NO ADS! 100% GARDENING
®
Clematis
SECRETS TO
BOUNTIFUL
BLOOMS
7
Page 12
PLUS:
BEFORE & AFTER
A WATER GARDEN OASIS
Page 8
GARDEN GATE’S
TOP 10 PLANTS
THAT LOVE CLAY
Page 20
NO-FEAR
ROSE PRUNING
Page 26
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2
W
elcome to Garden Gate! Who among us hasn’t
coveted a neighbor’s arbor bejeweled with
clematis blooms or dreamed about having our
own rose garden? If this sounds familiar, you’ll want to
check out two stories in this issue. Clematis, on p. 12,
will show you everything you need to know to have gorgeous clematis in your own garden. It all starts with
knowing which pruning group your clematis falls into.
Sound complicated? It won’t be after you read our story.
Then on p. 26 you’ll find out that pruning roses isn’t as
“thorny” an issue as you may think!
Another common problem gardeners face is clay soil.
If you’re thinking of tackling a clay area, you won’t want
to miss this issue’s Top Picks article on p. 20. In it we
share our list of 10 plants guaranteed to thrive in even
the stickiest soil.
Have you ever noticed how the best advice comes
from fellow gardeners? We think so, too. That’s why we
like to pass along our readers’ great ideas to one another.
Be sure to read on p. 32 how one reader designed several
garden rooms even within the confines of an averagesized city lot. And on our Reader Tips pages, look for
ways to save time, money and energy straight from the
backyards of fellow gardeners.
Finally, here at Garden Gate, we’re all gardeners, just
like you are. And we’d like to think that we can share
our experiences and problems with you, just as you can
with us. I hope you’ll find many pages of inspiration
and ideas in this issue. Happy gardening!
www.GardenGateMagazine.com
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
contents
in every issue
features
AT HOME GARDENER
ON THE COVER
adrian bloom
on conifers..........................6
BEFORE & AFTER
a water garden oasis ..........8
GARDEN GATE’S TOP PICKS
10 clay-loving plants ........20
GARDEN GATE’S
DESIGN CHALLENGE
new home front yard..........38
FROM THE DRAWING BOARD
a sunny entry garden ........40
CONTAINER RECIPE ............43
FROM THE TEST GARDEN
Clematis ....................12
Learn how to prune the “queen of
the vines,” as well as other
secrets to growing perfect
clematis. ONLINE
Rose Pruning ............26
Think pruning roses is complex? It
doesn’t have to be! Let us show you
some simple techniques. ONLINE
EDITOR’S CHOICE
prairie smoke....................50
32
ONLINE
Sand-Cast
a Birdbath ................30
You bring the leaf and concrete
and we’ll give you the know-how
to create your own birdbath in
5 simple steps. ONLINE
ONLINE
dividing grape hyacinths ....48
12
Garden Rooms ........32
Find out how one gardener created a haven in a surprisingly
small backyard.
To find more tips, plans and step-bystep instructions, look for these
symbols on our Web site.
• More Clematis Cultivars
• Sharpening Pruners VIDEO
• Sand-Cast a Birdbath VIDEO
• Dividing Grape Hyacinths VIDEO
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Click on “Subscriber Services” in the list on the left
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what’s new........................44
did you know? ..............45
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resources ......................47
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weed watch ......................49
finishing touches ..............52
ON THE COVER:
‘Ville de Lyon’ clematis
Photo: Deborah Gruca
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3
readertips
“Genius is 1 percent inspiration and
99 percent perspiration.” The same is true
Thomas Edison
of gardening, but a moment
of inspiration can save hours
of perspiration! Tell us about
your inspirations that save you
time, effort or money. Mail
your tip to Garden Gate Tips,
2200 Grand Ave., Des
Moines, IA 50312, or e-mail
gardengate@gardengatemag.
com. We’ll consider publishing
your tip in one or more of our
works, and we’ll pay you $25
if we use your tip. Please
include your name, address
and daytime phone number.
New life for an
old hose
Jim Allen, California
When Jim replaced his
garden hose, he thought
he ought to be able to
use the old one somehow in the garden, even
though it had a few
cracks in it. He attached
a cap to seal the end of
the hose (available at
garden centers or hard-
ware stores), then he
used a fine nail to poke
small holes down the
length of the hose. Now
he’s got a handy (and
free!) soaker hose.
Cleaner
birdbaths
Margaret Juler, California
Margaret has a technique her English grandmother taught her years
ago to keep slimy green
algae from growing in
her birdbath.
She starts with a
clean birdbath and fills
it with fresh water.
Then Margaret binds
six to eight stems of
lavender flowers
together with a daylily
leaf and lays the bundle
in the water.
One bundle of
lavender will keep the
water algae-free for two
or three weeks. During
hot weather, she
replaces the bundles
more frequently. The
QUICK TIP Leave your clogs at the door
Elaine Cooper, Iowa
Garden clogs are wonderful outside, but it’s amazing the way they
carry mud inside. Elaine came up with a way to keep her clogs handy
and ready to use, without having to find a place to stash them indoors.
She pounded 1-in.-diameter dowel rods into the
ground beside her steps. When she’s
ready to go in, she slips off her clogs
and hangs them toes-up on the
dowels to keep them dry inside.
And when she wants to do a little
gardening, she steps out on the
porch and her clogs are right there
waiting for her.
4
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Divide hosta
with a bulb
planter.
•
chemical released by the
lavender won’t kill
algae already growing,
but it does prevent new
growth from starting.
Slide the
division
into a
precut hole.
Cut to fit
Judy Stahley, South Dakota
Judy has come up with
a great way to save time
and energy when she’s
dividing her hostas in
the fall.
First she uses a small
bulb planter to dig
holes where she wants
her transplants. Then
she removes a small
amount of soil around
a mature hosta to
expose the root. She
selects a section that
has some sprouting
“eyes,” or leaf buds,
removes the fading
foliage and slices the
root with a twist of the
bulb planter.
Because Judy cuts
them with the same
tool, the root core fits
perfectly into its
planting hole. The
whole process takes less
than 30 seconds per
plant. With the divisions safely in place,
she simply repacks the
soil around them and
around the mother
plant’s exposed roots.
Judy says this division technique can
be used any time of
year for hostas, but
it’s best done in fall
when the plants are
going dormant.
You do lose some of
the foliage when you
make the cuts in the
root. But whenever you
decide to divide them,
both mother and baby
plants do well because
they’re not exposed to
the stress of being dug
up and manhandled
into their new homes.
Disinfect pruners
with no drips
Earl Simmons, Maryland
Sterilizing your pruners
between cuts is an
important way to keep
your plants healthy and
disease-free. Most
people use a jar of
bleach and water, but
Earl found an easier
way. He uses Clorox®
disinfectant wipes to
clean his pruners
between cuts — no
more messy jars or
drips on his clothing.
pest watch
Japanese beetle
Popillia japonica
Kitchen recycling
Finger tip
Hazel Benwel, Idaho
Ruchelle Gee,
South Carolina
Hazel was looking for
an easy way to label the
plants in her Idaho
garden so she wouldn’t
forget a variety name or
a color when it wasn’t
in bloom. She discovered that disposable
plastic knives make
good plant labels when
she uses a permanent
marker to write on the
handle. They’re weatherproof and last for several years, and the serration on the blades
makes them easy to
stick into the ground by
each plant.
Much as we love
gardening, there’s no
denying it’s hard on
the hands. Here’s one
way to keep your manicure looking as nice as
your garden does.
Ruchelle tucks half a
cotton ball into the tips
of her glove fingers
before she puts them
on, which adds a little
extra protection for
nails and cuticles. The
cotton can stay in the
gloves for several work
sessions before it needs
to be replaced.
IDENTIFICATION
Metallic green bodies
with white tufts of hair
and bronze outer wings
Adult beetle
1/ in. long
2
make ½-in.-long Japanese
beetles hard to miss. But if you
don’t notice the insect, you’ll notice the
damage. Japanese beetles skeletonize leaves,
eating the tissue between the veins, on a wide
range of ornamental plants. Roses, birch, plum,
apricot, cherry, apple, crabapple and peach trees
are favorite snacks. Damaged leaves often look
almost lacy, and soon wilt and die. Adult beetles
are most common in spring and early summer as
they feed. During this time, the females burrow into
the ground where they lay eggs.
After the eggs hatch, the larvae do a different
kind of damage. The 1-in.-long white grubs often live
under turfgrass, feeding on the roots. A heavy infestation can kill sections of lawn, which you can pull
back like carpet to see the grubs underneath. Moles,
raccoons and birds like to feed on the grubs.
