Old Herbaceous

There is a wonderful book that I read recently called "Old Herbaceous" written by Reginald Arkell about the relationship between a woman and her gardener. In speaking about him she says:

“But he was a little trying. One minute he would exasperate you, because he would do things his way, and then he would be so sweet you almost wanted to cry.”

Further along she says:

“Pinnegar was a gardener…just a gardener… and gardeners are all a little like that.”

So that’s my excuse! I like to do things my way because that is what gardeners are like! Actually, I just like to do things that will give me good produce, beautiful flowers, and healthy plants. If something doesn’t work, then try something else.

I have been in the process of outlining my mother’s garden with mulch to keep the weeds in the woods, including poison ivy, at bay. I lay wet newspapers down several sheets thick and then top them with pine bark mulch. It sure saves on the time I spend weeding! And the newspapers eventually rot so no problem there. I would never have the time to take care of two gardens without newspapers helping me out. I never seem to have enough of them to do what I want to do either!







The bright daisy-like flowers of Feverfew are in bloom right now. This is such a reliable plant. I planted it many years ago in hopes that the self-help books I had read about it would cure me of the headaches I used to get. It didn’t help with the headaches, but this plant sure brightens my garden with the lovely flowers. It does self seed, however they are easily controlled and it is good to start with a new plant from scratch every now and then as the older ones don’t continue to thrive forever.





The giant alliums are through, but that doesn’t mean I am through with them. I took some spray pain and give a few of them a bit of color. They won’t last until the end of the summer of course; the elements will get to them first. But they will last a little while and give me a some brightness in my day.

Lilies in Bloom

I usually think of July as the season for lilies. But everything is early this year and there are plenty of daylilies (including Stella D’Oro) in bloom as well as the Asiatic lilies.




The stargazers have buds on them so should be showy pretty soon. Lilies don’t last very long for me, even when they are true lilies and not hemerocallis (the daylilies).




So I need to enjoy them while I can. I have learned over the years however to wear my paint clothes when I am working in the garden at this time of year. The pollen that gets on my clothes is terribly difficult to get out so better to wear clothes I don’t care about.




I am finally starting to pick some vegetables in my garden. The radishes were pretty much a bust this year (I always seem to have some vegetables that don’t do as well as others) but I am picking baby lettuces (actually thinning them out but eating the thinnings) and Swiss chard plus some snow peas. I love the snow peas since they don’t have to be podded, just eat them pods and all. To think that when I was a child I thought it was fun to pod the peas at my grandparents’ farm! I also picked one kohlrabi for which I am thinking of making hummus. There is plenty more kohlrabi out there fortunately. Using a method of collars made of margarine containers and netting I have managed to keep them safe from the critters this year. Hopefully I won’t forget to protect them next year. Old age is hard. I have to keep relearning things I ought to know by now!




The strawberries are long gone and the tomatoes have a way to go. So I will feast on kohlrabi and peas for the time being. The thing about the garden I like the best is there is always something. Seasons for everything; and everything at the right time.

Garden Walk 2010

After a several year hiatus Saginaw decided to have a garden walk this year. I bought my ticket and was able to get to three gardens before being at my designated garden for the rest of the afternoon as a volunteer for the Master Gardener’s. And what lovely gardens there were to see!



The Picard garden gives the flavor of a tropical island, complete with pool and tiki bar. I love the idea of putting a rather invasive grass sunk into the ground in a pot and then surrounded by stone. What a good idea!



My assigned destination for the rest of the afternoon was the Rios garden. Suc a treasure in the heart of the city and not too far from the Hoyt Library where I have worked for the past 30 years. Even though the weather was a bit brisk and of course I didn’t dress properly (I think this is summer and I seem to forget that this is also Michigan) the afternoon was a pure delight.





This garden has a front section and a back section; the front is a sunny area with many sun perennials including Maltese Cross and Joe Pye Weed. There is a lovely pond, complete with fountain and fish.


The back area of this garden is quite shaded and has a super collection of hostas among many other shade loving plants. The white impatiens set off all the different shades of green. These colors combined just lovely!





The Rios garden also has a number of roosters and chickens. I suspect slugs are at a minimum here. What a useful pet to have!

And to complete this wonderful afternoon those of us who came to this garden were given a tour of this wonderful 1886 house that is in the process of being restored to its’ original splendor. All in all it was a find day for a garden walk and I hope it is held again next year.

What is blooming in my garden right now? Well everything is about 2 weeks early this year, probably helped along by a lot of rain and some sporadic warm weather. The alliums are at their peak right now and I also have a clematis that is blooming its’ head off. This is a plant I added to my garden last summer so of course I an exceedingly pleased.




