In the Jungle....

Smokey 2017

 "A-weema-weh, A-weema-weh. In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight........" -The Nylons

 This year the garden is growing back from being a jungle of sorts. Cranesbill, usually so scattered has grown in massive mounds, tucked here and there all over. 

 This was the year that I had the garden razed. It was time. Above pic was before the garden crew did their magic and cut it all down. Was getting so overgrown. It really was a jungle. And I was tripping on the mounds.Things were growing in the mess. Things I didn't want.Things that moved. Shudder.

 Above pic is what it looks like after. Little bare. But more room. Can actually see the pots . Can see the roses.Can actually get to the pots to water them! No more weird things growing or things scurrying around .......( don't worry any snakes were moved)

 And Above is how I started it all,about 8 years ago. Got the idea from a gardening magazine to plant herbs and so forth in the cracks of the patio.  Just got a little out of hand......But it was fun to do at the time. Then it morphed...

 Now the cranesbill can peek under the bench, and the roses aren't smothered by grass, weeds, Lady mantle,small trees,  that decided to grow in the mounds.

 Spencer, the neighbour's lovely cat, likes it when we play in the dirt. He supervised the entire time we were planting. I use a couple of covered card tables to lay everything out. No bending or searching.

 The hill also got a makeover. Weeds, dying rhubarb, and wandering cherry tree roots were ripped out. Still doesn't look like much, but it will. Centaurea and Campanula at the fence,Dahlias and glads with the large cages, Beans in the middle and knee hi sweet peas gracing the edge. I decided not to plant any marigolds, etc, since the slugs can be so bad and just eat the flowers alive. They don't seem to touch anything else.

 Greenhouse also got the once over. Added extra dirt and let the ferns grow at will. Evergreen clematis was cut back, the pear-apple tree in the large pot, actually came to leaf this year. Planted the toilet  and all with leftover flowers.

 Porch has been packed to the gills with pots, tightly wedged together. I alternated some pots with low flowers and some with higher ones to get  more variation in height ( I hope). My favourites are the multicoloured Coleus in the trough. Reminds me of summers when my mother would plant Coleus in the shade and they would fan out like parachutes. 

 In the sun, this year, I am trying Sun Impatiens. They look like , sort of, their small shade cousins. But they LOVE sun. A lot.

 "A garden isn't meant to be useful. It's meant for joy..." -Rumer Godden

 The only part of the patio jungle I had the crew leave, was this corner. They cut it off to grow under the bench with dragon's blood and Cranesbill in its wake. I guess part of me was missing all the overgrowth, so this was a good compromise.I still miss the jungle.But a clean slate is good.

 And on the opposite side I also had the crew cut the edge out a bit and wave it down into the pots. I like the Lady's Mantle, it just got so out of control. Now it's shaped around the pots and is contained around the large pots.

 At the top of the hill, I planted Sun Impatiens, and sweet peas, and geraniums, intermittently, something I hadn't done before. If the sweet peas die away like last year ( cause it was so hot) then there will be other things that love the heat to take over.

 Some of the flowers I planted this year ( kept it simple): Verbeena, Masses of Geraniums in multi colours of lavender, red, pink, white, orange, Scarlet,Cosmos  ( in the pots), Fuschias , shade impatiens, Sun Impatiens, Marigolds, Coleus in shade, Lobelia in shade and some in part shade. I was looking for hardy annuals. And I planted some new roses in pots on the patio.

 Grape vines were cut back to within an inch of their lives, and still they started off early.In the front, added a few more roses, Cosmos, Dahlias ( only a few this year, so they don't take over!), Geraniums, Marigolds to keep bugs off the roses. If slugs show up I will put out dishes of beer for them. Their favourite treat. They won't be able to resist.....And Spencer will sleep in the pot on the porch, or on the couch and keep tabs on the new Jungle that will grow.

 "What I've always found interesting in gardens is looking at what people choose to plant.What they put in. What they leave out.Soon there is a mood, an atmosphere, a mood...." -Helen Humphreys (The Lost Garden)

Potting Part 1

 “If you wish to make anything grow, you must understand it, and understand it in a very real sense. 'Green fingers' are a fact and  the extensions of a verdant heart.” 
― Russell Page, The Education of a Gardener

 Finally! I can plant. Oh happy day!

 When I was setting up I noticed the pair of doves that nest here....

 He was grooming her

 All lovey dovey

 The two of them feed off the seed pan I have set up year round. Their nest  high up in the pines.

 Spencer from the hill. Scientia Cattus. Took a moment from his supervision duties to snooze.

