Dirt Simple

At A Glance: Blooming

Detroit Garden Works is ablaze with blooming plants-mostly of the annual and tropical variety. We do offer specimen boxwoods, dwarf apple trees, fig trees, blueberries, and espaliers. But the blooming plants get a lot of attention. Blooming lantana and abutilon standards. Great ferns. Bay laurel standards. We had lots of gardeners shopping for plants. The weather seems to have warmed up, and the danger of a killing frost seems behind us. Good gardeners are planning and shopping. Though the daytime temperature was a brisk 68 degrees, there was something in the air. Sturdy and healthy plants coming in to bloom made the shop come to life. Our life revolves around the plants.

Yellow Punch canna has the most delightfully clear yellow blooms atop a large growing plant. Said plant is handsomely endowed with large dark green leaves. Yellow Punch canna is aptly named. They look great with the King Tut papyrus set in close proximity. Most certainly, we arrange our plants with good design in mind.

Miniature fuchsia flowers are dainty and complex. This pink bicolor version is sweet. Paired with pale pink nicotiana – very sweet. The newer varieties of fuchsia tolerate hot weather. Look to them to brighten a shady spot.

These blooms of from a Venus dogwood I have at home. The flowers are every bit of 7 inches across. They are just coming in to full bloom. A cross between the pacific coast dogwood, cornus nuttallii, and cornus kousa, this tree blooms it heart out. It is hardier than either of its parents, and grows lustily in full sun. I plant them every chance I get.

We plant lots of annual pots at the shop. As soon as we have a group available, they are gone. The early summer blooming is irresistible. The dirt under my nails and on my hands will survive for another 5 weeks. How great is this?

The ornamental oregano Kent Beauty is tough to grow, early on. Professional growers shy away from it. It looks lame in a 4″ pot. Once it is planted, it thrives. The foliage and flowers never fail to attract attention. Have a planting planned for sun and dryer conditions? This oregano is a beauty.

The Cathedral salvias have my attention this spring. They have substantial flower heads in a variety of enchanting colors. Having never been a fan of victoria blue salvia, I am giving this plant a second look.

It is not the best move, buying annual plants in bloom. Flowering annuals in flats will take to transplanting reluctantly. If I plant flats, I plant green only. This is why I carry few flats of flowers. The soil mass of a 4 inch pot buys a little time. Time for you to organize your planting scheme. Time for the grower to realize their investment. The late spring season is really short. The time and expense getting ready for a spring season-enormous. The health and vigor of the annual flowers, at the mercy of the weather. Of this, I am sure. If you grow for a living, you have a very hard and demanding job. If you garden, you have a lot of work on your hands. The spirit dwarf cleomes have all the blooming beauty of the species, less the size. Look this cleome over. The blooms are so beautiful.

This planting with bok choy is about to go down. The pansies are unhappy about the heat. Alyssum is a supporting cast plant that will at best need to be cut back after a flush of bloom. At worst, alyssum will rot and die out with too much rain. But the main issue here is a vegetable bolting. Cool weather vegetables will go to seed, once the weather gets really warm. Should you grow vegetables to eat, the vegetable flowers are not of much interest. The food value aside, this blooming container is really beautiful right now.

The begonias love the hot weather. They also love a prudent and reserved waterer. Their blooms are breathtaking. They are so worth learning how to grow. We have them in our greenhouse still. They do not love so much the transition from spring into summer. They are summer born and bred. Once we have really warm weather, try them.

Agapanthus is not native to our zone. But we sell them, anyways. The form, that blue, so enchanting. They are not so hard to winter over, in a garage. Jut about every blooming is a garden is ephemeral. The annual plants-they soldier on. I love them for this.

So many things are blooming now. The alliums. The early clematis. The scilla hispanica. The bearded iris and the poppies. The azaleas and rhododendrons. The horseradish. The early annual plants. The nepeta. It’s an early summer bloom fest. My delphiniums and roses are budding. Are you not in gardener’s heaven? I am.

Posted on: June 2, 2013 5 Comments

Filed Under: Color, container planting, Detroit Garden Works, Plants Tagged With: annual plants, June blooming trees

A Day In The Life

This day was a something of a blur. A new house needed sod. A pair of annual plantings in a far away location needed to get finished today, as tomorrow is a set date for another planting. Three major plantings in one day-we worked it out. Steve’s landscape crew filled my pots, and planted the old topiaries this morning-he was on his way to sod a a new house landscape we have been working on since last fall. Scott and Shannon delivered the planted to our job 2 in the morning. Angie, Owen and Lucio knocked out this big planting by 2pm. At 2:30, we were a block over, planting 13 pots. Everything got done, in spite of the rain.

I have been landscaping, and planting pots for this client for better than 20 years. She has extraordinarily good taste, and is willing to change things up at a moment’s notice. Every spring, I look to her for a color scheme. This year-red, purple and lime. I was happy to oblige. This is a big job. 130 40 pound bags of soil-for starters. We have been wintering a number of topiary plants for her better than 10 years. They weigh a lot. Those over wintered plants constitute an entire truckload. She is 45 minutes away from me-so we have travel to consider. The terrain-a lot of up and down. This summer planting takes 11 people 7 hours to plant.

