I know some of you are as tired of all this nasty snow and ice as I am. OK, sure, there are some of you who live in areas with warm, beautiful winters - I'll contact you in July and August to see how comfy you are then. In the meantime, send us some of that hot air but don't send us postcards about how fabulous it is where you are. We snow-bound crabby appletons really don't want to hear that.
Check out the fatal icecycles on my roof line. Yes, my outdoor living accessories are sitting in the snow and ice; I just couldn't be bothered finding somewhere in my garage to house all of the outdoor furniture and other items over winter.
I try to knock the largest weapons down for those enterring my house. My succulents in terra cotta containers are sitting out in this nasty weather - it's really an experiment to see how they'll do. I know, I probably should've placed them in a sheltered location or buried the containers up to the lip. At least they're next to the house and get some warmth from that.
How about those monster icecycles on the corners of the roof gutters? I'm still enough of a kid to find that pretty cool. Of course if they damage my gutters I won't be so enamored.
It's snowing again right now. We haven't been hit nearly as hard in central Ohio as friends in the mid-Atlantic region, but still - come on! Enough already! I'm so desperate for spring that I bought a florist's cyclamen yesterday even though my interior is so crammed full of plants that I'll have a hard time finding any more room for it. So please, Mother Nature, hear my cry. At least give us some sunshine to dispel the winter blues.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010, 04:12 PM EST
[General]
Talk about a Cold War!
The weather in eastern Europe was pretty biting while on a recent trip over the holidays. The countries formerly behind the Iron Curtain were covered in snow and experiencing colder-then-normal temps. My daughter met me there from Australia - poor thing left 98 degree weather to be dragged all over by her father. She took it in stride. A Scottish friend, Eleanor, met us in Budapest and thought it balmy in comparison to Edinburgh.
My bag saw most of Europe without me. I learned that you CAN get by with the same clothes for days on end if you can wash the odiferous offenders out in hotel sinks, but I would always recommend an extra pair of undies and socks in your carry-on. I finally broke down and bought myself some groovy new knickers in Prague.
The gardens were not considered by locals to be at their best, but I enjoy thoughtful landscape designs that shine in winter. No showy annuals to distract you from seeing the fine bones of the garden. The blooming heather in containers was a welcome sight, too.
So were the flower markets in most of the cities we visited.
Clever containers and pots held boxwood along the city streets.
And pretty evergreens in containers were scattered around monumental scuptures in city parks.
Topiary is alive and well in eastern Europe. I can usually take it or leave it, to be honest, but the large examples around Maria Theresa square in Vienna were nice.
The pleached beeches were lifeless and dull, but the use of colored gravel and crushed stone at Belvedere Castle in Vienna was much appreciated for the color it provided on a dreary winter day. Again, formality is not my cup of tea, but this garden is successful in its attention to detail, proportion, scale and elevation.
I was mildly surprised at the wholesale use of American species not only in the cities but in the countryside too. Mahonia, Symphoricarpos, Magnolia and Colorado blue spruce were very popular throughout the areas we toured. I'd like to see the street trees in summer - particularly the Chinese scholar trees, hornbeams and cherries we saw in abundance.
So, yes, I enjoyed the trip despite asking "Who's idea was this?!" every time we schlepped through slush or slipped on icy cathedral steps. Next time: summer! Either that or we'll visit Brazil if it's cold.
Thursday, November 5, 2009, 05:16 PM EST
[General]
When the frost is on the pumpkin...
We've been lucky enough not to have a hard freeze yet, so some of my veggies are still producing. The tomato fruits are gone because it's too cold, but my lettuce, cabbage, radishes and Swiss chard are all doing fine. The first hard freeze is predicted this weekend :-(
There are some charming irises reblooming for me this fall that I received from my friend Bette. I don't know the cultivar name. They're blooming better this fall than they did in the spring! My neighbor is a horticulture professor and he asked me about them the other day. I think he'd like some, so I'll divide them next year and keep neighborly relations on a high level. Of course, he's more of a tree man and we tend to discuss woody plants much more frequently.
Another charmer is the mum I received for free somewhere. I'm always pleased most by plants that didn't cost me anything.
Another pretty plant in fall (and into winter) are the garlic chives I have scattered around the garden. When the sun hits their seedheads, they seem to glow. You guessed it - they were free from a friend's garden too!
