Why do my gardens look so good just as I'm leaving?

Greetings! I've been getting ready for my Big Trip to the UK with my family, and things are looking better than ever in my gardens -- just as I'm about to leave to go see some of England's most famous gardens....

I've been furiously trying to weed, mow and plant everything before I go, but I can't help but notice that many of my garden areas look much better than they have for years. Part of that's the relatively cool, rainy weather we've been having for the past month -- things are blooming longer because it hasn't been hot yet -- like those Japanese tree peony flowers above; part is that I've been working for the past year or two to downsize and improve my garden areas; and much of it's probably because this is the first week of June, when most people's gardens look their best. But it still makes me a bit sad to leave my beautiful gardens, even if I know the gardens I see in England will be truly magnificent.

Here are a few highlights from the past week or two:

The Long Border

My Long Border (formerly known as the Rainbow Border) is looking pretty good. I originally deigned it to be a May-June-peaking border, and even though I've  added many plants for later blooming, this border still has a good show for this time of year. This is looking down the entire length of it.

The near end of the Long Border (which is actually not as long as it used to be before I shortened it to make it more manageable a couple of years ago). The 'Red Charm' peony looks fabulous with the dark red irises, lightened up with ox-eye daisies and alliums.

A bit further down that border, alliums, a single-flowered peony, Siberian irises and white salvia surround a hardy geranium that isn't quite flowering yet.

The Siberian irises look sharp with the orange of the very early-flowering daylily.

The end of the Long Border, with alliums, Siberian irises, Baptisia and Dame's rocket. A study in purple.

The North Border:

Looking along the length of the evergreen North Border. This border is starting to look OK, as the trees and shrubs are beginning to grow in size.

The end of the North Border that I always see out of my kitchen sink window.

Paradise Garden

The roses are starting to bloom in my Paradise Garden. I have moved nearly all of the shrub roses into this area, so they can be protected from the Japanese beetles that will arrive later this month. I'll put up the Big Net (2.0) when I return.

These clematis 'Rouguchi' have small bell-shaped flowers with a light scent, and the plant has really taken off in its 2nd year.

I'm so happy these poppies opened up before I left -- I couldn't remember what color they were and wanted to buy more for this area (but I didn't want to mix colors) so I had been hoping I could see their color this spring -- and they obliged! Their papery flowers are glowingly beautiful in the sunshine.

Recent Projects

A few weeks ago, my handyman, my teenage children (under compulsion) and I built a 5-foot-tall fence around our vegetable garden -- I don't know why we didn't do this when we first made this garden. The rabbits (and some deer) have gotten worse each year, and it really took the fun out of gardening to have to fence each individual bed with stakes and wire fencing in this garden with so many beds. It was starting to look ridiculous with all the stakes -- not to mention making it hard to weed the beds too. I think my husband has gotten back his enthusiasm for vegetable gardening since we built this fence. Rabbits begone!

During the past few days, I've been working on putting most of my potted plants in one place, so it will be easy for the pet-sitter to water them all at once when I'm gone. I've been putting wooden tongue-depressor markers in some of them with sayings like "purified water only" (for plants that hate my limey well water) and "needs less watering" (in the case of my new olive plant). There are also many indoor plants still inside. I have to say that I'm pretty worried about going away and leaving all my plants and gardens....

We're leaving tomorrow evening, flying from Chicago to London Heathrow airport overnight. I'm excited to see things I've been wanting to see in England (Sissinghurst, Great Dixter, etc.), but also worried about many things: will it rain heavily every single day we're there? will my own gardens and potted plants be OK? will we miss our plane or get lost? (Don't even get me started about my fear and dread of flying...).

But I'm sure we'll have a nice time -- rain or no -- and I'm so happy to see some English gardens after reading about them for so many years. Time to finish packing!

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But I can't end this blog post without mentioning the sad recent event we've experienced -- my husband's mother passed away a week and a half ago -- she was 89 years old. We visited her several days before she died, and she was very weak and couldn't walk, but she was still in her home -- the farm house she had lived in during her entire adult life as a farm wife -- with her family caring for her. 

