Sounds like Late Blight can't cut the cold...

For the first time in many weeks, I finally made it outside and did some stuff around the backyard. Holy crap, did I have some weeds. The one good thing about monstrous weeds is they are fairly easy to pull. The backyard looks somewhat like what is it supposed to now. I never did get to thinning the water lettuce in the Lake but there's always this weekend coming up. Below is the one window box on the side of my garage that overlooks Lake Larson. Not too bad for a complete afterthought. It's the only container I have that doesn't look like complete and utter garbage from the rains and that's because it faces northeast and has a little bit of an overhang. So, It didn't get hammered with water. The other showpiece window box on the front of the house did horrible and unspeakable things this year. The only thing left standing in it is the coleus, begonias, and the carex. The fushcia rotted totally away.

I'm starting to scheme about the new beds around the deck I want to start and soon. I think the next several weeks will be me ripping sod to audio books on my ipod. Then I can start to move stuff from the front that desparately needs more sun. How dare that big oak grow and cast shade in my yard over the past 5 years.

If you grow tomatoes, live in New England, and don't live under a rock you know that we have been having quite a time with potato Late Blight. I know, I know...potato diseases striking tomatoes?? That doesn't sound right! But in fact, tomatoes and potatoes are very closely related...closely enough that they can get sick from the same diseases. On Gardenweb, I have read a lot of accounts of Late Blight around the Northeast so it is here and not some big marketing ploy by Ortho or MiracleGro. My tomatoes may be showing a touch of it but I'm not that stressed about how they look because it has been a momumentally awful gardening year. I'm just glad that I got some tomatoes this season. Thankfully it has dried out and things aren't as water stressed as they were the majority of the "summer" (and I do use the term summer, loosely.)

I was just sent this article re: Late Blight and how it won't survive our winter from a gardening colleague -

From http://www.gardencentermagazine.com/late_blight_wont_overwinter.aspx

Late blight won’t overwinter in Northeast, experts say

8/31/2009

Retailers can share some good news with customers: Late blight won’t overwinter in the area, except in infected potato tubers

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Late blight (Phytophthora infestans) has caused big headaches for vegetable gardeners in New England . But retailers can share some good news with customers: Late blight won’t overwinter in the area, except in infected potato tubers according to UConn Home and Garden Education Center .

Here’s the latest from Floriculture Greenhouse Update:
The pathogen, Phytophthora infestans, survives in living tissue and will be killed by freezing temperatures. Therefore, your customers do not need to be concerned about their soil harboring this pathogen and creating a source of infection for next year. Most years, late blight is sporadic or absent in our area because it spreads from the south on wind currents and arrives late in the season, causing far less damage. This year, the pathogen was introduced on tomato transplants carrying the disease so it arrived early and then we had very favorable weather for disease development and spread. If your customers grow potatoes and they have been infected with late blight, it is important to advise that they destroy or bury infected tubers. They should be buried two feet deep. Crop rotation and a thorough fall clean-up of any diseased plants in garden beds are still important practices for reducing the incidence of other diseases.

Some of my readings suggest that the Big Box stores like Lowes, Home "Cheapo", Walmart, and etc. were responsible for having the fungus on tomato plants brought in from god knows where. Tomatoes started from seed or from mom and pop garden centers were safer bets. Hmmmm...sounds like a great reason for the "Buy Local" push that has been gaining popularity out there.

Speaking of Tomatoes, you may remember that I had bought one of those upside down tomato planters from Gardener Supply Catalog this past spring. The jury is out and yes, they do work!!! I put a patio tomato in there so it wouldn't be a huge plant and I'm impressed. The one thing I will say is make sure you have something sturdy enough to hold it...I almost broke the railing on deckzilla when I first hung it. Eric had to rig something on the roof of the house next to the desk.

All about the purples

Purple foliage - Smoke Bush 'Royal Purple' (Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple') This guy has the coolest foam/smoke like blooms. It didn't flower this year since this is it's first full year in the ground. Sometimes plants will sacrifice flowers for a good root system which is fine by me. Rooting and flowering take the same nutrients and one may win out over the other. This plant was actually a refugee from Jim's yard (he's the guy who's yard is in the banner) because his yard is a bit too wet for Smoke bush to be happy. It has pushed a ton of new growth this summer with the rains of June and July. They get an awesome orange fall color and I can't wait to see that!!!

