joene's garden » Seasons

Now you sedum–overwintered

joenesgarden — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 14:17:09 +0000

Succulent plants, such as sedum and hens and chicks, seem to be maintaining continuing popularity, with good cause. Succulents are easy to grow, drought tolerant, and come in enough varieties and sizes to suit nearly every gardening taste. But did you know how easy it is to overwinter potted sedum and sempervivum, the botanical name for hens and chicks?

Last June I potted sedum and hens and chicks in matching cobalt blue ceramic pots.

The combination was instantly wonderful and remained so until the end of the growing season in my zone 6 Connecticut garden. (Scroll over the photo above to see the botanical names of the succulents used.) I did not want to lose the combination so, rather than transplant these succulents to a garden bed before storing the ceramic pots away for the winter, I stored the succulent-filled pots in the garage near a southwest-facing window. Through the cold winter months the pots only received minimal water when the soil felt good and dry. The plants stayed in a state of suspended animation during the coldest parts of winter – they held their color but did not grow. As the sun became stronger in late winter and early spring the succulents began to grow.

Here's how one of the pots looked when placed back outside this April 13.

Its sister pot looked the same.

This is how the pots look today.

The plants have already begun cascading over the edges of the pots.

The pair adds striking color during a time when plants in adjacent perennial beds are still in early stages of growth.

Best of all, these containers will continue to fill out and look wonderful from spring through autumn as long as the soil remains on the dry side. All this entails is moving the containers off the saucers so rain-soaked soil can drain. Succulents such as sedum and hens and chicks grow best in drier soil, making them ideal container plants for busy people with little time to fuss with watering. With the added bonus of overwintering well, the busy gardener can plant a container like this just once to enjoy multiple seasons and years.

Categories: Gardening, Seasons, Techniques.
Tags: gardening in Connecticut, hens & chicks, potted suculents, sedum, sempervivum, Succulents.

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joene's garden

Daffodils do not play well with other cut flowers

joenesgarden — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:13:57 +0000

Daffodils do not play well with other cut flowers

This is a repost from March 26, 2012. In Connecticut, bloom timing for daffodils is one month later in 2013 compared with 2012, but the information about daffodil sap remains relevant from year to year.

I love filling my living spaces with vases of fresh-cut daffodils. They cheer up the darkest mood and warm the chilliest room. But I learned that cut daffodils (narcissus is their botanical name) do not play well with other cut flowers in the same vase.

Cut daffodil stems exude a sap containing calcium oxalate crystals. These crystals prevent other flowers in the same vase from absorbing water, causing them to wilt. The same crystals can also irritate human skin leading to 'daffodil itch ' a contact dermatitis common among people who pick or work with the cheery spring bloomers.

I use two methods for picking daffodils. I either slice or snap the flower stalks near their base, then hold stems bloom-end downward to keep the sap in the hollow stem. This works well when picking just a few daffs at a time. To gather a bunch of daffodil blossoms, I carry a small clean bucket or other non-breakable water-holding container to the garden. After cutting, each stem quickly goes into the clean water-filled bucket. Using this method, the flowers can rest in the water until I have time to arrange them in a vase of fresh water.

To keep these or any cut flowers fresh longer, replace day old water with fresh.

While daffodils are lovely when bunched alone in a vase, I like to add a touch of contrast. So rather than sentence another type of bloom to early death, I snip a few woody branches to accompany my daffodil bouquet. I love the contrast of the warm daffodil petals with the dark, but dainty, structure of birch or beech branches, such as in these photos from previous years.

Bouquets like these will cheer up even the gloomiest Gus.

Categories: Bulbs, Focus on Flowers, Seasons.
Tags: cut daffodils, cut flowers, gardening in Connecticut.

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joene's garden

Blue Star Juniper–More Deer Candy

joenesgarden — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Blue Star Juniper–More Deer Candy

Last autumn I treated myself to an adorable little Blue Star juniper (Juniperis squamata 'Blue Star'). I planted it in one of my many garden beds not fenced to keep deer at bay. I had such high hopes it would eventually grow into the 2-3 foot tall, 3-4 foot wide mound its tag promised, particularly because it had sharp, prickly needles that suggested it might live up to the 'deer resistant' label it was given.

I need real deer-resistant shrubs to fill the void left when tropical storm Irene toppled a hydrangea paniculata and a buddleia. These shrubs (center and right in the photo) had anchored a section of what I call the triangle bed. I had been playing with plant combinations in this spot for many seasons and, before Irene hit, had finally achieved a blend that looked good, not just during spring as is shown here, but all season.

Crocus and daffodils bloomed first, them iris , Lamb's ear, rose campion and lavender stepped in. The hydrangea and buddleia continued to grow as black-eyed Susan's and a dark red yarrow joined yellow sedum blossoms. Then dark purple blooms of buddleia (I think it was 'Black Knight»') joined the long-blooming black-eyed Susan's in attracting many butterflies. The hydrangea grabbed the show as its huge flowers matured from their creamy shade of late summer to their mauve shades of autumn. The only sparse season was winter. Even before Irene took the buddleia, I had decided to replace it with another blue-grey evergreen to balance the existing blue spruce.

With both the hydrangea and the buddleia gone the bed was all out of scale. I considered planting another hydrangea paniculata but active voles were one reason the original hydrangea toppled; they had feasted on the hydrangea's roots. Besides, I wanted shrubs that did not need to be fenced from the deer's damaging teeth.

I settled on a Pieris japonica 'Mountain Fire' where the buddleia once stood as it should grow from 4-8 feet tall. The Blue Star juniper was to eventually form a 2-3 foot tall mound of blue-gray color between the pieris and the bird bath. It would mirror the foliage of the spruce.

The juniper survived through autumn's first frost.

It survived the first snow in early November. Notice the tracks left by deer passing by, showing the juniper no interest.

It survived through a January 2013 winter thaw.

It was buried by the snows of February and I gave it no thought until I was able to survey my plantings after the snow finally melted in late March. What I found is not pretty.

The hoof tracks left behind, the condition of the browsed stem ends, and the lack of any broken branches left behind on the ground suggest deer are to blame. I'm sure the shrub is a goner but I decided to leave it in place to see how – or if – it responds as the weather warms.

Though it looks very sad in its blanket of new mulch. I'm pulling for it to fight back.

Right now it's a reminder that many 'deer resistant' labels mean squat.

The only way to really know what local deer like is to plant it and hope for the best.

Categories: Creatures, Gardening, Seasons.
Tags: Blue Star juniper, deer damage, gardening in Connecticut.

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