Propagation by Cutting

Saturday afternoon I snipped a few cuttings from a friend's weigela and brought them home to see if I could root them. I've had varying success in propagating different kinds of plants, but I don't think I've ever tried weigela, so we'll see what happens.

First, I take a small cutting from the plant and remove all but one or two leaves.








Then, I wet the stem and dip it in some powdered rooting hormone.







I plant it in a mixture of sand and peat moss, water it, and cover it with plastic to keep the moisture in.
Then I wait. Sometimes it thrives, sometimes it dies. I always try to take several cuttings, knowing that all of them aren't going to root successfully.

I don't really know why this appeals to me; other than the obvious fact that I can get free plants. That in itself, though, is hardly worth the trouble because the new plants are so small--you could buy larger plants for just a few dollars. There is a bit of mystery, I suppose, in taking a little cutting and growing an entirely new plant from it. It doesn't seem like it should work, but often enough, it does.

Problems in the Garden

A while back, I wrote about the ugly parts of my garden; today, I want to show you some particular plants that are giving me trouble. If you have any suggestions as to what's causing the problems, please let me know. (Click on each photo to see a larger view.)

OK--I know the solution to this one: Move the plant, stupid! Every summer, this astilbe gets dry and brown because it sits in the sun half the day. A similar plant, five feet away, but in shade, does fine. Add one more thing to my list for fall.



The sun may be the culprit here, too. Several of the leaves on this camellia look sunburned. In addition to that, though, the plant's color just doesn't look good. Possible causes: lack of some nutrient, (iron? nitrogen?) poorly drained soil, gardener's incompetence???











These "Red Fox" Veronica (Veronica spicata) are growing nicely, but haven't put out the first bloom. The tag said they bloom in late summer, but I wonder how late...if you have some, when does yours bloom?









Compare the leaves of the red maple on the left with the one on the right. I wonder if this tree is suffering the effects of being dug up and moved last winter, then having to endure two months with only an inch of rain. Lesson here: be sure you know where you want the tree before you plant it.








This spring, I planted several Japanese Hollies (Ilex crenata "Soft Touch") in my front bed. One promptly died; the other looked like it was dying, but I cut it way back and it seemed to recover. Now it looks like half the plant is dead, and whatever it is seems to be spreading. Wonder if Voldemort put a killing curse on it? Where is Neville Longbottom when you need him? (Note: don't click the links if you don't want to know how Harry Potter ends.)

I took the dead one back to the nursery to exchange it, and felt kind of stupid because killing a Japanese Holly is like killing ivy--you almost have to try to kill it. I made sure to emphasize that I had five more planted in the same bed that were doing just fine, so the problem was obviously with the plant and not the person who planted it, but the clerk looked dubious. Maybe I should bring photos of the good ones if I have to return this one.


It's always something, isn't it? Of course, I'm thankful that these are the biggest problems in my life right now. Could be a heck of a lot worse. Happy Gardening!

Gardener's Gratitude

It began
with heavy,
plunking
drops...

falling from the sky like liquid stones.
A few at first,
as though a small hole had punctured
the firmament.

Then, like a waterlogged ceiling,
the sky seemed to sag
and burst,
drenching
the soil,
splashing
on the street and sidewalk.

Overhead on the attic vents, the rain hammered
a tinny percussion
a song long forgotten...

While we watched through the water-streaked glass,
and listened with awe and reverence and gratitude.

Dividing and Deadheading

Tuesday was the kind of day that comes all to infrequently in July, and even more infrequently when I have an afternoon off--cloudy and cool, with temperatures in the 70s all day. I spent the first hour or so finishing the last Harry Potter novel. After I closed the book, I needed to work off the nervous energy from vicariously fighting Voldemort and reflect on what had happened to Harry, (and that's all I'm telling you!) so I went under the house for my tools.

The first project was to divide a clump of bearded irises. This is a satisfying task because it gives me something to do in the middle of summer when there's nothing else to plant or transplant. Plus, like all gardeners, I like the idea of getting free plants and this is a way to do it without risking arrest and prosecution.

The irises in question were planted by garden gnomes (Gernumbli gardensi) a couple of years ago. Teresa didn't plant them and I don't remember planting them, so the only plausible explanation is that they are the work of gnomes. (I'm indebted to Xenophilius Lovegood for supplying the scientific name of garden gnomes, a species that has been largely ignored by the scientific establishment.)

I uprooted the entire clump, pulled apart the rhizomes, replanted them with the top of the rhizome at the soil's surface, and clipped the leaves back to about 6 inches. Next spring, the entire back of the Birdbath Bed will be sporting tall, graceful yellow irises. At least I think they're yellow. If purple or white irises bloom there next year, you'll know that the gnomes switched them.