When we visited, I brought her a small bouquet of the earliest Japanese tree peony blooms, iris, columbine and lily-of-the-valley. I had to hold it for her, and she brought it to her face and for nearly a full minute she breathed deeply of the scent of the lily-of-the-valley flowers with her eyes closed, like she couldn't enjoy them enough. I'm so glad my gardens were able to provide a small moment of enjoyment in her last days. It's hard to believe the matriarch of our family -- 11 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and a great-great-grandchild -- isn't with us any more.

Spring Garden Improvements

Greetings! Hard to believe we're in May now, after waiting for spring for so long -- we've had a few warmer days, but this has been a relatively cool spring overall, and I now understand why our British gardening friends love tulips and spring ephemerals so much -- they are wonderful when they can be enjoyed for more than two days before hot blasts of wind shrivel them up and blow them away!

This English weather is preparing me for the trip to England that my family and I are taking next month -- I'm excited to finally be able to see a few famous gardens like Sissinghurst and Great Dixter that I have read about for so many years. Our 2&1/2-week trip to London, Kent, Bath, Oxford and the Cotswolds won't be all gardens (sadly), as my family wants to see the historical sights too -- but I'll do my best to sneak away to sit in a few local gardens when I get the chance.

But before I leave, I've been working on a few small improvements in my garden areas:

Delphinium Bed

The delphinium bed back in 2016. The nasty runner grass that infested this bed can be spotted. :-(

In the past I had a lovely display of delphiniums that looked great for nearly five years. But the bed was slowly taken over by nasty runner grass that I just couldn't dig out, no matter how many times I tried. I not only had to clear the entire bed itself, but it wasn't until I made the Paradise Garden right behind this bed last year, eliminating the lawn that was the continuing source of the runner grass, that I have been able to get things under control.

I've kept the bed clear for two years now, and finally I judged that it was safe to start a packet of delphinium seeds this spring. But first I had some repair work to do:

We had so much snow this past winter that we had to call a neighbor with a snow plow to clear our driveway several times. He must have backed into the edge of the border and I needed to fix it before I could plant anything here.

With the edging restored to an orderly state, I planted the delphinium seedlings under white metal mesh baskets that I found at the dollar store for $1 apiece. I planted a couple seedlings not under baskets and they went MIA by the next morning.... Grrr. Rabbits!

I also planted three Veronica 'Royal Candles' there, as I think they will look nice with the spikes of blue delphiniums. I really hope that I will be able to enjoy delphiniums again, as I really miss their impressive display. I hope to be able to remove the baskets when the plants get a bit larger (and when there is more for rabbits to eat elsewhere -- delphiniums are listed as deer- and rabbit-resistant plants, but perhaps the tiny seedlings are irresistible).

New Bench Area in Paradise Garden

The "Stairway to Nowhere" could be seen at right, back in March.

In my last post, I discussed how last month I removed the stairs that had formerly led to my front porch before we had it enclosed into a sunroom two years ago. I wanted to put a bench in that sunny, south-facing location, for enjoying the garden on sunny, cool days.

This is what I found under the wooden steps: one concrete step that was probably original to my 1924 house. Rather than try to remove such a huge piece of concrete, I decided to cover it.

I filled the area behind the step with gravel, added leveling sand on top, and laid pavers on the sand.

I still need to have my handyman cut a piece of siding board to match the white pieces above the lattice panels on each side. I might paint the concrete behind the bench too, I haven't decided yet. But it's nice to have a sunny spot to sit in on cooler days -- the bench is much more comfortable than sitting on the decaying steps.

A Few Flowers

There have been a few things flowering recently, such as the bulbs I planted last fall in the Paradise Garden. I planted mostly things that had associations with Turkish gardens, such as lily-flowering tulips, hyacinths and narcissus.

'Purple Dream' Lily-flowering tulips, mixed hyacinths, grape hyacinths and 'Tete-a-Tete' narcissus made a brilliant display.

The 'Purple Dream' tulips from above, showing their interesting star pattern.

'Woodstock' purple hyacinths with orange wallflowers. Zowie!

Stripey 'Marilyn' lily-flowering tulips. The dianthus on the right edge of the bed mostly survived the winter, but the 12 lavender 'Ellagance Blue' plants that I planted last spring have not made it. Time to dig out my receipts....

