November in the Garden: Planning for Next Year

This summer’s intolerable heat and lack of adequate rain has changed the way we will plant our gardens from now on.   My new mantra is “Plant more of what didn’t die last summer.”   We made a fall expedition to Bustani Plant Farm in Stillwater to find some Oklahoma native perennials that should thrive more easily and have some of the same visual appeal as the plants that didn’t make it.

The blossoms look like small wisteria flowers.

I found this Pink Chinese Indigo that can reach a 3′ x 3′ size.  It should be drought tolerant once it is established.  This does not look like a plant you would find out in the Oklahoma wilds, but it is.

Pineapple Lily

Christy loves lilies.  She had found a Pineapple Lily in Pennsylvania a couple of years ago and couldn’t manage it on the plane so she was thrilled when Bustani had them for sale.  Their appearance is so exotic, it doesn’t seem possible for them to be perennial, but it is true. This is a great plant to add for a contrast to other leaf textures.

Light blue flowers.

We both bought Amsonia Hubrichti, last year’s Perennial of the Year and a native of Oklahoma and Arkansas.  This is a well-kept secret.  They have very pretty light blue flowers and reach a size of 3′ x 3′.   The foliage is feathery and will move in the breeze for even more added interest.  What a great plant!

Gorgeous setting.

The Gibraltar Bush Clover has awesome possibility.  It bloomed as soon as I planted it behind my little pond.  It has the potential to reach 40″ H by 60″ wide and wouldn’t that be spectacular.  If it reaches that size, it will engulf the pond, but I’ll deal with it if that happens.

These are just a few of the very pretty and tough enough to take our weather plants from Bustani that we are trying.  They may help us even the odds against our summers.

Bringing in the Tropicals

It makes me sad to take my lush, oh so happy palm trees and ferns of all kinds in for the winter.  It is always a sort of quandary: they’re not really that expensive, and this is a lot of trouble, but I hate to see a plant die when it doesn’t have to.  So, I spent most of the day today unpotting and repotting tropicals, combing their fronds with my fingers and Joyce Chen’s to remove dead leaves that dropped in during the past weeks, and driving them to the store, their leaves flopping out of the back of my trunk, to spend the winter in their back room at the store.

Because it is a back-breaking job, I started with the smallest first:  the Kimberly Queen ferns.  These are wonderful plants; I get more every year.  If you haven’t found them, they’re like a Boston fern but their branches are more upright.  They are gorgeous; I pop them into two urns in the spring and they get very large by the end of the summer.  They would live until Thanksgiving if I left them outside.

When I remove them from the urns, they are rootbound enough that they come out intact and the soil and roots are in the exact shape of the urns.

It is easy to work on them in this condition; there is no dirt mess to deal with.   Dead leaves get stuck down in among the fronds, and around the base.  You can separate the fronds methodically and get rid of the debris.  Cleaning out the debris  will keep them healthier, with less chance of them acquiring a bacterial infection during the winter.

To repot them for the winter move, I removed the bottom 4 inches or so and try to loosen the roots before I put them in their lightweight plastic pot with a few inches of fresh potting soil added.  I inspect them for pests; ants, spiders, sowbugs, whatever.  There were very few.    I think that fewer pests find their way into urns since they have the tall stem so far from the ground.  Thats my theory anyway.

I soil scooped some fresh potting soil in the bottom of the new pot and around the edges.  The end is in sight, only 7 or 8 more to do, and most of them are larger.   Don’t worry, won’t bore you with each plant.   Because it is repetitious and not very mentally stimulating, I listen to the sounds of nature while I work.  There is a lunatic mocking-bird that sounds like 6 different songbirds; very inventive.

I also soak a few chunks of Pinon wood in charcoal starter fluid and pop them into an empty glazed terra-cotta pot on a stone, near enough to enjoy the aroma without being smoked out.  The neighbors tell me they enjoy the lovely aroma too.

