Sample Seeds Garden

2011 Trek to Cottage Gardens Daylilies

2011-07-11T19:10:00.003-04:00

Every year a couple girlfriends and I make the drive out to Medina, NY to visit Cottage Gardens Daylilies. We would all tell you it is worth the visit. This year was sunny and warm, perfect for strolling around looking at the flowers.The daylily field is quite the site to see during the month of July.

This year I bought the following four.

Alpine Mist

Only Believe

Minstrel Boy, yes I know terrible name, but the flower is gorgeous.

Skinny Dipping, very tall, just what I needed.

Brent Ross, the owner, is always helpful and friendly.

His wife Debbie and he have created a beautiful house garden containing other complimentary plants and even a water garden complete with water lilies.

I take so many photos of daylilies there, it is hard to pick just a few to show you. But here are some of the beauties that were blooming.

Plucky Pixie

Darlington County

Primal Scream

Twist and Spin

Mask of Eternity

I Wanna Piranha

Hope you enjoyed the pics!
If you would like to see all the photos on my photobucket album, Click Here.

Parade of Roses

2011-06-23T21:16:00.002-04:00

Delphinuim and 'Vineyard Song'

I'm busy busy right now so I can't discuss much, but suffice it to say that June is my favorite month in the garden. I love my roses! So I'm posting some of my rose photos for you to to enjoy. : )

'Just Joey', Hybrid Tea

'St Cecelia', English

'Belle de Crecy', Gallica

'Hawkeye Belle', Buck

'Reine Des Violettes', Hybrid Perpetual

'Prairie Sunrise', Buck

'Darlow's Enigma' in a corner of the vegetable garden

'Mme. Ernest Calvat', Bourbon

Hope you enjoyed the pics!

Sometimes You Get Lucky When You Though You Were Not

2011-06-04T15:41:00.005-04:00

Unidentified Old Rose

So 6 years ago on a warm day in Feb. I dug up my Bowl of Beauty peony to relocate it in my garden. I had it next to the front walk and it is much to tall for there. I posted on GW for trades of the extra when I dug it. I did a few trades.

One lady offered me a piece of an old rose she had. Her description was this, ""my heirloom rose which originally came from my husband's grandmother's house in Binghamton NY so it should thrive in your location. It has very fragrant double yellow blooms about 2 inches across, very thorny stems and shoots up new growth from the ground up at least 6 feet high--then with blooms all along the stem." So I said sure.

She sent me a dinky hardly rooted rose stick for the beautiful many eyed piece of peony I sent her. I was disappointed to say the least, but I didn't complain. Others sent better quality plants, and it really all works out in the end with trading. You always seem to end up with more than you wanted.
I managed to keep the stick alive. It grew a bit and the next year, I knew it was more of a species type rose. It never bloomed. The next year again it didn't bloom, but I posted pics of the bottom canes and foliage on the Antique Rose Forum on GardenWeb.

Everyone agreed it was probably Harrison's Yellow. This is a nice bright yellow rose, but not on my list of wants. So the next few years grew some and didn't bloom. I was getting quite annoyed with this little rose. I even contemplated ripping the darn thing out. But it had been so tough to stay alive, I didn't have the heart.
A couple days ago it finally started to bloom. I was expecting those bright Harrison's Yellow blooms, but that isn't what happened at all. The blooms are a pretty buttery yellow brushed with red giving an apricot coloration to them.

They fade to a creamy pink color.

So I posted these pics and a couple more on the Antique Rose Forum for ID. No one so far knows what it is besides that it is a hybrid spinosissima. I searched through the list on HelpMeFind.com to no avail.
It is ok though. I have a pretty rose I could of never bought in a garden center or even mail order it seems.

If someone comes along and IDs it, I'll let you know.

May, Going Out With A Bang

2011-05-31T22:31:00.003-04:00

Poppy 'Princess Victoria Louise'

Many first blooms happened today!

Kevin's Theme Tall Bearded Iris blooming near the grapes.

As many of you in the northeaster part of the country know, we had the worst spring ever. It was the rainiest it has ever been, and I am not exaggerating. It was also cold. Well we went from that straight to summer. It was hot yesterday and today was about 90! So this really kick started the blooms.

Hansa, a rugosa rose

Hansa is reliably early. Most years it does begin to bloom by the end of May. Once in full bloom, it smells fantastic. The scent travels a long way.

Iris tectorum(Japanese Roof Iris)

I was thrilled to see these! I thought they were Iris cristata when I got them. These things happen sometimes. So Iris cristata needs to be acquired.

Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus syn. H. flava (Lemon Lily)

Ok so it is not a very good pic of this daylily, but I had to include it since it started blooming today. Most years it is even earlier. I see people complain about this flower, that it has too short of a bloom time. I say who cares! It is a daylily blooming super early, and it smells good too.

Viburnum trilobum (American Cranberry Viburnum)

So this one has been blooming for a little while now. I don't often see it advertised, but this shrub's blossoms smell good. Later in the year, it will make edible fruit which the birds love. If you don't grow viburnums, you should!! They are wonderful shrubs. Even when out of bloom, they look attractive. I have this one, V. Carlcephalum, which I've posted pics of before, and V. dentatum 'Chicago Luster' (Arrow Wood Viburnum.) Chicago Luster still is in bud at the moment.
I was at first afraid of them not doing well since the open spots I had were in full sun. Viburnums are often though of a part shade shrubs. I've found that as long as the soil it good and well mulched, they are happy.

Tree Wisteris, that I trained

Lastly, I leave you with this pic. No it is not blooming now. It is done, but I didn't get around to posting anything when it was in its height of bloom this month. I wish you could see how wonderful this looks in person.

Tulips, Big and Small

2011-05-17T12:38:00.004-04:00

Species Tulip 'Little Beauty' with Veronica 'Georgia Blue'

Another cold day, so another post so close to the last one! I don't believe I posted about tulips before. Tulips are another spring favorite of mine. Though the daffodil still leads. Tulips aren't always as easy as daffodils. Some people think of them as annuals and replace them every year. Some people don't want to go to that trouble so they don't plant them at all. They do need a bit more careful selection of siting to be successful perennials in they garden, but it is possible.

Rem's (Rembrant's) Favorite in a sunny border full of tulips

There are a few things you must do to have the best possible chances of perennialization. First, you must have a sunny spot that is fairly well drained all year and is fairly dry in the summer. You do not want them in a border that you do supplemental watering to. A raised bed is always a good choice.
Second, plant them deep. Shallow planted tulips will bloom very well the first spring, but they won't perennialize as well.

Rem's Favorite from above

Third, choose the right varieties. Species tulips are an excellent choice. They often cost less too. (Though there a few costly ones.) These are the best for down south. Many do not need the chill time of their large Dutch bred relatives. The Dutch ones are the long stemmed types that people often think of when you say tulip. Though there are many other kinds of tulips. Tulips species originated in southern Europe across the middle east and over to China. So there are quite a few from milder climates. They may not have the tall cutting stems of the Dutch bred ones, but in the garden, they can still hold their.

Species Tulip bakeri 'Lilac Wonder'

Some types like the Fosteriana(sometimes called Emperor) have quite large flowers.

Clump of Analita Fosteriana tulips

Some have really neat leaves. kaufmanniana types have variegated foliage.

Ancilla Tulip

For taller traditional dutch bred bedding tulips to be perennials, choose ones from the Darwin Group. Those seem to have more staying power. Also, choose older time tested cultivars. They have a better chance of having been bred for the garden as opposed to a cutting flower like many of the more modern varieties have been. Though, I have had success with various other dutch tulips. It is more of a gamble though. It is good to record the names. So when you find strong ones in your garden, you can purchase them a few years later to add more punch to your spring border.

Fringed Tulip 'Blue Heron', I still have a few returning even though I planted them over 10 years ago.

