my surrender to the knockout

The garden has been sort of uneventful lately. The tomato production is slow; but I’m harvesting a bumper crop of jalapenos and have several bell peppers ripening. The basil, parsley, and cilantro are doing well too. I’ve spent a lot of time watering, as we’ve had record heat for weeks now.

Overhauling the Iris bed by my mailbox has been the current focus of my gardening energy. The Bermuda grass had practically taken over and the area was looking very unkempt. After hours of weeding and edging, the planting bed is starting to look good again. I've decided to add some knockout roses, a river pebble border, and pine straw mulch.

Knockout roses always seemed like such a horticultural cop-out to me that I’ve never considered planting them at my house before. But then I saw them on deep discount at Home Depot and thought, why wouldn’t I want something that’s low-maintenance and blooms half the year? So I bought three double knockouts, for only $15!

These knockouts will not have tightly bound blooms full of heavenly fragrance on long stems for cut flower arrangements. But they will bloom throughout the hottest, driest part of the year with nary a chemical application. All I'll have to do is cut them back once a year and it's the low-maintenance, inexpensive attributes that have finally won me over.

The pebble border fills in the newly-cut edge and I hope will be a barrier to the Bermuda grass. If nothing else, it will make it easier to spray the Bermuda with herbicide as it creeps into the planting bed. I’ve had a chance to try out several natural herbicides and will weigh-in with my results on a future blog posting.

I think my grandfather would be tickled that not only have I planted his Iris in the bed, but with the addition of the roses it will be almost identical to the planting bed he tended for so long at his mailbox (which is now my mom’s mailbox). Now if only I can keep those roses happy through the dog days of summer!

[Pictured is of one of my favorite plant and color combinations, Verbena bonariensis and ‘Veterans’ Honor’ Hybrid Tea Rose.]

fall planted bulbs are abloom!

I don’t need a calendar to tell me it is spring. With temperatures in the 70's, there are new blooms to enjoy every day. Among my favorite flowers right now are crocus, grape hyacinths, daffodils, and my favorite deciduous magnolia, the Saucer Magnolia (Magnolia x soulangiana).

Perennial Crocus grow from corms (like a small bulb) planted in the fall. Their grass-like foliage and petite flowers won’t grow taller than 5”, so use them in the front of a planting bed. The white and purple varieties nicely offset the electric orange central stigmas. The spice saffron is obtained from the fall-blooming cousin of this plant (Crocus sativa).

Grape Hyacinths (Muscari) received their name from the spikes of blue flowers that resemble a bunch of grapes. This perennial, grown from a bulb planted in the fall, is even more petite than the Crocus. It’s perfect companion is a yellow daffodil, King Alfred for example, planted in alternating clumps/drifts.

Despite it’s observed commonness, the Saucer Magnolia is truly a thing to marvel. I first noticed this tree while going to school in Athens, Georgia. One specimen in particular (pictured in Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs) located out front of the AGD house on fraternity/sorority row is particularly memorable.

Its canopy of tulip-like pinkish-purple flowers is “one of spring’s greatest spectacles” according to Dr. Dirr, and I’m inclined to agree. This deciduous magnolia is a real show-stopper, with an attractive multi-trunked habit. But, since it’s just a one season wonder, I would plant this only as a specimen or focal point of a spring garden and not in a group.

This weekend marks seed planting time for my lettuce, carrots, and Swiss Chard! Another landscape project I hope to start is installing a stone border that wraps around all the planting beds against the house. Aside from aesthetic benefits, the border should also help slow the spread of Bermuda grass into the planting beds.

And speaking of grasses, if you haven't already cut back landscape grasses such as River Oats (Chasmanthium), Sioux Blue Indian Grass (Sorghastrum), Sweet Flag (Acorus) et cetera, do it now, before the new shoots emerge!

longer days, more gardening adventures part 2

With eastern exposure, the planting bed across the driveway gets almost as much sun as the bed on the west side of the house. This planting bed sits between my neighbor’s fence and my asphalt drive and is only about 2’ wide. When I first moved in, it was nothing but Bermuda grass and I soon found out why. The soil is full of rocks. Every time I plant something new, I feel like I’m gardening in a rock quarry. On the bright side, the soil drains very easily.

