Looks Like It Could Work

Vertical gardening? Not sure about how the drainage works, etc... but this may work in some situations- let me know if it works for you.

clipped from zenhabits.tumblr.com 4 Amazing Vertical Garden Designs For Growing Veggies In Any Space

Bloom Where You Are Planted

Reposted from this time of year in 2004 (Mar.31)

This is probably the most important adage of the garden. For you, as the gardener, to commune with the sense of your garden. The location which has its own speech and its own beauty.

We often miss that in our modernist thinking that everything will bend to our will. That is a short-lived illusion. And an illusion which masks the incredible experience of exploring the mysteries hidden in the beauty of the natural creation.

We think we will make the alkaline nature of our soil acid. As though the puny amendments of peat moss and sulfurs will rectify the ancient limestone minerals in the makings of our soil. Eventually, the realities will laugh at such efforts. Not this year, and maybe not the next, but eventually.

That is not to say we ought not help the earth be the best that it can be. We should. That is what makes us gardeners. We nurture, we cultivate, we wonder, and we are rewarded. Not that I am trying to discourage any budding Capability Browns out there. I cannot help but think that even Capability had his knowledge of what he what working with rather than against.

So while I read Patrick Roger's Scenic Nursery blog and wish for some of that California fairyland beauty ( that is what it struck me as, in my visit long ago), and have wished, often, for such things as Camellias, I know I would miss the sharp contrasts of the changing seasons. I remember the amazement I once had at a Westerner's complaint that Ohio was so green. Like that was a bad thing!

But we learn to appreciate the specialties of our own part of the world. And that is as it should be. And to appreciate, rather than envy, those of other places. Being what we are, we shall always have our favorites.

And this is what reminiscence is made of, the smell of the evergreen forest in the far north, the humid heat and sweet smells of a mountain in Georgia, the inimitable fall fragrance and overwhelming color of deciduous woodland. Unbelievable bloom in the desert, scent of roses on the wind, there is so much to enjoy.... and your own part of the world can be the place to bloom.
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By the way, my lonicera fragrantissima finally gave forth its bloom, though reduced and late. Just lovely.

Seriously Funny Garden Ornament

Joanne alerted me to this amused look at the state of garden ornament today. Several, including this one, seem just the thing if you have a gothic garden.

... and I didn't realize that gnome dumping was part of the garden gnome scene. The things you learn on the internet!

clipped from www.homegrownevolution.com

Garden Posters

Margaret has found some wonderful retro posters.

clipped from awaytogarden.com The Library of Congress collection includes 908 original posters produced as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. Of 2,000 WPA posters known to exist, the LOC’s collection of more than 900 is the largest, the site explains. I simply searched by keywords for topics like “trees” and “farms” and “flowers,” but there are nearly 900 more to be enjoyed, on other subjects.

Early Spring

Earliest Crocus chrysanthus

Spring is just now breaking in Ohio. The winter has been a long cold one here, and throughout most of the USA... but the beauty of our gardens is that they remind us of the circle of the seasons. As surely as winter brings its cold and calls forth on all living things to endure, so spring calls forth a renewal of life.

Seasonal foods are always a part of our spring rituals, it seems. For each culture, and each region, it may be somewhat different... yet constant in the desire to celebrate this turn of the circle towards warmth and growth.

I invite each of us to allow hope and creativity to be given nurturing, as if we were the little crocus struggling through the leaf mulch of last autumn's fall, and winter's smothering snows. It pushes through to be the harbinger of spring's sure arrival, alluring to bees and humans alike as we gravitate towards the open blossoms and bright colors shining as they do in the drab, still dormant, surroundings of winter past.

Here are a few Spring celebrations from our vault here on the Journal:

• One Gardener's Journey
• Le Dent De Lion  
• Southern Spring Gardening
• Old Fashioned Things 
• Thoughts on a Spring Garden 
•  Pruning Tips

On Asparagus

• Artisan Asparagus
• Asparagus and Garden Plans
• Molly Fisk, Asparagus

Garden Fashion - New Trend

You may not think about it that way, but gardening is as much a fashion victim as home interiors. Who has avocado green appliances any more? And who admits to little circles of flowers in the front yard? Point made. Large scale landscaping follows the same track on a bigger scale, and probably over a longer time span.

Sometimes we need change, something to keep our surrounding fresh, and sometimes a certain fashion just "fits", but as any well dressed woman knows, there is a basic well designed foundation from which to detour into some less permanent, but fun directions. Good Gardening is like that.

That said, I was first made aware of "Garden Walls" "Vertical Garden"..."Living Walls" or whatever they will finally end up being termed, at the Garden Show this year. Since then, I've seen the concept on sites online, so it has been around for awhile, just not on the horizon of most home gardeners. Is it a fad or something that people will incorporate into longer term use?

First, there seem to be some systems, one which looks like a wall board with cups. Another that looks like a network. Urban Gardens explains that experiment in detail, including the illustration above. It is quite technologically complicated.

The Gardening Bride

You know the woman loves plants when this is her wedding dress.

