Already it’s time to start thinking about next spring. My garden has had a touch of frost and I’ve slowly been pulling and cutting out foliage and flowers that are starting to be an eyesore. I’m assessing what succeeded or failed, what outgrew its space and needs to be moved, and where I can possibly plant more fall bulbs.
One can never have enough fall bulbs!!
Tulips say "Spring" loud and clear!
Through the years I’ve tried to stick to using white, dark pink and purple flowers in the front yard. Of course I have to stick a few daffodils in the beds because they are early. I try to stick to the white ones, but let’s face it, traditional yellow catches the eye. Crocus and other small bulbs get poked in all over the yard. They are investment plants and come back reliably.
Orange Tulips
The beds in the back of the house are where the orange tulips and more daffodils are planted. After a long winter with lots of snow and too many gray days I crave color!
I’m already thinking about next spring…..and that means it’s time to order bulbs!
When I took a few photos for a story that I’m writing I realized what a successful season I’ve had in the garden.
When everyone that I met was lamenting about their tomatoes that were lost to blight, I tried not to gloat when I talked about the best year that I’ve ever had in my garden. And, my pepper plants were the biggest that I have ever grown!!!
Fall harvest
Ace Peppers
Of course this was the year that I finally built a hoop house. Tomatoes and peppers love the heat!
I had enough tomatoes to can some fabulous sauces with my own onions and lots of peppers that ripened on the vine.
We still have pumpkins and squash in the garden.
I have another sowing of four kinds of lettuce, arugula, spinach and chard popping out of the ground. My veggie gardening has been great this year.
I still have lots of tomatoes and peppers to process.
I must let folks know that when you garden in Maine peppers very seldom turn red on the vine. These are like jewels. They are precious. I will savor each of them.
I would love to hear what other folks are doing with bumper crops of red peppers.
I have to admit that I have a passion for poppies. When I lived in northern Maine’s Zone 3 (St. Agatha), I ordered what I thought were
Big Brilliant Oriental Poppies
Oriental poppies from a not so reputable catalog company. I had seen some of the bright orange poppies in a few yards in the area, but I wanted something different. I craved some of the big brilliant pink ones that the catalog promised. I planted the puny plant that arrived; nurtured it with homemade compost, expensive organic fertilizers and mulched it with shredded leaves. I watched it like a hawk! That fuzzy leafed plant was huge! It didn’t bloom but I knew that it flowered in the spring….and if I could get it through our tough winter, it would reward me and everyone who visited with the most spectacular pink poppies ever seen. The next spring, it was late to emerge but goodness gracious, when it finally came up it grew and grew – bigger that any poppy that I’d ever seen. One day when a garden friend was visiting, we walked through the garden, delighting in the warm spring day and how quickly things were growing…….when we came upon my special poppy. I brought it to her attention, remarking that I had never seen an Oriental poppy so large.
“That’s because it’s a thistle”, she said.
Well, I now live in a zone 5 garden and I now have big brilliant pink Oriental poppies. I bought some from a few sources, wanting to make sure that when they flowered that first spring, I was guaranteed that I would get what I was promised.
Oriental Poppy Color Clash !!!!
Not only did I get my pink poppies, I also got the darned orange ones!!!!! After waiting so many years to finally have Oriental poppies blooming in my garden, I didn’t have the heart to yank out the orange ones.
I believe that spring time is the best time for Sempervivum – otherwise known as “Hens and Chicks”. They are available in a wide variety of textures and colors. I’ve been collecting them for about 7 years.
I grow them in beds with other low growers so that they don’t have competition from other more aggressive plants.
The last several years, I have been saving seed from the Sempervivum flowers and starting my own plants. I start the plants in late winter by spreading the dust-like seeds over damp potting soil, covering the pot with a plastic bag and then putting the whole thing in the garage so that it can go through a cold period for about a month. When I bring the pot in, it goes in the cellar under lights. Within days, specks of green start to appear. As soon as warmer days start, I put the pots outside. By late summer, I have baby Sempervivum that are about the size of a quarter. In the last few years, I have started to have some interesting hybrids.
I may never have varieties that are spectacular enough to be marketed or named…..but I have enjoyed the pleasure of seeing what happens when I start a seed.
I remember the names of some of the varieties that I bought and some, I must look up. One of the things that I don’t like in my garden, is the appearance of labels and markers. I want the eye to see the plant and not be distracted by labels. I can see that a nursery or a botanical garden wants things well identified but I don’t think it looks nice in a home garden.
As you can see, even the green Sempervivum has a lot of variety.
My Sempervivum will be flowering within the next month. I can’t wait to see their unusual flowers. They look like they came from outer space! For folks that like to have a touch of the unusual in their gardens, this is one plant that is definitely unique.
Spring has happened. All of a sudden it arrived. Already I feel like I am behind on everything that I wanted to do early….those things like transplant a few hostas before they leaf out too much; start up my existing water feature and install a new one that I bought the parts for last year; and more…..My list continues to grow and I know that I would have to be two people to accomplish all of it this season…..
I did hire someone to help me build a hoop house – one that I wanted for years now.
I did manage to have a Norway maple (Crimson King) cut down – Oh, now I can garden without all of those problems (More on that another day). I managed to create a kind of sculpture with the stump. (Yes, more on that later!!!)
I did move a rhododendron that was in a spot with too much afternoon sun.
I did find the coolest and largest terracotta pot that I have big plans for.
And, I really am enjoying spring.
My tulips are in glorious bloom. They are magnificent! The daffodils are fabulous. The corydalis bloomed and the clump got bigger. The crocus continue to expand every year.
I truly do love this time of year and don’t want to miss a minute.
