tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121570912009-11-04T08:17:44.167-08:00EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.comBlogger426125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-11108377145120336242009-10-31T18:27:00.000-07:002009-10-31T18:30:31.510-07:00

For the next few months, I can ignore the weather. Which is a relief in many ways. There may be snow, there may be sleet, there may be ice—or it might just be dreary and gray, but I don’t really have to think much about it, other than dress and travel appropriately. I don’t have to focus on how weather effects or does not affect what I’m doing in the garden, because I won’t be doing much out

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-89943983112538427992009-10-26T12:31:00.001-07:002009-10-26T12:37:06.649-07:00

At least in Buffalo they do. Whenever I see this friend, who is also an orchid grower and member of the Niagara Frontier Orchid Society, I always whine a bit about my orchids. I guess he'd had enough when he finally said, "Why don't I come by one morning and look at them?"Sure! So he did, and I videotaped some of it, using my iPhone. That's why the sound and image quality are not the finest. Also

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-91685760207959154222009-10-21T17:33:00.000-07:002009-10-21T17:38:18.028-07:00

(All is well in the plant room.)If it’s not warm enough to sit in the garden, I am unlikely to want to work in it. I’m not one of those dedicated gardeners who loves to get out in the brisk chilly air and make a day of it—but I can stand an hour or two. Hence, there is still much to be done, and a bit that has been done.The bulb project continues. Species tulips dasytemon, oculata, kolpkowskiana,

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-26602600025251561192009-10-16T06:20:00.001-07:002009-10-16T06:54:07.223-07:00

Or is it simply angst that autumn seems to have passed us by? We went right from high summer in September to early winter in October this year. Oh well, my weather app tells me that some balmier temps are on the way.But even with a warm spell to come, undeniably the end of the growing season has arrived, and thus it becomes more difficult to feign enthusiasm about any flowering plants that might

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-13634332632205517392009-10-11T19:49:00.001-07:002009-10-11T19:49:58.300-07:00

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-74170598804242142852009-10-08T10:15:00.001-07:002009-10-08T10:22:53.307-07:00

This post might be titled “Don't let this happen to you,” but, as crazy as it looks, I actually enjoy tending to my growing collection of overwintering tropicals and tender perennials. It started over five years ago, when I bought a gardenia and a jasmine and kept them in this upstairs room over the winter; both bloom from May through August outside (the jasmine starts flowering inside in April).

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-43770282824813213092009-10-04T17:24:00.000-07:002009-10-04T20:20:04.448-07:00

Yesterday, I planted 150 bulbs around the front and sides of the GWI property, much to the amazement of my social networks. But it’s really not that many. Indeed, I expect to get 150 more into the ground before I’m done (and another 150 into containers and forcing pots). Over the years, I’ve realized that even on a small property, a few bulbs scattered here and there look sparse and rather

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-30800723720255378592009-09-27T17:43:00.000-07:002009-09-27T17:46:42.201-07:00

In better days, the tomato leaves were somewhat attractive.At first I was excited when a small heirloom tomato plant purchased on a whim began to bear small yellow tomatoes a couple months back. Then I was impressed when the thing grew to about 9 feet and produced several ponderous branches, all loaded with fruit. Then I became annoyed when it dominated most of the bed it was in, hiding a rose

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-61856997534097414752009-09-18T21:31:00.001-07:002009-09-18T21:43:45.771-07:00

In many ways, a pond, no matter how small, escapes the peaks and valleys of the usual WNY garden season. It always looks pretty fresh, providing you can keep the leaves out of it. The plants thrive throughout the summer, especially my favorite, papyrus, which is still sending out new stalks. This year I’m trying pickerel for the first time, and really liking it, while, as I’ve posted, my water

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-72633763742425022752009-09-15T20:04:00.000-07:002009-09-15T20:09:34.276-07:00

Ask not for whom the bell tolls; I can assure you it tolls for 3 rhododendrons, installed at considerable expense as part of a front garden redo about 5 years ago. Try as I may, these shrubs simply will not thrive. They’re not terrible; they’re just not great. The picture above shows them in flower; you can see the discolored leaves and the fact that the branches are not as fleshed out with

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-16275174097722802362009-09-11T06:45:00.001-07:002009-09-12T20:28:28.213-07:00

It does look a bit ratty in places, but overall, I’m … satisfied with the mid-September garden. But this isn’t the time to be satisfied. Like my friend Sally says, this is the time to give your garden a cold hard look, to figure out what’s really needed, now that the excitement of the floral fireworks has dissipated in large part.Though we’re always giving our gardens a cold hard look. We’re

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-63724200849231584082009-09-02T18:51:00.001-07:002009-09-03T19:29:50.539-07:00

In my small patio garden, I need things to be either literally big or big in terms of impact. I have seen small dainty gardens with neat little mounds of foliage and flowers (strangely, these gardens often include a tiny patch of turf) and I have not been impressed. Not for me. No. Tall is good, wide is good, and spectacular is preferred. Of course, I don’t have success with as much giant-sized

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-74700273639972494902009-08-29T21:47:00.000-07:002009-08-29T22:09:54.303-07:00

