Gardening Philosophy

Part of my personal gardening philosophy is that I have a moral imperative to share "my" garden with the other animals that live there. I do have exceptions for potentially dangerous animals. No yellow jackets allowed, for example (The Husband is allergic and yellow jackets are too aggressive). But otherwise I live and let live. 

My philosophy is sometimes strained. The year we had a sawfly outbreak and their larvae munched on my Aqueligia leaves (columbine) so bad that they actually killed a couple of plants (the Denver Gold was the only the only thing that didn't come back) was rough. But, unlike most of my fellow tool using primates, I restrained from dumping poison into the environment for the sake of aesthetics and most of my Aquelegia came back just fine.

Yes, I am a bit rabid about environmental protection.

This year I have a new challenge.

"Tamias minimus" by Phil Armitage - http://www.philarmitage.net/glacier/glacier08.html. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Chipmunks. We seems to have a large number of them in our area this year. The Husband (and The Cats) have spotted them in our yard. I've seen several of them in our neighborhood and I've seen the signs in my garden.

It's hard to see but there is a chipmunk hole under the crocus foliage.

Sadly for me chipmunks eat bulbs. So much for my tulips. I guess I'll plant them in pots this winter.

Good for me chipmunks also eat seeds. They can have ALL of the maple seeds they can eat!

It may be a challenge for my garden but my belief system says I need to let them stay. Besides it would be really difficult to get rid of them. I'm a biologist and I understand how niches work. Got a niche? Something will fill it.  I get rid of the girl in my garden and someone else will move it.Better a chipmunk than a ground hog or a skunk!

Besides. It entertains the cats.

Bothering the Neighbors

I have several plants that will re-seed in the garden - Liatris, Penstemon, Agastache - mostly I don't mind because I can ID the seedlings and pull them out if I don't want them. But I do sometimes worry they're spreading into my neighbor's yard.

Notice the Penstemon is right at the edge of their yard (and yes, I have seen it show up in their yard, too. I guess I need to be better about dead heading).

But what I didn't expect to spread was one of my species tulips! This is a seedling of Little Beauty, a great species tulip that comes back every year [from Brent and Becky]. This looks so good that I may have to order some more and plant them IN my lawn. The foliage would be disguised in the grass and I'd have a spring blooming lawn!

If my neighbor's complain I'll point to their even more problematic bamboo that keep sneaking under the fence! Guess which one will be harder to manage. 

Turning Over the Veggie Garden.

We've had our first frost here at The Edge and it did a number on the tomato plants.

They started to die back.

The tomatoes that were left on the vine were also damaged.

I picked the few that were ripe and ate them (they were not as good as earlier season tomatoes). I know some people will pick the green tomatoes and try to get them to ripen after the plants die back but I have enough fresh, peak season tomatoes frozen that I don't feel the need to do that.

Since the last tomatoes were not great and the plants were damaged I just went ahead and hauled them out, cleaning up the bed for fall.

I'm not big on fall crops but I didn't want to leave the bed bare so I put in some colorful Swiss Chard to liven things up a bit until the snow flies. 

I also put in some bulbs: hyacinths, daffodils and crocus. I'm treating them as annuals that will perk things up early in the spring but will be done by the time it's tomato planting season again. The veggie bed is right near our main entrance to the house so they'll give me a LOT of enjoyment and I'll have enough that I can pick some to take to work without feeling like I'm reducing the pleasure in the garden (if that makes sense).

Now I have to teach my neighbor how to plant bulbs. Last year she bought a few and planted one in each hole, spaced out evenly like it says on the package directions. The image above is how I do it. Guess which looks better in the spring.

This year I got all my bulbs from Messelaar Bulb Company, they're about 10 or 15 minutes up the road and when you walk in you're blown away by both the selection and quality of the bulbs. Or, at least, I am. It's hard to walk out without quite the armload. I've done a tulip bulb run, a daffodil bulb run and I still have to go back for the late arriving Amaryllis bulbs (for forcing, indoors). They should be in soon.... I better dig out my Amaryllis pots!

Dedicated Gardener

A Dedicated Gardener (TM) stands at the edge of her newest bed and looks at the areas of freshly turned dirt.  Areas where she hurriedly planted bulbs this morning. 

There aren't enough of them, she thinks. 

She shivers in the cold wind.

Is there time to run up to the nearest bulb store and buy about 100 more daffodil bulbs and get them in before the N'orester arrives?

A drop of cold rain hits her nose.

She signs.  Guess not.

She hopes the weather next weekend is better.

Better Hurry!

The local weather is saying we might get the end of the world snow tonight.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO[breathe,breathe]OOOOOOOOOOO!

I'd better hurry up with my fall end-of-season chores.

Like picking up these grape tomatoes so I don't have thousands of seedlings in the spring.

I cut back the sage by half and have the cuttings drying on a rack in the basement next to the rack of oregano.

[I say rack but I mean those nursery flats with a lot of holes in the bottom to allow for good air circulation.  Once you clean them they are great for drying herbs]

And there are the bulbs.  I picked up these forty tulips at Messelar Bulb Co last Saturday and put them in the ground on Sunday.  Messelar is just up the road from us so it's a quick drive up to their house and into what was probably originally a garage to look through racks and racks of bins.  Support your local business.  

