A Change of Heart : Renovation and Renewal Time at Garden Designers Round Table

I remember the exact moment the renovation bug bit me.  It was early September and I had rare 4-day Labor day holiday all to myself.  I was reading the latest edition of my GGG  ( Glossy Gorgeous Gardening ) magazine under the shade arbor, sipping a glass of Sweet Tea.   

"Are you tucking your vegetables in far corners because you think they're dull and ugly?  the garden article asked.  A nod and sigh to the tomato and peppers near the utility box. Think your garden is too small to grow them?   Umm , pretty small, lots of herbs in pots on the patio.   " Why not have a beautiful garden and eat it too? Vegetables, fruits , herbs  and flowers growing happily together in what the French call a potager .  Well I'm already enjoying the fruit of my prolific Asian pear tree, and the two grape vines I planted this Spring will produce their first crop next year, so if I plant an apple tree and some blueberries I'll have a home fruit orchard.



The more I thought about having an ornamental vegetable garden the more I liked it. The idea that the potager is an ornamental, four-season landscape that can be the center of attention even in a small urban plot such as mine was appealing.   Of course I also had visions of fried green tomatoes, okra,  succotash and a beautiful salad with nastariums and pansies.  So with this is mind I cleared my back 40 of most of its perennials and began my adventure in potagering ( is there such a word?  If not, there is now. We Southerners like to make up our own.)



With the exception of removing a huge 25 year old yew I'm proud to say I did all the grunt work myself and lived to tell the tale .  This 40-year-old body trapped in a 66 one wasn't even sore the next day, a true testament to what gardening and landscaping has done for me.



The fun part was selecting and planting the clipped boxwoods, 'Knockout ' rose shrub, two blueberries, coneflowers, ornamental kale and variegated sage.  Before planting I prepared the beds with my special recipe of alfafa humate and cattle manure compost, cottonburr compost and fine pines soil conditioner.  When passersby got a whif of it they thought they were in the country.  In a barnyard.  No matter how composted it is, cattle manure smells like a barnyard until it airs out.



 This is merely the beginning of an exciting gardening adventure . I'll need more potager- appropriate whimsicals such as Rusty the Rooster who now sports a bright red coat.  My collection of colorful gourd birdhouses will have a place on the garden wall.   Fall will be spent planting bulbs for Spring and securing a dwarf apple tree, Winter for planning the raised bed veggie and herb beds and Spring for planting . 



Busy with my new garden I lost touch with the real world.  Then out of the blue came a message from the Garden Designers Round Table :  This month's topic is renovation and renewal and you're on the list.  No kidding.  Very timely, y'all.  Here's my contribution :

New beginnings :  A peek at my potager .

" Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights " - Pauline R. Kezer

For more on renovation and renewal visit the Ladies and gents of the Round Table at :

Andrew Keys @ http://www.gardensmackdown.com/garden-designers-roundtable/2010/garden-designers-roundtable-restoration-and-renovation/





Genevieve Schmidt @http://www.northcoastgardening.com/2010/09/garden-restoration-renovation/

Jocelyn Chilvers, The Art Garden @ http://jocelynsgarden.blogspot.com/2010/09/renovation-evolution-of-garden-garden.html

Susan Morrison @ http://www.blueplanetgardenblog.com/2010/09/garden-designers-roundtable-from-junk-pile-to-garden-art.html

Lesley Hegarty and Robert Weaver @ Hegartywebberpartnership.wordpress.com

Rochelle Graeger @studioblog.com

Susan Cohen @ susancohengardens.com

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Harvest Monday: July 19, 2010

Each Monday, Daphne’s Dandelions hosts “Harvest Monday” where everyone can share links to their harvest for the week. It’s fun to see what everyone is harvesting from his or her gardens in different areas.

This was an exciting week in the garden spot as more variety of fruits and vegetables were harvested. The warm weather has continued and with some supplemental watering, the growth has been abundant.

We will begin with a few pickling cukes and small carrots:

I pulled a couple carrots to see how they were growing. I believe these are Little Finger Carrots. They were about 4-inches long and skinny but tasted great. Hopefully they will fatten up soon.

A large bunch of cucumbers were harvested on Thursday:

I left some small cucumbers on the vine and by the following day they were also ready for picking:

The harvest of cucumbers from the two days amounted to about 6 lbs of cucumbers. I weighed them because I wanted to use them for “Granny's Favorite Bread & Butter Pickles.”