Fourthly, to optimize success, break off the tip of the stem where the flower was after it falls off. You do not want your tulips to develop seeds. This weakens the bulb. You want the energy to go back into the bulb.

Lastly, let the foliage get old and ratty. I know it doesn't look so hot, but there is no way around it. You need to let the bulb get all the nutrients it can from the foliage. Species tulip foliage though is less noticeable so for you neat freaks these are definitely a better choice.

My two favorite places to buy bulbs from are
Brent and Becky's
John Scheepers

Dreaming of Sunny Summer Days, Daylilies and a Dardevil

2011-05-15T20:18:00.004-04:00

"Teeth," a new trend in daylilies

It is cold and rainy. The rest of the week isn't looking so great either. I realize it could be worse. Many of my garden friends around the country this years have shown me tapes of their once was a yard but now is a river videos. Still this is depressing. Since I've got the time, I thought I should show pics of a trip I made last summer to Daredevil Daylilies out on Burt, NY when it was sunny and warm.

When approaching Daredevil Daylilies, from the road, all you see is a beautiful stone home. At first you think, "Am I at the right spot?" And then you see it!

the giant field of daylilies

The name Daredevil is in reference to Niagara Falls and the people who have gone over it in barrels. Linda Michaels, the owner, is a most gracious hostess and a bit of a daredevil when it comes to daylilies. She is known for spider and unusual form flowers. (She is also now working with teeth.) These are not the mainstream typical blooms you find when shopping at garden centers. These daylilies may not be for everyone, but I love them! I think when you actually see them in all their glory in person, you end up wanting them.

my large hand(7 1/2") looks small by this spider

On the day I went, I was lucky that she had time to roam the fields with me and her other guest Pam Hoffman, the owner of Mystic Meadows Daylily Farm (I have to still go visit!) Linda is a gracious hostess. I felt like we had been friends forever.

Liquid Memory, a Linda Michaels creation

Besides her artistic eye, she is an excellent namer of her creations. Some of her other cultivar names include 'Pretzel Logic', 'Sceaming Eels', 'Flamingo Lipstick', and 'Scrambled Legs'.

I must say if you go to visit, it is not like other daylily farms. She does not have a big field of cultivars for sale or anything inexpensive. Most of it is for admiring the flowers. Much of her fields are full of blooming seedlings from her crosses. They all looked beautiful to me. I would have the worst time deciding what to keep and what to cull. It was great fun to discuss all of this Linda. You don't often get to chat with the breeder of a plant you buy. Most often by the time we buy a plant it is many times removed from the breeder.

a gorgeous unusual form daylily

I went home with great memories and a new found appreciation for all that goes into making a daylily cultivar.

If you would like to see the rest of the photos from the trip, Click Here.

Spring Has Been Wet and Cold!

2011-05-03T20:41:00.008-04:00

'Easter Bonnet' Daffodils

This is the worse spring I can remember! I do believe the News said it was the rainiest April ever. I've hardly had times to enjoy the daffodil blooms. This also of course means the garden is a mess! I can't handle cold rain. I do hope this is not a sign of how summer will be. I of course signed up this year to be in the local garden tour and nightmares of not being ready are already tossing around in my head! For those of you interested. The tour is part of the National Gardening Festival of Buffalo.

I will be part of the Kenmore/Tonawanda tours on Sat. July 23 and Sun. July 24. (After all the gardens have been entered in June, you can get more specific info by clicking here.)

Thinking of all this on a rainy day, I made a list of garden nurseries and centers links in the WNY area to visit that are listed towards the bottom of this page. If you have a favorite that I forgot, let me know.

Old Heirloom Daffodil from a GW friend in Arkansas which I believe is 'Butter and Eggs'

4th Annual Buffalo~Niagara Tomato TasteFest

2010-08-31T09:13:00.002-04:00

One of the tables full of tomatoes to taste

Me donning the over the top tomato apron that I found last winter.

The party was a great success as usual. We had quite the turnout, and it definitely was an eat, drink, and be merry kind of day.

Some of the attendees

The winners are as follows:
Sweetest~ Snow White grown by Mark Korney
Prettiest~ Sparks Yellow grown by Julianna G. aka Sorellina
Ugliest~ a big unknown lumpy pink tomato grown by Toby Rotella. We had a late arrival of one that was butt ugly and looked like a giant curled up horn worm that garnered a few votes and probably would have won if they arrived earlier so Toby kept his certificate, but graciously gave his bag of TomatoTone to Tauna the grown of "Hornworm"

Tangiest~ Guernsey Island grown by me. I finally won something
Smallest~ Matt's Wild Cherry grown by Mark Korney
Largest~ We didn't get any monster ones this year and Rob K. couldn't make it so I didn't give out an award. I personally did have a 15.8oz. Romeo paste tomato.

Best of All was a tie! the prize was given to Henderson's Winsall grown by Julianna G. The other vote getter was Humph grown by me.
Norm Brown Award(Craziest Tomato Lover) was given to Pomona for traveling the farthest to come. She came from Pittsburg. (We did have representatives from SC and CA there, but they were already in town.)

We as usual had lots of yummy food.

This avocado, tomato, and corn "salsa" was quite yummy.

And people won great raffle prizes.

I'm already looking forward to next year!

To see all the pics, CLICK HERE.

My Poor Abandoned Blog

2010-02-16T22:10:00.006-05:00

Daylily 'Beautiful Edgings'

Things in life get crazy sometimes, and some things get pushed to the back like this blog. My business has taken off which of course leads to less free time. I also had a few deaths and illnesses of close family and friends last year. Which of course can put you in a funk and leave you with even less free time. But life is good. My house is a mess, but life is good : )
So what made me finally post? Thoughts of vacation. I'm taking my annual trek to the Florida Keys tomorrow. I posted a few times about vacation last year. I hope to do so again. I also hope to get more pics on here afterwards too.
We'll see where things go...

Summer Garden Trip Adventures

2009-07-14T09:46:00.003-04:00

Going to visit special nurseries and gardens is always a great time. In the past week, I went to 3 places, Palmiter Garden Nursery, Jerry Kral's garden, and Cottage Gardens Daylilies.

I met the owners of Palmiter's in early spring at the Rochester Gardenscape show. They are located in Avon a small town outside of Rochester. They are very well known for their amazing peonies. Their nursery came about from being gardeners who had plants people admired, so they began to sell, and things progressed from there. So there is a large home garden to see besides the plants for sale.

Though a bit pricey compared to so other nurseries, the plants were excellent quality and the staff was friendly and helpful.

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Rock Garden Society member, Jerry Kral, had a visit to his garden for our chapter. He is very lucky to have an acre garden within the city limits of Rochester. His backyard is mostly shade gardens filled with amazing plant specimens and garden art.

It was easy to take cool pics at his place.

He does have a sunny area complete with rock gardens at the back corner of his property.

It was a fantastic home garden to visit!

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Friends and I were lucky enough to visit Cottage Gardens Daylilies in Medina again this year. The day started off very rainy, but it did calm to a gentler rain as we got there, and we had a great time.

Hilde and Elizabeth perusing the daylilies

Besides the daylily fields, there is also a beautiful house garden to enjoy.

Brent Ross, the owner is a very friendly and funny guy.

Debbie 4, a seedling of Brent's that came home with me

I'm already looking forward to next year's trip!

It Has Been Too Long!

2009-06-26T21:36:00.002-04:00

Leucanthemum superbum 'Sonnenschein'(Shasta Daisy)

The weather has been almost too perfect here. Of course I am becoming paranoid and am waiting for a major catastrophe from Mother Nature or one of her evil doers(rabbits, etc.) So I've been working in the garden in all my spare time trying to enjoy what has been a lovely year so far.. I have been taking photos all along. I just haven't been up to working on posting. But this next flower just made me so happy, I need to show you all.

