It is that time of year.
The time when the ornamental grasses take a giant leap forward, shake their ample booty and become THE focus in the garden.
Well, they do in my garden at least.
Here is just a sampling of these emerging superstars:
Panicum (Switch Grass) ‘Northwind’ when the blooms first appeared:
And now after said blooms transformed into a pinkish hue (love the blue/green blades as well):
Next, we have Panicum (Switch Grass) ‘Rotstrahlbusch’ (yes, I have memorized that spelling):
Miscanthus ‘Variegatus’ behind the same “Rots”:
Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’ not yet showing signs of bloom but still stunning in its own way:
Misanthus purpurascens (Flame Grass) with blooms just popping out in front of the giant Miscanthus ‘Gracillimus’:
Every night, I stare at these Calamagrostis (Feather Reed Grass) ‘Karl Foerster’ blooms from my deck as they are backlit by the sun. Good times:
And finally, Chasmanthium latifolium (Northern Sea Oats) are at their peak, as we speak:
More grass love to come in a future post as they continue to transform with the arrival of autumn.
John
And five weeks later … :
… with some periodic re-bloom to boot:
#2 – Geranium ‘Brookside’:
The day of their haircut:
And as of this evening:
#3 – Nepeta (Catmint) ‘Walker’s Low’:
Sheared back:
And now sporting cleaner foliage and some blooms (not to mention the bees are back in droves):
While cutting back your perennials seems like a frightening proposition at first, I would actually be more frightened to leave them untouched. Trust me, it gets ugly.
If you chop them back (assuming you did your research and you know which ones are “choppable”), in two to three weeks time they will look better than they did right before they were snipped.
Remember, “Just prune it”.
John
**Disclaimer – What you are about to read is truly groundbreaking in the arena of reality television. These concepts will soon be formally presented to a number of TV networks so don’t even think of stealing them. Thank you.**
In my recent post on the “art of weeding”, I discussed how important it is to fill your thoughts while weeding for hours on end. It is a survival mechanism and allows the time to fly by while you are painfully pulling ugly plants out of the dirt.
While recently on a weed eradicating expedition of epic proportions, I started analyzing why there is such a lack of quality gardening programming on television. There isn’t one “must-see” show on TV and I will scream to holy hell if I have to watch another garden makeover show starring photogenic wanna be actors. There is an absolute lack of quality gardening shows on HGTV (please remove the upper case “G”) and it is time to make a stink over it.
Funny thing is, as the hours dragged on and my hands became more and more mangled, I started to think more about TV and plants but in an admittedly less “intelligent” manner. I’ll blame it on excessive fatigue.
Since we are all friends here, I can admit to you all that I watch some seriously awful reality TV. And you know what? There is no gardening representation on any of these shows.
You say “that’s a good thing”.
I say “you haven’t thought it through enough”.
There are some seriously awesome opportunities to fill this void and I will do just that for you today.
Here are four shows that I guarantee would be successful if managed properly:
1)The Gardener/Gardenerette
The show would be modeled after “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette”. On that show, men or women vie for the heart of the bachelor/bachelorette through cheesy cocktail parties, bizarre group dates, one on one dates that defy reality (like personal fireworks over a river in Paris) and numerous trips all over the globe. At the end of each episode, the bachelor/bachelorette hands out a rose to those “competitors” they want to stick around longer:
It is all in the name of love (or so we are told) with one winner emerging who usually proposes in a garish ceremony that defies description. It is fantastically awful and I can’t get enough of it.
For “The Gardener” or “The Gardenerette”, I envision the same sort of set-up where the contestants are given gardening tasks to complete and they are judged on their work. Or beautiful gardens are visited and we can watch and see if the potential couple are in agreement on what they like (“Seriously, can hydrangeas be any more boring? He’s outta here”
The show could have a romantic angle or the true focus could be on the gardening aspect. Maybe a super wealthy individual seeking a gardener for their large estate would work? We’ll really need to test this with audiences first.
Some of the gardening tasks I’ve mulled over:
Sample task 1 – Plant a butterfly garden in 4 hours. This includes working on a budget, shopping at the nursery, plant installment and design capability. I could see someone emerge as the winner if they snip off all of the flowers at planting time knowing that would ensure better long term plant success. Someone not afraid of commitment.
