Garden Cleanup

Since the Halloween snow and a hard frost most of the garden is looking sad. I’ve been working steadily on cleanup. I think I’m doing better this year than usual. I want to make sure I don’t have a lot of cleanup to do in spring when it’s time for mulch.

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Canna tubers (above) have been dug up and stored.
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Autumn Joy blooms have been cut back. I usually leave the seed heads for the birds but the snow smashed them to the ground. Iris and hibiscus have been cut in the background.

Most of the mums are cut.

The annuals are gone.

The pile awaits delivery to the city’s compost site.

More to do before the garden is ready for fall compost but I’ve got a good start.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - October 2009

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I’ll share a few October blooms with you and peek into other gardens through Carol’s May Dreams Gardens. Thank you, Carol, for hosting this monthly event.

The snapdragons and alyssum (above) fill in between Dusty Miller and herbs.

An electric blue Lobelia volunteer at the end of a window box of parsley

Rose colored mum – another volunteer



Mom’s mum - transplanted from her garden years ago

Dead Nettle (Lamium)

Purple Cleome

White cosmos

Pink Cosmos

Nasturtium

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"Just before the death of flowers,And before they are buried in snow,There comes a festival seasonWhen nature is all aglow."- Author Unknown

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Fall Colors

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It was too early this week to see fall tree color at Delaware Water Gap in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. I imagine it will take another two weeks to show the brilliant yellow, orange and red of a Pennsylvania autumn.

But there are lots of fall colors in my garden.

Mums in pots and in the ground.



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The combination of ‘Super Elfin Bright Orange’ impatiens and coleus ‘Rustic Orange’ is difficult to photograph and get a true color. But here’s the general idea.



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Marigolds

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And cosmos.



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Maximilian sunflower (Helianthus maximilianii) 4 to 5 feet tall.

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In a few weeks the mountains will turn gold and scarlet. The crisp fall air is energizing – a wonderful time for gardening.

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Longwood Gardens

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In fall, the story at Longwood is mums.

According to Longwood’s brochure, “During the Chrysanthemum Festival, mid-October through November 23, more than 20,000 colorful, blooming chrysanthemums flourish in the palatial Conservatory.”

The showiest part of the mum display is “A Thousand Blooms.”

“A Thousand Blooms. The dramatic Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum is one of the highlights of traditional Japanese chrysanthemum exhibitions. A single plant is trained to form a perfect dome of hundreds of flowers, each the same size and blooming at the same time.”

Mums trained into domes, balls, cylinders, sheets, arches and topiaries defy gardening logic. The "single plant" thing is what blew me away. During training, the plant is allow to go limp in order to bend the branches.
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Single specimens, as well as beds of mums, colored the displays everywhere.

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In a greenhouse off the main display, signs explained the classifications of mums. Spider mum and spoon mum were two among the many gorgeous examples.

There is so much to see at Longwood. It will take another post to cover the plants that are not mums.

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(Compare Longwood Christmas display posted December 5, 2007 or enter "Longwood" in the search box at the top of this page.)
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Belgian Mums

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The mum revolution happened without my notice. Developed around 2001, the Belgian mum may be the perfect fall flowering plant. The cold hardy varieties never need pinching back and bloom profusely in a mounded form.

An October 2001 Mississippi State publication is titled “Belgian mums rock the nursery industry.”

According to Jann Eline of Hickory Grove Greenhouses in North Catasauqua, “Belgian mums are an exciting new type of chrysanthemum with hundreds more blooms per plant than traditional mum varieties. An exceptional feature of the Belgian mum is its durability. Belgians have more flexible stems which mean they’re less susceptible to breakage in windy or exposed areas. They do not need to be pinched back during the growing season to maintain their naturally shorter, fuller shape.”

I don’t have any of these super mums. I usually forget to pinch my traditional mums back up to July 4. Or I don’t pinch them back enough. They need to be propped up by bloom time. I think it's time for a trip to Hickory Grove to get some Belgian mums for my garden.

It sounds like a mum dream come true.

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Watering the Garden

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This year I’m trying to get through the summer without watering my garden. I’m trying to conserve water and save money.

