Casual Gardening and Living in the Suburbs
Happy New Year!
Its always fun the end of the years to see what was the most interesting posts to my readers. Sometime it’s posts from previous years, sometimes this year. Here’s the top 10 most viewed posts in 2018:
Now that the outdoor growing season has officially ended here in Chicago, I thought it was time to look back and see how things went.
It was definitely a mixed year weather-wise, but for the most part everything looked pretty good all summer. Except for the weed infestation that took a while to get under control!
Here’s some highlights:
I was excited to get my zinnia and marigold beds laid down from seeds that I had collected from last years’ flower beds.
I waited for the soil to warm up enough, prepared the beds, separated out the seeds and spread them out over the soil, then watered. The seedlings were about 3 inches when disaster struck! Some wayward weed-wacking had pulverized them after mistaking the seedlings for weeds.
So back to ground zero, but it was now mid-June and everything was pushed back quite a bit. So, replanted what little seed I had left and added some new Burpee Cut and Come Again Zinnias and Burpee Boy O’Boy Marigold Mix. Much to my delight, I did end up with beautiful flower beds before too long.
Like last year, I collected up all my seeds to keep for next spring. Check out my previous post, Cheerful and Bright Zinnias Bed, for an easy how-to to get dense flower beds like these.
The Monarda added mid-summer festive colors and are always a favorite of the bees.
I’ve enjoyed the summer color from my current Monardas who have grown really well in their new locations (The Bee Balm is Very Happy). I added another variety this summer, Marje Pink Bee Balm (Monarda ‘Marje Pink’). Hopefully it grows as well as the other two have.
Other garden standbys did well this summer. Hostas, Daylilies, Phlox and the newly added Summer Beauty Allium (Allium Tanguticum ‘Summer Beauty’) added plenty of summer color
I moved some plants around and put some new ones in. We’ll see how they look in the spring!
I replaced some scraggly looking daylilies next to the front walkway with the much neater Summer Beauty Allium (Allium Tanguticum ‘Summer Beauty’), and filled in some holes n the side and back gardens with Flames of Passion Avens (Geum ‘Flamers of Passion’), Max Frei Geranium (Geranium Sanguineum ‘Max Frei’), early summer blooming Pumila Astilbe (Astible Chinensis ‘Pumila’) and late summer blooming Visions Astilbe (Astible Chinensis ‘Visions’)
I also took out this Russian Sage that never looked quite right in the midst of the yews. I tried to transplant it, but I didn’t really like being moved mid-summer. We’ll see if it comes up anywhere. I’m sure there will be some stragglers to remove and try again to transplant in the spring.
Overall pretty good year, but I’m excited to see what next spring will bring. Feel like it’s going to be a long winter…
Last year, my friend Susan described to me how she grows a beautiful hedgerow of zinnias every year by collecting the seed heads in the fall (Fall Seed Gathering Means Beautiful Summer Zinnias).
I thought I’d give it a try this spring, so I collected all the zinnia heads from my garden last fall.
I left them in a bag over the winter on the porch and this spring crumbled up the dry seed heads to release all the seeds. No need to separate the seeds from the rest of the smaller plant material.
This spring, when the soil temperature was warm enough (usually not until after Mother’s Day here at my zone 5 home) I planted the overwintered seeds in a bare spot in the front garden that just needed some color. Just sprinkle out the seed mixture in thick rows or mat. Zinnias are definitely picky about temperature, so don’t start too early. (The dug-up plant on the left? A random daylily that was really out of place after a bunch of landscaping changes. It got replanted up at the WI cabin.)
Then I waited. I was surprised at how fast the seeds germinated, and by early July I had a beautiful, welcoming splash of color.
They’ve been blooming beautifully all summer, and the Durango Outback marigolds (Johnny’s Seeds) and Annabelle hydrangeas are perfect companions. I think the marigolds will be perfect candidates to try this seeding method with next spring.
I did try this seeding method this year with snapdragons. They germinated and grew really nicely, but for some reason haven’t flowered very well.
Maybe because they’re in a planter, or maybe it needed more fertilizer, or the seeds didn’t overwinter properly? Funny thing though, they seem to have grown just great in our fire pit where I must have tossed some “waste”.
I will be definitely be collecting all the seeds heads again this fall!
This has been quite an unusual fall for many of us. Seems like the winter was in no hurry to arrive, so we’ve been treated to one of the warmest and longest falls in a long time. With that, many trees are still showing colors and many plants in my garden are still going strong. All this is going to come to a screeching halt tonight as we drop from almost 70 this morning to the 30’s overnight. Yikes!
Until then, here’s some of what’s still been going strong in my garden.
Tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, hot and sweet peppers and hardy herbs are still there for the picking.
Even the heat loving zinnias are still hanging in there! Their colors are blending beautifully with the fall garden colors. I think after today, I’ll be dead heading them for next year (Fall Seed Gathering Means Beautiful Summer Zinnias). If you look closely behind the zinnias, you can see the fall garlic shoots indicating next year’s garlic harvest.
Despite the abundance of fallen leaves, the geraniums aren’t looking like they’re ready to be done anytime soon.
The cosmos are still blooming strong. But, the hydrangeas behind them are ready to add winter interest to the garden.
