Frost on the Pumpkin

Have you ever walked away from the perfect garden picture without realizing it? I almost did last weekend when we had air temperatures above 32°F and ground temperatures below 32°F. As mist fell, it condensed onto the pumpkins that I hadn’t gotten around to removing from the porch steps.

Initially, there was just a faint film. But as the sun set and temperatures continued to drop, sparkling crystals began to form. By 9:00pm, all four pumpkins were completely covered, as if set with crystalline gemstones.

I walked past this perfect picture several times before it finally dawned on me that this was the first time I had seen something like this in the thirty-odd years I’ve lived here. How soon was I likely to see it again?

Unfortunately, this was not the moment to learn how to take a time exposure in the dark, so the flash had to do.

Lessons learned: We can’t be too tired, too cold, or too anything else not to run and get the camera and snap when the opportunity presents itself. We might not get another chance.

Why I Garden

My friend Mary Ann Newcomer at Gardens of the Wild Wild West (formerly Idaho Gardener) is running a contest on why people garden http://www.gardensofthewildwildwest.com/index.php/2009/11/08/why-i-garden-a-contest/ . This one is right up my alley, since I’ve been giving serious thought to how and why people garden for the past five years. But enough about them. Here’s why I garden:

• Because it reconnects me to the natural world,
• Because I understand The Transformational Power of Gardening (http://loisdevries.blogspot.com/2007/08/transformational-power-of-gardening.html) ,
• Because it cultivates my inner gardener (http://cultivatingtheinnergardener.blogspot.com),
• Because it helps me extend the lives, by however small an increment, of the other sentient beings who share this space,
• Because it enables me to enjoy the company of wildlife pets,
• Because flowers perfume the air,
• Because the colors please my eye,
• Because it gives me a means of expressing my creativity and penchant for good design,
• Because it provides a space to display pottery and sculpture,
• Because it offers an acceptable means of exercise,
• Because it gets me outdoors,
• Because every new sprout and flower bud still excites me,
• Because gardening renews my spirit,
• And because Spring reminds me that there is always new life after “death.”

Stirring Up the Gardener’s Imagination

The other day I was asked what my favorite gardening websites are and why. The first one that popped into my mind was Gardening Gone Wild http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/?p=9088 because of its pieces on photography and design, the ability to interact and cross-blog, and the hosts’ ability to generally stir up the imagination of gardeners everywhere.

So this post is an entry in GGW’s Picture This Contest for November, aptly named End of the Line. My interpretation is a literal one (top photo) – a winter scene of our cedar arbor at the end of the line formed by a decorative fence that marks the boundary (or end of the line) between where we actively garden and the next, semi-wild zone.

But there’s more. There are the horizontal lines of the arbor itself. And the upright lines of the tree trunks and the tips of the fence pickets. The sentry-like vertical forms of the snow-covered rhododendrons. And finally, the curving line of the wild grapevine.

Once I started looking for an appropriate image, I saw lines everywhere in the garden. The second photo, taken the same day, shows the angular lines of the Adirondack chairs, swing, and deck chair; the horizontal lines of my potting table, and more rhododendron sentries and tree trunks.

Everywhere I looked in the garden, I started to see lines, lines, and more lines – the puffball of white at the end of the curved line of a spent anemone; the electric and phone lines cutting through the woods from the road to my house; the flowing lines of my Kwan-Yin statue’s robe; the spiky lines of lavender plants, etc. These are all things I look at every day, but had not seen – at least not with the eye of a photographer.

A good blog should stir up gardeners’ imagination. I hope this one does that for you.

Pavilion at Red Butte Gardens

Here’s a contemporary pavilion with a Japanese flair that’s produced by the unusual treatment of the beams at the eaves and the decorative detailing at the gable ends. The simple lines of the slat roof and the supporting columns create interesting reflections in the water and shadows on the decking.

While the construction of a similar structure is not for the faint of heart, the basic form is within the capacity of most contractors or experienced do-it-yourselfers. The trick with translating such buildings from public spaces into home gardens is, as always, reducing the dimensions to human scale, while maintaining the correct proportions to suit the house and grounds.

While this type of open-air shelter doesn’t offer much protection from inclement weather, the closely-spaced roof slats would create welcome shade in an otherwise open, sunny yard as well as a level surface for work or entertaining. Benches can be built-in or free-standing to accommodate large or small groups of people. A combination of fixed and moveable seating would allow for more intimate clusters of guests to assemble and dissolve as conversations evolve and meals progress.

In the home garden, square floor cushions in brown or rust could be added to blend with the wood to enhance serenity; or lively, contrasting colors and patterns used to provide a sense of energy. Hang curtains made from Sunbrella™ or other weather- and fade-resistant materials to chase away chilly spring and autumn breezes and extend the outdoor season.

