Garden Faerie's Musings

T'is the Season

2009-11-11T18:58:00.003-05:00

...for growing cat grass indoors! James and Fiona may have differing dispositions and diverging views on many key issues, but they have the exact same thoughts about cat grass.

"Nom nom nom! It's mine, all mine, grown only for me!"

They like it so much, they even posed for the photos! (And if you live with cats, you know how significant that is.)

I've seen cat grass both as live plants and as seeds at various shops and online. I grow mine from oat and wheat seeds I get from an animal feed store. They're used to selling huge quantities, so the pound I buy of each seed type ends up costing pennies or often just being given to me. I started buying it this way when I was tending the cat garden and I needed lots of seeds.

If you'll be taking part in my seed swap, I'll be adding multiple packets with these seeds to the swap!

The seeds need very little light to germinate and are up in only a few days. You have to keep the grass cut back or the blades get too tall and bristly over time. As winter drags on, the grass does get ratty (especially as Fiona sits in the container), so I just reseed afresh.

It's All Good

2009-11-05T10:16:00.004-05:00

November isn't exactly a month inspiring most to wax poetic. It's that dreary gray space between the wonderful reds and oranges of fall and the cool, crisp white of winter. It's also my birthday month, which tends to bring up personal melancholy (not related to getting older). But I love all seasons, and the changing nature of life, and upon reflection, I've realized two things, one trivial and one profound, about how small, unnoticed daily changes can add up to big results that kind of pounce on you one day (in a good way).

As a child, I was really annoyed that everyone else got better gemstones and flowers associated with their birthday months (I said it was trivial!). I coveted February for wonderful amethyst, May for emerald, and December for turquoise. But, no, November is topaz, that shade of golden yellow just like appliances of the time. I hated it, though I never got any topaz jewelry, so I don't know why it was a big deal! And the November flower is mum, which at the time were also always depicted in that shade of yellow I hated, and I wasn't wild about mums, full stop. The other day I realized that my favorite gemstone today is amber, which comes in the exact same shade of yellow I hated as a child and now love. I also realized I love mums in all colors and that they are the perfect flower for a no-nonsense person who has always loved fall.

I'd come full-circle without even realizing it.

I also realized something, completely out of the blue the other day, and it made me all misty: I love my garden! When I moved into my house seven years ago, it had lawn up the the house. I've been making and planting beds, moving and expanding and transplanting, so long that I lost track of progress. I still had the mindset of my garden being new and sparse and not as full and lush as I'd like (some early photos here). I have a pretty big property for a city lot, and not a truckload of money, so it's taken a long time for beds to fill out.

"Garden" has been very much a verb to me and it's exciting to see it afresh as a noun!

When photographing my garden for fall color, it dawned on me how many shrubs I have, and how wonderful their fall color is. I used to be very heavily into non-woodies and the transition to loving woodies (hey now, behave!) has been gradual and unnoticed. I still love non-woodies, too, of course. But realizing a huge amount of my plants were shrubs also explained why my spring-summer colors aren't as broad as what I see in others' gardens. I had always felt a bit was lacking in my garden, but now I feel abundance, gratitude, and warm fuzzies.

Then MrBrownThumb commented about the number of shrubs, which made me wonder just how many I actually have. I was surprised to discover I have 39 needled shrubs and 41 non-needled shrubs! Eep! None is huge, and some are quite small, but I was not expecting that count.

All this time, the garden has been growing around me, and I didn't even see it, especially not with my latest focus on buckthorn removal. And when I did finally see it, I almost cried because I finally realized how much progress I've made and how it's all come together, little bit by little bit.

And when I realized how wonderful the garden actually looks (especially in fall) and how much my plants have grown, and that I actually have something to be proud of, a physical place that anchors me and holds my own roots, I did cry. I've never lived anywhere as long as seven years since I was a child, and I've never had so much time with any one garden.

I've been working on personal growth for a while, too, and hope that, like with the garden, I've made more progress than I can see at any given vantage point.

Mish-Mash Monday

2009-11-02T11:22:00.007-05:00

Planty Goodness
I just love milkweed fluff, both up close...

and from farther away. An easy way to separate the seeds from the fluff is to collect the fluff and place it in a metal tray and set a match to it. No, really; it's safe and fun — I've seen it demonstrated several times by horticulturists at Matthaei Botanical Gardens. The fluff burns away very quickly and leaves the seeds.

Sedum looks nice with some frost.

A few golden marguerites are still blooming (they're a great powerhouse, blooming in spring and again in fall).

Planty Badness... Turned to Goodness
You'll recall me complaining about the hard work of removing buckthorn from my south "wild bed." This is the front side of the bed, facing east, which is maybe six by 15 feet and which I had previously cleared and planted.

This is the back side of the bed, the area that I've been clearing, facing west. The new cleared area is now about 12 feet wide and 52 feet long (which is a lot of clearing!); this is the view, from the east end. Notice the evergreen shrubs and forsythia. There are some native grasses in there, too, but they're too small to see with the leaves.

The same bed, also facing west, but closer to the west end. Notice the clematis and mock orange (waves to Randy!) waiting in the pot to be planted. (It has since been planted.) There are also three deutzias to the left edge, but they have already lost their leaves and aren't noticeable. The same goes for two cut-back tall coreopsis.

This view gives a better feel for the size. You can see I left some stems of the taller trees, and laid some really large stems down as a boundary, as there's a public walking path a few feet away. I've put down more leaves as mulch, too!

A view of part of the bed, facing south. I just direct sowed a Rocky Mountain wildflower seed mix under the area of wet leaves. They'll need the cold to germinate next spring. Hopefully, they'll have enough sun, too.

If you're wondering what the whole cleared bed looked like before, it looked pretty much like this area that still needs to be cleared: A thorny thicket of buckthorn (both tree-size and shrub-size), with a few black walnuts, invasive honeysuckles, poison ivy, and grapevine thrown in for fun. Eep!

These are the type of roots I've been struggling with. The short upward facing growth is the actual trunk of the tree, cut down. The thing coming out to the right is the root; only a small part of the root, but see how long it is?! I also struggled with the roots of walnut trees, which make the buckthorn roots look like spiderwebs in comparison!

New Xeric Bed (Planty Goodness, Part 2)
I created borders for and planted a new xeric/Colorado bed. I was very taken by Colorado and am trying to get a small feel of it in Michigan. The bed was previously much shorter and held tomatoes. It's one of the few full-sun locations in my yard, and because it's next to the hot driveway and because my rain barrel soaker hose doesn't reach to this location, it's very dry. Not that I'm not a big waterer of my garden plants in general (unless newly planted/transplanted), so my whole garden is xeric in a way, but this bed is for extra-xeric plants, LOL! (The mum will be moved out in spring.) What's in there, you ask?

Two Russian sages, a rattlesnake master, and some echinaceas. (I'll move this mum out of the bed in spring, too, and the stuff to the right is part of another bed.) Also in the xeric bed are...

Mound of hens and chicks, previously in a clay pot I had to bring in over the winter...

Prickly pear cactus (that's how they look in fall in Michigan; they'll be fine next spring!), previously in a location that had gotten too shady...

The cherry skullcap (Scutellaria suffrutescens) that I bought in Pueblo in July, which had been in a pot all summer, just waiting for me to clear out this bed...

One of two baby-girl yuccas (um, technically, Yucca nana), about two inches tall and wide. They're dwarf forms that will only get six inches tall and wide. They're cuties and hardy in my zone...

The ever-loving Hesperaloe parviflora that was previously in a location that was too shady. I had another one of these that died over last winter, so I'm hoping this one holds on...

One of two big yuccas I got years ago in a plant swap (I believe Yucca filamentosa), which I moved from a location that had gotten a bit crowded and too shady (are you seeing a trend here?). The other one easily divided into multiple pups, whereas this one did not. I also have two other smaller yucca from this year's plant swap in the bed...

I also planted from foxtail lilies, which to me are very quintessentially Coloradan (or at least Denver Botanic Gardenian!), but they are tubers so I can't show them until spring when they bloom.

Composty Goodness
I emptied all this year's lovely compost (from the bin to the left of the photo) onto what will be my sole veggie bed next year.

Monica Ventura, Cat Detective
Yes, Dr. Watson, this scene alerted me to two facts: 1) James had been playing with the milk ring (he likes to leave it on the bed for me, thinking it's a kill) and 2) Fiona was sleeping under the covers. You can see her bump, though she's quite slender, and her entry point.

Happy Mish-Mash Monday, everyone!