Next it was a short hop across the yard to weed the Bottomlands. This is the moniker I gave to the bed formerly known by the unwieldy name of "the bed next to Dusty's yard." The Bottomlands consist of a hodgepodge of plants that I acquired without any definite plan of where they would go. It functions as a holding pen for plants waiting for me to find a permanent home; I expect that as the years go by, the Bottomlands will be the permanent home for many of them, if for no other reason than sheer indolence on my part.

Finally, it was time to deadhead the butterfly bushes. This is the first year I've troubled myself with deadheading, and it does seem to increase the number of blooms. Not that I've kept any sort of records, mind you. Even if it makes no difference, deadheading butterfly bushes is an easy and painless way to get a sense of accomplishment, and it provides a plausible excuse as to why you just can't attend some dreadful social event to which you've been invited. "Sorry," you say, "I'd love to, but I absolutely have to deadhead my butterfly bushes this Saturday." As long as they aren't gardeners, it sounds like work--and we're not going to tell them otherwise, are we?.

Oh, come on. Don't tell me you've never concocted some elaborate excuse just so you could stay home and dig in the dirt!

Fleeting Beauty

A Monarch butterfly on a lantana bloom. Before long, the Monarchs will begin their southward migration to Mexico. I learned recently that Monarchs born in late summer have a much longer lifespan (up to 8 months) than those born earlier, whose lifespan is only 2-6 weeks. Either way, that's a very short life. I hope they enjoy their time on earth.

A Conversation With Carol from May Dreams Gardens

If you spend much time in the gardening blogosphere, you probably know Carol of May Dreams Gardens. Carol is one of the nicest bloggers out there and she has a fantastic blog from which she hosts Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day and Garden Bloggers' Book Club. She received the 2007 Mouse & Trowel Award (also known as the Mousies) for being the "Blogger You'd Most Like as a Neighbor. " Undoubtedly however, the proudest moment of Carol's blogging career was this past Friday the 13th, when she won the prestigious Leave Me Alone I'm Digging Rainfall Contest, by (almost) correctly guessing that the black billowing cloud over my house, the one that sent animals and small children running for cover and a local boatbuilder to the library to find out how long a cubit was, dropped an astounding 2/10 inch of rain on my garden.

But who is the person behind the blog? In an effort to find out, the managing editor of Leave Me Alone I'm Digging authorized his top investigative reporter to travel all the way to Indiana to find out. Unfortunately, due to budgetary constraints resulting from renovations at LMAID World Headquarters (and a quick veto from our CEO) the trip was canceled. (All the money's in the entertainment business, you know, and hard news suffers for it...) Needless to say, the staff was quite crestfallen, as we were all looking forward to meeting the lady who wears a full-length white dress and bonnet while pushing an old-fashioned reel mower. (The disappointment was mitigated somewhat when we learned that the thumbnail on Carol's blog is actually NOT Carol, but an image from a 1910 seed catalog.)

Plan B was to conduct an interview by email, and Carol graciously agreed to answer my questions, somehow finding time in between responding to 70 comments from Bloom Day, maintaining her family history blogs, prowling the countryside in search of another hoe to add to her collection, trapping rabbits, and advising Indiana Pacers' coach Jim O'Brien on hoops strategy, not to mention actually gardening...

DW: According to your profile, you've been a blogger since 2002, and it looks like you started May Dreams in 2004. I guess that makes you one of the pioneers in garden blogging. How did you get interested in blogging?

CAROL: I am far from being a pioneer in garden blogging. Though I set up the Blogger account a long time ago, posts were a bit sporadic until about 18 months ago, and then it just “stuck”. I got interested in blogging because I like writing and wanted to try out this new way of quickly getting on the web. Once I realized there were a lot of garden blogs out there, and it was a good way to connect with other gardeners, I really got interested.

DW: Keeping a blog updated regularly takes time and mental energy, especially if you put a great deal of thought into your posts and respond to comments, as you obviously do. Why keep doing it, when you probably have tons of other things that need attention as well?

CAROL: I’ve found people all over the world who are as passionate about gardening as I am, and in real life, there aren’t so many passionate gardeners. I like the interaction with these other passionate gardeners, though I have yet to find someone with a hoe collection like mine.

DW: In your opinion, what makes a great garden blog?

CAROL: I like to read stories, sagas, what people are feeling and thinking and doing about gardening. I like pictures to go along with the text but not just pictures only (though sometimes, the pictures are the story!) A great garden blog makes me think, gives me new ideas for my own garden.

DW: You're in Zone 5 (Indiana). What are the biggest challenges and greatest benefits of gardening in your area of the country?

CAROL: We have all kinds of weather from sub zero some winters to 90’s in the summertime. I think that is a benefit because you get the downtime of winter, so spring is that much better.

DW: What areas of your garden give you the greatest joy (ie, a shade garden, a butterfly garden, a veggie garden, etc.)?

