Meltdown

With February almost at an end, and March just around the corner, we are experiencing the big "meltdown". Ok, maybe it's not so big, that is, it's not like temperatures are a balmy 50 degrees.

Still, with days 6-8 degrees above freezing and now lots of rain, we are finally getting some snow melt.

These photos were taken just over a week ago when we experienced our second blizzard of the season. While I can honestly say I'm tired of shoveling the walk, driveway and a path to the mailbox, I must also admit newly fallen snow is beautiful.

As beautiful as the snow is, it was quite a chore to go out and knock it off the branches. Many of my evergreen branches hang over the power lines here so leaving the snow on them isn't a great idea.

Take it from me though, don't throw your only snow shovel up in the tree to knock off the snow...also, don't throw the rest of your shoves in the tree to knock down the snow shovel. My advice? Find a ten foot long piece of PVC pipe and use it to get all those shovels and snow out of the trees.

Any of you who've read my blog for a long period of time have seen photos of my garden bicycle. Even in the snow it looks adorable, doesn't it?


If anybody is home here, they're going to be awfully cold...

But for those of you with the winter blahs (and who among us doesn't have those blahs?) this photo was taken February 20, 2008 so potentially this what's waiting under all that snow.

So take heart, spring is truly around the corner!

Melanie

My Garden

Each year I visit a good number of gardens. They are always inspiring to me, filled with ideas, new plant material, a wonderful expression of passion.

The feeling though of being in my own garden, is almost impossible to describe. There's passion for the plant material that is growing there. Joy for the successes I've had. Dreams are made each and every day and hope always abounds.

Maybe that's why the depths of winter are so hard on gardeners. Looking out at the bleak, dreary landscape, it's hard to imagine that it will one day be lush and green.

I didn't have the heart to photograph the dingy piles of old snow, covered with thrown bits of gravel. The mushy muddy ruts in the driveway are even less attractive, not much interest in the plant material that's out there either.

I'm so grateful for my photos, they are my window to what was and what will be once again. Yesterday I finally fulfilled one of my major "to-do's" and downloaded all my photo files onto a new external hard drive. I think that if I lost all my windows, my life would truly be dark.

So a reminder to all of you, I'm always encouraging you to take photos in your garden. Well, don't forget to back them up too!

Off to gaze out some more windows,
Melanie

Kniphofia

One of my favorite photos is this one, taken in July of 2008 at the Herrenhausen Gardens in Hannover Germany. It was so far away from home and yet, at the same time, the gardens felt as if they could have been right here on Long Island.

In the center left of the photo is a large stand of Kniphofia, more commonly known as red hot pokers. While these plants are quite popular in England (and possibly Germany), they seem to be ignored by gardeners here in the USA.


Perhaps the problem is that most American gardeners are only familiar with the red hot variety, that is, the one with an orangish red tip and a yellow base. Yet this is only one of the colors available in this plant family.

This photo is an old scanned slide but it was taken in my garden and I've had this "red hot" Kniphofia for many years now.

Another Kniphofia that I've had for years (another oldie but goodie from Franks Nursery) is this lovely chartreuse variety. If it has a name, I don't have it labled in the garden. One thing I can tell you though is that the color here is not that far off, it truly is a chartreusse bloom.

True yellow Kniphofias are not difficult to find. I had this one in my garden for 4 or 5 years before it suddenly disappeared.

The same goes for this amazing Apricot variety. It was spectacular here for at least 4 years and then POOF it was gone. It makes me wonder if Kniphofias are short lived perennials. If that is the case then the solution is to divide them before their fourth year, something I will keep in mind in the future.

Doing some research online, I've found some interesting information on these plants. While I knew they needed good drainage, much to my surprise I read that you will increase your chance of overwintering them by tying the foliage together for the winter.

In past years I've noticed that when I cleaned around the Kniphofias in the spring that you could easily tug divisions out of the ground, as if they had rotted right at the soil level. Apparently by tying the foliage together, you keep the water and ice from getting inside that crown. Very interesting...

Anyway, my recommendation to all of you? Try this beauty in a full sun location. I don't think you'll be sorry you did!

Melanie