Fantabulous Fall Foliage

2009-10-26T08:24:00.013-04:00

I have a lot of shrubs. I adore them, yet admit I'm sometimes a little envious in summer when you're all showing masses of colorful blooms. I have tons of non-woodies, too, of course, but the majority of my plant material is shrubs (they're big, you know?). But in fall, my Ann Arbor, MI, garden comes into its own. It's a wonderful showcase of autumn delights! If I do say so myself. (Which I just have. Said. Ha! Esther's writing style is rubbing off!)

For more fall color, check out Dave's Fall Color Project 2009.

Now, I ask you, isn't the fothergilla foliage above drop-dead gorgeously stunning?! And its spring flowers are pretty awesome as well.

There's something about this color and texture combo that just tickles my fancy

Maple leaves from my neighbor's tree fell artistically onto the street.

I didn't realize that the foliage of prairie smoke turns red. Noogie!

Look at my lovely Diablo ninebark! I got it several years ago as a $3.33 gallon shrub at a big box store, and now it's taller than me--at least 6 feet. I love its dark color all year, and especially its redder shade in fall. It also gets great big white blooms in spring. I've never once been able to capture its true beauty on film, though.

This is my red-twig dogwood. It's huge now, and doing very well. I bought it as a bit of a reject at a year-end sale a long while ago. Noogie!

Here is the viburnum outside my bedroom window. If I were the kind of person who wasn't too lazy to go into the basement to check through a huge envelope full of plant tags, and if I were also the kind of person who actually made notes on plant tags as to the location of planting, I'd be able to tell you what kind this is. I have seven viburnums and they're all wonderful, but I'll be plum-doggied to know which is which.

I'm not wild about gooseneck loostrife, but you can't beat their fall color. It's really intense IRL. I got them from a coworker who has since passed away, so though they spread aggressively, and I thin them out each spring, I can never get rid of them altogether, as they remind me of Marlene.

In case you couldn't see the purple smokebush in the background of the gooseneck loosestrife in the previous photo, here it is close-up. It struggled for years and finally came into its own this spring.

Aren't the leaf veins awesome?

My sweet native chokeberry, purchased this spring. I love this shrub and its wonderful orange fall color.

A fall feeling in my front yard (photo is taken with my back against a front corner of my house, facing the street and a neighbor's house across the street).

I transplanted this spirea this fall and it looks none the worse for wear. And look at the tiny obedient plants in the background. They are small (and much later blooming than my huge 4-feet plant out front) because this was a shadier location before I cut down all that buckthorn.

Aw, isn't the variegated red-twig dogwood sweet? I had no idea how wonderful its fall color is. (I had two of these in the entirely wrong locations (too shady) and moved them this spring (one all the way to TN! ;-).) It's grown more this season than it has the previous two years I've had it!

I'm not sure my pieris realizes it's fall... or I could be wrong about how it blooms when. (I got it this spring.)

Barberry is on my city's invasives plant list. It's a big no-no. But, um, well, I planted it as one of the very first things when I moved to my current house, as a detriment to kids who were cutting through my property instead of using the park path not ten feet away. I have pulled out two other barberries, but, dagnabbit, this one is too big to mess with and it's staying. I think the removal of 1,476 buckthorns (approx.) equates with the keeping of two barberries! Plus, look at its great fall color!

Beautyberry is fairly nondescript all season, but its vibrant purple berries are worth the wait.

Here's the viburnum at the back of my house.

The native tall coreopsis turned a gorgeous dark red this fall. They're about 8 feet tall, too!

Here's my viburnum along the fence.

I'm a little "so over" evening primrose, but I do enjoy its "hello-I'm-here!" red fall leaves.

The burning bush was magnificent this year, but it rained before I thought to take a photo. Another viburnum next to it, in this area next to my neighbor's driveway.

Here is that same viburnum close-up. Wheee!

Here's the viburnum at the other end of the front of my house. (You thought I was kidding when I said I had a lot of viburnums?!) This one gets pink flowers in spring. I like how the leaves of all the viburnums vary, not just by variety, but by location (sunnier vs. shadier).

The purple sand cherry was planted in honor of my dad (who died in 1997 and would have been 72 on Saturday), in a convoluted kind of way. Let's just say it's a Prunus, as are plums, and one of my dad's favorite snacks were Zwetschenknödel (plum dumplings made with a special kind of plum; I know Bek will know what I'm talking about!). Also say hi to the hellebore!

The orange mums get lost next to the orange foliage of cushion spurge. I was excited to find the flamingo this summer in Champaign-Urbana while following Beckie to the demonstration garden there! :)

OK, the sedum is always that dark shade of red and the coral bells are always that green, but I love the combo and the cottonwood leaf makes it fall-y.

I love the seeds of iron weed. I'm saving a lot for the seed swap!

Happy Monday, everyone. Fairly normal posting should be resuming. (That is, at a slug's pace, not at a hungover slug on sleep-inducing meds carrying a heavy load of molasses in January's pace!)

Time Keeps on Slipping...

2009-10-12T10:40:00.004-04:00

Slipping, slipping into the future...

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post, and I'm embarrassed to say I haven't been leaving comments in about as long, either. Thanks for inquiring after me! I'm fine, but fall is always the absolute busiest time in the garden for me. This year even more so because I keep removing more and more buckthorn, and I've transplanted things really too large for transplanting, created a new xeric/Colorado bed, etc.

After coming in for the day, I've been dirty, aching, and exhausted. After throwing my garden clothes in the laundry, I make myself some food (and have been really trying to eat healthier foods, which takes a lot of time and is a whole other story!)... and collapse on the couch.

But my couch is not near my computer and I don't have a laptop... It seems the more time I spend away from the computer, the less I remember it's there. I've also been a bit our of sorts after finding out a close friend from college passed away. She was 42. Of everyone I went to college with, she's one of the few who left a lasting impression. A truly nice person, genuine and caring, always willing to help others, very accepting, always finding the best in people. I admired that and tried to be more like her myself.

As always, I admire all of you who post so regularly, and with all those photos, too!

I really do miss keeping up with you and hope to catch up in about another week or so. I'll have photos for you, too! (Though those from MOBOT and the nice visit with Beckie will have to wait until I'm done in the garden this season.) Thanks for understanding!

Scorn of Buckthorn

2009-09-19T17:26:00.004-04:00

I hate buckthorn, it is not the plant for me
Merely a shrub but thinks it's a tree
Roots as long as the trunk is tall
Spreads early spring to late in fall
Spiky thorns pierce gloves and shoes
No buckthorn I would never choose

It's non-native, it's invasive
It kills the spring ephemeral
It is glossy, it is spiky
It is a hardened criminal

I hate buckthorn, it is not the plant for me
You pull out one and it grows three
It does not heed your swears or pleas
It laughs at Roundup on its leaves
It will not die so you can’t mourn
Oh buckthorn I can only scorn

It's non-native, it's invasive
It kills the spring ephemeral
It is glossy, it is spiky
It is a hardened criminal

Over the last seven years I've been removing invasive buckthorn (both common (Rhamnus cathartica) and glossy (Rhamnus frangula)) from the two edges of my backyard that border a natural area. Buckthorn is really invasive because it has a longer growing season than other shrubs so it has longer to grow, it grows really quickly and thrives in suboptimal conditions, and it spreads both by roots (which one never manages to get all of) and seedlings from the many, many berries it produces and which are spread by birds. These removal exercises always leave me swearing, sweating, scratched, and exhausted. But they also led me to create the song above. It has an appropriately gloomy melody and is sung in a low, over-dramatic voice. (Someday, you may even get to hear it!)

There's a walking path just the other side of my property so when I've previously removed buckthorn, I cut and bagged maybe half of it and left the other half laying in rows like a hedge along my property. Well, I wanted to cut more buckthorn so I could plant some other shrubs in that area, rather than fighting with the same buckthorn seedlings each spring.

So my friend Carole and I pulled out all the dead branches that had accumlated over the years and cut them into smaller pieces to fit into yard waste bags. It was enough to fill the seven bags shown here, plus one out front and one bundle of thick branches. Plus about four more bundles, that have yet to be cut to size. Plus two bags that went last week. Whew!

After clearing out the mess, I made another mess. I used Ziggy, my trusty chainsaw (as shown in my avatar!) to clear out a bunch more buckthorn. Look at all this crap!

A lot of the branches are 12-15 feet long!

I have to deal with cutting these to size in the next week or so. My chainsaw chain came off the blade and I have to fix that first.

The first photo is salt on the cut. Many of the smaller trees were pulled at the roots and others were chainsawed closer to the ground. I cut a few off at about three feet and will thread a few dead branches through the stumps to make a sort of very low fence, or at least a property delineation. I usually paint concentrated Roundup (not diluted) onto the stumps with a sponge craft brush, but the guy who cut down a huge tree at my mom's told her to use salt to keep the tree from resprouting. It's cheaper so I'm giving it a go.