The larvae overwinter several inches underground. They pupate in the spring and emerge as
adults in spring or early summer.
Japanese beetles do their damage in the
Northeast and Midwest, as far west as Iowa and
as far south as Alabama, and in southeastern
Canada. They show up occasionally in plant shipments to the West Coast.
CONTROL You can buy traps at most garden
centers, but they’re not the best way to deal with
this pest. They often attract more beetles than
they actually catch, making the problem worse.
Insecticides, including imidacloprid and carbaryl, can control the larvae in lawns. But there are
more environmentally friendly ways to dispose of the
grubs: Insect-eating nematodes (Steinernema glaseri
and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora)
control Japanese beetles in turfgrass. Milky spore, applied
any time the ground isn’t
frozen, controls the
larvae, too.
To get rid of the
adults, keep plants
healthy. Stressed
plants are more
susceptible to pests. If
you only have a few
Grub
1 in. long
beetles, handpick them off
plants and drown them in a pail of soapy water.
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
5
at home gardener
adrian bloom
on conifers A
drian Bloom started out
working with perennials in
the family business, Blooms of
Bressingham. After trying different areas of horticulture, he
felt it was time to branch out and
find his own garden niche. He
chose conifers.
Why? They create excitement
even during the coldest, dreariest
weather, especially with all their
sizes, textures and colors.
THE EVER-CHANGING GARDEN
Transforming a flat meadow in
Norfolk, England, into a structured garden was Adrian’s first
challenge. It’s taken many years,
but he’s learned a lot in the
process. For example, planting
small starts of conifers leaves a
garden looking pretty sparse. To
get a fuller look more quickly,
interplant the conifers with
perennials and purposely set the
conifers close together. When
you plan a new garden, Adrian
says, it’s a good idea to keep in
mind that the garden will evolve
over time.
As the conifers grow, pull out
some of the perennials to make
room. And some of the conifers
will need to be dug up and
moved to roomier digs. Pruning
will corral others.
TAKING CONTROL “Years ago,
I thought it was wrong to prune
conifers,” Adrian says. But in
working with them, he’s discovered that it’s a necessity. Not
all of them age gracefully —
some grow thin, lopsided or
simply too big. Pruning is the
best way to keep plants looking
their best and in scale with their
surroundings.
It’s a skill that anyone can
learn. A little time and practice is
all it takes. Adrian prefers “rea-
“You need to prune to keep conifers under control — especially in a small garden.”
6
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
PHOTOS: © Richard Bloom
(1) The first step in pruning this spreading ‘Prostrata’ spruce (Picea pungens) is cutting back the branches that are forming leaders.
sonably natural” pruning to a
formal style.
To get an idea of what he
means, take a look at photo 1.
This is a conifer that has begun
to outgrow its place in the
garden. Rather than removing it,
Adrian is cutting it back.
As you can see, this is not a
light pruning — just look at the
piles of branches left on the
ground in photo 2. And the
shrub still has a natural-looking
form, but now it fits better in its
surroundings.
Just when the new growth
begins to stretch is a good time
to do a dramatic pruning like
this. The new growth that’s left
on the plant will grow and
cover up the pruning cuts.
Timing is important when
pruning conifers. Spring is a
good time to prune many of
them. But within that, some
recover best if you prune before
new growth starts, and others
do best if you prune just as the
new growth is starting:
With many of the junipers,
falsecypresses, yews and hemlocks, pruning in early spring,
1
(2) Next, shorten the longest side branches. The spruce looks
“reasonably natural” and new growth will quickly cover the cuts.
most recent book, “Gardening
before new growth stretches, is a
with Conifers,” or take a
good time. That way the new
virtual tour of his garden,
foliage will cover up where
Foggy Bottom, at www.
you’ve cut so you’re not left all
bressinghamgardens.com. To
season with a plant that looks as
learn about conifers that grow
if it just had a haircut.
best in your region, visit the
Pine, spruce and fir are best
American Conifer Society at
pruned just as new tips, the
www.conifersociety.org or call
candles, begin to stretch in
410-721-6611.
spring. All you need to do is nip
Adrian hopes that more
back the shoots before the new
Americans will find ways to add
needles form.
these colorful and easy-to-careWhen you prune a conifer,
for “missing ingredients” into
never cut it back to a point on
their gardens. ®
the stem where there’s no foliage
— Jim Childs
left. If you do, some, such as yew
and hemlock, will leaf out
again. But most won’t, and
you’ll be left with lots of
bare stubs.
There’s a conifer for
Adrian Bloom’s latest book,
almost any landscaping sit“Gardening with Conifers”
uation. They can be mixed
is full of information he’s
into perennial gardens or
gathered from more
foundation plantings.
than 35 years of
Some make wonderful
growing them. It’s
hedges, shrub borders and
available from
even specimen plants.
online book sellers or local
Want to learn even
book stores, selling for $39.95
more about how Adrian
hardcover or $24.95 paperback.
uses conifers in his
garden? Check out his
2
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
7
before&after
a water
garden oasis
One pond in this backyard just
wasn’t enough (inset). Five years
later, the garden boasts six ponds
and a host of water plants.
8
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T
his gardener’s dream was a backyard aquatic
paradise — a place to relax, surrounded by
ponds filled with swaying reeds and cattails. A
sparkling waterfall would fill the air with the sound
of splashing water, and fish would play beneath the
fragrant, floating water lilies. Step into this garden
and find out how the dream became a reality.
who are bitten by the “water bug,” this gardener
discovered the fabulous forms, sizes and colors
that water plants could bring to her garden. She
realized that one pond just wasn’t going to be
enough. Over a period of several years, she
installed five more ponds. As you can see, the
garden has really taken shape.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
PHOTO: Shirley Jung (inset)
STARTING SMALL This gorgeous backyard garden
started five years ago as a featureless expanse of
lawn that sloped away from the house. The first
year, there was only one pond, in the inset,
installed at the yard’s lowest point. It showed off
a patch of surface-floating water lilies you could
see from the house. But then, like so many folks
The ponds are made from highstrength commercial stockwatering tanks in various shapes
and diameters. Each one is 2 feet
deep. They run along a line that
snakes down the slope of the yard
like a waterfall. A curved-edge
gravel bed creates a well-defined
line between the pond area and
the surrounding lawn. Discshaped stepping stones echo the
bed’s bubbling, flowing water
theme. And while this garden’s
soil drains well, if it didn’t, the
gravel would keep any rain and
irrigation water from running
into the ponds. In addition to
floating water lilies, cattails,
rushes and elephant’s ear grow in
the ponds. Their forms — straplike, stiffly vertical and heartshaped — echo those of the
daylilies, grasses and hostas that
line the back of the garden. To
the left of the pond in the foreground, hen and chicks mimic
the floating water lilies.
Goldfish live in the largest
pond near the bench arbor. Here
they’re protected from the hot
summer sun by the fence and
water lilies, which cover about
50 percent of the pond’s surface.
A half-barrel fountain spills into
the pond, oxygenating the water
and creating a focal point of
sparkling reflections and
soothing tones. Along with colorful containers, the refreshing
sound invites visitors to relax on
the bench and just watch the
water flow.
Building and maintaining a
water garden has its challenges.
But the rewards are worth the
time and effort. On the next
pages we’ll take a look at the
design points and plant materials
used in this special garden.
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
9
Botanical
Names
Cattail Typha angustifolia
Daylily Hemerocallis spp.
Elephant’s ear
Colocasia esculenta
Hen and chicks
Sempervivum spp.
Hosta Hosta spp.
Spike rush Eleocharis dulcis
Water lily Nymphaea spp.
3-sq.-ft. barrel
64-sq.-ft. fish pond
Water hyacinth
Eichhornia crassipes
Hardy water lily Nymphaea ‘Virginalis’
N. ‘Odorata Sulphurea Grandiflora’
N. ‘Fire Crest’
Japanese dwarf cattail Typha minima
before&after continued
onds are dynamic systems and must be kept balPcomplex
anced to stay healthy. There have to be enough
plants to use up nutrients in the water or
simple algae will run rampant. It’s the same for sunlight. About 50 percent of a pond’s surface should
be covered with floating foliage of some kind to
block out light and keep algae in check. If you’re
supporting fish, floating plants will give them
shelter from the sun and a place to hide from
predators. In the plan at right, floating water lilies
grow mostly in the large, round ponds with lots of
surface area. The tall spike rushes and cattails are
vertical punctuations popping up from the smaller
ponds. Marginal plants, such as iris, arrowhead
and sweet flag, nestle along pond edges.