I finally got some clematis for the fence this season! I picked up Clematis 'Jackmanii' which is pictured above and Clematis 'H. F. Young'. The latter one is more blue than Jackmanii. I don't have any photos of it because it was a tiny little thing that was quickly overpowered by some astilbe in the area. It had one flower which suprised me and it's growing....slowly. Jackmanii was much bigger but also grew like gang busters! as you can see from the photo. It's probably one of the easier clematis to grow and easiest to prune. This guy you prune back to 14" tall in the late winter and leave a couple of buds on the old growth. It will be back in it's full glory before you know it.

I have to get back outside with my camera because I'm quickly running out of photos for the blog. I think the craptastic weather of July totally cramped my photo taking...not to mention now the garden looks like it should in late September after the unrelenting bad weather this summer.

Remember when we complained about it being too cold?

Jeez Lousie it's hot outside today! Lars and I are down in the underground bunker, uh, office drafting (he's sleeping) where it's cooler. According to Weather Bug, it's 92 outside. Welcome back summer!

Hmph....I had a post already figured out and I was going to have a discussion about an atrocity I had seen a landscape "professional" do. I can't seem to find the photo of some seriously bad pruning complete with orange, dyed mulch. Bummer. I was in the mood to be snarky too. I guess I must wing my post today then!

Earlier this year I had mentioned the foxes that have come to our neighborhood. A couple of weeks ago, I had gotten some great photos from the safety of our living room window. These guys, I think, are youngsters and the numbers of them are making think they are litter mates. Lars was causing a ruckus that would pierce through 3" lead and they didn't seem to be too bothered by it.



They were playing almost like young dogs do out there and I took these around 7:30/8 pm at night. They haven't been as high profile since I took these and my sightings have been sporadic. But I did see a spike buck white deer on the side yard where the picket fence it one morning as I was making my coffee. I ran to get my camera and by the time I got back, he was gone. Hopefully, he won't be back because I really don't want to have to deal with deer damage in my yard full of non deer tolerant plants.

Super sad day at Garden Consultant HQ

Fair winds and following seas, Sam. You were the bestest boy ever.

Sam Its 5 Oclock Somewhere CD RN CGC TDIA

11/98 - 8/12/09

Wet pets and plants

Summer has come and made it's appearance with a vengence this week. It's hot and muggy. I think Mother Nature decided to shut us all up about our missing summer from going from 70 degrees this weekend to over 90 degrees in the span of 12 hours. I'm hiding down in the basement office with Lars and Sam is in the bedroom with the AC on as I type. Ugh, I hate weather like this but I find I am more tolerant of it as I get older. That I don't get. But watch, I'll be one those old ladies walking around in winter coat when it's 75 degrees out if this new trend of mine keeps up.

I wasn't sure what to write about today as I signed in here, but I think water gardening is cooling to the mind. The waterlilies have been very nice this year. I had to secure them a couple of years ago in huge shallow pots with no holes with weedfabric and big stones covering it. I didn't realize that koi LOVE to eat waterlily roots. In fact, it's one of their favorite things to eat. After having a number of waterlilies fail and me discovering their root systems were gone, I decided to outsmart my wet pets. I created little fort knoxes for the lilies and it's worked wonderfully! I have a couple of different colors - dark pink, peach, yellow and white/light pink. I haven't gotten into the tropical ones that open at night yet because I just don't know what I would do with them during the winter. Below are a couple of flowers I snapped from the larger side of Lake Larson. I did know what the varieties were at one point, but I lost the tags. (See that even happens to us pros too)



The Wet Pets are doing well and we've only lost one fish that we know of to the heron this year. I have a great covering of water lettuce as you can see in the lily photos and that offers great protection against herons. The lettuce also has done a wonderful job of clearing up the water too. I was having a big problem with algae and murk this spring and early summer. Everyone always says you need more plants to keep that from happening and they are right. Due to the cool temps of the early summer, it took forever for the lettuce to take off...but now it's over due for me to thin it. It still blows my mind that 5 little lettuce plant will fill the Lake in the matter of a couple of months. Chunk is the big orange blob in the bottom photo and they like to nibble on the water lettuce but the fish never seem to make a dent in it. But, I learned they will chomp on water mint. The fish actually removed the mint from the pot it was in and started to really damage it. I had tucked some of it in behind those horrid yellow flag iris I have and some in the top waterfall. So far, so good.


