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Bloomin’ Update 3: Welcome Home

/ Kevin / 10 Comments

We arrived home late last night, and the first thing I did today was to take a walk around the yard.  Joe’s mom did an excellent job at keeping things alive during our brief heatwave.  I cannot believe what popped while we were away for only a few days.  I thought I would share my findings here.

This lacecap Hydrangea impresses me each year. First, because of the violet color. Second, because of the size of the flowers.

One of my favorite easy-to-grow-from-seed flowers: Cosmos. Please excuse the shriveled one -- it's been a hot couple of days.

I'm not sure of the name of this plant, and I'm not sure if it's a curse or a blessing. It's practically invasive, spreading by means of runners. The clumps of pink flowers, however, are sweetly smelling and perfume the air, especially at night.

This is my reward for saving this Geranium each year. I actually planted this from seed several years ago, and I cannot part with the hot color.

I decided to give Sunflowers another try. According to the seed packet, this is "Italian White." Does this look white to you? Is yellow the new white in Italy?

Meet Nelly Moser. I thought I lost this Clematis over the winter after a wind storm ripped the trellis out of the ground. I put the trellis back into the ground, and "Whoa, Nelly," she returned.

I planted Morning Glory seeds around the same trellis as Nelly Moser. This is a double flowering variety.

Normally, I stick with traditional red Geraniums. This year, I started white ones from seed, and I'm glad I did. Seeing them poolside reminds me of the colors of Santorini.

Campanula ready to burst open.

Please, humor me with another Hydrangea photo. This is just outside of the front door, and began as one those Easter gift plants that was forced to bloom too early.

Bloomin’ Update 2: Delightful Daylilies Dazzle Daily

/ Kevin / 6 Comments

A few years ago, I purchased Little Grapette. This one bloomed and it's clearly not a Little Grapette, but who cares?

A few years ago, I began to toy with daylilies — or rather, daylilies began to toy with me.

As a child, I remember seeing orange daylilies everywhere.  Yard after yard was filled with their stalks and their orange gift at the end.  After the bloom, it was nothing but blades of foliage.  In my mind, they were ordinary.

About 17 years ago, I happened to be watching Martha Stewart’s original television show and on it, she profiled Sydney Eddison.  My memory of that segment is of the two women — Martha

At last, Little Grapette makes an appearance.

towering above the older Ms. Eddison — walking through the guest’s daylily border.  I believe the segment was timed quite nicely with a daylily spread in Martha’s magazine.  I remember being stunned by the variety of color, heights, and bloom times.  These were not  your grandmother’s daylilies.  I was sold. Continue reading →

Do You Suffer From G-SAD?

/ Kevin / 18 Comments

I have done what every therapist and doctor advises people not to do.  I have self-diagnosed, but let me first explain.

It’s summertime, and Joe and I are going on vacation for a few days.  It’s a chance to relax, to get away from everything, to reconnect, to breathe.  In actuality, though, the days leading up to departure mean a growing sense of unease and worry.  I become consumed with obsessive thoughts, anxiety, and stress — and none of it comes from the what-to-pack, what-not-to-pack scenario, nor from the airport pat-down, nor from who will mind the dog and the cat, nor from the last-second question, “Did I remember to take my trusted Swiss army knife out of my carry-on?”  No.  For me, the physical-emotional symptoms stem from leaving my garden and entrusting its care to someone other than myself.  I am now calling these symptoms Garden Separation Anxiety Disorder, also known as G-SAD, as in, “Gee, that’s sad.”

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Yankee Doodle Gardeners

/ Kevin / 2 Comments

In a previous post, I compared my father taming the wilds of his suburban yard to that of the colonists first arriving in the New World.  It’s an interesting idea, when you stop to think of the immense responsibilities facing those early Americans.  Imagine – an entire continent to landscape, the creation of a national identity for a fledgling nation.  Someone should probably write a book about it.

Fortunately for us, Andrea Wulf has.  Her recently published Founding Gardeners has been well-received by critics, and rightly so.  It is an impressive work that takes an in-depth look at the great figures who shaped a young nation – and she does this by weaving moments in early American history with the beliefs and philosophies of our Founding Fathers, most of whom were avid gardeners, botanists, landscapers and farmers.   In fact, they were as passionate about the idea of the United States as they were about seed exchanges and experimenting with new agricultural methods.

