The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

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Miscanthus Variegatus

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As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve spent a lot of time reviewing my garden photos from the past year as I map out my big plans for this year. In a lot of ways, the photos tell a different story than what I experienced out in the garden – a welcomed different perspective. 
 
One plant I’ve come to appreciate even more through photos is Miscanthus Variegatus:     

This ornamental grass, with it’s variegation (equal parts white/green), is a welcome foil to all of the surrounding green foliage. I had no idea how many photos I had snapped of this beauty over the past year until recently. Before I share these with you, some bits of info on Miscanthus Variegatus are in order:

  • Mature size falls in the 5′ to 6′ range (a little taller when in bloom)
  • Survives in zones 5-9
  • Prefers full sun
  • Seems to be OK with most soil types including my poor draining clay
  • Is a “warm season” grass meaning the foliage starts to grow when the temps warm up later in spring
  • Flowers in mid to late September here in zone 6B. The blooms are reddish and tassel like.
  • Flopping over later in the season is a known problem due to its large size but one I’ve yet to experience.

Now on to the photos:

Here she is (far right) at about three feet tall in July:

The variegation shining through the Panicum blooms:

The foliage of Miscanthus Variegatus contrasting well behind a Viburnum and amongst a sea of green:

Glowing in early evening:

Looks fantastic back lit by the sun:

Contrasts so well with the early autumn foliage of Itea ‘Henry’s Garnet’:

 

And Miscanthus Variegatus looks even better later in the fall:

 
The blooms emerge in late September:

And finally, like most ornamental grasses, Miscanthus Variegatus provides winter interest:

So what do you think? Are you a fan? Is staking a necessity?

Let me know already, won’t you?

John

Wordless Wednesday

Why do I bother?

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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

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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  

Wordless Wednesday

Reflections on 9/11 and Hurricane Irene

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I have a few things on my mind today and felt the need to write about them. We’ll return to our normally scheduled gardening program tomorrow. Thank you in advance for allowing me to do so:

  • I haven’t done a thing out in the garden since August 27th (you better believe I remember the exact date). Hurricane Irene struck that day and we’ve been drowning in rain ever since. I absolutely love digging in the dirt this time of year with the cooler temps and it’s the perfect time for dividing perennials. The soil, however, is just too wet to do much of anything. Normally, this lack of action would push me over the edge, but it’s hard to complain when you see the devastation Irene left behind for so many people. I’ll just enjoy gazing at my plants from afar and consider myself blessed.
  • Yesterday was the start of the NFL season which is sort of like Christmas for me. While I was psyched to have it back, it just didn’t feel like a day of celebration with it falling on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The pre-game ceremonies across the country were emotional, but none can rival the lone trumpeter playing Taps from the crash site in Shanksville, PA. Good luck trying to find the video on-line anywhere. I’m sure the NFL gobbled it up and that’s a shame.
  • Speaking of 9/11, I watched just about every TV special out there from beginning to end. I still feel like I need to as a reminder of just how devastating it was. I do the exact same thing every year at this time and will do so until the day I die. What stands out more than anything else is just how close we all became as a nation as the tragedy unfolded. It pales in comparison as to how divided we are today. It shouldn’t take an event like 9/11 to bring us all back together. Not like you want to hear political opinion from a dopey gardener like me, but I’d be in favor of throwing out the Republicans and the Democrats and starting anew. Sorry, I’m done.     
  • Bad job by Major League Baseball and Joe Torre for not allowing the Mets to wear their NYPD or FDNY hats for last night’s game. No argument will ever convince me why it should not have been allowed. It was one of the lasting memories from back in 2001 and a fantastic tribute to those “first responders.”   
  • I’ll end with a positive. If you told me I could eat only one dish for the rest of my life, I would choose my wife’s chili. It is painfully delicious and I enjoy eating myself sick for two days on it. We had it for dinner yesterday (a tradition each opening Sunday of the NFL season) along with homemade pumpkin cornbread and I’m still salivating over it all. One day I will get the recipe from her and share it with you all and dare you to make it better.     

John

I can barely “contain” myself

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I am one smart mutha f’er. 
Seriously, I came up with an idea that is pure genius. Everyone will be doing it and you can thank me now for my ingenuity. 
So here it is: Grow your perennials individually in pots and move them around at will. It’s like moving your furniture around when you’re bored. Hell, your garden could have a new and unique look each day. 
Some other advantages for following this method:
  • Plants that do not do well in your soil type (like my clay) can now be used wherever you like
  • Plants that may not typically be tall enough for a certain area can now gain a few inches in a container
  • You can strategically hide these plants from critters by easily placing them in protected areas

I feel like I’ve opened up endless possibilities with this concept. What? You’ve been doing this for years already? Really, I’m that late to the party? Whatever, I’m still taking credit and will soon label this method with a catchy name and trademark it. Try and stop me.