Annual Poppies!(Papaver somniferum)
If you haven't grown this annual yet, I strongly recommend it. The blooms are so big and frilly they don't look real. Yes, these are the opium type. No it is not against the law to grow them as some people often believe. Well, maybe huge farm fields of them is, because you need that much to be making any drugs. So we can all safely grow them and enjoy them.

Another plant that I really enjoyed seeing for the first time this year was this iris. The coloration is so pretty. It finished bloom a couple weeks ago.

Iris siberica 'Roaring Jelly'

Yucca 'Bright Edge' bloom

Jim, this next one's for you : )

Rose 'Belle Isis'

I'll leave this evening with Gary sitting under my rambler 'Leontine Gervais.

Hawkeye Belle Surely Is A Belle

2009-06-08T22:01:00.002-04:00

Already in full bloom June 7th

Dr. Griffith Buck, now deceased, was a professor at Iowa State who loved to breed roses. He worked toward breeding roses that are hardy, disease resistant, and beautiful. His roses are now known as Buck roses. His most famous rose is Carefree Beauty.
Someone once wrote on a forum that Buck roses weren't good looking. I remember thinking you've got to be kidding!

Don't tell me that is not gorgeous. Now some of Dr. Buck's choices for rose names have something to be desired, but who's perfect?
It is difficult to take a bad pic of Hawkeye Belle.

She is a vigorous growing shrub to 4 or 5'. In case you've not read in a previous post, I don't spray my roses, and she is very disease resistant for me. She blooms all summer, and her fall bloom will look as good as this early one. Her only fault is that her scent is mild. Is is there, but you've got to stick your nose right in the bloom. With blooms like hers though, I will forgive this fault.

Especially since I can't remember the last time I fertilized her. She may be a beauty, but she is one tough rose.
Many rose enthusiasts, like myself, will tell you once you grow a Buck rose, you will seek out more of them. They really are wonderful.

Blooms Everywhere!

2009-06-02T22:47:00.002-04:00

Iris 'Wabash'

I've been working hard on the garden. So much to do and plants are blooming everywhere. I really love this time of year. I'm not sure what to post! It will get worse as all the roses are blooming.

Rose 'Bow Bells' first bloom

I'll have to highlight Bow Bells later. She doesn't often get the respect she deserves.

My baby unnamed as of yet

This blue clematis is a chance seedling. I couldn't of asked for a better baby! The blooms start dark and age to a beautiful light blue. Right now they are mid-stage. I hope to put together a pictorial once done. Humm...maybe I'll have a name that Clematis contest once I have all the pics.

Unknown Peony

This was suppose to be another variety, Solange, I believe. Anyway, it is a good peony. The flowers are very pretty. The blooms stay up on their own. The foliage turns bronze later so it is very attractive. The only minus is the scent is faint. I like my peonies to smell like my Sarah Bernhardt. Her scent is strong and carries on the wind. I love coming home in the evening to her.

My little Chickadee

I've had the worst time trying to get pics of the chickadees. Hopefully I'm home the day the babies come out. It is easier to get pics on that day.

My Wisteria and Other blooms from May

2009-05-26T21:26:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted about anything blooming in the garden for some time now though I've taken a lot of pics! Life as usual has been way too busy. As my GardenWeb gardening friend, Gottagarden, said recently, "What are people thinking holding family events during prime gardening season?" : )
So the garden has really come alive and lots of plants have been blooming. My wisteria which I've been training in to a standard was covered in blossoms this year. It has been amazing.

The pics though I don't think do it justice. Of course the barren ground around it somehow detracts from it. I have only myself to blame though, I taught my dog, Sammie, to run around it as a game and now that she has her young companion, Charlie, to play with, they have trashed the yard.

I've read that wisteria floribunda doesn't have much of a scent, but I have to disagree. The scent on mine is quite noticable. Here's a close up with my hand.

The shrub to the back left of the wisteria is Viburnum Carlcephalum. The scent of that shrub is amazing like some wonderful vanilla laced baked good just absolutely yummy. The large bloom clusters start off as pink buds and open to white flowers.

Behind the vegetable garden fence, my tree peony has bloomed. The blooms are huge! In an earlier post, I wrote of how people complain and exaggerate about the briefness of lilac bloom. Well, tree peony bloom time is short! It only lasts a week or so. It is a glorious week of bloom, but yes, it only a week. I'm not exaggerating. Thankfully, the leaves are very attractive so its brief bloom is tolerated. Also I have it placed in the vegetable garden so it blooms while the garden in there is bare.

Ok, one last photo for the night. The alliums have been blooming and I've grown to love them. I received my first alliums a few years ago in trade. I never planted any previous to that time since the photos really didn't do that much for me. Some plants just look better in person. I'm glad that trader sent me a few bulbs to try. I was missing out on a very neat looking group of plants.

An Amazing Crabapple Tree!

2009-05-23T20:08:00.004-04:00

Malus 'Brandywine'

When attending the Lilac Festival, there was an amazing tree in bloom. It was Malus 'Brandywine'. The likes of which I've never seen. It was covered in blooms. The semi-double blooms looked like roses which of course makes sense since they are very distant cousins.

I like crabapple trees in the spring. They go well with lilacs. This is the first time though that I saw one and had to investigate just what tree it was. It is simply lovely!

My friend Hilde posing with 'Brandywine'

I almost forgot to mention the blooms smell good! The scent is like a high quality floral soap if that makes any sense, lol.

Lilac Festival!

2009-05-17T21:06:00.002-04:00

In Rochester, NY, often referred to as the lilac capitol of the world, they have a Lilac festival every May, of course. There is the normal carnival atmosphere with rides, lots of food, etc. but as you step away from the fair grounds and cross over into Highland Park, an amazing treat awaits you.

There are hundreds of lilacs in bloom! It is a wonderland of the senses. If heaven isn't like this, I don't want to go.

My friend Hilde and an old lilac

If you have never smelled a lilac in bloom, I hope one day you do. It is intoxicating. The scent carries on the wind beckoning you find it. A whole park full of lilacs is dizzying! It has a surreal quality, very dream like. Yes, it was like a being awake in a dream.

Some people complain that lilacs only last a week. That isn't true. A hot spell can cause the flowers an early demise, but a cool May will be long with blooms. And if they only lasted a week, I would still love the lilacs.

The season can also be lengthened by plantings of various cultivars. Lilacs have been hybridized for a long time so there's a lot of choices out there.

'Sensation'

Lilacs are extremely long lived shrubs. In the countryside in this part of the country, you can often see a huge lilac in bloom seemingly out of place growing wild. The lilacs are markers of where a home once stood years ago. Nothing from the garden remains but the lilac.

'Firmament'

Some varieties sucker from the base and some just get cool old gnarly trunks like the one below.

I, as always, could go on posting pics, but then the page wouldn't load! So I'll stop here : )

More Daffodils! (and a few friends)

2009-04-30T21:06:00.003-04:00

Early Tulip

I feel bad that I've ignoring some of my other bulbs! The tulips pictured above I received from Scheeper's a few years back. I forgot their name. They were the replacement for the year before's fiasco. I bought a variety that was suppose to be a muted red-yellow combo as above and they bloomed screaming yellow-red. I actually wrote a letter to complain, but I did it nicely, and I got these as a free replacement the following fall.
Ok back to the daffodils, lol.

'Accent'

'Misty Glen'

'Pipit'

The next photo show 2 types of double I received at the first WNY GardenWeb plant swap from a young woman named Jen.

Names Unknown

Oh this next little cutie I forgot to post before. He is 'Toby the First'. He does start blooming early, and he blooms for a long time. The only drawback to him is his price tag!

This last photo for tonight is of one of my favorite bulbs, though the photo isn't. It is the clump blooming Hyacinth 'Festival Blue'. They do make nice clumps increasing over time, and they smell fantastic too!

Lots more Daffodils to come. I hope you're not getting tired of them!