Ponds have to hold up under some tough conditions — direct sun, water pressure and a few
inevitable kicks and dings. So use high-density
molded-resin stock-watering tanks, available from
farm and ranch supply stores. They’re practically
indestructible. The tanks come in different shapes
and sizes, but make sure they’re at least 24 inches
deep so they can accommodate the needs of various
water plants. See the Quick Tip below for which
plants to use and how deeply to plant them. ®
— Glen O. Seibert
QUICK TIP
Arrowhead
DEPTH AND DIVERSITY A pond needs several kinds of plants to stay healthy:
• Submerged oxygenators, such as parrot’s feather, help
keep the water clear.
• Free floaters, such as water hyacinth, have large,
complex root systems that support bacteria, which
clean and filter the water.
• Surface floaters, such as water lilies, prevent
algae growth by blocking sunlight.
• Marginal plants, such as arrowhead, provide shelter for
aquatic insects, frogs and toads at the pond’s edges.
•
Water
hyacinth
Water
lily
•
4 in. of 3/4-in.
gravel
•
Parrot’s
feather
24 in.
QUICK TIP
BUILD IT ON SAND Dig a hole 3 to 4 in. larger than the
tank and fill the bottom of the hole with play sand. The soft
sand makes adjustments easy. When the tank is placed
correctly, use more sand as backfill to cushion the tank and
help support the weight of the water.
10
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3 to 4 in.
of sand
8-sq.-ft. oblong pond
28-sq.-ft. round pond
Cattail Typha angustifolia
Tropical water lily Nymphaea ‘James Brydon’
Spike rush Eleocharis dulcis
Hardy water lily Nymphaea ‘Vesuve’,
N. odorata, N. ‘Fire Crest’
Arrowhead Sagittaria australis ‘Silk Stockings’
Variegated sweet flag Acorus calamus ‘Argenteostriatus’
Arbor/seat
Fence
•
•
27-sq.-ft. kidney pond
Parrot’s feather
Myriophyllum aquaticum
Water pennywort
Hydrocotyle verticillata
Blue flag iris Iris versicolor
Spike rush Eleocharis dulcis
Cattail Typha angustifolia
19.5-sq.-ft. round pond
Hardy water lily
Nymphaea ‘Virginalis’
N. ‘Odorata Sulphurea Grandiflora’
N. ‘Attraction’
Cattail Typha angustifolia
Elephant’s ear Colocasia esculenta
QUICK TIP
DRAW THE LINE Plastic edging
makes a crisp, clean definition
between gravel and turfgrass. It
keeps the stones in place and
helps prevent grass from
spreading. Install the edging so
only about an inch is above
ground level. To mow, raise the
mower’s blades to 2 or 3 in. and
run the machine right over the
edging to keep the borders neat.
8-sq.-ft. oblong pond
Hardy water lily
Nymphaea alba
N. ‘Pink Sensation’
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12
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
7 secrets to beautiful blossoms
Clematis
PHOTO LOCATION: Chicago Botanic Garden
T
here’s nothing more spectacular than a clematis in full
bloom. Who doesn’t dream of
trellises covered with vibrant-red or
rich-purple flowers in late spring? Even
as the blooms fade, they leave spidery
seedheads. And fall just wouldn’t be
perfect without sweet autumn clematis’
intoxicating fragrance.
But how do you get your clematis
to grow as lush and beautiful as those
you’ll see on the next few pages? If
you’ve grown clematis, you know that
pruning can be puzzling. Should you
cut the stems to the ground each year
or just clean the plant up a bit?
The fact is, your clematis will survive, and even bloom, with no pruning.
But with the right pruning, it’ll grow
and bloom more vigorously. And let’s
face it: We grow clematis mostly for
colorful flowers. Why else would you
grow ‘Madame Julia Correvon’ at left?
PRUNING POINTERS So, how do you
prune a clematis? Timing is important: Don’t prune in the fall. I learned
this the hard way when I cut a sweet
autumn clematis down in fall, thinking
I’d save time in spring. However, I
only encouraged the plant to emerge
from dormancy at the first sign of
warm weather. The problem was, this
(1) ’Madame Julia Correvon’ is a group C
clematis. To get the most flowers, prune it to
the ground each spring.
was still in January, so the new growth
couldn’t take the return to winter, and
the plant died. No matter where you
live, it’s best to let your clematis stay
unpruned and dormant until spring.
Before you start cutting, you’ll need
to know which pruning group your
clematis is in: A, B or C (sometimes
called 1, 2 or 3). When you buy a plant,
the tag will often tell you which group
it’s in. But if it doesn’t or you can’t
remember, just watch it for a year. First
pay attention to when it blooms.
Second, notice whether it blooms
on woody stems that grew last
year and then survived the winter
(old wood) or green, flexible stems
that came from a main stem this
year (new wood). Once you know
this information, you can usually
put your clematis into group A, B
or C. On the pages that follow, I’ll
help you do that and then show
you how to prune each group.
CLEMATIS SPP.
Clematis
6- to 20-foot-tall vine,
3 feet or more wide
White, pink, red, blue, purple
and yellow flowers
Blooms early spring to fall
Full sun to part shade
Moist, well-drained soil
Sometimes bothered by clematis wilt
Cold-hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8
Heat-tolerant in AHS zones 9 to 3
‘Comtesse de
Bouchaud’
www.GardenGateMagazine.com 13
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
GROUP C CLEMATIS
(3) Sweet autumn’s fragrant blooms open in fall. Train it
onto a large structure or let it ramble as a ground cover.
I
think group C cultivars are the easiest ones to
prune, and that’s why the three pictured here,
‘Ville de Lyon’, sweet autumn and ‘Jackmanii’,
are so popular. Group C has cultivars that bloom
in spring or summer, as well as fall.
The range of colors in group C goes from white
sweet autumn to the lantern-shaped yellow species
tangutica and on to large, star-shaped, velvety
purple ‘Gipsy Queen’.
Many of these in-between sized cultivars,
such as 7-foot-tall ‘Betty Corning’, are great
for growing on obelisks or trellises or training
into small trees or shrubs like lilacs or Koreanspice viburnum. These clematis are large enough
to show up, but not so big that they’ll smother
the shrub. They’ll give the illusion that the
woody plant blooms twice a year, with completely different flowers.
This is a large group of clematis with lots of
different heights to choose from. Sweet autumn
(2) ‘Ville de Lyon’ grows 6 to 10 ft. tall, and the summer
blooms are 4 in. in diameter.
14
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
(4) ‘Jackmanii’ is one of the oldest cultivars and arguably the most popular
PHOTO: Deborah Gruca (2) GARDEN DESIGN: Sandra H. Branam (3)
clematis because of its lush crop of flowers and rich color.
is is one of the tallest, at around 20 feet. You’ll
need to give this plant a large structure to climb
on. Otherwise, you may find it twining its way
into surrounding plants. However, photo 3 shows
this vine in another use — as a ground cover. If
you leave it on the ground, you might find that
some of the stems take root where they touch the
ground and you end up with a few extra plants
to share. Any group C cultivar can be used as a
ground cover.
Careful selection of smaller vines is the
answer if you want to grow clematis in a container. Try late-flowering violet-blue xdurandii.
It only grows about 6 feet tall. Since it doesn’t
climb on its own, you’ll need to fasten it to a support. Other compact, early, large-flowering cultivars, such as ‘Blue Boy’ or dark-red ‘Niobe’,
will climb on their own.
Have a shady spot where you want to grow
clematis? ‘Comtesse de Bouchaud’ and ‘Hagley
Hybrid’ are two pink cultivars that perform
great in the shade. They’ll even tolerate a northfacing wall. However, you’ll probably find that
the flowers are smaller and sparser than those of
plants growing in more sun.
Flower sizes in group C vary greatly. ‘Betty
Corning’s’ nodding pale-blue flowers are about
1 inch across. ‘Jackmanii’ in photo 4 falls in the
middle with 4-inch blooms. ‘Crimson Star’ and
purple ‘Lady Betty Balfour’ are at the other end
of the range with 6- to 7-inch-diameter flowers.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE? If you’re not sure, leave
it unpruned for a year. If it dies to the ground over
winter or if the flowers are only at the top with
Cut near the
lots of last year’s dead foliage and bare stems
ground each
showing at the base, it’s probably a C.
spring.
You have to be ruthless to grow group C cultivars to their best. Since they only bloom on new
wood (stems that have grown on the plant since
•
winter), cut the entire plant down each spring as
you see in the illustration. If
you don’t, the plant will be Pruning group C
thin at the base and full of To keep plants full and lush, cut all of the stems to
dead stems from the pre- within a foot of the ground, leaving just two to four sets
vious year. And you’ll get of buds per stem. Train the new vines onto your trellis,
smaller and fewer flowers. spacing them apart so the flowers will show better.
www.GardenGateMagazine.com 15
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
(5) ’Multi Blue’ is a
newer group B
clematis that blooms
double on both old
and new wood.