Made me smile when I saw it.

clipped from madickensvarld.blogspot.com

Give Me Some Gardening Passion

I love huge urns

I should feel guilty about this. I should, but how will there be future improvements if everyone applauds a less than stellar performance? I was sent tickets to The Central Ohio Home & Garden Show this year, and I should give a thoroughly positive review of it, right? But the problem is that it left me somewhat indifferent.

I did buy seeds and take pictures, but whether it was the economy or the unusually severe winter, while the displays had some interesting ideas, overall, they lacked passion.

I was snowed in at the start of the show, and finally made it on Wednesday. The plants did not seem to be well watered, and were a little wilted looking. Later, I thought it might be due to the colder than usual weather, but I really don't know what goes into creating the garden displays. Just from the viewpoint of a visitor, I had hoped for more.

Still, there are always benefits from seeing what professionals feel are design elements that create a great landscape.

I'd personally like to see some innovative plant material used in more of the presentations. "Art in Bloom" was the theme, which I expected would be more inspired in execution. Here are the photos and I'd like reader opinions. Granted, the crowded conditions and my less than wonderful pictures may be a handicap, but perhaps you could comment and tell me what you think...hot or not? Is the passion there for you? Or is what's missing merely me?

A cute raised bed- but plain jane

the newest trend- a green wall

The busiest garden- the bee exhibit

many elements- many sculptures

iconic Ohio

sculptured false cypress

My own favorite -herb garden and wall art

Overall seemed French and Classic, but not sure what is going on

The pond in the sculpture garden

Monet's Garden Bridge

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The "Bee Garden" had the longest line for entry. It reminded me of the displays that Metro Parks has for educating the public about natural features or environmental issues. There were some cute resin bees attached to the tree branches, and a number of bee skeps around, but I didn't get that the garden was for attracting or supporting bee life. It didn't seem about the garden and its relationship to bees.

I hate to complain, but (now you know I'm going to) each year I think there are way too many azaleas and rhododendrons. They are hard to grow here, and while they look beautiful in bloom, other flowering shrubs might have given more individuality to the designs. The weeping cherry trees were certainly beautiful. You see, for me it was a mixed bag. And that is a shame, because if the landscape part of the show doesn't bring in the most money for the exhibitors, it certainly is the biggest draw for the show. The garden displays are what most people go there to see.

Tip-toeing into Spring

I went to the Home and Garden show last Wednesday - it sure was crowded. One benefit was that I purchased some tomato seeds to start. This year is particularly good year to have a later start on indoor seeds, since the harsh winter is still with us here (even though temperatures are rising and feeling pretty good this week). I still have some piles of snow, and the fields and parts of my landscape are still white. For me, that means the ground will stay cold, the thaw will keep the soils wet, and the vegetable garden space will not be workable for a long time yet.

Starting the seedlings later will avoid the legginess that holding them inside for so long would produce. Hopefully, I will have thrifty plants just the right size for transplanting into the garden at the right time.

This year I bought some "Black Krim" and "Pink Caspian" heirloom seeds to try them out. After reading on some forums this winter, those were two names that stood out among the recommendations for good flavor. I had planted 'Pink Caspian' previously, and it had been successful, so it made the short list for this year. And I will buy a pack of 'Better Boy' plants from my neighbor's green house. Just to make sure I get some healthy homegrown tomatoes. It isn't cost effective for me to start seeds of a commonly available hybrid like 'Better Boy', and I buy those locally.

I will have many more tomato plants than usual. I have to figure out where to put them, since I need to rotate space after last years problems. I might just use some of the "decorative plant" spaces! I have some bulb flower beds out front, in raised boxes. Last year I didn't put anything in them for the summer, and maybe this year, with tomato tepees I could plant them for food crops.

This is the year of the food crop.

I saw an organization idea (not new, but a reminder of seventies re-purposing) @ In The Garden. Block and Two by Four Shelves and her Gourd tree. Our winds here would make short work of the gourd tree, but I could really use the shelving for some of my extra pots, etc, out by the garage. This is something to add to my list and post on the Gardenfile.

Things i'll be using this week:
Burpee Ultimate Seed Starting System

The New Seed Starter's Handbook

Gardening with Heirloom Seeds: Tried-and-True Flowers, Fruits, and Vegetables for a New Generation

March and Its Wind

It is March now. In the laziest of months the prairie winds blow wild here, but in March they really let loose. Only a blue moon hurricane does worse. You have to develop a sort of tolerance for these winds, something my husband never seems to have done. Every year, he spits out, "that wind!" with a grimace and inflection that makes any cuss words unnecessary. He hates the way the afternoon winds kick up in the best of times, and especially when they blow hard in the transitional seasons.

Our winds can make the house rattle, they can send things not battened down halfway across a field. The chimney cap comes off with regularity.

But you can fly kites here, if you have a liking. And you can feel a cool breeze on those blasted July days when the city sits in its breathless dead humidity and heat.

Mornings can often be still. Not in March, though. March can blow a grown woman sideways if you let it. Spring storms are a'coming, with their first blasts still of a cold bluster, but I'm looking forward to those at the end of the month. The time when the unmistakeable warmth of those southeastern winds bring that balminess and scent of warm earth thawed and getting ready for April's growth spurt.

It is then one can love the wind in its more kindly aspect.