New Enemy

One might expect after reaching the midpoint of their seventh decade that little new remained to be seen.  This tunnel and the destruction that occurred under the Sedum and Siberian Iris is something that we have never before experienced.  Each Spring dead grass marked the existence of critters getting by under the snow cover.  Footsteps crushed the tunnels and the grass quickly regrew.

We have always let our Siberian Iris overwinter under a crown of dead leaves believing that the crown of the plants were insulated from the bitterness of many cold nights.  When we began to put things right, a section of iris pulled up revealing a tunnel under the plant and all of the roots gone.  The underside of the hard base of the crown was covered with teeth marks that looked like we had a visit from a tiny beaver.  Our guess is that a vole or several survived winter at the expense of our plants.

We expect that many replacement plants will be required to restore the garden's edge planting that is visible from the road.  Cutting the soon to be dead leaves will remove extensive thick cover that allowed the critters to move about unseen by any man or vole eating predator.  Luck was once again with me as my thrusting of fingers into the deep caverns found no one at home.  That lack of judgement will not be repeated.

This tiny piece of moss is growing on a solid chunk of tree bark that was only partially ground.  A silver dollar would completely cover this growth.  The tiny green spheres create the spores that will grow into new plants.  Capsules may be the proper name although fruiting bodies sounds like an accurate description of their function.  In the past moss never got a second look.  I cannot believe just how much was missed.  Another load of moss covered rocks was brought to line the paths that cross the shade garden.  This small piece of life will be given a new home in an indentation on one of them.

Black Friday In The Garden, Photos by Amy

  After a busy day with terrific food and family time yesterday, I awoke very early this morning.  It was not to hop in the car to go shopping.  I don't do that on the day after Thanksgiving.  I was feeling dizzy and queasy and thought the day was going to be a disaster. Then while sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast, I noticed brilliant flashes of blue outside the kitchen window.  I immediately thought of bluebirds, but that seemed like wishful thinking.  A few minutes later a bird came back and sat on top of one of the bluebird houses.  Both Amy and Ed saw him.  The brilliant blue, reddish throat and white tummy made it definite.  Bluebirds on November 24 would have to go down as something special in any garden journal!  Just seeing them made me feel a little better.

 Bluebirds and beautiful blue skies called for a walk in the garden with the camera and Amy.  Actually she did most of the walking and I spent a lot of time sitting on the garden bench in the sunshine. Here we have  the backside of a sunflower.  What an interesting place to leave your sunflower seeds.

Howling winds have blown most milkweed seeds away,  but these two pods are still waiting for these seeds to have a chance to fly away on their silken fluff.

This milkweed seed is hung up in the top of a catnip plant.

Cold has turned the hens and chicks a lovely red.  The prickles on the end of each leaf are perfect for snagging milkweed fluff.  I don't see any seeds here. Perhaps they have been eaten or maybe I will be pulling tiny milkweed plants out of the hens and chicks in the spring.

This unknown Sedum was a stowaway in the pot of another purchased plant.  I planted it on top of Ed's curved wall.  It shows an interesting tangle of textures, shapes, color and light. 

Prickly and soft, red and white, light and shadow make this photo a favorite!

Moss and lichens adorn the top of this stone wall.  Hazelnut catkins add a little more interest! 

The side view of the same rock adds another dimension.  There are always interesting things to see in the garden. Walking there with someone special who notices is perfect!

Under A Blanket Of Snow, The Plants Are Carrying On!

You might think with all the cold, snow, ice and darkness that the plants would be dormant.  Some are of course.  We won't see a sign of the Lemon lilies until the Spring actually happens, but the Johnny jump ups have been flowering under the ice and snow.  They always do.  That bright green sprig of tall snapdragon is ready to try for another season.  It's not dead so it still has a chance!

This gorgeous sedum might be more pink than green in the cold, but I'm pretty sure the plants are growing and the clump is getting a little larger every time I get a chance to see it.  As far as I know the cold has little effect on these plants but sometimes rodents eat them!

Forget-me-nots have self seeded on top of the shade garden wall.  Some of its leaves are brown from the cold.  It is growing in a very exposed location.  This plant plans to flower when spring arrives.  It will not give up its chance to flower easily!

Ed's Shasta Daisies barely made it through the winter last year.  At this point this clump looks terrific.  It is well rooted and has a wonderful chance to survive.  I do see  some weeds plan to make a comeback as well.  They include Shepard's purse, a new dead nettle that appeared here in droves last summer and  that disgusting little sucker in the front of the picture.  I don't know the proper name of that pernicious weed and I would never print here what I call it!