Dance of the Daffodils

2009-04-28T23:04:00.004-04:00

'High Society'

High Society is like Pink Charm's more refined sister with the delicate pink rim. I do like her, but I guess I like to hang out with the wilder sibling. Speaking of wild looking, 'Van Sion' always looks like someone rolling out of bed after a night of partying.

'Van Sion'

I originally received these from a trader long ago on GardenWeb. In fact it was the first trade I ever did. A woman was offering green and yellow daffodils. I though, "Green?! I must get some of those!" They are odd and some might say ugly, but I adore them still.
A couple years ago in another GardenWeb trade, I received the following double which is all yellow, but there's color variation. I think it may be 'Butter and Eggs'. It also reminds me of a person rolling out of bed after a night of partying, but this one is that person you hate because for some reason they still look good.

The next one set me back a few bucks, but I wanted a pink-yellow combo daffodil so badly. The color variation is subtle, but I do like it. The daffodil is a good garden performer and has come back strong every year. That is the one worry about buying the more expensive culitvars~ Will they return for a second season?

'Fidelity'

Ok, one more for the night... This was the first "pink" daffodil I ever bought. Some of those old daffodils faded away, but she still comes back every year.

'Salome'

Don't worry the dance has just begun...

Finally! Spring Is Here And So Am I

2009-04-27T21:08:00.003-04:00

Daffodil 'Rip Van Winkle'

It is good to have my computer back. The old and very slow laptop was torture. I have taken tons of pics, so now I'm back logged with all of them! This is not a good time of year to fall behind. I've been cleaning, weeding, planting, and taking care of my tomato babies. Now the forsythia are blooming, so it is time to prune the roses. This is a task that takes a few days. I don't mind it though since I don't do much else to my roses. Anyway, here's a few more daffodil pics for tonight.

'Professor Einstein'

'Katie Heath'

'Pink Charm'

'Cassata'

Don't worry, I'll post more daffodils soon! : )

MIA, Hopefully Not For Long

2009-04-15T18:38:00.003-04:00

Daffodil 'Ellen' from last year

Hi All,
It has been too long since my last post, and I took new pics to start showing the garden. Then my computer died. It is only like 6 months old! I'm getting it fixed for free, but what a pain. Hopefully my hiatus won't be long.
At least spring is here and daffodils are blooming.

Cottage Garden ~ Key Largo Style

2009-03-28T22:51:00.002-04:00

It's been awhile since I posted about the Upper Keys Garden Walk, and I really need to show the last two gardens since they were wonderful to visit.
My second to last stop was on Sunset along the bay. It was the closest to a cottage style garden as I suppose you would see down there. The plants were different, the house was too grand to be a cottage, but the plants were growing together in joyful exuberance.

The heart of a tropical cottage gardener was there.

Though the house was big and built near the water, it had its own personality, and was welcoming.

The patio matched the house!

It was so reminicent of... oh... I don't know.... this?

LOL! My front porch colors are the same color scheme. Nice to know I've got the same taste as someone who owns a multi million dollar home.
If you want to see more pics from this garden click here.

My Little Blue Lovelies....

2009-03-25T21:39:00.002-04:00

Are starting to pop up and join the purple irises! The rest of the place looks dreary, and they are so welcoming.

I started with only a few bulbs years ago. I think I bought 25, but maybe it was 50. They have readily multiplied. The pic only shows half the area I planted them in, and you can see there are many more than the original amount.
I hope there are no overly warm days soon so I can enjoy them and the crocus that are popping up everywhere for as long as possible. Though if they only bloomed for a day, I would still be a very happy woman.

If you want some cultural info please see my first post about the purple irises.

For Better or Worse, the Tomatoes are Planted

2009-03-23T21:38:00.004-04:00

Sorry 'Aunt Ruby's German Green', I won't be growing you this year.

I was a few days late of St. Joseph's Day, and it took awhile to move my plant jungle out of the greenhouse window to various spots to live out the rest of winter, but I got it done. I decided on 40 varieties out of the hundreds I have. I also planted a few tomato relatives, 8 pepper(To a certain person, I have misplaced the peppadews!UPDATE 3/31~ I found the seeds and planted them!) and 3 eggplant varieties.

Today was also an interesting day since I met the Garden Guru from Sirius radio. I went to the Buffalo Botanical Gardens for a volunteers meeting, and it was a meet the new director get together. To my suprise, David Daehnke, the Garden Guru, is the new director. He seems like he will do great things for the gardens, fresh, new, full of promise, and he has nice eyes.

More for my memory than anything:
TOMATOES~
Amish Potato Leaf
Azoychka, sm. yellow, early beefsteak
Bear Claw, beefsteak
Berkley Tie Dye, multi-colored
Burracker's Favorite, bi-color
Carbon, black
Chapman
Cherokee Green
Depp's Pink Firefly
Earl's Faux
Early Glee
Eckert's Polish
Gajo di Melon(Slice of Melon), bi-color cherry
Golden Queen USDA, sm. yellow globe
Grosse Cotelee, red globe
Guernsey Island, red striped w/bronze
Hellfrucht(Hell Fruit), red globes, unusual growing leaves like flames
Huge Black - from my deceased trading friend, Spider/Bert
Kentucky Beefsteak, orange
Knucklehead
Little Lucky, sm. bi-color
Magnus, pink, old Livingston variety
New Big Dwarf
Orange Flesh Purple Smudge
Polish(Ellis)
Polish Dwarf
Polish Giant
Polish Pastel, unusual bi-color paste
Prudens Purple, large pink beefsteak
Purple Hillbilly
Red Shaker -from my deceased tomato friend Norm
Roughwood Golden Tiger, unusual striped plum
Rozovyi Flamingo(Pink Flamingo)- for Babci
Sabre - for my Buffalo Sabres loving husband
Silver Fir Tree, dwarf
Snow White, cherry
Soldaki
Stump of the World, sm. deep pink beefsteak
Victorian Dwarf
Zogola, huge fruit
humm... I seemed to have gone heavy on the Polish, maybe I should have honored St. Stan.

TOMATO RELATVES~
Chichiquelite Huckleberry
Ground Cherry
Naranjilla(Solanum quitoense)

EGGPLANT~
Listada di Gandia
Ping Tung
Rosita

PEPPERS~
Banana Bill, sweet hybrid
Early Niagara Giant, sweet bell
Fenton's Red, very sweet, saved from a farmer who got experimental seed from unknown company, probably stokes
San Salvatore Calabrese, sweet sheepnose
Beaver Dam, mildly hot
Korean Dark Green, hot for kimchee
Pizza, mild hot
Trinidad Seasoning, mild hot, hab type

Key Largo Garden Walk, Condo A-1

2009-03-19T08:45:00.003-04:00

Inlet at Buttonwood Bay.

My next stop was to Buttonwood Bay Condominiums. Unit A-1, was different than the rest and absolutely A 1! The entire front walk is landscaped. Each entrance and small yard is a compliment to the adjoining ones.

This wonderful cooperative effort was started by the gentleman who lived at the end of the condo block. He owned a nursery up north at one time and was obviously a plant lover. When he first moved in, the whole area was barren except for the trees. He got permission to do some planting, his neighbors saw the difference it made, and they all caught the gardening bug! The residents I met were very proud of their condo walk, and I don't blame them.
At the side of the building, the gentleman who started it all had built a beautiful shade garden.

Around the back, the patio side facing the inlet was just as nice. The collective effort to beautify was refreshing. Too bad more condos and homeowner association type neighborhoods don't welcome this type of landscaping effort.

Again since I promised down in Key Largo, if you wish to see the rest of the pics click here.

We Interupt This Regularly Scheduled Blog Posting To Say

2009-03-16T20:57:00.003-04:00

I'VE GOT FLOWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am a happy woman.

Looking down at my pretties.

