Instrument of Grace

Germination! Finally

Ladies and gentlemen, we have germination. There are at least 4 bean sprouts in every "hill" - bowl, really - and there are at least 2 delicata squash sprouts.  And to top it all off, the zucchini has a few flowers.

There, before you, in addition to various weeds and bits of debris, are five - count 'em, FIVE - bean seedlings. Of the 25 seeds I planted, I have at least 22 seedlings.  While I have no idea what happened to the first 25 seeds I planted, this last planting has resulted in plants.

Thank you to those of you who suggested pre-germination. I did soak 20 bean seeds and 3 squash seeds for a couple of days on wet paper towels. Many of the beans had sprouted when I planted them. I miscounted and forgot I needed 25 beans, so I went ahead and planted 5 unsprouted seeds when I planted the sprouted ones.  All 5 of the unsprouted ones are up, and 2 of the 3 unsprouted squash seeds are up. I don't know if it was the pre-sprouting or the warmer weather or more rain or what. I don't care, either. All that matters is that I have baby bean and squash plants.

Happy day!

Somebody Stop Me, PLEASE!

If I were forced to stop and examine my behavior over the last couple of weeks, I'd have no choice but to conclude I exhibit hopelessly obsessive behavior when it comes to acquiring plants.  You're supposed to acquire plants in spring, right?  And I did. Starting in mid-April. There was a large peak at the Frederick County Master Gardener plant sale which was followed about 20 minutes later by another peak at Surreybrooke Nursery. Oh, and the trip to Behnke's. Can't forget that. And Mr. H's neighborhood plant sale. All told, in those frenzies of acquisition, I purchased a couple of blueberry bushes, a couple of spice bushes, a laceleaf Japanese maple, a Bloodgood Japanese maple, four ferns, six Heuchera, a couple of hosta, six Dragon-wing begonias, Victoria blue salvia, a six-pack of zinnias, six Lemon Gem marigolds, three tomato plants, two eggplant plants, a cucumber, two squash, some arugula, some Rainbow chard, basil, four different types of thyme, a new Solidago, numerous coleus, impatiens and a couple of begonias. Mr. H gave me a camellia. And there was more I can't remember right now.

After all that frenzied buying, of course, there had to be frenzied planting. There were a couple of weekend days when it was all I could do at the end of the day to take a shower and crawl into bed. But we finally got done, except for the Solidago. Done.  There's such a nice ring to that word.  Say it out loud with me. Done. DONE.  I like done. Time to sit on the Screened Porch of Happiness, drink a cool beverage and enjoy the handiwork.

So one would think. And then one day a week or so ago, I happened to "accidentally" click on Brent and Becky's website. HALF PRICE.  It was like someone had drugged me. I was helpless. HALF PRICE.  So I ordered 5 Trilliums (nursery grown and absolutely NOT wild collected), a begonia, 10 Crocosmia bulbs to replace the ones that didn't make it, two dahlias (What WAS I thinking, I'm a bad Dahlia mommy; I let them freeze.) and another lily. All of these but the Trilliums would go in my perennial border where there is not. one. more. inch. of room. But it was an order. In cyberspace. Ordered plants don't take up any physical space until after they arrive, so I still had lots of room.

I took a trip to the hardware store for mulch. It's a plot, I tell you. There were Epimediums calling my name, at only $5.07 apiece. Surely our azalea bed needed one. I bought three.

And then I made another accidental web site visit, to Bluestone Perennials. There ought to be a sign on that website saying "Abandon all hope of coming away empty handed, all ye who enter here." Again, the words HALF PRICE made my eyes all starry and caused me to abandon all reason. So, six hellebores, 6 anemones (hey, these are little guys in 3 packs), 3 aruncus, 3 brunnera (Jack Frost at a great price!), 3 iris, 3 hakonechloa, a heucherella, and more of the 3 packs of Salvia 'Wild Thing,' and Elfin Pink penstemon, I was able to escape and check out. But no harm, right?  They didn't take up a bit of space.

And then the box from Brent and Becky arrived. It was just a wee box, and I was able to get everything in the ground the day it arrived, except for the begonia. And yesterday, the box from Bluestone arrived. It was a BIG box. There were a lot of plants in there, plants that will take up room. Where will I find room? They are all sitting out on the deck waiting to make me hurt all over again this weekend.

And that would be the end of my sad tale if I'd stopped this morning. But I didn't. Today, I hit Behnke's Nursery, or rather it hit me. I filled up the back of the Highlander with a cryptomeria to replace an American Holly that didn't make it, a Wichita Blue Juniper to replace one that died, one Sarcococca ruscifolia, two Sarcococca humilis, three aucuba (they were so little and cute, I HAD to bring them home), three Hoogendorn hollies, a viburnum and a Pinky Winky hydrangea.

And that brings me to the title of this post. Somebody, stop me, PLEASE. I need an intervention.