A landscaping friend took me along to a wholesaler's clearance and I picked up some cool perennials for myself, but mainly for my mother's garden. The drought-tolerant plants I bought were perfect for some terra cotta planters that I wanted to pot up. Some very low-cost crushed stone made for an interesting "mulch".
There are sedums, thymes, a Sempervivum and I'll try to overwinter a sun-rose (Helianthemum nummularium). We'll see how that goes.
Fall has always been my favorite season, and this year hasn't disappointed in terms of the beautiful colors.
And the weather has been good enough for some memorable scenery along the way...
Time is quickly running out. The houseplants were all brought in the house weeks ago. I've raked the leaves into the beds and will have to winterize my rain barrel soon. If I had received a more liberal education, I would probably break into poetry about the ephemeral essence of the seasons. That isn't my nature. I'll just adopt my best Eeyore voice and say "It'll probably snow."
Thursday, October 15, 2009, 12:05 PM EST
[General]
Oh deer!
Yes, those pesky marauders will be foraging in your garden again this year. Whenever someone asks me what to do about a nasty deer problem in their landscape, I usually reply with the cryptic "Get an outside dog, a 12-foot fence or a gun." I know those aren't the easiest solutions for most people, but every type of deer repellent that I've tried works maybe for the first few times and then the four-legged eating machines figure it out and browse away again. We humans have caused this problem by eliminating all of the deer's natural predators from our regions. The deer multiply to excess and then can starve from overgrazing and other issues if the herds are not culled. We have to intervene because of our initial interference; management of deer is absolutely essential. In my opinion, every kitchen for the homeless should have a bubbling pot of venison stew on the stove and a wide selection of dishes featuring the main ingredient of Canada goose (with multiflora rose hips as a side dish).
How can I propose shooting Bambi's mother, you ask?! The Nth time they eat your favorite hostas to the ground and then decimate your evergreen screen of arborvitaes you may start to see things my way. OK, so you're not as mercenary as I am. What do you do about deer? There are several good articles on the Learn2Grow site that discuss what to do about preventing deer damage to your landscape - "Fencing: The Ultimate Deer Solution", "Following the Path of Deer Resistance" and "Oh Dear, It's Deer!"
To avoid putting the cart before the horse (or deer), I would suggest that we take stock of what we are planting in our landscapes and attempt to add (or replace with) plants that the deer don't like to eat. Notice that I didn't say they would never eat the plants - a hungry deer will eat just about anything rooted in the ground. But there are some plants that most deer will only eat if they can't find anything else. For those of us gardeners who live above USDA Hardiness zones 8 or 9, we most often see damage on our evergreen trees and shrubs during the fall and winter seasons when deer are actively foraging on green plants that they find. The following are some evergreen trees and shrubs that deer will not eagerly put their bibs on for and go to town...
Evergreen Trees & Shrubs:
1) boxwood (Buxus) & cultivars. I think 'Green Mountain' is touted to be avoided by deer
Next time we can talk about some deciduous trees and shrubs that deer will avoid munching on. Good luck! I bet you're rethinking that outside dog or gun now, aren't you?
Monday, September 21, 2009, 12:30 PM EST
[General]
A rose by any other name...
OK, call my humor sophomoric, but I can't help but chuckle every time I drive through Funk, Ohio. Funk is a small, unincorporated community close to where Wayne, Ashland and Holmes Counties intersect in NE Ohio. There is a general store (with many old-fashioned items you can't find everywhere these days), a scattering of homes, nearby farms and a wildlife area.
The name of the wildlife area gets the biggest chuckle:
What can I say? Yes, I'm like a 13-year-old boy when it comes to double entendres. This past visit through Funk, I decided to check out the wildlife area. It was certainly interesting... and odiferous.
The observation tower afforded a nice view of the countryside.
On the way back from my parent's place, I drove through Carrollton, Ohio to visit my Aunt Mary. I couldn't help myself from chuckling once again at the name of the local funeral home:
Granted, this a bit more of a stretch, but Sweeney Dodds? What's their tag, "the demon morticians of Lisbon Street"?
Just wanted to share a little funny business on this dreary Monday. Garden curmudgeon though I am, the absurdity of life tickles me.
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