Some of the last of the Swiss Chard that was planted in the spring. There will be more planted for fall:

More young Dark Red Norland Potatoes. We are really enjoying these:

The Blueberries are beginning to ripen up. We are now harvesting a small bowl full each day:

Celery and more Cucumbers:

The first Zucchini and some small Red Onions:

The first Raspberry from the new Heritage Raspberries planted this spring:

Be sure to visit Daphne’s Dandelions to see what others are harvesting this week.

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Harvest Moday: July 19, 2010

Each Monday, Daphne’s Dandelions hosts “Harvest Monday” where everyone can share links to their harvest for the week. It’s fun to see what everyone is harvesting from his or her gardens in different areas.

This was an exciting week in the garden spot as more variety of fruits and vegetables were harvested. The warm weather has continued and with some supplemental watering, the growth has been abundant.

We will begin with a few pickling cukes and small carrots:

I pulled a couple carrots to see how they were growing. I believe these are Little Finger Carrots. They were about 4-inches long and skinny but tasted great. Hopefully they will fatten up soon.

A large bunch of cucumbers were harvested on Thursday:

I left some small cucumbers on the vine and by the following day they were also ready for picking:

The harvest of cucumbers from the two days amounted to about 6 lbs of cucumbers. I weighed them because I wanted to use them for “Granny's Favorite Bread & Butter Pickles.”

Some of the last of the Swiss Chard that was planted in the spring. There will be more planted for fall:

More young Dark Red Norland Potatoes. We are really enjoying these:

The Blueberries are beginning to ripen up. We are now harvesting a small bowl full each day:

Celery and more Cucumbers:

The first Zucchini and some small Red Onions:

The first Raspberry from the new Heritage Raspberries planted this spring:

Be sure to visit Daphne’s Dandelions to see what others are harvesting this week.

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Early September Garden Overview: Part 2

This is a continuation to part 1 of the garden spot overview.

The celery grown in the Self Watering Containers (SWC) was a huge success. We had plenty for fresh eating and I have several bags in the freezer to add to soups and stuffing’s this winter. I thought the celery was finished and was going to pull it, but I noticed some new growth. So I trimmed out the old stalks and gave them a drink of fish emulsion to encourage it to produce again:

Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash have always been a staple in the garden spot. However, when planning the spring garden I still had a supply in the freezer from last year. When room became a problem, I elected to delay growing Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash. I tried to grow Zucchini in a pot, but it really wasn’t happy:

I planned on planting both squashes mid-season once space opened up in the potato patch. One row of mid-season potatoes was being harvested little by little as early potatoes. I started some summer squash seedlings and thought I could transplant the potted zucchini in this area.

Once moved from pot to ground, the zucchini responded really well to its new location and has increased in size and produced more fruit:

The mid-season Yellow Summer Squash has formed its first fruit that should be ready for harvest soon:

Lettuce seedlings were started in soil blocks then transplanted to the garden along with some Evergreen Bunching Onions:

Unfortunately the Simpson Elite Lettuce is bolting after our heat wave last week. Luckily there is still time to reseed:

Also soil block transplanted were Pak Choi and Michihili Cabbage. Hopefully they will make it in spite of the insect damage:

 Spinach has been transplanted into an area shaded by tomatoes and peppers:

Carrots were planted where the garlic was harvested:

Most of the potato patch now stands empty. The final Sugar Baby Watermelons in the melon patch will be harvested soon and shortly the melon patch will stand empty as well.

The temperature was much more comfortable today for working in the garden and I was able to accomplish some much needed cleanup. The abnormal 90-degree temperatures we had last week are hopefully gone for good.

I made another batch of tomato sauce yesterday and canned it early this morning. More beans were blanched and frozen. One more day to enjoy, then I'll be back to work.

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GARDEN DESIGNERS ROUNDTABLE : UNDERUTILIZED PLANTS

Honestly, when have you ever seen a specimen like this ?

Guy walks into the tree and shrub department with a photo of his front yard and says he wants the most unusual tree we've got, cost not an issue.  Sold him an Acer 'shishigashira ' or  as its dubbed  ' The Lion Head '  Japanese maple for several thousands dollars. Saw him later and he told me it was the perfect tree and none of his neighbors knew what it was and he wasn't telling. Turns out he was a well-known restauranteur that felt he had to outshine all the neighbors.