16
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
GROUP B CLEMATIS
(6) ‘Bee’s Jubilee’ grows great in full sun or part shade. As with most clematis,
(7) ‘Henryi’, a large-flowered, 8- to 10-ft.-tall clematis,
part shade will keep the vibrant colors from fading as quickly.
is the perfect size for a sturdy trellis.
L
arge-flowered doubles and rebloomers usually fall into group B. New double hybrids,
such as ‘Multi Blue’ in photo 5 or white Arctic
Queen , bloom double in late spring and again
in summer. However, that’s a relatively new development. Most doubles, such as silvery mauve
‘Belle of Woking’ and purple ‘Kiri Te Kanawa’,
produce double flowers on old wood and single
flowers on new wood.
Heights of group B clematis can vary almost
as much as those in group C. Most grow 10 to
12 feet tall and make excellent subjects for covering structures, such as pergolas, arbors, fences
and trellises. Look for a structure with plenty of
cross pieces no more than about 6 inches apart
so the vines can climb from one to the next.
And make sure it’s tall enough. Otherwise, when
the stems reach the top, they have nowhere to go
and tend to flop over into a tangled mess. Large
arbors and pergolas allow tall clematis vines to
grow to their hearts’ content. Just make sure the
leaf stems can grab onto the structure. I’ll tell you
more about that on the next pages.
TM
‘Bee’s Jubilee’ and a pink climbing rose in
•
photo 6 are a classic pairing. Group B cultivars
Trim back
are good companions to roses because their
the tips.
pruning requirements are similar. As plants leaf
out in spring, remove any stems that have died
back. And then do a light pruning to keep both
vines trained to their structure. The illustration
Thin out
to the right shows you more about pruning.
congested
•
areas.
Group B covers a wide range of colors, from
pure-white ‘Henryi’ in photo 7, to pink-striped
‘Nelly Moser’ and deep-red ‘Ruby Glow’. Most
have large spring flowers, up to 8 inches across,
•
like ‘Henryi’. ‘Elsa Späth’
Remove
has lavender, 6-inch-diam- Pruning group B
broken and
damaged
eter flowers with overlap- Cut away broken
branches.
ping petals. Rose-red ‘Em- branches and thin to
press of India’ is even larger, balance the look of the
at 7 inches. The large vine. Trim weak and
flowers open in spring on dead stems back to a
old wood. By late summer, set of strong new buds. Cut away remaining foliage
the new wood produces and arrange stems on the support to fill in gaps. Tie
smaller flowers about half them loosely in place with strips of fabric or plastic-covas large as the earlier ones. ered wire to avoid a big tangle of vines in the future.
www.GardenGateMagazine.com 17
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
GROUP A CLEMATIS
I
(9) Dark-pink ‘Superba’ and pale-pink ‘Tetrarose’ bloom at the same time as
pale-yellow ‘Lutea’ banksian rose, and both require only minimal pruning.
f you have a clematis that doesn’t die back in
winter and blooms early in spring, it’s
•
probably a group A cultivar. This group only
Cut back
the tips.
needs enough pruning to keep plants looking
fresh and under control.
Some of the most popular species in group A
include C. armandii, in photo 8, C. alpina, C.
macropetala and C. montana, like the pink
‘Superba’ and ‘Tetrarose’ in photo 9. The flowers
are often less than 2 inches across, but they more
than make up for their size in quantity.
Since these clematis bloom in early spring on
old wood (produced the previous season), wait
to do most of your pruning until after the main
flowering has finished. Prune too early and you’ll
be cutting off the flower buds.
Never
•
In zones 4 and 5, winters sometimes kill back
remove
main stems.
the tips of group A clematis. If that happens,
you’ll need to do a bit of pruning earlier than
normal. Wait for new leaf buds to sprout on the
stems you suspect are
Pruning group A
dead before you prune.
Cut out damaged wood and any winter-damaged
Then, starting at the top,
stems as soon as you spot them. After the vines bloom,
cut the stems back in
prune the stem tips to keep the vine in bounds with its
stages. That way in the
support if you need to. Thin spots can be addressed
tangle
of vines you won’t
now by pruning a few side branches near the thin area
cut off any more than
and then directing new growth to fill in holes.
18
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
you need to. Stop when you reach the spot
where there is green under the brown outer
layer of bark. That’s the point where it should
start to leaf out.
Keep an eye on the plant for a few weeks.
Sometimes, even though the stems are green,
the buds are weak and may not have enough
energy to grow. You may have to cut some stems
back further.
Any group A clematis that is not flowering well
or has overgrown its spot probably is due for a
renovation pruning. After the vines flower, cut off
almost all of the side branches, leaving only the
main vertical stems that fasten the plant to the
trellis. However, don’t cut the plant back near the
ground like you would group C because you’ll
ruin the form of the clematis and may even delay
next year’s bloom cycle. By the following spring,
the new growth that sprouts will have had time
to mature and it’ll flower normally.
Pruning your clematis the right way is the
first step to growing perfect clematis. On the
next page, I’ll share six more tips that’ll help you
get your plants off to a great start.
ONLINE
More clematis
cultivars
PHOTOS: © Ken Meyer (8&9)
(8) Clematis armandii is a 10- to 15-ft.-tall group A
species with fragrant white flowers in spring.
7 STEPS TO
CLEMATIS SUCCESS
•
•
•
4 in. of mulch
cools the soil.
1
KNOW YOUR VINE I’ve already shown you one
of the most important things you can do to
ensure beautiful clematis — pruning the right
way for your type. Here are six more steps.
2
It is true that clematis
prefer slightly alkaline soil. If a soil test tells
you that yours is on the acid side, your vines will
benefit from some agricultural lime. But if it’s
already alkaline, don’t add lime — you can
overdo it. A pH of 7 to 7.5 is just right.
Dig the hole 18 inches deep and wide like the
one in the illustration. Work in lots of moistureholding compost. Set young plants deeply so the
first two sets of leaf nodes will be underground.
This encourages plants to send up more stems so
you’ll have a thicker plant.
Plant with two
sets of leaf
nodes below soil
surface.
Keep mulch
8 in. from the
stem.
•
START WITH THE SOIL
3
MULCHING MATTERS “Head in the sun, feet in
the shade” is old clematis advice. However, a
4-inch layer of mulch keeps the roots cool and
moist just as well as shade does. To prevent stem
rot, keep the mulch about 8 inches from the stems.
4
The
best place to prune a
Cut just
stem is just above two
above a pair
of strong
strong buds. The illustrabuds.
tion at left shows how you
can spot them — where
two leaves were growing
the previous year. These buds will
quickly develop into new vines. Don’t
worry about making angled cuts — it’s
not necessary.
MAKING THE CUT
•
5
RECOGNIZE DISEASE QUICKLY Clematis wilt is
easy to spot: A portion of your vine wilts
quickly, often just as the plant starts to bloom.
Wilt is caused by a fungus that enters the stem,
usually just above the soil line. There is no cure
other than to cut the entire stem to the ground
and dispose of it in the trash. Do this as soon
as you notice the wilt. That’ll prevent spores
from moving to other stems. Systemic fungicides
can help prevent wilt from spreading to healthy
stems. Apply benomyl or carbendazim to vines
•
Dig hole 18 in.
wide and deep.
Work lots of
compost into
the soil.
immediately after you remove infected portions. Read the package label for specific application information. The rest of the plant usually survives, providing there are enough other
healthy stems. That’s another reason to plant
clematis deeply: If a stem becomes infected and
has to be removed, more will come from the
base to replace it.
Cultivars that have proven resistant to wilt
include ‘The President’, ‘Ville de Lyon’, ‘Nelly
Moser’, ‘Betty Corning’ and ‘Jackmanii’.
6
Clematis like to be
well fed, but not overfed. I feed my clematis
once a year right after pruning with an all-purpose, granulated fertilizer, such as a 10-10-10.
SERVE A BALANCED DIET
7
CHOOSE THE RIGHT TRELLIS Clematis climb by
twisting petioles, or leaf stems. The vine
itself does not twine. So, if your structure is too
large, the leaf can’t wrap around it. Anything
over ¾ inch in diameter is too large for a leaf
to grasp. Nylon fishing line is a great way to get
a clematis to climb a light
pole or arbor post. See the
small knot in the photo at
right? Tie one of those
every foot or so to keep the
vine from sliding.
