Muck About

Brr, It’s Cold

Seattle broke its coldest high temperature record for yesterday when it reached 42° F.  I needed to go to work and I looked outside it was snowing.  What?  I remember it snowing in April when I was a kid, so it’s not that it doesn’t happen this late, but I am ready to get out in the garden and enjoy the warmer temperatures of spring.  Do I need to get out there and perform some ritual to appease the weather gods?  Moreover, just what would that entail?  I won’t wash the car, as we know that will bring more rain, something we rarely need extra of this time of year.  I could walk around while moving my hands upward to signify rising heat, maybe a little tap dance in between each rising of my arms. 

I thought I was through swallowing vitamin d capsules for the season. Unless things change in the next few days, March is going out like a lion.  Grr.

The Impulse of Spring!

Pastel tulips, puppies, kittens, lambs, and oh don’t forget the bunnies; all signs that spring is here.  My greenhouse is full of living things that are having growth spurts, some clear up to the ceiling, and my garden is coming alive.  Oh my!  My camera is whirring off photograph after photograph of life returning to the dead-look-alikes.

Here on the west coast we had spring one day ahead of the east coast.  They celebrated the New Year earlier, but we have spring!  Nice to be a step ahead in time, even though it happened technically at the same time our spring came early on the 19th.  How cool is that?

Warning!  <Preachy-mode on>

Spring in the gardening business means hectic schedules, and plants flying in and out, hopefully most out the door and home to happy customers.  Grocery and box stores get into the act, selling their flowery plants quickly; many of them tend to be one season wonders, sold while in flower to sucker entice the customer to buy on impulse.  Grown to perfection for those impulse buyers, the optimum health of the plant is often secondary.  Annuals are pushed into blooming early so the plants will catch the eye of the unaware shopper.  I don’t mind this if I want a few primroses or pansies to place in a decorative basket temporarily by the door.  However, for the garden I want to be sure my plants grow in a way that insures they will live up to their full potential, either as an annual for one season, biennial for two, or perennial for many seasons.  Their full potential shouldn’t be sitting in a four-inch pot stacked in racks by the grocery store entrance.  When you plant them in the garden, they are unlikely to grow or continue to bloom for long.

This is where buying from reputable nurseries is invaluable to gardeners.  Nursery owners, who love their plants, grow them well and offer only the best for their clients.  Buy your fertilizers, chemicals (better yet, get off the chemical yo-yo round) and whatnots from the box stores if you must;  but buy your plant material from locally owned nurseries who know what will grow best in your garden.  Better yet, buy all your garden needs from your local nurseries.  Not only are you buying locally, but helping your own community in many ways, while thanking your hardworking nursery people for providing you with well-taken care of plants.

</Preachy-mode off>

Moreover, just to be clear, I don’t always practice what I preach.  Above impulse buy is a harlequin blue bicolor primrose.

Pieris japonica the lily-of-the-valley bush

I am preparing an entry in the plant gallery and thought I would post my notes here on the blog as I continue filling out the cultural advice for the growing guide on RSG. This is one of my favorite shrubs species from Japan and other Asian countries for growing in the NW.

As with most shrubs in the Ericaceae family, Pieris japonica grows best in low ph soil, making this carefree shrub a perfect choice for our native soils that are typically acidic.  The shrub is a late winter bloomer here in the maritime Pacific Northwest.  Its new foliage in spring is red, much like photinia; however, unlike the fast moving photinias, pieris growth is slow.  I’m grateful we planted these shrubs when we first arrived at our new property, since my ten-year-old plants reach only about six feet tall.  Even though they grow slowly, they are handsome year round, with their evergreen leaves held in whorls. The six-inch long panicles filled with sweet-smelling, small white flowers on red stems cover the shrub in late winter.  When I park in my driveway and see them, the flowers are a welcome sight, signaling the end of the dark, cold days of the season.

In full sun, the shrub flowers prolifically, but grows slower.  The shrub grows faster in shade, but has fewer flowers.  I grow mine as large shrubs, but they are just as handsome limbed up to look like small trees, providing more real estate underneath for planting ferns, perennials or ground covers.  Pieris tolerates salt spray, and thus is a good candidate for planting along the coast.  These shrubs are poisonous.

Easter Brings It All Back

Easter is just around the corner, and arrives early this year on March 23.  Early holiday, early daylight savings time--I think we might feel a little confused this year with all this earliness.  Easter falling on the 23rd is one day past the earliest date Easter can be, which is 22 March.  The last time it arrived on the 23rd was in 1913.  The next time it falls on this date will be in 2160.  The last time it fell on the 22nd was in 1818 and it won’t happen again until 2285.

This year the early blooming daffodils will be in their glory during the early holiday.  When I think of Easter, narcissus always spring to mind, not the  lilies, nor the bunnies, or even the resurrection The brightly hued daffodils say Easter time to me. The first Easter I remember, I was at church looking at the cheery bouquets of daffodil flowers.  And oh, that fragrance; it’s permanently etched in my memory.  When I catch a whiff of that smell, I remember being dressed in a new spring outfit, my hair curled in ringlets, topped with a colorful Easter bonnet, and my feet adorned in shiny white patent leather shoes.  We parked on the road and walked to the small, whitewashed church that perched on the side of a hill, in a little town along the Columbia gorge in Oregon.  After that, my memory wanders to Easter egg hunts, and everything painted in lovely pastel hues, except for the daffodil.  Its display was far from being a washed-down pastel; it came in sporty, brilliant yellows, whites and oranges.  The smell WAS spring. 

