Garden Djinn

Small Blessings

When I moved to the Sonoran Desert, I took the time to select out the plants that I thought had a fighting chance of survival down here.  I still took a lot of losses that first summer. 

There is no way to understand the impact of that low humidity/high heat until you live through several months of it.  Michigan one year had a week of weather that was in the high 90s with 'low' humidity of around 40%.  Ha ha.  Low?  Low is 4% - how little did I know. 

Things died.  Thankfully, I have blanked out most of what I have lost.  Nature can be kind. 

And some things just limped along, looking pathetic, but not so gone as to be mercy tossed to the compost pile.  My african violets were in that category.  I came down here with four, quickly losing one to wilt.  One went into a long decline, finally rotting out at the base.  I have its leaves in a bag with some potting mix, hoping one will root and I can recover the plant. 

The other two?  Have suddenly decided they might be okay after all. They are both blooming very prettily at the north window I have settled them.

Although this show of happy may be short term; in late July through most of January, the humidity levels are naturally higher.   I have started to put my plants in humidity trays, and I will add these two to that system soon. 

But for now, I'm just sitting back and enjoying my small bright blessings. 

Arizona Primroses

At least they remind me of my lovely yellow primroses back in Michigan.  This is the Lady Banks Rose.  The specimen shown here is clambering over the neighbor's fence into my yard.  Later this year, I am going to take some cuttings to see if I can start a few of these plants. 

The individual flower of this rose is quite diminutive, as each bloom is slightly larger than a quarter, yet these are borne in clusters - this is a group of 14 - and produced in great sprays across the entire bush.  This picture shows a vanilla bottle vase and a coaster for a pedestal.  Tiny!

The flowers bloom but once a year, but for a show like this from a rose in the desert?  Worth the wait*.

I'm not the only one who appreciates this rose.  Here is one of our resident lizards who spends a lot of its time sunning on the wall just below the boughs. 

* 

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, The Ides of March bring Goldfinches

On the fifteenth of every month, Carol of May Dreams Gardens is kind enough to host Gardener Blogger’s Bloom Day.

The Desert Mallow, Sphaeralcea ambigua, is blooming in my backyard.  We moved into this rental at the beginning of the year.  The winter rains dumped nearly two inches of precipitation soon after, guaranteeing good weed wildflower germination. 

So I've been pulling a lot of weedy material out of the gravel in both the front and back, but I've been doing so with a careful eye, trying to identify what grows down here.  In the far back corner of the yard, I have a cluster of these mallows.  The one in the corner might even be a second-year plant, all of the others look like newbies.  This is a lovely plant, obviously desert adapted.  It's cousins in the mallow family like to have their feet in the damp, and this one is no exception.  The plants I have seen in the wild have been constrained to the areas of the washes, where the water comes in volume and stays longer than anywhere else in the desert. 

I will be watching my plants to see their summer habits.  Desert Tropicals, an informal on-line encyclopedia of Arizona desert plants, states that "The coral flowers of the desert mallow come in summer to fall." I'm not keeping my hopes up.  The ones in my backyard look like they are putting on an all-or-nothing show.

Meanwhile, at the back feeder, I got a positive id on the Lesser Goldfinch.  He is a green-backed male, and the two of them seem to be local.  Maybe I'll get to see babies in a few months!

Part of my job is going to folk's residences and measuring their house when they want to renovate or add on to their existing home.  The rest of my job is coming back to my office and drawing up that home on the computer, for their architect or designer to work with.  That's what I do.  I draw buildings. 

Last Wednesday I got to take a few pictures of a client's garden.  And because it's late in the season and we are all hanging on to every last glimmer of summer, I have to share:

Sweet summer.  Sigh. 

Bringing in the New Year

Winter in Michigan and the outdoor garden is far away.  The months are long, cold, and dreary.   All the brown grass and grey slush makes the green indoors a great relief.   

I am as much a gardener inside as I am outside.  My house has plants in every available window, some that I have carefully tended for over a decade.  Being in the green gets me through this grey season.

This year, I looked around my house on New Year's Eve and took note of all that was blooming. 

Some of these were plants I brought in for the winter. This variegated periwinkle (Vinca minor) is overwintering indoors, as this plant tends to be a tender perennial in zone five. 

These are sold as plants for mixed container plantings, and can be found spring and summer anywhere plants are sold.  I decided to bring in this particular plant because I liked its leaf color and was rewarded with a pair of its charming blue blossoms.

