while I’m at it. It’s loaded with Veronica ‘Royal Candles’ that quickly bloomed like mad but then wore down quickly. I cut them all down to the ground and within a week or so, they are all on their way back.

Moving on.

While I love the large river stones under the basketball hoop here, I think I’m enjoying the lack of weed worry here more than anything else.

This looks like a simple patch of Sweet Flag but you have no idea what it took to clean these up. They weren’t visible from all the weeds that had inundated their surroundings. I wish I had taken the before pic.

I shared with you on a prior post how I had moved these white coneflowers to this spot. I still like it. They were meant to be here.

The Joe Pye Weed in this section are smaller than in season’s past because you guessed it: f’n deer. They’ve stayed away for the time being (don’t get lazy John, don’t get lazy John) and they’ll look even better as the Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’ come to life behind them.

You wouldn’t know it, but the JPW and ML were surrounded by the weed that has become the bane of my existence these days: Japanese Stilt Grass. I pulled it by hand for a good two hours in this area alone.

But more on that weed in a future post. I need to dive into this one in detail.

Moving to the backyard.

Hours of weed clearance and relocating of plants that didn’t work here and we ended up with a good amount of open earth. Me no like open earth.

If you look closely enough, you can see that I divided a bunch of Bee Balm and added the new divisions here. They should fill in rather quickly with a sweet pop of color and critter activity. Best part of all: the new plants cost nothing.

I freed up a lot of available plant real estate along the front of this section as well and I’m still in the process of determining what to add here.

Side note: I dug out a section of the lawn to fit in large pavers for a fire pit (Photos to come once completed). All of the large stones in the photo above were found during that dig. That sums up our soil perfectly. It’s why it doesn’t drain well.

I’m really annoyed that I again, didn’t take a before photo with the section of garden below because it was fugly. Look back on my original garden tour video here to see just how bad it had become.

Again, the main culprit here was the Japanese Stilt Grass. As was the out of control Hardy Ageratum (which many of you warned me about).

A good four hours was spent here just to be able to again reveal the Lady’s Mantle and other assorted perennials and shrubs. Now we fill in all of the gaps.

A true before shot below. Also taken over by the JSG, as I now like to call it.

Hours of pulling and yanking (which is relatively easy with JSG by the way) and we end up with this.

Even more of a blank canvas to work with which is exciting and overwhelming.

Because I have enough newly designated blank slates to contend with still. Like this one that I’ve only now begun to fill.

More to come.

Fun.

Exhausting.

Rewarding.

Overwhelming.

Working my buttocks off

Posted on August 3, 2018 by jmarkowski Posted in My garden .

For the past week or so I’ve dedicated myself to getting the garden to a much better place. I’ve spent hours upon hours weeding, moving plants to new locations, adding new plants and even adding a fire pit to the mix. I’ve started some mornings at 6:00 am and ended some evenings at 10:00 pm.

I’ve never sweat more in my life and it’s freaking awesome. This is what I love to do. There’s almost a pleasure in letting the garden go for a long stretch (which I did) only to come back and straighten it all up. It’s work, but it’s truly a labor of love.

I’m nowhere near close to finishing it (and yes I know “finishing” is a relative term) and I also ain’t stopping any time soon. In due time I will share it all with you. I promise.

For now, here are just a few small things I’ve done.

I literally felt my anxiety lessen when I finally took care of this mess. For two years, these white and purple coneflowers have co-existed and I hated every second of it. I planted the white in this location but the purple showed up unexpectedly.

No more.

This section has become a purple/pink fun time.

And now the white coneflowers share a space with a white blooming Clethra.

Much, much better.

Sticking with the coneflower theme. These yellow coneflowers have never really fit in this spot. It gets too much shade so they fall over desperately seeking the sun. Plus color-wise, it’s a bit of a mess.

A few minutes later and they’re in a full sun spot and it feels like they should’ve been here all along.

That’s all I have for you today. Hopefully the next collection of changes I’ll show you will be even better.

But you’ll have to wait until early next week. More work to be done.

One last thing.

I held my first ever book signing last Saturday at Triumph’s Brewing Company in New Hope, Pa. It was a blast even if it felt a bit odd signing books for total strangers.

I hope to do a few more this summer (update coming soon) and if you’re in the area, I’d love to meet you all.

One more last thing. Again. If you did read the book, I’d love for you to leave a review on Amazon and it must be honest. I promise you not only can I take it, but I also need it.

As always, thank you.

Welcome back to your garden John

Posted on July 25, 2018 by jmarkowski Posted in My garden .

And just like that, we are back from vacation and slowly adjusting back to east coast time. It was a great trip with memories that will stick in Markowski lore, plus the realization that we like California … like a lot. Just knowing I could grown my own avocados is enough to push us all there at some point in the future.

The weather wasn’t so bad either.

Returning home to the garden after a long absence is always a bag of mixed emotions. It’s exciting to see progress and exciting to see what is newly blooming. At the same time, the weeds could dramatically expand without fear of eradication and I know that will set me back in my journey to create the perfect garden.

That last statement was sarcastic, FYI.

But what was more surprising than anything else was one emotion that stood above all else. One emotion I never anticipated upon our return. An emotion I don’t typically associate with the garden. But it was and is still here days later.

BOREDOM.

I need a change. Scratch that, I need many changes.

I need new and different. I’m bored with all that I’ve created and madly attempted to curate all these years.

I don’t like the feeling but I can’t deny it.

I have no time to implement these changes. And it wouldn’t be wise to start moving plants around during the dog days of summer. They wouldn’t be happy.

So I’m taking deep breaths and assessing the potential changes. I’m aware (finally) that my plant palette is somewhat limited based on my conditions, but oddly enough, I’m not looking to add new plants as much as I’m desiring a new look with my existing plants.

So maybe it’s a series of tweaks that I desire more than anything else. When I say that out loud it doesn’t feel as intimidating. It says “a little at a time”. It doesn’t erase all the blood and sweat I’ve poured in all these years.

A SERIES OF TWEAKS

I like that. I’m going to roll with it. I think I addressed my issue on the fly as I wrote this post.

Thanks for listening.

Video – a thriving part of the garden

Posted on July 5, 2018 by jmarkowski Posted in My garden .

The video below makes me happy. It’s a part of the garden I’m very proud of and one that has filled in nicely over time.

After watching this life-changing video, check out the photos below which identify all of the plants that were part of the mini-tour. I’ve even linked the pics to sites where you can read more about each.

You are so welcome.

Hypericum ‘Blue Velvet’

Physostegia (Obedient Plant) ‘Vivid’

This is how they looked only a little over one year ago. How quickly they fill in.