by Christie Purifoy | Apr 6, 2020
One of the things I have learned over the years, is that I will never master ALL the possibilities. There will always be even commonly-grown plants, that I know little about and have no experience growing.
When I first moved to Maplehurst and began to garden on acres, rather than square feet as I had in Florida, or a few containers, as I had in Chicago, I behaved as if it was my job to learn about every garden plant I had ever heard about. I planted a little bit of everything and was always studying those encyclopedic gardening books that attempt to describe every perennial or every tree and shrub.
But over time, I stopped my ceaseless searching for the next new thing, and I began to focus on bringing more of those plants into my garden that already seemed to be doing well.
Instead, of researching every new possibility for my flower garden, I divided my nepeta and spread it around. By that point, I knew that I loved how little care it needed, how well it covered the ground, how it bloomed in an explosion of purple in early summer, but kept sending up new flowers into fall even as the leaves drooped and took on a silvery sheen. It isn’t the plant for every garden, nor is it for every gardener (I have heard that many gardeners abhor its tendency to spread and crowd out other plants), but it is the plant for me.
Easy to grow and shrugs off heat and humidity? Yes, please!
I recently came across this advice from an experienced gardener: learn how to grow twenty plants really well.
In other words, focus and learn everything you can about a limited number of garden plants, then build your garden with that deep, rather than wide, knowledge.
And I realized: rather than growing lazy, as I had feared, I had been instinctively reaching for that deeper knowledge. And my garden is better for it.
by Christie Purifoy | Apr 3, 2020
Over the years, I have noticed a pattern in my attitude toward my garden. When I am feeling discouraged (perhaps a much-loved plant is struggling, the weeds are out of control, or a design just doesn’t seem to be working), I often double my discouragement by assuming that real gardeners–accomplished gardeners–feel only peace and tranquility in their gardens.
But that simply isn’t true.
Gardening is work.
That means if you sweat or grow tired, you aren’t doing it wrong, you are doing it.
Gardening is unpredictable.
Even the most accomplished gardener can do nothing about the weather. A storm might wreck your lilies, even if you took the time to stake each one (and though I love lilies, I have never had the time to stake each one!).
Gardening is nonstop.
Gardens are never static. They aren’t like dishes or bedrooms. Wash the dishes and put them away, and that job is finished forever (until you need to eat again!). Make your bed, and your bed stays made all day. But pull a weed and another will grow. The rose that is perfect in the morning might drop its petals in the afternoon.
Gardening is good news.
Here is the good news: the work we do in our gardens is some of the most physically and emotionally satisfying work that is given us to do. Gardens can never be perfectly controlled, which means we will experience wonderful successes even when we are beginners with everything still to learn. Gardens are never finished.
Gardens are always inviting us in to participate.
by Christie Purifoy | Apr 2, 2020
When?
Early spring is for major pruning. Prune too early and a late-freeze could kill the tender new growth your pruning encouraged. I try to listen to my roses: when they begin to bud and leaf out, I prune.
Summer is for deadheading. Pruning off finished flowers will help your rose bloom more and for a longer period.
Autumn is for trimming back extra long canes that could be damaged by winter wind. Cleaning your tools is especially important now when rose diseases may be present at the end of the growing season.
How?
Clean, sharp snips and pruning tools. I rub the blades down with alcohol on cotton balls or a rag.
Cut on an angle just above a bud. Cut too far above a bud and the stub of wood will shrivel and could spread decay further in that cane. Cut too close and you could damage the bud.
What?
Remember the 3 Ds: Dead, Diseased, Damaged. Begin there by cutting dead wood back to the ground. If the canes are green inside, they are still alive. You can cut damaged and diseased wood all the way back or just well beneath the affected portion.
For shrub roses, I reduce the bush by about a third. Cut back to just above a healthy looking bud break.
Other things to look for: you might prune out thin, wispy growth. You might prune out growth that crosses. When canes rub together they can cause wounds that may weaken or kill the wood.
Finally, clean up. Cart away the pruned leaves and wood in order to discourage pests and disease.
A few additional tips:
- Climbing roses: much of the above still applies, but you will want to learn more about the difference between main canes and lateral canes; climbing roses flower along their lateral growth
- One-time blooming roses: These should be pruned only after they bloom. Otherwise, you might not have any flowers that year.
- Hips: Many rose varieties will set beautiful (and nutritious!) rose hips. These are the fruit of a rose. Toward the end of the growing season stop deadheading in order to let the hips develop. They are beautiful, good food for people and wildlife, and they signal the rose that it’s time for dormancy.
- It’s very unlikely that you will kill a rose by overpruning or pruning badly. At worst, you might sacrifice of a few of that season’s blooms.
by Christie Purifoy | Apr 1, 2020
Yesterday’s post described the differences between annuals and perennials. If annuals die after one season, and perennials come back again and again, why would we ever choose to grow annuals in our gardens?
There are many reasons why.
First of all, if you want to grow food, then most edible plants are annuals. Without annuals, we have no tomatoes or green beans or peppers. We do have blueberries and asparagus, but most of us want more than that on our dinner plates.
Second, annuals are often easy to grow, inexpensive, colorful, and abundant bloomers.
Perennials, in comparison, are reliable and dependable, but few perennials can compare with the splash that annuals like globe amaranth (pictured above), alyssum, pansies, violas, zinnias, cosmos, and sunflowers can make in our flower beds.
Annuals are also a big help when planting new areas in our gardens. Annuals can fill in the spaces between new perennials for a season or two while we wait for those reliable perennials to spread and fill in their space.
by Christie Purifoy | Mar 31, 2020
Even those brand-new to gardening usually know the difference between annual and perennial plants:
Annual: a plant that lives and dies in one growing season
Perennial: a plant that regrows year after year
It’s a straightforward distinction, except when it’s not.
For instance, some annuals re-seed themselves. Meaning that, though they die, they leave seed behind that germinates the next year. They might move around, but they do come back in our gardens. Cosmos sometimes do this in my garden.
Second, some perennials are short-lived. They won’t return to our gardens forever but maybe only for a few years. If you love a short-lived perennial, it’s a good idea to save seed or take cuttings in order to keep these plants growing in your space. Verbascum (‘Southern Charm’ Verbascum is a favorite in my garden) is short-lived, but it is easy to start new plants from seed.
And finally, some plants are perennials in certain climates (the warm southern United States, for instance) but northern gardeners can still grow them as annuals. Meaning, the winter cold will keep them from re-growing the following year.
Here are a few other related concepts:
Biennial: These plants complete their lifecycle over two years.
Herbaceous Perennial: unlike woody shrubs and trees, these perennials die back completely to the ground before regrowing the following year (for example, roses are a shrub but peonies are an herbaceous perennial)
