Frost, Indeed

As promised, we got the freeze. Around 6:30 a.m., it hit the low point of 26° and I was doubly glad we'd gone to the trouble of covering things. As I talked to people throughout the day, I heard mention of how driving through the neighborhoods early in the morning on the way to work was like driving around at Halloween - ghostly sheets everywhere.



I had actually forgotten to cover the lilac, but it came through unscathed. I didn't cover the Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), because I didn't think I needed to, but the tender new leaves showed the worst damage in our entire yard and gardens. That's okay though. It will bounce right back and make more leaves.



The daffodils and tulips were fine, as expected.


Hopefully, this is the last we'll see of below freezing temperatures, although our average last frost date is still three weeks away. It seems late for an average, but I'll assume those weather people know what they're talking about. This time.

The Frost Comes On Little Cat Feet

My apologies to Carl Sandburg, but fog and frost can play tag with each other this time of year. I'd rather have fog. After several weeks of gorgeous spring weather, some of it even summer-like, now we're under a freeze warning for tonight. Just tonight. After that, we're supposed to be safe.

Last year, we got zapped with a late spring freeze that robbed us of many of the flowering shrubs' and trees' beautiful blossoms and in the case of the peach tree, we had its fruit taken from us, too. We said, "Oh well, there's always next year."

Flowering Crabapple

Now it's next year and while it's later in the spring and we've had such a pretty show of pink and white and magenta from all the flowering trees, there won't be any peaches this year either if we don't cover the tree. Its blooms are just now getting ready to open. The tree isn't large, so covering it with a sheet will protect it.

Flowering Crabapple (Malus 'Prairiefire')

Our new cut-leaf lilac (Syringa lanciniata) we got last year hasn't shown us its blooms yet and I can see they're started, so that will get covered as well. I'm anxious to see what it looks like, adorned in its lavender finery.












I don't have many annuals out yet, since our last average frost date is later in May, and the ones that are, are in containers, so those will spend the night in the garage. The noon news said the temperatures won't be low enough long enough to do much damage to the bulbs, so we'll take our chances with those. Almost all the hyacinths are finished blooming anyway, but we've got tulips and daffodils still going strong.

Bluestone Perennials "Pretty in Pink" collection, planted in October 2005.

The 'Sahohime' Japanese Tree Peony (Paeonia suffruticosa) promises to be a real show-stopper this spring. I counted 23 flower buds on it! They're not small flowers either, when they bloom. The peony itself isn't tall nor big around, so if all those flowers are in bloom at the same time, it will be a sight to behold. I'll take lots of photos of it and share them with you. It's wrapped in a garbage bag to protect it from the frost.





Our only azalea, planted last spring, has been slow to break dormancy, but it's now greening up and has flower buds on it. It too is covered for the night.


This past winter wasn't kind to some of our things. We've lost one Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus), in the middle of a row of four, so that will be replaced. The Sunset Foxglove (Digitalis obscura) didn't make it, nor did the Coreopsis 'Autumn Blush'. I knew that was an iffy one, but it was pretty healthy and I mulched it well.

The Cape Fuschia that I bought when plant shopping at Petitti's with Kim didn't make it either, but that's not a huge surprise, even though the employee we talked to thought it would be hardy for me. The Astrantia 'Hadspen Blood' that I also bought then didn't make it either, but the one I'd bought earlier in the spring last year did, and is actually growing amazingly fast.

What has really surprised me are two of the Echinaceas. 'Orange Meadowbrite', which I've had for a couple of years, and has always been vigorous and lovely, shows no signs of emerging from the ground. 'Harvest Moon,' which I've bought twice now, is an empty spot in the garden, too. Both of those are two of my favorite Echinaceas. *sniff*



And then there is the mystery of my Hardy Ground Orchid (Spiranthes cernua), a.k.a. Nodding Ladies Tresses. It had started to green up, as I showed in this post. But just a few days later, it was missing. The entire plant - roots and all - were gone! I still don't know what happened to it. I'm sure it was a critter of some sort, maybe a rabbit. I'd like to find another one to replace it, because I really liked that orchid, with its spiral of blooms.




I planted two Gaura lindheimeri last year and they performed beyond my wildest expectations. One plant would have been plenty for the spot. I had to keep cutting it back to keep it under control. That, of course, just made it bloom all the more and it was in a constant mass of blooms. It's supposed to be hardy here, and we even have a native Gaura at the edge of the field by our house, but for some reason, neither one of ours is alive now. I'll buy it again, though, and treat it as an annual I guess, because it really was airy and pretty all summer long.

The variegated Brunnera I bought last year didn't weather the winter, nor did Heuchera 'Marmalade', which I'd had for a couple of years. I lost four out of five lavenders, and I won't buy that anymore, because it really is too fussy for my garden.

As you can see, gardening is a "live and learn" kind of thing and there's a lot of it that isn't according to the book. If you've gardened very long at all, you know that just because the plant tag says it's hardy to zone 5, that doesn't mean it will survive in your garden. There are so many factors involved - soil, wind, precipitation, temperature extremes, etc.

If it's a plant that really should grow and thrive without much problem, or if it's something I really love, I'll try it again if it dies. But there are so many great plants out there that I can't afford to keep spending money on and experiencing disappointment with dying plants. It's actually probably a good thing that I can't grow everything in my garden, because I'd probably try.