We have some new residents to the pond this summer. Eric's best friend brought over all of his fish, catfish, snails, and a turtle because he's thinking about selling his house. We also have some little koi I don't think Leo brought over so, they could be babies of our existing fish. That does happen and they do make it. We have a white/light yellow butterfly koi who just showed up one year. I have yet to see the turtle but I guess the plant material will keep him in food so he won't be looking for fish food. But the dark catfish will make regular appearances to the top when I feed the rest of the fish. Our frog who I posted photos of earlier this season is happy as a clam in the Lake. I hear him all the time singing like a cello stuck on one note. He sings during the day and all night long (I've ever heard him signing at 3 am when I've gotten up for some water.) I hardly ever see him now....but he makes sure we and all of our neighbors know he's out there.

Favorites

A lot of people ask me what's my favorite flower and it's a hard question for me to answer. I think there are many flowers I like and like equally. I think it's more of a color thing for me than the acutal flower. I love deep, rich blues and purples. I think my Rhododendron 'Purple Passion' is in the top 5. But this plant is probably is in my top 5, if not at the very top - Hydrangea macrophylla 'Alpengluhen'. It's a lesser known hydrangea but if you get a design by me, you get this plant. The colors work in both hot color palettes as well as cool ones. I'm underwhelmed by the washed out light blues of the lace caps and the Nikko Blue and Endless Summer. They're okay but they don't make me stop in my tracks like 'Alpengluhen' does. It blooms later and much longer than 'Nikko Blue' does and the colors change on 'Alpengluhen' as the flower matures as you can see in these different pics below.




As the flowers go past maturity, they turn maroon red and dry that color on the bush. The foliage and flowers of 'Alpengluhen' are much more substantial than on other hydrangeas. They almost are waxy in look and that lends well in the hot sun of summer. They will weep if it is really hot but not as badly as some of the other varieties. Since the flowers are thicker, they do well as cut flowers and for drying.


I'm not a big fan of hosta flowers but thought these guys were neat and it was a cool angle. Well played, Hosta and Alpengluhen!

9.95"

That's what the Weather Channel said this morning for this month's rain. Seriously, Mother Nature? What the hell?? That is almost 1/4 of the entire average rainfall for the YEAR in one month (41" of preciptation.) We're also eyeing the second coolest July on record, which actually is okay in my book. I hate the heat and the humidity. Everyone who has been in the landscaping business forever say they have never seen anything like this before in all of years of being in business. We're supposed to get more rain tomorrow and off and on the rest of the week which will push us well over 10" of rain for July.

The edible side of Garden Consultant HQ has been teetering on successful and not so much this year with no thanks to the cool damp weather. There's actually been a huge boom in Late Blight in both tomatoes and potatoes this year because of all of the rain. Yeah, that's the same type of blight that caused the Irish Potato Famine of 1845. I haven't seen it here in my garden, thank goodness. That would probably be the straw that broke the camel's back this year. Below are my Grape Tomatoes on crack....they are huge, loaded full of flowers as you can see - tons of GREEN tomatoes. That insanely sad looking tomato over on the left of the photo is an heirloom. I really, really wanted to have them do well because I love heirloom tomatoes. But good grief, it's withered, yellowed and just pathetic. Maybe I will give the heirlooms one more chance but in my upside down tomato grower (which has a decent plant with fruit coming)


Here are the sole three ripe tomatoes I've had all season! I picked a couple today but they are totally ripe. We need some heat that lasts for more than a day for these guys to ripen. I have so many romas, cherries, and yellow tomatoes coming...I just need them to ripen and not all at once!



I have to ask....lettuce in July?!?!?!?! Yes, if you have May weather in July.

