Monday, 22 April 2024
at home
Whilst puttering, I noticed, not for the first time, how one of my pipe planters was overshadowed by a very successful lavender. I decided to move the concrete pipe. After all, a group of three is better design that a group of four. The photo is “during”, at which time I asked Allan for help pulling the pipe out of the ground.
I took it to the driveway garden on my rollator…
…and found a broken paver slab to put under it so weeds won’t grow through. It is an experiment to see if wodging it into a tight place with a rock will keep it from falling over. I was then inspired to move one more concrete pipe and two square terracotta chimney pipe pieces (what are they called?) from a more obscure part of the front garden to the concrete vault/faux trough driveway display, also placing them on pavers rather than buried, also an experiment.
Later, I found that Allan had done a lovely job of weeding and tidying where he had pulled the first pipe out for me. I took an appreciative photo which turned out too blurry to use.
I then spent what felt like hours repotting these tiny plants of Eryngium giganteum (Miss Willmot’s Ghost) which I grew from seed at least three years ago.
Even ones that I had transplanted two years ago from a seed flat into small but deep pots have stayed tiny. WHY? They have good roots….
This time I put them in regular depth little pots, since the tall pots didn’t seem to help, and will plant them out as soon as the tops get bigger. If they ever do! I never fertilised them because I probably mistakenly thought that eryngiums like a lean unfertilised soil. I never googled or asked anyone about them, as they were one of those little projects that gets set aside and ignored in favour of other projects. And I did not lack in full-sized specimens, as the ones I planted in the ground have reseeded and given me a succession of at least one blooming plant per year. (I love eryngiums!) So the mystery remains of why they stayed so small. This time, I added some granular fertiliser to the gritty soil. We shall see if that helps! I also planted one of the tiny plants in each of the four pipes that I moved to the front driveway garden and some others into various containers around the back patio, mindful of how sharp and painful the plants are to brush up against.
On the patio, a plant that I thought was killed by the ice storm (a hardy pomegranate? I think so), looks like it is putting out almost microscopic signs of new growth. I don’t give up on plants after a hard winter till at least the end of May. Ann Amato gave it to me, a friend who has the gumption to be revealingly transparent in her blog.
I must quote something she wrote in late March because I so heartily agree:
”I don’t learn much visiting the gardens of the wealthy and privileged unless they’re historic and public. This is a personal choice at this point and maybe I am an ass, but this is a statement thought through for months about how I want to spend my precious free time. Years of disappointing conversations amongst we, the hoi polloi, after seeing such places just doesn’t pique my interest. I cannot stand the judgements and opinions that seem cruel. Seeing any garden, one-on-one, no matter what the size, no matter what the income, fascinates. I love gardeners and their love of plants, and gardens of all shapes and sizes but I think now I especially love PUBLIC GARDENS and the communities that support and give them life.” I commented on her post that I feel the same and that I like also to go to private gardens that belong to people who garden on a budget, maybe a not very sensible budget where they spend more on plants than anything else. Gardens that have to create hardscape, if they have any, and art, out of found objects. Ann is truly a “good egg”.
Then I picked a bouquet for Patty, who had done some shopping for us, including some Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’, some orange tulips, and the blue Dutch iris you see below. (I want more Dutch iris for next year and might order a mixed batch from Van Engelen. They give quite a splash at an in-betweeny time in the garden.)
The bouquet looked stunning against Patty’s orange living room wall, which was the plan. The tall flowers are Kerria japonica.
Allan did a project, having bought a new trash can to replace a leaky one. He was now able to plumb two cans together to make a double rain barrel. I want to collect as much rain as possible because of the drought forecast. How I wish we had a huge cistern!
He liked the reflection in the new can of last year’s still untrimmed hops vines and the water filling it from the left.
A week after the seeds were planted, cucumbers have appeared on the kitchen window sill. I appreciate having some success with seeds.
Ann Amato cuts through the chaff, and it is refreshing. And informative.
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The whole blog post, which is up there as the latest one at this point (I think its date is 3-24) says a lot of things that echo how I feel about certain garden events. And adding in a certain impatience toward people with disabilities…well, I have a lot to say but will get around to it later!
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I always like your made up bouquets. You have a great touch.
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Thanks so much, Mr T!
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That bouquet is indeed stunning! I love the ‘Totally Tangerine’ Geums growing in your garden.
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They are a favorite.
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