Then, being finished with the repotting of the first fern, I watered around the area where the roots meet the new potting soil; the outer ends of roots absorb the water.  One fern down, watered in and awaiting transport to winter lodgings.

Several hours later a variety of ferns including several of these gargantuan Mondo ferns with their 4′ long fronds(saved the worst for last), a Jasmine, and several succulents have been repotted, watered, and transported or are ready to transport.

I feel that I did the right thing to attempt to save these beautiful plants; I feel fulfilled after a physically demanding day of lifting heavy plants.  Now, if I can remember to water them every couple of weeks and keep them healthy until late March, I will have it made.   Woo Hoo!

Garden Armor

Until we found Weeder Gloves, we really didn’t like to wear gloves while gardening; they were too bulky and clumsy and hot.  Weeder Gloves changed our minds.  They are sensitive enough that while wearing them you can pick up a dime; you can feel what you’re doing with small tender plants.  We have customers that make their living bundling vegetables and they won’t wear anything else.   They are porous, so they breathe, making them very comfortable to wear even in the summer.  Moisture will get through but not dirt.  And they come in green, pink, and lovely lavender so you can garden in your favorite color!  Their  cousins, the Cool Grips, are even lighter weight making them great for hot summers in Oklahoma.

We love the Rose Pros gloves.  If you have roses, you know how their thorns will scratch and stick you no matter how careful you are.  This year the Rose Pros have been redesigned to be even MORE comfy and they were already fabulous.  The stitching is now on the outside for a smoother inside surface.  These pure cowhide leather gloves with suede gauntlet are a must for pruning roses or anything else stickery.  It is amazing that something so soft can act as such a protective armor.  The gauntlet comes almost to the elbow, enabling gardeners to reach into rose bushes to collect trimmed canes.  For anyone allergic to roses, these gloves guard against painful scratches.  Speaking from experience, you will love these gloves; they are amazing!!

The one size fits all Floral Infusion gloves are ideal for everyday gardening: potting, weeding, pruning, and watering.  These brightly colored gloves look like a beautiful watercolor image and they are fun to wear, rather glamorous while protecting your hands.  Their fingertips are double dipped to help prevent wear- through.  All gardeners need gloves, and these make a wonderful gift that will be used.

It would be hard to find a softer garden glove than the Bamboo Fit.  Made from bamboo, they delight even those who hate to wear gloves.  This renewable material easily wicks away moisture from your hands, is light weight and cool and is easy to wear during hours of gardening.   As with most of our gloves, they are machine washable.  They are available in green or blue in small, medium, and large.   You will be happy that you treated yourself to a pair of these gloves.

We also carry Wonder Gloves for very wet and muddy work and Tool Grips for heavy-duty gardening tasks.   We also carry size XL gloves for men.  We own or have owned every one of these gloves and we use every one of them whether at home in the garden or at the store.   Try any of them, you’ll like them too!

We’re Talking Trash

What is the weight of 25 pallets of cast stone and glazed terra-cotta garden ornaments?  More than 22,000 pounds.  A week or two ago we received a warehouse full of wonderful, absolutely gorgeous fountains, containers, benches, and statuary from Campania.  Those wonderful pieces were packed in hundreds of used burlap bags that had previously held coffee beans and cocoa beans from all countries around the world.   It is sort of fun to notice the various logo art that is printed on some of the bags from Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia,  Nicaragua, Viet Nam, and more.  But after picking up 50 or so, the attraction wanes and the dust makes your allergies flare up.

We hired four young, strong men to unload the pallets and they stacked the burlap bag packing material in several mountainous piles.   We called out the sales rep for the dumpster company to tell us how to get rid of the bulk as quickly as possible.  A 30′ L x 8′W x 6′H dumpster was recommended and it was right on target.  Christy, Rindy, and I worked for two days piling burlap bags into the dumpster.

This is just the beginning.

We kept in mind the reward would be a trash free warehouse with a lot more room.   A hoarder I’m not;  I am well-known for my propensity to throw away things, so now was my chance!  Still it made sense to get rid of the flat burlap bags first and stack bulky things on top.  The stack continued to grow.

