Note to self...

Dear self,

Please remember to take more photos of the garden from the other side of the fence. Try to do this more than once a year, let's say once a season or even once a month.

When your back aches and your arms are dead, you will turn green with envy when you see the amazing view your neighbor has. Actually, all you really need to do is take a photo of her yard from your side and you will love your garden more than ever. Trust me.

Love, me

Ugh Slugs...

Still sitting here today scanning millions and billions of slides.

Ok, maybe I scanned one or two hundred today but WHEW! It's hard to look at all these beauties and not want to climb the walls.

Hurry up spring!

Tonight I only have time for a short post so I thought I bring this slide to the fore. As you can see, there's been a bit of slug activity around these Hosta.
Thankfully I took this photo at a nearby garden conservatory and not here at my own piece of heaven.

Truth be told, when I show this photo at lectures half the audience sees the slug damage and the other half shout out loud "What kind of Hosta has flowers like that?"

The reason I chose this slide? The one thing that I've been able to continue to do outside this winter is add things to my compost heap. Egg shells are always saved, crushed and sprinkled on the compost in winter. During spring and early summer, I spread those egg shells right in the Hosta beds. Yes, just another way to kill slugs.

A number of years ago the local paper wrote an article about me and my "slugaphobia". I thought it was funny at the time, until I went into the butcher shop and somebody said "Hey! Aren't you the slug lady?"

At one time I should sit down and write a list of all the ways I've tried to kill slugs. For instance, when I first began to garden I'd sneak my husband's golf club out of the shed and WHACK those slugs off the walkway. I've never been on an golf course but let me tell you, when it came to hitting those slugs, I was great! Then one day I heard a resounding 'Thunk' after one of my near perfect shots. It only took me a moment to realize that it was the sound of the slug hitting my neighbors house. Ah ha, no wonder they never said hello. OOPS!

Good thing we moved soon after that and that's all I'm going to say on this topic.

Missed you too!

Don't ask me why but only four of the ten photos I tried to send to this blog came through. Until I figure this glitch out, I'll have to post in parts.
This is part two so scroll down a bit to read part one first!

The top photo simply shows marigolds. Now I haven't grown marigolds in many years but how pretty are these babies? I just remembered that they will also attract slugs. Not a bad thing if you have a spray bottle handy with one part household ammonia and 5 parts water. Just go out early morning (foggy days are the best!) and looks for those little white blobs on your marigolds. Give them a few good squirts and shout DIE SUCKERS. Hmmm, maybe just whisper or your neighbors might be avoiding you for awhile.

Opium poppies. There's nothing like having a good friend willing to share some opium poppy seeds with you. Don't think I've seen these for sale anywhere. Wish I still had some here. Maybe they'll surprise me and pop up this year?

Simple as can be but oh so beautiful. Zinnias, hard to find in cell packs because they are so darn easy to grow from seed! Cut and Come again variety was well named. Great cutting flowers for those darling country arrangements in watering cans.

And finally, to finish off today's post is this shot of the Amaranthus (Love Lies a Bleeding) I grew many years ago. As far as I'm concerned, love lies a bleeding is to die for :-) Ok, not the best pun but I sure do wonder why I haven't grown this show stopper recently.

Off to have fun,
Melanie

Missed you

You know the old adage "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade". Well that's what I've been doing here. Last Friday I tried to get out of my computer chair only to find out that my back was totally locked. Don't know exactly what I did to it (ok, maybe too many six mile hikes that week) but I knew enough to stay home for a few days and do nothing.

How's that? Do nothing!!! Impossible, so I decided to take on a chore that I've put aside for several years now. I pulled all my old slides out of storage, hooked up that fancy Konica/minolta Dimage scanner I spent big bucks on and began to scan my slides.

Talk about a tedious, time consuming project! I've only gotten through the first few hundred but almost immediately I noticed something. These stunning plants that captured my attention 10 years ago are missing in my garden today. As I continue to search out new and wondrous plants, I've set aside some amazing performers just because they were "ordinary" or gag...annuals! At the top here is a shot of Cosmos growing by the cottage at Old Westbury Gardens. It's one of the first slides I ever took.
Here's some more beauties I find myself missing.

