The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Tag Archives: northern sea oats

Plants I expect big things from this year

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More than a few times this winter I have reviewed all of my garden photos in a “slide show” as a means to get myself all pumped up for the spring/summer. Each time, there are certain plants that have me dreaming big when they pop up on the screen. These are plants that are only a year or two old and have yet to put on their best show.

I’d like to share my optimism with you today and please, share any experiences you may have had with any of these. Just make sure you lie to me if there is anything negative; I’m on too much of a high right now to be brought back down to reality.

I purchased a bunch of Helenium autumnale at a native plant sale last spring and I was blessed with a never ending amount of blooms in late summer.

But, I did a poor job of pruning for height control and left these in an exposed location so they toppled over rather easily. With a new locale and a pruning plan, I expect monstrous results from these natives this summer.

Another native, Amsonia tabernaemontana (Eastern bluestar), was planted two years ago and has not only remain untouched by the deer (due to it’s sap on the leaves) but has also survived in a spot that remains wet at times. However, it has yet to bloom real well and it’s biggest selling point, the yellow, smoke-like fall foliage has not been there as expected. So, everyone say it with me, this is the year to take it to the next level.

I was happy to get a few blooms on a few different Siberian Iris ‘Snow Queen’ last spring and hope to double that output this spring. Isn’t she a beauty?

I loaded up on Chasmanthium Latifolium (or as you common folk call them, northern sea oats) in the Fall of 2009 and they have not disappointed. They worked from spring to late Fall and I would love more of the same this year, even some reseeding is OK (should I be careful what I wish for?).    

I am a sucker for foliage, especially anything in the red/maroon/scarlet family and I planted a few Hibiscus ‘Kopper King’ late last summer. I honestly could skip on the blooms as long as the foliage looks good all season. I liked how they stood out as somewhat of a focal point and contrasted real well with all of the other green foliage. Bigger and badder this year please.

Miscanthus ‘Super Stripe’ was slow to grow last year but damn, I love that variegation. Let’s agree to double in size this year OK?    

Miscanthus ‘Variegatus’ gets real big and can flop but I’m not scared. I have two planted where they can get as big as they want and I’ll deal with the floppiness if necessary.  

Echinacaea ‘Fragrant Angel’ – beautiful blooms and beautiful scent – just want MORE MORE AND MORE.  

I know that Sambucus ‘Black Lace’ will struggle in my poor draining soil and will be nibbled by the deer but I have to have it. So, I plan on growing it in a large container as a specimen on my deck. That foliage is sweet and hopefully this year it gets close to “specimen” size.  

And last but not least, we have Baptisia ‘Twilite Prairieblues’ which had some blooms last year that were stunning. From all indications, I should expect the plants to at least double in size and produce a lot more blooms this year and that my friends, would friggin rule! 

Good night and welcome back to the work week.

ONG

The advantages of native plants

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I must admit, I have a very large lawn on my property. It takes me close to two hours a week to cut it during the growing season. Not exactly environmentally friendly, eh? Before you beat me down, I must tell you I never water it, never fertilize it and have slowly been chipping away at removing it by creating new garden beds. While a lawn provides a great play space for the kids and the green swath looks pretty damn nice in the spring, I am no longer much of a fan. The effort involved to maintain it is not worth it and for a plant lover like me, it really represents more of an opportunity to further bankrupt myself and create more garden beds.

Which leads me to a discussion on native plants. A native plant can be best defined as: a plant that occurs naturally in the place where it evolved (I took that definition from wildflower.org). There are numerous advantages to using native plants in the landscape (and you will notice almost all are exactly the opposite of what it takes to maintain a lawn):

  • Drought tolerance 
  • Minimal need for fertilizer
  • No need for pesticides
  • With minimal fertilizer/pesticides – no run-off into the water supply 
  • Disease tolerant
  • Attracts wildlife, beneficial bugs and encourages biodiversity
  • Low cost to purchase natives
  • Because natives are in their natural environment, their size and cooperation with neighboring plants is much more predictable and makes design/planning much easier.                

