Change of Season - Garden Chores for October

Change of seasons:

The weather has turned colder this week and it is definitely time to start the therapeutic but tedious task of putting the garden to bed for the winter. This is an opportunity to reflect on the season – I carry a small notebook to make notes of what did well and what didn't. I usually take photos of the plants during each month of blooming, which provides an accurate history of what has been planted and where it is located in the garden.

Weeding:

This is the time of year to get busy weeding the garden beds. Each weed that I pull from the roots will prevent the same plant from disbursing thousands of seeds that could multiply the weeds in the garden. I am also tidying up plant remnants from the garden and busily cutting back and, in some cases, transplanting healthy perennials to a more suitable location in the Peace Garden.

Gathering Seeds:

Start collecting seeds from the perennials - I store them in large used yoghurt containers and have also freely scattered others around the parent plant to encourage some to reproduce as nature intended.

If you stop deadheading the flowers by late summer this allows some seeds to form. I have thousands from the Echinacea, Monarda (bee balm), tansy, etc.

Winter Foliage:

While working around the garden cut back some of the plants and leave the plant remnants that have beautiful foliage (Sedum/Yarrow/ Echinacea/etc.) These will remain during the upcoming months and add interest during the winter until spring. They also provide wildlife food for the little critters in the garden.

Planting bulbs for springtime:

It is not too late to plant bulbs of daffodils and crocus for a beautiful display of spring flowers. Ideally bulbs should be planted as soon as possible, but they can be planted until the ground freezes. Tulips may be planted up until early November. To soften soil, water areas a couple days before planting also try bulb augers for easier planting. Select healthy, disease free bulbs. Make a sketch of planting locations.

– I have two happily mated squirrels that live in a tree on the tree belt in front of my house. Most of the time their life is spent busily running up and down trees and telephone wires, however, they are also busy digging holes to store the very plentiful supply of chestnuts that come from the tree that they live in. Because they are so busy and constantly disturbing the soil it becomes difficult to plant spring bulbs in the garden. The squirrels are determined and unstoppable.

Gladiolas, Dahlias and other tender bulbs should be dug up before the ground freezes, and stored in a cool, dark area. Dahlia and Begonia tubers should be stored in a box of slightly moist peat moss. Gladiola corms can be stored in a paper bag without additional packing.

Lawns

Continue to mow lawn at 2 inches until grass is dormant.

More Blooms in June -2011 - Purple Flowers

This the entrance to my home -

As you can see I love purple flowers

The Blue False Indigo Plant

False Indigo

My neighbor's little dog 'Spice' poses in the Peace Garden

Japanese Iris

Purple Columbine -Aquilegia

Bearded Iris

Japanese Iris line the pathway.

Blooms in June - 2011

Clematis (Nelly Moser)

Clematis ‘Nelly Moser’ is an heirloom hybrid gardened since 1897, & developed from Clematis lanuginosa , a Chinese species. The breeder was Marcel Moser of Versailles, France. He took his first bar-flowered hybrid, named for himself, & crossed 'Marcel Moser' with 'Belisaire,' and arrived at the name 'Nelly Moser.'

This perennial is easy to grow. If you open your hand as wide as you can stretch your fingers, you'll have before you the size of the flowers on a 'Nelly Moser' clematis.

I usually leave them outside on the vine but this year a stem broke off and I put it in a vase in the kitchen. As you can see when they did bloom they look really beautiful.

Cleome Spinosa

I plant very few annuals but I usually have a bed of Cleome Spinosa (Spider Flower)

Those above are just blooming but as the summer progresses they can get to 4ft tall and need no special attention.

They are propagated by seed. They love full sun but can thrive in half-shade also. Originated in Tropical America and were introduced into Britain in 1817.

They have a very strong odor and are sometimes referred to as the Gas Plant

Two winters ago I planted three Allium Grandiflora Lily bulbs. I had purchased the Allium at our local community co-op, Urban Roots. I was not sure what to expect but last Spring three came up and were small but beautiful.

This Spring they reproduced and multiplied in number. Six beautiful blooms came in bloom and they were very tall. Absolutely magnificent!

Now for the sad part of this story - they had been in bloom for only three days -

people were stopping by to admire them.

This morning when I went outside they were all missing. When I investigated I found them all on the ground scattered around in front of the house next door to me.