Amaranthus are just incredible in their weirdness! This bronze beauty (don't know the name) wasn't in my garden, I grew the deep burgundy 'Love Lies a Bleeding' variety.

How about this? Yes, for three years I had Edelweiss in my garden. If I had actually done a bit of research and planted it in the right location I might still be growing it today :-(
The hot pink blooms are masses of annual Silene armeria (catchfly) that self seed
with abandon here.

Simple Cleome. How stunning but Look, don't Touch! Wow, I was shocked when I tried to pull one out and found those teeny thorns that love to bite. Also, don't mass these under a window you like to open, phew...unless you have a affinity for gym socks.

Ok, now scroll upwards and read part two of this post.

Testing

Ok, new year, new me :-) Time to try to figure out how to get these images here in the right size.

Let's hope this comes through ok. If so, I'll be posting more later today.

bye!

Melanie

Happy New Year!

(A garden year is never complete without some "to die for" tours. In 07 we were treated to a perfect spring day at Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay NY)

The beginning of a New Year is a wonderful time. It's a time to reflect upon the last year, and at the same time you can dream of all the incredible things you can do in the new year.

Resolutions? I haven't officially made any...yet. One thing I know is that I missed out on my garden big time in 2007. Was it burn out, or just to many pots on the stove at once?

All I know is that the feeling when I'm in my garden or sharing it with others is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world. My hopes for 2008 will be based around finding my way back to the soil and to this site too.(Will 08 be the year the Schizophragma hydrangeoides finally covers the ladder?)

As a beginning, I've offered my plant knowledge to our local high school, Walt Whitman HS in South Huntington New York. In a short time I'll be beginning our first ever Adult Education program on gardening. I can't wait!

For now, here's a look at a few of last years highlights.

Read some of my posts of 2007 and you'll quickly learn how much I love Sedum 'Matrona'

Hardy Geraniums like this Geranium cantabrigense Karmina are star performers in my perennial borders.

My wish? 2008 I'll finally get a photo of the Polygonatum odorum 'Striatum' (Solomon's Seal) that does it justice. There's a reason it's the first plant that sells out every year at our plant sale. Can you say AWESOME?

Oops! This photo is sideways but you can just imagine my delight when I found that my Ipomoea (Morning Glory) not only seeded itself but grew true to the variety that was there in 2006. With fingers crossed I hope to find a seedling or two again this year and promise to treat it better!

One thing I'm thankful for is the few photos that I did take, hopefully so I'd remember things that need to be done. This lovely plant (I'm guessing a Lysamachia) is in the most horrendous location and needs to come out to shine. It can even be a vigorous grower, that just means I'll have more to share.

As for me? Just like Arnold...I'll be back!

Melanie

And the band played on...

So, are you wondering where I've been? Me too!

Honestly, this summer seems to have run away from me. With one daughter leaving for college and a second one entering the local High school, I just never caught up. For the first time in my adult life my garden was totally ignored.


One of the most rewarding jobs I've been obsessed with has been my new co-presidency for the Walt Whitman Marching Band Parents Association (whew, that's a mouthful!)

Emily, my 13 year old is a brand new member of the color guard at Walt Whitman. As you can see from some of the pictures, I'm pretty damn proud of her.

This is the whole color guard at the beginning of the show. Emily's always been the pip-squeek of our family but I guess she's taller than I realized (she's the 5th girl).

(That's Emily on the right)

Instead of sowing gardens all summer, I sewed flags, hemmed uniforms, made hair accessories and more. Hopefully now that the sewing part is done life here can get back to it's normal chaos.

Just look at all those flags on the ground! I'm working on a few more for promotional events and I'm going to take photos of the sewing process. It took me a long time to figure out how to make these flags and it was only with the help of one website that I finally got the technique down pat.

Happy Fall!
Melanie

What's in Bloom today

(Daylily 'Good Vibrations')

Life has been a bit crazy this past week. Storms, power outages, kids underfoot, so I thought I'd stick in a quick photo op to show some of the summer perennials that are beginning to bloom.

In the herb garden, the clumps of Rue are covered with their simple yellow flowers. I love the blue foliage on this plant.



