Instrument of Grace

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.

Ponies In The Garden

Dee, of Red Dirt Ramblings, asked, so I'm telling the story.

 A few posts ago, I mentioned that we have ponies in our garden.  That's what Garden Man and I call our peonies. But we didn't always call them ponies.

It all started with Maria. I work in a large building, and the maintenance services are contracted out to another company. Even though the contract changes from time to time, the folks keeping our building clean and maintained usually stick around for a while. Maria was the person who maintained our wing on the fourth floor of our building. She was a teeny-tiny older lady with a shy smile. When you see folks every day, you tend to speak and smile to each other, and it was no different with Maria. She was a native Spanish speaker, and her English was a little rough. I have no idea how we got started talking about gardens, but one day we did. Maybe gardeners just recognize each other, at least that's what I like to think. Somehow we got on the subject of daylilies, and she said she'd bring me some Ozark Sundrops, Oenothera macrocarpa if I brought her a daylily. So I did and she did, and we shared. I'm really glad we had that exchange, because those Ozark Sundrops are Garden Man's favorites in our garden.

But ponies? Well, from time to time, Maria would pass by my office and tell me how the daylilies were doing. Sometimes she spoke of other flowers in her garden. One day, she said her ponies were getting big. I was surprised. I didn't know she had animals, too. So I asked her what kind of ponies, and she said she didn't know. She did say they smelled good, and one was red. Hmmmmmm. That COULD apply to horses. I've always loved horse hay-breath, and there is such a thing as a red sorrel and a red bay. Then she said she had a pink one her grandmother gave her, and one her mother divided for her. That made me realize pretty quickly we weren't talking about horse-ponies, but I still  had no idea what we were talking about.  Then, she said one smelled like roses, and I got it. PEONIES! She was talking about peonies.

And ever since, I've called them ponies. And every time, I think about Maria and her passalong Ozark Sundrops, and I smile.

P. T. Barnum Said . . . . .

There's a sucker born every minute. Don't I know it.

A while back, I posted about a too-good-to-believe offer from Horticulture magazine. I took them up on the offer, and I've received my first issue. It's not bad, not bad at all. I wish some of the articles were more in-depth and less like sound bites, but the photography is nice, and I like the glossy paper (not QUITE as nice as Fine Gardening, however). I've received only one issue, so I don't think it's fair to make judgement at this point.

But remember the three free gifts I got with my subscription?  They arrived yesterday. Designing for Shade, Designing With Perennials and Designing With Containers were all listed as publications of Horticulture. I should have keyed in on the word publication. You know, publication can mean anything from a hardbound book to a stapled pamphlet. In this case, think stapled pamphlet. Oh, yes, they are beautifully photographed, and they have nice, weighty glossy paper. And each one, not counting front and back covers, has four pages (that's one signature, or piece of paper, folded in the middle to give four page surfaces).  The whole thing is two 11 x 17 inch pieces of paper stapled together in the middle. Not only are they pamphlets, they are skinny pamphlets. I know, I said they had lovely, full color photos. They even have a bit of information I might find useful. But as an intermediate gardener, I already know most of the content.  If you offered these for sale, I wouldn't buy them, even for a dollar each.

When I said in that earlier post you could stamp "sucker" in red right on my forehead, I had no idea just how much of a sucker I was. Now I do. And I feel duped. These "gifts" aren't gifts at all. While I may get more than my money's worth from the subscription (only time will tell), I will forever feel suckered in, if you will, by these "gifts."  I doubt the folks at Horticulture intended for those receiving these publications to feel cheated, but that's how I feel. They were listed as gifts, but would any on the staff at Horticulture give these as "gifts" to their gardening friends or family? I doubt it. When it comes time to renew, will I remember the articles and useful information, or will I remember feeling cheated by my three free "gifts"?  I suppose only time will tell.

Coming Along Nicely

Taking a walk around my garden is better than medicine. I know I get mad when I spot evidence the rabbits have visited, but there is so much good going on. Just a quick walk around lifts my spirits and gives me energy to face the next pile of chores. Gardens are good medicine!

