Dead of Winter

Am I glad the past week is history. It was a cold for three days with snow on the fourth day.  While it was mild compared to the winters of my youth on the northern plains, it fit the phrase "dead of winter". I'm spoiled by mild winters where I can leisurely clean, mulch, and transplant in the garden.  I felt like a caged animal looking out the window. The only thing I did was fill the bird feeders. Here is what I saw out the window.

Does this Fatsia look happy? This is how I feel too.

I didn't cut fresh foliage for church arrangements so the ladies used what was left over from the previous week--they still look good.

Pick The Flowers

It was a wet week. Almost 4" of rain and I didn't see the sun for four days.  A cold front is expected this week that will drop the temperature to the high teens. It's the dead of winter so the the perfect time to order seeds and tubers for this years garden. 

The cut flower mainstays in my garden are roses, zinnias, and dahlias. For about $20 in zinnia seeds I will harvest two buckets of cut flowers a week for about sixteen weeks--that is a good return on investment. Roses have a higher initial cost but flower over an even longer period with greater bloom variety and are fragrant. While dahlias have a modest cost but flower profusely in the fall and add a new beginning when the rest of the garden is fading. These three are the backbone of my cutting garden thus far. 

Since I've been growing flowers to be cut I'm seeing them in a different way. I was one of those well intentioned gardeners that told my children not to pick the flowers.  Why? The flower is not permanent--it lasts just a few days. So now when my grandchildren ask to pick a flower--I help them. And they run off to show what they have found.

I started thinking about the 'forbiddances' of picking a flower when I saw this sign. A rose garden with several hundred roses each with five and possibly ten or more blooms will not become barren if a flower or two or even a hundred are picked. I think gardeners are sending the wrong message.

These are the cutting beds in the church garden, They've been put to bed for the winter. The row of pots are roses from cuttings and purchased bands.

There are five camellias blooming now in my garden--three fall varieties and two spring flowering.  Here is the latest one to open.

Another Mahonia is blooming too.

This clump of daffodils is rushing the season. The cold weather this coming week will slow it down.

This weeks arrangement.

Entrance Garden

I've been working on the garden area by the front door for over 25 years. Over the years I've tried different plants and layouts trying to achieve a welcoming view that is interesting throughout the year. I spent the better part of Saturday cleaning this garden so thought I'd share some pics.

The weeping threadleaf arborvitae on the right is surrounded by three holly bushes. I found this in the discount section at a local nursery. I have a carpet rose in front of it. The Nandina in the corner needs to be thinned and shortened this year.

The Holly Bushes on the right are the only original plantings though not in this spot. I cut them back severely every couple of years to keep them rounded and at this height.  They're tough shrubs. The last time I moved them I tied a rope to my truck to pull them out and they all lived. The Bear's Breech behind the pot is probably 10 years old. I will cover it if we get a real cold snap. I really like its shiny leaves. There are astilbe to the left and hosta to the right. I have tulips in the pot---still not sure if I like the pot.

I was surprised to see new growth already under the leaves of the Bear's Breech.  This plant has never bloomed for me--maybe one day it will.

This is a Little King River Birch. It was multi-stemmed (10) but over the first year I gradually removed them until there were just three and then for the next 4 or 5 years I limbed it up. I'd like to keep it at this height.

I've tried a number of different shrubs in this spot but none seemed right. I bricked it in a couple of years ago and planted annuals but that didn't seem right either.  I'm trying a camellia that I'll train on a trellis attached to the house and I've planted toad lilies in the bed too.

This weeks arrangement uses florist flowers and local greenery.

Field of Dreams

Several years ago I began bringing cut flowers from my garden for weekly flower arrangements at church. Soon I began growing flowers in my home garden with the intent of using them for cut flowers. About two years ago I began planting roses and other perennials in garden a plot that had been prepared as an Eagle Scout project on the church grounds. This bed produced some cut flowers but was more for the enjoyment of visitors. It gave birth to what seemed like a thousand possibilities. So a couple of cutting beds were added as well as the start of a garden in the back of the church. Over the past year I've either read or browsed a dozen books on gardens and landscaping but I am destined to struggle applying the concepts. Late this past summer I needed to layout some additional beds so I applied all I had learned--make the beds 12 feet wide and the path's wide enough for the riding lawn mower. I probably learned more but I chuckle as to how much I applied. So here is the plot on the church grounds--a Field of Dreams. The first picture is looking across the bed created last year to the open field.  The drainage ditch is for runoff from the church roof. The apartments are restricted to seniors 55 and older.

Walking towards the apartments and looking to the east is a view of the field. Across the church parking lot are athletic fields, a middle school, and a several more large apartment complexes.

Standing in the parking lot and looking to the west is this view. The plot is about 100' by 200'. The church grounds extend to the evergreens. Beyond is a retail district with more than 500 stores and a convention center complex. A new arbor was built this fall as an eagle scout project, which you can see left of center.

Many residents of the apartment complexes walk through the garden to the business district for groceries and middle school students walk through at the end of the school day. After watching this parade of people when I was working in the garden I knew a wide path would be needed to keep them out of the beds.  Kids seem to like to walk in groups of 3 or more. In the future a small bridge over the ditch will be built.

As you can see the church grounds are a transition area between business and high density residential. A steady stream of people will be walking through it everyday or watching it from the apartments. I've visited a number of prayer gardens which are usually somewhat secluded which can not be achieved on this site. In addition I plan to refrain from large dense shrubs to prevent mischief and keep it a safe place. It will be not be strictly a rose garden though roses will be the dominant feature.  It will be a fun project that will take a few years to put in place and another five or more to fine tune and mature.

This is the first flower of 2013--blooming in the church garden today. And an arrangement too.