Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
What is really "native"?
It seems that "going native" is the thing to do right now in order to be regarded by your gardening peers as an ecologically responsible gardener. Planting 100% native varieties sounds like an easy enough proposition, but as I dug deeper into what's authentically native in Connecticut, I discovered some surprising facts. Many of our garden stalwarts and long time favorites in our gardens aren't native at all.
Here are some examples: Dahlias come from the high plains of Mexico, with some being found in Ecuador and Honduras; roses were originally cultivated in Babylonia and Assyria; chrysanthemums come from China originally dating back as early as 15th century BC; peonies are from China and are a revered national symbol; hollyhocks were grown in England since the 12th century but originally came from the holy land, now Israel, and their name was originally spelled "holihoc" - holi for holy and hoc for mallow, a native plant it resembles; hydrangeas were originally found in the United States, however, with the first recorded variety the 'hydrangea arborescens' found growing wild in a colony in Pennsylvania - it found immediate popularity in England and spread all over Europe - many varieties grow all over North America where fossils have been found that are 40-70 million years old; fuschia hails from South America; cyclamen comes from the Mediterranean.
These are just a few popular flowering plants and shrubs that are so pervasive in American gardens, so much so that most of us have come to think of them as "native". But a little digging shows us that many, if not most, of the plantings we see in our gardens or our neighbor's gardens or public gardens originated somewhere other than in American soil. And to me, that's just fine.
I agree that we need to rid our landscapes of invasives, those prolific and nasty plants that take over giant swaths of meadows, marshes, residential properties and woods. But to focus solely on planting only native species would leave out so many of our beautiful, trusted and dependable plants that we have grown to love over the last few hundred years.
My favorite plant ever is the hydrangea, which just happens to be originally American, but I also have a great affection for the peony, the rose and the dahlia, just to name a few, and I plan on keeping them around for a long time in my gardens.
Here are some examples: Dahlias come from the high plains of Mexico, with some being found in Ecuador and Honduras; roses were originally cultivated in Babylonia and Assyria; chrysanthemums come from China originally dating back as early as 15th century BC; peonies are from China and are a revered national symbol; hollyhocks were grown in England since the 12th century but originally came from the holy land, now Israel, and their name was originally spelled "holihoc" - holi for holy and hoc for mallow, a native plant it resembles; hydrangeas were originally found in the United States, however, with the first recorded variety the 'hydrangea arborescens' found growing wild in a colony in Pennsylvania - it found immediate popularity in England and spread all over Europe - many varieties grow all over North America where fossils have been found that are 40-70 million years old; fuschia hails from South America; cyclamen comes from the Mediterranean.
These are just a few popular flowering plants and shrubs that are so pervasive in American gardens, so much so that most of us have come to think of them as "native". But a little digging shows us that many, if not most, of the plantings we see in our gardens or our neighbor's gardens or public gardens originated somewhere other than in American soil. And to me, that's just fine.
I agree that we need to rid our landscapes of invasives, those prolific and nasty plants that take over giant swaths of meadows, marshes, residential properties and woods. But to focus solely on planting only native species would leave out so many of our beautiful, trusted and dependable plants that we have grown to love over the last few hundred years.
My favorite plant ever is the hydrangea, which just happens to be originally American, but I also have a great affection for the peony, the rose and the dahlia, just to name a few, and I plan on keeping them around for a long time in my gardens.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
More images of the sunrise over the Long Island Sound this past Saturday morning, January 8, 2011
What a way to welcome a new year in Connecticut. Crystal clear air, icy and snowy branches and beach, incredibly peaceful quiet. The moon had barely said goodbye for the day and the sun was just showing its face over the Sound.
Sunrise over the Long Island Sound on January 8, 2011
I took these photos from my back deck at 7:30 am last Saturday. The colors were so intense and the whole landscape was blanketed in snow and ice. I can't imagine anything much more beautiful and peaceful. I love summer, but I treasure these quiet, snow covered scenes from my back deck.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Yay, the first blizzard arrived by the Sound in Connecticut!