[Of course they ship the bulbs in so maybe I'm supporting the Dutch Bulb Mafia.  I assume there is a Dutch Bulb Mafia but they intimidate all of the news sources so no one reports on them.  I means, really, if you were to admit you knew about them you would never, ever be able to buy bulbs again and they might come by in the middle of winter and dig up your precious plants before spring.  {Or is that squirrels?  Or do the squirrels work for the Dutch Bulb Mafia?  Inquiring minds want to know!}  Anyway I'm not taking a chance!  My official position is that there is NO Dutch Bulb Mafia.  {Please don't dig up my tulips.}]

The rest of my bulbs sit in a box in my office.  Brent and Becky shipped about a week too late so instead of being able to plant during the nice weather last weekend I'll be out in the forty degree weather on Sunday trying to get the bulbs in the ground before the ground freezes for the winter.

Brrrr.

Strangely enough I'm already ready for spring...

Spring Thaw 2011

We finally got down to less than a foot of snow on the ground this past week and with a warm weekend (it's nearly 60 today!)  and a seasonal week with highs above freezing I'm expecting the remaining snow pack to disappear soon.  Yipee!

You can see ground where I've been walking

With the snow in retreat I have a few important questions.
Will I have outside blooms for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day?

Daffodils under the Mexican Feather Grass

Crocus in the Hell Strip

Iris reticulata (I think) near the house

How much damage did my shrubs get from the heavy snowfall?

Pieris japonica got weighed down by the heavy snow

I don't usually prune my Buddleia back quite so harshly but I'm pretty sure this will come back strong

When will I start to see green?

Perovskia (Russian sage) showing swelling buds

Heuchera kept its leaves under the snow all winter

Stay tuned!

Misc. Saturday

Today we have over 6 inches of snow on the ground with more to come.  Winter is well and truly here.  I wish I were elsewhere.

I came up with several short topics to blog about today, none of which is really enough for a whole post (unless I really run on and on) and so I'm lumping them all into one post.  Starting the year off chaotically.  Typical.

***********

Over the holidays The Husband had over a week off from work so we decided to tackle the basement.  Having always lived in warmer climates I've never had a basement before.  Our was dark, dingy and dusty.  Probably normal for a 60 year old house.  After a week of sweeping, dusting and organizing it's better, not great but better.  What does this have to do with gardening?  Here is my wall storage area where I'm able to hang all my plant support hoops and my hoses.  A nice, tangle free solution.

And here are my shelves.  Notice all the empty pots, there are more on the floor.  Most of the tools are wintering in the garage but I might bring them into the basement for cleaning and sharpening sometime this month ( I don't really need my shovel when there's so much snow on the ground.  Even I don't try and plant in this weather).

And my wonderful indoor potting bench.  Notice that the wall behind the bench is a sunny yellow.  My Brilliant Husband decided that painting the concrete walls would improve the atmosphere in the basement.  What a great idea!  

Now that I have a (relatively) clean and more cheerful basement I'll have to do some of those winter gardening chores like organizing my seeds and planning a planting schedule, taking care of the tools, putting a new coat of poly on our outdoor furniture.  You know, the less fun side of gardening.

***********

My first Amaryllis is pretty much done blooming.  Now I have to decide what to do with the spent bulbs.  Do I keep them alive and try and get them to bloom again next winter or just compost them and buy new?  I think I'll keep the Amaryllis bulbs but compost the rest.  The Narcissus tazetta was a bit overpowering with fragrance and tulips just don't rebloom well (in fact I'm still waiting for my forced tulips).  I still haven't decided about the hyacinths.

***********

We went to the big home improvement warehouse to buy shelving, paint and rubber floor tiles for the basement.  I needed a pot, one pot, for a houseplant.  What I found were the post bloom orchids on sale.  I bought this Phalenopsis, with the tattered remnants of two pale blooms for $3.

I also bought three Dendrobium, no idea what color blooms, for $1 each.  I think it's worth trying to get them to rebloom.  I was careful to pick plants that looked healthy, with green leaves, good turgor pressure (the leaves were firm) and no visible pests.  We'll see how they do.  I only spent $6 on four orchids!  Well, and I've ordered orchid pots and a special potting mix for the Dendrobium and...  Even so it's a deal.  Really.

The Big Box stores typically do not take good care of their plants but it's worth checking them out.  If you know what you're doing and shop shortly after the plants come in you can get a great deal.  Or if you have a green thumb and are willing to put the time and effort into bringing back plants past their peak.  If you are a new gardener stay away from them.  I've found perennials that are not hardy for my zone, mislabeled plants, invasive plants and even plants that are banned in the state (with good reasons) for sale.  Beginners are better off at Local Garden Centers with knowledgeable staff.  Between the poor choices at Big Box retailers and the bad designs and advice on HGTV it's no wonder many beginning gardeners give up.  Oops.  Hadn't planned on getting on the soap box.  I'll get off now.

***********

The Husband and I spent both Christmas Day and New Years Day volunteering at the Aquarium.  (I got to pet one of the Anacondas.)  Afterwards we came home and watched the Mythbusters marathon.  They demonstrated the "trick" to tearing a phone book in half.  We only had two phone books in the house so we took the smaller one.  The Husband tried and failed.  I succeeded.  This has nothing to do with gardening but I TORE A PHONE BOOK IN HALF WITH MY BARE HANDS.  Seriously.  How cool.  

***********

Happy 2010.  Here's hoping for a good gardening year!