Eye Candy for a blustery Sunday

Today is all about annuals!!!! I think I will be playing with annuals more in my landscape especially now that I have the little greenhouse where I start seeds without worry of the various beasties in my house demolishing the seedlings. Plus, with Deckzilla finished and the patio area pretty much finalized space-wise, I will be doing more with containers. I have been slowly collecting glazed pots for Deckzilla and I'm dying to use them next year!

Cerinthe major purpurescens - I don't think this has a common name. But, boy I think this annual is way cool. I started these from seed but they ended up in the veggie garden because Eric thought they were veggies when they were little. So, there they stayed! I will be planting these again next year for certain!

Dahlias my father in law gave me - this is their second year here. I planted them around the patio and most of them ended up on the backside of Lake Larson. I don't have a place where I could overwinter these here. The basement is too warm, the bulkhead is too cold so back to Dad's house they go. He has this closet in his condo which is perfect for over wintering dahlias...go figure! I'll be thinking about pulling these out of the ground once their foliage starts to decline.

Last but not least...Cosmos!!!!! This is from my package of Sonata Mix seeds. I do love Cosmos...they are easy and forgiving. I think I will always have Cosmos in my landscape.

I did attempt sunflowers again around the back of the pond...but the freakin' squirrels demo-ed them again. So, I think I may have given up on Sunflowers until the yard is fenced in when the boys can do out on their own and do squirrel patrol. But...I did have little sunflower volunteers from my birdfeeders. The squirrels left them alone! So, I throw up my hands in disgust!

Pic only Thursday!

My super funky Pennisetum 'Moudry' or Black Fountain Grass....very cool but dang does it self sow!

My limey green zinnias...only one had come up from the seeds I planted this spring. I love this color!

My white marigolds - I'm not particularly a fan of marigolds. I think their traditional orange is really garish in most gardens. I'm seeing a trend of my liking of traditional flowers in nontraditional colors.

October jewels

Even though it's officially autumn around here...the garden definitely isn't lacking in the interest and color department. We haven't even gotten into fall color in the yard yet but the various blooms are making a respectable last call. I'm starting to get my fall chores in order now. Last weekend I used that fertilizer I ordered (it only took 2 days to get here!!) and hit all of the perennials and deciduous woodies in the back yard. The evergreens and the acidic soil loving plants got their fall application of Holly Tone. I topdressed the back side of Lake Larson with what compost I had in the composter and saved up. I did a quick clean up a spent flowers around the yard and cut back perennials that looked really bad.

Let's see...Eric has finished Deckzilla for this year and it did turn out wonderfully. He's been puttering around with getting the chairs refinished and up on the deck. I'm pretty certain he's wrapping up his outdoor projects for the year and will trade the OMG projects for easier things like bonding with his recliner for the winter. I think he is working on a new door for the wine cellar he built in the basement. No joke, we have a wine cellar and yes, it abuts the room where my office is. Don't ask...that was a former OMG project that I did approve of! But, he has been busy trying to rehab his grass in the front and back yard. He has had a heck of a time these past several years trying to get his turf to not burn out every summer. Turf and sand don't mix. He's been over seeding, fertilizing, and liming these past couple of weeks. The lawn is doing what it does every fall...come back and look decent. He's been muttering about getting irrigation for the yard...that could be a huge OMG project for next year....stay tuned.

I have to go out and harvest some more stuff from the veggie garden. I dug up all of the potatoes that Eric planted on a whim earlier this summer. We had some left over spuds in the pantry and Eric decided to make them an experiment. Low and behold, I harvested a grocery bag full of potatoes much to both of our surprise! I want to get some of those blue potatoes and try them next year. I have a bunch of tomatoes still out there I have to bring in as well as peppers. I have to research when I have to harvest my fennel because this is the first year I have ever planted that. I'm going to attempt to overwinter my rosemary outside with the little greenhouse I have been using to start seeds. I'm not sure how that will go since we're supposed to have a colder than normal winter with more snow. I may chicken out and dig it up to bring inside as it will probably have a better chance than outside. I'm going to take some cuttings of my basil and root them for using inside. I discovered that by accident when I picked some basil and threw it in a vase for later use. Some time had gone by and I noticed that it hadn't gotten nasty. So, I pulled it from the vase and found a bunch of roots on the stem. I would have never guessed you can start basil from cuttings in water. I have some coleus from my windowbox in that vase which I will pot up this weekend. I may see how they fair inside over the winter. Getting back to the veggie garden, I trellised up the peas with a bunch of branches from the woodpile and checked on the lettuces I planted (they look wonderful!) I am dropping hints to Eric the veggie garden goes from raised beds to the entire side of the driveway turning into a big veggie garden. I think he's thinking about it too.

