Olympic Bouquets

Nancy Bond at Soliloquoy has a wonderful post about the Olympic bouquets that are given to each Olympic winner, gold, silver and bronze medal winners all.

It has been difficult to get a good look at the bouquets. They do not seem to be given or received with much ceremony, which is a shame because they are lovely.

Nancy tells the full story about constraints and requirements for designing these bouquets which is fascinating. It’s made me think about all the different ways flowers are used to celebrate or memorialize important occasions. You can expect to hear more about this as the year goes on.  Thank you Nancy for  a great post.

Reading and Planning

I am still in the middle of reading and planning season. Two very different books have sent my imagination into high gear.

Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars: Grandma’s Bag of Tricks by Sharon Lovejoy  ($14.95 Workman Publishing) is ostensibly for grandmas, but among the 130 activities described and illustrated with engaging photos and charming drawings, many will engage mommies and daddies as well.

The opening chapter, Preparing Camp Granny, gives advice about welcoming a visiting grandchild so that even the first night without parents can be comfortable and cozy. Like Lovejoy we have a well stocked dress-up box, but I am going to have to think of a place to have a tokonoma, to place a simple flower arrangement as they do in Japan. You don’t even need a grandchild to make and enjoy the pleasure of a fresh daily plant arrangement reflecting the season.

The other chapters, Neighborhood Naturalist, Kids in the Kitchen, Kitchen Garbage Garden, Kids in the Garden and Rainy Day Activities, also have many ideas that are as appropriate for moms and dads as for grannies. Many, but not all the activities involve the natural world; I was happy to see that Reading Aloud plays a part in Grandma’s bag of tricks.

Lovejoy explains how to attract butterflies to the garden. In addition to including plants that support butterfly life cycles, she says something as simple as a shallow bowl filled with wet soil and sand, complete with a rock island, will help attract butterflies who need a place to drink. She mentions that butterflies and moths also like to dine on rotting fruit, and gives a recipe for Moth Broth of mashed up banana, plum or peach that rots quickly in the summer sun. Moth Broth can be painted on trees and prepares the way for a magical show of moths eating it up in the dark of a summer night.

Water, food and shelter are all a granny needs to entice all manner of wildlife into even a suburban yard that can be rich in wonder for a young child. One of the things that made a particular impression on me at UMass when I was in the education program there was the Square Foot Field Trip project. Everyone was sent out to the grounds around the building to choose a single square foot of ground and examine and catalog it carefully, noting all the different life forms, to see and think about what was going on, and what relationships might be.  What worked for would-be teachers also works for grannies and parents. We all have to learn to keep our eyes open and pay attention.

There are any number of projects that I can’t wait to try out when my grandsons visit this summer, making a pizza box solar oven (I’m a big fan of solar power) that will make grilled cheese sandwiches, mini pizzas and half baked apples; sprouting seeds including peanuts; planting a garden in a straw bale or two; and making leaf and flower collages.

Lovejoy is also the author of Sunflower Houses: Inspiration from the Garden, Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots, and Trowel and Error.  She advises about children’s gardens to the American Horticultural Society and has a charming website and blog for adults, www.sharonlovejoy.com .

Children love color but Tom Fischer’s new book, The Gardener’s Color Palette with photographs by Clive Nichols (Timber Press $12.95) is a delightful  book that will appeal to the sophisticated gardener. Fischer presents ten flowers in each of ten color families to entice the gardener into colorful new directions.

I confess that that I don’t take a very organized or artistic approach to the garden. Partly because I don’t have a very strong visual sense, and partly because I am so easily seduced by a flower in the nursery or catalog and buy it without thinking about where or how it will fit into the rest of the garden. I comfort myself with Elsa Bakalar’s dictum that all natural colors  go together and one shouldn’t agonize too much.

Still, I love books like The Gardener’s Color Palette because it opens my eyes to colors I hadn’t even thought of using. Some colors like red, yellow and blue are very familiar to us in all their shades. Others are less so.

Fischer looks at ranges of color like orange to peach with the strong hues of Orange Beauty cannas to the Dordogne single tulip which is a blend of amber, coral and gold. Fischer is also generous with suggestion for plant pairings. He says Dordogne would be pretty with the clear yellow Mrs. John T. Scheepers tulip, but a more dramatic companion would be the dark purple Greuze tulip..

One unusual color family is Brown, Bronze and Copper from the familiar chocolate cosmos with its dramatic dark flowers that has such a long season of summer bloom, to the copper flame on the ruddy brown Abu Hassan triumph tulip. Fischer suggests that a planting of Abu Hassan with other tulips in orange, deep ruby or darkest purple will be a striking sight.

This book is not all about dreaming and planning. Fischer gives an ample measure of information about the cultural needs of each plant.

Somehow with its gorgeous photographs of one hundred flowers The Gardener’s Color Palette is spurring a thousand ideas for this summer’s garden.

Between the Rows   February 20, 2010

A Sugared Landscape

We awoke to a silent world, muffled with another layer of snow.

There is nothing more to be said.

While Watching the Snow Fall . . .