This Lewisia, also called bitter root, was wonderful this summer  It had beautiful pink flowers in July.   However, I have to wonder just what it thinks it is doing now.  Whatever it is I  don't understand it.  I certainly wish the plant well, but just the same I'll be marking the Lewisia  in the catalogs when I find a place to get more.  Perhaps the idea of having the company of a few more of these plants will give this one the will to live.  I know it will cheer me up!  

Late November, Still Looking Good

This afternoon was way to gorgeous not to take the camera out to the garden.  If you think these new Johnny-Jump-Up plants will wait for spring to bloom, think again.  Come cold wind even snow, they  still do their thing.

This is our first year with Ice Plant. When the sun comes out, this plant flowers.  Being frozen for awhile doesn't seem to change that.  I wonder if these will peek out from beneath the snow in the spring?

This Sedum  was planted this year too.  We were late getting it planted, but it looks terrific today.  I feel great about its chance to winter over till spring.

I wanted to take a picture of my rosemary and scented geraniums from outside.  Straight on all I could see was my reflection.  I thought I was so darn smart taking this picture from way off to the side.  Not only is my reflection still there, but it is there twice. Please just ignore that blurry woman in the picture!  Don't my plants look good?

There Is Hope

That most recent bitter Arctic blast felt like a hard punch to the midsection.  We are usually working outside by this date.  Today the temperature inched above freezing and a  check on the exposed plants was in order.  Native Lobelia cardinalis is a personal favorite.  It is not a true perennial as none of last year's plant returns.  A cluster of new daughter plants emerge from the snow cover already growing. We are underway with this year's garden.  

Dwarf phlox was new to us last season.  This plant seems to have shrugged off the cold and the snow. Deer feed on the regular phlox so we have kept the dwarf plants caged.

Chervil is actually a treasured weed here.  As a frequent ingredient in early salads, I have to sneak the overabundance into the compost bucket.

Finding this Shasta daisy alive was a real treat.  Then the picture revealed the fact that a rabbit found it before I did.  That diagonal stem nip is a sure sign of rabbit.

Becky found blue eyed grass growing in the lawn when we lived in the village.  It has had a home in our garden ever since.  It resembles many weedy grasses and has been nearly pulled out many times.

These bluets were protected by locust leaves and the stems that they grow on.  The stems hold the old leaves in place.  I find the size of locust leaves tidy.  Generous air circulation around the small curled leaves helps prevent rot while providing some shelter.

Fringed polygala is another prized evergreen native.  Its crow excluding wire cage has been set aside allowing close visual inspection.  That looks like new growth trying for an early start.

Recent melt water formed a sizable pond near the town road.  That bitter Arctic air froze the surface water before it could drain away.  Now the sedum stems support the ice showing just how much water was briefly trapped here.

The walk about was pleasant enough but I simply must put some seeds to soil.  A 30 gallon trash can was filled with prime potting soil last Fall and stored in the basement.  Everything is in place and the planting will soon begin.

A Beautiful Day For AWalk, Photos by Amy

It was a beautiful day for a walk around.  The lately unfamiliar warmth of sunshine felt delightful.  Most of the garden and surrounding meadows have changed from greens to  beige or brown.  Amy did manage to find a bit of color in this heart shaped sedum leaf.  Most of the plant has gone brown, but a few leaves down in the crack of the stone wall are still colorful.

The windy weather has blown most of the oak leaves to the ground. They make an interesting picture with the fairy cups growing on the rocks.

Unable to choose between the photographs I included both of them. I find these lichen formations so charming. I think they are worth a second look.

For some reason shed snake skins remain stuck to the stone wall that forms the entrance to our basement. Shed during the summer, they still hold their spot.  They are a wonderful but creepy study of texture against the stones.

There are several places on the wall that are decorated with these snake skins. Usually they don't stick there for so long. If you can forget what they are the designs they form are quite beautiful.

Blooming Late!

 

Yesterday, the 15th, was hardly a day to be in the garden taking pictures. The all day rain and the cold made it more a day for gazing out the window with a cup of hot chocolate. Even so, this sedum is just beginning to bloom. The original plant was purchased at Caprilands in 1993. Since then divisions grow in several places around the garden. Sometimes the plants do not survive the winter. It's such an old friend, I really should find out exactly what it is and what it likes.

The "Emperor of China Chrysanthemums" still have green leaves. Flower buds are now beginning to open. Even when it gets colder still these mums will continue to bloom and the foliage will turn a gorgeous Burgundy color. This mum is not just hardy, it actually  seems to like the cold!

September 1: Bloom List

This lovely pink sedum is blooming now to the delight of the bees.