CAROL: All of them give joy at different times. Right now, the vegetable garden is a great place, but in the spring, the front where most of the bulbs are is wonderful.

DW: How did you first begin gardening and why do you continue?

CAROL: I am one of those people who was always attracted to gardening, and from the time I remember I helped my Dad in his garden, and even got a degree in Horticulture, though I don’t work in the horticulture industry. I can’t imagine not gardening. People I know can’t imagine me not gardening. I am a gardener, pure and simple. I will garden until I die and then they can bury me with my trowel in one hand and Felco pruners in the other! (Ugh, that’s kind of gruesome to think about).

DW: Anything else you'd like to add about yourself, your garden, your blogs, or the world in general?

CAROL:One thing I didn’t expect when I started blogging was the “community aspect” of garden bloggers. I started the Garden Bloggers’ Book Club as a way to keep garden bloggers connected to one another in the fall and winter when many thought they would have nothing to post about, and so were talking about letting their blogs go dormant in the winter. I also am overwhelmed by how many garden bloggers have joined in for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day on the 15^th day of each month. It is like a garden tour each month to see what everyone has blooming!

Thank you, Carol, for bringing your knowledge, enthusiasm, and warmth to the gardening blogosphere. I know I speak for all of your readers when I say that I really enjoy May Dreams Gardens and appreciate the thought that you put into not only your posts but the personal responses to the comments as well. Good luck with keeping the rabbits away, and as for the Pacers, tell Coach O'Brien that he just needs a few Tar Heels on the team!

Baby Bluebird: Day 21

I feel like a private detective, sitting in a van and snapping photos through a telephoto lens (except that I'm on the deck, crouched behind a pot of summer snapdragon) and I fully expect the neighbors to call the cops any minute.

When I came home from work, I heard the baby chirping and saw him peeking out of the hole. (Look closely at about the four o'clock position and you can see his foot grasping the opening.) Obviously (s)he is just about ready to leave the nest.

Here's the mother, apparently trying to coax the little one out with a tasty grasshopper. As of 4:45, he's still inside. I really hope I get to see his first flight!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

Lantana
White Coneflower
Purple Coneflower & Shasta Daisy
Black-eyed Susan

Don't these just feel like summer? Check out all the July blooms at May Dreams Gardens!

Bluebird Update Day 18: Mr. Mom

After day 13, baby bluebirds shouldn't be disturbed because they may be startled into leaving the nest before they are old enough to survive on the outside. (Hint: If your spouse prefers that you cut the grass more often than you think is necessary, then this bit of information can free up at least one Saturday afternoon, possibly two.) I took advantage of that extra time to watch the parents, and noticed that the male is doing most of the feeding.

This has been going on for a few days. I began to wonder if the female had perhaps been killed because all afternoon Friday, the male was back and forth, bringing insects to feed the baby. About 7:00, however, the mother showed up, looked in on the little one, and flew up into a tree. Who knows, maybe she has a career. She was around this morning, which was Saturday...













It is darn near impossible for me to get a decent picture of a bird in flight, except by accident, but here are a few that turned out pretty well.

What's Working and What Isn't

Mid July is a good time to take stock of what is working in the garden and what isn't. Primarily because it is too hot to pull weeds and too dry to plant anything. Plus, it occurred to me that the photos I post on Leave Me Alone, I'm Digging are carefully selected to show my garden in the best possible light. In other words, there's a LOT that you don't see here.

Serendipitously, I came across this post from In The Garden Online where Colleen challenged garden bloggers to post "The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly" from our gardens.

"How daunting it must be," she writes, "for someone just starting out as a gardener to see those perfect images in Fine Gardening, those immaculate instant landscapes on HGTV, and, dare I say it, even some of the photos we present on our garden blogs, showing our blooms at the peak of their beauty, the veggie garden only after it's been thoroughly weeded, the perennial garden only after all of the toys the children have strewn there have been picked up..."

So, it is in that spirit that I offer you the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from my own garden:

THE GOOD
About the only part of my garden that looks good right now is the Butterfly Garden. It is one of those totally thrown-together looks that actually works: Lantana, Butterfly Bushes, Coneflowers, Shasta Daisies, and Daylilies.





THE BAD

This section of my front bed (top) looked nice in the spring (right) when it was filled with bright yellow daffodils, pink creeping phlox, and pansies. For the past couple of summers, we've planted impatiens here to provide color throughout the hot months, but we decided that rather than spend ridiculous sums of money for annuals that would last a few months, we would spend ridiculous sums of money on new paint and carpets. I had vague intentions of planting some perennials there (maybe some balloon flowers to contrast with that lone clump of coreopsis) but somehow haven't gotten around to it yet. It actually looks worse than in the photo.