Tarankanische (The Terrible Cockroach)

I’ve been browsing through the online Creepy Crawlies exhibit of children’s books from the Cotsen Children’s Library at Princeton University. These books date as far back as the 1744 edition of Tom Thumb’s Pretty Song Book.

The Terrible Cockroach by the Russian Kornei Chukovski and illustrated by Sergeii Chekhonin, published in Leningrad 1925, tells the nonsense tale of a threatening cockroach who is so fierce that he terrifies all the animals who are out to enjoy a picnic. Even the elephants are helpless in his presence. Until, that is, until a sparrow comes and gobbles him up.

Other stores include snails, bedbugs, dung beetles, and a caterpillar garden in a variety of styles from the cartoonish to the scientific.

Creepy crawlies remain a topic for children’s book writers and illustrators. Jim Aylesworth’s Old Black Fly published in 1992 is a case in point.

Old Black Fly by Jim Aylsworth

I have Garden History Girl to thank for this wonderful link which includes other virtual exhibitions.  She know a lot about gardens and all the things you will find in gardens.

Looking at these illustrations is more fun that looking at the sastrugi in the Sunken Garden.

Sunken Garden 2-26

Can you imagine how long it will take the 6 foot drift to melt in the spring?

My Flowery Mead

My Flowery Mead

Now you know why I chose the name commonweeder. I love common weeds. Otherwise known as wild flowers. In some circles.  I call this wildflower garden my flowery mead. Others may call it my lawn.

Lawns have become controversial because they can take a toll on the environment.  Herbicides and pesticides can runoff into streams and other waterways causing pollution and killing wildlife. Many people water their lawns when the weather is hot and dry, using that precious resource, water.  Many people (like me, or more specifically my husband) use power mowers that use gas and pollute the air.

There are various ways to cut down on this environmental toll. We never use chemical fertilizer. My husband thinks the grass grows quite fast enough, thank you very much.  I do lime the lawn periodically. That make nutrients available to all the plants in the lawn. I want to encourage the microbial and animal life in my lawn, not kill it.

We never water the lawn. Should it go dormant and brown, it will green up again when the rains come.

We mow as infrequently as possible. My husband and I do have different opinions about that.

We are trying to eliminate lawn. Some lawn has been turned into The Lawn Beds. The Daylily Bank, The Rose Bank and The Early Garden are in process. I’m also removing the grass from a wide strip next to the road and planting hydrangeas and barren strawberry ground cover.

This is planning season. There are many ways to create a sustainable lawn and many resources to help you do this. Paul Tukey has written The Organic Lawn Care Manual, available and bookstores and libraries. You can also log in to is SafeLawns website.

The Lawn Reform website also has advice and resources. You’ll see some of the best and most influential gardeners have joined this movement. Your lawn can be beautiful – and healthy for you and the environment.

Still Snowing

February 23 4:30-ish

February 24 7 a.m.

For more Wordlessness, logon to Wordless Wednesday.

Mistaken Rose

photo courtesy of Heirloom Roses

I’ve ordered Therese Bugnet again.  She is a rugosa that Heirloom Roses lists with their Damask roses because of it double form. It is not only very hardy, it is very fragrant.  Unfortunately, the first time I ordered it, the rose that was delivered looked nothing like this.  I confess I didn’t notice at first. I forgot what the catalog photo looked like, but I have learned over the years that mis-labelling does happen, even in neighborhood garden centers.

I’ve had other mis-labelled roses arrive at the End of the Road. Early on I got a beautiful rose but it was not the Fantin Latour I had ordered – and that time I did notice.  However, I loved the rose, a buttery yellow, apricot and pink. The real frustration came when the rose died and I had no idea how to replace it with the same rose. Fortunately, I later saw an Abraham Darby rose that was very similar. I bought it. Twice.  Alas twice it has proved too tender for my climate.

I’ve sent in all my rose orders. Now I wait because it is still winter. This past weekend my daughter Diane arrived with her son Ryan for  the day. The Major (my husband) rooted through the attic and came down with ice skates. I got the heavy socks, and Diane got the shovel. It was off to the Frog Pond.

The Frog Pond In Winter

The Frog Pond was improved by the previous owners of our property and it has been designated as a Fire Pond. In fact, in 1990 when lightning struck our old barn and burned it to the ground, the Frog Pond is probably the reason our house is still standing. It is a great pond for swimming in the summer, and catching newts. So far the carnivorous  sundews that grow at the edge of  the pond haven’t bitten anyone.

Ryan

Ryan is 12 and has never been on ice skates. The skates didn’t quite fit, but he has pretty good form his first time out. He can yawn like Apollo Ohno, Olympic champion, too.

I know my family is getting tired of it, but the sastrugi formations are really extraordinary this year. I’ll try to be restrained, but I cannot absolutely promise that this is the final sastrugi photo.

Sastrugi 2-21

Hydrangeas for All

My White Moth hydrangea

I haven’t always liked hydrangeas. As a child living in the Bronx, I saw a number of houses on our street wirh tiny yards that held a blue hydrangea or two. In spite of the interesting color and flower heads that everyone called ‘snowballs’ I did not like them.  Who can explain dislikes? And the things a child takes against are even more mysterious.