Curly chives sometimes called circle chives make a neat round cushion of foilage all summer and lovely lavender blooms late in the season.

September 1 ,2010, Bloom list: Ingeborg's mallow, purple cone flower, morning glory, lemon finger bowl geranium, coral bells, meadow sage, evening scented stock, Gallardia, Johnny jump ups, Nicotiana, Stella D'oro lily, catchfly, Peppermint stick zinnia, "Pretty Belinda" yarrow, snapdragon, heliotrope, pink poppies, sweet peas, "Who Dun It" Dahlia, Aclepsis tuberosa, anise hyssop, gloriosa daisy, cosmos, catnip, hollyhock, cinnamon basil, fennel, black eyed Susan, yellow jewelweed, golden glows, trumpet vine, cardinal flower, white and pink summer sweet, scarlet runner beans, white and pink phlox, Fiona Coggill shasta daisy, balloon flower, butterfly bush,white and red hibiscus, lettuce, winter savory, spearmint, peppermint, yard long beans, Russian sage, white coneflower, New England aster, lemon balm, C. superbum, rose of Sharon, lavender, Angelica gigas, nasturtiums, Dianthus, perennial flax, fragrant gladiolus, "Cherry Brandy" Rudbeckia, pennyroyal, white and purple closed gentian, "Clara Curtis" chrysanthemum, grey headed coneflower, meadow sage, feverfew,Rudbeckia triloba,spicy globe basil, asters, curly mint, sunflower, curly chives, mullein, buckwheat, peas, zucchini, "Autumn Joy" and pink sedum, pink foxglove, sea holly, dill, "Mammouth Dark Pink Daisy" chrysanthemum

Now the list is getting shorter. Many flowers are nearly finished blooming. Some are making one last effort to bloom. A few plants are on the list for the first time and there are still a few late bloomers yet to come, that we hope will squeeze in their bloom time before cold weather arrives.

I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of the fox in the garden today.

Garden Patchwork

Things are beginning to bloom all over the garden. Ed is working very hard to get everything planted. I was delighted to see three bluebirds on top of the stone wall near where Ed was working. Bluebirds find the wall a convenient place to bash their caterpillars before they eat them. I tried to call Ed's attention to them, but even though they ignored him as he worked, they flew away as soon as our attention was directed at them.

These are our salad days. The spicy mesculn is ready to eat and we have lettuce a plenty. The strawberries are beginning to turn red. I've been taking the blossoms off the nasturtiums to put in the salads , even though the plants are small. I hope it will encourage their growth.

I spent some time trying to get a good photo of a tiger swallowtail. I followed him from the valerian to the coral bells and on to the catchfly and never did get a decent picture. I like taking pictures of stone walls and plants better. They don't fly away!

Since my computer is in the shop. I'm working with time limits using the computer at the library. I forgot my glasses today so please forgive any mistakes.

Autumn Joy For Winter's Delight

Sedum Autumn Joy has been placed in the garden. It is hardy with Fall flowers and a Winter display of the spent seed heads. Why it has taken us this long to obtain this plant is an unanswerable question. The reason that we have it now is a special use of the dried seed heads. These can be used to make miniature trees.


Making these trees is simplicity itself. The dried seed heads are trimmed to size and cleaned of leaves. The right most sprig is still holding a leaf. A dip in thinned white glue is followed by a sprinkling of ground foam and then allowed to dry.




Besides gardening, Ed's other interest is the New York, Ontario and Western Railroad. Its New Berlin branch ran across the river in sight of our home. An HO model of parts of this railroad is under construction in our basement. The train pictured is coming off of the Sidney Center bridge moving milk to New York City. Many more sedum trees are needed. Our new garden plants will supply the material for the trees. So much for the garden's Winter display of spent seed heads. Yes, that is a dry stone wall in the foreground. Our wild stone must be broken to provide pieces this small.

A Garden of Friends

This apricot colored iris was given to me by my next door neighbor Liz before we moved here. I was lucky to get this picture because the hailstorm was devastating to these flowers.

Elle's yellow rugosa roses have the wonderful rose fragrance that we all remember. I always watch for thorns and bees  when I stop to smell these roses.


These Siberian iris came from Jane. They didn't do much for me at first, but
I finally found a spot where they are happy. This year they are gorgeous!

An old friend of my mother's, Thelma H. gave me this yellow sedum. It is a ground cover in the true sense of the word. It's also one of those plants that I have to weed out, and it pains me every time. No wonder, just look at that color.

Plants from gardening friends are truly the gift that keeps on giving! Who could be unhappy with that?