Rich in historic detail, each chapter is devoted to a revolutionary, starting with George Washington.  Her insight and descriptive style paints a new portrait of the men we’ve only considered to be statesmen, generals, or lawyers.  As readers, we are treated to each man’s creation of their personal gardens, such as Mt. Vernon and Monticello.

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Morning Glory

/ Kevin / 4 Comments

For all of my life, I have been a morning person.  As a kid, I loved being the first person awake in the house — especially on a Saturday morning.  That was prime television watching time, and I didn’t have to share the clicker.  As an adult, my favorite morning is Sunday — it’s designed for pre-crowd food shopping, breakfast, a leisurely read of the newspaper, a crossword puzzle, and a nap — all before 11:00 a.m. 

Drops of rainwater on an Elephant Ear leaf look like beads of liquid silver in this morning's light.

Now that I’m on summer vacation, mornings are even more special.  You see, I love my garden in the morning — and there are some times when morning almost feels like a religious experience.  The light is soft.  The air is fresh.  As the sun starts to warm the air, the dew evaporates, so that the few rays of light are like beams.

But it’s the human silence that I appreciate.   For many of us, this is the closest we can come to feeling alone, as if we were the first person to set foot on this land.  There are no lawnmowers revving.  No cars and sounds of traffic.  No voices.  Just a non-stop soundtrack of songbirds — sparrows, robins, doves, cardinals — all stirring to greet the day alongside me.

Yes, the garden changes throughout the day, and volumes of poetry could be written about the garden and the play of light and shadows as the day goes on.  I just think there is more of an intimacy in the morning.  The plants seem to agree with me.  They appear rested and alive and alert, as if they are determined to put on their best show.

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Bloomin’ Update

/ Kevin / 8 Comments

Plant seeds.  Add sun and warmth.  Mix with water.  And wait.  Well, the waiting is over, and it seems like everything is exploding in the garden.  Here are some pictures of what’s blooming right now.  Enjoy!

The Niko Blue Hydrangeas are full of blooms. I actually rooted several of these from the original one that Joe's grandmother had planted about 40 years ago.

The Hardy Geraniums are out of control.I planted a ring of white Hydrangeas under a pine tree in the front yard. They're still on the small side, I think because the giant pine sucks all of the water from them.

Remember the Gloxinia that I wrote about in a previous post about bringing plants home from the office? Well, this is the result.

This is the "red something" Hydrangea that I purchased from Home Depot a few years ago. Clearly, the blooms are not red, but they do appear to glow in the dark at night. This picture probably does not do the shrub any justice -- you'll just have to take my word for it.

Purple Petunias.

I have a love affair with Hydrangeas. I rooted 5 plants from the original one, and planted them along a stone walkway leading to my backyard.Bees are going crazy with the newly opened Liatris.

Lavender is planted along the walkway to the front door. My plan was to have people brush passed it, releasing its scent. Of course, I find myself intentionally making sure I touch it so that I can smell its fragrance.

Please indulge me one more Hydrangea. The blooms on this one are various shades of purple.

Thanks for visiting, and stay tuned for more blooms.

Celebrating The Good Old Summer Time

/ Kevin / 2 Comments

Aaaahhhh.  The Summer Solstice.  For me, it’s a reminder of just how little we are.  Just think about it.  As we go about our ordinary lives, our giant orb revolves and rotates in a celestial dance, rewarding northerners with the longest day and shortest night.  (Of course, the pessimist in me says, “Great, now the days start to get shorter, the nights longer, and winter is just around the corner.”  Quite a jump, I know.) 

The Three Village Garden Club held their judged flower show at the Neighborhood House in Setauket, Long Island.

In any event, it’s no wonder that ancient Druids to modern-day beachgoers celebrate this day.  That’s why I took up my friend Rachel’s invitation to attend a judged flower show, hosted by her Three Village Garden Club on Long Island and scheduled to coincide with the Summer Solstice.

Although I do consider myself a gardener, I am of the backyard variety.  Garden club members, though, are a whole other breed of gardener.  I mean, I like to garden, usually for myself and Joe.  Garden club members take it to a competitive level, and the Three Village Garden Club is no exception.  These gardeners know latin and common names, and they carefully drive their entries, each in small glass vases, to the competition.  I get upset when my grocery bag with the milk falls over when I make a left turn — can you imagine if my hydrangea entry took a spill?

