Posts in Category: Garden Thoughts
Winter’s Shadow
Dear Friends,
I have developed a routine of when and how I eat my lunch. I start off by putting a Dr. Pepper in the freezer around 12:00 and I have timed the freezing process perfectly so when I retrieve it at 1:15, it is of the perfect slushy consistency. I take the soda from the freezer and then get to work preparing what I will eat for the day. I then peer out the window and take sincere joy from watching all of the winged visitors indulge in all the treats I have provided for them. Each day I see something different and I truly consider these moments among my most blessed moments. Today I watched in fascination at a house finch couple courting. Well, he was courting her by dancing around her, nudging her now and again and generally showing off for his girl. She responded with nudging of her own and seemed to love all the attention. They eventually flew off and I continued to eat in anticipation of seeing the next set of visitors flutter in to the feeders.
This winter has seemed longer than normal. For the last few weeks, we have been blessed by moisture but that moisture arrived in the form of snow bringing with it record low temperatures. This has wreaked havoc in many gardens across the Denver metro area. The Denver Botanic Gardens has reported that the devastation caused by the cold is something not seen by those working there in all their years at the gardens. Yes, it has been cold but it is all cyclic and I personally am grateful that everything in my garden seems to be patiently waiting for a longer spell of warmer temperatures before springing back to life. I have the formation of buds on the aspens, elderberry and willow and from what I can tell these buds are still okay and very soon should burst forth into that unique translucent hue of spring green we all know and love.
I did make some mistakes though and really I should have known better. We took a trip to Arizona at the end of March and of course spring had arrived there in all its glory. As such, my favorite family owned garden center Rillito Nursery had an amazing selection of plants to choose from. I was not so foolhardy to choose tropical but instead, I bought a couple pansies, a blanket flower and I simply could not resist bringing home an autumn sage otherwise known as Salvia Greggii. My thinking was I would extend the growing season of the pansies for they would have soon perished as the Arizona temperatures began to soar. Further, the blanket flower can handle cold. Well, my philosophies and ideas did not work out too well. First, the pansies – Right now, they are a burned mess in a pot with slight hints of green here and there. I cannot say whether they will come back but I am hopeful. Next, the blanket flower – I kept this in my little plastic greenhouse and when those single digits arrived, the plant suffered. It is now indoors and kept alongside the salvia I brought home and will not be going out again until our last frost date comes and goes. Thankfully, that is the end of April so only a few more days!
The temperatures here have begun to rise and with that the urgency to garden has intensified. Like many who are anxious for the cold weather to end, I have gone out and purchased new plants for the garden to add some instant color. Well, becoming overzealous may have its price for it is due to snow yet again this evening. The moisture is so very welcome but I would love it to fall in the form of rain and I would like to see the temperatures well above freezing. Alas, it is not to be. Tonight it will drop into the 20’s and tomorrow night into the teens. It will remain cooler well into next week and I think at this stage I shall hope and pray that everything trying to make their start in my garden will survive. I will bring in the Parrot’s Beak along with the oregano and thyme I purchased over the weekend. There is no sense in letting them suffer.
Getting back to the purchasing of new plants, I am happy I did not get too crazy. I did buy plants that should survive this cold spell just fine. On Saturday, the 28th, we went to Wilmore Nurseries and here are some images representing most of what I took home:
Ajuga Chocolate Chip
Bellis Perennis Pink Flower
Mint Julep
Primula
Stardust Rock Jasmine
Trifolium Dark Dancer
Zizia aptera — Heartleaf Alexander
How will all these plants cope with the drop in temperature? Most are accustomed to the cool weather but with temperatures below 20 degrees, I may be pushing the boundaries of survival. Stay tuned for my next blog post where I will report the effects of this latest cold snap and snow! ?
Impatiently Waiting for Impatiens
Tomorrow, March 1st, 2013 will be the second week since I planted some Impatiens seeds in the same large pot my indoor Ficus Tree currently calls home. Plant World Seeds is a wonderful mail order seed company I discovered last summer. I get emails from them from time to time and one email featured their Impatiens. I love the Impatiens or Busy Lizzy as they are commonly called. I purchased a few from my local garden center Holly Acres Nursery just before autumn of 2012 arrived. I realized I would not have long to enjoy the plants for as soon as the first frost hit, they would be gone. I decided the half whisky barrel on our front porch which was in full shade all day would be the perfect place for the Impatiens. They would keep the Empress Wu hosta company I thought. On a side note, this hosta did not grow at all since planting it in August. I am not sure if it was due to the higher than normal temperatures but it just sort of sat there. I saw no new growth so when I placed the Impatiens in the planter, I was very happy when they started growing rapidly as if they knew they had to put on a quick show before the freezing temperatures arrived. What a show they put on! They grew quickly and offered beautiful orange-red flowers which more than made up for the poor showing of the hosta. Alas, when the freezing temperatures came, the Impatiens collapsed and all I could do was hope that some of those flowers dropped seeds so that I may see them come to life again in the spring.