I really, really hate buckthorn.

Save Your Seeds for Snail-Mail Seed Swap!

2009-09-11T15:01:00.002-04:00

Save, save, save ~ Save, save, save
Save your seeds ~ Save your seeds
You can do it! (Sing to the tune of Shake Your Booty!❀)

As the temperatures drop and the days get shorter, do not despair! There's still a lot to do in the garden, and saving your seeds is a great way to save money and get more plants! Trading seeds with other gardeners is even more fun! In January (in time for us winter seed sowers), I'll host my second annual round-robin snail-mail seed swap.

I'll post official directions and sign-up instructions in December, but start collecting seeds now. For a preview, check out last year's instructions.

❀Yes, I know it's a terrible ear worm. I apologize but I think I'm a bit high on bathroom cleaner fumes, and OK, I'll just say it, I like some disco. Not so much this song, but it just fits! But please don't let my poor taste in music prevent you from participating in the swap! It was a hoot last year.

Vonderful Vincennes Visit

2009-09-08T12:58:00.002-04:00

Heading to St Louis in late August, my friend Carole and I stopped in Vincennes, IN to visit Lisa of Greenbow. Here are, from the left, Luna, me, the Greenbow mascot, and Lisa. Lisa has a photo that includes Carole in her entry about the visit.

I love all these decorations. The idea of a metal shelf used outside is wonderful. I love the staghorn fern, too. And check out the wonderful windowbox and the flowerpot wreath.Everything is so inviting and colorful.

I love how the tomatoes look around this wonderful planter arrangement.

I love the idea of planting groundcovers (in this case, goldmoss sedum and sweet mountain fleabane) in an old tree trunk/bark!

This is Lincoln the bear. I mistook him for a hippo, but he didn't hold it against me.

I love the black and blue salvia, and plan to plant some next season. I'd never heard of it when I saw it at Lisa's and then saw it twice again in close succession at MOBOT and at Beckie's. It just proves they have good taste! (And I found out that Beckie and Lisa are cousins!)

I love this trellis along Lisa's property line. You can almost make out two evergreens on her neighbor's property. I'm sure the circle opening is called a window, but I think of it fondly as a hole. I saw many more holes at MOBOT.

I love Lisa's use of old golf clubs as hose guides.

I have a very similar obelisk/trellis thingie that I've been moving around and trying different things on, none of which had struck my fancy. Alas, I love hummingbird vine, especially how it covers all the metal work, and will move mine to a sunny location and plant this vine in it next spring. Yay!

I was very taken with this fleece flower (Persicaria filiformis 'Lance Corporal') and was actually given (at only mild hinting) three to take away (thanks, Lisa!). I love the spotted leaves and tall delicate pink spikes of flowers. Also note the yellow window on the shed; it's an old wooden-frame window Lisa had been saving to make a cold frame, but finally realized that wasn't going to happen and painted it and hung it on her shed. Brilliant! I, too, have an old window (snatched from someone's trash!) in my own shed, that I admitted this spring was never going to turn into a cold frame... and my shed is vinyl and as boring as can be--what a perfect solution. I think mine will be painted orange or purple!

I love the stripey foliage of this aloe, not to mention its great pink flowers. And look how nice that blue-green succulent ties in the blue pot. These type of color combos never dawn on me, and Lisa is very good with them.

Not only do I love the greyish purple color of Lisa's shed (it's also the color of my front door), it's pure genius to have mounted this vintage chicken coop on the wall. Look, there's even a chicken in it!! Lisa's garden had much whimsy. I love whimsy but I'm not one for cutesy, and thus have always had a hard time finding accessories for my garden. I was very inspired at Greenbow--Lisa uses a lot of "found" objects that add her personal touch, but they lean to artsy/creative, not cute, and I love that she is re-purposing old things.

Luna wants you to notice the subtle interplay of whites and greens in this bed. Note the white edges of hosta, the white bird cage, and grey concrete pot, and, for a limited time only, the wonderful white fluff of Luna herself.

A fearie terrarium (did Lisa know I was coming? Oh, wait, she did! HA!) adds whimsy inside Lisa's home. (She has a much better photo of it here.)

Next, we left Greenbow Gardens and Lisa then took us on a tour of a private garden of a friend of hers and her husband's. The place was incredibly unbelievable, looking more like a small botanical garden than a home garden. Very large space, all fully planted, with many different sections and themes.

Here's Lisa in her favorite spot in this garden, the shady bench nook.

Look how tall the elephant ears are!

I really felt the impatiens looked like a river or flowing water, but it doesn't come across in the photo so much.

I love Nessie (or Asian equivalent) here in the path, which feels like a river.

Keep in mind, this is a home garden. (!!!)

I love the combination of arid and tropical sun lovers in this bed.

Colorful view when leaving the garden.

Lisa took us for a little tour around Vincennes, which is a quaint town. We even crossed a bridge into Illinois (and into the Central time zone!) and got a view of the George Rogers Clark Memorial (the largest Memorial Monument west of Washington, DC) in Vincennes from across the river.

She also treated us to blueberry tea and the best lemon cookies ever. Thanks for your hospitality and garden inspiration, Lisa!

Seven Things Meme

2009-09-04T09:31:00.010-04:00

Aunt Debbi invited her readers to participate in the Seven Things You Don't Know About Me meme, and I decided to play!

I didn't speak English when I started kindergarten.
I haven't owned tennis shoes in 20 years. I just don't like how they feel on my feet!
I am both a total rule follower and someone who often goes her own way.
I'd rather speak to 300 people than to six (one audience versus six individuals).
I am very independent, but I marvel and envy that people can find a compatible life partner.
I have no idea what my next job will be.
My culinary tastes are extremely broad, but I absolutely hate olives. All olives, even the one you swear is going to be different! 7.b. I'm a serious chocoholic, but my favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla (Stroh's) and my favorite shake/malt flavor strawberry.

Participate if the mood hits you. I'd be especially interested in hearing from Esther, Lisa of Greenbow, MrBrownThumb, Nutty Gnome, Randy, and Sweetbay. No pressure and you don't have to tag others.

Columbus Day-Trip, Part 2

2009-08-31T09:46:00.004-04:00

Chihuly at Franklin Park Conservatory

A feast for the eyes and joy for the heart, Chihuly makes my soul dance.
(And I'm not given to schmaltz and suchlike statements!)
I've always loved glass art and I've been a fan of Chihuly for many years now. I never get tired of the forms and could watch those fascinating videos of the pieces being made all day. My friend Amy and I enjoyed a recent visit to Franklin Park (FP) Conservatory in Columbus to view Chihuly Reimagined. I'd visited FP two years ago with my other friend Amy for another Chihuly exhibit, but this one used different pieces entirely and I was as enthralled now as I was then. You never know what's around the corner.

FP is a pretty cool place all the time, even without Chihuly artwork. I love subtle colors and wonderful textures of these small succulents. Noogie!

The plants are mostly indoors under glass, but there are also outdoor gardens.

With colorful blooms...

Nice vistas...

And of course a wonderful view at the conservatory itself.

There are also courtyards, one of which had my favorite Chihuly installation, Blue Reeds and Marlins.

I personally find this wonderful form more penguin than marlin, but what do I know?

And I'd call the non-reed pieces here herons if left to my own devices, but...

...by whatever name, I adored the interplay of color and form with the glass and logs. I walked around the installation a few times and saw something new with each step.

Alas, these blue forms inside the conservatory were indeed called blue herons and I find them just as impressive as their namesakes.

FP also has a wonderful butterfly garden...

...and it was easy, even for the non-steady-handed, to photograph many beauties.

I love the unfurled fern combined with the flower and butterfly. It proves there's always natural art in a garden!

The wonderful texture and shape of this palm trunk are nature's artwork.

As is this colorful tropical combination.

I always find tropicals fascinating; bright and with non-symmetrical shapes.

Speaking of which, this sunset tower manged to both stand out of and blend into its surroundings.

I love all its component forms and would love being on the team that travels around the world to install the pieces. Seriously.

The wall of Persians was astounding. I love the shapes and color and form...

...and the way each piece is different but similar...

...and how you see something new in every angle. These overlaps reminded me of Venn diagrams from waaaaay back in high school math class.

I love the curly-cue tops of these vibrant red pieces.

And check out how beautifully this chandelier matches the shapes of the yuccas and palms... it's almost like Chihuly grew up with a mother who gardened! (He did, actually.)