The size of this dumpster is unreal.

We could only imagine the icky things that had filled this dumpster before and we didn’t want to touch anything inside, so we lined the floor with burlap bags and tried not to touch the sides at all.   And then, late on the second day, it was full!   We weren’t strong enough to toss the used pallets on the top, so the guys had to come back to top it off.   We won’t have to do that again for a while!  And now for a few sessions with the deep tissue massage therapist.

Not my idea of fun.

Now the plan is to turn the warehouse into a warehouse showroom with a working fountain section, cast stone and glazed terra-cotta container sections organized by size and color palette, to help customers most easily find the garden accents that will complement their homes and gardens.

Soon it will be organized.

It’s like a puzzle; a big, heavy, puzzle!

Replaced Puny Plants at Bustani

Well, if this summer was any indication, there is no point of buying any garden plant that is not an Oklahoma native perennial.  We are now officially hooked on Bustani Plant Farm.  Today was its first open fall sale day and we were the first ones there.  To be honest, we had in mind to get there, buy what we “needed”, and get back to open the store by 10:30.  It is a 45 minute drive and we took a lot longer than we projected to look at the plants, decide what we wanted, go outside to view the demonstration gardens, and go back in to get one more plant.

First you have to browse.  We were familiar with most plants, but you still have to look, admire, and  consider where you really should plant each one.

So many to consider, even if you know what you want.

   We  had looked at the website the night before and made a list of the plants we should get.    Even if you know what you want, there are so many other possibilities to look at and some look better than you though thtey would.

Maybe just one more toad lily, what could it hurt?

These are native Oklahoma perennials JUST FOR FALL PLANTING

Baby plants are on the ends of the branches; they touch the ground and root.

A very large Pineapple Lily; very cool.

This is an amazing color. A climbing vine on an arbor.

I like this Rue, it has cute leaves, a nice form, low water requirements.

Not sure of name or species but it is lovely.

Jack in the Beanstalk vine; is there any question?

Some very large plants; one has a bud.

Tugela Ruby Pineapple Lily

Last year on our trip to the Campania showroom we took a field trip to Terrain, an amazing and expansive garden center.  There was a striking display of Eucomis Pineapple Lilies that I fell in love with.  I knew that it would be impossible to carry the plant back with me on the plane, along with all the other carry-on items and purchases, so I left them behind and took with me the knowledge that I would find one in Oklahoma.  When the Bustani Plant Farm’s fall catalog came out there was an entire article on Pineapple Lilies saying that they would have several varieties in the spring!

The first spring date they were open I was ready to make that drive to Stillwater to get my lily.  Alas, it was also my son’s school piano performance (where he played Kuhlau’s sonatina #2 in G major), so I had to wait one more day.  Early the next day we were on the road to make our purchases.

The Bustani Plant Farm is so much fun; it is easy to get overwhelmed and over buy.  My goal was the Eucomis; I would take ANYone, but I wanted the Tugela Ruby.  I thought that they would surely be sold out because I wanted it so much.  Each year there is always a plant that I obsess over.  In years past I have wanted a ginkgo tree, a paddle plant, and bee balm that I perennially kill.  I excitedly looked around—they had loads of lilies!  I got my single Tugela Ruby Eucomis Pineapple Lily after waiting eight months.

With the fear of last year’s awful hail storm, every storm that came through the city I would dash outside and bring my precious lily in.  Last year my paddle plant survived the hail, but sustained major leaf damage.  The one big hail storm we had this spring, I was outside and made a dash to try to move my car to safety and forgot my lily; one leaf took a hit.  On our buying trips I worried that its tiny pot would dry out in the 100 degree temperature; with the help of my son’s watering and the few rain storms we had, it survived.