Another plant that received refuge from the frosts was a mixed planting of annuals, Salvia: Lady in Red and Lobelia: Crystal Palace.  I find this salvia to be a real winner, sending out flush after flush of rosy red blooms all summer long.  The hummingbirds love it.  When the frosts came, I wasn't ready to let it go, so in it came.  It continued to bloom through the Holidays. 

You have to look for the lobelia, they are peeping out from the salvia's foliage. 

Other plants are year 'round residents, like my african violets (gesneriads).   These are unnamed cultivars that I have purchased on impulse at the grocery.  I currently have four of them on a windowsill in the kitchen that gets no direct sun, and their only natural light for a few hours in the morning.  They don't seem to mind this, and at least one of them will bloom each year during the winter.  This year it was the blue one, with a slight ruffle and a white picotee rim. 

In yet another east window, I have more plants blooming in winter. 

Here you can find a sprawling cyclamen, and a gangly crown of thorns (Euphorbia splendens syn. milii).  The euphobia was actually a dumpster find.  I stuck it in soil and it's bloomed reliably for me ever since.

I've collected plants since I was just a kid, maybe 9 or 10, wanting my own versions of the plants my mom and grandmother grew.  I can't imagine a house without plants.  In winter the promise of the plants is one of the things that helps me get through these months of no sun and dirty snow.  Who can stay glum when this is what greets you at the kitchen sink in the morning?

Sweet Crabapple

The crabapple a few days ago:

And today:

The air smells as sweet as honey.

It's Spring in Southeast Michigan

Just another day in paradise.  Four inches of snow overnight on the fourth weekend of April is not common.  I thought to go out and get cute pictures of things peeping out of the snow. 

This is fritillaria persica, with camassia and bearded iris foliage in the background. 

There isn't much cute out there. 
It all looks fairly desperate.  Like these poor daffodils, face down in the snow:

This little muscari seems to be holding its own:

Spring Clean-up

Most of my clean-up here is in spring.  I leave seedheads standing for the birds, and most of the foliage from the last year does no harm to leave until spring.  The bearded iris are an exception to that, and every third year or so I actually manage to remember to clean them out in the fall.

So comes the sun and warm weather, and I am out there pulling away the dead leaves from the new spring growth.  Daylilies, iris, delphiniums all reveal fresh new green or bronze leaves.  The columbine are little mounds of tidy foliage.  The chives are already a foot high.

Some things in zone five are best left for spring.  I looked over the lavender, the sage, the thyme - all the woody perennials - and decided to wait a few more days before pruning them down.  The buddleia and the russian sage are also waiting.  Once they show new growth, I will know how much of the old to take off.

Crocus have been showing for some weeks now.  I have a few handfuls of several varieties, so the early season is still going, although they are just about done by now.  The late ones are huge, dwarfing the little early ones.  I have a bunny or something that is going through and mowing down my crocus foliage.  I put some chive cuttings over them today, in hopes that it will deter the damn beastie. 

The daffs are all sending their buds skyward, as if in competition with the leaves to see who will get there first.  The scilla are also halfway to bloom.  I will watch them both daily now, awaiting the day they open.  I love me my blues in the garden.  These scilla, planted last year, will be my first wave of the blues for this year. 

For once, this year I cleared the fall leaves from the border with the apricot tulips before they got all tangled up in them.  Maybe I will get a flower or two, although like most of the high bred varieties, these have been slowly declining since I planted them. 

In the same border, I trimmed out all of the ratty foliage from the hellebores.  They are supposed to be early bloomers but in zone five, I don't know what that means.  I have some fresh leaves coming up, and will watch them for anything that looks like buds, but they have only been in the ground since fall, and may need more root time.  I dunno. 

Speaking of extended root time, I have a pot of amaryllis that I have been dragging in and out for several summers of green floppy growth that is FINALLY sending up a new bloom stalk.  Hurray!

This from a friend:

Garden Lament

Oh, my garden,
you are full of weeds,
on my list of priorities,
you are number 33.

Your roses have aphids,
raspberry shoots abound,
the new iris will be lucky,
not to be mowed down.

Oh, my garden,
in the eye of my dreams,
blooming with fall flowers,
not these weedy reams.

L.T.

Ask Jeeves

Somebody queried Jeeves on what blooms in Michigan in August.

Jeeves, in it's inimitable, impossible way, referred them to me. Poor people. Maybe they will try again.

Let me see.

