The Newsletter for Lazy Gardeners

I’ve been doing a lot of traveling in the past few months – Toronto, Philadelphia, Washington, Long Island and points in between attending flower shows and garden centres. Now, I’ll be visiting the nursery every week to drool over the new plants. But, being off the road is allowing me to develop the web site a bit.

I’ve been putting new pictures up on the water garden site at www.water-gardens-information.com Every page now has at least one picture of a water garden of some kind or other (the one on the algae page is no inspiration however). I’m also working on making sure the perennials page has some good pics on each page. I’ve just finished building a question-asking form on the perennials site so it will be easy to ask questions if you’re at the site. I hope to have it active in the next week.

There’s a brand new site under development that will be a general gardening site to cover lawns to houseplants and I’ll let you know when that one goes active.

The perennials site has some new pictures of individual plants and some general garden shots. There’s too many of them to list individually and this is an ongoing task as I get my computer working again and the slide scanner is functional.

Interesting Link This Issue

One of the most interesting things I've discovered moving to the city is that squirrels are everywhere (including my garage with the stored "stuff" but we won't discuss that now). If you're trying to feed birds, you want a Yankee Flipper. This bird feeder has an adjustable spring loaded perch that the birds don't trip but when a squirrel puts his weight on it, the perch starts to rotate very fast. In trials, I couldn't stop the rotating perch with my hand, it was that powerful. And the video with squirrels flying off is just too funny for words. Check them out by clicking here and entering the words "Yankee Flipper" in the site's search engine. There *will* be one in my garden this summer. I don't necessarily want to feed the birds, I just want to watch the squirrels fly.

We Get Questions

I'm glad to answer questions for readers. If you have a question, it helps if you ask them in this way:
1) Hit return on your email browser to get the right email address.
2) Please **delete** all the newsletter text so I don't get it all back and have to hunt through it for your text.
3) Give me your location. The answer to a question often is determined by where the garden is located.
4) Have patience. I'll answer as many as I can in the newsletter but there's way more of you than there is of me and I simply can't get to them all. I'll do my best

I was looking online for some specific information and a Google search sent me to your site. I must admit that even though I could not find exactly what I needed (I probably didn't look hard enough), the whole site and all the work that you put in it are wonderful. Let me congratulate you, because browsing through instructions on how to grow parceley (which I am trying to grow on my balcony myself), I almost forgot what information I was looking at in the first place.

The net is full of people who want to sell flowers, but I don't need these. I have a special event going on this summer (my wedding) and my fiance and I decided we wanted to make daisies the theme of our wedding. The hard thing is that we want to grow them ourselves and I cannot find any clear instructions on how to do this.

I am thinking that we should start growing them now, so that (if we are lucky) they will be beautiful by the end of July. I want to ask for your help in this matter... if you had time to write a news letter about growing daisies, that would be a wonderful wedding gift. I am sure other people would appreciate practical advice on growing these pretty flowers, since they don't grow just like that (I tried to grow them last year, without success).

I think we are looking for Chrysantemum frutescens (the one with white petals and yellow middle). Getting plants from the store and then trying to grow them has never worked for me, but I will go for it. This means I will probably ask some more questions here and there. Mara

A: Mara and I had a short conversation about growing daisies for her upcoming wedding. While I know we’ll all want to wish her well, I do have to caution those wanting to grow their own wedding bouquets that there’s more to the wedding flowers than meets the eye. There are basic questions of timing and weather related growing problems. And, do not ask the bride to do such things as weeding and deadheading – she’s going to be quite busy doing other things. (grin)

In this case, this Chrysanthemum is readily available at garden centres every spring and comes reliably from cuttings. It is a tender annual (zone 9 hardiness) so doesn’t tolerate any frost. It grows best in a really hot summer in a great soil. Cool, damp summers (like last year) wreck havoc on this plant. Add lots of compost to the deeply dug and turned over soil, keep adequately watered (at least an inch and a half a week) and grow in the full, hot sun.