Gardener’s Fantasy Gift List

Floral sculpture: Inta Krombolz, ikrombolz@comcast.net 

Want some insight into what your favorite gardener might be dreaming about during the long, cold winter? It’s not likely to be another trowel or pair of mud gloves. For something your gardener won’t soon forget, choose something from my fantasy gift list:

Wind Sculptures – We bought one during our trip to Utah this year and just love it. In addition to its inherent qualities, it stands in the lavender garden as a symbol of our visit to Red Butte Gardens, our niece’s wedding, and a fun vacation. Designed and built by Lyman Whitaker, these contemporary abstract sculptures are designed to move with the slightest breeze, yet have controlled movement in high winds. More info at http://www.whitakerstudio.com/index.html , where you can link to art galleries that sell his work.

Garden Tours – No matter how big or flower-filled any garden is, its owner will run off to look at someone else’s at the drop of a hat. For those with a small purse, look for local or regional tours offered by garden clubs, arts councils, historical societies, etc. as fundraisers. These can draw some very fine gardens that belong to folks who want to help their favorite organization.

If you’re ready to fulfill a gardener’s ultimate fantasy, however, start saving for the Chelsea (England) flower show, or if that gardener is also a garden writer (hint, hint), The Garden Writers Association Annual Symposium http://www.gardenwriters.org/gwa.php?p=meetings/index.html , or the Blooms of Bressingham Tour http://www.gardeningtours.com/TourDetails/Blooms2010-long.pdf .

Landscaping, Design, or Plants – A chunk of change to spend on their wildest gardening dreams will win the heart and soul of any gardener. Purchase gift certificates, or make your own. Remember to include enough to cover delivery and freight charges if the purchase will be something heavy, such as concrete ornaments or fountains, pallets of stone, etc.

Garden Coaching – For gardeners who want to do it themselves, but need help figuring out what to do, a garden coach can help. They’ll work with you in person or via the internet to gain a better understanding of what to do about pests and diseases, pruning, improving your design, or how to grow specific plants. To find a coach near you, visit http://gardencoachdirectory.wetpaint.com .

 
Cultivating the Inner Gardener Coaching – After training for six months with meaning coach extraordinaire Eric Maisel, I’ve officially launched a gardener-focused coaching practice designed to bring more meaning to the experience of gardening. Cultivating the Inner Gardener is about putting gardeners in a mental space that allows them to develop an intimate, holistic relationship with their environment. Through a series of assignments and exercises gardeners learn how to rediscover and focus on the things that really matter to them, restore meaning to their gardening efforts, and revitalize a cherished pastime. For more details, visit http://cultivatingtheinnergardener.blogspot.com or e-mail me at loisj7@gmail.com .

Pinky Winky™ Hydrangea in Fall

For those interested in following my Pinky Winky™  Hydrangea field trials (see earlier post at http://loisdevries.blogspot.com/2008/08/pinky-winky-hydrangea.html), here is an update. Those planted in part sun in Spring 2007 are now over five feet tall, even though they were “trimmed” by a doe that had gotten inside our exclosure last summer. She had consumed a huge number of leaves, as well as the flowers and some stems, so I wasn’t terribly optimistic about what I might get this year. But the plants thrived, with no evidence of the “bonsai effect” that deer browse can cause. The flowers begin to emerge in July and last until hard frost.

The blooms shown here were cut on October 30th 2009. We’ve already had one wet, heavy snow earlier in the month, with temperatures dropping into the 30’s, and peaking in the high 60’s. I love how the leaf color has changed from its deep, uniform green to a black-green with red accents, although most have turned yellow now. While the bloom color hasn’t changed that much, it has deepened quite a bit and the light pink racemes now sport flecks of darker rose.

For comparison, I’ve included a shot of the pure-white blossoms as they look when they first emerge. I’m curious to see how the dried flowers will look.

As for the two plants I put in shade, the jury is still out. Those shrubs were planted in Fall 2007, a full growing season behind the others. They developed a sprawling habit and are about four feet wide and two and one-half feet high, but this turned out to be attractive and useful in the particular spot I planted them. They surprised me with unexpected, though sparse white blooms (their spot is very shady) that didn’t last as long as those in sun. Their color turned out to be a plus, since they are adjacent to my White Garden.

All in all, I’d say Pinky Winky™ is a more versatile plant than I expected and, once a gardener understands how it reacts under a variety of conditions, can be used to achieve multiple effects.

Abundant Harvest

A couple of years ago, I was invited to scout Chef James Laird’s vegetable garden. Like many upscale restauranteurs, James and wife Nancy who operate Restaurant Serenade in Chatham, NJ, wanted access to fresh, organic produce. So they grew their own.

Rows of vari-colored leaf lettuce and peas had given way to heirloom and specialty tomatoes, green beans, and a wide variety of basil, parsley and other herbs by the time I arrived, but what a wonderful selection it was (photo).

James introduced me to Cherokee Purple tomatoes. It was love at first bite and I’ve grown them in my own garden ever since. What with all the rain this year, they were very late in blooming and I got only a few before the shorter days of fall bore only green fruit until our early snow. Well, now I’ve discovered that Cherokee Purple makes an excellent fried green tomato!

The photo contest theme over at Gardening Gone Wild (http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/?p=8318) is Abundant Harvest. Thanks, Chef James Laird, for sharing yours with me --- and my readers!