gardening

Victor Victorian: Garden Style Fit For A Queen

/ Kevin / 30 Comments

At this time of year, as the garden tumbles into autumn colors in preparation for its winter sleep, it’s difficult to not search out garden photos — whether of my own garden, the gardens of other bloggers, or especially gardens of the past.

It’s in those old photos, the kind that give a peek into a moment in time, that the questions start to swirl.  What plants did they select and why?  Where was the best spot to view the garden?  What were the scents and aromas?  The sounds?  Who tended the beds?  What tools did they use?

The Victorian Garden

Enter The Victorian Garden (Shire Publications), a fact-filled and image-rich book by Caroline Ikin.  Beautifully crafted, the book not only offers a clear explanation of Victorian garden style and history, it also celebrates the Victorian gardeners and their innovations — accomplished through Ikin’s skill at bringing readers along as she steps through the garden gate.

Recently, I had the chance to ask Caroline Ikin about her book, the Victorians, and life in her own garden.

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Summertime Sadness & Wonder

/ Kevin / 20 Comments

The hydrangea blooms are fading away.

Hydrangea blooms fading away.

I stepped outside this morning and I could see my breath.  Clearly, summer left the building — or at the very least, it left the garden.  Almost immediately, I began singing Lana Del Rey’s smash, “Summertime Sadness” — or, rather, just the chorus: “I’ve got that summertime, summertime sadness, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh.”

I’ve actually been a little melancholy over the past few days.  Maybe it was the 9/11 anniversary.  Maybe it’s the start of another school year.  And maybe it does have to do with the change in weather.  While the cooler weather signals the time to clean and store terra cotta pots, elephant ears, and canna — as well as myself — for the winter months, there is something else on my mind.

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Repost: A Labor Of Love — Lost

/ Kevin / 17 Comments

Black-Eyed Susan

In honor of the holiday weekend, here is a post that first appeared one year ago.  The photos still haunt me.  I recently returned to the nursery-that-was, and not much has changed.  Yes, the weeds have been mown and the random pots removed, but the structures remain (albeit a little more dilapidated).  There are also a couple of flatbed trailers parked on the lot, but the abandoned nursery remains, a testament to the loss of small, local, neighborhood nurseries and small businesses that can’t keep up with the onslaught of retail and box store chains, rising rents, and a lifeless economy.  

On this Labor Day, please visit a local nursery — and if you would like to open your own, I know a place that’s available.

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Bloomin’ Update 45: Garden In The Rain

/ Kevin / 14 Comments

Cosmos

Cosmos.

I love a rainy day, no matter the season.  It’s the perfect excuse to curl up on the couch, nap a little or a lot and watch a parade of old movies.  It’s also a chance to take a break from gardening chores — but not completely.

A rainy day, as it is as I’m writing this post, is the perfect time to get in the garden — to not only weed (easier to pull out) but to experience the garden in a different light.  The whole world seems more organic — just water and earth and plants.  I guess I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows.

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Bloomin’ Update 44: The Good Ol’ Summertime

/ Kevin / 22 Comments

Candy Tuft.

Candy Tuft.

The recent heat wave may have been a bit extreme, but at this moment I’m sitting inside with a blanket pulled up to my chin.  It’s not that I’m feeling under the weather.  Instead, I’m feeling the weather.  I think when the heat wave broke, it also broke summer.  Clouds, rain, and cool temperatures have been the order of the day.  The last few days, actually.

What’s a cold gardener to do?

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Bloomin’ Update 43: Zinnias With Zing!

/ Kevin / 23 Comments

Zinnia

The Great Heat of 2013 has come and gone, and there is joy and gladness throughout the land — and when I say land, I mean my garden.  In fact, I think I can actually hear a collective sigh of relief coming from the plants (and maybe some of you) as more reasonable, seasonable summer temps return.

And when I look around the garden, it’s clear that some plants are still sporting nasty sunburns. Some of the hydrangea heads, for example, are tipped with brown.

Hydrangea

But it’s the zinnias that garner all of my praise.  I planted various kinds of zinnias this year — more than usual — because I knew that I would be unable to start my usual annuals from seed in the potting shed.  I needed an easy seed — one that could be directly sown — and zinnias were the obvious choice.

And I’m so glad I did.  As the temperatures rose, they stood tall and proud, empty of fear and full of color.  I like to think they were the cheerleaders of the garden, encouraging the other plants to hold on.  I’ll let their photos do the talking.

Zinnia

Zinnia

Zinnia

Zinnia

Zinnia

Zinnia

Zinnia

Zinnia

Zinnia

Zinnia

Zinnia

Which plants in your garden would you cheer for?

Repost: Here’s One For Dad

/ Kevin / 8 Comments

It’s crunch time at work, and so there hasn’t been much time to write a post that makes any kind of sense.  There was time, however, to visit the archives of this blog and blow the dust off of a Father’s Day post from years ago.  As you fire up the grill and celebrate and honor Dad, I hope you enjoy my gardening with Dad memories.

Happy Fathers DayA few posts ago, I wrote about mowing the lawn and now that it’s Father’s Day, I’d like to revisit it.

My father is the one who taught me how to mow the lawn.  It was an orange, gas-powered model, and my father taught me how to pull the cord, adjust the throttle, pour the gas, and the all-important mowing pattern.  The idea was to mow the perimeter, and then to continue in smaller and smaller circles until  I reached the middle of the yard.  In reality, it was a rite of passage; a passing of the torch.

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Bloomin’ Update 40: La Dolce Muscari

/ Kevin / 18 Comments

Muscari

When my friend Maria presented me with a small bag of Muscari bulbs as a gift years ago, I had no idea that that would be the start of a beautiful relationship.  My first thought was, “How cute.  Grape hyacinths — even the name sounds petite and demure.”  Nothing, though, could be farther from the truth.

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Repost: Water for Elephant Ears

/ Kevin / 17 Comments

A year ago, April temperatures were warm.  This year, it’s been cool — especially the overnight temps, which have approached the freezing mark.  As a result, my patience to get my hands dirty and to get my tropicals into the ground has grown thin.  My solution?  An experiment.  

Since I did not start any seeds in the potting shed this winter, it’s quite empty.  My plan is to plant the Elephant Ears and Canna in pots, place the pots in the potting shed, and then let the heat get their juices flowing.  And that’s the purpose for this repost — I’ll be doing exactly as I spelled out a year ago.  Happy gardening.

Elephant Ears Dried

Attractive, aren’t they?

The last time I saw my Elephant Ears, they were clipped back, packed into peat moss, and stored in a cement bunker.  With the very warm April temperatures, I couldn’t resist opening up their winter palace.  But unlike Geraldo Rivera and Al Capone’s vault, I found my treasure.

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To Blow Or To Suck, That Is The Question

/ Kevin / 40 Comments

Of course, I’m referring to leaves — what on earth were you thinking — because my yard is, once again, overrun with leaves — which is strange, since I have very vivid memories of autumn weekends with a rake.  I’m positive I raked this yard a few months ago.  In fact, I’ve written extensively about my love of raking, and the peace and nostalgia that this chore delivers.

Blower/Vac

But as I look out at a yard buried under as many leaves as I raked in the fall, I have decided that I am not a fan of spring raking.  It’s bothersome and it gets in the way of what I really want to do, which is prepare the beds for actual gardening — not this maintenance stuff.  I’ve waited through all of winter for this first warmish weekend to work outside — and raking is not on my list of things to do.

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