My peonies (we smile and call them ponies, and I guess one day I'll have to tell the story) seemed to leap from the ground. They are still leggy and coltish with leaves held clustered together. I was surprised to look into one of the clusters today and find a flower bud and an ant. Unfortunately, I seemed to have lost some of the photos sharpness when I resized. I'll have to rework my technique. Still, it's a nice image.

And the Redbuds, Cercis canadensis, are in full flower around these parts. My drive home from work shows them growing wild all along the roadways. Since they are in my Big Six, seeing so many in my daily commute makes me smile.  We have five seedlings we brought from our former home, and they are all growing like weeds, which is fine with me. One has increased in size significantly over the last two years, and it really looks like a tree, now. This year, it's completely covered with pink buds. Here's a closeup. I hope these cheery flowers make you smile as much as they do me.

Happy Saturday! I hope you can garden.

The Big Six

Steve Bender of The Grumpy Gardener started it. Of course he did. If you know who Steve Bender is, you know he's always up to something. In my opinion, he's the best thing about Southern Living magazine.  The "it" I'm talking about is his "Six Plants I Can't Live Without."

I thought I'd join in the fun, but when I started to think about it I realized I'd have a hard time picking plants I couldn't live without. I love most of the plants in my gardens, and some I love passionately. But you know what?  If you took them all away from me today and said I could never have them again, I'd find other plants with which to garden, other plants to love. I wouldn't like it if you took away my current favorites, but I would find new favorites. I wouldn't be able to help it because I'm a gardener. It's as much a part of who I am as my blood type, my DNA.

Once I realized there really weren't any plants I truly couldn't live without, I went back to the hard task of choosing the six most important.  This list is good for today.  Ask me tomorrow and you might find one on the list replaced. It might be back again next week.  I told you I loved most of the plants in my garden. Here are today's big six.

Cercis canadensis - Eastern Redbud - These trees have been in my landscape ever since I can remember. The first tree I climbed was a redbud; it was the tree next to our driveway at the house where I grew up. One of the first trees I planted after I left home was a redbud, and seedlings from that tree grace my gardens today. I have only a half acre, but I have seven redbuds. One is a purchased Eastern redbud, five are seedlings Garden Man and I brought with us when we moved here, and one is a Cercis canadensis 'Forst Pansy.'

Hydrangea in all its iterations, but especially Hydrangea quercifolia, the Oak Leaf Hydrangea. I remember Oak Leaf Hydrangeas growing down the fence row between my grandparents and their neighbors, and they are perfect shrubs for my Mid-Atlantic location. They have lovely blooms and gorgeous fall color. If I could fault them in any way, it would be that the deer find them too tasty. A little Liquid Fence takes care of that.

Itea virginica - Virginia Sweetspire - I have the cultivar Henry's Garnet in my gardens, and even though I have quite a few, I don't have nearly enough. This lovely shrub has an arching habit, pretty white flowers in spring, stunning burgundy fall foliage and winter interest. It will grow in full sun and full shade, and if you mulch it, it will reward you with offshoots. It matures at about 4 1/2 feet in height and doesn't need pruning. It's just about perfect, I think.

Lilium - Oriental lilies.  What other plant gives you such huge rewards for so little effort?  While I like all the lilies, Orientals are my favorites, and I have quite a few in my garden. How could you resist a show like this, especially one that smells heavenly:

Hosta - almost all the varieties out there. I think I have ten or eleven varieties, and I expect that number to go up. The one variety already here when I moved in, Hosta undulata 'Univitatta', is a rapid reproducer.  I have at least 200 of those on my half acre.  Want some?  Hey, I'm recording visitors, so I know who you are.  Be looking for an unmarked package, coming soon to your mailbox. Garden Man's favorite is Krossa Regal which I also love, but my favorite hosta is Gold Standard. It starts spring in tones of chartreuse and blue, and I think it's charming.  Here's a closeup of the leaves in early spring.

And the sixth one is a tie between daylilies, heuchera, and coleus today.  I just couldn't choose, even though I thought long and hard about it.  So, what plants do you love, need and couldn't live without?

Out of the Darkness and Into the Light

It's been a long winter, and I'm so happy spring has arrived! I didn't realize how long I'd neglected my blog, and it has been a very long time. I'll spare you all the sorry details, but I do want to explain.