Here’s a little sample of what I can do with one of my favorite perennials that typically does not perform well in my poor draining soil and has been eaten by the deer and rabbits in the past. I give you Sedum ‘Matrona’:
Here she is hidden behind Catmint: 

I can spruce up a boxwood by placing it behind it:

Let’s play on the pink theme and throw it in with a Pennisetum (Fountain Grass):

How ’bout tucked in front of a yellow Arborvitae:

In a container vignette with Cordyline:

Hell, I could put it on an ottoman and let it lean if I want:

So what do you think? There is a bit of an art form to it by making sure the container works within the garden bed and can be partially hidden. But the beauty is that if it doesn’t work, try it somewhere else with ease. 
Damn I’m good!
John 

My daughter picks the flower photos

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In honor of my daughter starting kindergarten this week, I promised her that I would do a post of flower photos that she hand picked. I thought about letting her actually take the photos but she still needs some training on that front. Plus, I still need to keep the illusion that what I do is so difficult and no one else can compare.   
While I am close to mentally moving on to the changing foliage color of fall, she reminded me that there are still quite a few flowers hanging around. As usual, she is right. 
This one is for you my “oh so mature five year old”:
Boltonia ‘Pink Beauty’

Sedum ‘Matrona’

More Sedum ‘Matrona’

Caryopteris (Bluebeard) ‘Sunshine Blue’

Helenium (Sneezeweed) toppled over

Althea (Rose of Sharon) ‘Lavendar Chiffon’ 

Spirea ‘Anthony Waterer’

Asclepias Incarnata (Swamp milkweed)

Autumn is knocking on the door

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Yes, I know summer doesn’t end for another three weeks or so, but I ain’t buying it. Summer ends Sept 1st, and that’s OK. I’m ready for the next phase, let’s call it “Plants looking awesome as they die”. OK, they’re not really dying, more like going dormant, but you get the point. 
The kids go back to school next week and my daughter is starting kindergarten. She’ll be riding the bus for the first time and like most parents, I can’t comprehend how she got this old so fast. Same goes with my son as he is entering fourth grade. Dude grows like an inch overnight and I’m pretty sure he has the same shoe size as I do. If anyone out there has discovered a life “pause button” let me know. I’ll pay top dollar for it. 
Anyway, as soon as we hit September, it was like the plants reacted and said let’s start the process of shedding our leaves. Weren’t we just enjoying the blooms of early summer? And picking blueberries? Oh well, what can you do, such is life. Now we can enjoy the aster blooms, be inundated with mums in containers everywhere (just threw up in my mouth) and pick apples. Not so bad. 
I’ll leave you with the signs of autumn (some more subtle than others) I’ve watched unfold the past two days:                
Viburnum leaf
More Viburnum leaves

Amelanchier (Serviceberry) ‘Autumn Brilliance’ 

Itea (Virginia Sweetspire) ‘Henry’s Garnet’ 

Malus (Crabapple) ‘Prairie Fire’

Miscanthus purpurascens (Flame Grass)

Amsonia tabernaemontana (Eastern bluestar)

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

John

I need to meet with a garden psychologist

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I don’t want to garden any more. I’m done.

What is supposed to be a nice relaxing “hobby” or diversion from real life is making me insane. I never stop analyzing how things look and what I love one day, I’m ready to uproot and move the next. Maybe it’s time to take up knitting or scrap booking or even stamp collecting as my new pastime.

And who gets this crazy over gardening? It’s not like I’m entering my gardens in contests or growing food that can actually be eaten by my family. It’s mostly ornamentals that are just supposed to look nice together. An extension of the home if you will. Instead, I treat it like it’s more important than the troubled economy. I should just be happy that anything grows successfully at all considering my poor growing conditions. If a few plants look nice together, be happy and move on. Not this schmuck.

Little background – I worked like mad to get my garden beds to look “complete” the past few weeks. This included weeding, mulching and filling in any open spots that were available. I planned it out well and chose plants that would work where they were to be placed. I got it all done and was happy … for like 3 minutes. As I walked around the yard like an inspector the past week or so, clipboard in hand, I began to question everything I had put together. What I thought looked good together only a week ago, now seemed “eh”. Here’s a sampling of my deranged thought process:

I love Purple Coneflowers and Russian Sage. Great combo with the contrasting bloom colors and flower shapes:

But when I take a step back and look at the bed as a whole, it seems distracting. Too many contrasting colors and textures. I really need to cut down on the number of different plants I use and focus more on increasing the number of plants used together:

Tradescantia (Spiderwort) ‘Sweet Kate’ really works considering my growing conditions:

But not when placed so close to daylillies with similar foliage:

Here is a combo of Spirea ‘Goldmound’ and Calamagrostis (Feather Reed Grass) ‘Karl Foerster’. Doesn’t inspire me all that much:
But just a month or two ago, I liked the combo when the spirea was a much more vivid yellow. Do I accept that it looked OK then but doesn’t do much as the summer rolls on? Find another pairing? Everything can’t look perfect all the time, right?:

I like the pairing of Hydrangea ‘Endless Summer’ and Physocarpus (Ninebark) ‘Diablo’ … but wouldn’t it look even better with blue blooms? Time to up the acidity:

OK fine, I like Eupatorium (Joe Pye Weed) ‘Gateway’ and Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’ and don’t plan on changing it any time soon. But this is the exception rather than the norm:

Who in their right mind would add this purple leaved annual to a red container? It pains me to look at this. What the hell was my thought process when planning this (Bowing my head in shame):   

This Asclepias incarnata (Swamp Milkweed) is growing like mad but it’s hiding the Itea (Virginia Sweetspire) ‘Henry’s Garnet’ behind it. I’ve read milkweed doesn’t take to transplanting very well but this is eating away at me like mad:  

I continue to struggle with what to match up with this. What colors and textures work well with dead plants? Would love your thoughts. Ideally, it would frame the deadness of this plant and really let it shine:

Bitch session complete and I feel better.

John