The Victoria Blue Salvia is in the same bed as the cosmo. Usually this area is all salvia, but due to a mix up (well my mix up) when I ordered the annuals from a local plant sale, I didn’t actually buy any this year. These are self seeded from last year and added a nice splash of purple to the pink of the cosmo.
While the Purple Beautyberry bush (Callicarpa x NCCX1) is expected to look great this time of year, I thought I’d add it since it’s a fairly new shrub and thankfully doing great! I can’t get enough of those fall purple berries and each year I’ve had more.
How’s your garden been this fall?
After a wonderful beach vacation and some college tours, we’re finally back home. As expected, the weather has been crazy while we were gone. The temperatures were just about average, but rainfall was almost double the normal amount. Included in this total was a single storm that dumped almost 2 inches of rain in under 2 hours and knocked out our power for almost 15 hours. Nothing like being on vacation and getting the call that the basement is flooded. Thank goodness for friends who went above and beyond to help.
So how did the garden fare? Quite well actually. With the fairly constant rain and average temperatures (and in some cases even a bit below average), I came home to a bit of a jungle. The last few years, by July we’ve been struggling with hot/dry conditions and the plants begin struggling. Not this year! I think I’ve had the sprinklers on once and that was just to test the system. Here’s some after vacation shots…
Many of the flowers are in full bloom and flourishing with the moderate temperatures and plenty of rain. Although, I did miss most of the asiatic lily’s blooms. They are mostly finished for the season.
Notice how beautiful the creeping thyme looks (Problems with Creeping Thyme). Still waiting for the hummingbirds to find my flowers and feeder.
The Purple Rooster Bee Balm is still blooming and attracting bees. But now the accompanying Jackmanii Clematis and Pardon Me daylilies are also blooming.
With all the rain , this garden is doing well despite the change from full shade to full sun.
The sunflowers have become gigantic! Before we left they were probably only about 4 ft tall (see Before Vacation), now they are easily 7 ft-8 ft and attracting lots of bees.
The vegetable gardens are flourishing, but need some attention to prune back some of the wildness.
I have a nice bunch of bush beans to harvest.
The lettuce is still hanging in there. My idea to plant them in the partly shady corner of the garden has paid off.
First time for cabbage and they’re looking great.
Cucumbers were slow to get going, but I’ll have plenty soon enough.
Zucchini and summer squash are plentiful. Hoping to get some small tender ones harvested before they turn into baseball bats (see Giant Zucchini). Somehow I’ve lost the garden markers labelling the squash varieties, so it’s a bit of a mystery what all the different squashes are.
So, overall, I’d say everything fared pretty well this year (definitely better than the basement). Looking forward to the continued blooms and vegetable harvests!
Me and my giant sunflowers!
It’s always tough to go leave the garden and go on vacation. It seems like something (or everything) is ready to just burst out in color or ripen just in time to go away. Or the weather can you throw you a curve ball and get crazy hot/cold or dry/wet. Very unpredictable. I assumed this year was no different, so right before we left I had my daughter Emily take some pictures to do a little before and after.
Some of the flowers were already in full bloom and likely will be past peak before we get back…
Some were ready to bloom and I can only hope I don’t miss the show…
The vegetables were flourishing. The cooler weather vegetables were starting to show signs of stress and looking ready to bolt, but still fine to harvest for a little while longer. Peppers, squash and beans were almost ready, so my friend who is helping with dog sitting and plant watering should get some treats. I’d hate for them to go to waste and there’ll be plenty more. Tomatoes are growing like gang-busters, but not expecting any ripe ones quite yet.
Vacations are always a little tricky to be sure everything stays healthy in the garden. Right before we left for almost 2 weeks, I gave everything a watering with Miracle-Gro fertilizer and dead-headed everything that would benefit from it. I set the sprinkler to try and optimize waterings, and had a friend also check on things and keep the pots watered. I also tried to be sure the plants that needed staking were supported so things wouldn’t be too out of hand when I got back.
How do your gardens fare when you go on vacation?
Last night the temperature at my mom Peggy’s house was predicted to get down to the low 30’s. That means frost was a real possibility. If you saw her gardens in my post a couple of days ago (Gardening: All in the Family), you know her plants are well underway and many not able to survive a first. So what to do?
Every plant has its own tolerance to cold. Zinnias, Impatiens, Petunias? Forget it, they like it warm. Cold weather vegetables, strawberries, perennials? Maybe leaves and flowers damaged initially, but they’ll be just fine. The seed packet or container tag will give you some insight into what they can tolerate. When in doubt, cover them.
If you know that the plants are likely to be damaged by an overnight frost, you need to cover them with a sheet or blanket. My mom has a whole collections of sheets just for this purpose. By tenting the sheets over the garden, it creates a warm air pocket around the plants. If it’s thought to be colder than a light frost, you can add a a layer of plastic over the blanket to trap even more warm air (never right on the plants). Be sure to remove the coverings first thing in the morning before condensation starts to form on the inside. If still cold enough, the moisture could freeze on the plants and cause harm as well. An actual freeze requires even more elaborate weather protection, or you may just need to sigh and start over.
Then say a little prayer and hope for the best. Peggy’s plants looked good this morning. It did get down to 31°, but warmed up quickly once the sun came up. Hopefully that’s it for the cold weather.
Butterfly Weed
Michigan Lily
Coneflower
Coreopsis
Zinnia