As I write this at 11:00 p.m., the thermometer reads 34°. I was just outside, covering the other small NOID red tree peony that I'd forgotten to cover earlier, and it's chilly. The clouds have cleared away and the stars are shining brightly. The wind has died down, so the stage is set for that freeze to creep in. I hope I haven't forgotten to cover something...

Charming Gardeners and Notecards

Look what I found at Hallmark today . . .


One of my readers - I'm sorry I can't remember who - made a comment several months ago that they'd gotten some notecards at Hallmark with the Proust quote that I have under my blog title. Today, while looking for shoes to go with my dress for Jenna's upcoming wedding, I popped into the Hallmark store to see if I could find the cards. Woot!

I found the perfect shoes, too. On a Monday. I should have bought a lottery ticket.

Wild About Wildflowers

The woods here are bursting forth with flowery goodness and it's during this time that I love to just walk through and get up close and personal with the tiny treasures there. We're fortunate to have woods nearby so we can easily take a short walk to them.

Right now, you can find blooms on:

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

Bloodroot is aptly named, because when you cut the root, it actually looks like it's bleeding. Besides being showy and beautiful, it's an interesting plant. It is the only species in its genus, Sanguineria. Also, its sap has been used to treat many things, one of which is Plantar's Wart. I've had one going on five years now and we've tried everything short of surgery, which no doctor that I've seen recommends. Maybe I should try this?

Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)


Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris) - This one actually
shows up each spring in our garden.


Spring Cress (Cardamine bulbosa)


Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) - these are everywhere.


Trout Lily (Erythronium albidum) - These are everywhere, too, but just a fraction of them in each colony will bloom. Young plants only have one leaf and are flowerless. It takes seven years for a seedling to grow a second leaf and bloom.


Sessile Trillium or Toadshade (Trillium sessile)
While they're common here, I've yet to see the
Giant White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) in real life.


Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)


Vinca or Periwinkle (Vinca minor) - Visit just about any
old cemetery in this part of Ohio and you'll find enough of
this growing to supply all the area nurseries with it.
It's a great groundcover, and while it can be invasive,
it's not that hard to remove the vines.

While I love my garden hybrids and many of the new hybrids, there's something charming and satisfying about strolling through the woods and witnessing nature's awakening in the spring with the blooming of the native wildflowers.

It's Time For the Master Gardeners' Plant Sale!

Last night, I helped Romie put together some shelving to use in the back of the mini-van for transporting oodles of plants. Mom had asked if I could drive to Columbus so she could help her fellow Master Gardeners pick up several large orders they'd placed for selling at their yearly plant sale being held at the Van Wert County Fairgrounds tomorrow. They're selling mostly herbs, but there will be some perennials, too.

We all left from the County Extension Office at 8:00 and after about an hour and a half, we arrived at Baker's Village, on the northwest side of Columbus. Mom and I had been there last year for the first time. It's a nice garden center and just like last time, I found a couple of things I couldn't live without. I purchased an ornamental strawberry, which I'd been looking for, as well as a healthy Lewisia. My two at home had made it through the winter, but barely, and one of those looks like it's on its last gasping breath.

From there, we traveled a little further north to A Proper Garden. What a fun place! The plants, trees, and shrubs were tempting, but the whole place was a big collection of eye candy. The first thing that caught my eye and had me drooling purring was the metal kitty bench. I need a bench for Max's Garden. We've got several cats. Why, it was as if the bench were made just for me!

No price was on the tag, but I've seen enough similar things to know that it was one of those things that "if you have to ask, you can't afford it." But that bench will live on for a very long time in my memory. Fabulous. Just fabulous.


There were bronze sculptures, home decorator items, garden tools, beautiful pottery, and gifts for gardeners. I found a deep purple Streptocarpus that I couldn't live without, as well as a Wolff orchid pot.

I could have spent much more time here, because there's just so much to see, but we still had to eat lunch and get to Millcreek Gardens to pick up the plants for tomorrow's sale. A Proper Garden will be on our list of stops the next time we travel to Columbus, though.

I love the mossy pottery, and A Proper Garden
has a very nice selection.

After lunch at Damon's, we drove a short distance to Millcreek Gardens, a wholesale nursery. Over the last several years, I've purchased plants from garden centers that were supplied by Millcreek. It was fun to see where some of my plant babies were born.



The first thing I noticed as we pulled into the parking lot were the rows of greenhouses and then the rows of young plants growing outside. Nothing fancy here, just the basic needs being provided for plants.








The orders were gone over, plant by plant, to make sure each plant was correct and accounted for. Some were not available at the time of the order, so substitutions were made with a similar item. The plants were of very nice size and quality and any that were smaller than their usual standard were pointed out and refusal to accept them was permitted.







We got the van loaded and the shelving system that Romie had rigged up worked beautifully, until about an hour later, when a car three cars ahead of us on US33 decided to stop suddenly for a left-hand turn. The cars behind him slammed on their brakes and I had to do the same. A loud noise and lots of potting soil in our laps later, we knew we had a huge problem.

We pulled off the road into a drive and assessed the damage. Coupled with the weight of all the plants and the quick stop, the pressed particle boards couldn't handle the stress and they broke on the corners where the legs were screwed in. That meant general collapse of the tiers of shelves, with the plants sandwiched in between. Oh dear.

Altha and Paula, two of the other Master Gardeners who had also made the trip down, saw us unloading plants as they drove by and stopped to help. We got everything out and rebuilt the shelving as best we could, although instead of having three levels, we now had two. Still, we were able to fit all the plants in and we were once again on our way.