This Ikebana piece seems to be reaching toward the sunlight, wishing to be as tall as the surrounding palms (I know how it feels).

I love how these purple reeds fit in perfectly with the foliage, even though their shape and color are contrasting.

I love how he color of this torchier matches the goldfish and how its shape is reflected in ripples in the pond.

I loved these multicolor macchia bowls (also shown in the first photo) and found it a real shame that I could ~~conjure up no workable way to hide them in my purse and sneak them out of the garden~~ not enjoy these wonderful pieces in my own garden.

The most unexpected pieces were hidden in a dark section of the tropical room... you felt like you were walking through a dark cave and when you looked up, HELLO!, this wonderful back-lit display of garden glass. Stunning and breathtaking.

Having seen a similar installation at the Kalamazoo Art Institute some three years earlier, I should have been prepared, but I wasn't. I was just as awestruck as the first time. And there wasn't just one, there were two!

Believe it or not, there were a lot more Chihuly pieces than I'm showing here and (as it turns out while scouring the brochure for piece names) more pieces than we even saw, in parts of FP I didn't know existed!

I hope you enjoyed your little tour, and my AHS reciprocal membership (that gets me into member gardens for free) is really paying for itself this year! (If you have a membership at a garden, click the link to see the list of gardens where you can get in free.)

Columbus Day-Trip, Part 1

2009-08-29T10:25:00.005-04:00

The blogging machine is chugging right along! On August 17 my friend Amy (not to be confused with my other friend Amy) and I took a day trip to Columbus, Ohio. We swung by Franklin Park Conservatory (which I'll cover in the next post), plus the Columbus Topiary Park, the grounds at Ohio State University (OSU), an unexpected garden in Schiller Park, and the Whetstone Rose Garden.

I'll admit I'm not big into topiary for the same reason I'm not big into bonsai — I prefer plants in their natural form. However, the Columbus Topiary Park changed my mind! On the grounds of the old School for the Deaf, this public park covers seven acres near downtown.

The garden recreates Georges Seurat's painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grand Jatte. I've seen the painting a few times at the Art Institute of Chicago (waves to Chicago-area blogging friends!), and it's impressive! The colors are very vibrant and it's huge, about 7 by 10 feet (and took him two years to complete)!

"If an artist can paint a picture of a landscape — art mimicking nature — then why not a sculptor creating a landscape of a work of art — nature mimicking art?" — James T. Mason, sculptor and creator

Mason constructed the bronze frames and planted the shrubs, and his then-wife Elaine was the first topiarist. Today the park is maintained by Columbus Recreation and Parks and by the Friends of the Topiary Park.

There are topiary figures of 54 people, eight boats, three dogs, a monkey, and a cat. They are made of yew (some still has to fill in, as you can see).

The pond (which represents the river Seine) is very cool, figuratively and literally as this doggie demonstrates on the sweltering day we visited.

The sails of the boats will fill in with clematis.

Next we swung downtown to see the capitol building (which oddly has no dome; if I were a normal Ann Arborite, I'd now be making disparaging jokes about the intelligence of our southern neighbors, but I think it's fair to say I'm not normal!) and made a quick trip through German Village, which has very nice brick buildings and an overall quaint feel. I'd been there a few years ago on a home and garden tour.

I wanted to swing by Schiller Park as a way to start heading north on High Street, when, almost out of nowhere, this gorgeous garden pops up! (You can barely see Schiller's statue at the top center of the photo, or at least the white pedestal on which it stands. Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet and playwright working in the last 1700s, probably best known for his poem Ode to Joy, which became the basis for the fourth movement of Beethoven's ninth symphony, which you've heard even if you didn't know what it was!)

Even though it was very, very hot that day, lots of people were walking through this public park, and why not? it's truly a treasure for the city. It's maintained by the German Village Society.

I love the pink flowers of kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos gabrielae).

They had a lovely color of flowering maple, which I first learned about this spring over at Dirt Therapy.

Aren't the flowers gorgeous?

I also loved this interesting flower, statice (Lemonium dumosum). It has the bushy look of baby's breath, but the branches seemed stiffer and almost woody, somewhat reminiscent of heather. I'd heard of statice, but never seen it. (Many thanks to Bert Stevens for IDing this, the kanagroo paw, and a few others I didn't show in the post!)

In addition to the long flower bed and statue, Schiller Park also had really cool sayings engraved in stones on the walkway, in German and English.

And of course it had plenty of benches!

Next we headed to see the official gardens at Ohio State University. The Learning Gardens contained these amazing trial gardens, which were quite colorful and inviting. I thought they looked like a wonderful quilt laid out in front of the buildings.

There was also a small bamboo garden, tucked into a concrete corner that I would have missed altogether if it weren't for Amy's eagle eyes. I was amazed at this tiny bamboo, only a few inches tall. Normally they get well over 10 feet!

I really liked this planter; the colors matched the surroundings perfectly.

At Lane Avenue Gardens, there was a cool labyrinth, which doesn't look like much at first glance, but it takes quite a bit of time to walk from start to finish and I think it would be quite relaxing for stressed out students.

I admit I was a little disappointed with the Chadwick Arboretum, however, which I don't feel reflects the fact that OSU has a world-class horticulture program and it's the state's land grant college. The trees were not labeled, there was no clear path through the trees, and the turf was long. Its "prairie" was anything but. At first I thought I was trespassing on research grounds (the first time I was at the arb a few years back, I didn't think I was even in the right place), but it was indeed the public arboretum.

Heading north on High Street, we visited the Park of Roses in Whetstone Park. It's no secret I'm far from being a rose aficionado, but this garden impressed even me. There was even a separate garden of "earth-friendly" (low-maintenance, low-chemical care) roses, interspersed with interesting evergreens, which was a really cool planting style.

I loved this delicate pink hybrid tea rose, 'Audrey Hepburn' (even though Kate is still my favorite Hepburn!).

Even though yellow roses are the least hardy (thanks to local expert Nancy Lindley, I'm not a complete rose cretin!), I love the color of grandiflora rose 'Gold Medal.'

Check back Monday for more. Chihuly fans won't be disappointed!

Odds & Ends in Colorado

2009-08-26T08:48:00.000-04:00

Before moving on to more recent trips, I'm going to share the last of my photos from my trip to Colorado in (gulp) mid July. It's just like Mish-Mash Monday, only it's not Monday and it's Colorado, not Michigan!

First, photos from the whole reason of the trip: my niece's renewal of wedding vows on her fifth anniversary (they did not have a ceremony before as her husband was deployed to Iraq days after their marriage).

You'll recall I had my nails done for the first time at age 43. We all look silly because that's how we are, not because we were drinking! The rest of the mall had closed by the time we were done (hence the drawn shades in the background).Left to right that's me, my sister in law (niece's mom), my niece, and my niece's other aunt (well, she actually has five other aunts, but for the sake of this post, that one is Niece's Other Aunt or Noa — got it? She's also the one who dolled me up for the wedding.).

Niece's bridesmaids, Friend and Noa, did have to work hard tightening the bodice of Niece's dress, but this pose is exaggerated for effect (my idea, thankyouverymuch!).

Niece and her bridesmaids, Friend (who I think has no idea how drop-dead gorgeous she is!) and Noa. Check out their roses--they have petals of different colors!
Niece and Nephew clean up well.

They've always been cute!

And of course the couple at the ceremony. I love this photo which I stole from the photog's blog. It was lightning on the mountains (50 miles away) during the ceremony and there was a brief hail shower just as the ceremony ended, but the reception was in a covered location. I love weather!

After the ceremony, the photographer was taking a lot of candid photos. We were doing jazz hands at one point. I still don't have the official photos, but Noa was snapping photos along with the photog and even though all three of us (me, Niece, Niece's Hubby) look a little goofy, we were having fun. The photog wanted me to move in closer to Niece, only that meant she had to lift her dress and I had to step under it!

The next day we visited North Cheyenne Cañon Park in Colorado Springs.

Like the rest of the city, the park had amazing views of mountains, up close...

...and personal.

It also had Helen Hunt's Falls — can you make us out standing at the middle of the bridge?

Then, after trips to the Denver Botanical Garden and Pueblo, I drove back to Michigan with Niece and Niece's Hubby for a reception they were having here.

Niece's dogs, Koda (left) and Xerxes, are eager for the car ride. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! (They are, incidentally, very polite and loving doggies.)

Leaving Colorado Springs, I was sorry to bid the mountains farewell.

They even out by eastern Colorado...

...and disappear altogether in Kansas.

There were some cool windmills along I-70 in Kansas... and then it was on through Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, and then on home to Michigan and my own garden!