Sedum Spectrabilis (Autum Joy, Matrona, and that crew), obediant plant (Physostegia virginiana), a rebloom on the species variety Delphiniums, japanese Anemone (Honorine Jobert), the annuals cardinal flower and cardinal vine, a few stella dora daylilies, Gallardia burgundy, Monarda jacob cline...

I have miniature roses blooming. There's a few coral bells (Huechera) blooming here and there. The Coreopsis moonbeam is still going, complimented by the occasional late bloom of Campanula blue chips.

The irish moss (Sagina Subulata) is blooming, but that is for the minaiturists to appreciate. The Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium ) makes a more impressive showing.

All over my garden, the Hostas are sending out sweet white spires, hauntingly and subtly fragrant. The Echinachea and the Rudbeckia are still holding out with a strong display. As September progresses, the anemone and the obedient plant just keep on going.

Also, the lilac Miss Kimm starts to pick up a purple fall color and the burning bush start to redden up. (these plants have been in fall color this year since June - we have had a stressfull year for the plants - much rain and cool temps - they are confused)

I don't know if that is helpful, but that is what is going on in my garden.

Roses

My little roses are just starting their season. Right now I just have unnamed miniatures that I pick up at the grocery store. They go in the ground and are perfectly happy in zone five. The first bloomer this year is a delicate and riffled edged rose in a soft, soft apricot.

The entire plant is so small I could cup it in my hands. She's like a dainty pixie and I can't help but smile every time I pass her.

Long Time, No Post

Been elsewhere. August in the garden is a slow month. The weeds are not sprinting, but need to be pulled before they set seed. The flowers continue as they will. An occasional deadheading is the most strenuous chore that needs doing.

We put a fence up for the Hoggle. I documented that elsewhere. He has finally decided that it is a good place to be, but the porch is the next thing we will be working on.

So. I've not much to say, but here are some pictures:

I have several sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) going in a whiskey barrel that holds gaura and snakeweed. They were volunteers, probably planted by blue jays. It has been a long summer waiting and wondering if they would finish their cycle before the frosts. I think they will be fine, and right about the time the seed will be ready, the goldfinches will be dining up before winging south.

Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana ssp praemorsa 'Variegata'.) I bought this plant for its leaves, which are not very well presented in this image. They have an interesting quality of grey/green, combined with a butter cream edge that really sounds like it shouldn't work. And often with variagated plants the flowers are in stark contrast with the foliage. Somehow, this plant pulls it all together and it works. Ants love the orchid-like lavender flowers - they hide inside the flowers - perhaps there is a nectar payoff for them in the depths of each blossom. The brown tips of the leaves show that I was a bit negligent in watering the barrel they are planted in. Lazy August.

I Love Blue

I've tried many times to get delphiniums to grow in my garden. Note I say grow, not thrive, not flourish. Just grow. And many times I have failed. This year, perhaps because they are in a large pot on the patio, they have managed to survive until August, a feat unheard of. And not only that, but they are blooming.

I love the startling, eye-binding blue of the Belladona Delph. These are not the stiff, formal flounces of the delphs that are commonly seen. These are looser girls, not afraid to hike their skirts and show a bit of leg. Love that blue.

Details

We rarely leave time, in our busy days, to sit and notice the small things. I find that being in the garden, watering, weeding, planning... puts me in a state of mind that allows me to enjoy the details.

How often do we sit and observe the delicate tracery of Queen Anne's Lace?

Or study the parts of the flowers that are blooming to notice that some are not the same as the others?

One of these platycodon has the pistal fully open in a lovely star shape, while in the other it has not yet opened. The plant must use this delay to maximize cross-pollination, because the balloon flower remains fresh for several days before it fades.

Do we even notice the wildlife that we disturb as we go about our business? This dragonfly posed for the camera for several minutes, then followed me across the yard to watch me deadhead the shasta daisies. I was the afternoon entertainment, in its eyes...

And I can't help but be amused that the inchworms love my coreopsis, this was the second of them I have found. I 've been letting them be, as I can't find a reference to these little red caterpillers that would indicate I should eradicate them. I've found that a lot of the 'inchworms' attack trees and can be quite a threat. This little guy is just sweetly amusing. He can eat my coreopsis. He makes a great picture.

Visitors

My friend Liz is bringing her mom out to see the garden tomorrow. Am I nervous? Well. Yeah.

Today as I was weeding, my dog was acting cute and one of the hummingbirds buzzed my ear. Tomorrow, the dog will bark incessantly, and the birds will make themselves scarce.

