Spring Planted Bulbs for Summer Bloom

Gloriosa 'Rothschildiana' courtesy of Brent and Beck's Bulbs

The last planting season of the year is late fall when gardeners are racing to get in all the crocus, daffodil, scilla, snowdrop and tulip bulbs in the ground so they can look forward to an early spring full of color. But fall is not the only bulb planting season. There is a whole array of bulbs that need to be planted in the spring to bloom gloriously and often exotically in the summer.

Many summer blooming bulbs are native to tropical places that have a long hot growing season. Many will be happy in a container, while others are more commonly grown in the ground, but for the most part they are not winter hardy in our climate and cannot overwinter outside.

I have just ordered a Gloriosa ‘Rothschildiana’ from Brent and Becky’s Bulbs. Sometimes called a climbing lily, this unusual lily will grow to a height of about six feet and its tendrils need some kind of trellis or support to latch on to. The crimson flower itself has strongly reflexed slim petals, curving back from a green center with long graceful ‘eyelash’ pistils and stamens. Some gardeners have described this vining plant as looking as if it is covered with butterflies when it is in bloom mid to late summer.

Rothschildiana can be grown in a container or in well drained soil. It needs full sun, and since it is a tropical plant it is wise to place it where it will not only get bright sunlight, but where heat will collect and it will be protected from wind. The vital thing to remember with any container planting is that it must be kept watered, probably every single day, and they must get regular fertilization, often every other week with a half strength solution.

Crocosmia, also known as montbretia or sword lily grows from corms that are native to South Africa. Lucifer is the variety most seen in our area because it is hardy to zone 5 or minus 10 degrees. However, in zone 5 it should be heavily mulched for the winter. Lucifer is a dramatic plant with its strappy, iris-like foliage, and brilliant scarlet flowers on two to three foot arching stems. They are not only stunning in the garden, they work well as cut flowers and have a long life in a vase. New corms may take two years to bloom, but a large clump is a magnificent sight. It is a plant that gets lots of attention on the Bridge of Flowers.

Crocosmia 'Lucifer'

Crocosmia and the Gloriosa lily are both pest resistant. Rodents will not turn these bulbs and corms into lunch.

I love Oriental lilies with their recurved petals, but all lilies are beautiful. Gaining in popularity are what some are calling pot lilies, compact plants that do well in a container. B&D Lilies offer several of these smaller lilies including After Eight, a fragrant garnet-red lily with white banding that resembles some of the Stargazer lilies. It only grows to about 18 inches tall. B&D recommends at least a gallon potting soil for each bulb and warns that potting soils with fertilizer included must be avoided. Too much nitrogen will not help lilies and can hinder blooming. They also recommend using a rose fertilizer during the growing season, which is to say a fertilizer that has more phosphorous than nitrogen or potassium.

Rodolpha is pure white lily, similar to the magnificent Casa Blanca, but it will only grow to two feet, so it will be happy in a container, or in the front of a garden border.

Lilies love the sun, but they are hardy to zone 4 so they have no trouble coming through our winters. Even here in Heath.

Caladium 'White Queen' courtesy of Brent and Becky's Bulbs

Of course not all bulbs or corms or tubers produce beautiful flowers. Caladiums are big showy foliage plants that like the shade. Caladium foliage is prized because of its unusual colors and patterns. Moonlight is nearly white, lighting up a shady spot. White Queen is equally pale but vividly veined in red. Candididum Sr. has white leaves but the veins are green. Some foliage is wine red with dark green margins, some is green splotched with red. Not many plants can boast of foliage that comes in a full range of white, green, red and pink. A selection of cultivars will be available at local garden centers in the spring, but catalogs like Brent and Becky’s Bulbs will give a larger selection of bulbs that you can start early indoors.

I was interested that although caladiums like cool shade, they need warm soil to begin growing. Gardeners are advised to start them indoors in small pots that can be kept on a heat mat.

Caladiums do well in containers by themselves, or in a mixed planting with other annuals or perennials. They are also useful in cut flower arrangements, their handsome foliage showing off blooms to best advantage.

