It pains me to see customers spending hundreds of dollars on new plants and simultaneously refusing to spend a few more on a bag or two of compost and a box of starter fertilizer. These two items are not unnecessary “add-ons” that the retailer is just trying to add to the sale, they are critical components of a successful transplanting process - or as I like to refer to them as “plant insurance”. Unless you have phenomenal soil, you should always add compost and starter fertilizers when you are planting new plants. Here is why…
As much as I would love to talk about reblooming hydrangeas and other wonderful blooming plants, the fact is that the weather is finally cooperating for us gardeners to get a bunch of chores done and I fully intend to work myself into a state of blissful exhaustion. After the wettest March on record and a very cold and soggy April, it is time to get caught up - here is what I will be doing over the next 30 days…
I first fell in love with Peonies back in the early 70’s when I was stationed in Petersburg, Virginia with the US Army. I was driving out in the country one afternoon when I came upon row after row of these incredible plants covered with pink, red or white blooms that looked like carnations on steroids…
If there was one perennial that personified a cottage garden, I think it would have to be the Delphinium. They are the epitome of what I think of when I picture a Victorian border or even just a simple country garden. Their tall stature often anchors the back of a bed and provides the height that is so critical in keeping the eye moving through a perennial landscape design. When I moved to the northwest 30 plus years ago, I couldn’t wait to grow these beauties…
I know it is probably raining in your garden and will be for at least another week, but I have to tell you that the last two weeks (particularly the weekends) were just amazing! I would sincerely hope that you all share my feelings. It just blows me away that even at the crusty old age of 70 I am still overwhelmed by the magic of spring. Perhaps it is just my inner child coming through, but there is not one day in the spring when I walk through my garden that I don’t find something that literally leaves me awestruck. Spring is truly awesome…
As I come to the end of March, I often find myself reviewing what has happened in this first quarter of the season. I have come to learn that despite all the anomalies we go through every year - the weather extremes, the dreadful endless rainy weekends, and the planting disasters and successes - life goes on…
I know it still doesn’t feel much like spring, but something magical happened this week - it actually got up to 50 degrees, and that is significant for two reasons. First, for us it feels almost comfortable to be outside working in the garden and second, when the mercury gets to 50 degrees it triggers all sorts of awakenings in the plant world. The switch gets turned on and there is no turning back. Spring has sprung!
Speaking as a self-proclaimed “plantaholic” who likes just about all things with foliage, fronds, or needles, one plant I started to salivate over in the 1990’s was Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia sp.). For us in northern latitudes, these mythical plants were uncommon and were perceived as…