boots, buckets and wash tubs

Hello my gardening buddies!  It poured this morning, so I don't have to water (except for all the pots that are covered by porches and roof lines)!  I am so happy.  I'm actually going to concentrate on the lavender hedge that has gotten out of control.  It should be a very relaxing day.

Meanwhile...I am going to share more of my favorite container garden ideas with you.  Beyond fun!

(I lead a very tame life if talking about flower pots gives me a thrill)

A little whimsy now and then is wonderful in every garden!!  (I draw the line, however at cut-out silhouettes of bent-over-butt-crack-gardeners).  This pair of work boots, planted with Hens and Chicks is a great example of fun and ingenuity.  Not only is it cute, it seems to thrive on neglect; it was planted three years ago and all I have done is water it now and then.  Because it is so mobile, I move it wherever I need to fill a spot.  Currently, it is hunkered down between a rose bush and lady's mantle.

Don't you love this old bucket? (I think I found it at my favorite hangout, Old Engine Works.)  This spot called for a bit of warmth and color, but it needed to be simple to work with this gorgeous table. So I plopped a basket of double impatiens in it and viola! 







You may need to click on this picture to really see what is going on here, but I'll do my best to describe it.  This is a rusty old laundry tub. Isn't it fabulous?!  I found it at an antique store (which has since gone out of business or I would give you the link) and fell in love!  It has drain holes in it already and is sturdy as anything and fills this blank wall space perfectly.  Currently I have Russian Red Cannas, purple wave petunias, blue lobilia, purple verbena, variegated licorice, Victoria Blue Salvia, a few zinnias and cosmos.  The canna were an experiment because they aren't your typical farmy flower, but I think the height, color and texture work beautifully. 
 



This isn't whimsical at all, but I wanted to throw it in today anyway.  I had originally purchased these urns to be used in a wedding, so they are a bit on the formal side but gorgeous!  (by the way, I found these at The Stone Cottage Gardens)  To down play the formality, I used really farmy plants: purple smoke bush (my mom had a BEAUTIFUL one in our yard in Ekin, Indiana and that is farm country, believe me!), my favorite flower of the year - snow princess alyssum - and a variegated filler, I am sorry to say, I have forgotten the name of.  (I know, I know, I ended a sentence in a preposition).  I have two of these urns and against the background of the dock and pond, they are show stoppers!


Well, I'm off to brave the humidity and do my thing.  Enjoy!

pots and things

I know I tend to gush about how I love this and that in the garden, but I must confess my true love:

Container Gardening

                                                                                                 Sigh... 

Instant beauty anywhere.  You don't need a garden bed, weeding is nominal and its portable.  You can use your imagination and make just about anything a pot to plant in.  Isn't is wonderful???

Over the next few blogs, I'm going to show you some of my favorite containers.  I hope you enjoy!

 Simple, adorable and easy, easy to do.  I found the vintage suitcase and picnic basket at a local antique mall, Old Engine Works, located in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.  I stacked them on an old cane chair I found at a garage sale and popped in a plastic pot of double impatiens.

This cute little terra-cotta pot was just the right amount of color 

and charm for this side table.

A cheap plastic pot looks gorgeous filled with purple millet and covered with Spanish moss.  The color of the millet was the  perfect compliment to the trim color on the barn.

My favorite window box ever!  It gives an absolutely gorgeous splash of color against barn siding and white trim.  Easy to take care of and lovely to see.

by any other name

Roses.  More poems have been written about them than any other flower.  They symbolize love, elegance and speak volumes with their beauty and fragrance.  But I gotta tell you, they are a pain in the neck to grow.

When I first began gardening, I had many roses bushes.  Although I loved them, I soon realized that they are a lot like children in that they required tons of time and attention to be raised properly.  Because I had three children already, I decided to wait on the whole rose scene.

The last two  years have changed that.  I stepped out and began planting them en masse.   Entire books have been  written about the care and feeding of roses, so I can't even begin to make a dent in the subject, but I wanted to give you a heads up on a few of the most obvious problems you may encounter with them.

Aphids:   tiny green insects that will suck the life out of your buds.  The bad news is they reproduce at an alarming rate and feed on new growth (those delightful buds you're just waiting to see bloom).  The good news is they are relatively easy to get rid of.  Try spraying the buds with water to dislodge them.  If that doesn't work, go to your local garden center and ask them for the spray they recommend.

Black spot:  fungus: small black spots on rose leaves.  The bad news is very bad - if left uncontrolled, it can destroy an entire rose bush and spread to other roses near by.  The goods news is that with diligence, it can be controlled.   Humid weather and moist leaves will exacerbate this fungus.  Unfortunately for my hair, there is nothing you can do about the humidity. But there are a few things you can do to control black spot. First, water your roses from the bottom, thereby avoiding wet leaves.  Water early in the day so that any accidental water can dry off in the sun. 

To keep it from spreading, pick off all the leaves with spots.  You also need to rake away any leaves that have fallen to the ground.