In all that mess, can you believe that only ONE plant was ruined? A single Oriental lily 'Stargazer' had both flower stalks broken off, but it's a bulb and while it won't bloom this year, next year it will be business as usual. I wish I'd taken a picture of the mess, because it really did look like one of those car accidents that people walk away from and you wonder how.

We had to drive slower the rest of the way home, but we finally made it and got the plants unloaded and sorted. I got home around 7:00 and did a little planting before showering and relaxing for the night. All in all, it was a very good day, plant disasters aside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EDIT: I have since found out that the Kitty Bench costs $2995 and was made by Akron, Ohio metal sculptor Don Drumm. A PBS video about him is on AOL Video/You Tube.

The Cats' Begats

It's been awhile since I've talked about our cat children. They're all doing quite well, although the long-hairs are fighting hairballs and hair mats. We've tried to keep them brushed, but with the spring shedding in full swing, it's hard. Simon is scheduled for his yearly lion cut next week, and we've taken the scissors to Luna ourselves.

If you remember, Luna is the carefree one who is just here to hang out and have a good time. When he gets caught in the rain, he cleans himself dry and it's then that he looks his best. The rest of the time ... well ... rolling in the dirt is just more fun.

But this isn't about Simon or Luna or Baby or Sunny or Boo or Max or Jack or Jilly. It was four years ago when we rescued "The Babies" from the field down the road after someone dumped a whole barnful of cats. We didn't take all the cats we saw down there, just the five tiny kittens, who came to be known as Boo, Luna, Baby, Oreo and Augie.

We already had two cats - Simon and Jinx (bless his soul) - and that was enough. But we just couldn't bear to see those little furballs having to fend for themselves like that. We tried to find homes for them, but cats are more plentiful than those who want to own them, so the only one we were able to place was Augie, one of the two females in the litter. My co-worker Renee took Augie, which her kids promptly renamed "Cow." Kara and Adam later adopted Oreo.

As you might guess, Cow was a black and white kitten, like her siblings Luna, Baby and Oreo. Only Boo was different, being all black. Renee and her family wanted a female because they wanted a cat that would have its own litter of kittens.

Sometime the next year, Cow had her first litter and went on to have a couple more in the next two years. She had her final litter just five weeks ago, but only one kitten survived and she refused to nurse her. All of Cow's offspring found homes except for one, which Renee kept. "Cookie" looked very much like her mother, Cow, and just had her own litter about three weeks ago. The kitten that Cow refused to nurse? Cookie took her in as if she were her own.

Tonight after work, I went to Renee's house to visit Cow and Cookie and their kittens. I hadn't seen Cow since Renee adopted her, so I was pretty excited to see how our "baby" had turned out, now that she was all grown up.



As soon as I got out of the car, I saw her and recognized her straight away. She hadn't really changed all that much and she definitely looked like the cats at our house. She had that same aloof look on her face that Oreo is famous for, and her personality was similar. I picked her up and I felt like I was holding one of my own. She even had that same ultra-soft feel to her fur that Baby and Oreo have.

We walked into the garage to see Cookie, where she was laying down with six kittens vying for any free nipple. Her kittens were mostly calico and a couple were gray. We've not had any calicos at our house and I wanted one!

Cookie, nursing her own five kittens plus her own
half-sister that her mother, Cow, refused.

Regretfully, I left there without a kitten. They're only three weeks old, after all, and I think Renee said they're all spoken for anyway. It's just as well, but the whole idea of adopting one of the kittens and bringing it home to meet and live with its aunt and uncles is rather enticing!

For The Beauty of The Earth

For the beauty of the earth,

For the glory of the skies,



For the love which from our birth,
Over and around us lies.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.



For the wonder of each hour,



Of the day and of the night;



Hill and vale and tree and flow'r,


. . .


Sun and moon
and
Stars of light,


Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

by Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1864

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In observance of Earth Day 2008.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


(Yes, I know that was yesterday and I actually started this post
the day before that, and it has taken me two days
to convince Blogger to upload these pictures.)

"A Learning Experience"

Saturday was Jenna's bridal shower here for our side of the family and Jenna's high school and college friends. The house was wall-to-wall people, but still comfortable and she received some wonderful things that she and Joe really need. Kara and the bridesmaids put together some good eats, too.

My friend Marsha was here and the day before had picked up our pottery projects we'd done on Monday. I was excited to see mine since I was so pleased with how it turned out and wanted to see the finished product.

"How does it look?" I asked Marsha as she handed me the paper bag. She put her arm around my shoulders and gave me a brief look that had me wishing I hadn't asked. "Well," she said, "it was a learning experience." Oh dear. I wondered what that meant.

I opened the bag and when I looked at it, I understood. When I was putting the lettering on, I hadn't liked the position of the first 'S'. It had been painted in dark brown paint and I wiped it off as best I could with a wet paper towel and then painted over it with the beige paint. Oops! I accidentally hit the blue part with the brush, so I had to paint over that, too.

Those of you who have more experience in such things know that you can't just paint over a darker color with a lighter one. You have to completely remove the mistake or it will come through when it's fired. So, as a result, I've got two brown dots on the blue, and a shadow of an S where I don't want it. But other than that, I really like it. And if I put it on my counter where I had planned and turn it a little to the left, you can barely see my mistakes. Just admire it from afar, okay?

You KNOW What It Is . . .