I'm back!

2009-08-24T11:45:00.000-04:00

I'm back from a road trip to MOBOT (including flying visits to Greenbow, Dragonfly Corner, & Prairie Rose). Normal blog commenting will resume shortly! I'm also working on posts about that trip plus a recent day trip to Columbus, Ohio. Happy Monday! :)

Denver Bot: It's Cool! It's Hot!

2009-08-17T02:58:00.000-04:00

More than a month after my actual trip to the Denver Botanic Gardens, I'm posting my photos. I have to hurry it along as I'll have lots of new photos by the end of next week, after garden trips to Columbus and St. Louis (and Vincennes, IN and Royal, IL!).

I loved Denver Bot as much on my second visit as I did on my first last year. It's right in the middle of the city so it isn't huge, but it consists of many individual gardens, all in different themes, such as:

...a water-smart garden,

...a Great Plains garden,

...a kitchen garden,

...a Japanese garden,

...and Yuccarama.

The individual garden areas are arranged so you don't see everything at once, but approach each area with delight in discovery. My niece came with me and it was interesting watching her reaction. Even though she has no interest in gardening, I think she found it fun. (She was especially tickled to see the veggies they grew, especially cabbages, as she'd never seen them anywhere but in the grocery store!)

Last year, the Gardens integrated artwork by local teens and young adults into the gardens. This year the theme was Jurassic Gardens and dinosaurs peeked out at you in various locations.

It was really difficult narrowing down what photos to show you, but hopefully the number makes up for the lack of descriptions. Feel free to comment if you have a question or need an ID.

I hope you enjoyed the pictorial essay. For more info on Denver Botanic Gardens, see the blog entries I did last year on Blogger and MLive.

Fun in the Fen

2009-08-12T14:44:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, I joined the neighboring Lenawee County Master Gardeners on a tour of Ives Road Fen Preserve led by Chuck Pearson of the Nature Conservancy. It was a rainy morning that turned into a rainy day. We met in downtown Tecumseh, where I was pleased to see several kinds of public plantings:

Flower boxes along two bridges...

...hanging baskets on lamp posts on the main street...

...and at least four corner beds at intersections. I love, love, love the elephant's ears!

We then carpooled to the fen, which is being maintained by the Nature Conservancy. According to the Michigan Natural Features Inventory, a prairie fen is a wetland community that occurs on moderately alkaline organic soil where cold, calcareous, groundwater-fed springs reach the surface. The flow rate and volume of groundwater through a fen strongly influence vegetation patterning; thus, the community typically contains multiple, distinct zones of vegetation, some of which contain prairie grasses and forbs. Apparently the rare Blachard's cricket frog also calls at Ives Rad Fen, but not at this time of year. All plants here are native to Michigan, except where noted.

Disclaimer: I'm still getting to know my new camera. I discovered that while I know how to override the flash and use the macro feature, I don't know how to get both to work together at the same time which meant a lot of photos were washed out or blurry. Plus, it was a bit difficult pulling my camera, notepad, and pen in and out of my rain poncho (jot, jostle, drip, smear) while watching where I was walking (slippery! uneven terrain!) and not holding up the people behind me.

There was quite a lot of tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima). It looks similar to Canada goldenrod (Solidago canadensis), but a lot of the stems had these galls...:

...and those often occur on tall goldenrod, making IDing easy. Thank you, Nature!

Narrow-leaved meadowsweet (Spiraea alba, a nice white plant for Layanee!)

In addition to the common orange jewelweed (or touch-me-not) (Impatiens capensis)...

...there was the more unusual yellow jewelweed.

Virginia stickseed or sticktight (Hackelia virginiana) is a cool plant that gets bur-like and sticks to your clothes when the seed head dries. Only one flower blooms at a time.

Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) looks lovely in a grouping (especially lovely mixes in with Joe-Pye weed, which like similar wet conditions)...

...or on its own. Boneset gets its name because native Americans used it to help set broken bones. You can see at the bottom of the photo that the leaves join to the stem, so it was thought the plant helped bones join.

Here's our friend Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium fistulosum). Noogie! I have some in my own garden.

Great or blue loebelia (Lobelia siphilitica) is quite striking.

Spreading dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium) has white flowers (past bloom) and distinctive red stems, which get redder as the season goes on.

I'd never heard of horse balm (Collinsonia canadensis) and it's at least 9 feet tall. I like the rain droplets on the seedpods (click for flower in bloom).

Slender mountain mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium) is also in the prairie at the Furstenberg nature area.

Tall bellflower (Campanula americana) is a stunning shade of blue.

Hedge nettle (Stachys palustris) is completely cute and harmless, while...

...stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is also cute but has hollow hairs on its stem and underneath its leaves, which can irritate the skin if brushed against.. It's not native.

Spotted water hemlock or cowbane (Cicuta maculata) — danger, danger Will Robinson! If swallowed, this plant is fatal or causes permanent neurological damage of the central nervous system.

Now, poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix, formerly Rhus vernix) won't kill you but its reaction on the skin is so severe it makes you wish you had poison ivy instead! It has green berries deep in the foliage, which turn white. The flowers/berries form on a red rachis. Also its stems are smooth whereas non-poisonous sumacs have fuzzy stems. Most notably, poison sumac grows in wetlands (such as swamps, bogs, and fens) and not in uplands.

Moving now from poisonous to unusual, dodder (Cuscuta sp.) is a parasitic flowering plant that has no chlorophyll so it attaches itself onto other plants and "leaches" off them.

Shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa or Pentaphylloides floribunda)

Virgin's bower (Clematis virginiana) with purplefringed orchis (Habenaria grandiflora), noogie noog!

Highbush cranberry (Viburnum trilobum), so sweet, as are all Viburnums, imho, with their flowers, fruit, and fall foliage color.

Wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia) is not only a cool yellow flower (waves to Tina!), but it gets its name from the leafy edges (or wings) down either side of the stem. It's easier to see them here.

And, finally, we circled back through yet-to-be-managed/cleared fields, rich in two non-natives, queen Anne's lace and a personal favorite, mullein (Verbascum thapsus, waves to Pete).

Despite wearing a rain poncho (thanks, Karen, for lending it to me!), I was completely soaked (both from falling rain and from brushing up against wet foliage, some taller than me) and completely happy at the end of the hour-and-a-half walk. I'm so excited to have seen a fen. I was expecting it to be more like a bog, where the ground is spongy (and acidic) and the foliage is mostly low. It was a great trip in a great place, that is being well cared for by the Nature Conservancy.

Mish-Mash Monday

2009-08-10T07:38:00.000-04:00

It's time for the Possum Lodge Word Game, yayyy! Oh, wait, no. That's not it. It's really time for Mish-Mash Monday!

Not Just for the Birds
I have not one, not two, not three, but four (four!) places inside where Fiona and James can drink, yet they are both obsessed with drinking from the birdbath. Sometimes, when the water is low in the birdbath, Fiona will sit in it to drink, but she hasn't let me snap a photo of that pose!

Wildlife Update
Remember my snapping turtle visitor? I haven't seen her since that last post, so she never did lay her eggs in my garden. The other day, however, Fiona and I found a new friend in the garden, this really cute teenage skunk! Noogie!

I held back, but of course Fiona ran right up to it. Oh bananas! They were almost touching noses while my mind was going 100 miles a minute doing Olympic-speed mental math ("Hmmm, I have about 10 ounces of tomato juice and Fiona weighs about 7 pounds... what's the formula for calculating surface area?!" — How's that for Monday Maths?!). Fortunately, the skunk seemed very secure in its surroundings and pleased to make Fiona's acquaintance. I did tip toe and grab her up before anything bad could happen, though.

Saturday night I saw an opossum on my deck (didn't get a photo as it was dark). I've only seen one once before in my backyard and man it was cute. I love the pale snout and tail and the cute brownish in-between! So honored that so many critters feel at home in my garden.

Cross-Dressing in Colorado
We're still waiting for the official, professional photographer's pictures from my niece's wedding. There should be a cool shot of her, her hubby, and me all dressed up and doing jazz hands (no, really). Until then, this will have to do. You can't see everything unusual about me in this photo, so I'll tell you: My hair is French-braided and I have ringlet curls (curls! I didn't even have those as a kid!). My fingernails were painted purple (yep, at age 43 I gave in to peer pressure and went with the other women to have my nails done for the first time in my life. I'm a gardener; I don't do nail polish!). I'm wearing a dress (a dress, people!) and 3-inch heels (I'm normally all about sensible shoes). And though it isn't obvious, I'm wearing the kinds of makeup I never do, thanks to my niece's other aunt's winning ways with product: eye shadow, lipstick, eyeliner, and blush! Good gravy, by the time I was all decked out, I felt so unnatural I muttered under my breath that I felt like I was cross-dressing! This served as great amusement for my brother-in-law the rest of the day, I believe.

