You might be a plant geek if you go to a conference and stuff 5 roses, 3 buddleijas, 2 blueberries, 2 crinum lilies, 1 raspberry, 1 primrose, 1 lavender AND 1 cactus into your carry-on luggage, then realize that most of these plants will have to spend winter indoors because an Iowa garden in October isn’t the best place for tiny, non-hardy perennials. And you don’t care.
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The Sweetwater Bungalows just look so darn cute. If you’ve ever wondered what the difference is between a determinate and indeterminate plant such as a tomato, wonder no more. A handy new glossary of garden terms has been compiled by Park Seed and the National Gardening Bureau. The United States Department of Agriculture unveiled a new zone hardiness map this morning. It’s big news for people who read maps, but for plants, not so much. Many locations, particularly sections of the northeastern United States, appear to be warmer than they were in 1990. The light. Yes, it was all about the light, the flowers, the air, the back-in-time sense of strolling through a living work of art. In an afternoon in Monet’s garden, I felt like an Inpressionist artist myself, seeing the grounds of this homey place in Giverny and feeling that this prolific artist had loaned me his own eyes for the day. Auld acquaintance won’t be forgotten (I still love you, ‘Rozanne’ geranium!), but it’s so exciting to learn about the new plants being released in 2012. Here’s a first installment to get your dream gardening on! When should I divide my hostas? Almost anytime! Spring is preferred, but fall is fine. Gardeners, dust off your Botanical Latin. That’s how the conservative French President Nicolas Sarkozy wooed his left-leaning actor-singer-model wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. Among gardeners, deer have become the most hated animals on the plant. To keep your yard from becoming Bambi’s Salad Bar, you can apply repellents or simply plant things they don’t like. Here are a few perennials for shade that may be the liver-and-onions equivalent for deer (with apologies to those of you who actually LIKE liver and onions!) Italy is baking now but when I visited in May, temps were in the 70s, the veggies and flowers were perfection, and the farmer’s market at Campo de’ Fiori (literally: field of flowers) in Rome made me want to go home and cook. Here are a few horticultural delights from Northern Italy. Attracted like bees to these glowing red beacons, people tumbled out of their cars, almost desperate to be in the midst of such splendor. This picture of a little girl posing in a Dutch tulip field not only reminds me of a perfect moment, it symbolizes what gardening is all about: joy. You may be, as I am, itching to get out and garden again. But not literally. Learn to recognize and avoid poison ivy, oak and sumac. I found a product that really works, and, to my surprise, it’s made in the Des Moines area. Growing up on a northeast Iowa farm, I was imprinted with 180-degree skies—stunning orange-red sunsets, a quilt of stars against midnight, brilliant lightning cracking wide a purple dome—and the delicate cadence and subtle contours of rolling hills. The special scent of summer rain. The luminous black earth. Scent of fresh-mown hay. Delicate flavor of newly dug potatoes. The particular feel of soil drying my hands. The fuzz of zinnia stems. My thumbnails green from shelling peas. The swish of corn stalks taller than my head as I walked between rows. These shaped my sense of place. 10 (or so) moments from a garden writer’s life in 2010 range from joys of work and flowers to family and sky. Rosalind Creasy’s nummy new book, Edible Landscaping: Now You Can Have Your Gorgeous Garden and Eat It Too! looks almost good enough to eat. The queen of edible landscaping offers tips for experts and beginners. |
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