Serenity in the Garden

Garden Gnome, anyone? A few years ago, the Royal Horticultural Society in the UK declared that the banned garden gnome was now allowed to be part of the  Chelsea Flower Show. Tackiness be damned! Garden gnomes for all!   Garden gnomes, those funny little white-bearded  creatures,  are associated in England with the landscapes of the not-so-rich and the unfamous.   According to English gardening maven, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen,  “Gnomes are very symbolic in English gardens as an anti-class statement." Born to be Wild Gnome Anti-class? anti- posh?  These happy little garden sprites (or small and creepy men, depending on your point of view) are reminders that we are all free to fashion our gardens, our little bits of heaven, in our own way.   I remember, growing up in Brooklyn, walking by many a 'bathtub Mary' in the chainlink bordered front yards of those lucky enough to have a front yard.   They would take a cast ...

“In Hindi, seed is  bija  or ‘containment of life." Vandana Shiva Ah, so true.... One of the most alarming films I have seen in a long time is Seed the Untold Story.   Please get your library to get it! It is not to be missed! So where should we buy our little 'containments of life' these days? Here are a few seed companies that are worthy of a look: Renee’s Garden Check out their Basil collection of seeds and their "Rainbow Kitchen Garden",  5 packets of colorful vegetable varieties that are easy to grow and great for anyone starting a garden from seed. Includes: Farmer's Market Lettuce Mix : rainbow of colors and textures Garden Candy Cherry Tomatoes : red, orange, yellow and sweet as sugar Tasty Duo Scallions : red and green skinned, savory and crisp Tricolor Bush Beans : purple, yellow and green pods Tricolor Zucchini:  gold, light and dark green, with buttery flavor Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds  - This group ...

Heartleaved Skullcap - photo by Hippie mama Got Dry Shade?   Heart-leaved Skullcap ( Scutellaria ovata) is a native, deer-resistant plant for a  dry semi-shade to open shady site . It grows  14-20” tall and is hardy in Zones 4-9.  It also has blue flowers.  Wow! During the summer the blue-purple, snapdragon-like, tubular flowers bloom and last until early fall.  Afterward, the flowers are replaced by small dark nutlets (skullcaps). This plant likes alkaline soil with pH of 7 to 8. (Add lime).  T he root system is fibrous and s preads by rhizomes.   It can be a little aggressive so take care.  Its leaves are ovate and have a purple metallic patina to them at flowering. Quite lovely.  photo source click here  Heart-leaved Skullcap is easily grown from seed and will self-seed in the garden. Plants may go dormant after bloom in hot dry summer weather so plant summer salvia or other plants nea...

I am sitting here, drinking a lovely cup of  Tulsi tea , and I realized I should share tulsi with all...Tulsi tea provides a calming effect and its anti-stress properties are well known in India. Also known as the Queen of Herbs, it is the most important plant in the Hindu way of life. What is Tulsi (Holy Basil)? TULSI  (Ocimum sanctum), known as Holy Basil - is the sacred herb of India. ( Please note it is a different plant from the pesto variety of Basil, Ocimum basilicum.) It has been revered for over five thousand years as a  healing balm for body, mind and spirit . The leaves, flowers, fruits, root, branches and the main stem and everything about Tulsi is sacred in India; even the soil under the Tulsi plant is holy. ( Padmapurana 24/2) Tulsi  is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. It is a bushy shrub about 18 inches high with oval and serrated leaves (the leaf colors range from light green to dark purple, dep...

glass wind chimes close up     Sound is an overlooked element in  landscape design .  When we think of sound in a garden we think of birds singing, leaves rustling or bees buzzing. Or we may think of wind chimes... Tim Cline Wind Chimes For some ideas we can look to ancient Japanese gardens where sound was a key consideration in the overall plan. Stone Path - Japanese Garden at Kykuit This is described beautifully in a text on the Japanese Garden at  Rockefeller's Kykuit  garden in Pocantico, NY written by Cynthia Bronson Altman: "... The hollow tones of the shishi-odoshi (lit. 'deer-scare') – a rhythmic knock of bamboo on rock – the splash of the waterfall into a deep pool, the rustle of breezes through the bamboo, mute the rush of the world today,  creating a space for contemplation and meditation, for a mindful walk...,  transporting one to another world, another reality." 'deer scare' - shishi od...