Just after Christmas, a very nasty virus spread like lightning through my office. I brought it home and it hit my family, too. It should have been a couple of day thing, and it was for the most part, but I'm still suffering some lingering effects. Thankfully, they lessen every day. Then, in early January, we had below zero temperatures. It hadn't been that cold here in fifteen years, and it was a shock both to me and my plants. It killed most of the Sarcococca ruscifolia we planted, the ones we'd looked two years to find. The ones that weren't killed have just a few spindly branches left alive. That alone made the winter darker. Then we lost our holly tree, a very expensive investment, and I have no idea why it died. It looked like we lost many of the perennials we put in during our fall border redo. Work has been crazy with no end in sight. And winter seemed to go on forever. I guess I just got into a winter mood.

And then, I noticed signs of life all over. The cherry blossoms didn't lighten my mood, but I began to notice signs of growth in the perennials I thought had died. Then green shoots from the bulbs I planted in the fall began emerging from the ground. And my mood warmed a little.  When buds began showing on those green shoots and more and more perennials came alive, I came alive a little more along with them. And then there were flowers and warm temperatures, and they melted the last remaining bits of winter in my  heart.

First came swelling of the buds on the Allegheny viburnum. They'd been there since last year, but they started growing.

Then the first of the bulbs began to flower, first the tiny daffodils  . . . . .

. . . .  and then the larger, more vibrant ones.

How could you possibly keep winter in your heart with such warm, cheerful faces just begging you to turn your face toward the sun? I couldn't. I did turn my face toward the sun and I heard the first notes of the song of Spring begin.

But there was more. Who could resist the perfect blue of Brunnera?

Jack Frost Brunnera, that is.  Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' with its lovely variegated foliage. Last year I splurged and bought three, and this year, they rewarded me with the bluest flowers I've ever seen.

Finally, when walking through the garden, I knelt down to look at a little clump of foliage and found this little hellebore flower . . . . .

 . . . .  and the thaw was complete, over, done. Spring is indeed in the air, and there is a song in my heart.  The birds are providing harmony, and all is right in my little corner of the world. I hope Spring has brought a song to your heart, too.

More Green Than I Expected

Gail of Clay and Limestone had an interesting post about there being too much brown in her landscape. Her post made me think about my own landscape and whether or not it was too brown. After reading her post, I walked out back and looked around. I was surprised at what I found. There is a lot of green still showing in my garden which contradicts my belief that winter is brown and white.  Here is some green showing in our yard and garden.

In the way way back corner, there is a columnar blue cedar, Cedrus atlantica 'Argentea Fastigiata,' and an American holly, Ilex opaca.  You can barely see the holly, it's just visible in the left side of the photo, partially hidden behind a naughty, falling over Buddleia and some Boxwoods of unknown variety, but the cedar stands out well. They are near the edge of the drainage swale that separates us from the neighbors.

Up in the little kitchen garden just off the deck, three little dwarf boxwoods, Buxus sempervirens, sit in the middle of the bed keeping some Parsley company. While our garden designer insisted we needed evergreens there, we are reworking the kitchen garden in the spring, and they will be moved elsewhere.  We'll likely also move the dwarf Mugho pine, Pinus mugho, although it seems to finally have settled in, and I hate to disturb it. You can't see the pine in this photo, but you can see all the "leftovers" from our perennial bed redo. I watered and checked them Saturday, and all seemed to have survived the 12 degree temperatures of last week.  Unfortunately, all the Hairy Bittercress survived and is green, too. Pesky weed!

Looking over toward the top of the swale, you can see how green much of the grass still is and the little Skip Laurels, Prunus laurocerasus 'Schipkaensis.'  We planted the laurels two years ago, and they've doubled in size with most of the growth occurring this past summer. I love their glossy green leaves.

Finally, looking straight out back to our back border, you see a lot of green.  There's a background of yews in the neighbor's yard.  In front of that, from the left, we've planted aucuba (Aucuba japonica), dwarf Skimmia (Skimmia japonica), pyramidal yews (Taxus cuspidata 'Capitata'), mongrel Nandina (two passalongs that don't appear to be the same variety and one seedling), another Aucuba and three Sweetbox (Sarcococca ruscifolia).  Just above that last Sarcococca, you can see one of our two Mahonia bealei. Can you tell which yews were planted this year and which were planted last year?