They had all been picked at the bottom of the stem but whoever did it threw them away. I can only guess that it may have been children - it was very disappointing to see them destroyed. I have not had an experience like this before but I have friends who have told me that people pick their garden flowers all the time without permission.

I miss them already :-(

Visitors to the Peace Garden

Last week I was so surprised to see this visitor to my garden.

Walking around upright he is about 5 feet tall and as you can see he

is a very large bird. I am guessing that he is a Wild Turkey.

I ran to get my camera and he jumped into the tree. He just seemed cautious, definitely did not appear to be afraid. I left after awhile so I have no idea how long he was in the tree or where he came from.

I live in central downtown Buffalo so this was a very unusual, but welcome,

visitor to the Peace Garden.

And then...........two days later I look outside and observe this very large

Rabbit hopping around in my garden.

As you can see, he was looking at me but did not scamper away.

Now I know that my friends who live in the country probably see such visitors

frequently, but as I mentioned before, I live downtown, in a very

busy area, so forgive me for my excitement.

Could it be that they were just lost - or do you think they are hungry?

Is there a food shortage going on in the wildlife world that I am not

aware of?

Anyway, they both brought me joy :-)

peacesojourner

The Entranceway to my Home - Blooms in May

Hello friends!

I am glad to be back on the Peace Garden after a very long winter and a wet and chilly spring.

Today is reported to be the first day of uninterrupted sunshine in my town.

Yes, there has been so much rain that it has been difficult to work outside but most of us have been busy planning our window boxes and plant containers.

This window box is near my front door but also in my bedroom window. It is filled with pansies, impatiens, alyssum, petunias and vinca vines. It is the first thing that I see when I wake in the morning and I enjoy the view every day.

Here are some photos of my front porch as you enter my home.

All of the flowers here are annuals.

Nicotiana and petunias

Note the sweet potato vine in this planter - by the end of the season it will be trailing on the ground - It is a great accent to add to plant containers.

This hanging basket was a gift from my family on Mother's Day. :-)

I look forward to chatting with you over the next few months.

peacesojourner

A Winter Scene in the Peace Garden

This is my favorite seat in the Peace Garden during the summer months.

Photos were taken a few days ago - I am constantly dreaming

of Spring flowers which I know are hiding under the beds of snow.

View of the back garden through the bedroom window.

Just 8 days and a wake up until the first day of Spring.

The Peace Garden on a Snowy Day In Buffalo

St. Francis of Assisi who now lives in my Buffalo garden

My window box

Bird feeder near my front door

Snow capped Sedum

Entrance to my home

Japanese Iris during the Winter season

Snow lands on a bush making it resemble a cotton plant

Winter view of the side garden

The snow brings it's own beauty and a sense of wonder and spirituality

to the Peace Garden in the Winter months

peacesojourner

Nipponanthemum nipponicum (Montauk Daisy)

Nipponanthemum nipponicum

(Montauk Daisy)

This Daisy is a strong, hardy plant that can survive adverse conditions, including drought. It requires little in the way of care, making it a popular plant even with beginner gardeners. There are a few variations on how it got it's name of Montauk Daisy.

After researching it's history I came across this story and it is my favorite:

Posted by Donn of Seaside, New York on Friday, September 24, 2004

'Several years ago, before I moved to Long Island, I used to work in the City, and lived in Queens. I spent untold hours driving to and from Montauk, to surfcast The End.

One night, I was fishing beside an older gentleman who lived in one of the little known small towns, inland (if that's possible) from the coastal towns out there, a town called Springs. He was a retired commercial fisherman, and the fishing was poor, so we chatted through the night, mostly about his fishing career and surfcasting. After sunrise, we were packing up to leave, and he invited me to his house for breakfast, which invitation I gladly accepted.

I followed him west in my van, and we pulled into an oyster shell paved driveway that wound back into a gorgeous landscape of flowers, shrubs and grasses. It seems surfcasting was not his only hobby. He fed me a fish and eggs breakfast, and, with a mug of hot coffee in my hand, he fed me a tour of his gardens.

I won't get into the rest of his landscape, but one bed, snuggled in next to a tiny grove of Beach Plums, jumped out at me. It was approximately 12' in diameter, crudely oval in shape, and both lined and interspersed with beautiful medium sized stones. The only other occupants of the bed were a gorgeous cluster of Montauk Daisies.