There are other familiar summer blooming bulbs and tubers. The Swan Island Dahlias catalog give a hint of the size and variety of dahlias. There are dwarf plants and small blossoms and large plants that will need staking to support stems that carry many blossoms. Dahlias are wonderful because the more they are cut for bouquets, the more they will bloom. Sun and well drained soil are the main requirements. Like lilies, dahlias do not like fertilizer with a lot of nitrogen.

Summer blooming bulbs can add color to your sunny garden and to your shade garden. The only difficulty is making choices among the hundreds of cultivars available.

Between the Rows  January 21, 2012

Geranium and Heuchera: Plants of the Year

Heuchera 'Lime Ricky' photo courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries

The National Garden Bureau’s goal is to make the world more beautiful with plants by inspiring gardeners and giving them useful information. This year they have named 2012 The Year of the Geranium and the Year of the Heuchera. Both of these flower families are large and varied, but none have difficult requirements for growing success.
The geranium the NGB is celebrating this year can more accurately be called pelargonium. When Linnaeus of Sweden first published his plant classification system in 1753 he clumped cranesbills and the pelargoniums in one family he named geranium. It did not take long before the French botanist L’Heritier thought one group was distinctly different and moved them to their own group he called pelargoniums. This caused a controversy that endures to this day, but today I will talk about the plant that Thomas Jefferson first sent from Paris in 1786 to John Bartram in Philadelphia, and that most of us still call geraniums.

As bedding plants geraniums can be grown in the ground, but most of us use them in containers. There are four main types. Zonal geraniums, Pelargonium x hortorum, with its familiar leaf markings, is the flower that is sold everywhere in the spring. No matter what color from white to shades of lavender, salmon, pink and red, there is a geranium that will appeal. Most flower heads will have single or double flowerets, but some will have starry flowerets. There are dwarf ten inch plants, and miniature six inch plants as well as the familiar12 to 18 inch size, something for everyone.

A second type is the regal geranium, Pelargonium domesticum, which is sometimes sold as a Martha Washington geranium. These are bushy plants that need cool temperatures to set buds and bloom in the spring. A smaller variety is called the angel geranium with blossoms that can resemble pansies.
Then there are the scented leaf geraniums, again a Pelargonium domesticum. These do produce small blossoms but their main appeal lies in their leaves which release a rich fragrance when they are brushed or crushed. You can choose chocolate, lemon, rose, peppermint or any one of a dozen other fragrances.
Finally there are the ivy leaved geraniums, Pelargonium peltatum, with vining stems and, naturally, ivy shaped foliage. These are especially desirable for hanging baskets and window boxes or adding their graceful charm to any container. The flowers are comprised of smaller looser umbels in shades of pink, white and red.
All geraniums need full sun, and a rich well-drained soil. When grown in a container drainage is vital as is fertilizing every two weeks with a half strength balanced fertilizer.
While geraniums can be used in your container garden, heucheras, or coral bells, can bring a whole range of foliage color to flower beds. They can be used as specimen plants, as groundcovers and even add vigor and color to your container plantings. Some catalogs will list them in the shade section, but they also happy in the sun.
It seems to me that the last few years have brought us an explosion of heuchera varieties. I don’t know many gardeners who grow coral bells for the dainty flowers on their tall slender stalks anymore. Heucheras are all about the large leaves of wonderful foliage in a range of colors from the bright chartreuse green of ‘Lime Rickey’ to the yellow and pink of ‘Ginger Ale’ and rich dark ‘Plum Pudding.’ There are also the ruffled green leaves of Garden Merit Award winner ‘Sashay’ edged with burgundy, the hot pink splashes on ‘Midnight Rose,’ and the silver shimmer on the dark leaves of ‘Frosted Violet.’