Not included in these photos of the back, we also have a tiny Cryptomeria, a struggling Hemlock I've been nursing, four Pieris japonica (two Purity and two Mountain Fire), two beautiful blue-green leaved hollies that were here when we arrived, and a Viburnum rhytidophylloides 'Allegheny.'

On the other side and out front, we have six Rhododendron yakushimanum 'Yaku Princess,' three Ilex crenata 'Sky Pencil,' four Juniperus chinensis 'Pfitzeriana Aurea Old Gold,' several variegated Euonymous (variety unknown), some Liriope and a columnar yew, Taxus x media 'Hicksii.'  And I can't forget the bulbs who have already poked their green heads above ground.

Even though we're well into winter, there is a lot of green out there. Just stopping to look and seeing all that green lifted my spirits.  How much green do you still have in your landscape?

But Wait, There's MORE!

I usually throw periodical solicitations right in the trash.  I subscribe to what some would consider an unusual mix of magazines.  I have a couple of hobby magazines which I will not renew when their subscriptions run out.  I also subscribe to Southern Living, Archaeology, Science Illustrated and Fine Gardening (a gift).  I get solicitations for new subscriptions in the mail all the time, and I rarely give them a second glance.  One exception was Science Illustrated. They suckered me in, and our whole family has enjoyed the result. A lot.  As long as they produce a fun-to-read, informative magazine, we'll keep subscribing. But they are the exception.

A couple of days ago, I got a solicitation that made me take a second look. I know that was the intent, but I don't think the sender wanted that second look for the reason they got it.  As I sifted through the various leaflets and cards in the solicitation, I felt like I was listening to a Ronco or Popeil commercial.  Remember those?  Veg-o-matic ring any bells?  I had a good laugh, but maybe the laugh was on me.

Come along with me for a moment and immerse yourself in the latest solicitation by Horticulture magazine.  Yes, I said Horticulture.  And for the record, I used to subscribe many years ago. I enjoyed the magazine, but I thought it was a bit pricey. Being pricey is OK if I'm getting equal value from the magazine. I wasn't with Horticulture - I wasn't quite "evolved" enough as a gardener at that point.

The main letter/leaflet in the packet was a lovely green. It started with these words, "If you think you know Horticulture, think again."  It goes on to say, "Because the "new" Horticulture is the magazine of gardening that you've been waiting for. Eye-catching and energized, it's focused on imaginative, practical, "real world" solutions to your gardening challenges."  And guess what?  You get two years for the price of one! 

If you weren't swayed by the two-for-one bargain, how could you resist the claim the magazine's been rethought for a whole new generation of gardeners?  It's more pictorial.  FAR (their emphasis) more pictorial. It's more helpful.  It's for all regions. (What?)  It's MUCH more accessible, more opinionated, as authoritative as ever.  Still not convinced?

There's MORE!

If you subscribe now, you get two free gifts!  These two free gifts are Designing with Perennials and Designing for Shade, which appear to be publications of Horticulture.  Are you hooked yet?  Come on!  Two years for the price of one, two free gifts and all the incredible promises?  How can you resist?  You are seriously going to walk away?

Then wait! There's even even MORE!

If you respond within 10 days, you will get a third bonus gift.  That's right! A third gift.  Admit it, most of you struggle with container planting.  I know I did until I read The Renegade Gardener's helpful post on container planting.  But you don't need the internet.  You can have your very own copy of Designing with Containers from Horticulture.  A full year free and THREE free gifts? 

I wasn't convinced.  Then I picked up the last leaflet.  Right there on the cover, it says Horticulture understands why I garden.  I'm almost there. And then, on the next to last page of the leaflet, there it was.  "HOW to finally beat the weeds . . . . " 

Take out that red stamp pad and the big "S" stamp.  Smack that red impression on my forehead. SUCKER.  Yeah, I'm subscribing.  For scientific research purposes. To see if their claims are true. Yeah, that's it.  I'll let you know what I find . . . . . . . . .

