Another Lesson in Patience

Upon my return from my last trip, my husband greeted me with these words:

"Your garden looks terrible."

:(  

I am aware.  I'm embarrassed to even admit I have a garden.  One would never guess that underneath those weeds, a garden exists!  But, that's life.  Sometimes gardening gets put on hold.

If you have to be an on-again, off-again gardener, like I have been over the last couple of months, it can become quite discouraging to see all your hard work disappearing under a sea of weeds.

So, how do you whip a garden back into shape?

Rosemary

Well, this is how I'm going to do it:

1) Mow.
I can't see where the grass paths end and the weedy beds start, so mowing and string trimming will be first on the list.  It makes a big impression, and looks like I have accomplished something.  And the neighbors will be happy.  So, mowing comes first.

Madame Berkeley surrounded by lantana and calibrachoa (million bells)

2) Weed.
It seems that every grass that's been invented has taken up residence in my flower beds. Along with numerous other weeds.  I will slowly and methodically go bed by bed pulling weeds and removing grass.  Actually, the beds that are established and have been weeded well for several years are not bad.  It's the newer beds, where the weeds are fighting to gain their territory back, that look so very horrible.  Since the weeds grow so fast, I won't take the time to cut down dead daylily stems, deadhead roses, or cut off dried yarrow blooms.  I will concentrate all my time and effort on weeding first.

Hosta in front of pink crape myrtle bloom

3) Go around again.
When the beds have all been weeded (whenever that may be!), I will then go around bed by bed again, doing the maintenance chores I didn't do when working in these beds before.  This includes all the cutting down, cutting back and dead plant removal that I didn't get to before.

Iceberg rose

4) Go around again!
This time, I'll do one last weeding, and finally finish the mulching that I started this spring.  This step always seems so easy, but it always takes longer than I expect.  Hopefully, I'll get finished before next spring, when I'll start this chore again!  ;)

Sunflowers in a container.  I've been waiting all summer for them to bloom!

Do I have any other advice?

Yes!  Don't forget to stop and look for the beauty in your garden.  A bloom here and there, even if they are surrounded by weeds, are still gifts from your garden.  Take the time to find these joys.

If you have help, enlist it.  If not, do what you can, and remember that just as gardens are not grown overnight, getting one back into shape will not happen overnight, either.  But that's part of the beauty of a garden.  It will wait patiently.

Rose of sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)

So, it seems that the gardener is not the only one that learns patience.  The garden practices it, too.

Garden Book Reviews July 2013

Today is the day for Garden Book Reviews!  And I am going to review a smorgasbord of books that most people would not consider garden books!

Let me explain!

You see, for most of my life, I liked very few vegetables.  But then, I started reading.  And suddenly, roses just weren't enough.  I wanted to grow vegetables, too.

Hale's melon (cantaloupe)

The book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver, was the biggest catalyst in changing the way I eat, buy vegetables, and look at food.  She promotes eating locally, either through growing your own vegetables, or buying from a local farmers market.  She preserves the local bounty in various ways in order to have food throughout the entire year.  For me, it was a totally new way of looking at eating, and the way in which I still aspire to eat.  It was because of this book that I started growing vegetables.

Summer Squash

Later on, I read How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure by Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr.  I was intrigued.  He endorses a oil-free, dairy-free, meat-free diet.  Basically, vegetables and whole wheat breads and pasta.  But the results he has achieved are incredible!  He proved that, not only does eating this way prevent heart disease, but it actually reverses it!  It made me see the value of eating vegetables for our health.  In fact, his research was so convincing, I started eating (and growing) even more vegetables after reading his book, and cut way down on my use of meat and oil.

Tomato blooms

After reading Dr. Esselstyn's book, I read The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long-Term Health by Drs. T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell II.  Drs. Campbell also endorse eating a oil-free, dairy-free, and meat-free diet, based upon years of study and research.  They call it a whole foods, plant based diet.  To put it simply: Eat plants.

Can't get any simpler than that!