I print out pictures from last year’s planting, with notes about what I want to see happen this year. Those notes are broad. Once the broad strokes as established, I personally place every plant. There is no substitute for being there in person. A client, an environment, several truckloads of plants-something inspired needs to happen. I worry like crazy the entire time it takes me to drive there. What if nothing seems like it is working?

Once I am there, the worry falls away. I have work to do-there is no time to worry. I cannot really describe what happens next. It is a mix of my relationship with a client, the horticulture, and plants at hand. As this is client is far away, I pack two trucks full of plants. I want every plant that works available to me. Planting on location means I need more than what I need-at hand. What happens next is one part science, one part relationship, mone part inspiration, and one part experience growing plants.

This pot has a hyacinth bean vine in the center. The look of this pot will be much different, come August. But today I value the bones of that look-purple, lime, with a dash of red. There are upright elements, and horizontal elements. At the very last, before the sweep-up, all the topiary frames get straightened.

The deck off the master bedroom-an expression of the color scheme-with the odd pot out. To the far left in this picture, an old peach flowered abutilon. That one element that doesn’t fit in will work just fine here. Annual plantings that match too perfectly- to my mind, too cold. I like any expression in the garden which is personal. Really personal-all the better.

We had winds and heavy rains half way through this planting. The red leaved red flowering leaved canna Australia-who knew my client would like this? We surrounded it with red dahlias and red leaved alternanthera. The verdict on this planting-due in late August.

There are red purples, and blue purples. I opted for a mix, with some deep red Caliente geraniums. Hypnotica lavender dahlia is a great plant-it performs. The mini blue veined petunias-a great performer. Lilac wave petunias-a favorite of mine. I like this mix, with a smattering of creeping jenny and lime licorice. I feel fairly confident that these deck boxes will only get better over the course of the summer.

Our box truck-just about empty.

These old wax leaf privets have a new home this year. Last fall I told me client that she needed bigger pots, or we would have to abandon these privets on standard. She was not willing to let them go-I do not blame her. They are beautiful. She bought new pots. These 30″ tall by 30″ diameter pots handle these topiaries with ease. We under planted them with scaevola, variegated licorice, and mini blue veined petunias. Today, this planting is all about green, texture, form and mass. In August, there will be a another story about color.

The torrential rainstorms that have been passing through for the last few days means that all of us are wet. Really wet. My shoes and socks have been soaked for 3 days. The late spring weather has not been easy to deal with. The last time that the spring weather was easy to deal with-years ago. This is a way of saying that no late spring planting season is easy. The transition from one season to the next is always about turmoil. Michigan weather can and does turn on a dime.We have done a number of annual container plantings in the past 3 days. Thankfully those plantings look a lot more put together than what is left on this truck. Not that I am complaining-this is work I truly love to do.

Posted on: June 1, 2013 16 Comments

Filed Under: Color, container planting, Good Design, Plants, Summer Tagged With: annual container planting, container design, container planting

Drenched

The past few days have been all about the rain. Torrential downpours. Wind, thunder-unsettled weather. I don’t know how many inches of rain in all-but I think it was a lot. In the past week we have had 24 degrees overnight, and 88 degrees during the day. In my neighborhood-three phone poles blown over. Frost, hail and drought, wild temperature fluctuations-and now the big rains. All of April was too cold and wet to work out. I cannot remember a year when my landscape crews could not get out until late April. This is no news- any gardening effort is subject to and influenced by the weather.

I do not think I have ever seen rain fall so hard and so fast-as I did 2 days ago. The shop property is sandy, which we top dressed with gravel. Standing water at my place- unprecedented. I have my own perfect storm going on. Several landscape installations which could not be finished in April are due-now. The planting of the annuals and containers-due now. Some earlier plantings have frost damage. This is more excitement than I would ask for, but every year has its challenges and troubles.

I was not really unhappy about the rain. Our spring has been very dry. Every plant that wakes up come spring is programmed to grow. That growing requires moisture. The trees especially needed a big drink. My hydrangeas came out of dormancy reluctantly. Our spring came slow-the dry weather played a big part in that. I am so happy for the rain-even though it is late.

The torrent of rain meant that all of the plants at the shop were fine-no one needed to drag a hose. What a relief. Water from the sky is life sustaining water. Our plants loved the rain. Water from the hose is a temporary fix in dry times. I cannot really explain what I mean by this, but water from the sky is better water than the water from the hose. Rainy days-I love them. Rain from the sky makes plants grow and thrive. The days that I have to drag the hose-a chore day. Automatic irrigation needs a gardening person in charge. Automatic irrigation on auto can kill trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. Supervise your irrigation system!

I cannot speak to the science of the effects of spring rain. I only have my instincts. In my opinion, every plant bathed in late spring rain seems energized.

My own property-vividly green. The grass looks like fur. Thick and vigorous. The yews are covered with a layer of lime green new growth. Every plant looks energized, and juicy.