... but you may not have seen it in this stage of development. This is the first time I've looked this closely at it and I'm really glad I did. I love the spiral seams that will open one day soon. I don't think I've ever paid much attention to the veining in the leaves before either.


So...want to take a guess as to what it is? I doubt that I could have gotten it correct had I not been down on my knees doing something nearby and glanced over at it. I'll bet many of you will guess it quite easily though.

Join

Shake, Rattle and Roll!

Well now. THAT was an interesting way to start the day.

We were lying in bed this morning , around 5:40, and a very loud motorcycle went rumbling by, and then it was gone. But the rumbling didn't stop and the rattling continued. The bed was shaking, and it lasted for about ten seconds. The vase on the shelf by my side of the bed jingled quietly for about half a minute more and the door by Romie's side of the bed did the same.

Romie said, "Did you feel that?" I sure did. We discussed whether or not it could be an earthquake, because they aren't uncommon here, but are seldom felt. The last time I remember feeling one was in the early '80s, when Kara was a toddler. That one was centered near Cincinnati.

Reports are that this earthquake had a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter scale and was centered seven miles east of West Salem, Illinois. That's southwest of Vincennes, Indiana. (Did you feel it, Lisa?) This earthquake was along the New Madrid fault zone, and there are an average of two earthquakes a year involved with this line, most of which are not felt. An earthquake of this magnitude usually doesn't do much damage, but it can easily be felt. We're 251 miles from the epicenter and we certainly felt it!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2008

Hey! We've got blooms! Outside! And even better is the fact that we will have blooms for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day from now until Thanksgiving. Yay!

The little Tête à Tête daffodils are in their prime right now. To get an idea of the small size of them, the plant in the background is a small sedum.

I bought some more Tête à Têtes and planted them here and there so I'd have more color for the bridal shower that's being held here this weekend. Besides, spring is the time when I wish I'd planted more bulbs in the fall, and you can better see where they can effectively be placed. So I wait until they're done blooming in the stores and are marked down drastically, then pick them up. That way I can plant them where they need to go for more blooms the next year!


The 'Festival Blue' hyacinths are in much better shape than they were last year, when they got zapped by a late spring freeze. And I love to bury my nose in them and inhale their wonderful fragrance.

I don't remember which daffodils these are, but they're big.


Yesterday, I had an adorable six-year-old patient (who was an identical twin) and we got to talking about flowers because daffodils were blooming right outside the window. I asked her if she had any flowers blooming at her house. She promptly informed me that yes, she did, and they were the grape ones that looked like if you held them up and wiggled them, they would sound like jingle bells. I will always remember Ellie when I look at a Muscari from now on.

Striped Squill (Puschkinia libanotica), in front of Campanula 'Kelly's Gold.' I've got this Squill in lots of different places and it's even come up randomly in the yard, as has some Chionodoxa. I love that.

I planted several different types of crocus last fall and this tiny one is Crocus chrysanthus 'Blue Pearl'. It's cute, but really insignificant, unless you have a few thousand of them in a drift, which I don't.


I really like this smaller crocus because of its vibrant colors. It's Crocus sieberi 'Tricolor', a species-type crocus.




























The Hellebores are putting on a show right now. I don't have much foliage after cutting back the winter kill, but the blooms are pretty.

The white one is 'Ivory Prince' and the spotted one is 'Pine Knot' strain. I'm not sure what the plum-colored one is. I lost my 'Pacific Frost', a variegated-leaf cultivar, over the winter.










The 'Rip Van Winkle' Narcissus are usually much later, but one of them was in a hurry for spring, just as we were!














The Vinca minor is just beginning to present with little purple flowers. It grows rampant and wild in the woods and along river banks here and soon will be awash with color. This is one of those plants that's nearly impossible to kill. But guess what? I've killed it. Lots of it.



The Chionodoxa looks as if it were coated with a glaze, but it's just wet from a rain.


It's always delightful to have a surprise or two, and here's one in my garden. It's a hyacinth and I have no idea what cultivar it is. I have never planted a salmon-colored one. It's beautiful, and I wish I knew what it was because I'd like to have more of them!

That ugly thing that I don't like and I keep threatening to dig up and move to some hidden area of the property (Narcissus 'Replete') is very nearly in bloom. I'll spare you the visuals on that one.

So with that, spring is definitely in bloom here and the gardening season is off and running! Smiles all around!

The Potter House

My friend Marsha and I had some fun today. We went to Celina to The Potter House and we painted pottery. Neither of us had done it before so we didn't know how our artistic talents would take shape, but we both were pleasantly surprised by the time we were done.

The Potter House is a unique business in downtown Celina. When you walk into the store, you're struck by the eclectic feel to the place and your eyes are drawn first to this, then that, then the other thing. There are so many unique decorator items for both home and garden that you could spend an hour looking around and not see it all.


There's also a coffee bar and an eating area tucked away to the side of the store with several small tables. Homemade cookies and muffins are available and Marsha and I had some of the oatmeal raisin cookies that we ate on the way home. They were really good and I could have eaten half a dozen of them, no problem.


In the back of the store is the area where the greenware is kept and tables are provided for working on your project. I noticed that some of the seating back in this area were a couple of old kneeling benches from a Catholic church.


The greenware is priced as a package which includes your item of choice for painting, paint, studio time of two hours (they're lenient on this), and the final glazing and firing. It takes about a week for them to finish your piece for pick-up. Payment is at the time of painting.