Heuchera 'Marmalade' photo courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries

While we don’t think that perennials change much over the growing season, beyond going in and out of bloom, a heuchera like ‘Green Spice’ will surprise us with its green and silver leaves and red veins in summer, but then turn orange and burgundy with silver in the fall.
Having said many gardeners are only interested in heuchera foliage, I do want to point out the brilliant ‘Firefly’ that has tall red flowers and even fragrance.
Whether or not we choose a coral bell with pretty flowers, the foliage itself is useful in flower arrangements and a long stemmed leaf will last a long time in water.
Terra Nova Nursery is a wholesale nursery that has hybridized and introduced many stunning heucheras that you will find in local garden centers and mail order nurseries like Bluestone Perennials. Many of these new varieties are not only very hardy, they form large clumps quickly and can be used in a variety of ways in the garden.
Heucheras thrive in sun and shade. They prefer a soil that is near neutral or only slightly acid, but are quite adaptable. Good drainage is important. After a year like 2011 that brought us such torrential rains we are reminded of how important drainage is in the garden, especially for plants like coral bells. On the other hand, they are drought tolerant – in case we have a very dry year. Mother Nature seems to be getting more and more capricious. We can’t even count on a rainy season or dry season on a predictable schedule.
Geraniums and heucheras are both dependable, varied and beautiful plant families. It is easy to see why the National Garden Bureau is celebrating them this year.

Beetween the Rows   January 7, 2012

Agastache and Nepeta – Deer Repellents

Photo courtesy of Fine Gardening

Fine Gardening’s photo of Agastache ‘Cana’ has got me all excited. Recently I read somewhere (I wish I could remember where) that some plants were not only deer resistant, they were deer repellent. Deer have a sensitive sense of smell and some plants have such a strong scent that deer are actually repelled and avoid them. I am thinking of strategically planting some attractive deer repellant plants among my garden beds in the hope this will discourage deer – and bunnies.

The family of Agastaches, otherwise known as hyssop or hummingbird mint, has the advantage of including many attractive cultivars, like ‘Cana’ and attracting many insects as well as butterflies, hummingbirds and other birds who relish the seeds. It needs a good rich soil, sun and good drainage, but is not really difficult to grow.

Photo courtesy of Kentucky University

Nepeta Walker’s Low is just one of the catmints that is welcome in the perennial garden. Like the agastaches it is a deer and rabbit repellent plant and like them it needs soil with organic matter, lots of sun, and good drainage.  In the past I planted catmints that my cats have loved to death. Now the cats are older and my vegetable garden, which suffered considerably from deer noshing last year, is a small distance from the house so I am counting on the cats being less venturesome and staying nearer the house in their old age. I can hope.

The University of Michigan has a good list of deer resistant plants here.

I wrote about Ruth Rogers Clausen’s great book 50 Beautiful Deer Resistant Plants: The Prettiest Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs and Shrubs that Deer Don’t Eat here. We all have to remember that the power of the repellent or resistance may vary when deer get really really hungry, but I am hoping that including more of these plants in my garden, especially near the vegetable garden, will keep me happier, and better fed myself.

New Goals For the New Year

“What news? What news?” was often the cry when E. F. Benson’s delightfully pretentious Lucia met her neighbor Georgie coming across the Riseholm village green in “Queen Lucia,” the first of several books about the life in an English village before WWII.

When I return from Saturday morning rounds in my own rural village my husband always wants to know what news I bring home.

“What’s new?” is our inevitable query of neighbors at local gatherings.

The desire to be in the know, aware of the latest news and rumors, trends and fashions seems to be built into our genes. Right now, as we stand at the cusp of a new year, we gardeners are already being bombarded with catalogs promising the newest horticultural offerings, latest achievements in hybridizing and the dandiest new gadgets.

I’ve been doing a tiny survey to find out if any of the people I know make new year’s resolutions anymore. No one I asked admitted to doing such a thing, but several said they set themselves goals for the year, for their business, in their domestic life, and their social life. Some said they liked getting close to a goal – and then setting a new stretch goal. I think many gardeners will greet the new year with one or two new goals, and maybe even stretch a little further.

When I opened my Johnny’s catalog I was instantly launched into a suggested goal, “Create a season-long planting program (to) ensure a continuous supply, make efficient use of space and effectively schedule planting times.” That is a noble goal and one I set myself every year, but rarely manage to carry out to any great degree. This is a new year, however, and it is a goal I can commit to. Once again.