Those are glorious little Iris reticulatas. If you live in the northern half of the country and don't grow them, you should. They blooms so early, earlier than the crocus. If they get snowed on, they will be there still blooming when the snow melts. The royal purple ones always come first. The drop dead beautiful blue ones will be coming soon.
I've found them easy care. I've even gotten lucky and had a few pop up across the walk from seed. They clump up after a few years. Excess moisture is they only thing that they dislike I believe. So raised beds/well drained soil is best for them.
Plant them where you will see them at this time of year like near your front walk. Out back, where you don't venture while it is cold, is not the place for them. Plus when people come to your home, they will be amazed that those little purple blooms are indeed real, not plastic!
In case you didn't get a good look the first time, here they are again from the front, lol.

Leg Two of the Keys Garden Walk

2009-03-15T21:12:00.001-04:00

Waterfall at the end of the Dolphin pool.

My next stop was at Island Dolphin Care. The gardens here were planted by a couple Girl Scout Troops!

I think they did a wonderful job. There were a lot of natives and butterfly attracting plants.

If you wish to see the rest of the pics click here.

************************************************************************************

The next stop was on Seagate Blvd. This home was planted with natives fairly recently. It looked great for a newer garden, and it will only become better with age. The mass plantings of Ruellia looked wonderful.

Not actually part of the garden, but I loved it just the same, was the canoe sandbox.
If you wish to see the rest of the garden pics click here.

*****************************************************************************

From here I stopped back at Dad's and then stopped at Beach House Gardens Nursery. They had free snacks and water which was well appreciated. I had a guava turnover, interesting and yummy.

Hibiscus at the nursery.

Very interesting gardens to come soon...

First 2 Gardens on the Key Largo Trail

2009-03-13T09:10:00.003-04:00

Orchid in a border at the Pompano garden

The first garden I stopped at was the house on Pompano who backyard was a pool and then the ocean.

Like a mini-beach resort of your own

Yes, there were quite a few dream homes/locations on this tour. My father joked about his humble Key Largo abode with no water but his garden hose, joining the garden club, and then being on the walk so people could see how the other half live. He does have some great plants though; his rosemary is the most amazing I have ever seen. Anyway, back to Pompano. This garden was perfectly manicured and matched. It was beautiful especially to the OCD people. My friend Andy would of been in heaven.

As I wrote before, I left a note in Key Largo that I would be posting pics so if you want to see the rest of Pompano, click here.

********************************************************************************
The second home I stopped at was on Shaw Drive and it was park like with its 1.3 acres on the bayside.

There definitely was a gardener who lived there as once I got deeper into the property and found the garden shed and orchids growing in trees.

There of course was the gorgeous bay view.

I saw that for sale sign and wondered how much for this home. I think it is out of my budget for now, lol.
If you wish to see the rest of the Shaw pics click here.
Island Dolphin Care and Seagate Blvd. will be coming soon.

Upper Keys Garden Club Garden Walk 2009

2009-03-11T20:59:00.004-04:00

Spathodea campanulata(African Tulip Tree)

I just happened to luck out with my vacation this year that the Upper Keys Garden Club was having their garden walk. Their garden walk was a bit different than the way we hold them around here. Around here we have long lists of places to stop at and it is near impossible to see them all, so then you are left to chose by the descriptions. Down there they have a small list of gardens to see, but then you get to see and enjoy them all. Plus they had a central meeting area at the Garden Club Frances Tracy Center. It was very well done.

Front Porch of Frances Tracy Garden Center

At the Garden Center, they had assorted cookies, brownies, etc. and iced tea(sweet tea down south.) Being I can never get enough sweets,I was happy! They had tables set up outside to eat at, and a local musician playing. I won a CD of his by answering his trivia question correctly. He sang Daydream Believer and asked who wrote the song. No one could answer. He then gave the clue - it is not Stephen Colbert. So I guessed John/Jon Stewart and was correct.
There was a local nursery selling plants that were gorgeous.

There was also sales tables of the local garden club selling plants that were just as beautiful.

The orchids were to die for. I wish they were an easy care plant up here.
In the back, the garden club had the super sale plants, leftovers from a sale before, maybe?, including NOID plants. This is my area of course. I got a NOID and Donkey's Ears(I've since confirmed it is Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnieri) for $2!
I left a note on the Garden Club's sign in that I would be posting pics of their gardens so if you wish to see more pics from the garden center click here.
I'm going to make a new posts of the gardens visited on the walk so as to not overload this post.

The Florida Keys Wild Bird Sanctuary

2009-03-07T22:10:00.002-05:00

Great Egret

It was a wonderful trip to Key Largo and no trip there would be complete without a visit to the bird sanctuary. I think most gardeners are birders on one level or another and hopefully will enjoy this post. Visiting here is always fun but it is especially fun around feeding time. The birds all come in for food around 3 or so and the pelicans are very brave birds.

They will hang out right on the walkways and are not fearful of humans. Watch out for the ones hanging out on the roof, they might poop on you! This happened to me one year and let me tell you it is nasty. Pelicans are big so wet rotten fish smelling poo comes out of them in large quantities.

You never know what bird you might be lucky to see. This male Yellow Crowned Night Heron comes every winter to visit and doesn't seem shy about getting his photo taken.

There were lots of White Ibis about this time.

It is hard not to come away from the sanctuary with lots of great pics that you want to share.
Last one for now, I promise : )

Snow Egret(I think)

I have a lot more photos to go through. Besides the normal array of vacation and floral photos, I went on a garden walk sponsored by the Garden Club of the Upper Keys. I hope to post pics of that adventure soon.

Key Largo Here I come

2009-02-19T08:59:00.002-05:00

Me at Anne's Beach in the Florida Keys last year.

I'll be gone for a bit. Don't want anyone to worry, or think I've abandoned my blog. I'll be shell combing and seed collecting as usual. )

Fantin Latour

2009-02-14T21:09:00.003-05:00

This is the rose that makes me sigh that sigh you make just look at something so incredibly beautiful . Fantin Latour was named after the still life painter, Henri Fantin-Latour. Maybe the person who named this rose thought it looked too perfect to be real like a painting?
I bought this rose after a pic I saw in a book. It called out to me. It is a centifolia hybrid so there was some question as to how hardy it would be and how large it would become. I read 5'x'5' for a more northern location. Well that was completely wrong. Fantin is a monster shrub! The winter here does it no harm.

I actually have a small shade garden beneath Fantin.

I still have trouble fathoming why people don't plant once bloomers more often. I have some re-bloomers, but I'll never look up to see a view like this.

Fantin becomes so full of blooms the stems can start to bend down toward the ground. It has a lovely scent as well. I don't fertilize this rose either. This is another I would be afraid to rose. There are not a lot of thorns on Fantin's canes. It can get black spot later in the season, but I've never had it become an eyesore.

For Marie

2009-02-13T11:47:00.003-05:00

Here's Gary at Plantation Key Nursery down the road from Key Largo. I can't wait to visit there again next week! The vine in question is the one directly above Gary. Of course as I said, need something else? Let me know : )

The Many Faces of Leontine Gervais

2009-02-09T22:40:00.002-05:00

2008

Leontine Gervais is a large rambling rose that loves to change the look and color of her blooms. Some years the flowers are very double like 2008 and other years they readily show their stamens.

2007

Even in the same growing season the look of the blooms varies.

2008
I'm not bothered by the changes, I love them.

2008

Leontine grows in a wild octopus type fashion. She is thorny, and will grab you as you pass, but you can escape her grasp unlike the strong grip of LJS. The foliage is is a nice glossy green that stay beautiful until winter makes them drop. This rose is very disease resistant. I also have never fertilized it.

I've found the scent to be elusive. There a few roses like this for me. There have been a few good discussions on scent on the Antique Roses Forum on GW in the past, and it seems certain scents are hard for some noses to detect. I just know sometimes I smell Leontine and some times I don't. I've been with people that could smell him while I could not.
While in full bloom she is a quite a charmer. People always make comments on her that pass by the house. I've even been asked for cuttings.