Bottom line – unless you are willing to take whatever the garden gives you, plan on buying your flowers.

* * * * * *

Dear Doug, I live in Zone 5, Pennsylvania. I was wondering if there is any nasturtiums native to PA? I would like to plant them but I know they can reseed easily. I would like to only have native plants (not the case now).

Thank you, Dana

A: Dana – nasturtiums are native to Europe and SW Asia. They have been “introduced” to North America (which means they self sow and have escaped into the wild). But sorry – there are no native nasturtiums.

* * * * * * Hello I enjoy getting your newsletters very much and look forward to the next one. I live near Edmonton, Alberta. We love cabbage from the garden, but the war against the caterpillars defeats us. We only use organic methods and wonder what info we can get on the above? (Bacillus thuringiensis) And what are the product names. Does it work? Thank you, Maxine

A: BT is indeed effective at controlling caterpillars. I used it for years in the vegetable patch when the patch was far too large for hand picking (four kids will do that to you). It is a bacteria that paralyzes the stomach of the caterpillar and while they don’t die immediately, they do stop eating right away and then die later. So, do not expect them to curl up and die if you directly spray them – they have to eat the product and then crawl away to die. You can find more information and product right hereXXXXXXX

* * * * * * * * Doug, I am having trouble with my azaleas. This past summer, all three bushes developed brown spots and one even got a white fuzz on all the leaves. By the end of fall, every leaf had dropped on each shrub. I took leaf samples in to the greenhouse that I bought the azaleas from and they said it was mold and that the shrubs would come back this year. What can I do to prevent this from happening this spring/summer? I live in Toledo, Ohio which isn't really a damp climate although we did get more rain than usual last year. Also, is there anything I can give my holly bushes to get them to fill out quicker? Thanks, Lauren

A: I’m assuming several things. That the azaleas are growing on acidic soils or you have balanced the soil to make it acidic with sulfur and peat moss. If this is the case, then compost is the best thing you can feed any plant. (if not, then you had better make your soil acidic or no amount of feed is going to do any good).

The mould is pretty simple stuff actually. It is likely botrytis. It comes from damp growing conditions and last year was certainly one of those. A weekly spray of lime sulphur will likely stop the problem in its tracks. This is an organic type of solution that will retard the problem but will not eliminate it if the weather repeats itself. Spraying compost tea on alternate weeks will also help reduce/eliminate the problem. In the case that the mold is not botrytis but a leaf spot fungus, then the solution is exactly the same. There’s no need for any heavy duty chemicals here; just a common sense approach to solving a problem caused by the weather.

* * * * * * * *

question: So many plant names end in "wort"--do you know what it means and the history behind its use? Merry

A: Hi Merry – (long time reader alert - grin) “wort” is the Anglo-Saxon word for “plant.” So, when plants such as Tradescantia were given common names – they got spider (the flowers resemble a spider) wort - - or spiderplant. Generally, any plant with “wort” is a plant under cultivation for a long time.

* * * * * *

Hey, Jo again from AR.

Agree about your tip on amaryllis. I have discovered that here, it is easy as pie to raise and multiply these. Of course, I use them as summer flowering outdoor plants (when not much else is going on). As soon as the first frost is about to hit (sometimes, even after if not a harsh one) I dig them up from their bed, separating any new bulbs from their mommie. I shake off as much dirt as possible, cut off any green left on them and throw them in a cardboard box closing the lid. I store them in the garage over the winter and when I know it is not going to frost again I set them back out. They multiply and produce very well this way. I discovered this quite by accident. I planted them outside one year after their initial winter blooming so they would get lots of light and grow. At the end of summer, dug them and threw them in a box. I was going to try and put them back in pots in the house for a new Christmas show. Forgot about the box. When I opened it (or it opened itself due to the blooms trying to get out) I thought OH NO! it's almost summer! I Set them out and have kept the pattern ever since. Started with 5 amaryllis and now have close to 30 bulbs. They add to the season of bulbs, and people freak out when they see the outdoor display! Thanks, and happy gardening

In case you wanted to see how I set up my book on designing and planting a perennial garden to bloom all summmer, I put together a webpage that describes the contents of the book.