With all the talk about the eating local trend, and growing your own vegetables, even if you don’t own a piece of land, those with a deck might set a goal of learning to grow vegetables in containers. Cherry tomatoes are easy to grow in containers, and many lettuces can be harvested in the baby stage after only about 30 days. Renee’s Garden offers a new variety of zucchini that is suitable for container growing. Growing herbs in containers will save cooks a lot of money over the summer and fall. How much do you spend on parsley alone every season?

Every catalog will tout their new varieties. Johnny’s has a whole new vegetable for farmers that they are calling “Flower Sprouts,”  a cross between Brussels sprouts and kale. The mildly flavored rosette-like sprouts the color of Red Russian kale grow on stalks like Brussels sprouts. I hope some of the local farms grow will grow this.

Some catalogs like the Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) are offering newly available old varieties. Many hybrids are suitable for the home gardener because they have been bred for disease resistance, but many are also bred to ripen all at once and be less fragile, both qualities that are important for commercial growers whose crops have to be up to the rigors of long distance transportation, but not are not as concerned with flavor.

Mantilia from SSE is a new old butterhead that has won taste testing competitions and is “mild, tender and sweet.”  I love butterhead lettuces.

Heirloom seeds also help keep the gene pool robust and abundantly diverse. We never know what stresses or changing conditions will arise, affecting plant growth and thus our food supply. Scientists cannot make useful hybrids if they don’t have a large healthy gene pool at their disposal.

Bluestone Perennials touts their new use of biodegradable pots on their catalog cover, along with 120 new items. Their new pots are made of coir, coconut husk fibers. These fibrous pots allow for better air exchange which fosters good root growth. Since these pots go directly into the soil, there is no transplant shock. Actually, these coir pots appeared last year and I can attest to the benefits.

Bluestone has many familiar and unusual flowers on offer. I remember when Echinacea, coneflower, came in a dusky pink or white, but now there are pinks, gold orange and green; some, like ‘Milkshake,’ have large shaggy centers and recurved petals.

Then there are always new projects. Sometimes that is a planting project like a blueberry patch. Sometimes it is a new structure from a trellis to hold cukes or melons, and sometimes a garden shed. My garden shed has changed my life. Now my tools and supplies are organized and accessible.

We are planning a new fence around the vegetable garden which includes a small raspberry and black raspberry patch. This past year I had as much trouble from rabbits as from deer, but we hope a new fence around the whole area will solve the problem. I am even hoping for a nice gate.

As the year turns, and you turn to your garden catalogs, what new things do you hope for in 2012?  New plants? A new planting bed – ornamental or vegetal? Do you need a new tool – or a new tool sharpener? What new project are you considering?

Whatever new directions you take in your garden this year I wish you every success, and every pleasure. ###

Between the Rows  December 31, 2011

Bloom Day – November 2011

Thomas Affleck

Between the fact that the weather has been so oddly warm, today at 7 am it is 55 degrees, and our efforts to prepare for a kitchen update, I forgot about Bloom Day – not that much is in bloom.  Still, I dashed out into the gray dawn. Certainly it is the end of rose season. Does this Thomas Affleck bloom still hanging on count?

Hardy peach chrysanthemum

An unexpected stop at Wilder Hill Garden in September sent me home with this beautiful mum, identified only as Hardy Peach.  It endured snow and rain, but I think it is still ‘blooming.’

When I timidly began participating in Bloom Day I was assured that ‘buds count.”  Budded now, you can see that this Thanksgiving cactus will be in full bloom on its name day. Unfortunately not much is blooming in Heath in mid-November. I even gave up on my abutilon, defeated by scale.

I look forward with pleasure to seeing other blooms, indoors and out, all over this great land and give thanks to Carol at Maydreamsgardens for giving us this gift every month.

Lyman Plant House and Smith College

Lyman Plant House at Smith College

Last week I visited the Lyman Plant House at Smith College in preparation for a column and post about the Annual Chrysanthemum Show which begins Friday, November 5 with a talk by Smith alum and author Paula Dietz about the gardens she has visited and written about in her book, On Gardens.

