joene's garden » nasturtium

October reds - Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day

joenesgarden — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:20:35 +0000

October reds - Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day

Reds are the highlighted colors in my Connecticut gardens for this October 2012 Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

Some red shades are in blossom form, like this sedum which shined in pink just one month ago.

And in the mums, that finally started to grab center stage just before our first freeze two days ago. I wasn't concerned when the camera captured them in a frosty coating.

Mums often shine after a touch of cold. These recouped quite nicely.

Other, more tender plants, such as coleus, white zinnias, basil, peppers, and ageratum succumbed to the 28 degree temperatures that greeted the October 13 sunrise in my zone 6 gardens. Still, a few hardy souls press on with blooms not as perfect as they were during summer and early autumn. Autumn blossoms are so often a contrast of ugliness and beauty, and life and death.

This rose blossom glows in spite of the black spot that mars its leaves.

This phlox, which has been in constant bloom since early summer, is not quite ready to give in to the cold, sending out lovely small flowers in contrast to its dying leaves.

Nasturtium are fighting frost with flowers.

And Alpine strawberries chuckle at chilled air.

But these specks of pink and white and yellow are the last hint of summer amongst autumn reds. If, as a New England gardener, you have focused all your gardening efforts on blossoms, you are missing out on the best of autumn … brilliantly-hued foliage.

Trees in southern Connecticut are still in the golden stage of autumn.

Reds are provided by ornamental grasses shining in the autumn sun.

The red foliage of coast leucothoe.

And the brilliant hues of blueberry shrubs.

Even waning strawberry foliage offers up striking reds against a blue strawberry jar.

Northern gardeners relish even the smallest of blooms and slightest hint of color knowing that October freezes will continue to nip away at remaining flowers until all are gone. Then we will relish colorful blossoms and foliage in gardens all over the world by visiting May Dreams Gardens where Carole kindly hosts Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day on the fifteenth of each month. Head there now to see what other gardens have blooming today.

Categories: Bloom Day, Gardening, Seasons.
Tags: blueberry foliage, Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, garden in Connecticut, leucothoe, mums, nasturtium, ornamental grasses, rose, sedum, strawberry.

Share this post:
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Google Bookmarks
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Technorati Favorites
Twitter
Yahoo! Buzz

joene's garden

Nasturtium at work in the garden

joenesgarden — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Nasturtium at work in the garden

Nasturtium is an easy to grow from seed, easy care, cheery, prolific self-sowing annual that will brighten any Connecticut garden.

Nasturtium flowers are edible. I often use them to dress up a potato or tossed salad. Nasturtium leaves impart a wonderfully subtle peppery flavor when added to a leafy green salad. But nasturtium serve another purpose in many gardens, they attract aphids.

I've planted nasturtium in multiple locations around my house and gardens, in the front beds, rear beds, and among vegetables. I love the intricate flowers and the shape and color of the leaves. Last spring I planted nasturtium in a long narrow raised planting bed (38 feet long with a two foot wide planting area). It's a bed that does not drain well - I've written about it before. I think the landscape fabric lining has become clogged with tiny soil particles and this causes the soil in the bed to really hold water. In seasons with heavy rainfall the soil in this bed becomes downright soggy. To combat the sogginess, and still use the bed for heat-loving vegetable plants while my new raised-bed vegetable garden is being constructed (a two-year project), I plant heat-loving veggies in clay pots that I partially sink into the soil in the bed.

The above photo is how it looked in June 2011 before the nasturtium, planted in the soil between the pots, sprouted. The clay pots dry quickly, keeping the veggie roots happy (cherry tomatoes and hot peppers really like life in the pots). Turns out the nasturtiums love this steamy, moist environment. They completely filled the gaps between the pots last year. Strangely, though, I did not see one aphid last year so the nasturtium provided color, lots of it, until frost.

