Winterest

My decision to NOT cut back the shrubs and perennials so ruthlessly last Fall has paid off in some very nice winter interest this year. 

Here's a pic just at dusk when the solar lights came on.  The contrast of the white snow and the dark plant shapes is very attractive.  This is way better than just lots of lawn... :-D

Click here to return to Melissa Majora main page.

Gauze and effect

Now that it's September, the light is far less intense.

Time to let more light into the deck plants.













Wow.  I didn't remember just how many spring clamps it took to keep up all that gauze and floating row cover.















And look at the pile of nylon netting that came out of the vegetable garden when I shut that down this weekend.  What a mess.












There.  All folded and ready to be stowed away until next year.













Sure is bright on the deck now.  But with these cooler temps, the extra sunshine is now WELCOME there, both for me AND the plants.


Ahhh.


Click here to return to Melissa Majora main page.

MUMmy dearest

For some strange reason, the mums went wild this year.  Perhaps it was the mild winter.  Or the bizarre 2-week summer we got in the middle of March.  It certainly couldn't have anything to do with the blasting temps or drought that arrived in early June and has persisted.

Whatever the reason, the garden mums have gotten huge.  Just look how 4 plants now dominate the bird bath bed.







The red "Five Alarm Fire" (planted 'temporarily' 2 years ago) in front of the Sum and Substance hosta is tall and filled with buds.

Even the ones that I so casually dumped into the big containers in front of the deck last Fall have surprised me.

Then there's the (honestly unwanted) dandelion yellow (there's another one in the deck planter) in the arbor bed has grown pretty well considering the blasting sun and no water except for the infrequent rain.

As for the rescued white mum (from Mom) I installed in the front half of the asparagus bed - well, I'm just saying it's a good thing I'd put a bamboo teepee over it early in spring.  The branches have grown up through the structure and the huge plant doesn't even blink at high winds.

Now, when it comes to bee forage, mums are really pretty useless. (ASTERs on the other hand.... but that is for another post).  But you have to admit that they give a riot of color late in the season when most other blooms look faded and/or ratty.  But even then, I do not rate mums among my fave plants (although they DO seem to be deer resistant - unlike the aforementioned asters, poor things).

Having said THAT....

I was wandering through the local (and very pricey) nursery and took a peek at their display of mums.  $7 for a 3-quart mum?  Not on MY budget.  There were the usual suspects: red, rust, yellow, lavender.  Nothing worth a 2nd look.  Then I turned down the last aisle.

And fell in love.  Well, at least LUST.  Here was something NEW.  Something WONDERFUL.  I gasped.  (Yep, it was that exciting.)  It was named "Peach Fusion", but to my mind it was more like a creamy terra-cotta.

I waved over a staffer and peppered her with questions.  Was it hardy? What color would the blooms fade to? How big will it get?  All her answers were: "We don't know."  You see, it's a first timer at the nursery.  They've never grown them before.  (Oh c'mon!  They must have had info before dedicating tunnel space to a new variety.  *fume*)  Be that as it may, I couldn't stop myself from picking up not one, but 2 pots!  $14?  Me?  Oh, good grief....

Thing is, for once in recorded history,  I had the PERFECT spot for  2 mums of this color.  It was a match born of lust and timing. LOL

There.  It wasn't more than 2 hours before I'd planted these 2 beauties in the crabapple bed.  I envision lots of growth next summer and then a blush of blooms next Fall.  Be still my heart.

But the story doesn't end there.  The next day I had to get some hardware from Home Depot.  Just as I was leaving, I saw staffers rolling out a half-dozen racks filled with 1-qt mums.  The usual colors.

But they were only 88 cents each!  88 cents, people!  And they called to me.  "Buy us.  We're CHEAP.  We're pretty. You can dump us ANYWHERE and not feel guilty if we don't grow.  Buy us.  Buy us." Ha!  Me?  No way...

I'm so weak.....  Oh well.  Altogether these cost less than just 1 of the Peach Fusions.   I can always enjoy this lot on the deck for a month or so then plant them back by the golf course -- where all my cast off plants end up.  No harm.  No foul.  *heh*


Click here to return to Melissa Majora main page.