Squash blossom

Now, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, with Dr. Howard Jacobson, has come out with a new book, Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition, which is a follow-up to The China Study.  This is the book I've been reading lately.  Personally, I don't like it as much as The China Study.  However, my sister found Whole so intriguing that while she was visiting, she would pick it up every time I left the room.  Whole is less of a how-to or why-to book than a look at the entire nutritional system, and the science behind all the studies.  I believe Dr. Campbell wrote this book because the message about all the benefits we get from eating vegetables was not loud enough to be heard over all the other conflicting diets and ways of eating.  He believes that if the public could understand why studies are conflicting, they would understand why there are so many unhealthy, yet so-called "healthy", ways to eat.  He wants you to know how good vegetables really are for you.

Bean

Perhaps it seems I have to keep reading books that remind me to eat my veggies in order for me to be excited about eating veggies!  But that excitement about eating vegetables turns into excitement about growing vegetables. 

So, even though these books are really food books, not garden books, they have each inspired me to have my own vegetable garden.  Everyone has a different reason to grow vegetables.  For me, it was the health aspect that was the catalyst.

You may not want to eat a whole foods, plant based diet.  I have to admit that I cheat way too much to say that I do.  However, these books have inspired me.  Without reading these books, I probably wouldn't have a vegetable garden.  So, hopefully, one or more of these books will be inspiration for you to grow vegetables, too.

_______________________________

Now it's your turn!  Please join us on the 20th of every month for your own Garden Book Review.  Any book with a gardening influence qualifies.  And as always, please take the time to visit the other participants.  I've found some fabulous books from other's recommendations.

Down the Rabbit Hole

This is my Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post, even though I know it's late.

Purple coneflowers
These have been so pretty in my garden this year, I purchased more.
The butterflies love them, and they bloom in very hot weather.

"I'm late, I'm late

For a very important date

No time to say Hello, Goodbye

I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"*

Things have been a bit odd around here.  For instance, I woke up one night and there were 30 cows in my yard.  And that's been the least of my worries.

Lantana
I have several lantana and they all bloom well in extreme heat.
Mine have also returned for me every year so far.

"Curiouser and curiouser."*

My parents crawled under their house and got stuck!

Yes, you read that right!

Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)
Aren't these the most beautiful, delicate looking flowers?
But what they lack in durability they make up for in abundance.

"I can't explain myself, I'm afraid sir, 

because I'm not myself you see."*

I've been on a few trips, I've had lots of company, and more company and more trips are scheduled.

Hosta bloom
My hostas have grown quite large this year.
It's so exciting to think that eventually this area will be completely green, with no soil showing underneath.

"Now, I give you fair warning, either you or your head must be off,

and that in about half no time!  Take your choice!"*

I feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland.

Iceberg rose

Christopher Marlowe rose
The roses are blooming sporadically.  They are real workhorses in my garden!

"My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place.  

And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that."*

My flower beds are very weedy.  The pile of mulch that I never got around to spreading out in the flowerbeds is now beginning to compost.  And the vegetable garden is history.  No vegetables.  Just weeds.

Cannas love our heat!
 Their foliage is beautiful, but I also love their bright flowers.

"That was a very sad story."

"Aye, but there's a moral to it."

"Oh, a very good moral, if you happen to be an oyster."*

I had no idea that June and July would be so crazy.  And even crazier still is that I don't see an end in sight.  Nothing bad, just life itself.

Chaste tree (Vitex)
It's amazing to me how many pollinators this attracts!

"How puzzling all these changes are! 

 I'm never sure what I'm going to be, from one minute to another."*

But one thing I know about gardens.  They will still be there when we come back to them.  Gardens can wait.  People are more important.

The crape myrtles are in full bloom.

Black Diamond 'Ebony Glow' crape myrtle.
Ebony Glow is new to me.
I was enticed by those beautiful black leaves paired with the innocent blush of white/pink blooms.
Now I just need to find time to plant it!

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.

"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here.  I'm mad.  You're mad."

"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," said the Cat, or you wouldn't have come here."* 

So please forgive me for extended absences.  If you are wondering, I do want to continue with the Garden Book meme on the 20th of every month, and hope you will join in.

Purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum')
Too bad this grass is an annual here.

"One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter."*

I predict it will be a few more months before I emerge from this rabbit hole.  For now, I'm just going to enjoy my garden's blooms when I see them, not worry about weeds, post and comment when I can, and wait for things to settle down, which will hopefully be sooner rather than later.

I know most people's lives get a bit crazy at times, so I expect you'll understand.

I'm waiting for the Moonflower vines (Ipomoea alba) to bloom!
Moonflowers can be controlled here, unlike morning glories (Ipomoea violacea), which can become invasive.
Moonflowers are easily grown from seed, if you nick them and soak them in water first.