I took a bunch of photos of the gardens yesterday morning which I'll spread out over the next couple of weeks. So, on to the horticultural eye candy! Today theme's going to be zinnias! (Pardon my attempt to stagger the photos...it didn't quite turn out the way I wanted them to.)

Mourning the death of Electra...I think I can finally move on...

If you have been a client of mine...you are well aware of my love affair with Electra organic fertilizer. I had never heard about this plant food until I worked at Chaves' Gardens in Middletown where the perennial manager, the owners, and the professional gardeners who shopped there raved about it. When I was able to garden at my own houses...I used it in my beds and was thrilled with the outcome. I loved that it never burned the plants, you only had to really apply it twice a year, and that it had been around since 1934.

I loved this fertilizer so much I highly recommened it to all of my friends and clients.

Then...this spring I started to get panicked emails and phone calls that Electra wasn't being made any more and what do they use now. I searched and looked at the Espoma plant tone lines and their formulations weren't really close to Electra's magic combo of 5-10-3. Out of desperation, I told everyone to use the Espoma foods. But, I think I may have found something that may come close to Electra! I found this fertilizer made by Gardener Supply Supply Company in Vermont. Here is their write up from their website -

Treat your flowers to our 100% organic slow-release fertilizer. It's rich in phosphorus (5-7-4) to promote strong root growth and healthier, more drought-resistant plants for prolific, long-lasting blooms.

Contains only naturally occurring nutrients, including sulphate of potash/magnesia, Chilean nitrate and peanut meal

Earth-friendly, 100% organic fertilizer

Promotes healthier, more drought-resistant plants with more abundant flowers

So, I ordered a 25 pound bag from their website and will test it out on my own gardens. If you're one of those "no guts, no glory" type of gardeners like me...get a bag and try it out. If you do, drop me a note and let me know how you make out with it and the results you got!

While this has absolutely nothing to do with gardening...

this is what we were up to this past weekend. Lars had his first dog show and came home with a huge trophy, a fourth place, and a Promising rating! We entered him in a sieger style show which is worlds different than the dog shows you see on TV. It's the german style confirmation show where you have a helper (Eric since he's the "play guy") bait the dog from outside the ring. The judge will announce to the audience what they think of the dog over a loud speaker which is incredibly educating. The only thing Lars had that was less than desirable was he needs to bulk up a little bit more and that will come with age. But I was awfully proud of how he did for his very first show ever...here's to more wins and shows in his future!


Bravo Zulu Lars!

I did make a blog for the guys -Black and Tans so they wouldn't be as much as a feature in this blog. They have a busier calendar than I do sometimes so they deserve their own little corner of the web. The link for their blog is also over on the side with my other fave blogs. So, if you're into dogs or rotties, feel free to check it out!

Mosaic Demo at Tranquil Lake

One of my friends who is a mosaic artist and landscape designer in CT is having a demo this weekend. She does some great work and it would be well worth checking out!

Here's the 411 on her demo -

Hello All Gardening Friends, Mosaic Friends and fellow Greenwimmen,

Thought I would send out an email to all of you if you are not busy and would like to see a Nursery that sells hundreds of iris, daylilies and other unusual perennials this is the place to come. In addition the fall festival is going on that day and I will be doing a demo at 12:30pm on a mosaic I have just completed onsite as well as showing/telling about other garden mosaics and ornaments that are dyi projects. I have just finished a 3x5 insitu (means built on site) mosaic and would be more than happy to see you all there.

http://www.tranquil-lake.com/Calender/festivalfall.htm

Hope to see you there

Googly eye gardening

This is way too hysterical not to share....Happy Monday!

Okay, now this is way cool....

Now this is one of two publishing opportunities that have presented themselves this fall. I won't talk about the other one until it's written in stone because I don't want to jinx it because it's huge. I'm not writing a book and I'll leave it at that. But this is the September's issue of Lawn and Landscape Magazine which is a national publication. I was contacted by one of the editors to discuss what I do for Intergrated Pest Management in my business....and there's the outcome. :) I think if you click on the image you can see it enlarged. But it's pretty legible as is.

I'm still on cloud 9! WHOO HOO!!

This year's Oh My God Project

Just when I thought 2008 might be the year where I didn't come home and say "OH MY GOD. What are you doing???" I was sorely wrong. One Saturday afternoon I received a phone call from Eric while I was at a client's house and I KNEW he was up to something" I even said something to my client that he was ripping apart something at the house but I wasn't sure. So, I came home to the deck remodel in the infancy stages.

