Prilia Blog

The last week has been pretty slow in the garden. I am still waiting on most warm season crops. Its been so warm this year youd think they would be ahead of the game. Good thing I am starting to learn patients. Here goes some photos of the same old harvests:

I was reminded of these dapper fellows on the Spanish steps, in Rome last winter break, while poking around my photo archives last night.

I mentioned them to my gardening companion (the photographer) this afternoon and he didnt remember them. Hmm.

They were quite striking.

Ive always had a sneaking admiration for the adaptability of weedy species; theyre amazingly flexible in their reproductive strategies -- annual (winter or summer), biennial, perennial -- either terrific seed producers or excellent vegetative spreaders. Lots of strategies!

Weedy winter annuals love our mild winters, so I always get lots of exercise pulling them up in open mulched areas. Fortunately, theyre easy to pull, creating mounds of compostable material (composted hot if plants have gone to seed.) Weedy species vary in their success year to year, but since winter annuals are adapted to quick growth at low temperatures, relatively speaking, and producing flowers and fruits quickly in spring, its hard to keep ahead of their seed production.

And usually, Im behind; even here in the Carolinas, its often too inhospitable to get out and weed (uh, sometimes the weekends are cold and rainy, even if we do have perfectly nice days periodically in the winter).

So, Im out there pulling up all the suspects right now, chief among them ivy-leaved speedwell, Veronica hederifolia, which of course has already gone to seed. It wins the prize this year for peskiest winter annual. Whether it was the summer drought, followed by a decently damp winter, who knows?

Ill put on my plant ecologist cap for a moment and mention that for a winter annual, ivy-leaved speedwell has exceptionally large seeds. And, produces a LOT of them. Its pretty unusual for a weedy annual to produce seeds that large.

This is a species native to Europe thats well adapted to disturbed soil and open areas, so is at home in our mild winter areas.

Lets move onto a topic other then me stuffing my face with melon shall we, ha. To a topic that doesnt make you smile, the dreaded BLIGHT! After finding blight on my tomatoes and peppers last August I really didnt do much about it. I did remove some branches and spoiled fruit but that was about the extent of it. Since then the tomatoes actually started to rebound with lots of nice new foliage. Well that is not the case anymore:

Blight is back with vengeance. It is not very disappoint this time around however because all the tomatoes are done now. My next garden project will be a major clean up of all blight infected plants and I will be disposing of the material with the citys compost pick up. That way they will still be composted and wont be infecting my garden again next year, at least that is my hope. I think I will also put out any mildewed, cucumber, squash and melon foliage with the blighted stuff.

My plan was to do the clean up this evening but it is such an insipid drizzly day I think I will wait for sunnier times. Looks like the weekend will be sunny and cool so it will be much more pleasant to do the task then. To all the folks affected with blight this year, lets hope for a better season next year.

Our local big box stores are raring to go, with hardy transplants (standard varieties) of broccoli, cabbage, and collards, as well as romaine, leaf, and butter lettuce (also pretty standard varieties) all just as easy to grow from seed. (At least the seed offerings are much more extensive than they used to be at these garden centers).

The array of tomato and pepper transplants available, as well as squash and cucumber seedlings, is certainly aimed at sales, not success; our average last frost date is April 15, a good 5 weeks from now.

An interesting new twist is offering up pots of arugula (at least they might be hardy), but growing arugula from seed is SO easy, a pot of a few young plants is an impulse buy, pure and simple.

But what really amazed me (I actually bought a pot as an experiment) was a pot of very young leek seedlings. Leeks? In a big box store? Offered by the mainstream purveyor of herbs and vegetable transplants? Hmm, maybe were making a bit of progress in terms of vegetable varieties, or maybe its really easy to germinate pots of leek seedlings (probably the latter). To the producers credit, they have a very nice account of how you should transplant leek seedlings into the garden (suggesting that the ones in their pots would be a MUCH larger size).

Theyre supposed to be pencil-width by the time you transplant them, so these (having barely got past the cotyledon stage, and sporting seed coats, in some cases) are hardly ready for the outside world. But they were attractive, and obviously I bought a pot.

