joene's garden » Seasons

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day: January in Connecticut

joenesgarden — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:47:45 +0000

With no blooms in my outdoor gardens eyes are drawn to the subtle colors of a so-far snowless winter. I bundled up for a winter morning photo stroll to see what winter color might reveal itself for this first Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, kindly hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, of 2012.

Temperatures fell below 10 degrees Fahrenheit this morning in south-central Connecticut causing mountain laurel and rhododendron shrubs to curl their leaves in response to the cold.

I think the rhodos jealously eyed my winter garb as I walked by.

Holly, boxwood and pieris of different shapes and sizes add to the green contrast brought by native-growing mountain laurels and gardener-planted rhododendron. Young junipers and spruce will add their blue-gray tones to the landscape as they mature. But now the gardens are dressed in shades of brown highlighted with small touches of whatever green still survives the cold.

Golden shades ornamental grasses pick up early morning sun …

not to be outdone by copper tones of beech.

A newly planted Pieris japonica 'Dorothy Wycoff' hints at the intense purple shades its larger future-self will bring to the winter landscape,

while foxglove and carex dot beds with shades of green.

Winter calls for celebration of even the slightest touch of color. This tiny rose hip could easily be overlooked and that would be a shame.

Inside, protected from the winter cold, an amaryllis leans toward the light as it's companion, a holiday cactus, looks on.

Coleus brighten nighttime views of the window above the kitchen sink.

Houseplants happily soak up whatever morning sun the weather allows.

Garden color isn't always about flowers, or about gardening outdoors. Sometimes we must relish in color, contrast and light during chilly winter walks and from the protected warmth of home.

But flowers do tend to lighten a winter mood so join me as I head over to the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day links posted at May Dreams Gardens. There are always mood-lifting blossoms to enjoy there.

Garden thoughtfully.

Categories: Bloom Day, Seasons.
Tags: Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, gardening in Connecticut, indoor gardening, winter in Connecticut.

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A tad early for narcissi in Connecticut

joenesgarden — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:03:24 +0000

A quick stroll around my Connecticut gardens brought this surprize.

That's right … narcissi bulbs already poking their inquisitive heads out of the ground as if to say, «Is it time?»

My response when I first spotted them on January 2? A resounding, «NO!»

The calendar says January. We should have snow on the ground and be bundled up in front of a roaring fire.

But, outside of a couple of below-freezing days earlier this week it's been ridiculously warm. Today it's 50 degrees outside and there is no snow or winter-type cold in the forecast.

Obviously, bulbs don't follow the calendar. They follow a mysterious internal clock that signals when it's time to grow.

From their point of view they had snow (it came in October), they had some cold here and there, and now they're responding to a stretch of spring-like warmth.

Maybe I should listen to what their presence is suggesting. Maybe … though it's January … mild temperatures will continue. Maybe narcissi will be blooming in February.

I'm not ready to buy this. I still expect to get slammed with a nasty stretch of winter weather. Of course it will hit when all New Englanders have really let their winter guard down and lost their winter blood. That's just the way these things work.

So I did what any mother hen gardener would do.

I covered my early risers hoping a conifer blanket will hold the chill in the soil and slow the bulbs' growth.

Time will tell if this tactic works.

At the very least it makes me feel that I've done my best to fool the young whippersnappers back to sleep.

Categories: Bulbs, Gardening, Seasons.
Tags: gardening in Connecticut, narcissi.

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Connecticut gardening plans and reflections

joenesgarden — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:19:20 +0000

It's the end of the year and nearly the beginning of the next. Time to reflect on time passed and make future plans.

First the future plans.

I spent some time this morning noting garden-related events in my 2012 calendar. Winter and early spring are wonderful months to expand gardening smarts and unearth gardening inspiration. Much discovery can come from books, here's some of my recommendations, but sometimes you just need to venture out to see and hear from gardening aficionados. Fortunately, there's no shortage of garden talks, presentations, symposia, meetings, conferences and shows to get the house-bound gardener's creative sap flowing.

The Connecticut Gardener website offers a regularly updated list of gardening events planned from early January onward at sites all over Connecticut. Check them out early since many talks and classes have pre-registration deadlines. Current listings cover January through March.