I'd seen wild clusters of them along the shoreline from the point back to the village, but I'd never seen them in a garden, and I asked him what they were. He said "They're Montauk Daisies now," with a sneer and a salty look to punctuate his answer.

He went on to tell me that he started the plants that filled the bed with seed gathered from the cliffs along the surfcaster's path. He stuck an envelope into his waders, and slogged up to the plants at the end of their blooming season (which is the height of the fall fishing run), and taught himself how to find and harvest the seeds. The rest is evident in his gorgeous little bed.

This all happened in the 50's, when the villages on the South Fork were not as developed as they are now. In the course of the gentrification of the area, nurseries and landscape professionals moved in, and decided that the ubiquitous Nippon Daisy was an important facet of any locally correct landscape design, but the name was all wrong. They changed it to Montauk Daisy.

I have never researched this subject, so I have no idea if it's really what happened, or the caffeine-augmented sleepy rambling of a fisherman/gardener. It's true enough for me.'

*****

So there you have it - the story of the Montauk Daisy.

I am a fan of this plant and I can't wait to try some of the hints that I have been reading about. If you are looking for an easy care plant that blooms well into the cold weather and also looks glorious - the Nopponanthemum nipponicum is for you - all the way from Japan and now well established in Montauk, Long Island!

Montauk Daisies - October 2010

Montauk Daisy - Chrysanthemum Nipponicum

Two years ago in October I was taking a drive in the countryside in Western New York when I passed a farm that had an enormous display of white flowers for sale. I made a U-turn and stopped. I had never seen these flowers before – they were not exactly chrysanthemums and not exactly daisies. Thus I was introduced to the Montauk Daisy, named after Montauk, New York, which is a city on Long Island.

They were beautiful, looked very sturdy and best of all they were $3 for a gallon size pot. I purchased 5 of them and placed them in various parts of my garden not really knowing what to expect.

Well, the outcome has been amazing. They have grown about 3 feet high and maybe 4-5 wide
As its current Latin name suggests, this daisy originated in Japan (Nippon). This plant is native to the island's coastal area. Montauk daisies like well-drained sites with full sun. They are rated for growing in zones 6 to 10, which means that most temperate zone gardeners can enjoy this flower.

During spring and summer the he Montauk daisy will spend most of the growing season as a pleasant leafy filler in your flowerbeds. Foliage is deep green, with a slightly leathery texture, the stems grow from hardy roots into a tall, bushy "sub shrub."
The three-inch leaves are toothed and oblong, similar to the Shasta daisy and chrysanthemum cousins. In early October, dozens of classic white, yellow-centered blooms open and adorn the plant until hard frost (28 degrees F).
They are deer-resisting, butterfly attracting.

I have learned that because the Montauk daisies begins to green in the flower bed a month or two before the time to plant summer annuals, croci, pansies, daffodils or early tulips can be planted around the plant to take advantage of space later to be shaded by the growing stems.

They do need pruning and pinching off new stem growth in the spring and early summer should control their growth. The rule of thumb for the Montauk daisy is 'cut it in half on the first of June and again on the first of December.

The origin of this daisy: It was named Nipponanthemum, which roughly translated means Japanese flower. In the 1860s, a Russian botanist, Carl Maximowicz, brought the Nippon Daisy to his botanical garden in St. Petersburg. He distributed many of these plants around the world so that more people could study them and appreciate their beauty. The Nippon Daisy flourished well on Long Island and is now known in the United States as the Montauk Daisy.

The blooms of the Montauk Daisy last for a long time. They are also great as cut flowers because they have tall stems that are quite strong.

More on this flower in my next posting.

Still blooming in October - 2010

A window box on my front porch has been happily blooming since May -

Nicotiana, pansies, alyssum and impatiens.

Sedum is plentiful in the Peace Garden along with Russian Sage

Let the Sedum stand during the winter months after they have turned brown,

they provide wonderful

viewing as they stand up straight during the snow.

The Japanese Anemone is flourishing well and is in it's full glory in October

Plenty of Cosmos still waving in the breeze

Jerusalem Artichoke is standing tall and in full bloom

Datura - Belle Blanche also called Jimson Weed

Morning Glory - Cardinalis

Moonbeam Coreopsis has been blooming for several months now and

is just starting going to seed.

*****

I am enjoying these flowers, however, the daily weather reports state that the temperatures are falling overnight so we will see how long they will be able to share their beauty with us.