Now that you know
these secrets, you no longer
have to wonder how to get
those spectacular flowers
you see in photos — you’ll
be enjoying your own! ®
— Jim Childs
www.GardenGateMagazine.com 19
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
top
picks
garden gate’s
10
clay-loving
plants
C
lay. The soil that can strike dread into
the hearts of gardeners everywhere.
Most will tell you they prefer any type of
soil, even sand, to clay. Why? It takes the
most work to change clay into something
that you can grow plants in. But if you
have clay, why go to the trouble of trying
to change it? Grow plants that thrive in
clay soil — you’ll have a beautiful garden
and keep a healthy back!
Often you can adjust the soil for a
smaller plant like a perennial or a bulb if
you have to. But what about large trees
and shrubs? You can’t possibly mix
enough organic matter into an area that
will accommodate the root system of a
shade tree. And you can’t build a raised
bed big enough to hold it. In this case it’s
definitely better to fit the plant to the soil
rather than change the soil.
In fact, when you dig a hole to plant in
clay, it’s not a good idea to amend the soil
with compost or peat in just that spot.
You’ll need to do the entire area.Why?
When the roots reach the clay wall, they’ll
turn back. And roots need to push out into
the surrounding soil to brace the plant
upright and to gather nutrients to keep the
plant healthy and growing.
20
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
How do you know if you have clay?
The easiest way is to pick up a handful of
your soil when it’s moist, but not too wet.
Squeeze it in your hand as hard as you
can. After you release your grip, gently
tap the ball of soil with your fingers. Does
it break apart easily? Or does it stay in a
firm ball? If it stays in a ball, you have
clay. But there are different kinds of clay.
Rub some between your thumb and fingers. If it feels gritty, there is some sand in
it. Try to form a ribbon of soil as you rub.
If it falls apart before it’s an inch or two
long, you have a fair amount of organic
matter in it. Both of those types of clay
will allow some plant roots to penetrate.
But if your soil forms a 3-inch ribbon, you
have sticky clay that will be hard for most
plants to push their roots through.
All the plants I’ve listed here will tolerate any clay. Of course the better the
drainage, the better they’ll grow. And
sure, perennials and bulbs will benefit if
you work organic matter in to the entire
bed to help the soil hold more oxygen and
drain better. But save your back and see
how beautifully these 10 plants will grow
in the soil you already have. ®
— Jim Childs
Quamash
3 ft.
Martagon lily
Camassia leichtlinii
Lilium martagon
This North American
native typically grows in
the moist meadows of the
Cascade and Sierra mountain ranges.
Plant the bulbs in fall in
groups of 15 or more to
get the best visual effect.
Set them 6 inches deep (to
the bottom of the bulb)
and 6 to 8 inches apart.
Once they’re established,
don’t disturb the bulbs.
Clumps will expand slowly
over time. You can start
quamash from seeds, but
it’ll be three or four years
before you get any blooms.
The star-shaped flowers
open along the stem from
the bottom up. Each stem
is sturdy, and rarely will
fall over on a wet or windy
day. Flower colors range
from clear or creamy white
to blue and purple.
Martagon lilies also bloom
just fine in shade. Individual flowers are about 2
inches in diameter, but the
tall spires can have 50 buds
on one stem, taking several
weeks to bloom from
bottom to top.
Colors range from crisp
white to orange to an
almost-black burgundyred. Some of them have a
spicy fragrance.
You can plant potted
plants anytime; bulbs are
best planted in the fall.
These slow-growing plants
can live in the same spot
for years, eventually
forming large clumps. If
you do have to move or
divide them, they may not
come up the first year,
especially if you divide in
the spring. Be patient and
they’ll be back.
2 ft.
1 ft.
0
Type
Hardy bulb
Size
Up to 48 in. tall by
12 to 15 in. wide
Bloom Midspring
Soil
Fertile, slightly acid
Light
Full sun to part shade
Pests
None serious
Hardiness
Cold: USDA zones 4 to 10
Heat: AHS zones 10 to 1
6 ft.
4 ft.
2 ft.
0
Type
Hardy bulb
Size
5 to 6 ft. tall by 1 ft. wide
Bloom Early to midsummer
Soil
Moist
Light
Full sun to part shade
Pests
None serious
Hardiness
Cold: USDA zones 3 to 8
Heat: AHS zones 8 to 1
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
21
top picks continued
Joe-Pye weed
Eupatorium purpureum
maculatum
If you’re looking for a focal
point or a background
plant for your late-season
garden, look no further.
Joe-Pye weed is an excellent choice. First, the
foliage is large and striking
— sometimes leaves grow
12 inches long. The stiff,
sturdy stems, which rarely
need staking, hold 12- to
18-inch-diameter domes of
pink to mauve flowers in
late summer.
After the flowers fade,
this stately plant still has
one more feature to offer
— attractive, fuzzy seedheads that last well into
winter. I don’t cut mine
down to the ground until
spring cleanup time.
‘Gateway’ in the photo
is one of the most easy-tofind cultivars.
22
6 ft.
Swordleaf inula
Inula ensifolia
The mounds of small
swordlike leaves are almost
covered with 1-inch-diameter golden-yellow flowers
4 ft.
in midsummer.
Swordleaf inula is easy
to start indoors from seed.
Barely cover them with
potting mix. Keep them
2 ft.
moist with the temperature
at 65 to 70 degrees, and
they will sprout in about 3
weeks. Move the seedlings
to your garden after the
0
danger of frost has passed.
Type Perennial
Since it is a low grower,
Size
5 to 7 ft. tall by 2 to 4 ft. wide use swordleaf inula as a
border for taller perennials
Bloom Mid- to late summer
and shrubs.
Soil
Fertile, alkaline
Don’t let plants stay
Light Full sun
wet, especially in the
Pests Leaves may scorch if the
winter, or they will rot.
soil dries out
Set the crown on a mound
at least an inch or two
Hardiness
higher than the rest of
Cold: USDA zones 3 to 9
your garden.
Heat: AHS zones 9 to 1
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
2 ft.
1 ft..
0
Type Perennial
Size
2 ft. tall by 11/2 ft. wide
Bloom Mid- to late summer
Soil
Moist
Light
Full sun
Pests
Powdery mildew if allowed to
dry out too frequently
Hardiness
Cold: USDA zones 4 to 9
Heat: AHS zones 9 to 1
PHOTOS: ©Jerry Pavia (Joe-Pye weed, swordleaf inula) PHOTO LOCATION: Chicago Botanic Garden (obedient plant)
Bugleweed
Ajuga reptans
This fast-growing evergreen creeper makes a
wonderful ground cover
or edging plant. It spreads
by stolons, but not so fast
that it gets out of hand,
especially in clay soil.
Colors range from
white-flowered ‘Alba’ to
‘Pink Elf’, but are most
often beautiful shades of
blue, like small-leafed
‘Chocolate Chip’ in the
photo above.
Flowers aren’t the only
colorful feature of bugleweed. ‘Catlin’s Giant’ has
large bronze leaves. You’ll
have small, variegated
gray-green-and-cream
leaves with ‘Vanilla Chip’.
‘Multicolor’ grows darkbronze leaves marked
with pink and cream.
Many of the species have
rich dark-green foliage.
Obedient plant
4 in.
Physostegia virginiana
2 in.
0
Type
Perennial
Size
4 in. tall by 10 to 12 in. wide
Bloom Late spring to early summer
Soil
Moist
Light
Full sun to shade
Pests
None serious, occasional crown
rot if kept too wet
Hardiness
Cold: USDA zones 3 to 9
Heat: AHS zones 9 to 1
Obedient plant can
spread much too quickly
and will get away from
you in a hurry in
enriched garden soil.
However, clay will slow
it down. Fertile soil
grows lush foliage and
floppy stems. If your
obedient plant grows too
tall, even in clay, cut it
back in early spring to
promote shorter and
stockier stems.
White ‘Miss Manners’
stays in a clump no
matter where you plant
it. Spreading white cultivars are ‘Alba’ and
‘Summer Snow’. If you
prefer the rich color in
the photo, plant brightpurple-pink ‘Vivid’.
‘Variegata’ has pink
flowers and gray-green
leaves edged with white.
3 ft.
2 ft..
1 ft.
0
Type
Perennial
Size
18 in. to 4 ft. tall by 2 ft. wide
Bloom Late summer into fall
Soil
Acid and low fertility
Light
Full sun or part shade
Pests
Occasional rust
Hardiness
Cold: USDA zones 3 to 9
Heat: AHS zones 9 to 1
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
23
top picks continued
Flowering quince
Slender deutzia
8 ft.