The Smith Botanical Garden and the Lyman Plant House are treasures for the whole community to use. The Lyman Plant House is open every day (except Thanksgiving and the period between December 23 – January 3) from 8:30 am – 4 pm, and the gardens surrounding it are available every day of the year. I was amazed at the amount of bloom.

Actually, I know dahlias are still blooming madly up in the higher elevations. Not only at Smith.

There are lots of labels on the plants in the Botanic Garden, but I could not find one for this beautiful plant, of which there were several wonderful floriferous clumps.  Any ideas?

This plant was another mystery. It looks like a regular daisy flower, but look at that foliage – not daisy foliage. Any more ideas?

As a part of the Rock Garden are a number of trough gardens which I think is a wonderful way for any of us to enjoy a few alpine plants.

There is an iron fence that separates the garden from the roadway, but on the road side of the fence there are plantings. Even those passing can enjoy the garden without entering.

This dramatic red planting is at the doorway to the Lyman Plant House.   Wow!

I was familiar with many of these plants (not all obviously) but I was amazed to see cactus included in the garden. Hardy in Northampton?  I guess so.

Bloom Day – October 2011

Ann Varner Daylily

In spite of the warm fall, with only one real frost, the garden is beginning to die. Its demise seems to have been hurried by the three days of rain we just had. All these photos were taken in the rain. This is the very last daylily of summer. Ann Varner is a real trooper. Behind her you can see there are a few Buttercream nasturtiums crawling around, and it has been so warm that even the canna foliage isn’t completely fried.

Double Red Knockout roses

The double red Knockouts on the Rose Bank are still putting out a few blooms, as is Pink Grootendorst and ‘The Fairy.’ Too few to photograph.

'Thomas Affleck'

‘Thomas Affleck’ on the other hand is still blooming and budding, right near the entry walk. I got a lot more than I bargained for when I bought this rose.

This chrysanthemum, one of six (only three survived a spring bunny attack) is just beginning to bloom amid a tangle of black netting (against the bunnies) weeds and morning glory vine.

Its sister mums have been blooming for a while and the rain is making them look a bit bedraggled.

Love Lies Bleeding

Most of the potted plants are pretty well gone. I did not get the show I expected from Love Lies Bleeding, but I did not expect it to survive our frost either. You can see the petunias behind are still blooming.

Neither did I expect the lantana to be blooming still. I couldn’t resist that funky, wiry grass, but you can see I have a lot to learn about container planting design.

I love this annual salvia, my faux lavender hedge around the roses in the Shed Bed. The photo might be slightly out of focus, but I am going to blame the softness of focus on the rain.

The cascade of morning glories was still blooming in the dim showery light yesterday morning. ‘Granpa OttI’ is one tough old guy. I am really going to miss him, and they cannot go on much longer.

The rains were torrential yesterday afternoon, but it looks like we might have some sun today.  It is trying to peek out the patches of blue sky.

To see what else is bloom around the country be sure and visit our gracious hostess at May Dreams Gardens.  When I first began participating around three years ago I never dreamed that I would be creating a wonderful, and useful, record of what the garden was doing in every season. I send grateful thoughts to Carol every month.

Color may be all gone from the garden, but the last few days have finally started bringing a vivid blush to our woodlands. I had to drive to Springfield and even in the rain, on the highway, the drive was a pleasure.

Fall Planting Season

'Alma Potchke' aster

The gardening year really has two planting seasons, spring and fall.

Spring planting season is all a-rush with excitement because you can finally get your hands in the dirt, carefully chosen plants are arriving and a casual browse through the local nurseries has sent you home with a truckload of new plants and plans. And then there is the bliss of working beneath an ever warmer and brighter sun.

Fall planting season tends to be less exuberant, with thoughts arising as perennials are cut back, and dead annuals pulled out and tossed on the compost pile. Some plants will need to be divided which means new locations in the planting scheme of things. Some locations will demand an entirely new plant. It’s time to make a final pass through the local nursery to see what might be on season-end sale. Nursery plants at this time of the year may not look as vital and lush as they did in the spring, but that does not mean that once their roots are loosened and in the ground they will not revive and greet the new spring with great energy and beauty.