I always look forward to the first blizzard arriving so my gardens can be blanketed for the rest of winter in nature's best mulch, precious snow. This one brought us over two feet of heavy wet snow that will hopefully stay for weeks in my beds, especially since I never got a fresh layer of mulch on all of my gardens before our first hard freeze. I did get some of them done with some fresh organic compost and the Sweet Peet I had left over, so I did better than usual. I always have the best intentions, but just as the ground is freezing, just like everybody else, I am rushing to get Christmas shopping done, cards sent and and all the other millions of details for the holidays taken care of. I know most of my gardener friends feel the same...most of us are ready to put the garden to bed as October wanes into November and we welcome the holiday season and all its attending fun and festivities. I also love to cook, and when the weather turns cold, I just want to be in my kitchen making soups, stews, pizzas, and baked goodies. And I love when all the seed and plant catalogs start coming so I can dream about all the new plants I am adding to my gardens in the spring. I've gotta start making that list and starting my plans for my gardens....
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Creating our own daylily cultivars - I never knew how easy it is!
I was just reading the most wonderfully informative article on daylilies in my new issue of Fine Gardening -- February 2011. My sister in law gave me a subscription for Christmas which I thankfully (I love you, Michele!) got before Christmas! I am enjoying my magazine so much already as it gives very down to earth and practical advice and instruction. I just finished an article on the amazing daylily and learned there are literally thousands of cultivars. Don't give up on the daylily if all you thought existed was the ubiquitous (and in my opinion, a little tired and dowdy) orange cultivar we all see in the heat of the summer here in New England at least. The other cultivar that is fast gaining on the orange stalwart is the yellow Stella D'Oro that all the landscapers seem to love installing in their jobs because it is a repeat bloomer and survives our heat and humidity with ongoing color. I love the yellow Stella D'Oro for its cheerfulness, but I am learning there are so many others just waiting to wake up our gardens. There are luscious names like 'Blueberry Breakfast', 'Rainbow Spangles', 'Dances with Giraffes', 'Grape Twizzler' and a tangerine ruffly beauty 'Condilla', just to name a very few. They go from short to tall, smooth edged to ruffly edged, fat petaled to skinny petaled in almost every hue imaginable. And even though each bloom only lasts a day, the plant can have hundreds of blooms for many weeks of color in our summer gardens. I am definitely in love and can't wait to get some new varieties in my gardens this summer.
And if all of that wasn't enough, we can all create our own cultivar so easily! You can hybridize a daylily if you have two different cultivars. You just remove the tip of one stamen that is pollen-laden and dab it on the sticky tip of the pistil of the second daylily flower. Then you label the cross you made on the pistil of the flower that was pollinated with a tag that identifies it as the pollen parent. In a few days a seadpod will form and it will take 45-60 days to ripen. When the pod starts to change its color to a lighter green, squeeze the sides gently and harvest the seeds. Throw away any soft seeds because they aren't viable and store the harder ones in the refrigerator for several months and up to a year before planting.
This incredibly useful information comes from February's issue of Fine Gardening in an article written by Richard Howard, the owner of Ctdaylily in Wallingford, Connecticut.
You can also register your new cultivar for $15 with the American Hemorocallis Society online.
I don't know about you, but I can't wait to try this with my son, my little gardener, and name our new daylily after him!
And if all of that wasn't enough, we can all create our own cultivar so easily! You can hybridize a daylily if you have two different cultivars. You just remove the tip of one stamen that is pollen-laden and dab it on the sticky tip of the pistil of the second daylily flower. Then you label the cross you made on the pistil of the flower that was pollinated with a tag that identifies it as the pollen parent. In a few days a seadpod will form and it will take 45-60 days to ripen. When the pod starts to change its color to a lighter green, squeeze the sides gently and harvest the seeds. Throw away any soft seeds because they aren't viable and store the harder ones in the refrigerator for several months and up to a year before planting.
This incredibly useful information comes from February's issue of Fine Gardening in an article written by Richard Howard, the owner of Ctdaylily in Wallingford, Connecticut.
You can also register your new cultivar for $15 with the American Hemorocallis Society online.
I don't know about you, but I can't wait to try this with my son, my little gardener, and name our new daylily after him!
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