You may have noticed that I’ve been away for a very long time. But, I’m back. That could be bad, it could be not so bad. Time will tell!

The reasons for my absence are varied. One is time. Or lack of time more correctly. We’ve given the interior of our home a major facelift this winter. – lots of painting, plastering, ceiling work, trim etc, etc, etc. It’s been difficult to find time (energy) to blog and work on the house. And now, all I can say is, if I never see another paint brush again it will be too soon!!

Another reason is all the spammers out there that made my blogging life hell for a while. I can’t believe they actually believe that anyone they spam would actually accept their spammed comments, let alone read/open them!!! How stupid can they be?? I guess some people have nothing better to do.

In addition to the above reasons, I briefly (?) went through gardening burn out. Yes, what I thought would never happen, did! I got tired of gardening. I got tired of weeds, tired of flowers, tired of shrubs, tired of grass, tired of watering, tired of writing about gardening.  Guess all that’s understandable since I’ve been doing it personally and/or professionally for most of my adult life. And, since arthritis became my constant companion, gardening is no where near as easy as it was just a few short years ago. But this year, I’m ready to go at the gardens full tilt.

We have many plans for our gardens this year; new projects to start, old ones to finish. Today, I’ll be starting some seeds. Not in the greenhouse this time, but in my plant stand. That should work out a little better than previous attempts since our cats are older now and a little less curious. Again, the seeds I’ll be starting are varieties that are not commonly found at the local greenhouses.  The other seeds I’ll be sowing are for plants that are too expensive to purchase finished.

Among the gardening tasks I’ve let slide are the cuttings I’ve rooted. They are well past the potting up point, but over the next day or two, they will finally make into soil filled pots. While I’m potting up cuttings, I have a number of houseplants that are crying to be transplanted into bigger pots, so that task will be taken care of too.

Powdery mildew had infected the rosemary plants I overwintered. Rather than resort to chemicals, I trimmed the infected stems off, and rinsed the plants under the tap. That method worked quite well, (I repeated the treatment three times) and now, six weeks later, there is only a very slight trace of powdery mildew left. One more time should do the trick.

Enough of writing about gardening for one day. It’s time to actual do some.

Catch you later!!

THE ENGLISH GARDEN  – What can I say? Being raised with “English gardens”, for myself, this magazine epitomizes gardening as it should be. It is chock full of fabulous photos that will leave you practically drooling. And not just over the gardens, but the beautiful character homes, country manors and yes, castles.  While most of the gardens featured are well beyond the financial reach of the average person, The English Garden is an excellent inspirational tool. It is not too heavy in the how-to’s of gardening. Plant profiles are standard in every issue, however it often features plants that are only a fantasy for many North American gardeners. That said, with a bit of research and a willingness to substitute, you can tweak the elements you would like to recreate and grow a garden every bit as beautiful as the ones in the magazine that inspired you.  The English Garden is published six times a year. Visit their website via the link provided on our website under Worth Looking Into.

GARDEN GATE MAGAZINE – Now this is a magazine that seems to do it all! It inspires, it profiles plants, it teaches you how to garden, how to landscape, how to grow plants, and it offers tips from its readers and its experts. It is full of fantastic photos that make you think “I want that”. All of its articles are well written and directions are easy to understand. Experienced gardeners as well as new ones will find Garden Gate Magazine interesting and helpful. If I have one complaint about Garden Gate Magazine it’s that it features gardens and landscaping that most people can only dream of affording.   However, it often shows you how to do some of the work yourself, making the landscaping projects more affordable. Garden Gate Magazine is a definite read! It is published six times a year and has one of the best websites. Visit their site by clicking on the link under Worth Looking Into.

Harevested greenery in waiting

With Christmas just around the corner, it’s time to begin decorating. At our house the Christmas decorating begins outside around the middle of November. I like to use fresh evergreens and grapevines outdoors. Because I’m rather “thrifty” shall we say, I refuse to purchase evergreen boughs. Instead, I harvest my own.

I start by making note of which evergreens are looking well enough to harvest, and which can be pruned without affecting the appearance and future shape of the evergreen.
 
Using a variety of evergreens provides more depth, texture and interest to an arrangement than using one or two varieties.

Tools needed are: hand pruners, loppers and a pail of water.

Harvest with an eye to shaping the tree and/or shrub rather than cutting willy nilly.
 
A straight cut is made to remove the branch from the plant.

Next cut the stem you’ve just harvested at a sharp angle.