Chaenomeles japonica
Deutzia crenata nakiana
As the weather warms in
spring, flowering quince
begins to bloom. You’ll
find bright-red-orange, soft
pastel pinks and whiteflowered cultivars to
choose from. Some even
have double flowers.
Plant a flowering quince
or two in a perennial
border. The flowers will be
gone before most perennials bloom, so they won’t
compete. And the flowering quince foliage will
make a good background
and wind protection.
But this shrub is more
than just an ornamental.
Because of its twisting
branches, flowering quince
grows into an almost
impenetrable hedge. It
blooms on old wood, so
prune it right after the
flowers fade.
The graceful and arching
branches of deutzia are
covered with clusters of
white flowers for 10 to 14
days each spring. Later, the
summer foliage is a clean
medium green.
‘Nikko’, in the photo
above, grows 2 feet tall
and makes a good edging
plant or ground cover.
Plus, it has foliage that
turns red-purple in
autumn. Plant several of
them where they can grow
together into a dense 2foot-tall mass for a spectacular spring show. Space
the plants about 2 feet
apart to get the best effect.
If ‘Nikko’ deutzia is
marginally cold-hardy in
your zone, plant it among
taller shrubs or against a
structure for a bit of extra
winter protection.
24
4 ft.
0
Type
Deciduous shrub
Size
4 to 8 ft. tall by
4 to 10 ft. wide
Bloom Early spring
Soil
Acid
Light
Full sun to part shade
Pests
Occasional leaf spots
and aphids
Hardiness
Cold: USDA zones 5 to 8
Heat: AHS zones 8 to 1
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
2 ft.
1 ft.
0
Type
Deciduous shrub
Size
2 ft. tall by
3 ft. wide
Bloom Midspring
Soil
Acid
Light
Full sun to part shade
Pests
None serious
Hardiness
Cold: USDA zones 5 to 8
Heat: AHS zones 8 to 1
White ash
PHOTO LOCATION: Chanticleer (flowering quince)
Fraxinus americana
60 ft.
More than just a fastgrowing tree (1 to 2 feet
per year), white ash has a
lot of other things going for 40 ft.
it: Flexible and strong
wood that won’t break
easily in a storm; thin
leaves that break down
20 ft.
quickly if you don’t get
them raked, and finally,
leaves that drop early to let
lots of autumn sunlight
into your windows.
0
But I think the fall color,
like Autumn Purple™ in the
Type Deciduous tree
photo above, is enough to
Size
60 ft. tall by 40 ft. wide
recommend this tree.
Other colorful cultivars are Bloom Insignificant
‘Rosehill’, ‘Autumn Blaze’
Soil
Rich
and Windy City™. All four
Light Full sun
of these white ashes are
Pests Occasional scale
male trees, so you don’t
Hardiness
have to worry about seeds.
Cold: USDA zones 3 to 9
That means that later there
won’t be white ash trees
Heat: AHS zones 9 to 1
sprouting everywhere.
Flowering currant
Ribes sanguineum
April or May, depending
where you live, brings clusters of flowers hanging
from the branches of this
shade-loving shrub. The
leaves have not yet fully
expanded, so the flowers
stand out clearly on this
loose, informal-looking
shrub. ‘King Edward VII’
in the photo above is the
darkest red of the group.
Other cultivars are pink
‘Claremont’ and crisp
White Icicle (‘Ubric’).
All three of these flowering currants produce
edible fruit. They’re colorful but not very tasty. By
July they change from
green to bright red before
finally turning blue-black.
They’ll hang on the
branches until you pick
them or they’re carried
away by hungry birds.
6 ft.
4 ft.
2 ft.
0
Type
Deciduous shrub
Size
Up to 8 ft. tall by 4 ft. wide
Bloom Midspring
Soil
Low fertility
Light
Part shade to shade
Pests
Aphids
Hardiness
Cold: USDA zones 6 to 9
Heat: AHS zones 9 to 1
www.GardenGateMagazine.com
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
25
Rose
Pruning
No-fear
W
ONLINE
Sharpening
pruners
ant your roses to have
gorgeous flowers, a nice
shape and healthy foliage?
Believe it or not, pruning is one of
the key factors, even though roses
can be pretty forgiving.
Pruning is one of the best things
you can do for your roses. You’re
opening up the center of the plant
to increase air circulation, leading
to healthier foliage. And you’re removing dead and diseased wood.
Last, but definitely not least, pruning encourages new growth and
more and bigger flowers.
Let’s get started
Before you make that first cut,
you’ll need to have a few things
on hand. First, protect your skin
with long sleeves and heavy
gloves that reach well past your
wrists. I leave my favorite thin
goatskin gloves inside and wear
thicker pigskin ones when I work
on my roses.
Another essential is a sharp
pair of bypass pruners. Why
bypass? They work like scissors,
with the blades slicing past each
other. Anvil pruners have one
sharp blade and a flat surface,
which will crush the rose stems
instead of making a clean cut. If
you’ve never sharpened your
pruners yourself, check out our
Online Extra, where we’ll show
you how.
To avoid spreading disease,
disinfect your pruners as you
work. A mixture of 1 part bleach
to 4 parts water is a good disinfectant — dip your pruners into
it between cuts, and especially
between plants.
You’ll also need something to
seal the canes to keep rose cane
borers out. There are lots of commercial sealers available, but a
couple of drops of good old
Elmer’s Glue-All® work just fine.
In these photos I’ll show you a
few basic pruning techniques.
They’ll come in handy whether
you’re doing a full-scale spring
pruning or just deadheading.
•
Outward-facing bud
(1) Make pruning cuts at a 45-degree angle about ¼ in. above an out-
ward-facing bud. Choosing buds that are headed away from the center of
the plant will keep your rose open in the middle, improving air circulation
among the leaves.
26
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
Healthy pith
Cane borer damage
(2) The cane on the left is healthy while the one on the right is
hollow, a sign of cane borers. Old stems may be hollow all the
way to the ground, so go ahead and cut them back to the base.
As you’re pruning off winter damage, cut down to healthy pith.
Deadheading keeps
reblooming roses going
strong all summer. You’ll
want to make deadheading
cuts right above five-leaflet
leaves that face outward.
That’s where the strong new
shoot emerges. I’ll snip off
everything above that as I’m
deadheading this rose.
Make cut here
•
•
Strong new shoot
Five-leaflet leaf
•
(3) It’s a good idea to seal cuts on bigger canes to keep out
insects that bore into rose canes. You don’t have to seal every
tiny deadheading snip, but if the cane is wider than about
1/ in., seal it with glue.
8
www.GardenGateMagazine.com 27
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
4 SIMPLE TIPS
WHEN TO PRUNE The best
time to prune roses that
bloom all summer is in early
spring, before the leaf buds
open but after the danger of several days of severe cold is past.
It’s OK to snip out a branch or a
whole cane as needed during the
summer, but don’t do extensive
pruning late in the season. If you
prune too late, the plant will produce a lot of new growth that will
be damaged by cold weather.
Roses that only bloom once
usually bear their flowers on yearold wood. So prune these roses
right after they bloom or you’ll
be cutting off most of next year’s
flower buds.
HOW TO PRUNE Let’s talk about
what to prune out of your roses.
In the illustration at right, you’ll
see a rose with areas marked
for pruning.
1 Step back and look at your
rose before you start pruning. As
you choose which canes to cut,
remember that you want to open
up the center of the shrub for good
air circulation. That doesn’t mean
to cut all the canes out of the
center, though! 2 Remove
crossing and rubbing canes —
those areas will create wounds
that could let in disease. 3 Cut
back blackened, winter-damaged
tips, trying to keep all the canes
about the same length. 4 Prune
old canes back as close to the base
as possible. In colder climates,
roses should be planted deep
enough to cover the graft, so you
may have to dig away a little soil.
Pruning principles are similar
for all roses, but I just showed
you the basics on a shrub rose,
which is a category that generally needs only light pruning.
They’re usually cold-hardy in
USDA zone 5 or 6 without extra
protection, and are grown for
their overall appearance, not just
the flowers. In “Fine-tuning your
pruning,” find out how to use
these techniques on some other
popular rose categories.
Use these pruning tips and the
techniques on the first two pages
to get your roses in shape for a
beautiful summer. ®
— Stephanie Polsley Bruner
FINE-TUNING YOUR PRUNING
There are almost as many pruning techniques as there
are types of roses — and the All-American Rose
Selections organization lists 35 types! Here are some
specific tips for the most common kinds of roses.