Lush life-this describes my idea of late spring in just two words. Given the heavy rains, all of my plants are putting on weight and substance in a beautiful way. The lime green color of new growth is why I love that lime color in any plant. Fresh and new. The dwarf spruce and hellebores in the above picture will turn towards emerald green, later in the spring. The Sum and Substance hostas that retain their lime green color all season long- how I value that memory of spring.

Another month, another day, another time of year, this picture would look so much different. This level of lush speaks to late spring. Though I am so busy with work, I try to take the time to enjoy this moment. The bad weather aside, there is so much to appreciate this time of year. In my garden the voices are fresh. A new season has begun. The intense flush of growth from the trees to the roses and perennials-so exciting. This photograph of my garden does not really express how beautiful it was to see it in person. Last year at this time, my roses were struggling to emerge from an extended and killing late April frost. Needless to say, I did not have much in the way of roses last year. Today, every rose is loaded with buds. Loaded with promise. I have not written about this, but the lilacs in my neighborhood have been spectacular this spring. I would venture to say-the best ever. What I see makes me long to grow them. But in fact every spring season favors some plants over others. My advice? Grow lots of plants. One or several of them will surely handle whatever the weather has to dish out. If you do not grow any roses-I would encourage you to try them. n early June, they will hold your heart. They smell good. They will encourage you to garden on.

I had a surprise visit today from Michelle Gervais- an editor of Fine Gardening Magazine. With only 12 hours notice, she wanted to see the shop, and tour my garden. She was so kind-giving me next to no notice of her visit. I really had no time to prepare for her, even if I had had notice. This is a very busy time of year. I would have fretted about every square inch-if I had known in advance that she was planning to visit. She limited my stress. Do you read her blog? It is great! My garden-she saw it, without any editing or cleanup. I think it looked fine. The drenching rains did more to endow and enrich the appearance of my garden than any gesture I could have made. The heavy rains are making my working life tough-but how the plants love it.

Posted on: May 30, 2013 15 Comments

Filed Under: Uncategorized

At A Glance: Memorial Day Weekend

We did start our container plantings last week-tentatively. I was not planting coleus, begonias, lantana, basil, sweet potato vine, caladiums, angelonia, and a whole host of other plants with zero tolerance for cold. Just two days ago, the temperature at 5:30 am-34 degrees. whoa. A friend at the farmer’s market told me she lost half her field of summer cut flowers that she had already planted. What a heartache. But Erma Wiegand, one of the group of brothers and sisters that own Wiegand’s Nursery in Macomb told me 6 weeks ago that the possibility of frost in our area was a real possibility, until the May full moon. The May full moon? Two days ago. She has the heart and skill of a farmer-and she was dead to right. The weather this spring has had my back-I do not like to plant containers too early.

Cold soil is bad for tropical plants, and annual plants native to warmer climates. I drag my feet, getting going, until it seems like the weather is really warming up. I am happy getting the container planting going on come Memorial Day-it is the right time for our zone. Memorial Day is a national holiday, as well it should be. But we have a lot of work to do in a very short period of time. We were working. Lots of people came into the shop today-they are planting too. There is a special and particular spirit attached to every holiday. Memorial Day weekend-a favorite of mine. We honor the troops. We hope for the future, and plant.

We were not at the shop-we were on the road, planting. In the background, a fan palm underplanted with Wasabi coleus. The white streptocarpus with a purple throat will be added on the edge tomorrow. In the foreground, a pot located in a patch of sun. White mandevillea, lime nicotiana alata, creeping jenny, and silverberry petunias.

Broad leaved bird’s nest fern, lemon cypress, and angelina. I am still thinking about what to do in the front/center. Do I leave blank spaces if I am not sure what I want to do? Yes.

an asymmetrical planting of angelonia, Millet Jester, silverberry petunia, supertunia lilac and scaevola.

Kentia palm with white caladiums

Pink mandevillea with Cathedral salvia in 2 colors, and white angelonia. The little pot-mystic spires salvia surrounded by scaevola. Angie at the helm.

A twisted trunk hibiscus belonging to my client is underplanted with millet Jester, red Caliente geraniums and lilac supertunias.

Red mandevillea, red zonal geraniums, millet Jester, and misty lilac wave petunias. In the background, Cathedral dark blue salvia, euphorbia Diamond Frost, white supertunias, and red potunias

$\apple-espalier.jpg$ sky blue petunias under an apple espalier

purple and lime green

planting for summer

Wasabi coleus and scaevola

a variegated boxwood sphere, lime and green plectranthus, and lime licorice. This planting will come from behind, and be really good by the end of July.

Angie plants-but she is also in charge of the numbers. Her clipboard has her name on it-everyone knows that they touch that clipboard at their peril. Angie, Rafael, Lucio, Matt, Amparo, Owen and I planted a lot of plants this weekend. It feels good to get started.

Posted on: May 27, 2013 4 Comments

Filed Under: container planting, Summer Tagged With: annual container planting, Annual Flower Design, annual plants, container planting, planting for summer

Dirt Simple

At A Glance: Blooming

A Day In The Life

Drenched

At A Glance: Memorial Day Weekend

Subscribe to Dirt Simple via Email

About the Author

Categories

Monthly Archives