Although diligence is your key to controlling black spot, I recommend you go to your local garden center and ask for a good fungicide. 

Powdery Mildew:  grayish powdery looking fungus that attacks rose leaves.  The bad news is, like black spot, it can spread and can damage your roses and any roses nearby.  The goods news is that is controllable and not nearly as lethal as black spot.  Again, pluck the affected leaves off the bush and the ground.  Pruning to make sure there is good airflow is also a good idea. (be sure to clean your shears with a bleach solution to prevent spreading mildew to other plants).  You can also use the fungicide you bought for the black spot.

Japanese Beetles:  disgusting looking army of beetles that will destroy everything in sight.  Bad news: they are voracious and nearly impossible to control.  Good news:  umm....uhh.....well...they die in the winter.   I hate them!  I've tried traps that seem to attract more beetles than they catch.  I've tried sprays that kill the ones on the plant, but do nothing to prevent them.  I've also gone out in the morning and picked them off.  Lately I have also had the lawn treated in Spring to kill the grubs that will one day grow up to be my enemy.  Sadly, your neighbor may not treat his lawn and his beetles have no concept of boundaries.  So...once again, diligence is  your friend.  Try a combination of all the above.  Good luck to ya.

Overall, I do still love roses and they are a wonderful addition to any garden.  Just keep at it.

grateful dead

One way to make the best use of your time while you're doing all that watering we talked about last time is to multi-task: water and dead head at the same time.

For the garden novices out there, let me explain.  All creation has an innate need to procreate (with a few odd exceptions, but we won't go there).  Flowers are no different.  Here is how it works.  A little green plant sends out tiny white flowers and we are delighted, the bees are delighted and the plant itself is delighted.  When the flower is spent, it works to become a seed pod that dries up and drops it's little seeds on the ground for next year's babies.  This completed process signals to the plant that it has fulfilled it's life purpose and can now die.  Kinda sad, isn't it?  The plant will actually begin to loose its color and die if you don't do something to stop the process.  So we deadhead - cut, pinch, snip, karate chop the spent blooms off the plant to trick it into producing more blooms.  That way your garden will have flowers all season long.

But

Not all plants that are deadheaded will re-bloom: lilacs, flowers grown from bulbs, peonies, certain types of hydrangea are a few.  Sorry.  However, cut the dead flowers off anyway to promote overall plant health and appearance.

I have included some examples of before and after.  It's best to remove the entire bloom, stem and all, but if you're in a rush, the flower head itself will do (it just won't look so good).

While you're at it, remove any old, faded leaves on the plant too.

every living thing

Every living thing needs water;
Every living thing needs the rain.
Every living thing needs water;
I guess I really can't complain. ~ Sesame Street

We have had very, very little rain in these parts.  Every time we have a forecast for rain, I end up disappointed.  Even my rain barrels are dried up!  How sad is that??  Unfortunately, every living thing needs water whether or not it rains, so I have been watering like a fiend!  This week will also be bringing us temps of 100 degrees, so my containers are especially at risk.   That is the topic for today.


It isn't rocket science (is it still even called rocket science?), but everyone needs a little refresher now and then.  All  your plants and flowers need to be watered, but the ones planted in the ground have the advantage of a root system that actually goes somewhere.  When it gets a bit dry, those plants can dig a little deeper in search of  a drink.  Your container plants can't.  So you need to make sure you keep them well watered but not over watered.  How do you do that?  Well...


1.  Make sure all your containers have good drainage. I have drilled holes in the bottom of many pots, buckets and cans when there were no holes already in them.  If it is impossible to drill holes, you can put things in the bottom of your container to allow for a certain amount of drainage.  Some people use stones, I often put my left over plastic pot things the plants come in in the bottom.  Sort of recycling.


2.   Where possible, use some sort of plate to catch the overflow.  This will feed some of the water back into your plant.


One common mistake in watering your container garden is assuming that once the water flows over the side of the pot, the pot is full.  WRONG!!  You need to keep the hose on it until the water reaches the top, stop, let the water soak in and repeat.  Keep this up until the water begins to drain out of the bottom of the pot (when there is a drainage hole) or until it soaks in very slowly  (when there isn't a drainage hole). [this is a lousy picture, but if you try really hard, you can see the water seeping out the back of the pot]


Now that the flowers in my window boxes are getting very full, they require much more water.  Be very careful here though; because the plants are so full, they can actually repel the water with their foliage and cause it to run off instead of going into the soil.  So I lift the flowers and water from beneath.  


Many flowers like to have a little bath too, so use your shower setting and give your leaves a little sprinkle.


I recommend watering early in the morning before the heat of the day to avoid the sun burning off all your labor.  Evening watering can be great too, especially when it is so very hot ( just avoid roses - subject for another day).  To be honest, when it's this miserably hot, I often do both.  

Don't start getting lazy now!  Your garden is just about reaching its peak.  Keep at it!  Water, water, water!!