When I first brought my lily home, there were just a few strap-like leaves.  I watched as it developed a small growth in its center.  Fairly quickly a tall shoot sprouted, about a foot and a half, with a top that resembled a pineapple.  Lots of tiny star-shaped flowers came up along the shoot in a pretty pink hue; but I was most excited about the tiny yellow accents on the flowers, almost like fiber optic lighting!

Several days ago I noticed what I thought would be a second shoot and more flowers, but take a look.  I think that this could be secondary plant growth.  If another shoot comes up, I will take pictures and show the amazing progression.  I highly recommend these South African zone 8 plants!  Christy

The Best Private Gardens We’ve Ever Seen! Susan Smith’s

Nina Schneider told us that when we saw Susan Smith’s garden, it would blow our minds.   That is something, coming from a garden designer with a fabulous garden.   It was mind-blowing.   Susan’s garden won Philly’s Best Garden just a week or so before our visit, and Philadelphia knows gardening.

As we entered her front courtyard from the street, we noticed our Campania Faccia planters perched on the top of her 6′+  high stone wall corner posts.  Peter said that she really likes to have fun with her garden.  She changes the color emphasis every year and incorporates accessories that appeal to her, no matter what they are.   We began our tour in the front courtyard which I noticed had an iron doormat with a frog pattern; there were a number of tasteful frog ornaments here and there.  Her accent colors this year are cobalt blue and silver.   She found cobalt blue glass mannequin heads at an estate sale; her gardener made pedestals for them and they decorate her front shade garden.

Susan's cobalt blue glass heads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really like the contrast of the variegated succulent in the cobalt blue pot; it really pops.   She bought new silver glazed terra-cotta

Susan Smith's planters and hose pot.

Campania hose pots and immediately determined that ordinary green garden hoses would look hideous with them, so she searched and found silver garden hoses to match.

 

 

As we proceeded around to the side, we passed her new bee hives painted to match the green trim of her home.

She has become a beekeeper within the past year.  It was fascinating learning about the beekeeping classes, the inspector coming to check them for lice, and more.  One panel of honeycomb can yield 30 lbs. of honey. yum

Passing the beehives, we came upon a charming vignette.  The large green wooden structure was part of a porch that declined; she wanted to save part and used it as a fabulous garden wall.  Huge healthy Hydrangea were in abundance as well as Hostas by the dozen.  

Susan's side garden, entrance to back garden.

 

 

 

 

Susan Smith's Medici Elipse fountain in Hydrangea.

As we walked through the entrance into the back garden, we walked over a ceramic floral image that had been imbedded into the stone pathway.  To our left, a Campania Medici Elipse was nestled under a low hanging tree nearly engulfed by a white Hydrangea.  As we passed from area to area, we realized that the garden was definitely divided into rooms and in fact she mentioned that it was designed by renowned landscape architect Frederick Peck, who was the creator of the garden rooms concept. 

She had incorporated fountains and bird baths throughout her garden, adding to the lush ambiance.   As soon as we had passed the Medici Elipse fountain, we could hear a  great watery splashing and discovered it was coming from a large Campania Longwood Gardens frog pond spitter.   A large koi pond with floating silver gazing balls was host to the frog spitter; it was definitely a place to linger.

 

Then, we found the very large Peter Pan bird house; the replica of the Darlings’ home on the front, a decomposing pirate ship on the back and all manner of Peter Pan and Lost Boy sayings decorating the sides.    This is garden fun.

Peter Pan's Bird House

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patio with LED cone lights.

But the most unique features probably were the white opaque cones lit with LED lights on each side of one area of the patio.  The interior of her home is contemporary, so they are compatible and she loves them.  Why not?

 The opposite end of the patio is bound by a large green arbor covered with New Dawn roses and a lavender Clematis on each side.  Every rose in the garden has a Clematis companion.  To the left is another shade bed with a bird bath and a large

Susan Smith's rose-covered back patio.

simple low round fountain with a millstone top, all very subtle and serene.   She did tell us that while she was away for a few days, her Greek gardener had taken it upon himself to power wash all the lovely green moss off the patio stones and replace the lovely grit between the stones with light beige play sand.  He left on a trip to Greece before she arrived hom, which probably saved his life.  He will be rectifying all of his good intentions.  It’s always something, no matter what a great garden you have.   Want to move to Pennsylvania, anyone?

