by GardenLover | Mar 15, 2014 | Spring countdown
By Michael Leach; photo by Abby Fullen
Choruses of bird songs, gentle breezes murmuring through bare branches, and the distant sounds of spring peepers are among my favorite sounds of the season of rebirth.
Just as evocative but barely louder than a whisper, is the sound of seeds rattling in a paper packet.
Seeds mean seedlings and this conjures visions of sun on the back, warm brown earth and dirt under the fingernails.
After gardening for more for than a half century, the simple act of putting seeds in the soil and watching shoots emerge still excites me more than any other part of this always new business of working with plants.
Some people may yawn. Yet planting seeds unleashes the power of life in a humble row of turnips. The infinitely complex process of life unfolds as the sun warms the soil.
Seeds, seemingly dead things, open with delicate roots and tiny leaves. Eventually an eggplant or an oak tree arises. The astounding transformation is exceedingly commonplace — like the sun coming up — but it amazes me each time I see seedlings or the sun appear.
by GardenLover | Mar 14, 2014 | Gardens to Drive, Spring countdown
Experience the living “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” within Downtown Columbus’s Georges Seurat- inspired Topiary Park
By Michael Leach
“Summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language,” said American novelist Henry James.
Admittedly he probably was referring to an English summer afternoon, more like a late May afternoon in the Midwest. Yet in our region of often sultry summer afternoons, not to mention stifling dog days, summer afternoon still conjures a pleasantness unique to the season of school vacations, swimming pools and backyard barbecues.
Winter, on the other hand, offers little in the way of appealing — much less beautiful — word pairings. Does anyone ever want to read polar vortex again, much less survive it?
How about: mixed precipitation, freezing rain, ice storm, wind chill, snow emergency, road salt, snow shovel, ice scraper, record snowfall, record low, blizzard conditions, jackknifed semi, icy freeways, near whiteout or pot holes?
Some may cite “white Christmas” as beautiful winter words, but after this dreadful winter, is anyone dreaming of that yet?
by GardenLover | Mar 13, 2014 | Spring countdown
March: a wild corner of the yard; later to be covered with green. The grasses in the background will soon be cut down and added to the pile.
By Debra Knapke
one, two, buckle my shoe,
three, four shut the door
five, six, pickup sticks
seven, eight lay them straight
nine, ten, do it again!
This perfectly describes what I am doing in the yard right now. Branches from two red oaks, sugar, silver and black maples, hackberries and a dawn redwood litter the front and back yard. Even our stalwart ginkgo has lost branches this winter. Wind and snow graced us this past winter, and there are many “hangers” in the trees and twigs on the ground. It seems that there are more branches down this year than the “usual”. Although, I’m beginning to wonder what “the usual” is anymore.
This bounty of branches goes into my wood compost pile or into a wild corner of our lot. This is where Mother Nature can do what she wants. Later in the season, Jerusalem artichoke will come up along with many plants some might call weeds: pokeberry (although, I only leave one or two; apologies to Mother Nature), thistles, dock, red clover, ironweed, goldenrod, cup plant and more. I have not taken a picture of this area, because, well… it’s messy.
I also place the leaves of cut-down grasses here. Need to do this soon. These seemingly useless old leaves have been used by resident chickadees and wrens to build their nests.
Yesterday, as I wandered around the yard picking up sticks, I also catalogued the chores to come; can’t wait!
March: the quiescent garden – plastic covered object is an Earth oven protected for the winter.
by GardenLover | Mar 12, 2014 | Gardens to Drive, Spring countdown
By Abby Fullen
After a long winter of dull gray, white, and depressing, there’s no better way to brighten up your garden than by adding the Pantone Color of the Year, Radiant Orchid, in your garden.
This year’s trendy color is described by Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute and the visionary behind Pantone’s Color of the Year, as a “descend[ant] from the purple family, which is kind of a magical color that denotes creativity and innovation. Purple is just that kind of a complex, interesting, attracting kind of color…[The] back-story to purple is that it inspires confidence in your creativity, and we’re living in a world where that kind of creative innovation is greatly admired. In the world of color, purple is an attention-getter, and it has a meaning. It speaks to people, and we felt that it was time for the purple family to be celebrated.”
pantone.com
The color purple is a rare find in nature. Our earlier ancestors probably never saw a purple anything. According to colormatters.com, “The earliest purple dyes date back to about 1900 B.C. It took some 12,000 shellfish to extract 1.5 grams of the pure dye- barely enough for dying a single garment the size of the Roman toga. It’s no wonder then, that this color was used primarily for garments of the emperors or privileged individuals.”
Purple is indicative of nobility and luxury to many people around the world. The shade of purple is important, too. Lighter shades of the color are light-hearted, floral, and romantic. Seems appropriate then that Radiant Orchid is a lighter shade of purple, don’t you think?
As the name implies, Radiant Orchid can be a very bright, eye-catching color. But then, who wouldn’t want to show off their newly accented-with-orchid garden? If you’re unsure, start small. Plant a couple orchid-colored floral plants here and there, and add to the appeal by incorporating the color to a porch or patio, too. Here are some great ways to show off this bright, new, winter-busting color.
Abby Fullen is a Senior at Hilliard Davidson High School. She tends a square-foot vegetable garden with her mother. This piece was written to serve in conjunction with her Career Mentorship class at the Dale McVey Innovative Learning Center.
by GardenLover | Mar 11, 2014 | Spring countdown
By Debra Knapke
The temperatures are fluctuating like they usually do in March and these can be as damaging to our plants as deeply cold temps. Watch for heaving plants as we go through freeze – thaw cycles.
Speaking of cold temperatures: thus far in Central Ohio we have experienced a Zone 5b winter: -10°F to -15°F, and, my three-year-old rosemarys are toast. Deep in my heart I knew that they would eventually succumb to low winter temperatures – see picture above – but I was spoiled by two Zone 7 winters. Some rosemary cultivars can withstand temperatures down to 0°F and even a bit lower if they are covered with snow, but they can’t go down to -14° which is what I had in my back yard.
Fortunately, there is a rosemary-in-waiting in my greenhouse, pictured below. I have started some cuttings, but I have a feeling I will be looking for a few larger plants during my spring shopping expeditions.
By Michael Leach; photo by Abby Fullen