Marsha made a "Celebration Plate" for her daughter and son-in-law to use for special occasion meals. I did a lidded jar with a label area on the front, where I printed "Seed Money."

The colors will deepen after glazing and firing.

We'd planned to eat at the restaurant that Marsha had taken me to for my birthday, on Grand Lake, but we had taken such a long time painting our items (about three hours!) that we didn't have time. We were just having too much fun and the time flew by, which is what usually happens whenever we get together and that's why I always look forward to whatever it is that brings us together again.

Shower #1

Jenna and Joe

Our younger daughter Jenna is getting married on May 17th. This means that both of our girls will be married. I can't believe either one of them is as old as they are (25 and almost 28), which also means I can't believe either one of their parents is as old as they are! Don't most parents say these things though?

Today, Jenna and I traveled to Mishawaka, Indiana, for a bridal shower given in her honor by Joe's family, the DeCraenes. I'd not met a single person that was there, with the exception of Joe's mother. She's a lovely person and so is the rest of his family. They're very down-to-earth and open, which is exactly how a lot of people have described me, so of course I liked them!


The shower was held in the community building of an apartment complex and the room was like a big family room, very comfortably and beautifully furnished. We played a few games that were perfect for helping me get to know them better.



For refreshments, we had fresh fruits and vegetables to go with the choice of ham or turkey tortilla roll-ups and chicken salad croissants. The beautifully decorated cake was a yellow one with whipped cream-type frosting.

Jenna got some wonderful gifts, most of which were things she had listed on her registries at Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond. She'll be honored with another bridal shower next weekend, given by her sister and the other bridesmaids. That one will be held at our house.

Gilmour Reel Mower RM30 - A Review (Part I)

The doorbell rang Friday afternoon and when I opened the door, there on my front porch, sat a box with the picture of a Gilmour Reel Mower on it. I brought it in the house, opened it up, and that's exactly what was in it. Ten minutes and six nuts and bolts later, the mower was ready for use, including the grass catcher.

Too bad our lawn wasn't. But I was anxious to try it out, so we took it outside and I pushed it the length of the front lawn, just to get a feel for things. I'd never pushed a reel mower before, and judging from the varied comments I'd received from my earlier post about them, I didn't know what to expect.

I'm not a big person, nor am I particularly strong, especially in my upper body, but I didn't find the mower hard to push at all. True, the grass at this point is very short - pieces of grass that I cut were just half an inch long with the cutting blades set at the lowest level (adjusts from 1-3 inches). But I didn't find it much different from pushing the gasoline-powered one we'd been using.

There are always small twigs here and there in our yard and we generally try to pick up the larger ones before we mow. Still, there are a few that we miss and when I pushed the Gilmour over these, they didn't get caught in the mower unless I slowed down. As long as I kept up a good pace, the mower went right over them without stopping.

Since we'd had a rain shower earlier in the day, the grass was a bit wet and when I finished trying it out, there were bits of grass stuck on the mower and the blades. They recommend cleaning the mower with a soft brush or cloth, not water. It would be so much easier to just hose it off, but they probably advise against it to help prevent corrosion. Once it's cleaned, it stores with the handle in an upright position, so it has a pretty small footprint.

The blades on this mower are self-sharpening, which is a nice feature. It cuts a path 20 inches wide and the detachable grass catcher is included at no extra charge. There are dual wheels, unlike some reel mowers that have a single set. Dual wheels (two larger front wheels, two smaller back ones) make for a more stable mowing experience. The handle is comfortable, with the grip being covered in foam padding. The mower was noisier than I expected, but still quieter than its gas counterpart.

Part of the reason I'd been considering buying a reel mower was for the exercise. Our property is an acre in size and my intent was not to mow the entire yard with this, but to do those areas where the grass seems to grow faster than others and other small areas where the riding mower has a more difficult time of maneuvering. I can see doing the entire front yard with it, which would give my upper arms and my thighs a good workout. Those were the muscles where I felt the exertion the most.

I'll post a progress report later when I'm able to mow a decent height of grass. It will be interesting to see how much more difficult the mower might be to push, if at all. My overall impression of the mower at this point is very positive!

_________________
The product or merchandise being reviewed in this blog post was the sole compensation for testing and reviewing the product. All opinions expressed here are mine, with no suggestions whatsoever by the manufacturer or distributor. If I like it, I'll say so. If I don't, I'll say that, too.

My Favorite Spring Bulb

I love when the crocuses bloom, because that means if spring hasn't arrived yet, it won't be long. The brilliant golds and purples with winter's drab grays as a backdrop remind me of those black and white photos that have just one thing highlighted in color.

There are the snowdrops, too, which are often before the crocus and they charm me with their ruffled white petticoats colored and dotted with spring green.

And who could resist the reticulated iris, drenched in the deepest purple, dotted white, and striped in gold? Their tubular petals hold treasures deep within, meant only for pollinating insects.

But nothing makes me happier than when the chionodoxas are in full bloom, carpeting the ground with glow-in-the-dark periwinkle stars. I don't think a single person has passed by my small patch of them on the south side of the house without uttering an "Ah-h-h."


Yesterday, as I passed by the home of a physician and his wife in a small town near us, I had to stop and turn around to capture a few photos of the chionodoxas in their yard. I've been past the house thousands of times, and have never noticed these before. They've had to have been there for decades, due to the size and density of them, but I was probably intent on getting somewhere and failed to look that way and notice their beauty.

Must . . . plant . . . more . . .