The Best Private Gardens We’ve Ever Seen! Nina Schneider’s

Continuing the private garden tours in Chestnut Hill, PA., was sublime torture, but we persisted.  We couldn’t imagine anything better than Peter’s home and garden and the others weren’t better or worse, just different.  We have noticed that a garden cannot help but show the qualities and personality of its owner.

Garden designer Nina Schneider's arts and crafts home.

This charming home belongs to garden designer Nina Schneider and her husband.  It is a smallish arts and crafts house built in the 1950′s by the former head of the Philadelphia power company for his retirement home.  Nina and Peter serve on the Board of the Morris Arboretum together.  Peter grew up next door to what is now Nina’s home and told us he was always jealous that when he was shoveling the snow off his driveway as a teenager, the man next door just turned on his heated driveway and the snow magically disappeared.   Back to Nina…she is an avid collector of unique plants and a very talented garden designer as you will see.  In the front flower bed she has collected dozens of dwarf conifers just like the ones we have in the store and she was familiar with our source.

Nina Explains Origin of Garden Ornament

As we made our way into her garden through her simple wooden gate crafted by her husband, we came upon a Campania fountain, imagine that!   Then we entered her shade garden; her Hemlocks were huge and almost everything on that side was sheltered.   It was visually serene; again, I was taking fewer photographs than I wanted to because I didn’t want to run out of batteries at a crucial time and there was so much to see.

Nina's Shade garden.

Also on this side of her garden were some remarkably beautiful and unusual plants such as this large blue, blue Lacecap Hydrangea and a Lion King day lily, incredibly ornate and colorful.

Christy with beautiful, huge Lacecap Hydrangea.

The Lion King!

In a sunny spot Nina had a pair of Italian Impruneta terra-cotta planters full of succulents and sun-loving annuals.  Impruneta has a gorgeous patina, is frost proof, durable, and so expensive it is not commonly found.   Fortunately, we were able to buy some for our gardens before Campania stopped importing it; we would practically protect it with our lives.

Nina's Italian Impruneta containers.

As we turned a corner going into Nina’s back garden, the vista took our breath away.   She is a master at using color and plant combinations to give continuity to the garden, but make it overwhelmingly interesting.   This garden is rectangular in shape, however with the archway, gravel path, and plant choice, she has given it the illusion of depth in the opposite direction.  A vegetable garden lies hidden at the far end.   Notice the small succulent at the bottom left next to the pathway; it is silver and has flesh ripping thorns.  To the left of this vista is a large Blue Spruce that was selected for its deep purple cones; it is underplanted with a pink Lacecap Hydrangea next to a blue Lacecap Hydrangea that came up from seed.   Nina said “Be aware when you weed; sometimes something really good will be growing.”

Buying Trip Plus Plus

Stacy and Christy by Wiggles and Giggles.

As we mentioned in our July 2011 newsletter, we were going to Campania in Pennsylvania on a buying trip with a quick stop in NYC.  Upon arriving at Laguardia, we met our rep, Maribeth, and made our way outside to find Christy’s cousin Stacy.   We found her, tossed our bags into her car and away we went.  First stop was her new business, Wiggles and Giggles, a darling mommy and young child exercise playhouse in Manhattan.  It is at the end of a street that borders the river with the George Washington Bridge above as you can see in the photo.