Those interested in organic land care and organic farming and gardening should regularly check the events page of CTNOFA (Connecticut's chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association). Also check out the educational reading material available via CTNOFA's resources for gardeners link (on the website's left sidebar) and the Homeowner's Corner links (right sidebar) at the Organic Land Care website.

For my reflection, check back on January 1, 2012. The first of each month is GOOPs Day - GOOPs stands for Gardening Oops. I confess some of my gardening mistakes or mis-steps in hopes of preventing others from walking the same path.

GOOPs is an open party, anyone can join. So if you have a gardening blunder you're willing to bone up to, resolve now to share your faux pas with me and other GOOPs participants on the first of each month.

Until then, one more look back at my version of Clement Clarke Moore's classic Christmas poem, originally published last January.

'Tis Days After Christmas, What To Do With the Tree

By Joene Hendry, in honor of Clement Clarke Moore

'Tis days after Christmas and still in the house
Stands a tree in the corner that no longer sprouts.
Stockings unhung, now the chimney is bare
And the tree needs undecorating and disposal, but where?

The children are busy outside with their sleds,
Or elsewhere with I-Tunes blaring through their heads,
While parents reach gently, avoiding tree sap,
To store each ornament for its long summer's nap.

The blizzard has passed, the winds have diminished
And outside there's still snow shoveling to finish.
Yet the tree must come down, its lights cease to flash,
But what can one do besides throw it in the trash?

With sun reflecting brightly off newly drifted snow
That shines from outside the living room window,
New visions pop into your head and you cheer,
«We don't have to make our tree disappear.»

We can use it outside near where winter birds feed
And decorate it anew with suet and seed
So chickadees and titmouse and juncos can roost
While other feathered friends seek their seed-eating boost.

Our tree could block the unlikable view
Of the propane tank or trash can or generator that's new.
We could make it a surrogate, in a landscape hollow,
To illustrate the look of a new shrub to follow.

We could cut off boughs and place in a mound
Over perennials firmly frozen in the ground
To prevent them from sprouting up too fast
When early spring temperatures rise with a blast.

Then the branches, when taken from atop growing shoots,
Can head to the compost to give it a boost.
And the trunk doesn't have to give up the ghost
If we use it next spring as a birdhouse post.

Our Christmas tree doesn't need to end its use
In a brush pile or as municipal refuse.
We'll set an example. We'll use every part.
Let's make tree recycling a post-holiday art.

Garden thoughtfully and stay safe.

Categories: Conferences/Shows, GOOPs-Gardening Oops, Seasons.
Tags: Connecticut Gardener, gardening events, gardening in Connecticut, GOOPs Day, repurposed Christmas trees, The Connecticut Horticulture Society.

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Holiday greetings from Connecticut

joenesgarden — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 13:26:50 +0000

There will be no postcard-style Christmas snow covering Connecticut this holiday season.

This year my snow shot is from the archives … the day after Christmas 2010.

2011's photographic holiday cheer is of the indoor sort.

Now, with holiday hype done, it's time to take a breath and remember what's really important.

It's not presents under the tree.

It's family. It's friends. It's good health, or at least the ability to awaken and greet each day with wonder.

This is the wonder that greeted me this morning …

Mother Nature's gift to me. My gift to you in thanks for reading my words … for letting me into your lives.

I hope you take time to relish your wonders, to truly enjoy the gift of a child's smile, a friend's hug, a thoughtful glance from a significant other, a happy memory of a loved one no longer with you, and the beauty of the great outdoors.

It's these wonders that make life worthwhile.

Categories: Seasons.
Tags: holiday greeting from Connecticut.

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This gardener gives thanks

joenesgarden — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:52:09 +0000

For the sunrise through winter trees.

For autumn's display.

For a beech leaf on snow.

For blueberry buds and opening ferns.

For blooms and creatures.

For photogenic fungi.

For these few wonders and the millions more that wait for our eyes to behold, each day, each season, each year.

For freedom, family and friends; for health, home and harvest; and for you, dear readers.

Garden thoughtfully and, in the words of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (courtesy of The Quote Garden),

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

Categories: Gardening, Seasons.
Tags: gardening in Connecticut, Thanksgiving.

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