Yesterday, while I was transplanting various seedlings into small pots, I decided to take the time to transplant one of my African violets that was in desperate need of a larger pot. A few of the problems that many people have when transplanting African violets, is that the potting soil gets all over the fuzzy leaves or that the delicate leaves are broken during the process. I have solved these problems by making a shield out of paper. I rip the paper to about the center and then rip out a hole.
Paper Shield
Open the rip in the paper and work the shield between the plant and the soil until the hole is located where the hole in the paper is located. After the shield is in place, tape the ripped area together. It helps if you do this when the leaves of the plant are a little bit limp. Withhold watering before transplanting so that the leaves are not turgid. The shield will be used to assist in lifting the leaves up slightly.
Place your hands under the shield and remove the old pot by slowly rocking it back and forth or slowly sliding it around. Insert the plant into a new slightly larger pot. With one hand, gently lift the leaves and with the other hand, insert new potting soil into the pot. Yes, the pot will get dirty.
Slide the paper shield between the soil and the leaves
After you are satisfied that there is enough potting soil in the pot (I fill it right to the rim), clean the pot well.
Ready to transplant
Gently remove the shield. If any soil tumbles out, clean it off the pot. The African violet is now ready for a good watering. Place the newly potted plant into an appropriate sized tray and water well from the bottom.
I look forward to attending Maine Garden Day every year. It is an opportunity to rub elbows with other enthusiastic gardeners from throughout the state. Novices as well as very experienced gardeners come together to learn new skills, hear about new research and most of all get inspired! This year’s event was held on Saturday, April 28th in Auburn. The yearly event is sponsored by Maine Cooperative Extension Service.
This year, I attended a sand casting class taught by former art teacher Iona Desmond. Iona demonstrated her technique, showed us several sandcastings that she made and then let us all “play in the dirt” – which is, of course, what most Maine gardeners are just dying to do! Everyone had a shoe box lined with plastic that was about half-filled with wet sand. Essentially, we form a mold in the sand and then fill it with plaster. The benefit of plaster was that eveyone could walk out with a finished product by the end of the morning class. The down side is that plaster is not weather-proof. I hope to try the same technique at home using cement.
My second workshop was with Mike Murphy of Wake Robin Nursery in South Paris. His presentation was called, “Diversity in the Shade Garden”. Mike is extremely knowledgeable about different, interesting plants - a true plant connoisseur! Oh, what an inspirational discussion. He loves what he is doing and it shows. Mike was also selling some of his treasures at the show. He brought in plants that were just waking up…..some of them just starting to poke up out of the pot. Despite the fact that we often saw nothing growing out of the pot, folks who know him also know that he has a reputation for quality plants and if Mike says if is special, we know that it is.
For folks who might be interested in going to Maine Garden Day next year, keep an eye on this web site for updates:
A beautiful Begonia that I saw when I was in Florida recently at the Fairchild Botanical Garden
A trip to Florida a few weeks ago gave me Spring Fever in the worst way. I left in a snow storm and of course, there is still plenty of snow outside. Yesterday, I shoveled snow off of the deck so that I can get to the chairs and sit in the sun….even if it is still very cold.
Now that I am back home in Maine, I have hit the floor running. A few days after arriving, I planted seeds in flats in the cellar under lights. I now have 5 kinds of lettuce, cilantro, kale, broccoli, spinach, beets, Profusion zinnias, dusty miller, marigold, and even more starting to come up. Oh, how exciting!!
Next weeks, I start even more.
My mind is racing just thinking about all of the gardening that I want to do!
I’m fed up with buying potting soil that is full of fungus gnats!! The problem seems to get worse every year. Potting soil is being sold that is already full of fungus gnat larvae just waiting for the right conditions to start eating the roots of plants. Unscrupulous companies seem to think that they can sell anything in a bag and call it potting soil. Is there one potting soil company out there that dares to say that their product is free of fungus gnat?
I purchase a product called Gnatrol that contains a type of Bt that controls the fungus gnat. It’s a product that is added to the water and applied as a soil-drench when you water your plants. If I suspect that I have a problem (see the info sheet), then I use it when I water all of my plants. I repeat in another week.
Last week’s trip to New England Grows in Boston was not only fun, but an interesting look at the wholesale side of the gardening business category. My friend Lenore and I had a chance to see an infinite number of possible plants and products that are offered to nurseries and garden centers. They undoubtedly have a hard time choosing among all the offerings. I would want it all!!!! Goodness there were fantastic plants, fabulous pots, and numerous ways to control insects, diseases and deer! If I didn’t have spring fever before, I have it now!!
I believe that spring time is the best time for Sempervivum – otherwise known as “Hens and Chicks”. They are available in a wide variety of textures and colors. I’ve been collecting them for about 7 years.
The last several years, I have been saving seed from the Sempervivum flowers and starting my own plants. I start the plants in late winter by spreading the dust-like seeds over damp potting soil, covering the pot with a plastic bag and then putting the whole thing in the garage so that it can go through a cold period for about a month. When I bring the pot in, it goes in the cellar under lights. Within days, specks of green start to appear. As soon as warmer days start, I put the pots outside. By late summer, I have baby Sempervivum that are about the size of a quarter. In the last few years, I have started to have some interesting hybrids.
I may never have varieties that are spectacular enough to be marketed or named…..but I have enjoyed the pleasure of seeing what happens when I start a seed.
I remember the names of some of the varieties that I bought and some, I must look up. One of the things that I don’t like in my garden, is the appearance of labels and markers. I want the eye to see the plant and not be distracted by labels. I can see that a nursery or a botanical garden wants things well identified but I don’t think it looks nice in a home garden. 
ump got bigger. The crocus continue to expand every year.
e every year. Potting soil is being sold that is already full of fungus gnat larvae just waiting for the right conditions to start eating the roots of plants. 