Anyway, I'm finishing a few last improvements, moving plants around before it gets hot and before I leave for 2&1/2 weeks in June -- does the thought of leaving your gardens for such a long stretch make you nervous? It sure makes me feel that way! I probably need to get out more....

I hope you are enjoying lovely warm days in your gardens, with many flowers to brighten your days and good weather for finishing garden projects. Thanks for reading! -Beth

The End of July, Already

Hello! It's hard to believe that July is nearly over and back-to-school is just around the corner already. It seems like this gardening season has simply flown by. But we did have a very late start to spring -- I wasn't able to do much work in our gardens until nearly the end of April -- so I guess that makes it seem like a shorter season. After a very hot June and early July, we're enjoying cooler weather the past couple of weeks, and that does make it seem like Fall is coming -- even though I know we'll have more days in the 90s before long.

At any rate, we've been enjoying our fall-like temperatures, and I've been able to do a bit of light work outside this past week in the pleasant evenings. And even though it feels like fall, the flowers we've been enjoying have definitely been high summer season flowers. Here are a few:

The new Paradise Garden is really filling in well, particularly the colorful annuals. I think that next spring I will remove the "stairway to nowhere" in front of the porch that is now enclosed into a sunroom. I'll probably lay paving stones on the ground where the stairs are and perhaps put another bench there. 

Another view of the garden from the other direction.

The 'Rooguchi' clematis I planted next to the pergola is blooming prettily.

This is the first time I've ever tried growing 'Sweet Sultan' Centaurea moschata, and the seeds I direct sowed in May have been blooming for the past few weeks. They're related to Bachelor Buttons, but are lightly scented and look a bit like thistles. 

Tall garden phlox along my front fence.

Self-seeded hollyhocks and pink flowering tobacco in the Front Border.

The Yellow Garden is looking golden in the setting sun.

Sunflowers romping away in the Kitchen Garden.

I had no luck growing gladiolus for cutting last year, but
these are looking better this year.

The gladiolus are certainly flamboyant, aren't they?

Hope you are enjoying many summer flowers in your own gardens these days, and that pleasant temperatures are in your forecast too. Thanks for reading! -Beth

Mid-June Scenes

Greetings! Summer is underway here in the Midwest, even if it doesn't officially begin until next week -- we've been alternating a few sunny days of highs in the nineties with a few days of rainy, cooler weather for the past several weeks now.

The roses have certainly loved this weather: 'Golden Celebration,' above, has looked beautiful, as has 'Seminole Wind,' shown below:

Clematis and astilbes next to my garage make a nice combination.

The evergreen North Border is looking pretty neat and orderly, now that I have removed the flower bed that  was in front of it. We're still working on getting the leftover self-seeded cosmos from the flower border under control, and those will probably keep popping up for years (not that they're such a bad "weed" to have, although they do tend to smother out the evergreen shrubs behind them). 

The Yellow Garden is coming into flower now, starting with early Asiatic lilies and yarrow, and gold foliage dominates the shadier section near the house. The dead-looking tree at right is a laburnum -- I don't think it's entirely dead, but I'm not sure if it has been damaged by residual farm field spray, to which they are apparently very sensitive, or if another malady has defoliated it. This is the second time it has suffered like this in late spring, and if it happens again I will likely replace it with something else. Who wants a plant that looks mostly dead every year?

The new Paradise Garden is beginning to fill in and show a bit of color, despite being planted less than a month ago.

A closeup of the Persian carpet colors in marigolds and short snapdragons in the Paradise Garden.

After a rain shower, the roses and stocks smelled wonderful near the pergola in the PG.

I've noticed with dismay that a number of the flowers in the Paradise Garden have been fatally nibbled, snipped off at the base or completely yanked out, mostly likely by rabbits! I didn't think they would be such a threat inside our picket fence so close to our house, especially since our dog spends most of her time near the house. But she is getting pretty long in the tooth, and probably can't see, hear or smell them like she once did.

Time for defensive measures: I'm going to run some chicken wire fencing around the bottom of the picket fence to try to keep them out. We'll see if the nightly pillaging is reduced after I do this....