"Some say to survive it you need to be as mad as a hatter.  

Which luckily I am."*

* All quotes are from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll 

Garden Book Reviews June 2013

Not often, but occasionally, my mother will purchase a garden book for me.  She picks them up here and there at garage sales, so I never know what garden subject or age the book will be.  They are all fun.

Jackson and Perkins'

Rose Companions:

Growing Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs,

Shrubs, and Vines with Roses

by Stephen Scanniello

was an especially delightful book to receive.

I do, however, wonder about the previous owners.  What makes them decide to sell their gardening books?  Do they know all the information in it?  Have they had to quit gardening for some reason?  Do they just have too many gardening books?

Really, can one ever have too many gardening books?

I especially wonder when there is an inscription inside the book.  The hand-written inscription inside my copy of this book reads:

Merry Christmas Merle  

Happy gardening days ahead!  

Love, Dad & Mom "C" 

 2009  

Did Merle have happy gardening days?  I can only hope.

Artemisia with Crepuscule rose

Do you like to grow roses with companion plantings?  I do.  I can not imagine having roses without having other gardening joys growing alongside them.

Stokesia with Lion's Fairy Tale

Just by the title of this book, I was expecting a listing of rose companion plants.  And there is a directory - in the back of the book - with not only a listing of suggested companion plants but also plant size, bloom color and time, hardiness zones, and suggested uses.

Liatris with Antoine Rivoire

But this book has more than just listings of plants.  It also has information about location, design, and all the different types of roses.  This would be quite a helpful book if you are new to gardening and want to have a rose garden with mixed plantings, or have a mixed bed and want to include some roses.

Scabiosa with Charles Darwin

To borrow from the inscription at the front of my book, I hope you, too, have happy gardening days ahead!

______________________________________________

Now it's your turn!  Please join us on the 20th of each month with your own Garden Book Review.  Any book with a gardening influence qualifies.

Peacock Orchid

Last spring I planted a new-to-me bulb, the Peacock Orchid.  I loved its blooms.  But I also loved its spiky, grass-like foliage.

This spring, I planted many, many more of these bulbs.  The foliage is a great contrast to the roses in my garden.

I would plant them just for their foliage, but a bonus is their blooms.  They are just now beginning to bloom in my garden.  Unfortunately, there is a problem.  The bulbs from last year didn't return.  I don't know why.  Peacock orchid is also known as Sword Lily, Abyssinian Gladiolus, or Gladiolus murielae, and is hardy in zones 7 though 11.

Peacock orchid

I'm hoping they will return next year.  If not, I will have to make a decision:  Either make do without their fabulous foliage and beautiful blooms.  Or treat the bulbs as an annual.  

But I don't have to decide right now.  For now, I'll just enjoy.  The blooms and the foliage.

I'm joining Pam at Digging for Foliage Follow-Up.

June Blooms

June is the month for blooms!

A clematis blooming on the entry arbor looks so welcoming.  This poor little clematis has had a hard life.  I have accidentally cut it down with the string trimmer every year for several years.  In fact, I couldn't even remember what color it was going to be until it finally bloomed for me this year.  I am trying very hard not to accidentally cut it down again!

The Casa Blanca lilies have just about finished blooming.  But there are other lilies blooming now, just as lovely.  How I wish I knew the name of this lily.  It has one of the largest and most beautiful blooms I've ever seen.

The daylilies are the star of the show at this moment in time.  They are placed throughout my garden.

Here they are again, scabiosa and asters in front, orange cannas in back.  These daylilies are Pandora's Box.  I bought them because they were inexpensive, as far as daylilies go.  They have done well for me, and their creamy yellow blooms look nice with the other blooms in my garden.

Here they are again with Lady Hillingdon rose.

One last look.  Just because.

Another daylily I love is this red and orange one.  I don't know its name.  But it looks fabulous next to the yellow yarrow.  Yellow yarrow.  Can you say that fast five times?

I also have some old-fashioned orange daylilies.  I love them, too.  Marcia sent them to me.  Thanks, Marcia!  Some may not care for the color combination of orange and pink together, but so far, I'm quite happy with this combination.  La Marne rose is on the far left, the orange daylilies are planted in the middle and Appleblossom flower carpet rose is planted on the right.  Together, they are certainly not an expected combination.  What do you think about orange and pink together?