The daffodils I remember could have been what we call pheasant’s eye ( poeticus recurvus), which dates to 1831, with its tiny yellow cups edged in orange, further miniaturized by the surrounding, slightly reflexed, white petals.  On the other hand, it could have been a similar looking daffodil--N. ornatus--that blooms just before the pheasant’s eye daffodil and dates back to 1870.  My early Easter memory probably comes from a late spring date when these fragrant lovelies bloom, signally the end of the daffodil season. 

Back then, the King Alfred types with large, bright yellow flowers were as popular as they are today.  I didn’t know their names beyond a daffodil.  All I knew is that someone brought vases full of the bright, cheery flowers that filled the musty old church with their wonderful scent.

Daffodils are harbingers of spring,  and I am sure they bring about fond memories for many people.  Here are a few that I grow in containers on order to whisk the plants off to hidden areas, where their soon to be unsightly foliage can ripen without taking up valuable visible garden space.  I consider them my bouquets in a pot.

Click on photos to see larger versions.

Above photo is Narcissus 'Spellbinder'.

This lovely one is the large King Alfred size flower only in white, 'Mt. Hood'.

The next one is 'Ice Follies', whose yellow cups fade to white as the flower ages.

'Dutch Masters' is a King Alfred type that sports a large, bright, yellow flower.

'Thalia' is pure white with a wonderful fragrance.

This daff is supposed to be 'Trepolo'. I love the variegated cup.

 

The next one is 'Elizabeth Ann' with the lovely, small, pink cups.

 

The last one is a cyclamineus spitfire named 'Jetfire'.

 

Echeveria ‘Topsy Turvey’

This Mexican hens and chicks plant, Echeveria runyonii ‘Topsy Turvey,’ (pronounced ech-eh-VER-ee-a  run-YON-ee-eye)  is a fun little succulent to grow. The leaves look as if they are turned inside out. But it’s not hardy in the Pacific Northwest, so I grow mine in the greenhouse during winter. However, you can winter it over inside the house. Slowly acclimate it to the climate inside the house when you bring it in and cut back on the water. In spring slowly acclimate it back outside. When it flowers, I often see the hummingbirds poking around in the bright apricot and pink blossoms.

Click on images to enlarge.

Never Mind My Life, Mr. Grumbles

I was at one of my favorite watering holes ordering my usual 20-ounce decaf almond latte.  The barista was telling me how she was swamped the day before, and at 5 minutes after closing time someone came in and wanted to order a sandwich.  She told him, “Sorry, we are closed.”   

“Well, all the sandwich makings are still out.”

“I know, and I am trying to get them put away,” she explained.  The place was still packed with people who were slowly filtering out the door.

“Well, I am never coming back here again!” he retorted.

Good, who needs such an inconsiderate customer, was my thought.  Here’s a hardworking young woman, paying her own way through college, needing to get home after cleaning up in order to do her homework.

It reminded me of the time I was at a garden nursery during the busy season; not knowing what time it was, I was still shopping for plants.  I watched the staff turn some people away, as they had closed 20 minutes before.  One belligerent woman started yelling at the employee and pointing at those of us inside.  I collected my items and asked if there was still time to pay.  They answered, Yes there is still time."  I apologized for taking so long as I had lost track of time, paid for my plants and left. 

I know that in retail, workers sometimes have to put up with ungracious customers;  yet they still smile and patiently handle people politely.  As a customer, shouldn’t we also be courteous to them?  We aren’t always in the right. What makes us so special that we can walk into an establishment after closing and expect service, keeping people after working hours? Many times, they still need to count their tills, clean up, and have the place ready for the next business day.  They are probably tired, hungry, need to pick up their children from daycare, or deal with their lives outside of work.

It perturbs me when people act as if they are entitled, demanding another person work past  normal hours, or that a business stay open later then normal, just because they don’t have the courtesy to arrive before closing time.  I say if they want such entitlement, they should pay the employee wages to stay open later and cater to their needs after hours.  I am sure they would find the time to make it in before closing, rather than pay extra.

If I could, I would give all employees a dozen roses for working hard and often for little money, while putting up with the “grumblies” of the world.

Do you think a person is entitled to service when they walk in after closing time?

I made the funny South Park character at Planearium.de presents.

Pre-spring in Only a Few Words

Today I photographed a few pre-spring scenes in the garden. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I will let them speak to you on their own. If only I could convince a certain editor...

(As with most images on this blog, click on photo to see a larger version.)

The catkins hanging down on the contorted filbert, Harry Lauder's walking stick (Corylus avellana 'Contorta') looked exceptional in the afternoon sun.

The seven son's tree (Heptacodium miconoides) bark is beautiful and I finally photographed an example of it to share.