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Got Blue Poppies?

Very nearly the Holy Grail of gardening, the growing of Himalayan Blue Poppies is an endeavor that many gardeners will eventually undertake in their horticultural lives. I'm no exception.

Last year, I tried to grow them from seed started inside and while I did get teeny tiny sprouts, that's as far as it went. What caused their demise is a mystery to me, but my best guess would be damping off, a fungal disease common to early seedlings.

I briefly considered buying them from an online nursery, but the price stopped me. Sometimes I'm willing to pay a little more for something if I feel like it has a good chance of survival in my garden or in my house. Blue poppies probably don't fall into that category.

My friend Jodi in Nova Scotia, grows beautiful blue poppies in her garden, and while she's in the same zone I am, her growing conditions are a little different. She lives on a hill above Scots Bay and gets damp breezes off the water, giving the cool, moist growing conditions that these poppies love. While envious, I'm glad that someone is able to grow these beauties!

But I'm not giving up. This year, I pretty much covered all bases in my quest to have my own blue poppies. In January, I winter sowed both Meconopsis betonicifolia and Meconopsis x sheldonii 'Lingholm' and so far, all I see are some really tiny pinpoints of green, and I can't yet be sure that they aren't weed seedlings.

Several months ago, Michigan Bulb had an offer of buying three Meconopsis betonicifolia and they'll give you three more for free. Plus, there was a $20 off a $40 purchase. I'd only purchased from Michigan Bulb once before and had a pretty good experience with them. They'd sent nice-sized plants that were packed well for transport and they did well in my garden, especially the helenium. They have a lifetime guarantee on their plants, too. How could I go wrong?

About three weeks ago, the Meconopsis arrived, too early for planting here, but that would be my only complaint. Once again, I was pleased with the size and condition of the plants and a couple of them even had flower buds on them. I put them in the basement greenhouse until a week ago, when I potted them up and started getting them used to outdoors. They've been there ever since and are doing just fine. I'll wait a little bit longer before planting them in the ground.

This determined effort to have me some blue poppies is under Jodi's guidance and I'm hopeful that one way or another, it will be a success. If not, I'll probably try again. Before I die, I will have blue poppies in my garden, even if only for one season.

Am I ... *gasp* ... Designing?

Last weekend, we planted the Red Twig Dogwood shrubs and the Prairiefire Crabapple tree. I'm wanting to make a rough path from the pool house out to Max's Garden so that the garden doesn't look like Las Vegas plopped in the middle of the Mojave Desert. I want to tie it in more to the rest of the goings-on in the yard.

To do this, I'm going to plant ornamental trees and shrubs and mulch the larger area that they will encompass. Specimen perennials will be dotted here and there and some colorful annuals here and there as well. Max's Garden is cottage-style, with lots of things crammed into it, but this new approach to the garden will be more open, creating more of a transition from the big expanse of grass to the jam-packed garden.

Oh dear. This sounds like I'm designing something, doesn't it?

Okay, so I am. I talked to Mom about this and a couple of other ideas I have and that's when I realized that I have now reached the point where I know about a great deal about a lot of plants - what they look like, their growth habits, their water and sun needs, etc. When I started gardening in 2005, I knew next to nothing.

Funny how learning changes you in oh so subtle ways that you don't realize until one day you wake up and you know things you didn't know just a short while ago, and you're actually utilizing what you've learned. That's why this summer, I'm able to design the areas I am. But if I had to sit down and put a plan on paper, I still couldn't do it.

My design strategy starts with me seeing an area that looks like it's lacking something. Then I throw around different scenarios in my head and try to visualize what each would look like. Once I've settled on an idea, I try to figure out how I can incorporate some of the new plants I don't own but have been drooling over. Rarely will my initial idea be what I end up with, because I keep an open mind and my design evolves as I execute it.

So, my apologies for that rant I went on a couple of months ago. I know that each and every article I've seen on garden design has played a part in my education that has led to my becoming a designer of sorts here in my own garden.

B-B-B-Busy and B-B-B-Barney

I haven't written a decent blog post in several days and it's because of one gigantic, multi-faceted reason. There's just so much going on here! Spring has sprung and I feel pulled in so many different directions. There needs to be two of me.

On second thought, probably not. I doubt Romie could handle that on a daily basis. But because I'm horrible at multi-tasking, and get very easily distracted (it's that G.A.D.S. thing), I've got lots of things halfway done. I know - I'm a disgrace to the female race. But don't worry, they'll get completed eventually. So where do I start?

Remember the Paris polyphylla? They've spent the winter in the basement greenhouse and I noticed they had broken dormancy a couple of weeks ago. Today I worked the ground up by the house, which was in perfect condition and not too wet. It's somewhat protected from rain by the overhang on the house and is in mostly shade, with just a bit of morning sun filtering through the pergola. I planted it there, which should be a good spot for it.

In a few weeks, this will be filled with greenery
and color, free of the "extras."

I've got other shade plants there - Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium reptans 'Stairway to Heaven'), European Wild Ginger (Asarum europaeum), Hosta 'Cameo', Tatting Fern (Athyrium filix-femina 'Frizelliae'), and lots of Lily-of-the-Valley, which has multiplied from the passalongs from my Aunt Kay several years ago. The soil is super rich and loamy, due to the cats using it for a litter box much of the time. Everything I've ever planted there has done very well, as long as the cats don't dig it up. Until the plants get large enough to take up the entire area so that the cats don't find this area so appealing, I've placed "barriers" around them.