Fall planting is always at least a small part of fall clean-up because generally speaking, perennials need dividing every three or four years. Dividing a perennial clump gives you a chance to pull out any weeds that have inveigled their way in, and to think about potential new sites for the plant. It also gives you a chance to think about who else might enjoy or benefit from the divisions.

Years ago I interviewed a wonderful woman who had a special holding bed for divisions. Then, whenever someone admired her garden or a specific plant, she could take them to that bed and send them away with a generously sized healthy plant.  Having a holding bed for some divisions means you won’t have to disturb your own garden when the generous impulse hits – as it inevitably does.

I don’t have a permanent holding bed even though I keep promising myself that I will make one, but I have planted fall divisions in an empty vegetable bed. In the spring I dig them, and pot them up for the Bridge of Flowers Plant Sale. Recently I read that divisions that go directly into pots and then sunk in the garden for the winter, do even better when they are unpotted in a new garden. I am going to try that.

Of course planting techniques are no different spring or fall. If you are planting a pot bound nursery plant, make sure that you loosen all the roots. You do not need to be gentle. You can even drag a cultivator claw through the root ball. Those disturbed roots will finally be able to breathe and grow new roots that can reach into new soil.

The planting hole should be generous with a good helping of compost added. Planting and transplanting are always opportunities to enrich the soil. Make sure the roots are spread out and that they are situated so that the plant is neither too deep, or too high above the soil level. Then give a soaking watering. One of the advantages of fall planting is the gentler sun, cooler temperatures and adequate rainfall.

If the rains do not arrive, as we all know they should, keep any new plant well watered until winter temperatures begin to freeze the ground.

Fall is an excellent time to plant container grown or balled-and-burlapped trees and shrubs. You might find a bargain at the nursery, but make sure to loosen the burlap. Some trees will come with wire to hold the roots together. This heavy wire will strangle the roots and kill the plant. Make sure to remove wire if it is present.

Soil temperatures at this season are warmer than in the spring, and soil is apt to be less waterlogged making it easier for roots to grow into their new home. A young tree with thin bark will benefit from having its trunk wrapped once the ground freezes. That wrapping will need to be removed in March.

Mulch can be applied to any plant once the ground is frozen. This will help prevent freezing, thawing and heaving.

With a little luck vegetable gardens can still be producing cool weather crops like kale, Brussels spouts and beets, but October is also time to plant garlic in the vegetable garden. I chose the eight biggest bulbs from this year’s crop to plant before the end of the month.

I enjoy cleaning out the planting bed, adding some compost and then planting single big cloves about four inches deep, and eight inches apart. Then I mulch well  using a deep layer of straw. It is a happy day in the spring when those grassy garlic shoots make their way through the mulch.

Spring blooming bulbs can be planted all through October. What would you choose, early bloomers like snowdrops and scillas or sunny daffodils? All of these will multiply wonderfully year after year. For me the easiest way to plant bulbs is to dig a hole that will accommodate several bulbs for a good clump.

An afternoon spent under the autumnal sun with a bag of bulbs and bulb fertilizer will give you years of early spring pleasure.

Between the Rows   October 1, 2011

Color in the Autumn Garden

Annual salvia

The days are growing shorter. When I drive down my road I have begun averting my eyes from a maple branch that has burst into flame. Autumn is officially upon us. And yet there is a lot of bloom in my garden.

One of the benefits of annuals is that many will bloom well into the fall. I have pots of snapdragons, petunias, osteospurnum and ‘Million Bells,’  a healthy blooming border of an annual salvia around the Shed Bed of roses, cosmos are blooming like crazy in the Lawn Bed, morning glories are right outside our window, a buttery yellow nasturtium has taken over the Front Garden and down in the Potager zinnias, gomphrena ‘Strawberry Fields’ and China asters are in bloom. Those alone would make quite a colorful bouquet.