From there, we took the subway to the West Side and lunch.   A NYC customer recommended a few restaurants and the Peruvian one sounded interesting.  It was so lovely temperature wise that we decided to eat alfresco.  There were 5 of us and we think that we gave others the idea, because soon their outdoor patio was full of diners.  We ate leisurely, staying for more than an hour and the food was abundant and very good.  But we couldn’t stay there all day, so we went sight-seeing.  We had been to NYC before, but not in this exact area.  We found a garden store at my request, then  shopped for clothes, and stopped in to see the magnificent interior of St. Patrick’s Cathedral on the way to Rockefeller Plaza.  I just wanted to see where the Today Show,  my favorite morning TV show, is produced.  That done, it was getting late and we had to move on to Pennsylvania.

I'm relaxed.

We always stay at Bear Creek, a nice ski resort near Pennsburg.  It is peaceful and quiet, not very crowded during the summer months.  Monday morning, Christy and I had breakfast by the pool while waiting for Maribeth.   It was warm, but not too warm, just right.

We made it to the Campania factory in 20 minutes and proceeded to their research and development lot to look for unique buys.   We found twice as many as before; success!   We stopped for lunch and then went to the showroom to see all the new products.   So much to see and to like, we were overwhelmed.   We went out to dinner with Maribeth and Glenn and then off to sleep before our garden tours the next morning.

Peter's pool.

There’s nothing like prowling around a gorgeous garden to make an avid gardener become even more avid.   Peter, the Vice President and Creative Director of Campania (his late father founded the company) took us to his home and park like garden in Chestnut Hill.   The home was magnificent and so were the grounds.   His home was built during the 1930′s, on a hill, so the property is on three levels.   High rock walls provide support and serve as a home for moss and

Back garden wall on second level.

hundreds of small ferns and flowers.   I told him I had moss envy, which I did, as well as fern envy and very tall tree envy, let alone cool weather envy in a township too cute for words.    Rocks, moss, and ferns everywhere, just delightful.  This garden backs up to a large park; it feels very much like a park.  He said he spent 12 hours on Sunday maintaining and weeding.  Not really a problem; I would do it.  The property goes on

Back garden meadow.

and on, beautiful and serene.

Unbelievable.  Here comes the moss envy.   I kept lagging behind, looking for the best vignettes; it was making me crazy, all the vignettes were wonderful.  I was hoping my batteries would withstand all the activity.

 

Down to the lower level

Now we’re going down a staircase just to the right of the meadow above. This is a very steep staircase.   What great exercise, but not with bags of clippings or mulch.

A grand vista.

This is a grand, impressive view.   Very few if any properties like it elsewhere.

An interesting window.

The view from this upstairs window in a study is lovely, looking over the grounds and the carriage house.  the loggia is just below.

The loggia.

For us, this was an impressive beginning of a day of private garden visits.  Thank you for coming along.  We will create a new post to hold the images of the gardens of Nina and Susan, Peter’s friends.  You’re invited.

Aaah, Spring…

A couple of weeks ago, it felt like spring was going to slip through our gardeners’ clutching fingers, but instead it retreated back into below 50 degree days and nights in the mid-30′s, refreshing the tulips and gardeners.   Now, if we could get a little rain, she said, whispering so the bad weather gods wouldn’t hear, overreact and drench us for two weeks.

Back in mid-February I realized I had not pruned the wisteria in the garden, so I spent several days reducing its size.  It looked ridiculous without its leaves, a little like Stan Laurel had missed his haircut for a couple of years.  I trudged out for this necessary but unwanted job armed for every possible situation with my trusty pink tub trug, saw, telescoping loppers, and Felco pruners.   The branches were a long tangled mess.

I sawed and trimmed carefully for several hours over a three-day period until it was diminished  evenly and its 30′ strands were pulled out of every nearby tree and shrub.    The tub trug was filled and emptied dozens of times and I filled up both big trash containers on wheels.    And then I waited and watched, slightly concerned that I could have actually killed it.  naaah.

On a “give myself a little gift of a 10 minute garden tour” after work a few days ago, I found some healthy blooms and they do smell delicious; just the beginning of spring in this garden.   Frequently there is a late freeze and it is such a worry that these gorgeous blooms will be ruined, but it hasn’t actually happened yet and it doesn’t seem likely now.