I had gotten three Wintergreen (Gautheria procumbrens) plants this winter at Meijer and they too lived in the basement greenhouse. They were showing signs of new growth and I'd had them outside for these warm days, then planted them yesterday at the base of the Washington Hawthorn tree. We're reworking that area this spring and this will be a nice groundcover for the shaded area.

I've relocated a few things, too. The Sedum 'Voodoo' was moved from the front of the house where it was too tall for its spot, to Max's Garden, near another sedum. In its place, I transplanted the two Lewisias, which look like they've made it through the winter, but will be better sited in the new spot.

I planted the four Giant White Trilliums that I'd recently purchased at Meijer. While this grows in many of our local woods, I've yet to come across any. We have Toadshade Trillium (Trillium sessile) in abundance and it's just now coming up. The white ones had just a bit of green growth on them and I put them at the base of the Ginkgo tree in the shade garden by the honeysuckle trellis.

It looks like I've lost yet another 'Diana, Princess of Wales' hybrid tea rose. This is my second one and as much as I love its large and beautiful blooms with their intoxicating scent, it apparently doesn't like me. So on the chance that there is still a bit of life in it, I banished it to the orphan garden. We'll see what happens there.

That opened up a spot for something else, and I'm considering planting my new Pieris japonica 'Mountain Fire' there, because it's on the east side of the house, gets only morning sun (recommended on the plant tag), and is protected from wind. I've read it suffers from wind burn if it gets too much.

In addition to having lots of things to do outside, there's plenty to keep me hopping inside, too. I've got several Amaryllis in bloom in the house, with even more to come. (I got most of them planted up late this year.) Many of the houseplants have stepped it up with their rate of growth, no doubt due to the longer daylight, so they need to be fertilized and selectively pruned. Some have grown so much over the winter that they have needed repotting.

I started several seeds indoors a couple of weeks ago and have seedlings of nearly all of them now. Those are in Jenna's old bedroom, which has both southern and western exposures, which provides plenty of light and solar heat - good for germination! We got the cold frame down out of the attic, so those will go out there soon.

Xeranthemum seedlings at 15 days

The last few days I've really overdone it and my running has suffered for it, while the gardens have benefited. I've decided that I need to do my running first, then the gardening because I've not had much energy left for running.

There are other goings-on around here, and those will be revealed in future blog posts, but I wanted to give you an update on Barney, the brown tabby that decided to make our house his home. He adopted us several months ago and was accepted straight away by the rest of our kitties. Extremely affectionate, with adorable green eyes, it was a pretty easy decision to make him "official" by getting him an appointment with the veterinarian.

Barney ... yesterday

I took him in yesterday, on my way to work, with instructions to test him for Feline Leukemia, and if it was negative, to go ahead with the neutering and immunizations. The surgery was scheduled for this morning and we were to pick him up later today. But fate held other plans for Barney's life.

The phone rang at 9:00 this morning and it was the vet. Barney tested positive for Feline Leukemia and I was asked if I wanted them to euthanize him. We didn't want him to suffer the ravages of this disease, so sadly his young life came to an end today. Barney hadn't been with us long enough for us to become that attached to him, but once we'd made the decision to include him in the circle of our family, this was very disappointing. We know he would have made a great addition to our cat family.

I'll close this post by urging everyone to have their kitties immunized and if you decide to keep a stray that's wandered your way, do get it tested for FeLV (Feline Leukemia Virus). Barney appeared to be healthy, so you just never know.

SPRING - Have It Your Way!

Is spring taking it's sweet time in coming to your neck of the woods? Well, you can have it NOW!

Check it out!

Petite Perfection

"Blossom by blossom, the spring begins." ~ Algernon Swinburne

Just yesterday, the Iris reticulata 'Harmony' opened. It seemed as if they popped up out of the ground overnight and then all of a sudden, there were blooms. Amazing what a little warmth, spring rains and longer daylight will do. Even more amazing is what results from the little bulbs planted in the fall, once spring comes.


The deep, rich colors that are in this particular iris no doubt inspired its name. Harmonious, indeed! And just look at the detail in the pattern displayed on its petals. The photo above gives us an insect's eye view of what lies deep within. That yellow streak on its fall? It's a runway of sorts that leads the bees and other pollinators into the vital anther, which has the pollen.


Native to Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Georgia, the flowers on these little guys are just six inches tall when they're fully grown. Here in zone 5b, they bloom the first of April and disappear by May. They're always a blue or purple color, although 'Natascha' is so pale it appears to be white. If you want yellow ones, try Iris danfordiae.

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"Spring Into Gardening" Garden Fair

On a bright, sunshiny spring day, Kara and I drove to nearby Miller City, Ohio to attend a garden fair put on by the Putnam County Master Gardeners. Mom met us there, too, and we had a fun day browsing the Gardener's Market and attending classes.

It was held in the gymnasium of Miller City High School, and the last time I was there was when Jenna was in sixth grade, playing on a travel basketball team. I remember it because it was there that Jenna scored 22 of her team's 26 points in a game they won. When you're hot, you're hot! LOL.

The first class we attended was on raised bed gardening. It was taught by Glen Arnold, a Putnam County OSU Extension educator. We enjoyed his presentation and I paid particular attention to the details because we are building a few raised beds this spring. We're moving our strawberries to a raised bed and I want another one for "oversummering" my amaryllis bulbs.