MINIATURE ROSES are pruned just like shrub roses,
opening the center by removing a third of the old wood.
HYBRID TEA ROSES are grown for their flowers.
Most gardeners cut them back harder than they do
shrub roses. It’s OK to cut all the canes back to 10 to
12 in. high in early spring, to an outward-facing bud
on each cane, as in the
illustration below. You’ll get
rid of winter damage and
promote new growth and
bigger flowers.
Most shrub roses grow on
their own roots, but hybrid teas
and many other roses you’ll buy
Cut hybrid teas
at the garden center are grafted
back to about a
foot in early spring.
onto a rootstock. In the illustration
at right, you can see a cane
28
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
emerging from the
rootstock, below
the graft, that needs
to be removed.
•
Often, the foliage is
a different color or size
•
on these suckers. Cut them
•
back as close to the root as
possible. You may need to
dig the soil away to get close enough.
Graft
union
Sucker
Rootstock
GRANDIFLORA AND FLORIBUNDA ROSES can
be pruned lightly, like shrub roses, which will result
in more, but smaller, flowers. Or prune them hard,
like hybrid teas, for larger flowers.
If you still have questions or want to prune
climbing roses or old or unusual roses, check out
“Taylor’s Weekend Garden Guides: Easy,
Practical Pruning,” by Barbara Ellis. Or look for
Stephen Scanniello’s “A Year of Roses” — it’s out
of print and can be hard to find, but it’s a great
guide to rose pruning and care.
2
3
NO CROSSING ZONE
Remove these crossing, rubbing branches. You’ll reduce
the risk of damage to the
plant and create a more
open, appealing shape for
the rose bush.
TAKE OFF TIPS Trim off
any dry, blackened,
winter-damaged
growth at the end of
the canes, looking for
an outward-facing bud.
•
•
•
1
OUT WITH THE OLD Older
wood looks gray and woody,
unlike fresher, greener growth.
You can cut up to a third of the
older canes back to the ground
or the knobby base to encourage new growth. As you can
see, some of these older canes
are in the center of the plant,
so you’ll also be opening up
the middle of the plant.
4
•
•
UNCOVER THE GRAFT In USDA
zones 5 and colder, the graft
should be buried 2 to 4 in. under
the soil line. So in these zones,
you probably won’t see the actual
graft. Just cut old canes off as low
as you can — brush a little soil
away if necessary. Most, but not
all, shrub roses are grown on their
own roots, but floribundas, grandifloras and hybrid teas are usually grafted.
www.GardenGateMagazine.com 29
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
A weekend project in 5 simple steps
Sand-Cast a Birdbath
L
ooking for a simple project with
lots of potential? Try this sandcast birdbath — it’s easy to
make, works with any large leaf and
can be finished a number of ways. For
a large birdbath like the one in the
photo above, plants like rhubarb, gunnera or ‘Sum and Substance’ hosta
work best. This one’s rhubarb.
You’re not limited to big leaves,
though. When I made this rhubarb
birdbath, I had a little leftover concrete, so I used it on sycamore, datura
and even small lantana leaves. They
came out great! Now I have some
30
unique garden accents scattered
through my garden. I use the sycamore
leaf as a small ground feeder.
As for concrete, even though it’s the
most expensive, I like Vinyl Patch by
Quikrete®’. When it’s dry, its fine consistency preserves the leaf details clearly.
Cheaper concretes are just as strong,
but they look coarser.
Who’d have guessed that for less
than $25 and a few hours of work,
you could have such a unique garden
ornament? Are you ready to make
your own? Let’s get started. ®
— Sherri Ribbey
www.GardenGateMagazine.com
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
MATERIALS
& TOOLS
Materials:
1 large leaf
1 40-lb. bag of sand
1 40-lb. bag of premixed concrete
1 roll of plastic wrap
1 gallon of concrete sealer,
such as Thompson’s®
Paint or concrete dye (if desired)
Water
Tools:
Bucket or mixing tray for concrete,
trowel, scrub brush, paint brush
1
GETTING STARTED I make my ornaments at a
table outside, but this project can be done on the
ground, too. Start by making a dome-shaped pile
of sand that’s big enough for the entire leaf to rest
on plus a couple of inches to spare. This rhubarb
leaf used all of a 40-lb. bag of sand. Any type
will do. The sand pile will support the concretecovered leaf and create the shallow depression
that holds the water.
In the photo above, I’m covering the completed sand dome with plastic wrap to keep the
sand from sticking to any concrete that might leak
through or run over the edge of the leaf.
2
3
BRING IN THE LEAF Now lay the leaf face down
on top of the sand like the one above. After I laid
this leaf down, I needed to adjust the sand pile a
bit to make sure the leaf was fully supported. You
may need to do this, too.
Many leaves wilt quickly, so wait to harvest
yours until you need it or keep it in a bucket of
water until you’re ready. Cut the stem off close to
the base of the leaf. Check the plastic wrap to
make sure it extends a couple of inches beyond
the leaf’s edge. If the leaf you want to use has a
hole or a tear, no problem. Just cut a piece from a
different leaf and lay it over the hole as a patch.
TIME FOR CONCRETE Pour the dry concrete into
a mixing tray and add water until it’s the consistency of a thick brownie mix. (It took three quarters of a 40-lb. bag for this leaf). Scoop some
concrete onto the center of the leaf and begin
working it toward the outer edges like I’m doing
in the photo above. Make it about 3/4 in. thick in
the middle (or whatever it takes to cover the leaf
veins) and taper it to 1/4 in. at the edge.
Once the leaf is covered with concrete, cover
it with plastic wrap. If it’s hot outdoors, put a piece
of moist burlap over the plastic so the concrete
dries evenly. Give it at least 48 hours to dry.
BIRDBATH PEDESTAL
4
DRY AND CLEAN Now you can remove the top
layer of plastic and turn your concrete leaf over. In
my experience, if it hasn’t dried thoroughly, a
chunk along the edge is the most likely part to
break off as you pick it up. To be on the safe side,
have a friend help you turn it over or work your
hand through the sand and lift it from the center.
Peel off the second sheet of plastic wrap and
start pulling out the leaf. Most of it comes out
easily, but as you can see in the photo, you may
have to scrub a bit.
Even though the concrete is dry, it needs to
cure for a week, so wait to paint or add the water.
5
PAINT YOUR LEAF To use your leaf as it is,
just add a coat of concrete sealer, such as
Thompson’s® Water Seal® or Drylock®, for protection. In the photo, I’m painting on several
coats of a thin wash of acrylic paint. This
wash was about three drops of paint to two
cups of water. It dries quickly and you can
begin another coat almost as soon as you
finish the first. I’ve also used concrete dye,
water color, oil and spray paint. In our Online
Extra, I’ll tell you more about painting and
show you how these different products look.
Finish your painted leaf with a coat of sealer.
MAKE THIS SIMPLE MATCHING PEDESTAL.
We’ll show you how to raise your birdbath
off the ground in our Online Extra.
ONLINE
• Gallery of colorful leaves.
• Video: How to make a
birdbath and pedestal.
www.GardenGateMagazine.com 31
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
32
www.GardenGateMagazine.com
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
Designing beautiful
Garden
Rooms
W
ant a big look in a small space? Follow
these gardeners’ lead and you’ll have a backyard oasis filled with private getaways,
sweeping perennial beds and loads of color. All on a
typical, city-sized lot.
When Suzanne and Max Birdsall moved into their
Saratoga, New York, home in 1980, they knew the
yard could grow things: It had several grape arbors and
a huge vegetable garden. But they wanted seclusion
(and not so many grapes). So they took out some of
the grapes and put in a privacy fence. Over the years,
plant choice and bed design have created an even
greater sense of seclusion. And finishing touches, such
as the repetition of red in patio accessories, plants and
even the house color, create a unified look.
Resting places like the bench and the circle of
marble pavers, on which the birdbath sits, help define
some of the garden rooms. As with any garden, this
one isn’t static. The circle of pavers started out as a
straight path, but a middle-of-the-night “aha!”
moment prompted a redo the following morning.
And a garden room was created.
Finally, although you can’t tell by
looking at these photos of the
garden, it speaks to more than just
your visual sense: A gurgling water
garden and great-smelling roses, phlox
and herbs make it a soothing place to
visit. With all the seating areas, you
really can relax. Turn the page to find
out how to get this look in your garden.
www.GardenGateMagazine.com 33
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
PRIVATE GETAWAYS
W
GARAGE
>
Patio covered by
grape arbor
3
•
•
•
>
2
The 6-foot
privacy fence
and arborvitae
hedge create
privacy.