THE UGLYThis is a section of my back border that I recently expanded to make room for daylilies from my grandparents' house. I haven't been able to buy mulch for this area (see above re: paint and carpet) so the weeds and grass have marched right in and are waging guerilla warfare against the daylilies. Our new yard swing looks like it was just plopped down half way in the flowerbed and halfway out. The reason for this is that we plopped it down halfway in the flowerbed and halfway out. One day this fall I'm going to mulch and plant around the base of the swing so it doesn't look stupid. (I'm looking at my to-do list and fall is shaping up to be a mighty busy time!)


Finally, the hole in my fence, and what will be a hole the next time we have high winds.

This is the first year that I've really paid attention to when things bloom. The first couple of years here I was more focused on simply getting beds and borders laid out and plants in the ground (and not necessarily in that order). I'm finding that I need to keep an eye out for things that bloom later in the summer, toward July and August, and can go for millenia without water, since every summer we seem to fall into a drought and find ourselves praying for a small hurricane.

"Perfection, " Colleen says, "is a total waste of time, not to mention an unattainable, energy-draining goal that leads to frustration." My garden is never going to be perfect. Once I get all the sequence of blooms, bed layouts, contrasting textures and such the way I want them, I will find that something else needs work. A tree will have died, another one will have grown somewhere else, and I'll have to rethink my plantings to take into account the changed patterns of sun and shade. Or maybe I will have grown peculiar like some people I know and decided that I cannot abide anything red in my garden. The best any of us can strive for is as Henry Mitchell says in my sidebar, "gardens that we are pleased with, more or less." In the end, it's not really about perfection, it's not even about achieving a particular "look." It's about a place, right out the back door where we can find some sanity and beauty in a world that has gone terribly wrong.

A rabbi asked his young son why he always went to a secluded corner in the garden to pray. "Don't you realize that God is the same everywhere?" he asked.

"Yes," the boy replied. "But I'm not."

Rainfall Contest

Here's what the sky looked like over our house today. Just for fun, let's have a little contest. How much rain do you suppose fell from this menacing cloud? Put your best guess in a comment, and I'll announce the winner later this week. (No cheating--stay away from the National Weather Service page!)

Winner gets fifteen minutes of fame on Leave Me Alone I'm Digging...and maybe a cool prize if I can think of something. (Don't worry--it won't be anything out of my grandparents' house!)

Good Luck!

Birds

A house finch perches on the birdbathwhile a goldfinch snacks at a yarrow bloom

Trash Dump, Duct Tape, Daylilies, and Dirt

It is said that South Carolina is too small to be a republic and too large to be an insane asylum...

I've spent the past few days in the Palmetto state, moving furniture. My grandparents recently moved out of their house, and the task of dealing with decades worth of stuff has fallen largely to my parents, with some small assistance from my brother and me. My grandparents have never thrown anything away, so you can imagine the enormity of the task. Suffice it to say that we are all on a first name basis with the guy who presides over the town dump and the ladies who run the thrift store...

There were some things worth saving:
More daylilies for my growing collection! There was a whole long border of mixed daylilies, so I rummaged around in the shed and found a shovel with a cracked handle held together with duct tape (see, I told you they never throw anything out!) and started digging. When I got home, the boss was speechless as I unloaded six garbage bags full of daylilies from my car. "You know you're going to have to divide those next year, right?" she asked.

"Yep. And a good thing too, because this isn't nearly enough for what I want to do." She shook her head and went back inside. I reminded her that it could be worse; at least I'm not pulling transmissions out on the front lawn.

I've lived here in NC for so long, I've forgotten what dirt is like. Not clay--dirt. As in black South Carolina dirt. Dirt so rich and soft that you can just chuck a plant out the screen door and it'll take root. Check out the difference between the clay that I work with in Greensboro and the Lake City dirt!








So this morning, while the temperature was still in double digits, I hacked through that red clay, baked to a brick-like consistency by this awful drought, and found homes for all the daylilies. I'll wait for cooler weather to divide them.

I checked on the baby bluebird when I got home. This is Day 11, and his feathers are clearly visible. He seemed really lethargic today; I don't know if it's the heat, or if something's wrong with him. At any rate, tomorrow is the last day I can check on him because after about two weeks, baby bluebirds shouldn't be disturbed lest they leave the nest before they are mature enough. (Unlike children, once they're out, they're out.) I'll check tomorrow and post one more photo.

Ginger Lily Blooms

The red Ginger Lily blooms opened last week. This one is growing in full sun, though I've read that they do fine in shade too. Last fall I divided the rhizomes and planted them in different places around the yard. The new divisions took their time in sprouting--probably a month or more after the original plant--but they are doing well. No blooms yet on the new plants.

Baby Bluebird: Day 7

Baby bluebird: Day 6

Heard a tiny "cheep" today when I checked the box! For a great series of photos showing bluebird growth, check out the Texas Bluebird Society.