All Passion Spent

Yes, unfortunately the lavender has done its best for the year and now it is time to move on to something else in bloom in the garden. This lavender is so hardy and hard working for me. I have had it for many years and it keeps coming back and giving me that sweet fragrance and gorgeous long lasting blooms. But this too shall pass; the gardener’s constant is change.

I had two red tomatoes on the Roma tomato plant in a pot on the deck. Unfortunately they both had blossom end rot. So I am still waiting for my first tomatoes and making do with what I get from the farmer’s market. I bought a variety of them at the Frankenmuth market Saturday, along with more kohlrabi (I can never have enough and fortunately it lasts awhile), peaches and blueberries. I don’t have any peppers yet either so I bought some jalapenos to make my first batch of salsa for the year. Fortunately I do have onions, garlic and oregano of my own to use.

Thursday my friend, Janet, and I went to Tipton, Michigan to visit Hidden Lakes Garden which is run by Michigan State University. It is an inexpensive visit ($3.00) and well worth it. Of course if you are a member of the Horticultural Gardens at MSU which I am, it is free. It was a relaxing visit after a day at Lilith Fair which came to the Detroit area on Wednesday. What a wonderful concert! I got to hear Melissa McClelland from the Cayamo cruise I was on last February. Yes, I know I am digressing from the garden here, but what the heck. Good music, beautiful flowers, all is fair in the world of art which is what makes living worthwhile.



There are some grand old trees in Tipton; Janet and I are just there as accents in some of the following pictures. And Hosta Hill is gorgeous as usual. I would love to bring my mother here in spring when the myrtle is in bloom since myrtle is her favorite plant. There are many wildflowers in bloom and the meadows are full of coneflower and black-eyed susans, two wonderful plants the home gardener can use.






I haven’t a clue what this plant is but Janet wanted a picture of it and forgot her camera so here it is. Here are some other pictures from Tipton. Enjoy!

Harvest Time

Well, not really. But since I do have garlic and basil in my garden, and since these tomatoes were grown in mid Michigan, even though they didn’t come from my own backyard, I decided that I was going to have one of my favorite dishes this week and that is exactly what I did. I took a good piece of bread (I get mine from an organic farm in Kingston, Michigan called Hampshire Farms) toasted it, spread pesto on top and then added a slice of tomato. I swear this meal is better than eating candy.



The garlic is now curing in my shed. Hopefully this will work and I will have garlic I can use for many months to come. Unless I use it up making pesto which could easily happen. The nice thing about cutting the basil is that it continues to grow and give me more leaves. What more could a pesto lover ask for! I used my muffin tin to freeze the pesto in smaller portions; I got this tip from a friend of mine in Pittsburgh and it works quite well.



The stargazers are putting on quite a show right now. They will probably be gone by next week. The ever changing garden. First it is the spring bulbs, then the bleeding heart, irises, and now purple coneflower is blooming prolifically. It seems early this year to me, but then everything seems to come early anymore. Some folks may doubt the existence of global warming, but in 26 years of gardening, the trend is for my plants to bloom earlier than they used to bloom. At least according to my garden notebook they do.







And now for something new. I have been meaning to plant a hibiscus and finally got around to it this summer. This is Luna pink swirl which I got from Abele’s Greenhouse. All I can say is whatever took me so long? What a gorgeous bloom this plant has! I should have planted it years ago.



There is always something to look forward to in the garden. As one plant goes another plant comes along to take its place. I guess if I can change through the years (and I certainly have more wrinkles) I can’t expect the garden to stay the same. But it does give me the same pleasures every summer. Not to mention the necessary ingredients for pesto, i.e., basil and garlic.

Garlic Galore

Yesterday I made some hummus with my own garlic. I am growing three different kinds, one of them a stiff neck variety called German extra hardy; the other two I got from Seed Savers Exchange, heirloom varieties called Broadleaf Czech and Lorz Italian. I know that I can make a garland with those that are not stiff neck, but I need to figure out the best way to preserve the stiff neck garlic as well so I can use it all winter long. Right now they are on the floor of my spare bedroom with the door closed (since the cat is quite curious) drying out. Where to put them? This small house of mine will have to find a place somewhere.

What goes with garlic? Basil of course! I have basil growing in several spots this year—all in hopes that I will harvest enough so I can eat pesto throughout the winter.






I am using maggot protection covers on the apples this year. Some of these apples have fallen to the ground, but others still remain. I hope to have some apples that I can eat whole without cutting out the bad parts.




I am using a grow pot for a Roma tomato plant-the plant does have some small tomatoes on it. The pot for the potatoes seems to be working fine, at least the potatoes are thriving. It is easy to just add soil mix on top as they grow.







These sunflowers are souring above me in the vegetable garden area. I suppose the birds will find the seeds before I do.




And will this artichoke produce anything for me this year? If so, I will enjoy the beautiful flowers before I have something to eat.





Knee high by the fourth of July. Well, actually this photo was taken on July 8th, but the corn is definitely knee high. Now if we can get some rain to help these wonderful vegetable plants along. This hot and humid weather is not just hard on me, it is hard on my garden and water bill as well.




I actually do have some flowers in bloom right now. The monarda and lilies make a nice combination and the purple coneflower has taken off. I usually think of it as an August plant, but here it is the beginning of July and it is blooming profusely.
Well, today it will be peas for dinner. Tomorrow probably a salad with my lettuce before it poops out on me. Such is life at the Birkam household these days. Eating good and enjoying all the blooms.

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.