I also have hollyhocks starting to bloom and the roses are weighing the netting they hang from down they are so thick. I have some pots with wave petunias, a plant that cannot help but please.




Soon I will be harvesting garlic and once the basil takes off there will be pesto. Can tomatoes be far behind? Bring on the summer! I am ready to eat!

In the Wild

This weekend wasn’t a beach weather weekend. But we took a walk anyways and I was able to see the patch of wild iris that I look forward to seeing every year at this time. The patch increases every year and is truly joy to see.




While we walked on the road we came across a large patch of milkweed and sure enough the monarch caterpillars were feeding. This year I started some milkweed from seed and I plan to plant these plants when they are a little bigger. I want it for my garden to attract the monarchs which are always such a joy to see. It is always good to walk with a friend as she points out what you don’t see. I don’t think I would have seen the caterpillars if she hadn’t pointed out the milkweed to me.







On our way up north we made a detour to Gladwin to Stone Cottage Gardens. I came away with a Santolina plant and a Heuchera with some variegated leaves. Stone Cottage Gardens is well worth going to as the gardens are beautiful and just fun to walk through.


I have been laying more newspapers and mulch at my parents’ house. I got a little “help” from a squirrel who decided to dig right in that area. I guess that is how it goes. Contending with wildlife is definitely a gardener’s life.

Garden Tips

Before heading up north for the weekend, I spent some time in the garden using a few tips I have learned over the years. One tip a lady on the Frankenmuth Garden Walk taught me several years ago. I have been using it ever since. I cut a long strip of fishing wire and tie it around those tall, prone to fall, perennials to keep the flowers upright. I use it on balloon flower, asters and delphiniums among other plants. The plants stay upright and the fishing wire is practically invisible.

Another thing I did was pinch a few of the really tall growing plants back a bit. These plants are the asters, chrysanthemums and salvia. This helps keep them compact and bushy so they don’t fall all over the place. They don't bloom as early, but one can always use some color in September.

Some of my vegetable seedlings get old margarine containers with holes cut out of the bottoms as collars to protect them from cut worms. I spray paint the containers so they look nice. They work pretty well for broccoli, tomatoes and peppers that I start indoors from seed.



Yesterday I spent a great deal of time in my mother’s garden laying down newspapers (several sheets thick) and spreading mulch on top of it. This keeps the weeds at bay, a necessary chore for me if I want to maintain two gardens 90 miles apart. It looks pretty nice as well.




June is underway here in mid-Michigan and I have coral bells, foxglove and irises in bloom. Plenty of color to keep me happy. Soon I hope to have all the seedlings I started in the ground or given away. Of course at the farmer’s market I splurged on an edible chrysanthemum ( you can eat the leaves and flowers) and Sweet Annie and an unusual variegated morning glory. Oh well. What is gardener? Someone with plants on the deck that need to get into the ground.

Different Places

The nice part of heading north is seeing lilacs in bloom. The lilacs in Saginaw finished a couple of weeks ago so it is nice to be someplace where they are currently in bloom and spreading their fragrance. Different places, different seasons. The Tawas area is just enough behind Saginaw to give you different bloom times for the same plant. So you get to enjoy them twice! What a good deal that is!

There is plenty of lily of the valley in bloom as well, a plant that does remarkably well in all this shade and sand. I used to think I would prefer gardening in sandy soil after dealing with my hardpan clay soil at home. No more. This sand just does not hold the moisture and provides no nutrients to the plants. I can amend my clay soil with compost and it makes a huge difference. But this sand needs more than I can ever give it. Whatever I do it never seems enough.




We also have a wild version of lily of the valley in bloom. Many wildflowers seem to like this sandy soil under the shade just fine. Wild columbine, goldenrod, roses, fleabane, silverweed, goatsbeard and black-eyed susans bloom at different times of the year here with no help at all from this gardener. I have added tansy and artemesia (which are in pots in the ground at home since they can be so invasive) and they do fine without being contained in my mother's garden. And my mother’s myrtle is a wonderful replacement for grass in this area where grass does not do its best due to the shade.



Gardening is a balm for the soul. My mother and father are 84 and 89 respectively. Both of them suffer from health problems in this twilight time of their lives. These two smart, vibrant, wonderful people are in many ways more my children than my parents now. So I exercise with them the same thing I exercise in the garden. Patience. Lots of it. Things don’t always turn out the way you want them to, but sometimes something wonderful occurs. And the something wonderful in my life is having two good parents who are still with me when so many of their generation have passed on. Life starts with a simple seed and then blooms into beauty, fading eventually before dying. In that dying the soil is nurtured, that good earth, to begin life anew. So when I die, throw my on the compost heap to nurture future generations of life. All of it!