Daylily 'Navajo Princess' has a chevron pattern that is extremely distinctive. The great news is that this is an older cultivar and if you find it for sale it will usually run only $7 or $8.

Stachys monieri was a plant I bought many years ago at the local Franks Nursery. I rarely have seen it in any other gardens and I just adore it's cottage flower charm.


Sedum 'Matrona' is starting to show off her colors. Who needs flowers with foliage that looks like this? But wait, there's stunning blooms too that will come at the end of summer when we desperately need them.


Tiny little Daylily 'Mary Ethyl Anderson' is a delight in the front of the perennial garden.


Years ago I bought a yellow Asclepias for my garden. It was beautiful for 4 years or so and then disappeared. Last year I noticed a foliage that seemed familiar but it was a good 20 feet away from the original plant. Hooray, today there are two clumps of Asclepias blooming in the garden and I've found the foliage for more of them coming along.



Stachys monieri 'Hummelo' is a named variety of this delightful flower. It's blooms are more in the purple family than the pink one I highlighted earlier.


Holy cow, this Iris Ensata (Japanese Iris) is a late blooming wonder! I'd give you all the name if I could only find it. It's there somewhere at the base but the companion plants are so thick that I haven't found it yet.


Double daylilies are doubly delicious! 'Double Perfection' was hybridized right here on Long Island by George Rasmussen (one of my most favorite hybridizers). It's name is right on the money because it doubles every time (unlike some other double daylilies that are actually quite sporadic).

And that's it for today folks. I'll try to sneak in a few more photos this week but I can tell you in advance that it's going to be one more crazy week around here.

Bye!
Melanie

The Necessary Room

The first time we saw our house, we had been looking for a new home for two years. We had a list of "must haves" and this house had almost nothing on that list (including no master bathroom which was "non-negotiable").

(All that bordered this driveway back then was lawn, lawn and more lawn.)

What this house did have was charm and before we even walked through the front door we had fallen in love. My first recollection was the property was amazing, the fireplace inside the house was humongous, the house was smaller than what I wanted and the pool house was the perfect thing for a gardener.

(At six and two years old, my daughters first noticed the old school play ground equipment attached to the pool house.)

(It's got a toilet and a sink with cold running water. What more could you ask for?)

Our pool house has several names, sometimes I call it a cabana but that is really too uppity a name. Sometimes I call it a pool house which is most likely the correct title but often I call it a fancy outhouse. You see, it's pretty basic, the bathroom is one step above camping, the pool filter fills it with a constant rumbling and the smell of pool chemicals and the mini-fridge is just big enough to hold lots of water and drinks for when you are hot and thirsty from working in the garden all day.

Last year we had 600 people come tour the garden when we were part of the national tour for the American Hemerocallis Society (Daylilies). In the past I had ignored the outside of the pool house, it just had the attached playground equiptment and that was good enough for me.

I dressed it up with some pots and garden junque for the tours and found that I now have the most beautiful view right outside my den window (where I sit to type this blog). So even though no major tours are planned this year, I had to replant all the pots around the pool house. One thing I did though was add lots of Hosta to the pots in hopes that they give me something that returns year after year.

(These hanging baskets were $1 at the dollar store and I've had them five years now! I guess I got my money's worth out of them.)

The end :-)
Melanie

To Bee or not to Bee

(The garden as it looked last night. Lots of pollen and nectar to be had.)

Bumble bees have always been like jewels in my garden.

Luckily, I'm not allergic to any stings. In fact, two years ago I stepped on a wasps nest and was stung 12 to 15 times on my legs. Although I was in severe pain, I only experienced some shakiness for the first few hours and that was most likely due to shock.

When my daughters were little my dad would come over and show them how to pet a bumble bee. He'd look for the tall stalks of Liatris. Sure enough by late afternoon they'd be studded with drunken bees and you could gently take your finger and stroke their back.

(Bees aren't all that like Liatris. Every garden should have waves and waves of this plant.)

The only time anybody has been stung by a bumble bee here is when they were walking barefoot over the clover.

(Besides on clover, I always find bees on the bloom stalks of lambs ears (Stachys byzantine)

Our local paper has carried a number of articles this year about the sudden collapse of bee hives. This is a huge problem for the entire world and I hope they figure out what is causing this disaster. That being said, yesterday I found a nest of bumble bees!