 I laid out all the flats on the sidewalk by the back of the house. That way I could keep tabs on whether they needed watering. The days are much hotter now.

 It's hard to keep the flats from drying out. Time to get them stuffed into dirt.Cordelia watched from her Moai today. 

 When I do pots, I make a mess. Dirt flies.  Hanging baskets are almost always first.

 That and the pots on the porch. The shade flowers. Fuschia, Begonias, Impatiens, Lobelia, and multicoloured Coleus. I put the Coleus in the trough under the porch eaves. It can be touchy sometimes, and doesn't like to be to watered or in a wind. They especially like growing together.

 I also noticed today the sweet peas are up. Little hands reaching through the dirt.

 And the Centaurea. I scattered more seeds last fall. I think they took this year.

 “Plants want to grow; they are on your side as long as you are reasonably sensible.”― Anne Wareham

 I find it easiest to pot things when I put two card tables together and tie a tarp over top to protect  them.Then I can work standing up moving pots back and forth as they get filled.

 But I make sure to save Spencer's flower pot. Just for him. I will never plant in it. That way he can sleep in it if he wishes when he visits. These days, he's here every day.....

 This year I decided to make it simple...

 Geraniums and Verbeena for hanging baskets...

 And in the next blog I'll post the second day of planting.  I think I have about 100 or so. Took two days to get it all done.  Spencer supervised. My daughters helped lug the table and dirt pails and planted with me when they got the chance......Nothing like having dirt under your nails and slugs crawling about to make you feel great.

 “One must also have faith to grow flowers...” 
― Stella Walthal Patterson, Dear Mad'm

Saving those Geraniums

 "Let me sit in a flowerpot. The spiders won't notice. My heart is a stopped geranium." -Sylvia Plath

 Geranium roots. What to do with the geraniums? 

 I've been cleaning up the pots of flowers. Little by little. 

 Watching the geraniums get more like sticks with each and every passing day.

 It was , and still is, this late last day of August, a terribly HOT summer. The geraniums did fabulously well. 

 This year I'm determined to save as many as possible.  If  some survive. Great. If some die off. And some will. Great. They can go into the compost. It's a win/win situation.

 So this is what I do to save Geraniums. They can be expensive to buy every spring. You won't save them all. But you should be able to keep some from year to year. 

Before the first frost, carefully dig up your geraniums, and shake all the dirt off the roots.

 Well,we have a few weeks to go before frost. But I want to get a head start. There must be a gazillion geraniums out there. I have a lot to save.  And there they sit. Staring at me.....In their pots.They can be overwintered as dormant plants

 Common geraniums have thick, gooshy stems that will help the plant to survive a long dormant period. Ivy geraniums (Pelargonium peltatum) and other narrower stemmed geraniums will not overwinter in the dormant state. Select healthy geraniums. 

 I wash off the stems and roots so that they are free from dirt.

 The Cat plant will not overwinter  like a geranium. Leave his pot so he can curl up in it for the remainder of the summer and into early fall.

 Gather all the geraniums you have cleaned and cut back  slightly. Keep as much of the root system as possible.

 I dry them off. They are particular to rot if left too wet. 

 “Long experience has taught me that people who do not like geraniums have something morally unsound about them. Sooner or later you will discover that they will even   speak sharply to cats. Never trust a man or a woman who is not passionately devoted to geraniums.” ― Beverley Nichols, Merry Hall
                                                     
 Many people used to keep geraniums in roots cellars. But since most of us do NOT have a root cellar, the basement will. do.  A garage will work as long as it does NOT freeze. Temps for storing should be cool, not warm, but not freezing. Somewhere about 45-50 F. ( 7-10 C.)

 You'll need some yarn, or light string, pair of scissors.  I cut certain lengths so I can tie up the geraniums onto a laundry drying rack.  Some people will store  geraniums,  in a paper bag. I don't have a million paper bags, or even one paper bag. So I do it differently.I just let them hang in the air......but if you wish to place them into bags as well, you can do that.

 I tie the geraniums, like little hanging dolls, upside down on the laundry rack. They will stay here till the s spring. Every so often you can mist their roots. They like that a lot. Some people will take the geraniums all down and place their roots into water. That's WAY too much work. So I just mist them.

 In early spring, plant the healthy plants in containers large enough to hold all the roots. Give them some water. Place in a sunny window, or in the greenhouse in pots. My mother would just place their roots in glass pickle jars with water to get the growth going. Then stuffed them into dirt when it was May. It may take several weeks to see new growth. Plant the geraniums outside when all danger of frost has passed.

"Such a morning it is when love leans through geranium windows and calls with a cockerel's tongue."-Laurie Lee (1916-1998)