China asters

Even without much effort a number of perennials are still blooming: garden phlox, achillea, and Russian sage. These three plants are a good lesson in the different ways to keep a colorful garden into the fall. First, varieties of garden phlox can begin flowering in early summer. Cut the flowers for bouquets or wait until they fade and cut them back. With a little luck in the weather they will produce a second flush of bloom. Achillea or yarrow works the same way.

Phlox, Cosmos and Perovskia

Perovskia or Russian sage is an airy plant with tiny lavender flowers on its graceful stems that begins blooming in midsummer and continues right on into fall. Echinops or globe thistle and Eryngium or sea holly are other plants that will give you bloom into the fall, and also make good additions to dried flower arrangements as do some of the yarrows. ‘Coronation Gold’ is an old standard achillea that is very good for dried arrangements.

I did not plant any dahlias this year, but a trip across the Bridge of Flowers anytime from August until frost will show what a good plant dahlias, in all their many forms, are for the autumn garden. Some are little pompoms, some are as big as dinner plates and named such, some are shaggy and some are spiky. Dahlias have long lasting color and form to suit any taste. The secret to having floriferous dahlias is to keep cutting them, keep making bouquets and you will have an amazingly long season of color.

Instead of dahlias I planted a chrysanthemum collection in our little circle garden. Buying a collection from a mail order catalog like Bluestone Perennials is a good way to try out a plant in its many forms. I ordered a collection of spoon and quilled mums in colors from cream to pink, lavender, red and copper. The words spoon and quill refer to the petal shapes. I was really looking forward to an interesting array of colorful mums.

However, I had not counted on this year’s crop of rabbits. We have gotten used to deer, nibbling at things and while we are not happy about that, we have come to expect it. This year, for the first time we had rabbits. Many rabbits. There are big rabbits and little rabbits. And they are all hungry.

They ate the new beet greens in the Front Garden early this spring, and young squash plants while the deer ate all our peas. It never dawned on me that rabbits would eat my chrysanthemum collection. But they did. Three days in a row I went out and found a mum plant gone. Three out of six plants went into a mum meal for the bunnies. Just in time to save the last three plants a friend suggested black netting.

The circle garden really exists because there a big boulder in the lawn and planting annuals there marks the spot so the mower doesn’t damage itself and we get a unique view every year.  This year I had put up a bamboo teepee for a morning glory collection. The rabbits kept eating the morning glory shoots too.

With a few additional small bamboo stakes and a piece of fine black netting that I found in the shed I wrapped and tacked the net around the circle. Success! The rabbits could no longer eat the remaining plants.

The morning glories that were left started climbing up the bamboo teepee and I pretty much forgot about that little plot of earth. My husband mowed around it, but I didn’t even have the time to do the neat edging. The other day I went to see how the mums were doing. One, possibly Starlet described as yellow/copper, has begun to bloom in spite of the tangle of netting, morning glory vine and the weedy galinsoga with its tiny tiny rayed flowers. It is not quite the display that I had envisioned back in May when I put those healthy young plants in the ground, but one takes what one can get in this busy world.

'Alma Potschke'

Right now I am admiring my ‘Alma Potsche’ raspberry pink aster which is starting to bloom, just one of the many asters available to gardeners searching for fall bloom.

As soon as I decide how to protect it from the rabbit herd, I am going to plant Eupatorium or Joe-Pye weed, a six foot plant with winey-pink flower heads that to me, is an icon of the New England fall.

The trees are gaining color every day, but the flower gardens are ready to throw in the towel just yet.  ####

Between the Rows    September 17, 2011

Fall Chores Begin

While in town yesterday I met a friend who said he was busy cutting back the peonies and generally trying to close up the garden because he is leaving for Paris in a week or so. Until the end of October. Poor baby.

So I came home and looked at my peonies, which will need a lot of weeding as well as cutting back.

Guan Yin Mian tree peony

Of course, the tree peonies which produce large blossoms like Guan Yin Mian on shrubby stems, that do not die down to the ground, and that bloom earlier in the spring than the herbaceous peonies, do not need cutting back but they will need some weeding.

Hydrangea 'Pinky Winky'

My year old ‘Pinky Winky’ hydrangea will need some snipping around its base, too. Fall chores must begin. But not today. It’s raining.