Hope you are enjoying the beginning of a pleasant summer in your own gardens (and that hungry varmints aren't munching on your flowers!). Thanks for reading, -Beth

My New Scented Garden

Hello everyone -- I'm sorry it has been such a long time since I posted. Perhaps I haven't mentioned it before, but I own a small retail shop, and my one full-time employee has been on maternity leave since early July, so I've had to hire temp workers and spend more time there than usual. Additionally, the building in which my store leases space was sold and I've had to find a new space, which I'm preparing to remodel and move into in about a month.

Not to make excuses, but I've been distracted by all this, and unfortunately, my gardens have been somewhat neglected this summer, as has been this blog.

But one bright spot has been my new Scented Garden, which, perhaps because it's right next to my house, I have managed to look after, weeding for a few minutes now and then as I water the new plants. So even if the rest of my gardens don't look great, I can at least post about this one area that I've been enjoying all summer. Here's some background:

BEFORE: Last year, the patio was surrounded by roses (at right), perennials such as phlox and self-seeded hollyhocks, and annuals. This photo looks very pretty, but the rear beds were full of grass and weeds and needed to be re-done. Plus, the seating wasn't working for us -- the couch was placed there temporarily while our front porch was being enclosed into a sunroom, and the cushion always seemed to be damp or dirty. It was time for a re-vamp of the beds, and perhaps a table and chairs at which to have tea and enjoy the garden.

Last winter, I greatly enjoyed thinking about and planning a new garden to surround the patio. I read a number of books about various kinds of gardens and enjoyed considering how they could be achieved here in Iowa:

• I first thought of making a tropical garden, full of bananas, cannas, potted palm trees and other exotic things that don't grow in Iowa without protection.
• I also considered making a Mediterranean or Islamic garden, filled with fruit trees and some scented flowers, as well as some kind of water feature in the center.

But then the idea of a Scented Garden began to appeal to me, and I read probably a dozen books about fragrant garden plants. Scented plants are best placed close to the house, where they can be enjoyed the most frequently, and there are many plants of lovely fragrance that I hadn't grown before. So I planned what I would include, started annuals and perennials from seeds, and ordered several plants online to be delivered for spring planting.

Out with the old, in April.

In early March, I dug up most of the roses and moved them to other beds. I also moved a peony, a small patio peach tree and a mock orange tree from other areas to these beds, before they started leafing out.

Then in April, I got down to the real work outside:

1. I dug out all the remaining perennials (except for two boxwoods and one of the original rose shrubs) and moved them to other beds
2. Then I painstakingly dug through the soil to remove every last strand of runner grass 
3. I next installed a plastic edging inside the brick edging to try to keep the grass from growing back into the beds
4. Lastly, I added a thick layer of leaf compost to improve the soil
5. By late April and early May, the beds were ready for planting

A clean slate, except for the plants mentioned above (and a few tulips I couldn't bear to dig out just yet!). I also left the grape hyacinths, as they are fragrant.

By mid-May, most of the plants had been planted. The mock orange shrub can be seen leafing out at left, several potted plants that overwintered in my house are on the patio, and I had bought a new table and chairs for the area. 

Here is a list of the many scented plants that I planted:

Shrubs:

• Mock orange Philadelphus 'Innocence' (moved from another part of my gardens)
• 'Bloomerang' reblooming lilac
• Rosa 'Sharifa Asma'
• Rosa 'Jude the Obscure'
• Rosa 'Golden Celebration' (two divisions that I moved from another location)

Perennials:

• Dianthus (Pinks) - Fringed 'Rainbow Loveliness', started from seeds
• heirloom Iris 'Queen of May'
• heirloom Iris 'Plumeri'
• Clematis montana 'Mayleen'
• Chabaud carnations, started from seed
• thyme
• lavender
• Berlandiera lyrata Chocolate Flower (a yellow daisy-like flower smelling of cocoa)

Bulbs:

• Polianthes tuberosa Mexican tuberoses
• Hymenocallis Spider lilies (these still have not bloomed, and show no signs of doing so)
• Cosmos atrosanguineus Chocolate cosmos
• Gladiolus acidanthera Star gladiolus
• Oriental lilies, pink mixed

Annuals:

