joene's garden: joene's garden

By joenesgarden, 2 years and 6 months ago

Missed Opportunity – A Gardening Oops (Goops)

fall leaves-2 11-2009 November 1, 2009.  Ahh Fall.  When trees so easily offer their leaves back to the earth.  Leaves cover everything – porches, patios, lawns, and gardens. I continue miss the opportunity to collect enough of these leaves into accessible piles where they will naturally follow the steps of decomposition and become leaf mold.  Often, at this time of year, my husband and I are strapped for time and anxious to get the next load of leaves off the lawn.  So we blow or rake them into the adjacent woods.  Sounds perfectly normal.  But when I want to access what, after a couple of years, has become leaf mold, I have to struggle through fallen branches, rocks, tree stumps, and uneven, sloping grounds … and this is a Gardening Oops – what I call GOOPS.

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By joenesgarden, 2 years and 6 months ago

Autumn Joys, part deux

beech-half changed 10-2009 sedum 10-2009 Now is the time to get out and enjoy the last of the fall colors in southern Connecticut.  While outside wandering … whether aimlessly or not … look high to grab a mental snapshot of New England's breathtaking fall colors.  But also look down to take note of color changes lower to the ground.  Often,  perennial plantings put on their own show each fall.  Low-growing sedum, once bright green, now displays it's autumn hues.

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By joenesgarden, 2 years and 7 months ago

Beetles to the rescue … slowly?

Southern New England used to have large green expanses of hemlock forests … until the woolly adelgid turned green to brown.  An accidental release, from Japan in 1953, of this piercing/sucking insect – an endearing term used to describe any plant pest that pokes a hole in leaves and stems to access a plant's life-juices – has decimated acres and acres of woodland in Pennsylvania, New York, and many areas of New England.  I've witnessed the devastation brought on by the woolly adelgid in nearby state parks.  First you could see a few white, cotton-like clusters on the undersides of the hemlock branches then, a few months or a year later, the undersides of these trees were so infected that it looked like snow had settled on the undersides of the branches.  Now, dead hemlock trunks stand waiting to topple like pick-up-sticks in the next heavy wind.

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By joenesgarden, 2 years and 7 months ago

Seminar: Going Native in New England

blueberry-low-bush-3_edited October 17, 2009.  One of my favorite fall bright spots come from the blueberry bushes I have planted in a perennial border and those growing naturally in the woods surrounding my home.  Native blueberries are wonderful replacements for the potentially invasive burning bushes (Euonymus alatus) planted along highways throughout Connecticut in so many yards – even in mine which includes one closely watched  'Compactus' variety planted a long time ago.  Now, when I seek burning red color I plant blueberries, like the low-bush variety in the photo.

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By joenesgarden, 2 years and 7 months ago

Frost last night, freeze coming soon … but gardening doesn't stop

October 12, 2009. Temperatures fell below 36 degrees last night – frost level - in my south-central Connecticut gardens, so all exposed tender annuals – moonflowers, impatiens, petunias, coleus for example – are nearly done.  Even though a quick look through the gardens this morning showed many of my tender annuals survived last night – likely due to the closeness of stone walls or mature trees – they will succumb to the even colder temperatures forecast for later this week.  By Thursday night I expect a freeze – 32 degrees or lower – pretty much on target for this area.

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  • Morning Discoveries in the Garden:
    • joenesgarden: So glad to know I brought an early morning smile, Benita.
    • Benita: Lovely post-early morning coffee and a stroll through the "garden of best friends is a lovely ritual for me, too. Thanks for instigating my happy garden grin this morning! Benita
  • A Connecticut garden in May:
    • Andrew @ Gardening tips and Ideas: Clematis, Iris, Ferns and Peonies, all in one garden A true delight Thank you for sharing
    • joenesgarden: Laurrie, I hope you share photos of all these buds when they are in full bloom then I can enjoy yours when mine have passed peak.
    • Laurrie: Your blooms are lovely and precocious I think! Like Layanee's, my clematis is only in bud, yours are so much further along. And my iris (I have Beverly Sills too) is only budding, nowhere near open yet. How different each garden is, even in the same general area. Happy Spring!
    • Layanee: Your clematis are so much further along than mine. Mine are still in bud but I do have high hopes of blooms soon. It is a lusty month of May this year isn't it?
  • Butterfly watching:
    • Heather: How sweet! And I love mum-mum instead of grandma. My mom goes by Meemaw. :)

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