A Happy New Year - NOT

Not that we had any great plans for New Year's Eve that would be ruined. Still, one of the last things I expected at 10 a.m. Wednesday morning (December 31) was a call to my office from Garden Punk.  "Mom, the power is out.  I've called Dad and he's on his way home to fire up the generator." 

OK. We did have a wind warning, and were supposed to get high winds until about 10 p.m. that night.  We used to have a real problem with the power going out when the wind blew, but that was a several years ago, when we moved into the house.  The power company seemed to have solved the problem.  And those outages we'd get seldom lasted for more than a few hours.  This time, the winds were supposed to gust up to 60 mph.

I fully expected when I got home from the office and dentist at 3 pm that the power would be back on. Not a chance.  My expectations lessened as I drove home, because I saw limbs and even entire trees down on the way home.  Garden Man had a good fire going in the stove, so the house was tolerable.  Thinking we might have to make do a little longer without power, I gathered up candles and flashlights so we'd be ready when it got dark.  Thank goodness we'd planned our traditional New Year's Eve dinner of fruits, cheeses, crackers and smoked salmon. No cooking required!  We ate by lamplight, powered by the generator (which we ran every other hour or so to keep the freezer and fridge cold).

After dinner, we sat in the family room illuminated by the fire and the glow of a few candles.  I sort of liked it - no TV, just us sitting and talking.  But after a few hours, I began to get noddy. I suppose a full stomach and the dark will do that to you. Even Garden Man looked sleepy, so we decided to turn in for the evening.  I know I was hoping the power would come on during the night, but I didn't expect it with the way the wind was howling. At times, it even felt like something was actually hitting the house.

Garden Man thought it best that he sleep on the sleeper sofa in the family room so he could keep the fire going and run the generator on and off through the night.  Garden Punk thought that sounded cool, like camping, so he thought he'd sleep on the sleeper, too.  We made up the bed and they tucked in.  Our dog decided she'd sleep with them, so I headed upstairs to bed.  Even though the upstairs was cold, I was toasty warm snuggled under my down blanket.  After about an hour, Garden Punk decided it was too warm by the fire, so he headed upstairs to his down comforter, too. 

Poor Garden Man was up most of the night, stoking the fire every hour or so and running the generator.  When I got up around 6 am, he'd made coffee, so I sat by the fire with my coffee, wondering just how long this adventure was going to last.  We were OK, but the novelty had certainly worn off. I was thinking a shower would really be nice . . . .

The power came back on at 3 pm, so we were without power for 29 hours. Luckily we didn't lose any trees, but I can't say the same for our neighbors.  Although Garden Man and Garden Punk were seriously mourning the lack of bowl games, I suppose we were none the worse for wear.  But it wasn't fun, and I don't want to do it again. New Year's Eve 2009 is not one we're likely to forget soon.

Finally - the Shed

Without further ado, here she is!

She looks awfully tiny sitting there, but she's 10 x 12 feet.  I don't know why the shutters and window trim aren't white - I'll have to ask Dave the Shed Guy.  I haven't bothered him because he had surgery just before Christmas, and I wanted to give him time to recover and spend Christmas with his family.

Still, isn't she cute?  I sure think so, but then again, I waited so long for her that my perceptions are probably distorted.  I love her little cupola - pure fluff, but that's OK.  I also love her double doors on the left side and her single door in front with the windows up high.  Just wait until spring - she'll be sporting a three or four color paint job.  Those shutters and the window and door trim will be contrasting colors. Maybe even the planter boxes too. 

We moved the tiller, leaf vac, mower, wheelbarrow and tool cart inside, and that's when 10 x 12 started to look not so big. 

We still have quite a bit of stuff to move in, but before we do, Garden Man is going to put up shelves.  Bless his little green heart, he's even going to make them fit in and around the studs so nothing will fall off.  He's at the lumber store right now buying the materials. 

All my gardening stuff, fertilizers, pots, tools, etc. will go right here in this corner.

I can hardly wait. I have no idea why this whole evolution is so exciting to me, but it is.  Thank you for indulging me.