(Can you say "Cheese" little bee?)

Our sprinkler system is all on one zone but there's a strip of pop up heads along the driveway that needs to be turned on with this little valve. The valve is in a nice neat hole in the ground with a good hard cover. Many times I keep that cover off because that hole seems to be the perfect hole for every creature in the garden. Two years I found chipmunks in there, this past winter there was a family of mice or voles in there and now, there's a ground nest of bees.

I wasn't sure if they were bees until I read about them at http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2143.html These guys fit the profile perfectly. Since the nest is an annual event, I'm going to leave it bee (ha!). There are no tours coming through the garden this year and if people come over I'll just cover the hole so nobody disturbs the bees. I tried like crazy to get their picture yesterday as they buzzed across the tops of my Spirea but they just wouldn't hold still and pose for the camera.

Off to water,
Melanie

Plant Profile - Baptisia (false Lupine)

Happy Monday all,

Although my first inclination was to write a post about garden furniture, I thought it's been a while since I actually focused on plant material.

The first Baptisia plant I bought was the standard blue variety. We were living in a different house, on a 1/4 acre piece of property and I was truly a novice gardener. That Baptisia grew quickly and made a wonderful statement in one of my perfectly square beds. But, when it came time for us to move, I dug half-way to China and still didn't get to the bottom of it's roots. I left it behind, only to find out a year later that the new owners removed that garden to extend the driveway.

Since Baptisias aren't all that expensive, I just picked up another blue one and put it in my garden here. It wasn't a named variety, at least it didn't come with a name. As before, it quickly grew to the size of a shrub. Unfortunately this time I hadn't placed it correctly and I ended up having to remove it two years ago.

Baptisia 'Purple Smoke' is a variety that's been on the market for a number of years now. It too was planted in a temporary location. Oops! If you haven't guessed yet, Baptisia's do not transplant well. I tried pretty hard to get as much of 'Purple Smoke' as possible. Since it had only been in that spot a few years it was still pretty small but two years later it still looks awful in it's new home.(Hopefully you can see the size of the whole Baptisia plant in this photo. Remember, they don't like to be moved so think carefully before you plant one of these lovely creatures.)
About 5 years ago I was lecturing in Mississippi when I saw a white Baptisia. It was love at first sight! It took a while but I finally found one and planted it in the garden here. I'm guessing that we're at it's northern most growing zone, this crazy winter gave it a run for the money but it's blooming right now (a bit smaller than last year) and I just adore it. Reading about it on line here I found out that I can collect the seeds and grow them on. It does have wonderful seed pods and I usually let seeds sow on their own but I've never noticed a seedling growing around this beauty.

Another Baptisia I have in my back yard is the wonderful yellow variety 'Screaming Yellow'. As you can see by the photo, the name is quite apropos. My one mistake here was planting it next to a Physocarpus 'Diablo'. The color combination is quite smashing but the nine-bark out grows it so quickly that it blocks all the sun. This time though I've learned my lesson. As soon as the Physocarpus finished blooming I cut it back hard and I plan on moving it as soon as I can figure out where the heck I can fit it in.

Last year I cut the Physocarpus back very hard before it leafed out. Although I lost all the bloom that year, it still gave me a wonderful dark purple backdrop. In this photo you can see the beautiful white Alliums that I have planted in that same spot. This year not one single allium bloomed although there is some sickly looking foliage there. It's a mystery to me what happened, could it be our lousy winter or was it just too much shade? I always thought those nibbling creatures stay away from alliums.

I wish I had a photo of a blue or purple Baptisia to share but the ones I have are slides and I still haven't figured out how to get them here.

By the way, if you are looking for more information on Baptisias, I found the most wonderful write up at http://www.plantdelights.com/Tony/baptisia.html Now I don't know why that's not highlighted the way a link usually is but hopefully when I post this it will come through correctly. If not, google 'plantdelights baptisia' and I'm sure you'll find it.

Off to hunt for more garden furniture. I'll take some pictures late this afternoon so you can see what I'm looking for.

Melanie