Place the stem of the harvested branch into the pail of water.

Continue harvesting until you have enough materials to make your wreath, swag or planters.

When you do have enough materials, change the water in the pail, and add Christmas tree preservative.

Re-cut each of the stems (angled cut) and put them in the fresh water.

Set the pail in a cool, shaded location (garage or unheated shed) until you are ready to begin creating your decorations.

Suggested evergreens:
 

Boxwood

Cedar

Euonymus (variegated for colour)

Juniper (be sure to get stems with berries on them!)

Spruce

Yew (berries don’t last long on cut stems)

Suggested deciduous:

Redtwig dogwood

Yellow dogwood

Curly willow

Grape vine

Tree branches with interesting shapes

NOTE: do not place these stems in water

 
Accents:
 

Evergreen cones

Rose hips

Teasel

*Hydrangea blooms

*Silver dollar seed casings

NOTE: do not place these in water

* Use only where arrangement will be protected from wind, rain and snow.

New cover is on!

A few of the new shrubs waiting to be heeled in

An interesting late summer flowering bulb that is not a common sight is Amaryllis belladonna a.k.a. Naked Lady.

Its tall stem is crowned with a ring of pale pink trumpet shaped blooms similar in to the indoor Amaryllis, but the flowers are smaller and finer looking.

An oddity of Amaryllis belladonna is its habit of producing leaves in the spring which then die off before the flower stems form.

If you are looking for height, late summer flowers and something out of the ordinary, consider putting a Naked Lady in your garden!

Bulb

Hardy in zones 5 – 9

Height 24” – 30”

Flowers – 6 – 10 pale pink cluster of 3” wide trumpets in mid to late summer

Leaves – lance shaped medium green

Light – full sun to part sun

Planting Season – late summer or early fall

Soil – well drained soiled amended with compost or manure

Depth – plant at least 9” deep in northern areas

Fertilizer – use a water soluble 15-30-15 when the leaves appear or top dress the bed with compost or manure

Propagation – remove bulblets from larger bulbs

Other – do not disturb the bulbs unless you intend to propagate them. Amaryllis belladonna resents being disturbed
May also be grown in containers

The news gets even better. It doesn’t have to cost anywhere near that to landscape your property! The catch, if you can call it that, is to do the work yourself and, keep your landscaping well maintained, yourself.

Many people think landscaping is beyond their capabilities, but they would be surprised how much they can accomplish with a small budget and the willingness to get their hands dirty. If you are already groaning at the mere thought of landscaping, let the increased sales value of your home be your inspiration.

The key is, keep it simple! Do a bit of research at your local garden centre so you invest in the right plants – ones that grow well in the type of soil type (clay, loam, sandy etc.) on your property and, ones that are appropriate for the amount of sunlight available.  Purchase the largest plants your budget will allow. Nothing looks odder, or says “quick fix” more than tiny shrubs planted around a large house.

Start at the front of your home and think curb appeal.  Add simple entrance gardens or foundation plantings. A few containers placed on the porch or at the end of the walkways give a welcoming feel.

Remove dead, dying or overgrown shrubs, trees and plants.

Trim the shrubs and trees to give them shape and remove dead branches and stems. 

 Keep the plants watered and the beds weeded.

Sweep the sidewalks and porch daily. You never know when someone will drive by just to take a look, so you need to grab their attention by presenting a well maintained property.

One of the most important things you can do to keep your property looking its best, is mow the lawn regularly and at the right height – two and a half to three inches will make your lawn look lush.

Once the front of the house is landscaped, move around to the back. Tidy up the backyard. Remove any materials you’ve been “storing” for a while. Pick up the kids toys and clean up after your pets. Repair pet damage in the lawn by covering the area with topsoil and planting grass seed. If the deck or patio needs cleaning a pressure washer and plain water does wonders.

Place more container gardens on the patio or deck or add a border of annuals around the deck or patio. Keep the gardens in the back yard weeded. Edging the beds will give them a polished look.

Curb appeal is what grabs buyers attention first and gets them to come through the door. By sprucing up your landscape and keeping it maintained, you’ll have a solid edge over other sellers.

1). Gardening friends that you can share plants, experiences and knowledge with. You can learn so much from speaking with other gardeners. And, you can change up your gardens by giving and receiving plant divisions, cuttings and seeds.