2008
As the blooms age they take on a pinker tone.

2007

At that point usually a thunderstorm comes rolling through and all the beauty becomes a memory.

Long John Silver, A Manly Rose

2009-02-02T20:24:00.002-05:00

The snow has been coming in massive quantities this winter and food is getting scarce for the rabbits. They have been causing major damage and I don't know what I'll see of my wonderful once bloomers like Long John Silver this season, but thankfully I have photos to remember them by.
Long John Silver is a big manly rose in my opinion so the name fits well. He has vicious thorns, and his long limbs will travel far it you let them. I've more than once got entangled with him, and he has quite the grip! I of course didn't realize this when I planted him along the driveway in my long border. Thankfully, we don't try to drive vehicles past him very often. You might not believe me, but I've never fertilized this rose. I can't imagine what would happen if I did!

(Creton last June with LJS getting out of control. My Creton baby died of cancer later in the year.)

He is very disease resistant though late in the season if conditions are right, he'll get blackspot. I don't spray my roses, and his possible BS is is not enough to bother me. For someone spraying it wouldn't ever be an issue.
The blooms are a beautiful pure white. The buds sometimes will have a hint of red at the tips, but that doesn't show in the blooms. They are scented, not overly so, but when the rose in in bloom, you can't help but smell him since he is such a monster. For a once bloomer, he blooms late. He will sometimes throw out a few late blooms in the fall if the weather is right, but even then it is only a few. That doesn't matter though. The massive quantities of blooms he pumps out once a season is pure joy. Once cluster of blossoms alone is enough to fill a large vase!

Buffalo News, Wegmans and Me

2009-01-23T21:00:00.002-05:00

Iris 'Honorabile'

I was somehow lucky enough to be picked as the photograph of a Wegmans employee for the Buffalo News article on Wegmans being #5 in Fortune's list of companies in America to work for. Probably because the kids' faces are just perfect as I show them a Pom Pom mushroom.
http://www.buffalonews.com/businesstoday/localbusiness/story/557545.html
Wegmans is a good company to work for. Their policies and benefits are much better than many other businesses.

If This Isn't Love, Then What Is?

2009-01-21T22:00:00.006-05:00

Part of a Jamaican garden

My sister-in-law just sent me this email:
"Does Wegman's sell casava? Its a veggie, I think, that made bammies...a slave food that I'd love to make for the boys. It was soooo good.
I went on a tour with a guy who helped me steal seeds and he took us thru his friend's garden. Wait til you see the pics. This girl wins garden walks every year. (he usually doesn't do this on his tours but I told him about you)
I'm home, and yes I am COLD!
Sheryl"


Pilfering seeds and smuggling them back from Jamaica, now that is more than a
Sister-in-law. That is a true friend!

Here's a pic of an orchid she took. Hopefully more photos will arrive soon.

Buffalo Botanical Gardens

2009-01-19T22:21:00.001-05:00

The Buffalo Botanical Gardens are a great place to visit any time of year. When this pic was taken of course the outdoor gardens could be explored, but going inside the glass houses during winter is wonderful. One can spend a better part of a day just slowly strolling through and taking in all the plants.

There are always events happening at the Gardens and even if there are no events. You can always find some really cool plants in bloom.

Even plants not blooming can be quite interesting.

I'm a volunteer with the Ivy group. The Gardens have one of the largest if not the largest collection of ivies in the USA.

I love the orchids. They look so good, so easy. I know this isn't true! I can't keep them alive at home. Well, I am house plant challenged to begin with. Plants that survive winter with me are awful tough.

I'm much better with these types : )

I've only skimmed the surface of all the amazing plants the Gardens hold! It is a definite must see for any plant lover.
http://www.buffalogardens.com/
(I figured out how to put in a link!)
A very well know place to eat close by is Curly's
http://www.curlysgrill.com/
(look another link!)
Oh and how could I forget to mention the Basillica. Our Lady of Victory Basillica is very close to the Gardens. It is an amazing church. Father Baker http://www.buffalodiocese.org/frbaker/index.htm (and another!) who has been up for sainthood for a long time started this church. My husband came from OLV. Many of the babies born to teen mothers in the Buffalo area were adopted out of there. And misbehaving children like me were always threatened with being shipped out to Father Baker's if they did not shape up.
Anyway, even if you are not a religious person it is a sight to see. Besides the gorgeous church, the grounds are beautifully landscaped.

In Memory of Nita

2009-01-14T21:27:00.002-05:00

Dianthus 'Rainbow Loveliness'

A friend from work died today. She was much too young at 45. She had a huge personality. Everyone always knew when she was around. She was fun loving and always spoke her mind. She was also a good mother. My heart aches for her 13 year old son, an oversized kid for his age. I was struck with the way he hung on her with such love on Take Your Child to Work Day. You don't often see that when boys start to become young men.
She had a heart condition, and from what I gather she didn't take her heart pills for a day or two and had a heart attack. She probably didn't have the cash to refill her prescription and thought she could make it until payday. I'm not sure what she was thinking, but I know I will always remind people to take their meds. Don't think you can skip a day or two, and it will be ok.

I will always remember her wonderful soul.

More Winter Blues...

2009-01-12T11:00:00.003-05:00

The cold isn't going anywhere for awhile! Thank goodness for wood burning stoves. It really makes the house quite toasty.
The comments from the last post made me think I should post more photos!
Speaking to Tom about Forget-me-nots, I said how I love the carpet of blue they make in spring.
I originally planted them in this area near the Zebra iris.

They have since traveled down the driveway and they bloomed in the front walk this year. I think they look great with the tulips.

Here's the gorgeous little Iris reticulata. It blooms very early when most of the garden still is asleep. Sometimes they get covered in snow, but they will still be blooming when the snow melts.

These cuties should be planted where you will notice them so early. I have them along the front flower bed in front of the porch. Out back would be no good since no one ventures there in late winter/early spring. I've had visitors get very excited to realize they were real plants that were blooming. It is fun to see a 75 year old woman act like an excited child over the blooms.

Here's my own clematis that I mentioned to Cogardengram.

When I first saw it bloom. You don't know how excited I got! I couldn't believe my baby was so beautiful.

Here's another blue(almost) beauty that I forgot about. See what winter cold does, makes you forget how wonderful June was! This is Veronica 'Royal Blue' with the polyantha rose 'Marie Pavie'.

Ok, I'll take a break for now. Hopefully I've posted enough to have taken the chill out of the winter cold!

Winter Blues

2009-01-09T20:36:00.005-05:00

Virginia Blue Bells

It has been too cold, and the cold is here to stay for awhile. I'm feeling blue. Hopefully this passes soon. My husband told me I need to get planting more seeds! One of my loves is blue flowers. There aren't many true blue flowers out there. There are many violet blue flowers, and I love them too especially campanulas(bluebells,) but they don't make me sigh like true blue flowers.
Mertensia virginica(Virginia Bluebells) is a wonderful spring ephemeral that more people should grow. ( A spring ephemeral is a plant that after blooming in the spring goes dormant for the summer.) It doesn't require much of anything to do exceptionally well. Since it goes dormant during the summer, drought is not a problem. I have mine beneath a large shrub rose that itself is in a semi-shade location. It is well behaved developing in to a larger clump slowly.

Brimeura amethystina

Alpine Hyacinths(Brimeura amethystina) is another true blue that is often unknown to many gardeners. It is a spring flowering bulb. It blooms mid May here. It is diminutive, but at the edge of a walk like in my garden, it is quite pretty. It will reseed if conditions are right. I have more than the few I planted years ago, and I happily saw a new one blooming across the walk this spring.

One more blue to help take away the winter blues...

