garden

dive into coleus

Written on February 2, 2012 at 9:55 am , by Denny Schrock

 

Coleuses have undergone an amazing transformation in the past few years. No longer relegated to the dark corners of the garden (although they still fill that role admirably too), the brightly colored foliage of coleuses can now take center stage in full sun thanks to numerous sun-tolerant introductions. At this year’s American Nursery and Landscape Association Clinic, the Under the Sea Series of coleus from Hort Couture won the Garden Idol award, meaning it was the favorite of attendees. Plants in this series are characterized by extreme frills and dazzling colors reminiscent of life on a coral reef. The ones that I’ve seen growing in the garden add an exciting element of texture paired with stunning colors.

The aptly named Under the Sea coleus series takes my thoughts back to the days when The Little Mermaid movie was first released, and the song, ‘Under the Sea’ was popular, at least among the elementary and pre-school set, of which my daughters were a part at the time. I remember them performing that song with their friends at a 4-H talent show. They didn’t come away with any American Idol awards, but getting up on stage and performing was a good experience for them. As they sang,
“The seaweed is always greener
In somebody else’s lake…
Just look at the world around you
Right here on the ocean floor
Such wonderful things surround you
What more is you lookin’ for?”

Indeed. I have a bench of coleuses in my greenhouse, just waiting for spring to arrive. I can’t wait to create islands of color with them in the landscape. Look for Under the Sea coleus at independent garden centers this spring.

 

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary

Written on January 27, 2012 at 10:52 am , by James A. Baggett

I found this vintage black-and-white photograph years ago at a flea market and it’s always intrigued me. It’s obviously a float in a parade with the theme of “Mary, Mary Quite Contrary” and if you look closely you can see a sundial and a lattice trellis covered in flowering vines. I can spy angel wing begonia leaves around the perimeter and if you could look real close you could see that some of the flowers beneath Mary have creepy doll faces. I’ve never heard of a May Day parade. Perhaps an Easter parade? Maybe this isn’t even in the United States. What do you think?

 

garden tour part 2

Written on July 14, 2011 at 10:26 am , by Denny Schrock

Today is the day for the garden tour at La Ventose (the name of our home and garden), appropriately enough on Bastille Day. Last week I posted photos of the backyard. This week it’s the front yard.

Secrets to Better Birding

Written on April 22, 2011 at 2:40 pm , by James A. Baggett

Imagine my excitement to find a new bird book by my friend Kenn Kaufman waiting in my mailbox this week. Kenn’s the originator of the Kaufman Field Guide series, which includes books on birds, butterflies, mammals, and insects. He has also written Lives of North American Birds and two birding memoirs, Flights Against the Sunset and the classic Kingbird Highway. His new book, the Kaufman Field Guide to Advanced Birding (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), deserves a spot on your natural history book shelf. Anyone with a keen interest in identifying birds will find this book makes the learning process more enjoyable—and that truly understanding what we see and hear can make birding more fun. That’s a shot of me (above) and my former art director Jarrett Einck on a birding trip with Kenn a couple of years ago at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

To celebrate the publication of Kenn’s new book and in honor of Earth Day, here are Kenn Kaufman’s top 10 secrets to become a better birder:

1.  Put birds in boxes. No, not literally. But if you can separate birds into categories, the challenge becomes much simpler. If you can decide that a particular bird is a woodpecker, for example, then you only have to choose among a handful of species, instead of hundreds.

2.  Check the map, check the calendar. Although free-flying birds might show up almost anywhere, usually they are predictable. One of the most valuable resources you can get is a local bird checklist that tells you which species are found nearby, and at what seasons. It’s a tremendous advantage to know which birds to expect.

3.  Always look for multiple clues. In the early stages of learning, it’s tempting to settle on one diagnostic mark on a particular bird and ignore everything else about it. But this can backfire in a variety of ways. Top be sure, always look for other marks as a backup.

4.  Exercise you ears. You can train yourself to be a better bird-listener. When you hear a new bird song, try to describe it to yourself in words; the effort to describe it will help you to remember it.

5.  Shape up your birding. One of the best field marks for any bird is its shape: with enough experience, you can identify most North American birds by silhouette alone. When you’re looking at a bird that’s easy to recognize by its color or markings, take an extra minute to notice its bill shape, tail length, head size, and other aspects of shape. Then you’ll know that bird if you see it in an odd plumage or in odd light.

6.  Look at fliers. Birds fly—that’s one of the cool things about them. But many birders tend to avoid looking at flying birds, because it’s harder to see standard details on a little bird that’s moving fast in the air. Make the effort to study birds in flight, and soon you’ll be recognizing more of what you see.

7.  Fanfare for the common birds. Finding a rare bird—well, that’s exciting. But to recognize that rarity when it shows up, it helps if you know the common birds extremely well. Paying attention to the most common, everyday birds will pay off in helping you to pick out something different.