As I was saying, Plant World Seeds sent me an email featuring their line of impatiens. I was immediately intrigued when I read their description for a variety of Impatiens called IMPATIENS ‘BLUE DIAMOND’:
Hidden in a remote part of Tibet in the Himalayas lies the world’s deepest canyon, the uninhabited Tsangpo gorge, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon! And discovered there as recently as 2003 in the barely-explored Namcha Barwa Canyon was an extremely rare beauty, the first ever blue impatiens that also happens to be easy to grow! This fantastic, fast-growing plant has sizeable flowers of the most remarkable sapphire blue with a contrasting white throat, amidst attractive serrated leaves the colour of polished jade. Unlike the traditional flat-disk shape of other bedding impatiens, these constantly-produced flowers resemble elegant cranes in flight. This priceless new gem is a perennial species when grown indoors or perhaps in very mild winter areas. (aka Blue Dream)
Now, when you read that, how could you not want to grow this variety? I ordered several packets and I have taken their suggestion of growing this beauty indoors to heart. My Ficus is in a large blue pot with a small ground cover type plant growing beneath it. I thought if these Blue Diamonds could fill out the pot, what a wonderful display it would be! I had been meaning to look up when I could expect the seeds to germinate and according to sites I have read, the approximate germination time is 15-20 days so I may have a week or two before I see sprouts. I have several self-watering plastic pots that once housed some of my Streptocarpus plants so I may see if I can start some more in preparation for transplanting in the spring.
If you read my ‘Welcome Visitors’ article, you know that I am committed to looking after the birds that come to visit. I am so happy that I have a healthy number of birds visiting now for it would mean they will control the insect population during the warmer months. As I expressed the before mentioned article, I was concerned that birds were ignoring the suet log. Well, I am pleased to announce that woodpeckers have discovered it. This in itself is good and bad news. I must have did something wrong when placing the plugs into the logs for when the woodpeckers came to dine they managed to poke the plugs out and onto the ground. Thankfully I got to them before the squirrels did. I placed them on the platforms of the other feeders in hopes the finches, etc. would enjoy the treat. They did of course but to my surprise when looking out the window I spotted a female downy woodpecker!
She stayed there eating clinging to the platform of the feeder with her front feet and joyfully picked away at one of the plugs. I sat in awe watching her and was pleased she stayed for at least five minutes. I have not seen her since but I do see larger woodpeckers visit so it is definitely a blessing that my backyard bird population continues to grow and diversify.
I will be sure to keep you updated on all the progress with the Impatiens and birds that come to visit along with all of the exciting events to come as spring approaches. Until then, Happy Gardening and blessings to you all.
Image Credits:
Image of Impatiens Blue Diamond is used with permission from Plant World Seeds
Image of female downy woodpecker is an image found on Wikimedia Commons
Image of orange-red Impatiens was taken by the author.
Welcome Visitors
The weather has turned warm and after two weeks of bitterly cold temperatures in the teens and single digits, this is definitely a most welcome change. With warmer weather comes the urge to step outside and assess what is happening in the garden. The answer is nothing really as all the plants are still sound asleep but still it is nice to get outside and have a look around.
With our new home, I have worked hard to set up as many feeders as I can to accommodate my winged friends that visit the garden. I am a choosy host and really only want the small birds to dine. As such, my main feeder is one with a cage around it so only small birds may enter and dine. This comes complete with a squirrel baffle as squirrels are not welcome at all. I will create a future post regarding my battles with the resident squirrels. The caged feeder is dangling from my aspen tree and beyond this, I installed a shepherd’s hook to accommodate a thistle feeder and another feeder strictly serving safflower seed. The reason for this is again to discourage the larger, greedier birds (jays, etc.) as they do not typically enjoy safflower. Conversely, the finches, etc. do.
I am of the understanding that gold finches are permanent residents but I have not seen any on my nyjer feeder. Now and again, the house finches will partake but overall it has remained close to full all winter. I will leave it up for any bird that wants this expensive delicacy with the hope the gold finches will find it and regularly grace my garden with their presence.
With three feeders, I thought that would be enough but I wanted to see the woodpeckers. Some reading this may be asking why on earth I would want to attract these birds that can often damage your home. The answer is simply that I love them. When living in Arizona I would see them regularly and yes, they did damage the home but I have learned the secret to negating damage from these beautiful birds is simply to feed them. As a result, I have set up a suet log with a baffle on the advanced pole system from Wild Birds Unlimited. Installing was made a bit more difficult by trying to twist the main pole into the frozen ground but in the end, I was successful. I now hope birds will find it and enjoy the high protein suet I have set out for them.