Kitchen Garden Update, May 25 2009

The Kitchen Garden has had its ups and downs. Let's dispense with the bad news first. I think I've mentioned my Delicata squash didn't germinate. Neither did the bush beans, darn it.  My gem marigolds didn't germinate, either, which makes me wonder what's up with the soil. Something is hitting the eggplant pretty hard, the basil looks like heck. And the arugula bolted. Surprise!

Now the good news. There HAS been germination. I'd really be worrying if I didn't have lettuce and mesclun coming out my ears. The parsley and carrots germinated, too, and I have a few volunteer dill coming up. The cucumber seed I planted germinated as well.  The tomatoes are growing like, well, weeds. Some of the onions made it and some didn't, but I guess you win some and you lose some. I've been thinning lettuce like crazy, and we've been enjoying it on sandwiches. Today, I picked the first tiny crop of Bright Lights chard. As soon as I rip out the arugula, I'll be planting more chard. Any time I can harvest something out of our little garden and enjoy it, I consider that really good news.

I tried sprouting the bush beans and squash on wet paper towels. Most of the beans germinated in 48 hours, but I didn't see any action from the squash seeds.  I went ahead and planted them all again, anyway, and we'll see what happens. I also put out some more onion sets where some failed to thrive.  I planted a little more lettuce and some more parsley and the last of my marigold seeds and then watered everything well.  We're into warmer weather, so I have my fingers crossed things will start to grow. 

Here's how things are looking now:

It's looking a bit skimpy, but give it a couple more weeks. Or so I keep telling myself.

Welcome Garden Visitor

The Kitchen Garden is a work in progress, and hopefully I'll keep my enthusiasm level up all summer and continue to add new things. We've been enjoying lettuce and arugula on our sandwiches, and I'm looking forward to more bounty as the summer progresses.

Because my beans and delicata squash didn't come up, I tried sprouting some on wet paper towels and then planting them. I've planted the bean seeds, which did sprout. The squash didn't, but I'm hopeful. We'll see how that goes. As I was watering after planting, I saw some movement behind the tomatoes. We do have a resident chipmunk who has never damaged any of our plants. But this wasn't a chipmunk.

Do you see him there, just behind the tomato cage?  He's very welcome here, and I hope he stays a while.

It WAS The Day

Yesterday I posted about our anxiously awaited first peony flower. We didn't get one, we got three.  There were two of the pink ones and one of the redder ones. I didn't think the red ones were ready yet, but one surprised us. I'll bet the plants will be covered in flowers tomorrow.

Here's the pink one.  I think it might be Raspberry Sundae. Can any of you confirm that or tell me what it is if it's something else?

Don't you think it's beautiful?  Then again, I can't say I've ever seen a peony flower that wasn't beautiful. I was hoping these would have a nice scent, but I didn't notice a scent when I took the photo. No matter, this one is a winner on looks alone. And I think I've been bitten by the peony bug. One look at these flowers and I want more. I don't really have a place to put them, but I have some grass I could get rid of . . . . . .

My Very First Pony

The excitement has been building for weeks now, and today it's almost unbearable. Two years ago, I planted four ponies in my garden. The first year, three came up. Last year, all came up and we had a few tiny buds that never opened. This year, the plants were much more vigorous, and I knew when the buds started swelling that we'd get flowers. We've been watching the buds swell day by day, getting more excited the larger the buds got.

Yesterday, the largest bud looked like this.

I think today's the day!

I Love Her

When she wasn't in my life, I dreamed about her. I imagined how she'd look, how she'd be dressed. I longed for her, and I planned for her. When she arrived, she wasn't quite what I expected, and yet she was even more. Because the weather was so cold when she got here, I mostly admired her from afar. When the weather got warmer, we put her to work, although inelegantly. I haven't had the time to dress her or even think about changing her current outfit, even though it needs to be changed. All I've had time to do is give her a few plant accessories. I haven't even given her a name.

But I love her. I love how she seems to fit perfectly in her surroundings. I love how she makes all my tools so easy to reach. I love her smell, and I especially love the happy feeling I get as I step up to her door. She's not perfect (yet), but I love her.

Oh, yes. I love her.

Old Master Gardening

It's not what you think, I'm pretty sure of that. It has nothing to do with aged master gardeners. It has nothing to do with Da Vinci or Michelangelo, although I do believe it has a touch of the genius in it. It was the first gardening to which I was exposed, and it probably had a greater influence on my gardening today than I could ever imagine.

Just what, exactly, is Old Master gardening? OK, I have to be honest with you. It's not one thing, it's a combination of two things. I'll tell you about those two things now.