8.  Write it down. The most valuable learning tool for birding—more important than binoculars or field guide—is a pocket notebook and pencil, so that you can take notes on the spot. Not just the names of birds, but details about what they’re doing or what they look like. (If you’re brave enough to sketch the birds, that’s even better.) Concentrating enough to write about or draw a bird will hjelp to fix it in your memory.

9.  Spend more time looking. Many birders spend 95 percent of their field time looking FOR birds, and only 5 percent looking AT birds. The surest way to improve your skills is to shift those percentages: don’t stop looking at a bird as soon as you know what it is; instead, take a little more time studying each one. Birds are beautiful to look at anyway, so this isn’t exactly a grim assignment!

10.  Learn to let some get away. No one can recognize EVERY bird they see or hear—even the top experts have to let some go unidentified. So don’t worry if you can’t put a name on every bird. The important thing is to have a good time. Birding is something that we do for enjoyment, so if you enjoy it, you’re a good birder.

Rays of Catalog Sun

Written on January 19, 2011 at 2:43 pm , by James A. Baggett

My mailbox was frozen shut yesterday, but boy was I glad once I pried it open. Inside I discovered another ray of catalog sunshine waiting for me. There’s something so hopeful and reassuring about the pile of seed and plant catalogs piling up beside my bed while the thermometer outside my window dips below zero. I love nothing more than to pore through each and every mouthwatering catalog, even if the plants they offer up would be as out of place in my Zone 5a garden as lilacs in Louisiana. Since most of us are already familiar with the Burpee and Park Seed catalogs with their staggering Technicolor photographs and whopper flower and vegetable seeds, I thought I’d share some of my favorite lesser-known catalogs (above) well worth hunkering down with during this dreariest time of year:

• High Country Gardens (highcountrygardens.com) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, makes the case for alternatives to conventional turfgrass lawns, and offers plenty of plants that will look great with minimal upkeep, especially water. When it comes to native and low-work and water lawn choices, David Salman is a true pioneer. I’m excited to try their new pink cotton lamb’s ear (Stachys lavandulifolius), an amazing wildflower with a profuse display of fuzzy, bright pink flower spikes that’ll be right at home in the hard clay of my hellstrip.

• Prairie Moon Nursery (prairiemoon.com) in Winona, Minnesota, is nothing if not passionate about native plants and prairie restoration for the Upper Midwest. They are the source for more than 600 native species, from the familiar (Culver’s root) to the hard-to-find (small-flowered leafcup). I only wish I had space for all eight varieties of liatris they offer.

• Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (SouthernExposure.com) in Mineral, Virginia, features more than 700 varieties of heirloom and organic seeds in addition to tried-and-true favorites, with an emphasis on heritage, flavor, and disease resistance. If only our growing season was long enough to try their ‘Whopper’ peanuts, which the catalog says are twice as big as ‘Virginia Jumbo’.

• Sand Hill Preservation Center (sandhillpreservation.com) in Calamus, Iowa, is stewarded by Glenn and Linda Drowns, “genetic preservationists that are in this for the genetic diversity of this planet we call home.” They offer more than 1,600 rare and genetic treasures—seeds and poultry—for your selection. They produce all of their eggs for hatches, tend all of their own flocks, weed and care for the seed crops, and produce about 80 percent of the seed they sell.

• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com) in Mansfield, Missouri, carries one of the largest selections of seeds from the 19^th century, including many Asian and European varieties. Baker Creek was started by Jere Gettle at the age of 17, when he printed the first catalog in 1998. The company has grown to offer 1,300 varieties of vegetables, flowers, and herbs—the largest selection of heirloom varieties in the United States—and we’re glad to call them our friends. Their breathtakingly gorgeous radishes will be featured in the Fall 2011 issue of Country Gardens.

spring unleashed

Written on March 19, 2010 at 2:07 pm , by Jane McKeon

Spring unleashes the inner puppy in gardeners. With boundless joy, we can’t wait to get down on all fours and dig in the dirt as soon as the ground thaws. Thanks to a new German Shepherd pup in my house, our first signs of Spring this year were muddy paw prints on the living room carpet.

With house-training little Apollo as my main motivator, I spent a lot of time outdoors this past month examining every square foot of our property, several times each day. Nose to the ground, Apollo follows scent trails of rabbits and deer while I inspect the tree and shrub damage those hungry critters have caused.

Yesterday, I discovered a pair of cheerful yellow winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) blooming in my woodland garden. Nearby, a clump of jonquil (Narcissus hybrids) sprouts were muscling their way through the leaf litter. Fortunately, the rabbits and deer find these tender morsels distasteful.

Before too long, I’ll be digging in the garden. I hope Apollo doesn’t get any ideas.