I have finally given in to lesser organic methods to get the veggies to grow this summer. With all of this rain, nutrients are just being washed away from the soil. I broke out the water soluble 20-20-20 blue fertilizer. It's pretty much a plant steroid and it's doing just that....pumping up the veggies quickly, very quickly. I really felt I didn't have a choice with this season. I started to use the fertilizer about 3 weeks ago when I noticed my veggies hadn't grown, at all - nothing - since I planted them in May. I finally got a pickler cuke off of one of the plants. I planted them to eat fresh because Eric and I never can finish off a cuke before it turns to slimy, mush. Normally I would apologize for the weeds in the photo....but there isn't a garden in New England that isn't loaded full of weeds this summer. I have to go out and feed the veggies again tomorrow morning if it isn't pouring out.



I took this photo of my herbs in their containers late last month and like the veggies, the annual ones like parsley and basil where just like they were back in May. The rains of June started to rot out my basil which there wasn't much I could do about that. The rains of this month has started to take it's toll on the perennial herbs now....they are showing bad signs of overwatering AND nutrient deficiency. Ugh. This was not the year to do herbs in containers. The basil has seemed to stop rotting and has recovered. I'm going to make some pesto pasta sauce with it this week and that will feel like summer eventhough Mother Nature has other seasons in mind.

Reds, reds, and more (unconventional) reds

Personally, I'm more of a cool colored person....pinks, purples, blues and the such. But in my full sun side garden, I placed a lot of plants I had inherited from others that would clash with my color scheme. I have some golds and funky oranges lilies and daylilies. So I introduced a bunch of warmer colors like the reds, deep violets and the blues to blend with them. Today I'm focusing on the reds.

Eric has been known to bring me home things that had made their way to the trash from where he works. It's actually earned him the nickname "the Larsonist" with his co-workers. LOL This rose below is one of his "treasures." It's a hybrid tea rose and I'm suspecting it could be Mr. Lincoln which is a timeless classic for fragrant, red roses. There were two of them that made their way to my house and this one is the sole survivor which was amazing because neither of them had much in the way of roots when I planted them. It's been here for about four years and it's taken it all of that time to finally look good this year. The past several years, blackspot had plagued it and it usually lost most of it's foliage by this time of year. If you know me, I don't tolerate crappy plants in my garden and can be pretty ruthless about it. I normally give a plant three years to prove to me they deserve to be here. The fourth year - you're gone. I told Eric this was it and I was digging it out. He begged me to leave it. He hates killing plants (what a great pair we make.) So, I agreed and secretly threatened the rose's life if it didn't do something this year. I think it heard me, or it finally developed a sustaining root system, or the regular feedings of Rose Tone this year made a big difference. It's grown some substantial canes and the foliage has stayed fairly clean despite the rains and cold of June. It's had some nice roses on it which I have cut and brought inside. I'll keep feeding it monthly until August and we'll see if it is as successful next year as it was this one.

My 'Knock Out' Roses have had a wonderful year this season...they have bloomed really nicely and were covered with flowers. Right now, they are taking a little breather and forming more buds for another riot of color in a couple of weeks. I love this family of shrub rose and use them and their different colored cousins in my designs all of the time. They are very low maintenance and take just monthly feedings of rose food and deadheading. These roses never have fungal problems ever which is so great. The 'Knock Out' Roses now come in double reds, pink, double pink, yellow, pink/yellow, and white. They have a color that will suit any color scheme. I think they would reach 5 - 6' tall easily and I have been pruning my back in the spring for the past couple of seasons. Mine usually get 4 - 4.5' tall by the end of the season.




And here's my little "red" visitor who has been becoming a regular feature in my yard. I took this photo from my front stairs one morning as I was getting ready to take Lars outside. Luckily, Lars didn't see him/her and I shoved him back inside before Lars did notice. The fox was sitting in my neighbor's front yard about 50' away from me and wasn't at all bothered by my being there. I was talking with another neighbor on the street and she said they have about 4- 5 foxes that gather in their backyard at dusk. So, I think I'm seeing multiple foxes. Just yesterday, I was on the deck talking on the phone and one of them just trotted by and glanced at me. Later last night I saw one crossing the street as I took Lars outside. They are also having a little bit of a "marking the territory" war with Lars which is starting to bug him. LOL I just hope one them doesn't trot through my yard when I'm practicing obedience/agility with Lars or playing with him. I don't want to even think what would happen.


