Sitting in a meeting this morning, I was completely distracted from the topic of discussion by the view from the conference room. We were on the fourth floor of a new building on my campus, surrounded by two sides of floor to ceiling glass, overlooking Maryland Heights.
As I was gazing out the window, I saw a Monarch butterfly slowly float past the window. It swooped up and down, catching a little breeze as it went. It steered around the corner of the building and flitted away until I could no longer see it.
I saw a second Monarch about 20 minutes later. I had to stop and think for a moment. Could it be the same butterfly? It took exactly the same path as the first one. Was it just flying around the building in circles? Surely not. They must be migrating south for the winter, and this building was in their path. Every 20 minutes or so, I proceeded to see a butterfly flutter past the windows. It was such a great sight.
What does this have to do with gardening? Well, if you want to attract some Monarchs to your yard, you need to plant the right "host" and nectar plants. Milkweed is the food of choice. Any variety will do. When you're at the nursery, look on plant tags for the word "Asclepias" in the plant's name.
My favorite milkweed is "Asclepias Tuberosa", native to Missouri. Flat, bright orange flower heads cover 1-2 foot stems in late summer. They're hard to find in nurseries because they're hard to grow (I assume). But you can order them online. Once you plant them, and they get established, don't think about moving them. They have a deep taproot system that is not easily transplanted.
Ah, those very smart butterflies. While we will be battling snow, ice storms, and bitter cold temperatures in single-digits, they will be basking in the Mexican sun. There is always something to learn from nature.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
The Summer Roundup
Let me just say this was one HOT summer, and it went quick! How can we be in the middle of September already? The temperatures literally went down 35 degrees, and have stayed there for the most part.
The end of summer means clean-up time in the garden. My task list includes cutting back dead foliage and pulling out dead plants, trimming up shrubs, weeding, and tearing out the veggie patch. I also like to plant a few perennials, since this is the best time of the year to plant. And don't forget popping in some annuals here and there. I haven't yet purchased mums for my front porch, but I probably will give in to temptation and do that in the next week or two.
The tomato plants had about 30 green tomatoes left on them, all about the size of a golf ball. Their ripening has almost come to a halt, so I tore out the plants and picked the tomatoes. They are sitting in my kitchen so they can try to ripen up. My volunteer tomato plant was a bear to tear out. I wrangled with that thing for 10 minutes and finally got my arms around it well enough to drag it into the woods. There was enough foliage there to create a home for a few rabbits, and let me tell you -- it was the greenest, healthiest foliage in my garden. It hurt my heart to tear it out. But I know the first frost is coming and I needed to get it done. The amount of foliage on the one volunteer tomato was equal to the amount of foliage I pulled out for the 10 purposefully planted tomatoes.
Today, I planted some pansies. My favorite nursery is selling them for $14.99 a flat. I picked out three pairs of 6-packs -- pale yellow, orange, and a ruffled lavender. Lovely. It took me about 10 minutes to decide on the colors I wanted since they had all of them to choose from. I planted half of them in my new bed by the street. I suppose I owe everyone a mug shot of the new garden, now that it's all prettied up with mulch. I will put that on my to-do list for the next post.
I'm going to plant the other half of the flat in my neighbor's yard. She was diagnosed with Cancer last year, and her chemotherapy routine doesn't allow her to dig in the soil. Every year she plants pansies, and I know she'll miss them if they're not there. It's a small thing, but I know she will love seeing those colors going until Spring next year.
The end of summer means clean-up time in the garden. My task list includes cutting back dead foliage and pulling out dead plants, trimming up shrubs, weeding, and tearing out the veggie patch. I also like to plant a few perennials, since this is the best time of the year to plant. And don't forget popping in some annuals here and there. I haven't yet purchased mums for my front porch, but I probably will give in to temptation and do that in the next week or two.
The tomato plants had about 30 green tomatoes left on them, all about the size of a golf ball. Their ripening has almost come to a halt, so I tore out the plants and picked the tomatoes. They are sitting in my kitchen so they can try to ripen up. My volunteer tomato plant was a bear to tear out. I wrangled with that thing for 10 minutes and finally got my arms around it well enough to drag it into the woods. There was enough foliage there to create a home for a few rabbits, and let me tell you -- it was the greenest, healthiest foliage in my garden. It hurt my heart to tear it out. But I know the first frost is coming and I needed to get it done. The amount of foliage on the one volunteer tomato was equal to the amount of foliage I pulled out for the 10 purposefully planted tomatoes.
