I haven't written in a while due to my other life getting in the way and a number of garden discouragements.
Saw a woodchuck eating some of my perennials, ditto a deer -- chased them both away -- but they will return. I try not to hate too many things, but, my goodness, I hate those two.
I bought a phlox 'David' from Wayside late last fall. It was not growing very well, and now that the deer ate the leaves (of which there were not many), I doubt that it will survive. Maybe the deer was trying to put the plant out of its misery!
Many of the late season shopping at Wayside did not produce plants that came to life this year or are growing well. Remind me never to order so late in the season! Sale or no sale, it was a waste of money.
Actually, maybe even late spring season sales are not a good thing. I ordered from Bluestone Perennials many years ago and always loved the service and the plants. I was sorely tempted to order a number of their sale plants late this spring -- the prices were excellent -- but remembering the problems with the late-fall season plants ordered from Wayside, I decided not to order. I was afraid that the the warm weather would cause the plants to rot before I received them. So should one order "end-of-'season' " plants or not? Maybe very early in the "end-of-season"?
I think that the Inkberry that I bought from Costco is dying. I know that it was very pot bound and the roots did not look very lively, but I thought that with "tender loving care" it would survive -- we shall see.
Well, so far, I am not happy with mail-order and with buying locally. What to do? This is certainly an imperfect world!
The Lazy S website has some wonderful plants. I have often ordered day lilies from Wild in July and later, and had no problems -- maybe I will be brave and do a test order from Bluestone and Lazy Z.
My husband was at Home Depot yesterday and noticed that a lot of new plants were arriving. I may go there this afternoon -- perhaps I can buy some nice plants, growing well, and not root-bound. Actually, I am not faulting Home Depot since all the nurseries from whom I purchased this spring had the same problem.
My gardening helper came yesterday and moved a landscaping wall away from the plants about four feet. He did a great job moving and leveling the wall. Now,I just have to buy soil to fill! I will probably buy from Lee's Nursery again. The soil was good and the service quick! This was the bright spot in my gardening world.
Enough for now.
I was introduced to gardening by my maternal grandmother Giuditta, and in her garden I spent the most idyllic days of my childhood. By the time I grew up and wanted a garden of my own, I had to find substitute grandmothers. I found Gertrude Jekyll and Jim Crockett. Through their words and with my memories, I am attempting to create another idyllic garden.
Down the garden path ...
...and strolling through a garden of memories
~Grandmother Never Bought a Plant~
I suppose that is not literally true since in the beginning she bought vegetables and fruits for eating and then used their seeds to start plants.
Grandmother's garden was filled with many plants--I wish I could remember all of them--including Sweet Gum, Peach, Fig, Weeping Willow, and Magnolia trees; white and blue Hydrangeas, Azaleas, various Roses, Bleeding Hearts, Ferns, Periwinkle; Weigelia, Privet, and Barberry shrubs; succulents, and a vegetable garden.
Grandmother's garden was developed from "found" items, so to speak. My grandmother knew that plants could be started from the seeds they produced (no sterile hybrids for her). She also exchanged plants and cuttings with her neighbors. If she liked a plant, she made as many as she wanted from cuttings or seeds. Her neighborhood was filled with open fields (nowadays, almost gone for the rest of us), and these areas were great places to find plants.
Obviously, one of the things my grandmother brought to this garden and learned from it--was patience. In this era of instant gratification, we forget that good things are worth the wait, that patience really is a virtue, and that there is nothing wrong with frugality, either!
Grandmother's garden was filled with many plants--I wish I could remember all of them--including Sweet Gum, Peach, Fig, Weeping Willow, and Magnolia trees; white and blue Hydrangeas, Azaleas, various Roses, Bleeding Hearts, Ferns, Periwinkle; Weigelia, Privet, and Barberry shrubs; succulents, and a vegetable garden.