Lots of nasturtium flowers means lots of seeds. When I cleaned out the bed in preparation for winter I let many of the matured nasturtium seeds remain in the bed. I figured I'd have a few self-sowers. When Connecticut's mild last winter gave way to early spring warmth, nasturtium volunteers started popping up here and there in the bed. So this spring I arranged clay pots full of hot pepper and tomato seedlings around the nasturtium volunteers, moving only a few aside.

By mid-June, nasturtium filled the bed. What a cheery sight!

The self-sown nasturtium were so happy I had to train and prune them to prevent them from smothering the veggie transplants. They stayed happy until recently, when black aphids, hundreds of them, found the row of nasturtium an attractive food source. Aphids are piercing/sucking insects. They feed on plant nectar after poking tiny holes in plant surfaces. Nasturtium parts are filled with the nectar aphids love.

When aphid numbers are small, it's easy to control them by washing them off with a gentle spray of water from a hose. If this doesn't work, organic sprays will kill aphids, but will also kill other, possibly beneficial, insects. If you're lucky, ladybugs move in for an aphid feast. The infestation on my nasturtium this summer, however, required a drastic, surgical control. As the aphids spread from nasturtium to nasturtium, I cut away infested stems. I bagged infested plant material and sent it off with the trash (no composting for bug-infested plants).

Such is life in the world of nasturtium … the plants are doing their job. If conditions favor new growth and new blossoms in late summer I'll be doubly … no, triply … blessed. A free, no-work nasturtium show early on, a workhorse plant that attracted aphids away from nearby veggies, and a second showing later.

What more could a gardener ask for after simply standing back and working with nature?

Garden thoughtfully …

Categories: Creatures, Edibles, Gardening, Perennials & Annuals, Techniques.
Tags: aphids, gardening in Connecticut, nasturtium.

Share this post:
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Google Bookmarks
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Technorati Favorites
Twitter
Yahoo! Buzz

joene's garden

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day in Connecticut

joenesgarden — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 12:10:50 +0000

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day in Connecticut

Mid-way through June and it's again garden party day in the garden blogging world. On the 15th of each month, Carol at May Dreams Gardens hosts Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. She posts what is blooming in her garden and gives bloggers all over the world the opportunity to share what is blooming in their gardens. Whether you garden or not, the photos are wonderful and inspiring. In my Connecticut garden 2012 blooms continue to be about two weeks earlier than they were in 2011.

The Endless Summer hydrangea (H. macrophylla 'Bailmer' is already showing color.

Most of the iris have gone by but this Iris louisiana 'Black Gamecock' is still in bloom while my two types of iris ensata should open any day.

My favorite weird bulb, Allium Hair, is at her peak.

Nasturtium, self-sown from last year, are happily dressing up a long planting bed near our pool where I grow potted peppers, cherry tomatoes, and lettuce.

Some nasturtium flowers peak out from under their variegated leaves.

Rose campion in front of a blue spruce play nicely together.

Spirea Double Play Artist, a 2011 gift from Proven Winners, has grown quite a bit from its tiny 4-inch pot size and now begins to show its true colors.

Rose bloom has been spectacular so far this spring. The current star in my gardens is a shrub rose, Mystic Meidiland, that struggled for years in a different location. It's very happy now that it is protected from browsing deer.

Foxglove have also bloomed amazingly well. This bed of foxglove dresses up the edge of our front yard. The photo shows it's peak, on June 6. It still has color today, but is nearing the end of its show.

There's so much more – daylilies just opening, sage and salvia, astilbe and more roses, lamb's ear and lavender, yarrows, sedum and scabiosa – but now it's time to visit the other gardens on display at May Dreams Gardens . Enjoy the show.

Categories: Bloom Day, Bulbs, Gardening, Perennials & Annuals.
Tags: allium, foxglove, Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, gardening in Connecticut, hydrangea, iris, nasturtium, rose campion, roses, spirea.

Share this post:
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Google Bookmarks
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Technorati Favorites
Twitter
Yahoo! Buzz

joene's garden