Dahlia Deliverance August 30, 2009

 

My garden has been noticeably waning in the damp humid and hot weather of August.  The lack of sun is certainly taking its toll on the flowers.  The zinnias, my workhorses for color both in and out of the garden, have never taken off this year.  What blooms I’m getting from them are nice, and I like the new seed mix I selected (Cool Crayon Colors from Renee’s), but the plants are short and are producing new blooms very slowly compared to last year when it was hot, sunny and dry all August.    The same can be said for just about every other bloom in my garden, save for the dahlias.

 

Container Inspirations August 24, 2009

 

Here are several photos of contianer plantings that I found very inspirational while I was strolling through Longwood’s “Idea Garden”.   Ideas, indeed!  Also there was a kitty curled up on some chairs, taking a nap.  I can’t resist a cute garden cat! 

 

Nice Neighbors August 17, 2009

I really am impressed by the gardens of my classmates.  These guys are really creative!   Here are a few photos I snapped while taking a late evening stroll through the student gardens.

 

Little Jewel August 17, 2009

 

 

This is a little jewel of an arrangement, perfect for restaurant tables, sitting beside the guest book at a wedding, or marching in a line down the mahogany bar.    The dimensions are petite – 6 inches tall and 4 inches wide – but the textures are bold.    Sedum ‘Autum Joy’ acts as a base for Scabiosa, Nigella, and Panicum ‘Frosted Explosion’, all of which are nestled in a minature version of a brass florist bucket.    The best part about this arrangement is that it has dried perfectly in the vase and will remain vivid for many weeks (even months) if kept out of bright light.

Summer Icicles August 17, 2009

 

 

I am in love, folks, plain and simple.  I have never so instantly felt an affinity for a cut stem the way I have for this Euphorbia ‘Summer Icicles’, which is stunning in color, texture and outright “pizazz” in arrangements.  In addition, its vase life is incredible – still going strong after 14 days!   I’ve always steered clear of Euphorbias as cuts before because I didn’t want to mess with searing the stems after cutting (they leak a white sticky toxic sap).  But the fresh white and green foliage of this particular cultivar intrigued me enough to push past my distaste for “fussy” harvest steps.  

 

 

Tucked into a large enamel pitcher with angelic white cosmos, punchy green ‘Envy’ zinnias, feminine pink ‘Melody Lisa’ dahlias, and wispy Talinum spikes, this Euphorbia made my heart sing a happy tune.   The ‘Summer Icicles’ have lasted so long that I actually had to throw out all the other flowers and put in a fresh combo of white cosmos, brilliant fuchsia zinnias, and pink snap dragons which I equally love with the texture and colors of the Euphorbia.

August Anguish, But… August 17, 2009

 

It’s not news here on this blog that this summer has been a tough one for my garden.  August continues to hold its moments of anguish, particularly as I watch giant holes emerge in my ornamental beds where plants had to be removed because they fell over or browned out.    Yep, rough season. 

 

 

But, all that aside, there are also moments of beauty as the blooms continue to march along in their summertime progression in the ornamental beds.   The dahlias are putting on a lovely display in the back corner finally.  The balloon flower is unquenchable in its zest for producing new blue bursts.  The zinnas, while still sluggish, are delicious shades of pinks and purples.  The Red Dawn trees in the back are rocketing for the sky, well over seven feet tall now.  The sedums along the hill are blooming, as are a few of the succulents in my little desert container.   The jewels of opar remind me of sparklers on the Fourth of July.   The jupiter’s beard has the wildest seedheads  that add bold texture to the garden.   The iresine has finally developed its mature bright pink veins. 

 

 

Honey Harvest 2009 August 17, 2009

 

It’s once again late summer and time to harvest honey.  This year’s harvest was an interesting challenge, though I was really pleased to have the help  of an experienced beekeeper, Emma.   She brought along her fume board sprayed with Bee Go to help drive the bees down and out of the honey supers.   I was eager to see how effective this method of removing the bees from the supers was.  Unfortunately, the fume board works best in hot sun – versus the cloudy day we had – that heats up the board and releases more vapor into the hive.   The bees did not leave the supers very willingly so we had a hard time of whisking away the supers without taking a load of bees with them.  

 

Step 1:  Crack the hive and apply plenty of smoke; Step 2:  Carry one very heavy super loaded with honey away from the hive; Step 3: Realize there are still a ton of bees in the super and try hard to smoke them out ; Step 4: Contemplate a new strategy for getting the bees out of the next super. Repeat. 

 

Another challenge proved to be the unexpectedly high level of brood in the hive.  There is no queen excluder on this hive and I was traveling during the hive’s peak production in July so the hive no doubt got quite crowded and so the queen moved up through the supers to lay her eggs.  As a result, we only got on medium super and a few additional frames of honey from a second super to harvest.   We had hoped to get four full supers so this was a real disappointment. 

 

 

 

Still, the honey we extracted was absolutely delicious and dark – some of the best I’ve tasted yet.    In addition to Emma, a few other folks joined us in helping to extract the honey and their help was very handy.    The honey has been filtered and remains to be bottled, but it appears we got about 2.5 gallons.

Scott’s Green Roof Tour August 16, 2009

 

 

I spent a day at the Scott Arboretum recently, partaking in their great seminar on hardy succulents and cacti.  As part of this short course on one of my favorite plant groups, we were taken on a tour of the many green roofs on the campus that Scott’s staff manage.  I was impressed with the diversity of the plant material they were using; not just succulents were greening these hot, windy, dry surfaces, but also a few Opuntia, Dianthus, many grasses and a little blue flower called desert bluebell. 

 

 

 

Another element of Scott that I love so much are their creative container plantings.  Here’s one with a marbleized fern, Nephrolepis exaltata ‘Tiger’,  that I really love.  I’m wondering how well it would hold up in a vase…

 

 

 

I’d definitely recommend checking out Scott’s list of courses and events.  This arboretum is a dynamic setting with some really dedicated horticulturalist that don’t mind sharing their expertise.  They have a great garden blog too:  check it out!

 

French ‘Savor’ Melon August 16, 2009

 

I have a special love for growing and eating melons, thanks to my father, who is nearly obsessed with them.   However, I seem to always be growing in small spaces that don’t really allow for the vigorous vines of the melon family.   When I saw Johnny’s Select Seeds was offering the seeds for the French Charentais melon ‘Savor‘ this year, I immediately ordered a packet.  I had read much about these small single-serving melons with luscious flesh scented with floral notes.    They produce on relatively small vines that can be trained up a trellis and still support the small melons hanging precariously in the air.   

 

 

I planted three vines in my garden and three vines in containers on my hot sunny deck.    Sadly, the three vines in my garden quickly succumbed to disease after a swift and unavoidable attack by squash bugs even though the vines were covered with protective fleece.    My hopes were flagging for the vines on my deck as they really were very scrawny by all accounts – small leaves, short vines, thin stems.  No way could these plants produce a good melon, I thought.   As it turns out, they produce an amazing melon.   The softball sized fruit is intensely fragrant and similar in color and texture to a cantaloupe.  However, the flavor is very different than a cantaloupe and rather difficult to describe beyond “delicious”!    Only one of my vines is actually producing (three fruits thus far), but I attribute this to a lack of pollinators and my inconsistent watering of the pots.   Next year I’ll grow these again in containers with an irrigation system and will make more of an effort to pollinate with a paint brush if the bees don’t wise up to the bounty of blossoms available on my deck in this urban jungle.

 

2009 Cut Flower Inventory August 10, 2009

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