Of course, the potted plants need to be watered. I watered some of the annuals when they drooped. New perennials need water until they are established. But, I’m talking about hours of soaker hose watering of the entire perennial garden.

I’m talking about what will live in my climate without extra water.

Fortunately, we’ve had a year with adequate rain, until now. After a few weeks of no rain, heat, and humidity the soil has turned concreteous. Mulch, free from Bethlehem’s Compost Center, is indispensable. I am amazed at what is surviving (make that looking pretty good) without any extra water.

Some of the perennials have slowed blooming but are still very alive. The purple cone flowers look a little tired.

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Roses are struggling but blooming. The Japanese anemone, asters and mums have set buds.

The ground cover lemon thyme and creeping jenny do not seem to have a problem.

The mum ‘Clara Curtis’ doesn’t seem to mind being dry at all. In fact, ‘Clara Curtis’ continues to bloom and bloom.

As I said, this has been a year with adequate rain. And I woke up this morning to a little less than half an inch of rain in the rain gauge. I’m not saying I will never turn the soakers on but I’ve learned that I can do with a lot less watering than I thought. We’ll see how brave I am during a drought.

I’m thinking about a rain barrel. Raising vegetables is another story.

What’s your strategy for watering?

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July Garden

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I’ll be at Musikfest most of this week doing garden maintenance and just having fun. Since I won’t have much time in my garden, I thought I would it would be fun to compare a section of my garden over the last 3 years.

First, let me explain. I have a new camera this year. The 2008 pictures are not as good as 2006 or 2007. But I’ll keep practicing. The biggest problem with this camera – there is no view finder. Taking pictures outdoors with only a LCD screen is difficult (like aiming a gun when you can't see the target.) All I can see on the screen is a reflection of myself. Great for putting on lipstick but not taking pictures. OK, enough excuses.

This is the way the cottage garden looked in 2006 before our tall pussy willow fell in a storm on Memorial Day weekend 2007. That dramatically changed the garden from shade to sun. Actually, much better for a cottage garden.

In the second set of photos, you can see the pussy willow in the center of the picture (left photo 2007). The right photo (2008) shows the pussy willow has about doubled in size this year. The new growth is coming out of the near side of the stump.

The pink mum (Chrysanthemum ‘Clara Curtis’) blooms almost all summer front and center on both pictures. Yellow Cosmos in the left 2007 photo will be replaced with pink tones (Burpee Sensation Mix) in 2008. I planted the seeds in May and they are now forming buds.

Snapdragons, cleome, snow on the mountain, coleus, sweet alyssum all have returned this year.

As the pussy willow continues to grow, it will again change the light in this garden. I’ll have all winter to decide if I want to do something differently next year.

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Musikfest

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(Picture above: Lyre of Wax Begonias at Blumenplatz)

Musikfest starts Friday and activity is poppin’ at the Downtown Bethlehem sites. http://www.musikfest.org/ The second week of set up is hectic, to say the least. There is activity everywhere as this amazing event comes together.

Finishing touches on the summer-long job of planting and maintaining Blumenplatz (behind Bethlehem Public Library) started last night. The final trimming, deadheading, mulching, watering, got underway. The next step adds lights to the display for an attractive nighttime show next to Americaplatz.

Americaplatz setup is moving along as vendors begin to stock the booths.

The recycling bins are stacked near Plaza Tropical and ready for distribution around the fest.

The Plaza Tropical tent is up and tables and chairs are being set up as are all the other tents.

Blumenplatz Committee workers finish the mum-filled MUSIKFEST sign near Spring Street.

It’s a hive of activity. Everything will be ready on Friday at 5 PM for the 25th year. Volunteers, workers and vendors are laboring their hearts out. I can’t wait for the music to begin.

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Garden Awakening

The garden explodes in spring.

There is a lot happening in the garden right now. I’ve managed to divide the liriope, daylily, and coreopsis. About half of the cleanup is done.

The daffodils,

mini iris,

glories of snow,

hellebores are blooming and

I have a load of mulch in the driveway.

As lemon thyme, bleeding heart, mums, coreopsis, lupine, columbine turn green, I’ve got a lot of mulch to move.