In the Garden
My first tomato is blushing! Yes, 'Red Russian' is the first of the 11 heirloom varieties I planted this season to ripen. Any day now...

The rest of these photos were taken a few weeks ago.

My very lovely black cohosh in my small shady north bed is striking from a distance...

...as well as close up! It's about 6 ft. tall.

I love how black-eyed Susans' petals clasp the bud before they open.

This is my front bed, looking northwest to the driveway and street...

...up against the house...

... and looking due south.

The three rose of Sharons along my driveway are doing well. I got them 5 years ago from a fellow master gardener and they looked like twigs. Now they're about 5.5 feet tall. They take all kinds of abuse and keep on blooming!

Happy Mish-Mash Monday, everyone!

Five Hours in Pueblo

2009-08-06T08:04:00.000-04:00

Maybe you've been wondering about my Colorado trip report, and that makes two of us! The mood has finally struck, so sit back and relax while I fill you in on one part of the trip.

My niece is a nursing student in Pueblo, about an hour south of her home in Colorado Springs. She has an anatomy and physiology class and lab that lasts five hours, which she couldn't miss, so I rode down with her and borrowed her car while she was in class.

The first thing I did was check out downtown Pueblo, which has quite a few historic buildings, including the lovely train station shown above. The interior of the train station now houses a few small businesses, a restaurant, and meeting rooms, but some of the original train station effects remain in place like the ticket window, benches, suitcases, etc. There were also old photos and ads on the walls, including this one, which fascinated me:

Presumably, the weed killing agent was tobacco smoke?! I know from other research that cigarette smoke misters were popular for killing houseplant insects in the mid-late 1800s, so, why not a train?!

I also walked along the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo, a 1.3-mile paved walk along storefronts, some garden beds, the river, and Lake Elizabeth. (Note the cute squiggly bench. Ever since Phoenix C started posting photos of benches, I notice them everywhere!) Now, I can walk 1.3 miles no problem, no questions asked, any day of the week. But it was hot as a kitten wearing mittens in July in Pueblo, and I was wilting! Colorado has very low humidity and while it reached the low 90s each day in The Springs, it felt comfortable and much much cooler than humid Michigan feels in the same temps. But it was over 100 in Pueblo and that's just too hot no matter how you slice it.

These lovely Yucca flowers along the walk were cool, though.

This photo is a bit washed out because part was in shade and part was in bright sun, but the bench is for Phoenix C and the public planting is for VP!

A cool window display. Why, yes, I do speak chocolate; in fact, I'm multilingual!

I noticed this grouping of hollyhocks growing out of cracks in cement in an alleyway, which I thought was really cool. I didn't realize hollyhocks were so xeric. Some seeds may also have fallen into my purse, la la la la.

Next, I drove around a bit trying to locate a nursery for which I'd seen a billboard from the highway one stop before we exited. My sense of direction is pretty good, but I didn't realize I had to go through a park, which was blocked off with barricades, to reach the nursery until a little later when I entered said park from another street and kept driving until I saw a greenhouse. Presto! There was Star Nursery, a wonderfully retro little storefront and some nice plants, especially shrubs. It was an eclectic place that also had Colorado's oldest pueblo structure as a mini museum on site, as well as some fun sculptures among the plants. I had a nice chat with a woman who worked there and ended up buying a cherry skullcap (Scutellaria suffrutescens), a tiny and cute sub-shrub reaching only 6" tall.Noogie!

While cruising downtown and wondering what to do next, I noticed friendly words on an otherwise nondescript multi-story building: University of Colorado Cooperative Extension. Well, hello! That's the parent organization to the master gardener program. So I parked across the street and headed up to the second floor. I explained I was a master gardener from Michigan (why oh why didn't I bring my dorky name tag that I secretly covet?) interested in Colorado native plants. I was sent back to the master gardener area. It's interesting how similar those offices looked to my local master gardener offices!

I don't know if the man who greeted me was the MG coordinator or simply a volunteer. He was perfectly friendly and handed me a few general brochures about the MG program and gardening overall, but said he didn't have anything specific to natives. Now, I answer the master gardener helpline in my own county so I know that beyond the glossy brochures kept up front at the counter where the public enters, there's also a mother lode filing cabinet back in the offices that holds all kinds of less glossy but still useful brochures, bulletins, and fact sheets on any number of gardening topics that can be given out upon request.

As I was mulling over how to broach this topic, a lady comes running down the hall, saying enthusiastically "Did I hear you ask for native plant info?" I explain my situation again and she's all excited. She walks me to said filing cabinet (I told you!) and starts pulling out all kinds of great info, all the while chit chatting about how wonderful natives are. Score! She also told me their extension started a native plant certification program, the Native Plant Master (what a cool name!), separate from the MG certification, which is the first such program in the country!

She asked if I had been to the Denver Botanic Garden or the xeriscape demonstration garden in The Springs, and I was glad to be able to answer yes to both. She then told me they had their own xeriscape demonstration garden in Pueblo, maintained by master gardener volunteers, and gave me directions on getting there.

It took me a little longer than anticipated to reach the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District Demonstration Xeriscape Garden because I unknowingly took the I-50 business route instead of the regular I-50/I-96 route, which took me, as they say in German, mit der Kirche ums Kreuz (that's way the heck out of the way in English)! When I arrived, several master gardeners were braving the heat doing some planting. I didn't have too much time now until I needed to leave to pick up my niece, so I unfortunately ran around the garden in a hurry.

This cool shrub, past bloom, is Amorpha nana. I like how its foliage looks kind of like yarrow. The plant list gives its common name as dwarf lead plant, but according to Google it's also called dwarf false indigo, though the foliage looks nothing like Baptisia to me. (See in bloom here.)

Crikey, that's one tall Yucca (erm, or possibly Agave or Hesperaloe or...)! I just love the spikey, wispy foliage, whatever it is.

This cool palm-looking plant is a mimosa or silk tree (Albizia julibrissin), which I've only ever heard of (never seen). It's a small tree that gets exotic pink blooms earlier in the season (see them here). (Thanks to Liz Catt for the ID.)

Again, hollyhocks like it drier than I'd thought.

The colors were subtle but beautiful.

I just loved this Parry's agave (Agave parryi) and the fact that its common and Latin names are so intuitive!

I would have been back to my niece's campus exactly on time had I not been caught behind this thing (Objectus mysterious 'Mobili,' marked with orange arrow). It doesn't look like much photographed from behind, but I got to see the whole thing when I finally found a road I recognized to turn off on. It was long and looked kind of like the front of a high-speed/bullet train, but it decidedly wasn't in fact a train. I still don't know what it was, and I only arrived a few minutes late. Except my niece's class had gotten out 15 minutes early. Ah, well, the joys of discovery sometimes take us a bit off course, doncha know!

If you're interested in xeric plants, here's a list I put together some time ago of plants that don't need a lot of watering.

Native Plant Walk

2009-08-03T09:59:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, my friend Aunita treated me and my friend Pete to a little tour of Ann Arbor's Furstenberg Nature Area. Aunita has been the steward of a native plant demonstration garden there for many years, which is in fact how I met her some 6 years ago! (I met Pete back in college some 26 years ago, but I'm not admitting that or it would make us seem old.)

Furstenberg spans 37 acres, runs along the Huron River, and has fairly varied plant communities including wetland, woodland, prairie, and oak savannah. All of the plants I'm going to show are native to Michigan, so let's get started.

I just love buds! Here are really cute, dainty buds of gayfeather (Liatris aspera) and...

...big burly buds of prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum; say that three times fast!) — it has huge basal leaves and the yellow flowers grow at the tip of branches well over six feet tall. Yet, I'd never seen its buds. I love this photo, with grey-headed coneflower in the background. Click to see prairie dock in bloom.

...and the multiple, elegant rows of buds on Canada goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)...

...and the spherical pale green buds of stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida)...

... which are closer to blooming on another plant in another location...

Leaving buds now but sticking with goldenrods, the aptly-named early goldenrod (Solidago juncea) is actually in bloom! The stem of early goldenrod feels a bit waxy whereas the stem and leaves of Canada goldenrod feel a bit more fuzzy.

I liked how this milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) had both blooms and seed pods on one plant — it had grown a second stem in response to being grazed by deer.

Isn't this flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollata) really cute? Noogie!

I'm showing this past-bloom beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis) as it's the native parent plant of the cultivar 'Husker red.'