I didn't really say Oh My God until he got the beams and framing done and saw how big it was. The deck is now known as Deckzilla....just look for yourself. It's as big as my living room and kitchen area together!


There it is from the slider door...please disregard the agility equipment in the back or you can just imagine it as some garden feature. Below is the master mind behind Deckzilla! I give Eric credit were credit is due...he designed the deck himself and he did a wonderful job. He's planning a hot tub (some day...far down the road) for the deck and that was one of the reasons it was so big. Plus, he built the stairs going to the patio near Lake Larson to frame the views of the pond. It's very cool and it really does make our large backyard seem like the little backyards I love to design in the point section of Newport and the East Side of Providence. He done good I say. He's working on the finish work right now and has to build the railing. Next year, he's going to build seating into the railing but I think he's started to get burned out on this project.

Now, I can also start planning the rest of the backyard planting wise. I really hadn't done much around the back because I was waiting on this project to be finished so I can see where stairs were going, and stuff like that. I can start to think of things myself. I doubt I will do a lot this fall but will be ready to hit the ground digging in the spring.




There's nothing earth shattering going on in the garden here...the veggie garden has definitely appreciated all of the rain we have been getting. We've been picking watermelons, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, cukes, green squash, and various herbs. I just planted the peas and the lettuces and have to get my broccoli and tatsoi in the ground. Maybe this weekend I may get a chance to get to that. Here's a photo of Lake Larson from the steps that come out on the patio....it looks pretty good for the end of the season. The fish are big, fat, and happy which is great! That thing down in the left hand corner is a filter for the chlorine in the city water. We have a little leak by that little waterfall which Eric has to fix.


Lastly, I'll share some autumn photos of the project that won last year's excellence awards. The Jones had sold the house and I had a chance to meet with the new owners and look forward to helping them learn how to maintain the landscape. Thankfully, they are gardeners and they said the landscape was one of the reasons they bought the house. I am so thrilled at how well this landscape matured. I think it's pretty awesome if I say so myself. :)

Holy Crap! Asian Long Horned Beetle seen in New England!

I have caught wind through the local news and RINLA that this devestating beetle has been seen in Worcester, MA. Apparently, it got here the same way it reached other parts of the country...wooden packing pallets. These guys don't fool around and they kill trees. They prey on Maple, Birch, Horse Chestnut, Sycamores, Popular, Willow, and Elms. They have issued an alert for Worcester, Boylston, Holden, Shrewsbury, and West Boylston in MA.

Here's a very informative link on all things Asian Long Horned Beetle. This is a very serious pest and we need to keep an eye out and report it to the Extension Agencies in your area if you see it.

http://www.massnrc.org/pests/pestFAQsheets/asianlonghorned.html

August Garden Ramblings

Since I have made my last post about gardens and such, we have had rain and lots of it! It's actually been a good rain, unlike the never ending torrents that have plagued other parts of New England. For the most part, it's been raining every couple of days if not a little bit every day. It has been a complete relief not having to water constantly. I had to water the veggie garden this afternoon because it's been a couple of days since we have had some rain and they aren't used to it being a little bit drier.

The bounty of the veggie garden continues with tomatoes, herbs, summer squash, and cukes. I just made Zucchini-Basil bread tonight with a zucchini that had been left out there a little too long and achieved baseball bat status. It really smells delightful and I can't wait to try it! I also figured out what the heck to do with the Lemon Balm I planted for the heck of it this spring. I've been enjoying Lemon Balm Tea on a regular basis and man, is it good! I was over at Ocean State Job Lot this afternoon and picked up a ton of seed packets for this fall and this coming spring. I know that the packets are dated for this year but I have always had good yields from using last year's seeds. Speaking of seeds, I just started peas, lettuce, mesculin mix, and broccoli in the little greenhouse and will seed a bunch of white asian radishes in the garden once the carrots are harvested.

The pond is good and the batting is clearing the water pretty well in the bigger part closer to the house because that's where the skimmer and the pumps are. The back deeper section is clearer but not like the front pond. Once we could see the fish fairly well and took a head count, we did learn the heron took some fish, Petey (Eric's favorite) was one of them as well as a couple smaller flashy looking koi. That's a complete bummer. So, maybe later this fall or next spring we'll replace them. Those water lilies are still blooming their heads off and my singing frog is out there croaking away. So, life at Lake Larson is good.