As a tree and shrub specialist I get to see all the unusual specimens that our buyer brings in from around the country.   The most coveted tree on our lot is the aristocrat of the tree world - Acer Palmatum, or Japanese Maple.  I've seen cultivars priced at $5,000 and up .  With hundreds of varieties from bright red, orange, burgundy, variegated green and pink and, chartreuse, there is bound to be one that will steal your heart. For me it was the 'Autumn Moon ' Maple, shown above,  and since I've rarely seen another in a garden I think it is very underutilized.

 Whenever possible I use evergreens in my design and a very underutilized specimen is Chamaecyparis obtusa  nana , or Japanese Falsecypress.  Elegant and artistic, it is much pricier than other evergreens but its uniqueness makes it worth the cost. 'Templehof' is one of my favorites.  Note the beautiful swirls and do not, by any means, compare it with Thuja , or arborvitae.  There is no comparison.

At first glance you'd probably not be able to name the colorful specimen above, which is another underutilized plant that I love for its colorful leaves that are attractive all season.  St. John's Wort is easy to grow but again, underutilized .

Rhododendron 'poukhanense ' or Korean azalea is one of the beauties of the Spring garden with its pale lavender bell- shaped blooms.  Azaleas in general are underutilized in the Chicago area because some have proven difficult to grow in our harsh climate. This azalea grows in Korea's rugged Poukhan mountain region with only mother nature as her keeper.  Enough said.

A camellia tree in Chicago? Be still my heart ! Actually its a Stewartia pseudo camellia and it comes in Chinese, Korean and Japanese versions.  A much over-looked under utilized tree, it's beautiful camellia-like blossoms appear in July and its stunning Fall color and beautiful exfoliating bark make it an ideal small ornamental tree of about 30 feet in height. 

The list of underutilized plants is endless but it must end here for the sake of brevity.  Please visit the Garden Designers Roundtable to read the posts of members who are writing on the subject for this month's theme. 

Written by Carolyngail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago All rights reserved

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A Little Frosty

We had a wee bit of a frost over the past couple nights. I was ready for it and harvested all that was left in the garden a week ago. So anything that is still growing I consider a bonus. Not everything was affected by the light frosts, but the zucchini, summer squash, and basil are finished for the season.

So what is left growing in the garden?

Carrots seem to be doing very well. I usually have a difficult time growing carrots, but these are looking quite good:

The lettuce is loving the cooler temperatures. We had warm temperatures even into September. Some of the earlier lettuce plantings bolted in the heat, but the later transplants seem to be doing ok:

Parsley, both flat leaf Italian and Curly are still growing strong. I have dried some and will harvest and freeze a little more this weekend:

My attempt at growing Pak Choi and Chinese Cabbage wasn’t much of a success. I’ll have to remember to use a row cover next time:

The Heritage Raspberries we planted in the spring seem to have adjusted well in their location and are still producing a few berries. I can’t wait to see how they produce next year:

The green tomatoes that were harvested last week are ripening a little at a time. I am washing and freezing these for now to be used over the winter months for soups, stews, sauce, or salsa:

Believe it or not, the peppers were not affected by the frost and are even still blooming. I may be able to harvest a few Jalapeno peppers this weekend:

I am looking forward to the final garden cleanup this weekend. The lawn and paths in between the garden beds are in need of one more mowing before the winter. I also will be planting garlic once I decide where it should go.

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Blame It All On My Roots

The long labor day weekend is my first vacation this summer.  Did I go to Michigan and sit on the beach and go shopping as invited?  Nope.  I stayed home and played in the dirt.  That's what garden geeks do.  Yesterday was a gorgeous 70 degrees so I toiled gardened from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.



Blame it all on my roots because I am returning to the garden of my youth, one that combines flowers, fruit, herbs and veggies.  I get very sentimental when I think of how our family was sustained by the good earth's bounty and the fruits of our labor .



Here's my new raised herb bed which I made with stones left from a previous owner.

The rosemary topiary in the center is the first I've kept alive with a grow light over the winter . The hen contains golden oregano and the other pot, thyme.  I plan to use seeds in the Spring to fill the bed with basil, cilantro, chives, garlic and sage.



I couldn't resist these two cone-shaped boxwoods and will add long-blooming roses and other flowering plants to the border below.

Why is it that a garden seems small until you start digging?  Clearing the area, removing and transplanting , hauling the stone from storage and filling the bed took me 7 hours.  I thought I'd be sore the next day because I haven't been able to work outside much this extremely hot summer but the ole' bod rose to the task.



Although there's a lot of work yet to be done I think I've made a very good start.











Written by Carolyngail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago All rights reserved

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