This cutie is false foxglove (Aureolaria spp., possibly grandiflora but I'm not certain). This plant is parasitic on oak roots and is an indicator plant of a high-quality oak-savannah ecosystem. After the city did multiple controlled burns to get rid of invasive buckthorn and honeysuckle in this area, the native seeds buried in the soil (including those of this false foxglove) finally got enough light to bloom again.

This isn't the best photo of field thistle (Cirsium discolor), but it shows two important IDing characteristics for native thistle: the undersides of the leaves are pale gray and the leaves aren't as bristly as other thistles so it's actually possible to touch it without being pricked!

This pointed-leaf tick trefoil (Desmodium glutinosum) grows in woody areas. it was near a bench along the river.

This prairie tick trefoil (Desmodium canadense) lives in (you guessed it) drier prairie conditions.

I'm pretty sure this is Stachys palustris, but I wouldn't stake my life on it.

Ooh, my hand is starting to feel like a celebrity, appearing so often in this post. This is swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor), which as its name suggests prefers wetter areas. The leaves are quite leathery and pale underneath.

I love the prairie grasses like this switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)...

...Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans), which is in bloom now (look at the cute yellow stamens!)...

...and of course big blue stem (Andropogon gerardii). The grass leans more toward red this time of year, but the foliage is blueish green as it first emerges.

Big blue stem is also sometimes called turkey's foot because the seed heads sort of resemble that shape.

Well, I hope you enjoyed our little walk. Let's sit now and have some lemonade!

Meet Me in St. Louis!

2009-07-24T10:01:00.000-04:00

Clang, clang, clang went the trolley

Ding, ding, ding went the bell
Zing, zing, zing went my heartstrings
As we started for botanical thrill...

YAY! My friend Carole and I will be visiting MOBOT (Missouri Botanical Garden) on Friday, August 21. I've already contacted a few folks along our route — Beckie, Rose, and Lisa — about stopping by their gardens. But if you live near MOBOT or want to plan a little road trip of your own, we'd love to meet you there.

We'd also appreciate lodging (simple, safe) and restaurant (open to everything) tips from locals. And if you've visited MOBOT, let me know your favorite spots.

And, most pressingly, what's the freakin' difference between botanic and botanical in garden names?! Word geeks want to know!

Have a good weekend!

Canton Garden Walk

2009-07-20T02:59:00.000-04:00

You're probably expecting my Colorado trip report, and fair enough. But I'd already sized and downloaded photos of the garden walk before leaving for CO so we're going to catch up.

On June 27, Carole, Amy and I attended the Canton Garden Walk, a tour of five home gardens. The nice people of the Canton Garden Club sent me a free ticket based on my speaking to their club on winter sowing in February. I loved the gardens and the many whimsical garden ornaments.

Little gnome, big chair.

Never needs watering.

Dear sea holly, I love you. Why won't you grow for me? Signed, Frustrated Admirer

I loved this huge patch of prickly pear cactus.

Noogie!

Check it, the foliage matches the house colors. Awesome!

One of the things I discovered when researching gardens of the mid to late 1800s (for a fountain garden project at a historic farm house) was that they didn't actually fill urns with flowers, but I like this combo anyway.

I loved this old farm equipment. There were several pieces on this huge property.

A great idea for my tree stump.

Adore this birdhouse!

I'm now on the lookout for old bird cages...

This wonderful shade garden was very calm and peaceful, subdued and serene...

...and right across a narrow strip of lawn from this colorful and vibrant sunny garden. Really amazing contrast, and so close to one another.

Was very amused by this popcorn plant (Senna didymobotrya, zones 10-11, so annual or houseplant for most of us—thanks for asking, Lisa!), whose flowers I found oddly attractive and whose leaves, when rubbed, smell exactly like buttered popcorn! No, really. They do.

It was a fun day!

I'm back!

2009-07-17T09:01:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry I haven't been posting or commenting on your blogs for the past two weeks. I spent a week in Colorado and a week earlier getting my garden ready to be left alone for a week! I attended my niece's wedding vow renewal on her fifth anniversary in the beautiful setting of the Garden of the Gods. (Her husband is in the military and they did not have a ceremony the first time as he was being deployed to Iraq.)

In unrelated news, a new Dairy Queen opened near her home.

Details of the other places we visited, including Denver Botanic Gardens, a xeriscape demonstration garden in Pueblo, and North Cheyenne Cañon Park to follow some time after I catch up on the two 22-hour drives, with commenting resuming sooner!

Happy Birthday, Bizi!

2009-07-04T08:04:00.000-04:00

Fiona is 8 or 9 years old today! And to embarrass both of us, and to be fair to James' earlier outing, I'll share all of her nicknames. I should note I don't sit around trying to think these up; they just come to me. Much like Fiona did!

I first met her on July 4, 2002, and since she's pretty independent, it makes as good a birthday as any. I met her as a stray abandoned pet, and she quickly adjusted to the rhythms of her new home. The vet says her coloring is dilute tortoiseshell and that she was 1 or 2 years old when she found me.

Her full name is Fiona* Prudence**, and I most frequently call her Fiona, Bizi (pronounced "Bee-zee"), or Bi ("Bee"), but she's also Bizi Bi, Bizilini, Bizilini Beanie, Bizi Boo, Boo, Boo Boo, Bizi Nell, Bizi Nelli, Bizi Nelli Boom Boom Nelli, Brownie, Brown, Browners, Fi, Fizi, Pecan Pie, Tiger Bites, Sugar Bites, Sugar Beets, Girl, Ba'y Girl, Girly Meow, and Girly Mau.

Please join us in some birthday tuna and fireworks to celebrate!

*Incidentally not named after the Shrek character; I didn't see the movie until after I named her and I've always just liked the name.
**Not named after the Beetles song, but just because she is. (Prudent.)

Out on the Streets: June 2009

2009-06-29T08:34:00.000-04:00

Today (while there's still June left!) I'm participating in VP's Out in the Streets: June 2009, a project to showcase public plantings in your local area (in my case, Ann Arbor, Michigan).

The first photo shows the plants in a median on Homestead Commons Drive, a cul-de-sac (that's French for dead-end) that leads to the Mallett's Creek library branch and Homestead Commons apartments. This is a mile wst from me, and I regularly visit the library on foot, by bike, or by car. The library has a rain water garden surrounding the parking lot as well as a green roof, but this median planting is maintained by the apartment complex. Notice all the water-smart plants! The photo immediately above shows the length of the median.

My friend Peter lives a mile east down the street from me on Pittsfield Blvd., and there is a small traffic circle on that street. It is planted and maintained with all kinds of annuals and perennials by the condo association. In fact, there are lots of little flower plantings on corners and throughout the complex.

The traffic circle includes many of the usual suspects, but also yucca and helenium, two of my favorites! (It was very very bright and very, very windy when I took this photo.)

Speaking of bright and windy, this is a planting along a road at Detroit Metro Airport (in Romulus, 25 miles east of Ann Arbor). You can't stop there to take the photo and despite doing two roundtrips to reach this spot, this is the best photo I got. You'll just have to trust me when I say it looks nice in person, possibly because the rest of the airport is largely concrete and unplanted.

I'm working on other posts on a garden walk in Canton and a trip to Greenfield Village... Happy Monday!

Willy-Nilly Wednesday

2009-06-24T13:19:00.000-04:00

Another mish-mash post!

Jimi
James has been under the weather, but is getting better. I think it was something he ate. I was up every hour or so with him the other night, but he did the same for me a few years back.

In the Garden
I know I've been going on a bit about it having been a cool, cloudy spring (check out the cool mushrooms on my tree stump, for example!). But now summer is here and it's hot (high of 90) and very very humid. This makes it hard for me to work in the garden, though I have a lot of clover to pull.

I just love gaillardia and I love my camera's macro feature.

Things are looking pretty colorful here at the moment, and that's the way I like it.

The tiger lilies are just starting to bloom...

...as is lavender...

...and creeping thyme. I'll take a wide shot once the whole carpet is in bloom.

I liked how ox-eye daisies inserted themselves in between the evening primrose.

The veggie garden is making overall slow progress, except for the zucchini which has two flowers!

I was amused to find both fuchsia and white blooms on one plant of rose campion. They must hybridize!

The sweet William catchfly (Silene armeria) are the runaway winter-sown plant winner in that they are all blooming their hearts out. I love this annual and it looks really nice near the bright yellow of my yellow chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria) (a perennial winter-sown in 2007 now really coming into its own).