• Mirabilis jalapa Four O'Clocks 'Marbles Mix'
• Zaluzianskya capensis Night Phlox 'Midnight Candy'
• Petunia 'Old Fashioned Climbing' (so incredibly fragrant!)
• Antirrhinum Snapdragons 'Royal Bride' (a white, scented variety)
• Matthiola longipetala Evening Scented Stocks
• Malcomia maritima Virginia Stocks 'Spring Sparkle'
• Sweet Pea 'Cupani's Original'
• Sweet Pea 'More Scent' (the name doesn't lie!)
• Centaurea moschata Sweet Sultan 'Imperialis Mix' (sowed directly -- I don't think these ever came up; I'll try them again next year)
• Nicotiana alata flowering tobacco 'Jasmine' (these were lovely and fragrant at night)
• Nicotiana sylvestris flowering woodland tobacco (these were humungous plants -- 5 feet tall)
• Heliotrope 'Fragrant Delight'
• Basil
• Lemon basil
• Helichrysum italicum Curry plant
• Wave petunias (I've noticed that the dark purple ones are highly scented, while other colors barely have any scent)

Potted tender plants:

• Trachelospermum jasminoides Star jasmine (I've had this plant for nearly a decade and it's wonderful every summer)
• Jasminum sambac 'Maid of Orleans' (this everbloomer was in my sunroom all winter and is one of my favorite plants)
• Mandevilla laxa -- Chilean Jasmine (this was disappointing, as it bloomed only briefly and I could barely smell any scent -- I'll overwinter it in the basement and give it one more try next year)
• A large orange tree of unknown variety that someone was getting rid of  (it was decadently fragrant in my sunroom in early spring, but has not borne fruit)
• Calamondin orange tree (I just bought this, and it hasn't bloomed or flowered)
• Gardenia (a swooningly heavy scent -- acceptable outdoors, but it would be overpowering inside)
• Lemon verbena (I've had this shrub in a pot for almost five years, and its leaves are strongly lemon-scented when rubbed)

By the end of June, the Scented Garden has begun to fully bloom.

Another view from the opposite corner of the garden.

Sweet peas 'More Scent,' Snapdragon 'Royal Bride' and Old Fashioned Petunias growing on
a thrift store obelisk with Rosa 'Jude the Obscure'.

Ten-week stocks (Matthiola) that I started from seeds inside.

Potted Lemon Verbena, Jasmine sambac and Star Jasmine, all overwintered indoors. All smelled wonderful in July.

Flowering tobacco 'Jasmine' started from seed and planted along the fence. Fragrant at night

Polyanthes tuberosa Mexican tuberoses, dianthus, heliotrope, Curry plant, lavender and snapdragons.

Cosmos atrosanguineus Chocolate cosmos.

Four O'Clocks 'Marbles Mix'

Some leftover 'Naked Ladies' Lycoris squamigera sprouted up among the petunias, Four O'Clocks and patio peach tree.

Not everything that I planted in the Scented Garden grew well or has flowered, but most of the plants have done better than I hoped. My biggest complaint has been the unusual number of Japanese beetles that have devoured most of the rose flowers (but they seem to be fewer in number now, so perhaps I will be able to smell the roses if they bloom in autumn).

I was a bit worried about planting too many different scented plants in one area, that perhaps the scents would clash or be overpowering. But that hasn't been an issue, as they've largely bloomed over different periods or were most highly scented at different times of day or evening.

The overall effect of the garden has been delightful! There have been times when I could smell an intoxicating wave of scent from the old-fashioned vining petunias as I walked across my driveway toward my house. Late in the evening, the Nicotiana flowering tobacco opens its intoxicatingly scented flowers. And the 'More Scent' sweet peas have an innocent, lovely scent and have continued blooming even through the heat of summer here, aided by nightly watering and twice-weekly cutting for scented bouquets. My husband and I have enjoyed drinking our afternoon tea surrounded by scented plants this summer, and we occasionally sit outside here in late evening, especially when friends join us.

I've greatly enjoyed experimenting with growing new kinds of scented plants, and plan to continue trying still more plants and scents next year. I think my Scented Garden has been a wonderful success.

Thanks for reading! I promise I will try to post -- and read your posts -- more regularly as we go into autumn.... -Beth