Update 11 February 2013
After installing the suet log and advanced pole system, I was disheartened that the log hung there untouched day after day. I did have woodpeckers visit the garden but only to stick their long beak into the caged feeder and gobble down seed. Though this made the seed disappear much quicker, I did not mind for at least I had woodpeckers in the garden. So, what to do about the unused suet log?
The feeder I had dedicated to serving only safflower seed is by the far the most popular feeder for the finches. I then thought what would happen if I moved it to the other hook opposite the suet feeder. I did this two days ago. Despite my efforts, I noticed that yes, although the finches found and happily ate from the safflower seed feeder, they still ignored the suet.
I typically eat my lunch while staring out the kitchen window reveling in all the bird activity in the garden. As is the norm, the finches were happy dining on the safflower seed but then I noticed something. There was movement on the suet log! Yes, a small female finch was clinging to the log partaking in some suet. This made me very happy and I only hope other birds discover the log as well because warmer weather is certainly coming and I would hate for any of the suet to go to waste.
Would you like to share your experiences with feeding suet to our most cherished winged garden visitors? I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below. Thank you for reading.
By the Way, Hello Again
When your hands need to feel the warm earth and the earth needs your loving touch to bring forth life . . .
As mentioned in my previous article, circumstances led to me and my family scaling down and this meant going without a garden for a while. After sacrifice and focusing on our dream of owning a home, we finally see that dream realized. As of July of this year, my wife and I are officially home owners. The criteria for our new home were an amalgamation of what I wanted and what my wife wanted. Her desire was a big kitchen where she had room to prepare all the delightful dishes she tends to cook. My desire of course was a large enough back ‘yard’ to create a masterpiece of a garden. We looked only two days before we found the house that fit our needs. The space of this house is much more than what we actually require but it was cheaper than homes with half the space and virtually no garden closer to the city. The kitchen was big enough but needed work which could come with time. This was perfect for us and the yard was spectacular and full of potential.
Both the front and back garden areas (I like to refer to my space as a garden as opposed to a yard) are typical in that the ground is covered with sod. This will be the first thing to go in the spring. I have never been one to understand why a person would grow grass. I realize this may raise a few hairs but to me, it is the greatest exercise in futility and waste. The routine is to spend a fortune watering it, feeding it and lacing it with chemicals to ensure nothing else but the grass will grow and then we cut it only to start the exercise all over again. Because we moved in late summer, I soon learned just how much it hits the pocketbook to water so much grass and this is what prompted me to quickly consider alternatives.
Once the warmer winds of spring blow in to greet us, I will hire a landscape architect to remove all of the front grass and a large portion of the grass in back. I will leave a play area for my son but I am going to turn my gardens into a xeriscaped paradise. To me, it makes the most sense and I can feel good that I am utilizing less natural resources. The front will be a mix of cobblestones and pea gravel and there will be rock islands created to provide a home for low-water plants. These will include juniper shrubs mixed in with some Achillea, Rosa rugosa, Alyssum, Dianthus, etc. My local family owned nursery stocks all these plants and more and it will be a lot of fun picking some beautiful specimens for all to see in the front.
The back garden will be my paradise and my sanctuary. The plan I have formulated in my head is very rough and ever changing. The only constant thus far is the removal of the grass. Beyond that I envision a path meandering around the planted area where there is currently a large aspen leading to perhaps an arbor or something similar placed in the upper left corner. I would love my rose garden to intermingle with the spruce in the upper right hand corner. I am indulging a bit now by having my landscaper come in and create a granite rock bed around the spruce in preparation for what may be but also to get my bulbs in before it is too late. More on that to come in a future article.
Beyond that, my back garden is very much a blank canvas. Every day I jot down different ideas based on what I find inspiring at that moment. It is turning into a treasured wish list and once I can plant anything, my hands will be buried in the beautiful earth once again. I have set up a small plastic covered greenhouse which may allow me to get a bit of a head start – I am thinking a strawberry patch with perhaps a blueberry bush in the back. We will see. I am in no rush and with the passing of each day, week, month and year there will be a new evolutionary step in my little bit of earth. Lately, I have been outside just gazing at what I have been blessed with – a garden to love, tend to and work into a beautiful creation. I can sense the garden staring back at me as if to say, by the way, hello again.
Hello again old friend.
Please click on any of the images below to see the full size version. Thank you.
[nggallery id=1]
All photos were taken by the author.