Blooming 04/12/13

Here are some things blooming in the garden right now.

Crossvine 'Tangerine Beauty'

Dianthus 'Fire Witch'

Amaryllis 'Red Lion'

Dutch Iris 'Carmen'

Clematis 'Candy Stripe'

Bourbon Rose 'Zephirine Drouhin'

Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip'

Knock Out Rose 'Radtko'

Noisette Rose 'Crepuscule'

Potato Vine 'Alba'

Lady Banks Rose 'Alba Plena'

 New Unknown Cameillia questionably name 'Pink Dawn'

Azalea 'Trouper Orange'

Bearded Iris 'Christabel'

Never Too Early to Think About Mosquitoes

 

It’s Spring time and it’s time to get out in the garden full force. If you are like me, you’ve probably lost several plants to the elements with all this crazy weather we’ve been having. No rain, extreme heat and just plain old life have left me with huge holes in my garden. To make matters worse, the end of January when I was cleaning up debris and cutting back plants I had a moment of inspiration or temporary insanity and I just started snatching plants out of the ground like a mad man for no apparent reason. I guess it was a desperate need for change. At any rate, I now have a huge bed that is about 2/3 empty. I’ve been frantically trying to think of what plants I want to put in to replace the ones I’ve, um er… lost.

Anyone that has a garden as extensive as I do knows that mid-summer it becomes a playground for thousands of mosquitoes. I try my best not to spray on a broad spectrum because I don’t want to do anything to hurt the beneficial insects in my garden. Now I will squash the occasional wasp, but if they don’t mess with me or damage my plants I usually leave them alone. I think every living thing adds its own energy to the garden and it’s a huge part of what makes you feel so good when you saunter through one. Sorry, I digress…

Because of the tremendous mosquito problem I have and trust me I definitely have one; I’ve decided to fill several of my garden holes with plants that mosquitoes find offensive. I apologize for not having photos of these plants, but at least I can provide you a list of them and maybe it will be of help to you. The key essential oils we are looking for in plants are Citronella, Linalool and Citronellol. Citronella being the most affective of the three.

Scented Geranium- Why don’t we start off with the oh so popular scented geranium or Mosquito Plant (Pelargonium citrosum) . While the plant does have a lemon scent to it, a study done by Florida A&M University showed it actually has no affect on mosquitoes. They will actually land on the plant and rest themselves while they wait for us to arrive. The University of Guelph in Ontario performed a very similar study by extracting the essential oils and using them on test subjects. The results were the same, completely ineffective at deterring the little varmints. Rose Geranium, however has a much higher level of Citronellol and may be more successful.

Lemon Balm- Lemon Balm contains 400% more Citronellol than the afore mentioned Scented Geranium.

Catnip- Catnip contains Nepetalactone which has been proven to be 10 times more effective against Mosquitos than DEET. Your garden kitties will love you for it as well.

Citronella Grass- Cybopogdon nardus and Citronella winterianus are the true varieties of Citronella grass and are considered to be the very best deterrent again the winged vampires. Unfortunately, they are only cold hardy to zone 10.

Rosemary- Is known to repel mosquitoes AND moths.

Lavender- The New York Botanical Garden highly recommends this plant. It contains considerable levels of Linalool, which has been scientifically proven to repel those worrisome gnats. It’s effectiveness on mosquitoes is controversial, but it does also fend off fleas and roaches. Rosemary and Lavender were both plants I was already considering so both will find their way into my empty bed.

Monarda punctata- Contains Thymol which is a mosquito deterrent, guess what else contains the same chemical? Listerine… which can be mixed with water and sprayed in your garden. Thymol is a key ingredient in many pesticides. Kind of scary to think about it being in your mouthwash isn’t it?

Marigolds- Contrary to popular belief, marigolds do not deter mosquitoes. However! The roots can release enough of a natural chemical compound into the soil it kills nematodes. So that’s a good thing.

I took quite a bit of time to carefully research theses plants and read university studies to provide you with as accurate information as I could. Hope you learn something from it. Keep in mind none of these plants will work if the essential oils are not released, so brush of against them on your evening stroll in the garden.