I transplanted the largest seedlings to several pots of potting soil enriched with compost. It will be interesting to see how they fare. I havent had any success with leeks before, but I havent tried very hard either.

Im sort of remembering that germinating seeds in the summer, and overwintering leeks is the best method in our hot summer climate. But young leeks are tasty, according to the purveyors website! All Im familiar with is the huge, woody version in the supermarket, so maybe Im in for a treat.

Seed mix, sown last year, created by Piet Oudolf using seed from Cruydt Hoek

The new meadow style area at the Oudolfs - created three years ago: perennials with Dutch wildlflower mix sown between.

Aruncus and Rodgersia at Kwekerij Jacobs

Thermopsis carolina at Jacobs

 De Kleine Plantage is a wonderful nursery near the north coast, run by Fleur van Zonneveld and Eric Spruit, who I first met years ago. Here we first see the crisp hedging we get so used to on this tour but as a framework for lush perennial planting. Fleurs colour-themed arrangements of pots, of both annuals and perennials are always a special feature.

We like our group to colour co-ordinate - Amalia Robredo with one of the plant selections at de Kleine Plantage.

Sculpture exhibits are always a strong feature at de Kleine Plantage.

Aristolochia macrophylla on the magnificent late C19 Landhuis Oosterhouw.

Very Mien Ruys this. Modernist quirky hedging at Tuinfleur.

Roberta Ketzler discovers a hedge to lean on.

The Ton ter Linden garden

The prairie garden made by Lianne Pot, mostly lupins at this time of year.

 
 

Not actually a member of the party turned to bronze.

A small town garden in Groningen, we visited on our last night

Nico Kloppenburg explains

Vermont in June. You cant beat it.

Delicate pink peonies open.
The thimbleberry shrubs are in bloom
Wild strawberries are growing in the field.
Garlic scapes begin to form.
Lettuce is abundant as are the weeds.
Beets are thinned and added to the latest salad creation.
Our sage plant is in flower.
The hops are growing up their string supports.
The dahlias and glads are poking up from the soil.
The ladys mantle has a spray of golden flowers.
The lemon balm and oregano are ready to be trimmed and used in the kitchen.
Tomatoes need to have their suckers pinched.


So much to do, but I love every minute of it.

Ill be back next week with a new book I think youll enjoy.

Clemson horticulturist Tim Johnson augering a planting site

I became involved in a tree planting project somewhat by accident, but its turned out to be quite rewarding. I was asked by a friend (who shares local food interests) if I could suggest some shade trees for the Clemson Child Development Center (which shares a building with the Clemson ARTS Center, and the Clemson African-American Museum).  Sure, I said.

The building ( I think) was the former black elementary school many years ago, re-purposed later for K-1 (?) as the Morrison Annex (to Morrison Elementary School), now replaced by Clemson Elementary School.  In any case, the building has been there for a long time.

Perimeter trees were planted at the time it was last renovated, but there were still no trees surrounding the playgrounds for the CCDC.

I sketched out some ideas, money for trees was raised, and somehow, were going to plant 6 oaks, 5 dogwoods, 5 oakleaf hydrangeas, and 5 blueberries on Saturday and creating mulched beds around them.   Woo-hoo!  Somehow, I think, the spark was provided to make this happen. Synergy.

I ended up spending a lot more time that Id imagined talking with folks, arranging trees and the augering of holes (thanks to the City of Clemsons horticulturist), suggesting mulch, etc.-- all relatively easy, really.

Augered holes for an oak, a couple of dogwoods, and two oakleaf hydrangeas

Its definitely reminded me how simple actions can make a difference.

i just love them!  when i was about 12 or so, i saw a painting of a vintage bike set against a moss covered brick patch and giant wall of a variety of hydrangeas.  the painting spoke to me at that young age and there started my appreciation for hydrangeas.  to me, they represent so many things i love; theyre coastal, classic, romantic and fit so nicely in so many different types of gardens.