Salvia 'Cambridge Blue'

This is one heck of a pretty annual. It really shines August to frost like many salvias seem to do. It is drought resistant and performs well in pots. Seed saving is a bit of a pain with this plant, so it is often high priced seed in catalogs or difficult to find in trade. Since the flowers bloom in succession, not all the seed ripens at the same time. Once seed is ripe though, it falls fairly quickly from the plant. So one must check often for seed, but it is well worth the trouble to have seed to grow this plant every year.
Other true blue(or pretty darn close!) flowers I grow:
Anchusa 'Blue Angel'(annual) and 'Loddon Royalist'(perennial)
Forget-me-nots, Myosotis(perennial), and Cynoglossum amabile(annual)
Echium 'Blue Bedder'(annual), and Viper Bugloss(biennial)
Centaurea(Bachelor Buttons, annual)
Nigella(Love-in-a-Mist, annual)
Delphinium
Lithodora
Penstemon
Pulmonaria(Lungwort)
Borage(annual)
Brunnera macrophylla, species and 'Jack Frost'
Iris reticulata
Allium azurea aka Allium caeruleum
Salvia 'Black and Blue', and other Salvias
Veronica 'Crater Lake Blue' and 'Royal Blue'

All this writing about blue flowers has made me feel better! I need to go plant more seeds as my husband said and I might really start to smile.
If you know of any other true blues I must grow, please let me know!

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T20:39:00.001-05:00

It seems like mid winter already. There has been lots of cold wind and snow for the past month. I know I must get out there and start setting out my seed containers for winter sowing soon. Some perennial seeds need a cold period or they will not germinate. On another day, I will post pics of this process. It makes difficult seeds seem quite easy.
Hoping 2009 is a wonderful gardening year for you all!

Buffalo-Niagara Tomato Tastefest

2008-12-26T20:11:00.002-05:00

I'm a hostess to the Buffalo-Niagara Tomato Tastefest. It is held the Saturday after Labor Day every year on Grand Island. This year we had 96 different varieties of tomatoes.
This is just some of them!

Prizes are given out to winners of various categories. The winners this year are as follows:
Best Tomato went to Stump of the World!
It was grown by Mark Korney. Hilde also grew it, but I made the executive decision that Mark's tasted better.
Second place went to:
Tie between Earl's Faux and Dice's Mystery Black.

Sweetest Tomato went to Sungold.
It was grown by Richard Price.
Second place was a tie between Hugh's and Rinaldo.
Rinaldo was grown by me. This one also got a vote for Best Tasting. This is surprising since it is a paste! (that I and many others got from Bully a couple years ago.)

Tangiest Tomato went to White Rabbit.
It was grown by Julianna(Sorellina.)
No second place, the rest were all single votes.

Prettiest Tomato went to Eva Purple Ball.
It was grown by Hilde Reineck.
Second place went to Plum Tigress.

Ugliest went to Voyage.
It was grown by Tristan Morris our youngest tomato grower there!
Second place went to an ugly cat-faced bumpy unknown.
It was grown by Ginny Barber.

Biggest went to Mexico at 2lbs 2.2 oz.!
It was grown by Mark Korney.
There were quite a few other big ones like Tom's Yellow Wonder and Rose Beauty, but I didn't record who's actually came in second.

Smallest went to Mexico Midget.
It was grown by Mark Korney.
Second place went to Remy Rouge.
It was grown by me.

Craziest Tomato Lover went to Hilde's mom.
She came all the way from Norway!
Second place was Toby Rotella, my father, of Key Largo, Florida.

We have a wonderful time rain or shine. Besides tomatoes, lots of great food is eaten!

If you are interested in attending, please email me.

Amazing Gardening Coincidences

2008-12-15T18:06:00.005-05:00

Part of front walk bed in late spring. The baby tree trunk is in the background.

This is a copy of an old posting of mine from Tomatoville:

06-25-2007

I got home from work this evening, and I went to sit down to eat and see that tomato seeds from Yugoslavia(can't remember which new part) are on the table. A gentleman originally from there that works with my husband went back for a visit. My husband asked him to bring back tomatoes for me in the store pkgs. from there. So I got 3 packs of St. Pierre, a French tomato?(if you about this tomato, please give me some info,) in the original pkgs. from there. Ok, that is not that weird. Hold on it does get wierder.
Now I have just picked up these pkgs., and I'm examining the foreign words, and the door bell rings. My husband answers and then he is yelling for me, and I'm annoyed because I just want to look and eat! There is a guy at the door wanting to know where we purchased our new apple tree and how much did it cost.(Our old one died in the local freak October snow storm.) It is grafted with a few antique varieties. My husband doesn't remember the mail order company. I tell him and then he is asking if I have a catalog, so I get up and go look for one, and I finally got to the door.
There are actually 2 men, one about 40, one about 70. The younger man is apologizing for the older man who can't speak much English. The older man is pointing at the apple pictures saying with a thick accent, "Yes, yes." as if to say that he does want a tree like mine. He must of made the younger guy stop. My husband say to the younger man, "Where is he from? Yugoslavia?" To which the older man says one of the new parts of Yugoslavia. Then I say, "I just got tomato seed from there!" The older man says, "tomatoes?". Then the young man says, "Don't get him started on tomatoes." I went back in the house and got a pack of the St. Pierres, and hand it to the older man. He smiled and said the word Paradajz(tomato?) from the pkg. The younger guy says the older man has a huge vegetable garden. I then point telling the older man I have a garden in the back. He looked like a happy little kid, and just starts heading back! So we took a garden tour.He kept pointing and saying, "Beautiful!" in his thick accent. It was fun.
We came back out front, and the younger man thanked us and told the older man to give the seed pkg. back to me. I told him no, to keep it. Then they left.
When we got back inside, my husband looks at me and says, "How weird was that? What are the chance of that happening?"
It was incredible odd.
Remy

Hibiscus Fireball

2008-12-10T22:11:00.007-05:00

I bought this this spring at a local nursery. I really didn't need another hibiscus. Where was I going to put it? Plus the tag showed red flowers. I'm not much for red flowers. Call me crazy, but they are not my thing. The foliage though was so pretty. It is cut like a maple, and dark. I couldn't resist and put it into my cart.
Late summer I realized it was money so well spent. Firstly, a new deck was built so of course a new flower bed was made. I had room for now plants! After planting mid-summer, it grew vigorously, and produced many blooms for a newly planted hibiscus. The blooms are huge! I didn't realize they would be so big. And the color ended up being a very pleasing deeply saturated red and not the brighter red of the tag.
If you see it for sale at a local nursery, I definitely recommend this beauty.

Cottage Gardens Daylilies

2008-12-05T21:43:00.004-05:00

In July I finally decided I wanted to see Cottage Gardens Daylilies out in Medina. I called my friend Hilde who was more than up for the short trip. We made a day of it stopping for cherries on the side of the road on the way there. On the way home we went to get popcorn made on the side of the road in at Bye's in Olcott, and then we stopped at Gordie Harper's Bazaar restaurant/flea market in Newfane.
It rained all morning, but stopped by the time we got to Cottage Farms. I realized this ended up being a good thing since some daylilies don't endure raindrops as well as others. When we pulled we were in awe. I had no idea the place would be so big. I felt like Dorothy at the field of poppies. I just wanted to get out of the car and run!

Looking back towards the road.

We thought the big field of daylilies was it, and it definitely was more than enough, but there was a whole nother garden! The house garden. It was beautiful, a mix of newer daylily cultivars and perennials.

I ended up taking home Gentle Rose, Blueberry Breakfast, and Impish Charm.

Gentle Rose at the field

Blueberry Breakfast at home in the garden

Impish Charm just brought home looking a bit tired.

I'm already looking forward to next year's trip!
I took many more pics. You can see them by copying and pasting the link
http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h234/Remyo_2006/Cottage%20Gardens%20Daylilies/
(I still need to figure out how to make the link clickable.) Update, I figured it out!!