Grandmother's garden was developed from "found" items, so to speak. My grandmother knew that plants could be started from the seeds they produced (no sterile hybrids for her). She also exchanged plants and cuttings with her neighbors. If she liked a plant, she made as many as she wanted from cuttings or seeds. Her neighborhood was filled with open fields (nowadays, almost gone for the rest of us), and these areas were great places to find plants.
Obviously, one of the things my grandmother brought to this garden and learned from it--was patience. In this era of instant gratification, we forget that good things are worth the wait, that patience really is a virtue, and that there is nothing wrong with frugality, either!
~Gertrude Jekyll, Jim Crockett, Grandmother, & I~
~Biographies~
*My grandmother started me down the garden path and Gertrude and Jim push me along. I do know that while all my mentors are deceased, I hear their voices loud and clear -- know the environment in which you want to garden, gardening is hard work, gardens take time to develop, start plants from cuttings, and that nature is not always on our side. In other words, be realistic, be frugal, and have patience.
*Gertrude Jekyll (1843 - 1932; photogragh from her book: Colour Schemes for the Flower Garden) has had the most pronounced influence on English and American gardening. She studied the landscape and designed flower borders, woodlands, and specimen tree and shrubery placement with regard to color, vista, soil, and year-round pleasure. Gertrude Jekyll approached the garden as a canvas. It has been said that Monet planted his gardens to paint them while Gertrude Jekyll's garden was the painting.
*James Underwood Crockett (1915 - 1979; photograph from his book: Crockett's Victory Garden) was the original host of PBS's The Victory Garden, then called Crockett's Victory Garden. I was fortunate to see his weekly shows. He showed that while gardening was work, it was also enjoyable with great rewards. While reading gardening books is informative, it was great to see and hear a gardener in action and see the results. It was good for morale! Jim made a statement on a show about asters that has become famous in my family because not only does it apply to gardening -- it applies to many things in life: Life is too short to stake asters.
*Painting of a child who reminds me of myself and grandmother in her garden: Monet - The Artist's Garden at Vetheuil.
*Gertrude Jekyll (1843 - 1932; photogragh from her book: Colour Schemes for the Flower Garden) has had the most pronounced influence on English and American gardening. She studied the landscape and designed flower borders, woodlands, and specimen tree and shrubery placement with regard to color, vista, soil, and year-round pleasure. Gertrude Jekyll approached the garden as a canvas. It has been said that Monet planted his gardens to paint them while Gertrude Jekyll's garden was the painting.
*James Underwood Crockett (1915 - 1979; photograph from his book: Crockett's Victory Garden) was the original host of PBS's The Victory Garden, then called Crockett's Victory Garden. I was fortunate to see his weekly shows. He showed that while gardening was work, it was also enjoyable with great rewards. While reading gardening books is informative, it was great to see and hear a gardener in action and see the results. It was good for morale! Jim made a statement on a show about asters that has become famous in my family because not only does it apply to gardening -- it applies to many things in life: Life is too short to stake asters.
*Painting of a child who reminds me of myself and grandmother in her garden: Monet - The Artist's Garden at Vetheuil.
~Gardening in Connecticut~
The Ice Age was not a good thing for gardeners in this area. On its march to Long Island and the sea, the glacier removed the soil down the bedrock and then when it melted, it dropped terminal moraine (rocks) in its wake -- except for southern Long Island where it was nice enough to deposit a glacial outwash plain (sand).
My family gardened on Long Island. When I moved to Connecticut and wanted to garden, I bought a shovel. What did I know? Quickly after that, my husband bought a pick axe.
Gardening here means "digging" out rocks and then going off to buy a truckload of topsoil--and while you are at it: sharp (not play or all-purpose) sand, and a ton of peat moss--to fill in the holes so that your plants may live long and prosper.
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My family gardened on Long Island. When I moved to Connecticut and wanted to garden, I bought a shovel. What did I know? Quickly after that, my husband bought a pick axe.
Gardening here means "digging" out rocks and then going off to buy a truckload of topsoil--and while you are at it: sharp (not play or all-purpose) sand, and a ton of peat moss--to fill in the holes so that your plants may live long and prosper.
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