2). Three good gardening books:

• One should be an encyclopaedia of plants (Reader’s Digest A – Z Encyclopedia.of Garden Plants
• One should be a reference book on landscape design (Taylor’s Master Guide to Landscaping).
• One should be a really good “how-to” book that covers planting, pruning, deadheading fertilizing, watering, insects and diseases etc. (Rodale’s Encyclopedia of Gardening and Landscaping Techniques)

3). Good tools: Purchase the best tools you can afford and keep them maintained. Sharp hand pruners, sharp shovel and spade, sharp loppers, sharp hoe and, files (rasps) to sharpen them with make gardening so much easier.

4). Compost Pile: Why purchase soil amendments when you can make your own? Composting is a must for every serious gardener whether you purchase a small bin, build your own or do it the real old fashioned way and simply make a pile somewhere in the back yard. There is no better way to dispose of garden clippings and kitchen waste than composting them. Once the compost is ready you can use it to top dress your gardens, or add it to planting holes. You will be adding slow release nutrients to the soil and improving your garden soil at the same time.

5). Patience: Gardening is not a hobby for those who seek instant gratification. Plants take time to develop and mature just like the gardeners who tend them. Every year your garden changes, providing new surprises and new challenges. As your garden grows, so will your knowledge and enjoyment of this most wonderful hobby.

For an alternative, try using lemon scented geraniums and making a glaze with fresh lemon juice.

• Wash leaves in plain water and gently blot the leaves dry with a towel
• Grease your cake pan as usual
• Place scented geranium leaves on the bottom and along the sides of the pan (the butter, cooking spray or shortening will hold the leaves in place).
• Prepare a white cake mix according to the instructions on the box and pour into prepared cake pan. Even better is a white cake made from scratch!
• Bake as directed.
• When the cake has cooled, remove all of the leaves and discard.
• Frost with a simple white frosting or a glaze. For added flavour, try adding a drop or two of culinary grade rose water to the frosting.

Apple Scented Geranium

If Lavender is the queen of herbs, then Scented Geraniums have to be the court jesters as they have the ability to fool you with their varied scents. Close your eyes as you sniff the leaves of a scented geranium and you would swear you are smelling roses, or apples, or lemons or mint, or pine. Even chocolate, though it does take a bit more imagination to smell that fragrance.

Scented geraniums or pelargoniums, are a fascinating group of about 250 plants. Typically they are grown for their fragrant foliage, rather than their flowers which are less showy than their cousins of the garden varieties we know too well. Their foliage ranges in shape from fern like, to tiny bunches to large fan shapes. The leaves can be plain green, have dark purple veins, or are variegated, so they are quite capable of holding their own in the garden, as they provide important foliar interest.

Okay, they smell good and have interesting foliage, but what do you do with them? What don’t you do with them?! Aside from being the perfect potpourri ingredient, scented geraniums are surprisingly, at home in the kitchen. To a lesser degree they are used medicinally and in aromatherapy.

Tender perennials, scented geraniums must be over wintered indoors. Not difficult in theory, but when attempting to trick Mother Nature, problems will and do occur.

The first step in bringing your scenteds in for the winter is to get rid of any little creatures that may be hiding in the foliage. Do this by spraying the foliage with water (outdoors!). Hopefully, you will wash all or most of the beasts off the plants.

Next, cut the plants back by at least one third. Save the leaves and dry them for potpourris or, use them fresh in recipes.

Place the pots in a sunny window where they will receive at least four hours of direct sunlight a day, in or lighted plant stand. Allow the pots to dry out between waterings. Do not fertilize in the winter months. The goal is to maintain the plants, not promote vigorous growth.  Snip off any spindly new growth as it appears. In late March you can begin fertilizing the plants once a week with a half strength 20-20-20 water soluble fertilizer.

Scented geraniums, when grown indoors, unfortunately seem to be a magnate for whiteflies and to a lesser degree, aphids, spider mite and mealy bug. At the first sign of infestation, wash the insects off with water in the kitchen sink, using a fine spray. You will have to repeat this every week for a few weeks. If washing the insects off does not control the population, you will need to resort to using an insecticidal soap such as Safer’s. Follow the instructions on the bottle and repeat every week for about three weeks. Yellow sticky traps, placed just above the plant canopy, are another useful tool for combating insects, but not as effective as the first two methods.

For an amazing selection of scented geraniums, order a copy of Richters Herbs catalogue (see Sources). You will be hard pressed to select just a few to order. Some of the better garden centres will have a good selection to choose from, though not as numerous as Richters. If you are fortunate enough to have a herb farm in your area, they should have a good number of varieties available as well.