I grew up in Northwest Florida where the soil tends to be very sandy. The first garden (think food in this case) I experienced was that of my paternal grandparents, Big Mama and Big Daddy. Because the soil was so sandy, and maybe because they were older, they gardened in galvanized tin washtubs set up on boards. By gardening in tubs, they could have the soil they needed and save their backs a bit when they were harvesting. They grew garlic, hot peppers, banana peppers, bell peppers (pepper without pepper, I called it) and lots of basil. They probably grew more things, but these are the ones I remember. I don't think their garden was especially pretty to look at, that double row of galvanized washtubs elevated on boards, but you do have to admit there was a touch of genius in it. That's the genius part; here's the rest.

I spent a lot of time with these grandparents, and as a small child, there was no place I'd rather be than with them. Sometimes I liked to help, and sometimes I was just bored and wanted to play in the dirt. Big Mama gave me spoons to dig with. I have those very spoons today; they are sterling silver in the Old Master pattern. I'll bet you won't find many gardeners who get started the way I did. While I don't garden in washtubs, I certainly grow lots of basil. And I didn't start life with a silver spoon in my mouth. It was an Old Master spoon in my grubby little fist!

And there you have it - Old Master gardening!

The Azalea Bed Before and After

Karen of Greenwalks likes garden before and afters, and so do I. She made a comment on one of my posts a few days ago, and I visited her blog. When I read about her liking of befores and afters, I started thinking about my own garden. As I've said before, this half acre is a major work in progress. It's so easy for me to look around and see the magnitude of what needs to be done, but I don't often look at the garden with eyes that see how very far we've come.

So, here's a before and after I thought timely after my Azalea Bed post of Monday.  Here's the space that became the Azalea Bed as it appeared in April of 2006 and as it appears now. Wow, you've come a long way, baby.

 

You can click on the image to see a larger version

Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost'

Welcome to the inaugural plant profile post. I want to make this blog a helpful resource, and I thought profiling some plants might be a way to do just that. I know there are a number of sources of plant information on the web, but I've never found one that gave me all the information for which I've been looking. The plant profiles on Instrument of Grace will feature all the kinds of information I want to see, and if there's something missing, please add a comment and let me know what else I can provide to help you.

I have to blame Garden Rant for my love affair with Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost.' About a year ago, there was a post about Brunnera. I have a lot of both wet and dry shade, and Brunnera was perfect for shade. It also was drop-dead gorgeous, and I had to have some. But the cost . . . .  Yes, Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' is expensive. I found it at a local garden center for $18.99 for a tiny plant. The price was the same at Dutch Gardens online. Even though they are not my preferred online plant source, when Dutch Gardens had their summer clearance, I snapped up three for 8.99 each. That's a bargain, in my opinion. I agree with Michele of Garden Rant that the price is too high, but I'm really glad I bought these plants.

A group of three Jack Frost Brunnera is pictured at left. While the general rule for perennials is "first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap," I found Jack Frost to be a bit precocious. I'd have to say it was "first year creep, second year leap" for my plants which are planted in almost full shade in only slightly improved, heavy clay soil.

The first year, some of the plants appeared to rot a bit, and I was afraid I'd lost them, but they almost leaped out of the ground this spring. They've put on quite a long-running flower show, even though our spring has been wet and quite cool. I'm not sure if the cool spring delayed flowering, so I'll have to see when they start blooming next year.

Here's a comparison between three plants planted this spring, on the left, and three planted last spring, peeking out from Nandina on the right. You can see a huge difference in the sizes of their leaves, and the newer plants are less than half the size of the year old ones.

Plant specifications:

Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost'

Herbaceous perennial

Zones: 3-8

Sun:  Part shade to almost total shade

Size:  12-18 inches in height and spread, flowers extend above foliage

Moisture requirements:  Medium to low but will tolerate heavy, somewhat damp soil. Some gardeners have had good success with dry shade but others have not. Tolerates a variety of soil conditions from somewhat alkaline through neutral to acidic.

Maintenance:  Low

Foliage:  Heart shaped leaves, light green with heavy silver overlay, veining in green. The leaves are small before the plant blooms. Once blooming is complete, the leaves get much larger, almost making it look like a different plant. In the photo below, you can see both the smaller leaves and the oncoming larger ones.

Blooms:  Mid April to early May (in the Mid-Atlantic, somewhat later bloom time as you go North and earlier as you go South)

Flowers:  Blue, very true blue in clusters of small flowers held above the foliage

Propagation:  Reportedly easy to divide, but I have not yet tried it.

Pros:  Deer and rabbit resistant and somewhat slug resistant, establishes quickly, tolerates a wide variety of climates and conditions, has true-blue flowers and provides foliage interest all season

Cons:  Patented plant variety (PPAF) so asexual propagation is prohibited; won't take foot traffic (but who would want to walk on it?)

The photo above shows the heart-shaped leaves with their lovely silver overlay and green veining.

 

This photo shows the intense blue of the flowers and how they are carried in clusters.

I give Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' two enthusiastic green thumbs up, and I'll be adding more to my garden. I'd love to know about your experiences with this plant.