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Here’s One For Dad

/ Kevin / 6 Comments

A 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.

My mother and my father had different approaches to gardening.  My mother planted flowers and filled pots and worked at making the yard and home look pretty and appealing.  My father, on the other hand, was the gardener.  He did the digging and turning of soil.  He pruned the trees and shrubs, including the blue hydrangea in the backyard.  This is still a sore point, because it never rebounded.  It may be why I’m hesitant to cut any of my own hydrangeas.  I know there are those that bloom on old wood, and those that bloom on new wood — but for me, there will be no hydrangea pruning, thank you very much.

My father organized and planted the family’s vegetable garden.  It was filled with tomatoes, carrots, pole beans, bush beans and so much more.  What my father didn’t realize is that he planted more than vegetables in that garden.  It was the family garden, our garden, and each one of us participated in the planting and caring of our small home garden.  We weeded and harvested and told Dad of any pests that were getting too comfortable in it.  And although it was small, for us it was “the lower forty.”

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Say What?

/ Kevin / 4 Comments

Gertrude Jekyll

“The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies.” — Gertrude Jekyll

Long before I started writing about gardening, there were lots of other people who had a way with words.  Fortunately for all of us, the Internet is a fine resource where their words are not only documented and preserved, but they can also be shared.

When you do some research, it’s amazing to discover just how many quotes there are about gardening.  It kind of makes me wonder, “What does it take to be someone whose words live on?”  A friend of mine once said that gardening is like a natural surprise party.  At the time when she said it, we laughed about it.  But you know what?  Nearly two decades later, I still say it each season.  Usually I say it when a yellow zinnia blooms in a flat of red ones.  Surprise!  It’s one of those phrases that takes the edge off of any frustration in the garden, and it makes me smile.  I think that’s why my friend’s simple sentiment resonated with me.

I started this quest for gardening quotes after my chairperson told me she was retiring and asked me to organize her retirement party.  She gave me strict orders that I was not to have a retrospective slide show of her career.  But since she’s a gardener, and the theme of the party was a garden party, I created a slide show of gardening quotes and photos.  

As I searched the Internet for quotes,  I harvested them, savored them, and added them to photos of flowers and vegetables and gardens.  Each one seemed to speak of my chairperson’s passions; each one seemed to speak to what I feel and think inside — only that someone else was smart enough, poetic enough, and prolific enough to write it down.  And I am — we are — all the better for it.

And now, I’d like to share the slide show with you. 

I hope you enjoy it.

 

Special thanks to macmanx for guiding me through the embedding process.

June Is Busting Out All Over

/ Kevin / 6 Comments

This is the start of a very hectic week for me, so my writing time is limited.  I hate when that happens, since writing is one way that I like to unwind from a busy day.  In light of this, as well as the fact that I can’t figure out how to post a PowerPoint on the blog, I thought a walk around the yard and some photos would do me some good.  Besides, it gives me a chance to play around with a different kind of post.

 The truth is that this walk was an inventory of what still needs to be done.  The beds are mulchless, and a weekend of rain and cool weather seems to have washed away most of the flowers and turned the lawn into a jungle.  By the way, the cool weather was a bit of a shock, since last week was stifling hot.  But that’s how the weather is on Long Island these days.

Nevertheless, the walk was a nice breather.  And now, without further delay, are some photos of what’s blooming.

Here is Gazania (above), which I started from seed a few months ago.  I was thrilled with the colors, and I’m looking forward for more of them to bloom.

This is a lace cap hydrangea (above).  I picked it up a few years ago from Home Depot because it had red or burning in its name.  To me, that meant it would have red flowers.  In actuality, the branches have a hint of red.  As you can see, it’s covered with blooms, but I’m never quite sure that I like it — since I was really hoping for red flowers.  But when I see it covered with this:

then I have to admit that I love it.  What’s especially nice is that as the flowers age, they seem to glow in the dark at night.  It’s truly magical.

When I look at these photos, I’m stressed and relieved all at the same time.  Stressed because there are those days and weeks when life takes us away from what we truly love and enjoy.  Relieved because somehow, nature takes care of itself and it allows me time to stop and smell the roses.