The hellebores are in their glory right now and this fairly new cultivar, Helleborus x nigersmithii 'Ivory Prince' is downright lovely.

Regional Garden Gurus

Years ago, I wrote a column about gardening in the maritime NW for a large, multi-topic web site.  At the time, little was being said about our climate in many of the gardening resource books, and online most web sites were a collection of links to other sites with very limited information. Back then, the search engines were cumbersome and sometimes frightening. Trying to wade through tens of thousands of web pages to find what was needed, was daunting. All this was the inspiration needed to create a content-rich web site--Rainy Side Gardeners--which is coming up on its 10-year anniversary in April 2008.

Just recently, I was invited to join an internet group called Regional Garden Gurus.  Our web site, Rainy Side Gardeners, fit the criteria for being a site that functions to help each other garden better in the Pacific Northwest region.  I feel honored that RSG was considered part of this remarkable group of regional gardeners.

Susan Harris of Sustainable Gardening and the blog, Garden Rant, headed up this fantastic project, which echoes what I’ve felt since the mid ‘90s.  One web site can’t have the “be all, end all” say on all things gardening. Even gurus feel they are not the “end all, be all” expert for their region; included on the guru site are links to other web sites and blogs that have specific information for their region.  More gurus will be joining the team as we become aware of their content rich web sites that are dedicated to a region.

“Regional gurus cover gardening for their region - with articles, videos and podcasts on their own site, links to other great sources, or a combination thereof. All gurus are committed to providing high-quality, environmentally responsible online gardening information for their regions.  Beyond that, there's been no attempt to reach agreement on the details of gardening.  In other words, gurus speak for themselves, not for the group.”

For information about any region or guru, contact him or her directly.  For information about Regional Garden Gurus, email Susan.

Raymond Evison

The following post and photographs are by guest writer and fellow Northwesterner,  Lisa M. Lynch, who blogs on "What tha...?" As with most images on this blog, click to enlarge them.

More gardeners are faced with smaller yards and less time to tend to them. Many desire the wildly beautiful clematis, but the plant’s poor performance and weird pruning requirements turn them off for good. Raymond Evison is doing what he can to end the clematis confusion.

Evison lives in Guernsey on the English Channel off the coast of France. He is the owner of the The Guernsey Clematis Nursery, Ltd. and is also involved in an extensive clematis breeding program. He carries a number of other impressive titles and awards associated with his work, including the Order of the British Empire.

During the nurseryman’s well-attended visit to Powell’s Books in Beaverton, Oregon, Evison talked about his new book, Clematis for Small Spaces. It introduces over 150 new cultivars, many of which are smaller and more profusely flowering. Evison said, “I wanted to produce clematis for the future that would be easier to grow.” Also important to him are long flowering periods and disease resistant plants with attractive flowers and foliage.

He emphasized that the book is a great resource for the new and inexperienced gardener, and gives care and planting instructions, as well as suggestions for placement. Acknowledging that “People get jolly confused about the pruning of clematis,” he mentioned that the book features three different “pruning groups,” (early-season, midseason and late-Season flowering) with clear pruning instructions for each type of group.

Evison had an affable approach and brought his audience some laughter along with enlightening ideas on clematis. He stayed to sign his books, and the audience participated in a drawing to win one of the 2008 clematis cultivars.

The Portland area may experience a surge in clematis sales this year. Those busy but newly-informed gardeners might feel more freedom to indulge, thanks to Raymond Evison.

Clematis for Small Spaces

Seven Sons Tree

The seven sons tree (Heptacodium miconioides) was named a Great Plant Pick for 2008.  I heartily agree this is a choice plant for the Pacific Northwest.  It certainly is one of my favorite large shrubs.  I first bought mine over 10 years ago and couldn’t find any cultural advice on how to grow it.  It is easy to grow and is one of my favorites in my garden.  Unfortunately, this shrub isn’t drought tolerant so it needs supplemental watering during our annual drought period.

I pruned my plant to a single trunk so it appears to be a small tree, instead of a large shrub.  At its base, I planted Clematis ‘The President’; the vine climbs into the branches and flowers in spring and again in summer giving the shrub another season of interest.

The genus was first collected in 1907 by by E.H. Wilson in Hupei Province, China. Alfred Rehder from the Arnold Arboretum described the new genus in 1916. Rehder named the collected specimens–Hepta, which means seven, and codium, which refers to the flower head.. It then was forgotten, until1980 when it was rediscovered by the Sino-American Botanic Expedition.

Recently introduced to this country by the Arnold Arboretum and U.S. National Arboretum, this beautiful multi-stemmed shrub or small tree is not bothered by pests or diseases! H. miconioides is rare in China with few if any to be found growing in the wild anymore.

The shrub has tan bark that exfoliates to reveal an attractive brown inner bark underneath. In August, the white buds form, and in September, the flowers open with a fragrance of jasmine. In fall, the calyx turns bright red until the first hard frost. In a good year, the shrub turns red from numerous calyxes. The leaves turn a decorous purple-bronze hue in fall. This is a great shrub for late summer, fall and winter interest. Another plus for this shrub is its salt tolerance so it possibly can be used near the seashore. It also attracts butterflies.