Garden Math

by | Aug 17, 2020

I was always more comfortable in art class than math class.

How about you?

For better or worse, we need both subjects in the garden. We need the color wheel and sometimes we need a calculator.

Here are some of the numbers I calculate most often:

 

 

  • Average first and last frost dates. Whether you are starting your own seeds or wondering if it’s too early in spring to prune your boxwood or too late in fall to prune a rose, it’s helpful to consult the average first and last dates for freezing temperatures in your area. The internet or a local university or agricultural institution can help you out here. Even better, if you keep a garden journal, you’ll be able to estimate your own average more precisely.

 

  • Date to maturity. This information is usually offered on the back of a seed packet or on a plant label. This is important information if you are growing plants to harvest. For instance, if a fall vegetable needs 90 days to grow from germination to harvest, I do not want those 90 days to extend past the date of my first average freeze. That means there’s a good chance my vegetable plant will be killed by winter weather before I can harvest it. Yes, this math problem requires us to count backwards!

 

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Here are some sample math problems for the garden that are particularly relevant as winter turns to spring and as summer turns to fall:

 

  • When should I start the seeds for my fall garden of cool weather crops like kale or lettuce?

First, check the “days to maturity” information on the seed package.

Then, count backwards that number of days from your average first frost date.

Then add 3 or 4 weeks more to give your seeds time to germinate and grow to a size suitable for transplanting. You’ll have more flexibility with those crops that can tolerate a light freeze (like kale), or if you are covering your plants with fleece or other protective covering.

 

  • When should I start the seeds for my spring and summer garden?

First, consult the average date of last frost for your area or decide when you feel comfortable planting them outdoors (for instance, some plants can tolerate light frost and may be planted out earlier, some, like tomatoes, need to be planted out only after the soil has warmed).

Then, consult the seed packet for information about how many weeks the seeds should be sown before their planting date. The best advice I can give (which I have consistently learned the hard way) is not to start your seeds too early. Strong, healthy seedlings can catch up, but there is little hope for a seedling that has grown leggy while you wait for warmer weather or a seedling that is planted out too soon and killed by a late freeze.

 

  • When should I start the seeds for hardy annuals like snapdragon?

Not all annuals must be completely protected from winter weather. Cool season hardy annuals like snapdragons and sweet peas can be planted in the fall and very early spring. These plants love to get established during cool weather.

In many regions, these flowers can be planted in the fall to winter-over and bloom in spring. Even in colder regions, these flowers should be planted in the earlier spring days, long before the last frost date has arrived.

Consult the growing zone information for the hardy annual you want to grow. For instance, some snapdragons are winter hardy to US zone 4, which means most of us should be planting these cut-flower beauties in fall, not spring.

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Here is a handy online calculator for seed starting dates.

Explore all our Black Barn Garden Library posts here.

A Dreamy Plant Book

by | Aug 13, 2020

 

We garden in soil, and we garden in our dreams.

I am often unsure which gardening I prefer. Certainly, I am thankful for both.

Here is a book from my collection that is helpful for the real, dirty work of gardening as well as the imaginative play of garden dreaming.

1001 Plants To Dream of Growing edited by Liz Dobbs is exactly what it sounds like: a sourcebook for garden dreams. With beautiful photographs and sections on everything from “Annuals” and “Perennials” to “Bulbs, corms, and tubers” to “Indoor and patio,” this is an incredibly comprehensive catalog.

What I especially love about it though is that it doesn’t dabble in generalities.

For instance, it doesn’t recommend Brunnera (bugloss) or Hemerocallis (daylilies) generally, rather it recommends very specific varieties to dream of growing. Anyone who has ever gone to a garden center looking for a daylily only to be confronted by two dozen varieties with very different descriptions on their labels will appreciate this approach.

So, 1001 Plants to Dream of Growing doesn’t simply recommend camellia but gives descriptions of two very desirable varieties: ‘Donation’ and ‘Bob Hope,’ along with a few other alternatives if you’d like a different color or your climate is slightly different.

1001 Plants to Dream of Growing doesn’t suggest you dream of herbs in general or even thyme in general but specifically recommends thyme of the Coccineus group for a flowering carpet effect or Thymus vulgaris for good looks and good flavor.

This book is specific, and that’s exactly what we need to turn our general, hazy dreams into reality.

“Explore all our Black Barn Garden Library posts here.

History and the Garden: Formality and Symmetry

by | Aug 10, 2020

 

History can be a surprising source of inspiration for our garden-making.

 

In her book The Morville Hours, Katherine Swift describes the process of creating a garden inspired by the history of gardening in her corner of England. Swift’s garden has separate garden “rooms” inspired by medieval gardens, Tudor gardens, and more.

But we don’t need to be quite so ambitious.