Today, I planted some pansies. My favorite nursery is selling them for $14.99 a flat. I picked out three pairs of 6-packs -- pale yellow, orange, and a ruffled lavender. Lovely. It took me about 10 minutes to decide on the colors I wanted since they had all of them to choose from. I planted half of them in my new bed by the street. I suppose I owe everyone a mug shot of the new garden, now that it's all prettied up with mulch. I will put that on my to-do list for the next post.
I'm going to plant the other half of the flat in my neighbor's yard. She was diagnosed with Cancer last year, and her chemotherapy routine doesn't allow her to dig in the soil. Every year she plants pansies, and I know she'll miss them if they're not there. It's a small thing, but I know she will love seeing those colors going until Spring next year.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Obnoxious Morning Glories
Don't get me wrong. I don't hate Morning Glories, but I'm far from loving them. When they get established, it's with a vengeance.
We moved in six years ago in late Winter, and there were a few tell tale signs that Morning Glory vines had been up the front porch, and strangled a few of the shrubs on the side of the house. I didn't think much of it. I thought they were annuals. I cleared away the dead debris and looked forward to having a clean, blank canvas to work with. Wow, was I wrong.
We have lived in this house for over 6 years and they continue to come up every year! How many seeds to these things produce? Not only do they continue to come up, but they sprout at different times. For the past few weeks, I've been pulling up seedlings in the same location. You'd think they'd all sprout at once, I'd get them all, and we'd be done. But no.
Let this serve as a warning for those of you who can't resist those powdery blue blooms on the side of the seed packet. You're planting for life.
We moved in six years ago in late Winter, and there were a few tell tale signs that Morning Glory vines had been up the front porch, and strangled a few of the shrubs on the side of the house. I didn't think much of it. I thought they were annuals. I cleared away the dead debris and looked forward to having a clean, blank canvas to work with. Wow, was I wrong.
We have lived in this house for over 6 years and they continue to come up every year! How many seeds to these things produce? Not only do they continue to come up, but they sprout at different times. For the past few weeks, I've been pulling up seedlings in the same location. You'd think they'd all sprout at once, I'd get them all, and we'd be done. But no.
Let this serve as a warning for those of you who can't resist those powdery blue blooms on the side of the seed packet. You're planting for life.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Dreaming of a Garden Shed
After buying our house 6 years ago, I've been patiently waiting in the never ending line of home improvement projects to get a new garden shed. This project keeps getting pushed back for more pressing items, such as the night it was pouring rain and I could hear water dripping in our basement from the main level! Did I mention we bought a fixer?
We don't have any projects right now, so it's the perfect opportunity to make a case to my handyman extraordinare. I've downloaded photos, looked at plans, and even considered the possibility of purchasing and customizing a prefab shed.
What makes this project sort of desperate is two factors -- 1) The shed is falling down; and 2) It's a graveyard for motorcycles and other assorted items, leaving no room for me to access my gardening items. I don't know if I can resolve #2, but here's to hoping.
Let's talk about features. You should always know what you're going to use a space like this for, so you can do the best planning for it. I need to store tools and a wheelbarrow, and need a bench for potting up plants. I'll also store potting mixes and pots in there. And someday I hope to convince Eric to let me buy chickens, so I'll need an annex on the back for a roost. The shed will also have to be positioned in an area where I can attach a run for the chickens to be in during the day.
It's hard to see because of all the plantings around it, but I love the rustic charm of this design. It looks like a small cabin. I love the star hanging on the side, and the cedar shakes are great as well.
The double doors are very practical. I like the transom windows and door hinge style. I'd go without the window boxes though.
This one is a little fancy for my needs, but I like the detailed trim and the roofline. Colors are nice too. I could imagine this in pale yellow with white trim, to match our house.
This one has a nice little covered area for storing firewood... and maybe some old motorcycles. I like the color and simple design. It would be easy to embellish the side roofline with a star, like in the first photo. I might trim the windows in a different color though.
We don't have any projects right now, so it's the perfect opportunity to make a case to my handyman extraordinare. I've downloaded photos, looked at plans, and even considered the possibility of purchasing and customizing a prefab shed.