Though I rarely saw hydrangeas in gardens as a new gardener,  over the past years they have become very popular. Decorating magazines started showing hydrangea blossoms in summerl bouquets and dried  flower arrangements. Hybridizers became very busy creating new varieties. I started paying attention.

Years ago, on a garden tour, I saw a huge oakleaf hydrangea. It was enormous, resting and spreading itself in a fence corner reminding me of a granny with a generous lap. The flowers were not snowball mopheads, but had a tall conical shape I found very attractive. The oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) has a lot of advantages. It is native to the United States and so supports the local food web for birds, butterflies and insects. It is very hardy, to zone 3, and it tolerates drier and sunnier conditions than mophead varieties. In the fall the foliage turns beautiful rich colors.

New Oakleaf hydrangea

Last summer I bought an oakleaf hydrangea from Nasami Farm Nasami Farm in Whately. It serves several purposes for me. First, it is a native shrub. Second, it will grow very large and spready so that I can mulch underneath it and eliminate some lawn. Third, I will have large conical flowers for a long season that I like much more than the mopheads. Like most white hydrangeas these flowers will become tinged with pink in the fall. There are smaller oakleaf hydrangea hybrids like Pee Wee for those who limited space. Pee Wee will only grow about four feet tall and as wide, instead of having a six foot spread.

Limelight

Having planted the oakleaf variety I thought that a hydrangea hedge would do away with more lawn  than a single shrub so I planted Limelight, a hybrid that I bought on sale. Limelight (H. paniculata) can easily get more than six feet tall and have an equal spread. Just what I need for reducing lawn. Limelight is very hardy and has chartreuse flowers from summer into fall when they will become paler and then shade to pink.  Soil pH which changes some mopheads blue or pink depending on soil acidity, has no effect on this variety with its elongated blossoms. Like the oakleaf, it is tolerant of drier conditions and should be pruned in the fall or very early spring because it blooms on new wood.

Pinky Winky

By the time I planted Limelight my plant account was empty, but I need one more hydrangea to complete my hedge. Pinky Winky is a very popular hydrangea because of its large flowers which can be as much as 16 inches tall. They are pink at the bottom but keep opening white at the top. These are large hardy shrubs like Limelight, with equal tolerance for sun and dry soil. I should emphasize that any new tree or shrub should be kept well watered during its first year while it is becoming firmly established.

If you’d like a rich red flower early in the season,  Quick Fire is for you. It blooms earlier and the flowers turn red quickly – as suggested by the name.  The flowers are airier and less dense than mopheads.

Last summer I attended my cousin’s wedding held in a friend’s garden that was planted with masses of white Annabelle hydrangeas. The bride even carried a single hydrangea for a bouquet. I found these mopheads more appealing than I had before. Annabelle has been a hardy standard for a number of years, and for those who do like mopheads, a new variety is being introduced this spring. Incrediball (H. arborscens) has creamy white flower heads that can be 12 inches across. It is similar to Annabelle which has been such a favorite, but Incrediball has sturdier stems making it less floppy. It makes a good cut flower.

The surest way to succeed with any shrub or tree, is to plant it carefully. Begin by digging a generous hole.  Hydrangeas like a rich loose soil so take this opportunity to mix in a bucketful or more of compost. Check the roots when you take the shrub out of the container and if they seem compacted at all, loosen them, by raking through with your fingers or garden cultivator. Make sure that you don’t plant too high or too deeply. You can use a yardstick across the top of the dug hole to check placement.  Water the plant and hole generously when you have replaced half the soil, and again when all the soil is replaced and firmly tamped down. Keep all new plantings well watered for the first season, even those that are drought tolerant. Many plants will need less fussing in future years if they are well and healthily established.  Mulching will help prevent the soil from drying out rapidly.

It’s easy to see why you will find many hydrangeas marketed in the familiar green Proven Winners containers at garden centers. They are hardy, dependable, and give a long season of bloom. Just what we all desire in a plant. Photos of Limelight and Pinky Winky courtesy of Proven Winners.

Between the Rows   February 13, 2010

Living Sculpture

Sastrugi 1-4-10

Sastrugi is the name for the ripples, waves and caves that the wind forms of snow. Our Sunken Garden is the foundation of an old barn that was struck by lightning in 1990 and burned down. The wind comes sweeping across the open fields all winter dumping snow into the Sunken Garden, caught on the edge by a row of white rugosa roses which help to sculpt the snow into ever changing works of art.

Sastrugi 2-1-10

The snowy shapes change and so does the light, shifting, highlighting, dimming, all day long.

Sastrugi 2-20-10

It doesn’t even take a lot of snow to alter the sastrugi. The fields are wide, the wind is strong, and nature insists on being an artist.

Sky and Wind

Today at 7 a.m.

Why is it that dawn skies are always so beautiful.

Who sees the wind?

I was nearly blown off the Welcoming Platform while taking these photos.

For more skies click on Skywatch Friday.