Work wise things are good and busy...not stupidly busy, but good busy. I'm starting the design for 2009's flower show and I think it will be great. We're going to do an Italian/Tuscan theme this year because the overall show theme is "Gardens of the World. " I have the building and hardscape layouts figured out and have to wait on the plant material until I get the list from the garden center that forces a lot of our material. Jim, one of my longest term clients and the owner of the 2006 RINLA Excellence Award Design winner, sent me a photo of his "Back 40" garden this summer.

His yard is one of my favorite projects...and this year with all of this rain, it is nothing short of spectactular! I was over there yesterday to discuss some new trees for an undeveloped part (and there aren't many of them left) of his yard. There are parts of his garden that take my breath away! Jim's yard is soon to get some national exposure with Lawn and Landscape Magazine. They had contacted me through email earlier this summer regarding Intergrated Pest Management (IPM) asking me how I do IPM in my business. I guess they had found me on The Underground. Since I don't do pest control myself for my clients but give advice on how to control problems, I didn't think I was going to be very helpful. But the fact that I design with less pest prone plants and use native/sustainable plant material was extremely interesting to them. So, I talked with one of the editors for some length about how I design with lower maintenance plants and my information will be used in the article. He also asked me to send some photos of my work using sustainable plants. So, Jim's yard and the 2007 RINLA Excellence Design Award winner's yard were sent along. Just this week, they asked me to send more photos...so I sent a couple more of Jim's place and one photo of my yard. I guess the issue with my input will be coming out next month. I'll keep you all posted on that article.

Let's see...dog front - Sam continues to improve which is almost along the same lines as a miracle. He's gone back to his Wednesday afternoons at the assisted living home and I think he missed the residents as much as they did him. We went to the vet on this past Monday for tests and a weigh in - 74 pounds. Oh my...I think he looks much heavier now, I can only imagine what he did weigh at his worst. I would like to get him up around 100 pounds at some point. His blood work was good as were the other tests. So, he doesn't need any meds and we have to go back in 3 - 4 months for more tests just to monitor him. The monkey is now 8 months old and is working in a bunch of different things - pre-agility, rally, obedience, and breed ring handling. Needless to say, he keeps me busy. I'm so thrilled how well he's taken to the pre-agility class we've been doing this summer. I wanted to see if the drive to do agility was there and boy is it ever! He's a machine tackling the obstacles even at 8 months. If I can get my act together and he learns to watch and follow me, I think we may be pretty good at this. I'll close this entry with a photo I took earlier this week...tug of war complete with knocking over furniture!

Plants that bite!

The 6th Annual Fall Carnivorous Plant Show

Sponsored by the New England Carnivorous Plant Society

Narragansett RI: The award winning New England Carnivorous Plant Society (NECPS) will again be hosting the Fall Carnivorous Plant Show at the greenhouses of the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, Providence RI.

Plant lovers and all those who enjoy something different will be able to get up close to hundreds of carnivorous plants exhibited by the members of the NECPS. Pitcher plants from Malaysia the size of softballs, capable of eating lizards and mice, Sundews from Australia the size of a dime to 12+ inches high, Venus Fly traps of all sizes, and Carnivorous Plants that grow locally in New England and Rhode island are just some of the plants that were displayed at past years shows, and will be on display again with even more plants added.

This is the largest collection of Carnivorous Plants on the east coast on display every year !

Over 300 plants scheduled to be on display !

There will be a Venus Fly Trap feeding area where the public can watch close up how these plants devour insects. Vendors will be on hand with plants and accessories for sale, along with plants offered by the NECPS. Plants will be available for purchase for both novice and experienced growers. The Permanent Carnivorous Plant Bog exhibit will also be available for viewing. Society members will be available both days to explain how the plants feed, what they eat, where they live, and how they can be grown and enjoyed at home.

Admission to the show is FREE with the purchase of regular admission to the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center Admission to the RWP Botanical Center is $3 for adults
$1 Children 6 to 12, under 6 FREE

Date and time: Saturday, September 27, 2008
11:00 AM till 4:00 PM
Sunday, September 28, 2008
10:00 AM till 3:00 PM
Location: Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, Roger Williams Park, Providence RI


For additional information about this exciting upcoming event, please visit www.NECPS.org
Or email to johnatthebeach@cox.net
(Please note that this event is not located at the Zoo. The Botanical Center Greenhouses are located across from the Providence Police Mounted Command station in the Park. Follow directional signs located throughout the park or visit www.NECPS.org for directions.)

The New England Carnivorous Plant Society PO box 606 Saunderstown, RI 02874

Water garden photos & apocalyptic thunderstorms..whoo hoo!

