Plant of the Week
The final curtain is about to go down in terms of blooms in my garden, and the last up to the plate, ready to steal the show for the game-winning touchdown is the ultimate buzzer beater. If you are still reading after all that silliness, you must be interested to know that the Ajania pacifica is a very, very late-blooming perennial! Hailing from Asia, like most of my guilty garden pleasures, this compact, front row performer sits quietly all season with its subtly variegated foliage. I do a pre-prune or two, but may not need to, as I have never seen it flop. It wants full sun and drier-than-not average soil. After behaving itself all summer and into the fall, little cute dots of yellow joy visit me! The common name of Silver and Gold is very apt.
Guest
When Sister Sue Ann from Delaware comes on the show, I try to play the expert to her normal gardener status. While my expertise is never all that impressive, we always have fun! And, truth be told, I have planted more bulbs in my life than the average bear, so I felt pretty confident on this topic.
When— really anytime from September through December, before the ground freezes or your cute toes might.
How deep— about 2-3 times the size of the bulb. Go deep for those huge Alliums, but there is not much exercise involved in planting crocuses and Glory of the Snow, which are tiny.
Where— most bulbs come from Central Asia or the Mediterranean—places with really good drainage. Except for one of my favorite late ones, the Camassia, avoid boggy soil and try for full sun.
How— That depends on the look you want. You can plant a LOT of bulbs very quickly by using a big shovel, stabbing down, flipping the soil up, shoving the bulbs in, and then just letting the flap of soil close over the top of the bulbs. If you want the formal look, get a soil knife or even an auger and go one at a time, 2-3 inches apart.
Critters?— The only ones that are well and truly critter-resistant—both for the bulbs in the ground and the flowers in spring—are Snow Drops, Daffodils, and Snow Flakes (Leucojum). They contain licorice, I mean Lycorine, which is toxic to animals. For the others—do your best, and there are peppers and sprays which can help protect.
See the silver? See the gold? Riches of autumn loveliness.
Stock photo shamelessly stolen from Unsplash.
I got an email that was titled $20 for 20 million acres and that got my attention! Doug Tallamy and Michelle Alfandari are raising money, in a most tempting way, to try to get the word out about the Home Grown National Park! Go have a look and sign up, and part with that tiny amount for an excellent cause. Even if it’s not the amazing real estate transaction it sounds like, it still feels good to participate!
Hey, I forgot to keep going with the compost info… In Week 34, I talked about how to get the kitchen stuff collected without inviting fruit flies and threatening your marriage. In Week 35, we got the goods out to the tumbler and added carbon in the form of the WSJ. This week, I talk about how to get the stuff out of the tumbler and into a regular compost pile. So simple that I don’t need a photo:
1. Wait until you will need a shower anyway (you don’t feel really clean when you do this step). 2. Take an old handleless shovel and scoop it out of the tumbler. 3. Bury it in a ‘real’ debris compost pile, and you will never know it was ever banana peels and coffee grounds. It’s like magic!
Next week, I will talk about what to do with compost in the garden, but if you want more info on how easy it can be, don’t forget to listen to Margaret Roach’s interview with Cary Oshins that I mentioned in Week 36.
The Play List
Plant garlic and shallots— it’s the perfect time here in central VA, and I am going to put them in my front ornamental border for kicks, a la Brie the Plant Lady!
Leaf control— control leaves on the lawn and on any little plants you still want to see, but also try to restrain your volume of leaf control—rakes are nice.
Killing frost— it’s funny how just a few degrees can make a difference. Last night, it got down to 32 here, and some of the more exposed coleus is toast, but others aren’t and all other annuals are fine!
I am talking the talk, but not yet walking the walk (this week!!) of draining and storing hoses.
Listen
To me! As if you haven’t done that enough, but if you would like to hear my presentation to the All Hallows Guild of the National Cathedral about getting Frederick Law Olmsted into your garden, go here. It’s too late for him to visit you, unfortunately, but he and his son had some good ideas about landscape design that you could take advantage of!