Blooming 03/23/13 *** a small update***



*** Hey there everyone, we had a HUGE frost last night. I'm curious to see what its done to the garden this afternoon when I get home. I also want to thank all of you for all the nice thoughts and prayers from the previous post. It's been very hard, but I can't help but think Jamey would want me to, in his words, "Put my big girl panties on" and concentrate on healing and moving forward. Hope this all finds you having a wonderful week and thank you again. ***

In Loving Memory

This garden would never have been possible without Jamey... This post is in honor of him.

In Loving Memory

James Preston Lawson

05/28/83--02/25/13

Surgery Update 02/19/13

 

 

 

Well,

I’m sort of back. :0) It’s been one week since my surgery and things did not go as anticipated. I’m doing just fine, but it was a little more involved than expected once they actually got in there and got to looking around. They found two different types of protrusions in two different places on the same side. Which explains why my abdomen and various other unmentionable parts feel like the Dr. played a round of golf while he was in there. I’m so grateful and happy he found it and I don’t have to go back later and get something else fixed. It only adds two more weeks to my healing time, but it seems like much longer when you are sitting around in the house looking outside at all the things that need to be done. I get to go back to work in a week and that will help keep my mind occupied. People have been telling me this is a good time to catch up on my reading. Ha! Try that when you are taking 6 Lortab 10 a day. I was doing well not to drool all over myself when I sat up. Nothing is worse than waking up from a deep sleep to find your face is lying in a cold pool of slobber. Eeeeeeeeeew! And don’t even get me started on the five o’clock shadow down there… feels like I’ve got a porcupine in my lap. Oh well, such is life and when things wear out we have to get them fixed. The great side of all this is my back pain has completely disappeared for the time being and there is a chance the only reason I was having it was because of the two hernias. Wouldn’t that be great? :0) So here I am, lookin’ all like Frankenbelly with 6 rows of sutures, but I’ll be back in garden hopefully pain free this year just in time for Spring. Yaaaaaaaaaaay! Many thanks to all my friends that have been such a great help. Love all of you guys! 

 

P.S. I have a cool robin story to tell you when I feel more like doing a post. Best wishes and see you soon!

Blooming 02/05/13

Have a great week!

'Crimson Candles'

 

I was busy in the garden this weekend finishing up the last things on the to-do list before spring. The garden is all cleaned up with the exception of a few stray leaves that I will suck up with the lawn mower next weekend. You know how it is; you never have EVERYTHING caught up in the garden. There is always something that needs to be done, but I’m feeling good about where I am with it right now. While I was tidying up, I was really surprised by everything that was blooming. Of the things in flower I decided to stick with ‘Crimson Candles’ for this post. It’s such a beautiful vision in pink.

 

I could never figure out why this Camellia was named crimson when it blooms so pink. Most especially since there are crimson colored blossoms on other cultivars. The only explanation I can think of is the buds. They’re a much deeper tint and although I’m color deficient they do appear a shade of red to me. I still wouldn’t call them crimson in my opinion. Look at the fuzzy little hairs on the bud.

 

What I’ve read on this shrub would indicate it’s a fairly new plant, just introduced in 1995. When I think of camellias my mind instantly goes to heirloom plants from generations past. Like the one I got from my grandmother’s home. For me they also invoke visions of women from the Victorian period sauntering through the garden. I don’t know why, it just does…

 

‘Crimson Candles’ can reach heights of 10 feet and get as wide as 6 feet. I’m going to let mine get some height on it, but I am going to try and keep it pruned so it stays kind of skinny. I want it to form a column of sorts. This camellia blooms from January to March and is extremely cold hardy as the species goes. Its blooms are much more forgiving of cold and frost than average camellia blooms. That’s good for me because the coldest month is usually February here.

 

In other news, I got evaluated by the surgeon and I’ll be having my procedure on February 11th. It’s not a major ordeal; I just can’t do any lifting until I’m completely healed. I’ll be out of commission for 6 weeks after that, but at least I should be rip raring and ready to go by the time spring gets here. Yaaaaaaay! Since my hard work this weekend, the garden is all ready to go. I won’t have to be stressing about the arrival of spring and starting off the season behind. Hope this finds you all well and happy.