These guys don't really bother me other than if Lars meets one face to face. I have noticed the squirrel population is down which isn't a bad thing considering they had been horrid with my containers and vegatable garden. They are kind of cool to watch trot by as I'm hanging out on the deck.

Silent Sunday...windowboxes 2009

Iris-mania!!

Here we are towards the end of June and as of a couple of days ago...it's rained 18 out of the 22 days of June according the Channel 10. I think we are now 20 out of the 24 days of June where rain or some sort of water has fallen from the unrelenting gray skies. I'm officially sick of this weather. I noticed my basil is starting to rot in the container and now have fungal issues in the garden. Oh well...if gardening were easy, no one would need The Garden Consultant, right?? Back to discussing happier garden topics like photos and plants. The above photo is one of most favorite places in my yard and it's just to the right of my front door. I had made the mistake of dividing a lot of the hostas about 2 years ago when it looked just like it does now. Boy, was that dumb. I should have left well enough alone because it lost it's wow factor with the lean hostas. Now, it's back to it's lush glory. I don't know why people think they are plagued with shade because I, myself, love a good shade garden. How is that photo up there boring!!! (My friend Jen who reads this is having this very battle with her mom. **wink**)

I have seems to gained a bunch of iris over the past 5 years of being here. I have really learned to appreciate iris because they are so varied and just about any color scheme can benefit from the addition of iris. I have both German Bearded Iris and Siberians...and find the Siberians to be more on the low maintenance side. The Germans do need to be staked which is okay with what I have now...but as they mature and if I get more, that could be a pain in the behind. But...on to iris-mania! Below is Iris sibirica 'Sparkling Rose' (Siberian Iris) and I use this a lot in my designs. It came as a surprise to me with a clump of Siberian Iris 'Butter and Sugar' that a client had given me (you can see the white buds emerging in the back.)


This big clump of Iris sibirica 'Caesar's Brother' (Siberian Iris) is another freebie from a different client. I think it had only 3 leaves on it when I brought it home 4 years ago and look at it now. That basement window is actually my office window and what a view I get looking up at them when I'm at my drafting table. They are starting to die out in the center like Siberians do...so in the next year or two, I'll dig them up and rejuvinate them.


Below are some heirloom irises which I unfortunately don't know the name of from another client. Hmmmmm....I'm seeing a pattern of refugee gardening still happening in my yard.


LOL...now I know I have admitted this to some. But, I have been known to buy plants off of .....**GASP** ebay. Yes, it is true and I think most of the clients I have told don't believe me. Behold, the iris below was an ebay purchase. I have had good luck with ebay sellers because I am careful of who I buy from. However, those are not the colors that I had bought. This iris here is a stow-away and came with the iris I bought. I have no idea what it is and that is not 'Persian Berry" which I did buy. Thank god it works with my colors I love.


This iris below is Persian Berry. I consider my other stow-away iris a complete bonus!


This is the iris relative I have lost my love affair with. I had these yellow flag iris in my gardens for years and they just survived which kind of had me scratching my head. I hadn't known at the time what they truly were and didn't realize they need water. So, after some research last year, I learned they were a water plant. Off I go and potted them up and threw them in Lake Larson. Well, they grew, and grew, and grew....now they are busting out of their pots and going crazy. I didn't acknowledge at the time that they are deemed invasive in MA and CT. Ugh...they are going to get thinned and become residents of the compost bin. I may actually toss all of them because I really don't like them any more. At. All. Pretty, yes....too big for their britches, totally.


My last blurb in this post is something I think is of great importance. In RI, there is a wonderful organization called The Children's Garden Network (CGN) and their mission is to have a garden in every RI school by the year 2010. It sounds like quite an undertaking and it has been. I believe they are very close in acomplishing this. Myself and the executive board of the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association have met with CGN and are looking forward to working very closely together to bring horticulture to young people. Kids today are losing their connection with nature and CGN is showing kids who may not have the opportunity to see flowers grow or learn where vegetables come from. If you are interested in learning more about CGN or if they are at your children's school but would like to help out, please check out their website - The Children's Garden Network. They are always looking for people to volunteer with them with helping develop and maintain gardens with the kids. I know from my traffic tracker I get visitors from far flung places too...if you are interested in starting up something like this in your area, please contact CGN because they are the flagship organiztion for this subject and they will help others start up networks all over the world.