Sample task 2 – Clean up an old overgrown garden filled with nasty weeds and potentially nasty creatures. Who will take the plunge all in the name of garden love?
Sample task 3 – Who can prepare the best dinner using only plants found in the wild. We’ll need a doctor on stand-by for this one.
I’m still working through the details on this show and whether or not it has a romantic angle. Either way, I smell a future hit.
2)Garden Swap
This show would mirror the show “Wife Swap” where two families swap wives/moms for a period of time. The interest lies in how the families adjust with the new arrangement and of course the two families chosen are drastically different:
Yes, that is Gary Busey above who actually participated in the show.
In my version of Garden Swap, two avid gardeners swap gardens and each has to maintain the others while relocated. To make it interesting, the garden styles of each participant are completely opposite of the others.
Scenario 1 – A vegetable gardener who cares little about appearance vs a high maintenance gardener who allows a weed to emerge.
Scenario 2 – A Miracle-Gro loving gardener vs.one who shuns all fertilizers.
Scenario 3 – A tropical gardener vs. someone who gardens in the cold of the northern hemisphere.
Not only would there be drama and some awesome bickering and fighting, but lessons would be learned so each episode could be wrapped up in a nice package at the end.
Hear that ABC Family?
3)Only Homegrown
This show would be very similar to the show “Survivor” where contestants attempt to survive on a deserted island with no modern amenities:
In my version of the show, participants are not allowed to leave their property for a period of time and they can only survive on the food they’ve grown themselves. Who ever lasts the longest wins.
There would have to be some prep work ahead of time by each contestant to ensure there is food available at the time the contest begins so that will have to be ironed out.
But the point of the show would obviously be “Who needs to buy processed foods and garbage when you can get everything you need in your own backyard?”.
I smell an Emmy on this one. You hear that Fox?
4)Garden Makeovers Revealed
Maybe my personal fave. This is less of a reality show and more of an investigative report. We will visit families who were given garden makeovers from other shows to expose what happened after the cameras were gone.
Were the families given proper advice on how to maintain their new landscape?
How did things look when the 25 mums planted didn’t survive the winter?
How was it working with the host and the crew?
Did the hunky host make a pass at the unsuspecting wife?
Did that same hunky host know a thing about soil PH?
This will be some hard hitting reporting and I already can hear the dramatic score to accompany it.
So what do you think? Would you watch any of these? Am I a genius or a disturbed individual with too much time on my hands?
Thanks for making it all the way through this nonsense if you’ve read this far.
John
While it is still early in the plant’s development, I can say it is already an absolute winner. The seedheads just recently emerged and they are fantastic:
And even better than the seedheads, is the beautiful variegated foliage on this ornamental grass:
Like the common Northern Sea Oats, ‘River Mist’ is shade tolerant and I have mine in a partial shade location (morning sun only). It just lights up in the afternoon shade and works well with others:
A few additional bits of info on this ornamental grass:
- Ultimate size is around 3′ x 3′ (mine is at about 2′ since it was planted in March)
- Survives in zones 3-8
- Deer resistant
- Can handle wet soil (woo hoo) and even survive some standing water
- The seedheads will mature to a purple/bronze color later in the summer/fall
To truly evaluate a plant, it takes years to watch its development so ‘River Mist’ will be watched closely the next few years. My biggest concern is the reseeding over the winter and into next spring. That could be an issue.
For now, it is an absolute stunner.
Oh wow, didn’t realize I carried this new found style to another part of the yard. How awesome:
I like how the yellowing leaves play off of the orange fruit of the tomato. I knew not keeping up with the watering was smart:
Oh cool, the tomato is splitting into two. Double the fun!:
I’m really liking a weed enhanced pathway. So natural and so low maintenance:
It’s kind of fun to try and find the kale or tomatoes amongst the weeds in the raised bed. It’s a bonus when you can locate a hiding creature:
My aphid study project is coming along swimmingly:
I will always love the spirea because it looks great year after year:
Nothing fits better in my garden than a tropical plant. I mean, you’ve seen the pics, my landscape screams tropical paradise. And man do they thrive and get nice and big by mid summer:
Did I mention how well spireas also hold up into the fall?:
One of the things I’ve learned over the years is to put a plant that takes a while to leaf out in a prominent and highly visible spot in the garden. Whoa, slow down Anemone, it’s only August:
Ah, I feel better already.