Even a quick journey through the history of garden styles can provide new ideas.

The following historical styles are united in their emphasis on formal symmetry and pattern.

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Medicinal Herb Gardens

During the Middle Ages gardens were more like pharmacies.

Here is an article about medicinal plants that would have been grown in a monastic garden that we can still grow today.

Here is an article about the design of herb gardens over the years.

 

Tudor Knot Gardens

In an age when gardeners had access to fewer ornamental plants, garden designs were almost modern in their minimalism and simplicity. The streamlined symmetry creates a very formal effect.

The Tudor Knot garden shown here has an elaborate pattern but very little color. More about Tudor garden designs can be found here.

 

American Colonial Gardens

The gardens at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia have been recreated to show us the combination of symmetry, formality, and productivity that characterized these early American gardens.

Here’s an example of merging past and present with colonial style.

 

Victorian Carpet Bedding

The term “carpet bedding” might be new to you, but you are likely familiar with the style. Popularized by wealthy Victorians with glasshouses for growing their own annual flowers, carpet bedding is the gardening practice of laying out colorful annuals to mimic the patterns of a carpet.

We still see something like this style used in many municipal plantings and large-scale landscapes in our public places.

Here is an article about this traditional form. This style is the opposite of naturalistic gardening. Its impact comes with its bold use of monochromatic color and striking shapes. Find a brief history of carpet bedding here.

 

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The Longest Lasting Color in the Garden

by | Aug 6, 2020

 

It’s the Holy Grail of gardening, isn’t it?

That plant that blooms and blooms and blooms all summer long.

Over the years, I have mostly given up on it, deciding such a thing doesn’t really exist. I’ve accepted the notion of the gardener as a conductor of a symphony, planting layers of plants so that color and flower come in waves through the year.

I do still believe that we are conductors in our gardens. And I do still believe in orchestrating a garden that pleases us as much as possible all year long.

But this year I have also discovered that some plants really do give and give and give, month after month.

Here are five plants that have surprised me this summer with their continuous bloom:

 

  • Agastache ‘Peachie Keen’: This agastache variety is new to me this year. I planted quite a few of them as very small plugs in the new border outside my kitchen. I have been absolutely astonished at how quickly they grew and how they have flowered all summer with the prettiest peach-colored flowers. I feel as if I’ve found a miracle plant.

 

  • Calamintha nepeta: This is another new-to-me plant. I bought a tray of small seedlings labeled as the variety ‘White Cloud,’ but either the plants were mislabeled or ‘White Cloud’ sometimes flowers lavender-blue. Online sources advise shearing back the spreading plants after they flower, but mine haven’t stopped flowering all summer long.

 

  • Verbena bonariensis: Of course, I must mention this favorite. Summer after summer, I am amazed at how beautiful this plant is all season long. Even after the vivid purple flowers fade a bit, the seedheads look beautiful in fall.

 

  • Dahlia ‘Happy Single First Love’: Though I have grown various dahlias for years, this variety is new to me this summer. I planted several in the new kitchen border. It looked amazing early in the summer as the dark, perfect foliage grew in. The leaves are almost black and add beautiful shadows to the border. Then these dahlias started blooming before any of my other dahlias were in flower, and they show no signs of stopping. I am keeping them deadheaded as flowers fade, but I think they will keep-on-keeping-on.

 

  • Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’: None of the pictures I found in books or online prepared me for how lovely this medium-sized ornamental grass is. The foliage is silvery green and white and absolutely shines. It makes everything planted nearby look better.

 

Explore all our Black Barn Garden Library posts here.

Top Five Garden Tasks for Fall

by | Aug 3, 2020

Fall is a busy season in the garden.

In many places, this time of year is defined by cooler temperatures and increased rainfall which makes it an ideal time to garden.

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Here are five jobs I prioritize each autumn:

  • Plant bulbs

 

  • Plant trees and shrubs

 

  • Prepare new planting areas and/or add mulch (chopped leaves are perfect!) to existing beds

 

  • Sow seed for cool-weather plants like sweet peas, snapdragons, poppies, swiss chard, etc. (more about this to come for our Library!).

 

  • Divide and propagate: I like to do this in very early fall so new divisions have a chance to settle in and grow roots before winter dormancy.

 

One traditional autumn task I DO NOT prioritize is cleanup.

Instead of cutting back the dead or dying herbaceous layer in my garden (from perennials like nepeta or ornamental grasses), I leave the material to insulate the soil, provide shelter and food for wildlife, and for visual interest (frosted seedheads can be beautiful).

I DO cut back and clean out the dying foliage of my peonies as they can harbor disease, and I cut back or tie in long canes of roses that might be whipped around in winter winds.

Explore all our Black Barn Garden Library posts here.

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