Nevertheless I’ve removed most of the Bermuda (worst gardening chore ever) and amended the soil with soil conditioner. On the left is my recently transplanted butterfly bush, which I cut back to about 18” in height. The other 5 shrubs you see are Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus), a plant very near to my heart, which hasn’t quite leafed out yet. Between the Rose of Sharon groupings are several Hollyhocks (from the Hollyhock House!) that have over-wintered.

Beneath the shrubs are several sedum varieties as well as mint (Mentha). This aromatic herb (non-native) spreads quickly by way of underground rhizomes and I like to caution people that it should be planted in a contained/ well-maintained area. In the right corner of the bed are coral-blooming Canna Lilies. But after this past winter, I’m not holding my breath to see if the Cannas will make an appearance this summer (they can be borderline in zone 6b).

On the right edge of the photo, you can see the outstretched branches of a Mulberry tree (Morus), which has little to no landscape value. However, because this volunteer (which is actually rooted on my neighbor’s property) started growing in a fan-shape on my side of the fence, I’ve elected to train it as a ‘living fence’; to create a vertical screen between the two properties. Nothing against my neighbor, but I don’t prefer to see into her living room from mine.

The main goal of this bed is to increase my gardening space as well as improve the aesthetics of the space. Also, I’m not sure how much longer my neighbor’s fence will hold up, so I wanted to get some plants going ASAP. On one hand, it may have been more prudent to plant a row of Arborvitae or another evergreen, vertical screen. However, all of these plants were free to me, and will provide much more seasonal interest than a green wall.

And like the last blog post, this photo is not much to look at right now; but hopefully by this summer, there will be tons of beautiful blooms!

the Greek word for Rainbow

This past weekend brought us beautiful spring weather and I was able to spend about an hour working in the yard on Saturday. The area I focused on is the small perennial bed next to my mailbox at the street. This planting bed sits at the start of a swale that runs along the front of my property parallel to the street. It’s an odd sort of depression that’s difficult to mow; from day one I envisioned a sinuous planting bed of perennials and shrubs to replace the grass in the swale and provide a colorful front border for the house.

Several years ago I was renovating my grandfather’s Iris bed in Knoxville and the process of dividing his Iris yielded several mulch bags filled with rhizomes. The flower takes its name from the Greek word rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors available in the genus. Now I know that the Iris I planted bloom yellow and white. But at the time I planted my rhizomes, I had no idea what I might end up with.

Iris prefer full sun to bloom well, and they can grow very tall. I have seen some flower spikes reach 3-4’ in height. At the time I didn’t have a spot that I thought would work well for the Iris, so I decided to start my ‘swale’ planting bed. Turning a patch of grass into a planting bed is HARD work; when your lawn is comprised of Bermuda grass, it’s even harder.

I added a few daylilies to the front of the bed as well, given to me by my day-lily breeding uncle. The effect is quite nice with blooms from spring through summer. They actually bloomed well the first year, which was surprising. They had a good year last year, but I didn’t keep up with weeding very well. That’s why I pulled out two garbage bags of weeds (for the composter). Then I cut each Iris fan back to three or four inches from the ground. That is a maintenance task best performed in the fall, but I suppose it’s better late than never.

Next I’m going to mulch the bed with soil conditioner. Most Iris growers do not recommend mulching, because the rhizomes can rot so easily (especially in our humid climate). But I think a light top-dressing of soil conditioner improves the soil and looks really good. I’m still debating whether or not to fertilize this area since I don’t want to give the grass (weeds) a head start. Regardless, I’m looking forward to better maintaining the area and lots of blooms this year.

The attached picture was taken in 2008, and I sent my grandfather a copy of it. After my grandfather passed away last summer, I found this picture framed in his bedroom. Every time I see the Iris blooming, I think of him and his love of gardening.