And look, even the weather looks great as we head into early evening:
John
And looking damn good along side Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’:
But enough of the niceties, this is about pruning and science and crap.
As a recap, here is the new growth prior to it being pinched back in early June:
And then pinched:
And then the new buds breaking soon after:
And the blooms from those buds, as of today:
As you can see in the photo below, the pinched areas in the front, where the blooms are just now appearing, provide the planting with a layered look that I really dig:
This mass of Joe Pye Weed has always looked good and performed beautifully in the past, but now with this new layered look (seen best from the most common vantage point) I am loving it even more.
I’ll have some additional updates on my other pruned victims plants in the next few weeks so keep an eye out for them.
This stuff is fun, yo.
John
I strategically planted this shrub right next to our deck so the scent could be enjoyed by the family. That plan worked out well as my daughter picked up on the smell this week and loved it. However, the plan back fired as the kids don’t like all of the bees and run for cover. One of these days those naive bastards youngsters will understand the beauty of bees.
We had an unexpected outbreak of syphilis in my neighborhood this week (long and scandalous story) but being the resourceful gardener and holistic professional that I am, I came to the rescue and harvested a bunch of Lobelia siphilitica for those affected:
So it was nice to help out my diseased neighbors and all, but honestly, I am more impressed by the color on the blooms of this perennial:
Yes, I know many think of the Althea (Rose of Sharon) as a weed or “old school”, but you cannot deny how great these blooms look when back lit:
Speaking of back lit, how can you not love the blooms on Pennisetum ‘Rubrum’ (Purple fountain grass) this time of year:
Yes, this may not be my best black swallowtail pic, but I’m not exaggerating when I tell you I chased this SOB for almost an hour trying to get the best possible photo. I eventually had to settle on this shot as she sat in the tree and laughed at my futility:
We will meet again and I will capture her in all her glory like never before.
Game friggin on.
John
Some times, I’ll just by a native plant for shits and giggles.
No prior research conducted.
No particular available space in the garden for it.
Some times, it is all in the name … like hoary mountain mint:
I had no idea what this perennial would look like in bloom or even what its ultimate size would be when I purchased a few at a local native plant sale. I was just intrigued by the name and in a mood to experiment.
It has been three years since that purchase and the jury is still out on this plant.
Before we get to my personal experience, some quick tidbits on the hoary mountain mint that I’ve discovered on the ‘net:
- Is native to the dry woods of the Eastern U.S.
- Size is roughly 3′ x 4′
- Blooms from July to September
- Survives in zones 4-8
- Prefers full sun
- Can be an aggressive spreader through rhizomes
- Leaves are fragrant when crushed (spearmint) and has been used to flavor teas
- Native Americans inhaled their vapors before entering sweat lodges (I have to try that)
For me, it bloomed sporadically for the first time last year in a spot that only received afternoon sun and it didn’t grow taller than a foot or so.
But this year, they were relocated to a full sun spot and “shocker” have performed well.
The blooms first appeared in early June:
And were eventually in full bloom by the last week of June:
On the plus side, the foliage of this plant has an interesting airy quality which contrasts well with larger leaved plants.
It also draws in the bees like mad as there is always something going on with these natives:
But, on the downside, the two plants I have collapsed once in full bloom and I wonder if my soil has something to do with that:
From what I have now learned, post purchase, is that these plants prefer a lean sandy soil and that is the exact opposite of my soil conditions. Or maybe it was simply one of the powerful rains that kicked their ass. Who knows?
But I’m not ready to give up on them yet by any means. There is a lot more experimenting to do.
I dig how the spent blooms look in the fall/winter, and anything that provides a level of winter interest deserves a stay of execution:
Anyone else grow this? Would love to hear your thoughts.
John