I’m sitting in my hotel room in downtown Philadelphia digesting two things. The first is a culinary delight known as a Philly Cheesesteak. A sub bun is filled with chopped steak and onions and topped with melted cheese, then consumed while trying to avoid the dripping cheese and grease. There’s enough cholesterol and carbohydrates in this delight to feed a small country. And I had two today because when I come to this city I just have to indulge myself. The second thing I indulged myself in today was a great, long visit to the best flower show on the east coast – the Philadelphia Flower Show. This show is a wonderful way to see this year’s gardening trends as demonstrated in the ten indoor acres of gardens and cut flowers displays. And what are those trends?

This year’s trends seem to be a continuation and exaggeration of previous years gardening themes. We have exuberance in garden design. There are no timid gardens in the show this year; there is instead a massive bounty of flowers in all the gardens. You do not find small rows of single plants; each garden contains many plants in huge clumps. So, in our own gardens excessive planting of showy annuals is the rule rather than the exception this year. Where you would normally plant a flat, plant a flat and a half. Where you would normally plant one or two varieties, plant three of four. More is better this year.

The look this year continues to be tropical. Use those tropical plants from indoors and indeed buy large tropical plants from mass merchants to use in outdoor gardens. Again, the bigger the plant, the better the garden effect. Feel free to use coloured tropical plants as you would coloured annual flowers. I note that banana trees grow quite quickly and make excellent large foliage plants in a single season. Not only is the look tropical but also think of it as a theatre stage set. Gardens are now fully extensions of the house and the most successful of them resemble theatre sets more than they resemble flower gardens. We’re talking foliage plants and tables complete with china vases and candles. We’re talking the use of fabrics and objects of artistic whimsy in the garden as well. Combining the theatre set along with large plants creates a garden set where quiet nights can be enjoyed and entertaining is part of the weekend’s planning.

Bold is better as well. There is no place in the modern garden setting for timid planting. Use colour boldly. Forget the pastels, forget the gentle blues and pinks of a few years ago, go boldly into the garden center and bring home the reds, the bright blues, and the yellows and combine them in bold combinations that excite the eye and mind. In the gardens in the flower show, there are few examples of timid garden designers. This is the year to copy Philadelphia and go bold my friends.

For those who have trouble imagining a bold garden, try decorating your garden as you would another room in your house. It really is the same thing. If you decide how you are going to use your garden then decorate it as you would another room in your house. If you need carpets, imagine an inexpensive flooring. You need walls so use fences or vines to create privacy and windbreaks. Ceilings can be large trees or constructed trellis and vine creations. Haunt flea markets or garage sales for the truly large and impressive bit of whimsy you can use as decorative art in the garden. Remember, you’re thinking and dreaming of creating your very own theatre stage set where you can entertain and spend a few quiet moments at the end of a day. Make it dramatic, make it fun but do not make it boring.

There were no boring gardens in the flower show this year. There were fantasies of underwater gardens using sedums and succulents. There were woodland gardens where the entire garden was planted to tall shrubs with only walkways and quiet glades left to wander in. There were gardens where the entire backyard had been turned into natural ponds complete with docks for sunning and watching the fish swim by as well as evening entertaining. There were fantasy gardens with old amusement park rides and bicycle carriers stuffed with flowers. If you can imagine it, a designer either filled it or surrounded it with flowers.

As my Philly Cheesesteak settles down (and I’m thinking of finding another) this year’s gardens are winding up. Remember, go bold, use bright colours instead of subtle combinations and be exuberant in your planting. Use as many tropical plants as you can incorporate in your garden and make them as large as possible. And when you go big and bold with your tropicals, take the rest of your indoor living and design your garden as another room in your house. Most importantly, have fun with your garden. Those garden designs were truly fun and I can hardly wait to see what I’m going to do with my garden this year. I’m inspired!