After gushing about my new lotus, I had to run out and get some photos of it! This is the first flower it threw right after it moved into its new home. I love how it turned out...complete with little dragonfly. *grin* It had a couple more buds that have since come and gone, leaving their really cool seed pods. It seems healthy and happy still which is great and I couldn't be more pleased.



The pond is looking pretty good despite the murky water. I think I'm going to go back to the polyester batting again to remove the sentiment and junk that is suspended in the water. I have enough coverage with the water lettuce, lotus, and waterlilies that I can clear the water a little more. Until this week, it had been really windy and dry for the past several weeks and the regular gardens became drought stressed. But the water garden boosted my gardening ego with the consistent water lilies blooms.

At night, we have one bullfrog who goes nuts at night and sings all night long. I'm usually up late and I hear him chugging away out there. But even when I get up in the middle of the night for a drink or whatever, he's still out there booming his head off. I think I saw my serenader tonight when I took Lars outside. I would like to get some more tadpoles next spring now that I know they do hang out around the following year after they mature.

Like I mentioned earlier, it's been dry, hot and windy which doesn't mix with my sandy soil. So, the soaker hoses I laid all over the gardens have been working overtime. I am so glad I put them out this spring because it has made my life much easier. Our veggie garden hadn't been doing as well as I had thought it should have been....but I had been stingy with the water. When I finally figured out that it wasn't going to rain for a while, I started to water every couple of days and saw a big difference in the plants and the yields. We've been harvesting green squash, tomatoes, and beans. The lettuce, radishes, and peas have already gone by...but I'll be starting another crop for the fall. I miss having lettuce. I did pick up some heat tolerant lettuce a couple of weeks ago and maybe I'll try that this summer. Eric's got peaches and tons of hops coming which he uses in his home brewed beer.

But the news this week was those insane thunderstorms that have been coming through these past several days. They started on Wednesday and we've had rain Thursday and today. Wednesday storms were nothing short of incredible. I was home working and had been watching the Weather Channel in the office for Hurricane Dolly coverage (I'm a TOTAL weather geek.) When the severe thunderstorm warnings started to pop up I had gone upstairs with the boys since I didn't want to have all of my computer stuff on and if we lose power, I can't see to draft. When I came up, the sky was black with eerie green highlights...and that no exaggeration. Right before the storm hit, it got dark, like 8:30 at night dark at 4:30 pm. Then the winds started followed by torrents of rain, thunder and lightening. After that front edge of the storm blew over us and hit the bay...right across the bay from us, a waterspout grew and hit the bay. When it hit the land, it turned into a F1 tornado. That was all over the news down here. But, at that time, Eric was driving home around the path of the tornado! He said that he had never seen wind like that before even in his Coast Guard days...they were about 50 -60 knots and were spinning around 195 as he was driving. Thank god he had his big turf truck which was heavy enough to drive through that. But he got home okay which was the most important thing. Later that night, one of the weather nerds on local TV said that thunderstorm was the biggest cell he had seen in the 21 years forecasting weather here in Southern New England. All righty then!

Thursday, the heavy rains continued in the afternoon with thunder and lightening. By this point, the rain barrel I had emptied the week before was brimming with water. I had walked by a little cooler Eric had left on the deck with the top open and noticed it was almost 3/4 of the way full. I had to check the rain gauge over by the garage. Eric said it was empty before the storms...and Friday morning, it had 5.5 inches of water in it. That was excellent! We needed a good rain like that so badly. It rained heavily again off and on today and I'll check the rain gauge tomorrow morning again to check the amounts. So, we're good for a while for watering and I expect things to explode in the flower gardens and veggie gardens. The weather patterns look like we're supposed to get rain every couple of days for the next week....let's hope that sticks around for a while.

OOOOOOO....Gardening Gifts!

Oh my, that hubby of mine is pretty awesome! He got me some "gardening gifts" last week. I was off at pre-agility with Lars Friday night and left Eric to his own devices for the evening. I came back and he asked me to go out and mess with the pumps in the pond. I knew something was up because I know he would have just gone out there and cleaned them out himself. So I called him out on it!

He was a busy guy while I was gone...he re-did the pond lights and made a great hiding place for the fish with some big stones. (I didn't ask how Capt. Back Surgery got those rocks in the pond....don't think I want to know.) But he picked me up another water lily (which is a nice pale yellow), some more floating plants, and A BIG PINK LOTUS!!!! I've been eyeing lotus for a while and I haven't gotten one yet. It's got a bunch of buds on it and one is swelling like it's going to pop soon!. That will definitely be captured on the camera for you all here.