I planted these Double Knock Out roses...blooming like crazy.  - Jan  I love Knock-out Roses...I know they are becoming almost too popular but there are good reasons for this: They are disease free, bloom extra long and are cold hardy. They bloom the first year you plant them and are heat tolerant. And best of all, there is no need to deadhead Knock Out -- the flowers will continue no matter what! I normally plant the  Double Knock Out   Rose. The flowers have 25 petals per bloom! Flowering begins in early summer and continues til heavy frost ( it was still blooming in NY in mid November). double knock out rose Prune them in late winter or early spring or trim them right after the first bloom flush in early summer. Follow with some rose food. Epsom salts too! A great rose pruner is the Corona Long Reach Pruner.   It cuts and holds so you don't have to touch thorny branches. Click on the name for more info.  It makes rose pru...

robot lawn mower    So here we are - robots mowing the lawn. Click here  if you want to see how you can grab one of these little guys.... The Worx Landroid lets you customize daily mowing schedules.  It runs 7 days a week giving your lawn a trim on a routine basis as opposed to traditional mowers that take off substantial amounts of grass on a less frequent basis.  like a roomba vacuum, I guess Landroid navigates narrow passages, cuts with precision on slopes angling up to 20 degrees and does it all with zero emissions! (it runs  off of a 28V rechargeable battery)   Your lawn should be under 10,750 square feet for Landroid to work precisely for you.  The keypad makes it easy to customize a mowing schedule. The low noise allows you to mow during the day or night.  cuts on a slope too Makes a great Father's Day gift...more time for him to sit in front of the TV.  :-)

 'Illumination Flame Foxglove - Digitalis (Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame') Grand Prize Winner of the 2014 American Garden Award . This half hardy perennial (USDA zone 8- 10) is taking the hort. world by storm.  Charles Valin crossed the common garden foxglove, Digitalis purpurea, with its Canary Island perennial cousin, Isoplexis canariensis to create this stunning, 2'-3' tall beauty. Digiplexis is its name. It blooms continuously from Spring thru Fall and, even though sterile, attracts butterflies and bees. Magnificent, huge, non-stop, 3' tall bloom spikes hold large, rich pink and orange blooms with  spotted golden throats. A great cut flower too. Easy to grow, give it good loamy soil with compost added to see what it really can do! And it’s adaptable to full sun thru bright shade. A dark foliaged companion would be lovely next to it.  With its endless blooming, it also makes a terrific choice for a large pot. 'Illumination Flame...

Kousa Dogwood in Fall - Jan Johnsen Check out  'Ideas for a Fall Garden'  on gardendesign.com. Please click on the article name above for some great end-of-the-gardening-year ideas for your garden. Their website accompanies the new magazine that I really like, Garden Design . Click on it to see more. from gardendesign.com

HGTV.  October is upon us and the  nights are getting darker. So put on an extra layer and place some outdoor lights in your backyard and enjoy the last gasps of outdoor living. Early evening in the garden can be a magical experience in the fall if you add small lights here and there. The other night I had some guests come for an outdoor dinner. I placed many flickering tea light candles (battery operated) in small glass holders and set them all around the area.  Tall and low, the  effect was dazzling. I placed them atop a low wall and on low tables. I would have had some hanging from low tree limbs but I didn't have the right lights.  Now that there are  tea light candles  that are battery operated there are so many things you can do! This one has a a built-in timer that turns them off automatically (click on caption for a link) : tea light battery candle These are the ones I used below - flickering li...