Wall Street Journal

2008-12-02T09:40:00.004-05:00

Heirloom Purple Podded Peas

I was in the WSJ this past May about growing unusual vegetables. My cyber-gardening friend Jeanne from SC(who also appears in the article) had the writer, June Fletcher, contact me. I talked with her for some time. Though the article has some mistakes like I've grown Prudens Purple for years or I don't search out ugly tomatoes(I'm searching for great taste regardless of looks,) it was still in a good spirit and it was fun to see my name in the WSJ.
Here's the article:

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WallStreet Journal
Pushing the Envelope on Vegetables
Friday May 16, 2:46 pm ET
By June Fletcher

The view of the vegetable patch will be decidedly odd this year: Get ready for maroon carrots, yellow watermelons and pink-and-white striped beets.

Garden centers, catalogs and seed companies are promoting strange, splashy edibles not only to intrigue veteran gardeners who always seek the unusual, but also to inspire a new generation who -- until recently -- hadn't shown much interest in getting their hands in the dirt.

The push comes as long-dormant interest in vegetable gardens has begun to revive, spurred by foodie fascination with the new and exotic, rising produce prices and headline-grabbing scares involving contamination of commercially grown vegetables. Added to that is the growing movement to eat food grown locally, both for freshness and to cut down on the greenhouse gases emitted by shipping.

The amount of money U.S. consumers spent on vegetable gardens rose 22% in 2007, to $1.4 billion, from 2006, according to a survey conducted in January for the National Gardening Association, an industry-sponsored group. Another poll, conducted in February for the Garden Writers Association Foundation, found that 39% of gardeners planned to grow edible plants this spring, up from 32% a year earlier.

Though the odd-vegetable trend has been around for several seasons, more unusual crops are appearing in catalogs and garden-oriented Web sites this year. Gurney's, a mail-order purveyor, is promoting a purple-red Brussels sprout called Falstaff. Competitor Burpee has a white cherry tomato called Italian Ice and an heirloom Chinese radish, dubbed the Radish Watermelon, that looks like a white baseball with a bright pink center. Park Seed rolled out purple Pak Choi, golden beets and Big Rainbow yellow-and-red splotched tomatoes that grow to two pounds apiece.

For longtime aficionados of the quirky, such as Remy Orlowski, the plants add elements of visual and gustatory surprise to her landscape. This spring, the 44-year-old nutritionist has been weaving red okra, purple-podded peas and a spicy, splotched and twisted plant called a fish pepper among the flowers in her Tonawanda, N.Y., backyard. She also added two odd tomatoes -- Carbon, a deep maroon, and Pruden's Purple, which is actually pink -- to the 40 varieties she already grows.

Mrs. Orlowski says she always is on the lookout for "weird and ugly" tomatoes -- especially newly rediscovered heirlooms -- both because she wants to rescue varieties that may be on the brink of extinction and because she thinks they taste better than store-bought ones. But she and her husband, Gary, who works in a hospital-supply firm, sometimes encounter resistance when they try to give away their excess produce to co-workers. "It can be off-putting to some," she says of the odd variations.

Indeed, hitting the right note with unusual plants can be difficult, says , chairman and chief executive officer of W. Atlee Burpee & Co. of Warminster, Pa. While peculiar plants can be profitable to their sellers -- they're usually initially priced 10% to 20% more than old favorites -- they can take years of breeding to produce, and the market's reaction is unpredictable. Burpee's best-selling new vegetable last year was Golden Mama, a yellow-fleshed, egg-shaped tomato designed to make paste. It cooks down to a golden-yellow sauce instead of the unattractive grayish-brown glop that other yellow tomatoes typically produce. But some of Burpee's other recent introductions, including Purple Dragon Carrots and All Blue potatoes, were "flopperoos," says Mr. Ball. "The sight of blue is unappetizing to many people," he says. "I couldn't give them away."

And some unusual veggies require that gardeners do a bit of coddling. Ferry-Morse's new "Health Smart" vegetable collection includes exotic Hakurei Hybrid turnips, touted for their vitamin-rich tops and mild-tasting white flesh that can be chopped raw into salads, as well as Nutri-Red carrots, promoted as high in the nutrient lycopene. However, the company's Web site warns that the turnips need to be harvested when they're between 2 inches and 3½ inches in diameter or they become woody, while the carrots can crack if they're watered too much.

Still, some gardeners enjoy a challenge. Jeanne Hertzog, 58, a retired police captain who owns a pet-sitting business, grows both traditional and off-the-wall vegetables in her nine-acre Lexington, S.C., yard, as well as in nearly 80 patio pots. She likes to experiment with growing techniques -- she once grew an heirloom tomato upside down through a hole in a hanging bucket -- as well as bizarre plants, such as the Egyptian Walking Onion, which puts out small bulbs on the ends of stalks that fall over and take root, running rampant through the garden if not kept under control. Although the unusual veggies can be a lot of work, and they don't always measure up to standard ones in flavor -- a "chocolate" pepper she grew had an off taste -- she says their strangeness is part of the charm. This spring, she started an "odd, odder, oddest" seed swap on an online gardening forum, and received seeds for Cinnamon Basil, Green Zebra tomatoes and Apple Green eggplants. "I'm always interested in something new," she says.

Charlie Nardozzi, senior horticulturist for the National Gardening Association, says some people grow odd veggies simply to be on the cutting edge. Other, environmentally motivated gardeners are trying to resurrect long-forgotten native plants. Mike Robins, a 27-year-old Burtonsville, Md., graphic designer, has planted an old Indian staple, Apios Americana -- also known as the Hog Peanut or groundnut -- in a patio pot this spring. The rangy vine was so prized by 17th-century colonists that they punished Indians who dug its starchy tubers with the stocks or whipping. But the bulbous tubers take two years to reach edible size, so Mr. Robins will have to do a lot of watering and fertilizing before he can harvest them. "I have no idea what they taste like," he says.

Eccentric edibles have been converting some die-hard veggie-spurners, like Michelle Reynolds, into fans. Last season, on a lark, the 36-year-old Quincy, Ill., homemaker grew blue potatoes -- which she mixed with red and white ones for Fourth of July french fries -- as well as white oval cucumbers, "rainbow" carrots in red, orange, yellow and green, and tiny, pastel-hued "Easter Egg" eggplants. The veggies were such a hit with her two preschoolers -- particularly her 5-year-old son, Timmy -- that she plans to plant more this spring. "He likes the pretty colors," she says. And she adds that she likes the way they taste, too.

Write to June Fletcher at june.fletcher@wsj.com

Some Favorite Scene Pics from the Garden

2008-11-30T20:33:00.001-05:00

The entrance to the veggie garden in June.

Part of the Long Border in September

The front walk in May

I'm sure I'll find more to add on later.

Missing The Roses

2008-11-28T17:26:00.000-05:00

Dr. Huey that came with the house

It is Black Friday. I will never get up early to shop with a bunch of people who most likely make me want to start swearing like a merchant marine. I would rather spend more money than endure that.

Driving around today, I was stopped on the Blvd. where all the old motels are. Remnants of rose petals hung to the stems. I thought of my roses at home with buds that never developed into blooms before the killing freeze.

I planted quite a few roses this fall. I haven't added new ones in quite some time. I had run out of space, but a new deck this summer put ideas of new flower beds in motion. I decided to expand and lose some more grass. I'm not a big fan of grass.

I'll be showing a lot of photos of roses and other flowers hopefully on this blog.

Long John Silver

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T11:13:00.000-05:00

Anemone 'Montrose'

This is the first post. It really is about nothing. I just want to get started I'm hoping by spring I've gotten the hang of this.

The cold has come early this year. There are many bulbs still sitting in the garage waiting for a break in the freezing weather.
I'm working on a sending seeds to huge seeds swap, and I've volunteered to host another in January. It keeps me busy during the winter.
Please check out my Gardenweb exchange page in the links if you are interested in seed trading.

Wintersowing is also a great thing to help pass the time. Spring comes with much anticipation.

Remy