Between classes, we shopped the Gardener's Market, which had a really nice variety of vendors. Kara and I purchased a few plants, including hellebores, which Beining Nursery had lots of, and many different varieties. I bought a nice 'Pagoda Rose and White' columbine, and a couple of 'Clementine Salmon Rose' doubles.

Every spring, I make a list of possible new additions to the gardens, based on what catches my eye while browsing the new catalogs and offerings on websites, and the Clementine columbine was one of them that was on the list.


As we neared the display by h2o Gardens and Landscaping, I was drawn to the stone owls on their table. When Mom and I went to GardenFair at Winterthur, Delaware in 2006, she purchased a similar stone owl there and I'd been envious of it ever since. It was quite expensive, or I would have bought one then. h2o's owls were much more reasonable and I knew I was going home with one. There were other stone and metal sculptures that I liked, too, and a trip to their store in Lima is being planned, possibly on May 3rd, when they have their spring open house.


While shopping, we were treated to a concert by the sixth grade band from Ottawa-Glandorf High School (Kim of A Study In Contrasts' alma mater!) and wow, can those kids play! We couldn't believe they were just sixth graders! Great ambience and I was struck by what a small town experience we were having. Shopping in a gymnasium with our 'neighbors', eating homemade food for lunch (hot chicken sandwiches - yum!), listening to a local sixth grade band. Things like this are what I love about living in a rural area like ours.

We had time before our last class of the day to engage in another of my favorite activities - geocaching. This was actually Kara's suggestion, as she enjoys it too, and there were two caches located within walking distance of the school. We found them both, before heading back to attend our last class.




Marcella Ciccotelli, owner of ColorScapes Landscaping just outside of Defiance, presented a charming and very informative presentation about perennials that do well in our area. I learned some new facts about familiar plants to me and also discovered a couple of new things that might become familiar this year, if you know what I mean.


I've been to her business many times and look forward to going there again this year. I frequent many of the local nurseries, because each one has different offerings and I never know when or where I'll find "just the thing." Mom bought a beautiful large blue ball for her garden from Marcella's display here.

There were door prizes given, as well as a raffle for great garden items including plants, books, containers, gift certificates, and a garden cart. We didn't buy any raffle tickets, but it was tempting! We didn't win any door prizes either, but the day was a winner just the same. It was a very well presented event that I hope will become an annual affair. The cost for attending was just $15 and it was worth much more than that.



Kara and I said our goodbyes to Mom about mid-afternoon and we headed back towards Defiance, stopping to find several geocaches along the way. Once we got back to Defiance, stops (and purchases) were made at BigLots (flowering crabapple tree), Menards (Buxus 'Green Velvet'), and Lowe's (Pieris japonica 'Mountain Fire' and Anemone cornaria).




Tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer than today, so we've got gardening work planned - a little clean-up, planting the new tree and shrubs, etc. It looks like it will be a great day for running, too!

Dead or Alive?

It's this time of the year that I could use a little more common sense and patience. Once the spring bulbs start blooming in the gardens, I start looking for new growth from the perennials. Of course I see some - a lot, really - but there are many things that look as dead as can be.

Are they dead or aren't they?

And the answer to that is, "Time will tell." Common sense tells me that not everything wakes up from winter's sleep at the same time, which means I need to be patient while waiting for the late bloomers. But knowing it in my head doesn't stop me from worrying about what might have been lost to winter's brutal conditions.

I'm seeing growth from the base of some of the mums, the gaillardias, and heucheras, just to name a few. But the hardy hibiscus (Hibiscus syriacus) and Echinaceas are showing no signs of life just yet. I'm fairly certain they're all just fine, as I've had them for a few years and haven't lost one yet.

Other perennials are also not showing growth yet and I'm not as familiar with their growth patterns, so I'll just have to take a wait and see attitude with them. More than once, I've feared that something has died, only to have it spring to life a little while later and thrive.

As they say, patience is a virtue.


_________________
Hibiscus syriacus 'Blue Satin'
Hibiscus syriacus 'Aphrodite'

A New Garden Toy

Last year, Romie told me we were going to have to get a new tiller because our 30-year-old Simplicity just wasn't worth putting any more money into it to get it in working order. Some days it wouldn't start at all, and on the days it would, it was only after an exhausting session of pulling the starter over and over until it finally sputtered to life.

We debated over whether we wanted to get a full-sized tiller or just one of the small cultivators like a Mantis. With our heavy clay soil, we decided a cultivator just wasn't going to be man enough for some of the jobs we'd thought about doing, such as tearing up more lawn to make new garden space. We'd looked at new tillers last summer, but never came to a conclusion as to which one to purchase.


Our new Troy-Bilt mid-sized tiller was delivered today. The semi parked in the road in front of our house because it wasn't able to back into our driveway. The box containing the tiller weighed 200 pounds so the delivery man had to leave it at the end of the driveway, where Romie and I unboxed it and took it to the garage.

There, he attached the handle and the cables and it's now ready to go whenever things dry out. That's not likely to happen this week, because we're getting our spring rains and the ground is really soggy. It won't be long though, until we can really dig in and have some fun with it. Stay tuned!

Sunny, Jack and Boo check out the new tiller

It's Worse Than You Thought

Phal. Daniella Ter Loag 'Cristina'

Phal. Baldan's Kaleidoscope 'Golden Treasure'
with 22 flower buds

Phal. 'Lulu'

Total price paid for all three orchids: $32.97

Now really - what would YOU have done?