I just love love-in-a-mist, both the flowers and the seed pods. Marnie asked how I plant them, and I literally just sprinkle the seeds on top of the mulch and they do the rest. This grouping sowed itself, even.

Last year I was so excited when my yucca bloomed for the first time since I planted it three (or four?) years before. I know some plants don't like being transplanted and/or take a long time to bloom for the first time. Gardeners are patient. But I assumed it would rebloom every year after that, but it turns out, no. Yucca only bloom from new rosettes every three years or so. I have two plants but they're both on the same cycle, so I won't see blooms again for a while. Bananas!

Wildlife Update
I almost cried when I saw dozens of echinacea buds all over my garden today. Seriously. Over the past two years, the groundhog ate them off so they never bloomed. This year (knock wood) I haven't seen the groundhog much, and I'm really hoping the echinacea will all bloom (knock wood). I did see a young groundhog the other day, about the size of a fox squirrel, and dagnabbit if it wasn't just so cuuuute! I know if I see a baby, an adult is nearby but I think (knock wood) they're living down the street a bit, instead of in my yard. The two-layer (wire mesh and plastic lattice) fencing my handyman put all around my deck and porches earlier this spring seems to be working (knock wood). I've never minded sharing my garden with wildlife, and in the beginning the groundhog and I had the agreement that s/he could eat a little of everything but not all of anything. And that worked fine until s/he discovered echinacea, which s/he really, really liked.

I haven't seen the turtle since my last post. I'm guessing she laid her eggs in the nature area bordering my house. However, I have seen a deer in my garden a few times since. In the middle of the day, which is odd because deer are crepuscular.

Parkathon Progress
You may recall I decided to visit all of Ann Arbor's ~160 parks this year. I'd done about 50 and then got off course. The other night I visited Lakewood Nature Area as part of a tour. It was a nice forest without the shrubby undergrowth most forests have. You can see a bunch of jewel weed (native) on the ground. These are also called touch-me-nots; not because they're poisonous, because they're not, but because their seeds explode and shoot all the heck over the place. (Which of course makes me want to touch them, but, whatever. No one ever asks me when naming things!) They bloom in orange a bit later in the season.

Unfortunately, my camera was acting up and the rest of the photos from that day look like this. I really need to buy a new camera!

I learned that the burrs of the burdock plant were the inspiration for Velcro and that swallowtail larvae eat only the leaves of prickly ash (Xanthoxylum americanum), and I heard the song of a red-eyed vireo.

Mish-Mash Monday

2009-06-15T05:07:00.000-04:00

Today's topics include: a new wildlife visitor, visiting others' gardens, and visiting new blooms in my own garden. And... we're off!

Snappy Visitor
Imagine my surprise the other day when I saw this large (shell over a foot long) common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) sunning itself in a narrow strip of sunshine in my backyard.

Now, some people freak out at garden snakes, and I don't. I think they're cute. But there's something about this turtle that freaked me out in that kind of a way. I dunno why. Maybe because it walks almost upright on much longer legs than I imagined a turtle to have--it didn't crawl (as one might guess from the photo of it lying down), it really walked on upright legs with the shell kind of swaying back and forth, and at a pretty good clip, too. (The association of slow with turtles wasn't based on this species, I can tell you!)

I like how the tail looks prehistoric and kind of Stegosaurus-like. You can tell two things from this photo: 1) My back "lawn" has a lot of clover in it, and 2) I had no idea this was a snapping turtle when I took the photos or I wouldn't have gotten this close to it!

Update, 8:54 a.m.: I found her again this morning digging in my front veggie bed--those are baby leek she's taken out (behind her) and horseradish in front of her, and a tiny tomato still standing to the left of the green stake (whew, so far). She's probably looking for a place to lay her eggs (if snapping turtles are anything like painted turtles, which I know more about), but my garden bed, especially with it being right near my driveway and not too far from the street, is not a good place. My backyard, bordered by trees and a creek, would be a way, way better location (my personal interest in tomatoes not withstanding). There's a particularly nice area near my beauty berry bush. I went out and presented this argument to her, fairly convincingly I thought, but 10 minutes later and she's still there. Update #2, 9:40 a.m.: I found out snappers lay up to 30 golf ball-sized eggs (eep! larger than I expected) and the process can take 24 hours. But, the large, loud trash truck (complete with the high-pitched beep-beep-beep backing sound as I'm on the end of a dead-end street) scared her off quickly, before she laid any eggs. It's nice to know that a middle-aged woman wearing a robe, with crazy hair and eloquent arguments, is not as scary as a trash truck! Update #3, 6/16, next morning, 7:30 a.m.: Now she's sitting underneath my car! Update #4, 7:49 a.m.: Now she's sitting on my front walkway. I confirmed shell measurement at just over 1', provided tips on suitable places in flower beds for egg laying, and repeated rant on unsuitability of veggie beds. She didn't look like she was taking any of it in, but I'm sure my neighbors think I'm nuts by now! Update #5, 8:40 a.m.: She looked like she'd settled on a space along my walkway--hooray! But minutes later I saw her heading back to my front veggie bed. Now, I'm honored she likes my garden and I think it's cool if she wants to lay her eggs here. But my tomato seedlings are my eggs, as it were, and I'm protecting them. Remember that double-wire fencing I put up last year to dissuade the groundhog (who is keeping an oddly low profile this year; perhaps he made a shared land rights deal with this turtle?)? Well, I put it back up around the front veggie bed. It was hard because the two layers were still attached and it was hard to bend it into shape, especially with a snapper sitting inches away at times... but I think it will work. She's now under a large section of Japanese anemone, and that would be an ideal nest--out of the way from predators and affording her some privacy. But what do I know? I'm only human.

Ann Arbor Garden Walk
On Saturday, Carole, Amy, and I attended the 19th annual Ann Arbor Garden Walk. Of the seven gardens on the tour, five were home gardens and two were community gardens. Most of the home gardens this year were very large and very impressive:

I love the use of the blue and white salvia near this tremendous stone, plus there's an iron bench hiding between them and the huge decorative pot in the background.

I admit I'm not automatically wild about all weeping forms of trees, but this larch did speak to me. (What it was in fact saying was "Pssst! You there! Take me home!" but I pretended not to hear this.)

I loved these stepping stones (which were sending off similar messages)...

...and this tri-color beech. Noogie!

All the photos so far were of one garden. I told you they were huge! Here now are more shots from other gardens:

One garden had this amazing small tree--maybe 6 feet tall and maybe 4 feet wide. It had pure white, drooping buds, that looked like eggs.

The flowers were pale rust/peach and also drooping...

...with a really cool pistil and stamens.

No one knew what this tree was, though some suggested magnolia. I'm not aware of a magnolia with drooping flowers, but I'm sure one of you will surely let me know if you recognize it.

Yep, those gardens sure were impressive and grand, but the chance of me ever having anything even close to that expansive in my lifetime is illustrated by the little figurine to the bottom right of this photo.

In case you couldn't see it, here it is!

My favorite garden wasn't as expansive and doesn't look as panoramic in photos. But it was a joy to be in, with colors all around and no lawn whatsoever, not in the front or back yards!

See?

The homeowner is a painter and glass artist. You can see her work all around the garden.

The glass is used in the walls and pathway of this fairy house, and in the tiny blue Chihulyesque sculptures that pop up in the fairy garden.

My favorite glass work was this multi-colored bowl/flower that fits in so well with these gorgeous coral bells. Noogie! Noog! Noog!

The homeowner's son makes metal sculptures, both free-flowing like this cool zig-zag column...

...and this swirly whirly thingamado (and check out the mirrors that add depth on the fence! Clever!)...

...and in animal form like this cool dragonfly...

...and these neat ostriches. I love how the plants color-coordinate so well with the artwork!

I had the chance to compliment the homeowner, a gracious and vivacious lady in her 70s who clearly got great joy from her garden and her art.

The non-home gardens included the Tappan Middle School Agrarian Adventure Garden:

...and the Growing Hope Gardens:

The hoophouses at both locations were built from the proceeds of previous garden walks. Project Grow sells its produce at a farmer's market on Tuesday afternoons in the parking lot of Key Bank (SE corner of Hamilton and Michigan Ave. in downtown Ypsilanti).

More Garden Faerie Blooms
We've had quite an overcast spring, but things are growing and blooming, by and by. A few things blooming or just starting to bloom since my last post include:

Edelweiss and...

Thyme.

Also, I discovered the other day that Jimi likes eating my native grass, little bluestem. So that explains why it never gets as tall as I've seen it elsewhere!

Penstemon 'Husker red' (and Jupiter's beard) is fully blooming now too!

...And a fuchsia/lilac shade of perennial Centaurea has its own special visitor.