More blooms - I can't neglect the roses!  Here's Cinco de Mayo.

Prosperity rose is putting on another flush.  (Vitex in the background.)

Lion's Fairy Tale.

Other blooms in my garden include mophead, lacecap, and oak leaf hydrangeas, gardenias, Confederate jasmine, gaura, liatris, Shasta daisies, stokesia, abelia and crape myrtles.

There are a few surprise blooms, too, such as this lovely yellow iris.  It must be shy to be blooming so late!

In contrast, these chrysanthemums are a little early (or maybe they, too, are late, as usually they bloom for me in early spring then again in the fall).  I have firewitch dianthus in front of them, and the combination looks nice.

But the biggest surprise of all are the hellebores that are still blooming!  According to my photo archives, they have been blooming since February 3rd!  I'm amazed!

I hope you have something amazing blooming in your garden, too.

I'm joining Carol at May Dreams Gardens for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Judge and Jury

I'm back!

If you recall, I posted that, along with all the company I was expecting, I had also been summoned for jury duty.  I met my obligation and went to the courthouse on the appointed date.  Much to my surprise, I was chosen to serve as a juror.

It is a serious responsibility to be a juror, knowing that someone's life (or at least a portion of their life) is in your hands.  We had to look back to the past, and try to decide if there was sufficient evidence to convict.  Before we were presented with the evidence, I just kept thinking of how terrible it would be if we were to make the wrong decision.  It would be truly criminal if we were to find the defendant guilt if he actually wasn't.  At the same time, if he were actually guilty, I was concerned about him being set free to possibly do the same thing again.  Being a juror weighed heavily on my mind, as it should have.

After all the evidence was presented, and a vote was taken, I was relieved to find that each of us had made the same decision. We found the defendant not guilty.

I have always been a bit cynical of our justice system.  Being a juror, however, has made me much more proud of our judicial system.  It's not perfect by any means, but being tried in front of others rather than having a dictatorship or committee decide one's fate is something we as Americans should be proud of.

Donna at Gardens Eye View asks us to look forward in her quarterly Seasonal Celebrations, while Beth at Plant Postings asks us to look back in her quarterly Lessons Learned.  In both of these, I have realized that I am the sole judge and juror of my garden.  I am the one that decides my garden's fate.  I am the dictator.

Sometimes, those decisions are easy.  But sometimes, they are extremely hard to render.

The beautiful blooms of the lilies are my Seasonal Celebration.  They have already started blooming in my garden.  It is a thrill each summer to see the lilies in full bloom.

Of all the lilies I have, the pure white Casa Blanca lilies are the ones that are, to me, the most stunning.  Tall and strong, they reach up to over 5 ft tall.  Their thick stems hold up to the winds and storms that move quickly through this area.  Their white, innocent blooms pop in my colorful garden.

Even the company I've had recently gasped one night when they looked out the windows over the garden, and the white lilies were glowing in the moonlight.  In those few seconds, a decision was made, and I ordered another 50 more bulbs.

So, what is the Lesson Learned?  Well, I have two Chinese indigos (indigofera decora).  They are beautiful plants, and I knew when I planted them that they had a tendency to sucker.  I thought they had plenty of room to spread out where I planted them.  Obviously, their idea of plenty of room and my idea of plenty of room are two different things.  They are suckering all over the place, and have outgrown their allotted space.  They are encroaching on the neighboring plants.  As pretty as they are, and as hard as it is to come to this decision, they need to be removed.  If they are not, the other plants will suffer and eventually die.

Past the spirea, past the rose,
the indigofera (with its small, pink blooms) is beautiful,
but not a nice neighbor.

I have a hard time removing plants.  And yet, I know that, in order to have a garden that is beautiful to me, I must remove plants from time to time.  It is a hard lesson for me, and one I seem to have to re-learn every year.  I must be strong.  I must remove these plants.  They are guilty only of doing what they naturally do, but I know that they can not be allowed to stay.  I have been agonizing over this decision for months, but I know what the final determination will be.

I'm celebrating the lilies in my garden, and I've realized that I want more.  But the decision of removing the Chinese indigo has been a hard lesson to learn.  Still, I know that they must go.

Unfortunately, I now have the unpleasant task of being the executioner, too.