What makes this project sort of desperate is two factors -- 1) The shed is falling down; and 2) It's a graveyard for motorcycles and other assorted items, leaving no room for me to access my gardening items. I don't know if I can resolve #2, but here's to hoping.
Let's talk about features. You should always know what you're going to use a space like this for, so you can do the best planning for it. I need to store tools and a wheelbarrow, and need a bench for potting up plants. I'll also store potting mixes and pots in there. And someday I hope to convince Eric to let me buy chickens, so I'll need an annex on the back for a roost. The shed will also have to be positioned in an area where I can attach a run for the chickens to be in during the day.
What's Blooming
 |
| Apricot Ruffles Daylily (I don't know what the name of it is -- so I named it) |
 |
| Coneflowers! |
 |
| Early Girl tomatoes |
 |
| Fritillary butterfly on a coneflower |
 |
| Hydrangea Tardiva -- it's about 7' x 5'. Any takers? |
 |
| Hydrangea Limelight |
 |
| A red and yellow daylily that I rescued from the woods on my property. It wasn't blooming the year I found it, I just recognized the foliage. What a delightful surprise! |
Monday, July 18, 2011
Things You Don't See Every Day
 |
| 3 English Sparrow babies in my Boston Fern. Good thing I got this photo, since they flew the nest today! |
 |
| This tree frog kicked out the bird tenant, and has been here for months. |
 |
| My Magnolia tree has several blooms on it, and more buds are swelling up. It is clearly confused. |
 |
| A volunteer Roma tomato. This is the third or fourth year they've come up. The plants get HUGE. I finally got smart and staked it this year. |
Sunday, July 17, 2011
A Garden is Born - Part 2
Today, installation began on my new garden. Yes, it is the worst time of year to plant. Yes, we have a heat index of 100+. It's okay to question my sanity, I am as well. But I had to get the blueberry plants in before they cooked in their packaging.
![]()
I know this doesn't look like much, but it was 5 hours worth of effort. I started by reinstalling the landscaping fabric in the ditch, because I started to get nervous about the rocks' ability to sit on the steep pitch of the ditch-road slope. They've paved our road twice since we moved in six years ago, and each time they've used a substantial layer of blacktop. There's a silver lining in all things; it's actually created a natural toddler barrier for us.
It took 14 bags of rocks to fill the ditch. I don't think I have a future career in ditch digging. It will be interesting to see how well I did with the overall pitch after the first rain.
I planted the three Top Hat blueberry bushes. They've already got a good shape. In doing research, I see many people use them for bonsai. I can see that, since they're so compact. These are 2 year old plants. They mature to 2'x2'. They really pack on the berries, despite their small size.
![]()
I know this doesn't look like much, but it was 5 hours worth of effort. I started by reinstalling the landscaping fabric in the ditch, because I started to get nervous about the rocks' ability to sit on the steep pitch of the ditch-road slope. They've paved our road twice since we moved in six years ago, and each time they've used a substantial layer of blacktop. There's a silver lining in all things; it's actually created a natural toddler barrier for us.
It took 14 bags of rocks to fill the ditch. I don't think I have a future career in ditch digging. It will be interesting to see how well I did with the overall pitch after the first rain.
I planted the three Top Hat blueberry bushes. They've already got a good shape. In doing research, I see many people use them for bonsai. I can see that, since they're so compact. These are 2 year old plants. They mature to 2'x2'. They really pack on the berries, despite their small size.
I also added 3 Green Velvet boxwoods. I like a little evergreen interest in all of my gardens for the winter time. A few daylilies found a new home in this garden, as will a few more of the Sarah Bernhardt peonies (one is in).
Each plant received a generous helping of sand and sphagnum peat moss mixed into the clay. This should help breakup the clay, provide some drainage, and add the organic matter that plants thrive in.
Typically, my next step would be to lay newspaper over the grassy area and then dump a 2" layer of mulch over the top, but I have a shortage of newspaper. It's the best weed barrier I've used. It smothers the weeds, decomposes into the soil (enriching it), and then after a few months, you can plant anything you want without the hassle of scraping sod. I did purchase some weed fabric, but I'm holding off installing it in hopes of landing some newspaper.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)