The Year of the Cutting Garden
Every year I add a few more flowers for cutting. This year I feel like I’m finally getting a good number of things. I can have bouquets of one variety of flower or mixed bouquets in different colors. Here are a few of the arrangements I’ve cut from the garden this year:
I’m a big fan of bright green, purple, black, and light pink when it comes to flowers to cut for bouquets. Although this year I have loads of sunflowers and flowers in other colors.
What colors do you tend to love when it comes to flowers?
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Transplanting….
I’m always transplanting perennials and shrubs. Over the years I’ve found out what works and what doesn’t. When Northern Gardener asked for article ideas for the 2019 season, I recommended one about dividing & transplanting perennials.
Since they accepted, I’ve been out deciding what I need to move. I’ve transplanted a few roses, bronze fennel, and other various herbs so I can take photos of the process.
The things I transplanted last month are starting to leaf out once again and should be lush by the end of September. When we moved to Maine 6 years ago, I brought almost and entire moving truck filled with plants from my old garden. Every single one of them survived, which was amazing since it was early December when I dug them up.
Do you move plants frequently? Any great tips/tricks to share? Or any specific questions you have that I should definitely cover in my article?
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Color Combinations
Throughout the gardening season, I’m carefully watching plants in the garden for: color, form, structure, height, texture, and bloom time/window. As I work, I try to not which plants would make great combos in the garden in the coming years. This summer, I noticing that the ‘First Glory’ Veronica would pair perfectly with sweet while alyssum with maybe a bit of bronze fennel in there for added color and texture.
Next year, as I edit the perennial borders in front of the main vegetable garden, I’ll be creating this combination. I may also add lamb’s ears and some garlic chives to the mix to extend bloom time and add more textures and layers.
A few years ago, I discovered that I really like tithonia and verbena bonariensis together and have been growing them in combination ever since. This is not only a favorite of mine, but also of the pollinators, especially the monarchs. One of my all time favorite combinations is chives and lamb’s ears. I had them in my foundation borders in Ohio and LOVED this combo. I’m currently working on propagating chives and lamb’s ears to add a few of these vignettes throughout the borders here.
Last year, when we were visiting Kingwood Center in Mansfield, OH, I noticed this combination of bronze fennel growing up around allium seed heads. There’s something so wonderful about this mix, definitely a combination I hope to be trying in the gardens here in the future.
Plant combinations is one of the things I always notice when I tour other gardens, I’m always looking for options that appeal to me to implement here in the gardens of Chiot’s Run. There’s something wonderful and finding just the right mix that appeals to your specific tastes.
What are some of your favorite plant combinations?
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Harvest, Harvest, Harvest, Repeat
This time of year it seems the harvesting starting in full swing. Not only are all the summer vegetables like zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers starting to produce in large quantities, the long term storage vegetables are ready to harvest as well. Over the past two weeks I’ve been slowly harvesting my garlic and onions.
This time of year we start getting more rain, so I’m always watching the weather to determine when I harvest these root vegetables. They definitely store best when they’re harvested after a dry spell. That means that sometimes they’re harvested a week or two early to avoid being drenched with an inch of rain during a summer thunderstorm. In fact, my garlic was harvested two weeks early because they were predicting a few weeks with lots of rain.
What are you harvesting this week?
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Start from Seed
Last fall I visited the Johnny’s Selected Seeds Research Farm and saw a clematis vine with the puffy seed heads. I plucked one off and brought it home to try starting a vine from the seeds. After putting them in flats and watering them throughout the winter, nothing happened. Before composting them, I decided to put them on heating mats with my spring seedlings.
Low and behold, they started germinating. Two germinated on the mats, one survived and is about two inches tall now. The other one didn’t make it. I left the flat under the grow lights and I have three more seeds that have germinated and look like they will make it. I’ve tried starting clematis from seed in the past, but never had any luck. I’m thinking that I just haven’t been patient enough. Some of the seeds are just germinating, which means it’s been almost a year that they’ve been in the flat of soil.
I had no idea what the clematis was going to look like, there were no blooms left on the vine when I gathered the seed pod. When I went back two weeks ago I spotted the vine, with blooms:
Will my clematis look like this? Who knows. I’m excited to see what the flowers look like when it does bloom, most likely two years from now. I’ll keep you updated on this fun experiment as time goes on. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my vine will look just like the one pictured above, the yellow blooms are stunning!!!
Do you like to start things from seed?