Or almost all, because the real horror is that I still plan to order from Old House Gardens and —maybe—The Lily Garden. Every year, I go crazy with bulbs and it seems to grow worse with time. Nearly half of them are for forcing and others are treated as annuals; hence, the reason I need so many each year. So far, I have ordered 455 bulbs. Over the last two weeks. TulipsThere is still work to be

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-60005419944869517432009-08-28T11:16:00.000-07:002009-08-28T11:30:34.274-07:00

This is really the beginning of the long, slow decline in the garden, which ends at the end of October. After that, though you can rake leaves and plant bulbs until Thanksgiving, there is not much reason to linger. And it’s kind of cold anyway.But through September, the garden still looks pretty good, with lots of color and lush foliage—often in the form of annuals and tropicals. The last of the

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-74715652271064779862009-08-25T19:36:00.000-07:002009-08-27T10:29:58.887-07:00

If Iron Chef was run by Alice Waters, I think it might go like this. Sunday I was a judge for Buffalo’s new chef competition, Nickel City Chef. It involves 4 Buffalo “top chefs” and 4 challengers. For each match-up there is a different secret ingredient and the two chefs make 3 dishes each, using it.But here’s the twist. The secret ingredient and many of the other pantry items are locally grown

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-54225863694880976772009-08-22T20:44:00.001-07:002009-08-22T20:47:04.586-07:00

We hear a lot about rain gardens—which are all well and good—but not having a rain garden, I currently limit myself to rain gardening.The performance of various gardening tasks under light and pleasant precipitation works very well for me. In fact, given the difficult dry shade conditions I have throughout much of the GWI property, it makes things a lot easier. Today I planted some shade

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-4372965216416932892009-08-16T18:20:00.000-07:002009-08-16T18:29:28.618-07:00

This is for Mary Ann/Idaho Gardener, who did one of these.

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-23164770045863742852009-08-15T20:41:00.000-07:002009-08-15T20:56:05.587-07:00

Finally. The true summer weather is here, and none too soon for many of my hot weather annuals, such as colocasia, which just refused to perform in the rainy, cool weather of June and (for the most part) July.I don’t complain about weather though, and I’ve actually been enjoying all this rain. No watering! The other benefit is that many plants have delayed their blooms a bit, so I have rudbeckia,

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-2751142114638010052009-08-02T17:31:00.001-07:002009-08-02T21:04:04.112-07:00

These never should have been placed where they are: at the front of the sunny “corral” bed, obscuring other shorter plants that have managed to survive and blocking sun from anything I plant that might otherwise grow as tall. They’re interesting though, starting out as fat green buds, then upward-facing yellow daisy-like flowers, then petals drooping down as the seedheads begin to form. Bees find

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-35564659417338874362009-07-28T19:12:00.001-07:002009-07-28T19:23:44.278-07:00

There are actually many lilies still in bud on the gwi property, but plenty are blooming now. I’m happy because I am deliberately not looking up all I ordered in the fall and spring to figure out what never came up and why. I secretly suspect a LOT of them did not come up. But like I said, I’m not going to look closely into that. And I’m not going to think about the two monster stalks whose buds

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-19723010570995397842009-07-23T18:56:00.000-07:002009-07-23T18:59:02.417-07:00

Yes, this is the yearly panic attack about how unprepared my garden is for Garden Walk. Except that this time, I am SO behind that I can’t even get too excited about it. However, we do, as always, have exhibit A, at top: plants bought at the last minute in the fond hope that they will provide some kind of color boost, negating the myriad flaws to be seen everywhere.And then we have the unmulched,

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-23647174360485541902009-07-21T18:04:00.000-07:002009-07-21T20:04:07.586-07:00

Actually Mr. McGregor Daughter’s meme asks which annuals have failed and which have succeeded so far this summer, but I’ll cheat a bit. I very rarely have failure with annuals, because I grow them in containers for the most part, and have learned to avoid any that I know won’t succeed (for example, I only tried zinnias once). Also, the summer in Buffalo has been rather rainy and dank, and

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-29079109663362747332009-07-15T05:00:00.000-07:002009-07-15T07:41:16.073-07:00

Last year at this time, I see that I posted about Golden Splendor trumpet lilies (above) and various annuals performing equally splendidly in their chosen positions. However, I am a stickler about these GBBD posts (somewhat) and I do feel that the images should be of flowers blooming where one can see them on that date. So, though I am positive they are blooming, I cannot see my Golden Splendors.

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-71460415077281476212009-07-13T20:52:00.000-07:002009-07-13T21:02:52.379-07:00

It’s hard to leave the garden in summer. It really is, and I know a lot of Northern and Midwestern gardeners who take their vacations at other times because they just can’t do it. But I love the beach and the salt water and the waves and the margaritas and the company. Some things—dare it be said—are just as important if not more than gardening. When one travels, however, it is possible to make

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12157091.post-78802372079905428392009-07-03T22:51:00.001-07:002009-07-03T22:54:33.409-07:00

Should look like this as far as I’m concerned. Or this. Or any other configuration that ‘s interesting and abundant rather than pinched and pedicured. That’s what I’m celebrating on this glorious 4th of July weekend.I am thankful that I did not inherit a front lawn from the former owners of our property. Or a back lawn. Or, indeed, a pitiful little strip of side lawn. What I got wasn’t perfect,

EALhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03339266900036592543noreply@blogger.com17