I didn’t intend for today’s post to be about native plants but as I was reviewing my plant photos from this prior year, I noticed how many of the “successes” were native plants. Hence, where I ended up with this post. Here are some of my native plants and please, share some of the natives you’ve had success with in the comments section so I can pretend I knew about them all along:   

Sneezeweed – Helenium autumnale 


Blue cardinal flower – Lobelia siphilitica

Turtlehead – Chelone glabra 

Purple coneflower – Echinacea purpurea

Garden Phlox – Phlox paniculata ‘David’

Boltonia asteroides ‘Pink Beauty’

When the native plant sales begin here in New Jersey around the middle of May, I begin my plan of attack and this upcoming year will be no different. I’ll just need to clear more lawn to fit in more of these low maintenance gems.

Go native or go home!
ONG 

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Weekend in Review

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Today’s entry is a big time first. The first post written while hung over. The 20th high school reunion was a smashing success but now I am paying the consequences for all the shenanigans. But more on that later.

Friday night  – we had a kick butt seasonal, fresh, summer dinner prepared by Mrs. ONG:

  • Cedar plank salmon with a brown sugar rub
  • Corn on da cob (NJ corn is off the charts)
  • Watermelon margarita – refreshing and effective 
  • Blueberry Mascarpone Ice Cream – the best ice cream EVER (from the Bent Spoon in Princeton)

Saturday – the HS reunion went down and it was a trip. I’ll spare you all the gory details and give you some of the highlights:

  • Many more of the former classmates read the blog than I expected. Actually got into some good gardening conversations. I even threw a “blossom end rot” out there. 
  • I really wish I named my blog something simpler. Feels a bit silly spelling out the URL.
  • To some degree, the old high school cliques still exist. Very funny to observe.
  • People really don’t change – that is both good and bad 

Sunday – up at 7:30 to bring my chum to Newark Airport. We maybe said three words to each other as we attempted to recover. Meanwhile, my family of hot air balloon hunters were up at the crack of dawn to see the taking off of a ton of balloons during the annual Central NJ balloon fest.

After a lazy, super hot and humid afternoon, we got hit with a mother of a storm and couldn’t have been happier to get the much needed rain. I actually heard the tomatoes sigh with relief.
     
After the rain, I headed out to take some photos. Never a better time than after a rain in the early evening. And I will go back a bit on what I said in a prior post (shocker, huh?). There are a few macro shots in there that I couldn’t resist. Enjoy:

Lobelia Siphilitica – just starting to bloom
    Clethra ‘Hummingbird’ bloom
Miscanthus ‘Super Stripe’ finally starting to take off
Crabapple right after the rain
Caryopteris ‘Sunshine Blue’ looking good.
Yeah tomatoes
Pruned back Nepeta (Catmint) already showing signs of re-bloom.
Hydrangea leaf
Think I like the Northern Sea Oats?
Good night and God bless.

Northern Sea Oats

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Chasmanthium Latifolium , aka Northern Sea Oats, is fast becoming one of my favorite grasses and I’ve got close to a dozen planted throughout the yard. I’ve yet to see them through all four seasons but I am pumped to do just that this year. Some of my photos to date:    

Why I dig it so much:

  • She can handle the clay and even though it is a known heavy re-seeder, my non porous clay won’t let that shit happen.
  • Unlike most grasses, she can handle a decent amount of shade which fits perfectly along the front of my house.
  • Personally, I like the brighter green color of the foliage which works well with other greens as sometimes the heavy green on green can be a tough sell.
  • The “oats” obviously give it a great Summer/Fall/Winter interest and look real cool with each passing breeze.
  • The oats can be dried and used in flower arrangements – not that I’ll be doing that any day soon.

As we get further into the late Summer and Fall, here is what I expect the oats to mature to (you can link back to the original photos by clicking on the photos themselves – no copyright infringement here):       

So all you Southeastern peeps who want to steal these off the dunes at the beach but know that it is illegal as it helps stabilize the dunes, pick some of these up and get the same benefits.

Namaste