The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

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  

Nww Jersey Life Magazine – new “Garden State” blog post

Wordless Wednesday

Ajuga Chocolate Chip

Posted on by Posted in Perennials .
A wise man once said:
“Not all plants can be heroes. We need some to do the dirty work like fill in tough areas and/or suppress weeds. If they bloom and look nice, then all the better”.
Who said it? Well that would be … yours truly. And I just made it up as I typed this paragraph. Maybe some day someone else will use this riveting quote and I can tell my grandchildren about it. A man can only dream.
Ajuga Chocolate Chip owns the distinction of being the plant I have the most of in my garden to date; about 35-40 last time I counted:

This groundcover is so easily divided in spring/summer/fall that I only had to purchase three of these and all others are subsequent divisions. Some other bits of info for you:

  • Typically 3-4″ tall and 12-18″ wide. Ajuga Chocolate Chip is a dwarf/miniature ajuga and “knock on wood”, doesn’t appear to be too invasive like the rest of their kin.
  • Can be grown in zones 4-9.
  • Here in New Jersey, zone 6B, it blooms in May and puts on one mother of a show:

 

 

 

  • Does fine in full sun where for me, it tends to lean more green:
  • And works in half sun/half shade where the better “chocolate” foliage shines through:
  • Ajuga Chocolate Chip is deer and rabbit resistant.
  • While this bugleweed prefers well draining soil, I can attest to the fact it has survived serious water logged soil the past two winters.
  • In the late spring, I cut back the fading blooms and the foliage eventually takes center stage:

 

  • I like to think it offers three seasons of interest as it still looks good when the frosts hit in mid to late Autumn:

While most of my Ajuga Chocolate Chip plants are young (2-3 years), they are already filling in empty spaces in the front of my garden beds with ease. Most importantly, they are successfully choking out the weeds like a champ. Give it another year or two, and I’ll have 100 of these. Yes, I like them that much.

UPDATE: Want to see how I’ve designed with this ground cover? Read here.

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

Additional thoughts on perennials in containers

Posted on by Posted in Containers, Perennials .

I love and appreciate all of the feedback I received from yesterday’s post about using individual perennials in containers.

While I wrote it in somewhat of a “tongue in cheek” manner, I still really believe it can be useful in garden design. After reading your comments and thinking it through even more, I think there are a few factors in play in order to pull it off successfully:

  • Water – As many of you pointed out, plants in containers can dry out very quickly so the need to water frequently can be a cumbersome task. If you live in a typically dry part of the country/world, this could be a nightmare. I’ve never used self-watering containers but maybe they are an option? Burying the pots in the soil could also lessen the need to water (Thanks Allan and Xan!). Maybe the best route is to use only a few perennials and place them in locations where they can be easily accessed for watering purposes. Watering is a tall task but I’m not ready to give up yet. There are too many perennials I cannot keep alive in my slow draining clay so I’m going to give this a shot.
  • Overwintering – Another item I forgot to mention was overwintering these “contained” perennials. The rule of thumb is that a plant can overwinter successfully in a container if that plant can survive 2 zones colder than your region. For example, I live in zone 6 here in New Jersey, so plants that can survive the winter down to zone 4 will be OK. If the plant can survive the winter in it’s container, it becomes more appealing as the need to store in a garage or bury the container in the soil isn’t required.
  • A better means to baby small perennials? – Nothing scientific here. I like to buy small sized perennials on-line because of the cost but have had trouble keeping these little guys alive over the winter. I’ve started to “raise” them in containers where I can ensure better drainage, hide the new growth from the rabbits and prevent winter heaving. Yes, watering is still an issue but I’ve had mad success to date with this process. As these babied plants start to grow, I can tuck them into the perennial beds and show them off a bit.
  • No need to limit to perennials, can use shrubs and grasses – The same concepts apply but it may be a bit tougher to move some of the necessary large containers around. One advantage I’ve found though, is that shrubs/grasses that may be too large for your garden can still be used effectively because they will not grow as fast or as large as they would in the ground. In the photos below, you can see how I hid a large Miscanthus in the garden bed since it is small enough to fit in a tighter space:  
I’ll continue to play with this concept and will show you the results, both good and bad.

One last thing, my new post is up at New Jersey Life Magazine and it is all about my love of foliage. You can check it out here.

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

“My Favorite Plants” – post at NJ Life Magazine