I wish I could say I trained my dog to point:

That is a japanese beetle he is nosing. It's odd, and I probably shouldn't say it, but this year I have had very few of the dreaded beetles. I've seen them, singly, on and around the plants. But not in numbers. And many of the ones I have seen were already dead. Of course, I have not seen many insects this summer, despite our plentiful rainfall, which makes me wonder if they haven't been spraying our area to keep down the mosquitoes, and just 'forgot' to inform us of that small matter. I then I wonder about this persistant headache I am currently cursed with...

At least there will be a few things for them to see. My favorite daylily is in full form. This plant came with this house, planted in one of the low areas, and struggling to keep it's head above the wet. I potted it up in a whiskey keg and it has been lovely. It's time to give it a repot for next season, as the texture of the petals has changed. I think it needs a good dose of compost.

I Love Hostas

I have entirely too many of these plants, most of which are hanging around the driveway in pots, waiting for me to decide where they will find homes. They are just coming into bloom this week.

It's a long season for them, as the different varieties bloom at different times. And are there a lot of varieties of this plant! Miniatures to giants, from yellow leaves to blue. Seersuckered, wavy, variegated, lanceolate... they do it all.

Their flowers are the least of their attractions, but are quite lovely if you take the time to enjoy them. My favorite come in to bloom in august - they came with the house, but they look like Sum and Substance. They have the sweetest, most lovely perfume!

Shasta Daisies

The Shasta Daisies are all aflutter. Shastas (Chrysanthemum maximum) are dependable performers. Come full summer, they burst open with enthusiasm. I love this semi-double version I received in a border planting mixture. I moved a bit of it from our townhouse in Pontiac to this place. In January. Did I mention I love this flower?

Unfortunately, they are universally loved. Both the japanese beetles and the earwigs move in quickly, often before the flower is fully open. I evicted and stomped three earwigs this evening after taking this image. Nasty bugs!

The last poppy is fading in the stone border. This is a loose planting between my driveway and my neighbor's. Here you see the poppy in the foreground, flanked by an unknown daylily variety (possibly 'happy returns.') Behind are Coreopsis grandifolia (tickseed) and Adenophora (ladybells.) The yellow to the far left is a variety of sedum.

This hot number is Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower.) I have a couple of pairs of Ruby throated hummingbirds that vie for the territory of my two feeders. To lessen the pressure, I've planted several of the flowers that they are known to favor. I love the drama of this plant's dark stems and burgundy tipped foliage.

Poppies

The poppies are nearly done now. They put on a show like a Fourth of July display, and just like the fireworks, you want more when the silence falls and the show is done.

I had several packages of giveaway seeds. Some from the American Horticultural Society that arrived in their magazine solicitations, some that came as gas station giveaways, and some from sundry other sources. Last year when I cleared the pot that holds my annual cardinal climber I decided what the heck - I took all those seeds and scattered them across the soil, then left it over the winter.

The cardinal climber always looks anemic near the base, and I thought it would fill with poppies and they would balance each other. But once again, I remembered to plant the climber seeds very late in the season. Very late. Those climbers are about 6 inches right now, and the poppies are fatigued out.

But the poppy display alone was worth it. I think the poppies in the top and middle photos are Shirleys. I also have some Flanders. These are better at stretching the season - they send up mulitple flower stalks over several weeks.

Were I a real poppy fan I could stretch the display quite a bit. The Oriental poppies are early, and their dance is done by the time the Shirleys start ruffling their skirts. The scarlet Flanders (photo below) step in about mid-dance and hold the floor until mid-summer.

Niobe is a Lovely Lady

Hmm... Well. Playing around with bringing a photo in. This is Niobe Clemetis. I simply adore the rich, velvety texture of these petals.

You will note a varied photo quality while I play around in photoshop to determine what settings are optimal for good image quality and small file size. This one is a bit on the rough side, I think. But I may have to lower my standards, too. I've not played with photos before, so while I am sure the sizes add up quickly, I would like to have the shots look their best.

Bear with me while I experiment and learn.

Clematis like to have their foliage and flowers in the sun, but they like their roots to stay cool (which also implies moist). I've seen them growing in hot dry sites, and they will tolerate such to a point, but I was happy to see this plant rocket out of the ground this spring. It was planted last winter, in a site off the northeast corner of my porch; the plant is climbing a pergola that will someday be covered with a wisteria. (Not visible in the photo.)

Yes, I am crazy to allow wisteria within climbing distance of my house. That is a post for future years - for now that vine is still only about 5 feet high.