One real reason I love my job...

Here's a posting from a client's blog -

Inner Sanctum - plein air in the artist's garden

They just finished planting phase one this year and this painting is part of it.

This makes my heart smile.

Silent Sunday....

Ribbitt.....

Long time no posting....

Once again, as spring comes and I vanish almost like clockwork. I am happy to report that this spring and early summer has been a good one despite the economic climate. I have been busier than I had been in a season and that is truly a wonderful thing. I think the one thing on the green industry of RI's mind is this weather! Luckily, I haven't been too impacted by the never ending rains unlike a lot of my friends who install and maintain landscapes. One of my colleagues who in the turf industry told me this morning since April 1st, we've had only 13 days where the sun has made an appearance for more than 5 hours. As we look at another 5 - 6 upcoming days of rain, the bright side is if you have planted things this year, your hose has been on vacation.

Even though I haven't been writing much, I have been taking photos of the gardens every chance I can and I have quite a collection. The rains have definitely made the gardens happy (with the exception of my herbs yellowing in their containers) and lush. Tonight, I'll share some photos of drier and sunnier days from April.

Coralbells!

This is one of my favorite varieties - Plum Pudding. It didn't take them long to break out of their winter blahs to springtime glory.

True Blue - grape hyacinths brighten up an April showery day.

An unknown daffodil I inherited from a client. I love that peach corona.

I misspoke in my last blog posting...that plant peeking out of the ground wasn't scilla. It's Chionodoxa or aka Glory in the Snow. How cute are they??

Last but not least....the survivors of the winter window box! Most of the pansies I had planted last fall in the front window actually made it through the winter which completely floored me. It had been cold and snowy most of the winter. The only thing I can think of is the house and the sun kept the soil warm enough for them to survive.

Friday Flora Funny

I saw this on a landscaper message board...I'll admit it, I giggled. :)

Gardening's Better Than Sex

Here are the top reasons why gardening is better than sex:

#26- You can garden outside in front of all of the neighbors without being arrested.
#25 - Gardeners are not embarrassed explaining the birds and the bees to their kids.
#24 - If your regular gardening partner isn't available, he/she won't object if you garden with someone else.
#23 - It's absolutely acceptable to garden before you're married.
#22 - The Ten Commandments don't say anything against gardening.
#21 - You don't have to shower and shave before gardening.
#20 - You'll always be able to garden, no matter how old you are.
#19 - You'll never hear anyone say: "Is gardening all you ever think about?"
#18 - You don't have to hide your Gardening magazines.
#17 - Telling gardening jokes, and invite co-workers to garden with you is not considered workplace harassment.
#16 - Email with gardening content is not considered offensive material.
#15 - When you become famous, you don't have to worry about pictures and videotapes of you gardening being shown on the Internet.
#14 - Your gardening partner doesn't get upset about people you gardened with a long time ago.
#13 - It's perfectly respectable to enjoy gardening with a total stranger.
#12 - When you see a really good gardener, you don't have to feel guilty about imagining the two of you gardening together.
#11 - Every time you garden, you hope to produce fruit.
#10 - Nobody will ever tell you that you will go blind if you garden by yourself.
#9 - When dealing with a gardening pro, you never have to wonder if they're really an undercover cop.
#8 - You don't have to go to a sleazy shop in a seedy neighborhood to buy gardening stuff.
#7 - You can have a gardening related calendar on your wall at the office.
#6 - There are no gardening-transmitted diseases.
#5 - No one objects if you watch the gardening channel on television.
#4 - Nobody expects you to garden with the same person your whole life.
#3 - Nobody expects you to give up gardening if your partner loses interest.
#2 - You don't have to be a newlywed to plan a vacation primarily to enjoy your favorite activity.
#1 - Your partner will never say, "Again? We just gardened last week!"

And no....I am not an undercover cop. LOL