Garden Talk

One of the things I like the best on sales day is getting to talk to other gardeners. Whether they are beginners or have been gardening for years, there's always something new to learn.

Yesterday Bonnie and I were talking about websites that are helpful. It's taken me years to learn that some plants require specific conditions and that I need to do a little research before choosing their spot in my garden.

Google is always a great place to start. For instance, you can simply type the name of this plant 'Cotula squalida Platt's Black' in Google search and you'll find different website that will tell you more information about this plant.

When it comes to Hosta, I have a favorite website too. I go to the Hosta Library if I want to check out photos of hosta. It's almost impossible to identify your hosta if you have no clue of the name but if you have a name you can do wonders here.

I was lucky to have made a list one recent winter with all my Hosta names. My crazy doodle-dog Calie went through her puppy year and ripped out most of the name tags on my hosta out back. Since I had the list of names, I was able to identify many more varieties.

For instanace, my list tells me I have Hosta 'Sweet Home Chicago' but I didn't have a hosta with that name on a label. I knew it was in the back bed, so by going to the Hosta Library, I looked at their photos of Sweet Home Chicago and was able to identify that the large Hosta in the upper left corner of this photo is it! Hooray!!!

Sedums are another passion around here and I have a great website for them too. You can visit Sedum Photos and find more pictures of Sedum than you could imagine. When it comes to Sedum, I was actually able to identify a cultivar in my garden without knowing it's name at all.

Sometimes I just want to go to a site to drool over plant material. Squaw Mountain Gardens is one of those sites. It's not a place to go to for pretty pictures but for me with my passion for sempervivum, I like to go there and window shop :-) I've never ordered from them but some day I finally will.

The sun keeps peeking in and out today, very good conditions to take photographs. I think I'll go photograph my hardy geraniums that have started to bloom.

Enjoy your weekend!
Melanie

Time Line

People often ask me for gardening tips. My number one tip in the garden is one that I've shared over and over again. If you've heard it before, you're going to hear it again.

When buying perennials, don't buy all your plants in the beginning of May. Nurseries can only sell plants that look good at the time of sale. Many perennials just don't look good in May, some haven't even broken the ground yet. If you purchase the bulk of your plant material in May, your garden will only shine in May. Keep some open spots in your garden and continue to visit the nurseries through the growing season. This will help you add plants that will extend your gardening season.
These three photos were taken on August 4, 2008. I hate to garden in August, I'm just not genetically designed for the heat (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). While the Hosta you see in these photos might already entice you to buy them in May, the other flowering material might not.

This second photo shows Astilbe in bloom (Kim, if you are reading this can you tell me once again the name of this darling Astilbe you shared with me?). There are many different kinds of Astilbe, I've begun to add quite a few to the garden. They flower at different times, this one is a late bloomer. If you were shopping for plants earlier in the season, you just might choose a pot that already has an early bloom showing instead of this lovely variety.

By the way, I don't know why but I have yet to take one decent photo of an Astilbe. I'd better keep trying.

Looking at the photos from last summer amaze me. This garden is so lush and chock full of plants that I tell myself it desperately needs dividing and yet, right now it looks so bare and empty. Oh, my eye just caught the fact that on the left side of this photo is an Astilbe with spent blooms (that means they are finished for the season). It was a white blooming Astilbe and if I remember correctly, it tends to bloom at the end of June and into early July.

I was going to add another tip when I noticed the holes in the Hosta but I'm going to post that one to my other blog, Melanie's Old Country Garden so come visit me there too!

Today looks like a good day to get out and play in the dirt.

See ya!