Brick patio
SHED
•
Juniper arbor
•
Marble
slab path
Lavender bed
•
Metal arbor
•
Bluestone patio
•
HERB
GARDEN
Waterfall
and pond
>
Br
ick
pat
h
•
Botanical
Names
1
Bee balm
Monarda didyma
Juniper Juniperus spp.
Lavender Lavandula spp.
Redbud Cercis canadensis
Serviceberry
Amelanchier grandiflora
Shasta daisy
Leucanthemum xsuperbum
•
HOUSE
>
Indicates the direction the
photo was taken in the garden
Back porch
hat’s the secret to creating privacy and lots of
separate spaces in a backyard that’s only 50
feet wide and 80 feet deep? It starts with getting in
shape. And this has nothing to do with early morning
workouts (unless you mean edging and deadheading!).
NO STRAIGHT LINES A former country dweller,
Suzanne wanted more seclusion than most city lots
offer. One of the most effective ways this garden creates privacy is with large, sweeping beds. It may
seem counterintuitive, but breaking up the space
with lots of curving gardens actually makes this
backyard seem larger. Why? You can’t make out
the whole thing from any one spot. For example,
photo 1 was taken from the back porch. From there,
you can’t see the seating area in photo 2 or the brick
patio near the garage.
Suzanne says, “Curves soften things, and I like the
surprise factor when people round the corners and
say, ‘Oh!’.”
This garden started with a straight concrete path
between the house and the garage. That’s gone now
in favor of a brick walk with some curves to it. You
can still get to the garage efficiently (more than one
way, actually), but it’s a much prettier trip now.
The Birdsalls have installed a lot of brickwork
and paving material over the years, and much of
what they’ve learned has been through trial and
error. They’ve found the best way to deal with bricks
is to dig a trench, then put down a layer of landscaping fabric to keep the weeds down in the future.
Put a bed of sand in the trench, lay the bricks on top
and then sweep more
sand into the cracks. A
once-yearly weeding is
all the bricks need. Some
professional landscapers
use rock dust instead of
sand, but the rock dust
sticks to shoes and makes
a mess when it’s tracked
into the house.
(1) From the back porch,
you can’t see all of the backyard at once. Curving lines,
raised beds and tall plants
create some mystery.
34
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
Tall plants, such as the red bee balm and white
Shasta daisies in photo 3, grow on a raised bed
around the brick patio. This is another reason you
can’t see the patio from the back porch.
CREATE TRANSITIONS Steps, arbors, gates and pillars mark garden room entrances and exits beautifully. The circular lavender bed rests in the middle of
this backyard, with an arbor on either side of it to
mark its borders.
The living arbor in photo 3 marks the south end
of the herb garden. You can make your own juniper
arbor by planting one of these upright shrubs on
either side of a path. When the tallest tips reach high
enough to shade the path, tie them together. String
or flexible plant ties will probably be good enough
at first, but eventually you’ll need wire. As the
junipers grow, prune off wayward branches that
stick straight up. If you find that the shrubs grow
too closely together, you can either prune them or
you can carefully dig them up and spread them
apart a bit.
Once you’ve created these rooms, you’ll need a
way to unify them. We’ll cover that on the pages
that follow.
(2) Relax! Because of
its proximity to the gurgling water garden,
this patio, shaded by
a grapevine-covered
arbor, is a favorite
dining spot.
(3) Frame views
with hardscaping,
such as this recycled
iron fence and the
juniper arbor near
the herb garden.
CREATING A THEME
GARAGE
Repeated
red plants
•
Brick patio
E
SHED
HERB
GARDEN
•
Bench on
blue paving
stones
Paperbark
birch
•
•
Paperbark
birch
>
>
•
Back porch
>
5
Indicates the
direction the
photo was taken
in the garden
4
6
>
•
HOUSE
(4) Hostas’ textures create repetition when they’re dotted
here and there throughout the garden.
Front porch
36
ven with several garden rooms, this backyard
doesn’t seem disjointed. Unity is important
because although you’ll never see the whole thing
from any one vantage point, as you walk around, you
still want to feel as if you’re in the same yard. And
from the upstairs window, where photo 4 was taken,
you can actually see quite a bit of the garden at once.
REPETITION IS KEY Notice how the beds all have similar curves to them. A square bed or straight line in
this garden would feel out of place. The repeated
curving lines help pull it all together.
The color red is another unifying element. As
you move through the garden, you’ll see red patio
accessories, red flowers dotted throughout the perennial gardens and red begonias in containers. Even the
house is painted brick red!
All this red adds a spark of color to the traditional
pinks and blues that started in this garden. They’re
still here, but the red just livens things up a bit.
Using a few favorite plants throughout the garden
is another way to use repetition to create unity.
There’s plenty of variety in the photo below, but you
can see the distinctive leaf shape of hostas dotted here
J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 4 / I S S U E 55
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
G A R D E N G AT E
(5) On the back porch, red
cushions, awnings and
plants create a dramatic
place to entertain.
charming wooden bench in the middle of the garden
to the secluded back porch in photo 5, a perfect
spot for entertaining, this garden has several patio
and seating areas.
Finally, this garden makes
everything old new again:
From a no-longer-used swingset turned into an arbor, to old
paving bricks reused in patios
and pathways, and vintage
wrought-iron fencing turned
into trellises, there’s always a
use for good stuff. Twelve
years ago, after some home
renovations revealed a treasure of beautiful blue paving
stones buried in their own
backyard, the Birdsalls decided
to use these stones as the patio
under the wooden bench.
Who knew you could do
so much with a small city
backyard? Now you know
(6) Even the front porch gets in on the act,
how to create a big look of
with red begonias dripping from a hanging
your own. ®
— Kristin Beane Sullivan
basket and window boxes.
and there. These large leaves make great backdrops.
For example, the usually rangy spiderwort pokes up
through the sturdy hosta plants for a nice combination. This garden was all
shrubs and perennials until
nine years ago. Now that the
three paperbark birches are
larger, they block views and
create garden rooms while
taking up a surprisingly small
amount of space and light. If
you’d like to plant some trees
in your backyard without sacrificing much sun or ground
moisture, try small, airy trees,
such as paperbark birch, serviceberry or redbud.
Other plants you’ll see
throughout this garden are
daylilies, astilbes and ferns.
They’re all easy care and look
good for long stretches.
PLENTY OF STOPPING PLACES
Once you’ve created curves to
block some views, you need
places to stop. From the
www.GardenGateMagazine.com 37
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
Botanical
Names
Astilbe
Astilbe spp.
Begonia
Begonia hybrids
Daylily
Hemerocallis hybrids
Hosta Hosta spp.
Paperbark birch
Betula papyrifera
Redbud
Cercis canadensis
Serviceberry
Amelanchier spp.
Spiderwort
Tradescantia hybrids
GARDEN GATE’S
DESIGNCHALLENGE
TIP ONE: Pick a shady character
NEW HOME
FRONT YARD
In a new development, it’s unusual to have any trees on your lot to
begin with. Yet trees look nice, and, planted in the right place, a tree
will save you money on heating and cooling your house. While it may
be tempting to plant a stately oak, consider something a bit faster
growing, and then splurge on the biggest specimen you can afford.
See “7 Great Front-Yard Shade Trees” below for a list of trees that
grow quickly but not so much that they’re weak limbed.
been overwhelmed by a
Eciallyver
project? I bet you have, espeif you’ve purchased a new
home and have been faced with
creating a brand new garden
out of bare soil. While a blank
slate may be exciting, it also
poses a challenge. Where do
you begin to make a new house
feel like a home and a yard feel
like a garden?
This yard has a lot of possibilities. For a traditional suburban
look, you’d want to put in a
foundation planting, an island
bed and a shade tree in the front
yard. Sometimes the covenants at
a development dictate this. What
if you want more?
Here are some unique ideas
for a suburban front yard. This
design allows more room for
flowers. I’ve also given you some
practical tips about tree and
shrub placement.
Remember that a few small
changes can make a big difference. A gorgeous hanging basket
goes a long way toward making
an entry inviting. Even livening
up the paint color of the shudders
quickly dresses up the property.
TIP TWO: Location,
location, location
Ash Fraxinus spp.
4 to 10/10 to 1
Besides the importance of getting the right
tree, putting it in the right spot is essential. A
deciduous shade tree can work for you when
it’s placed by the south-southwest corner of
your house. It shades the house from the sun in
summer and lets in light during the winter,
while buffering blustery winds.
Allow 20 ft. between
the house and your
planting spot. This’ll keep
a full-sized tree from rubHeight/Width
bing against your shingles
and tearing your siding.
50 to 60 ft./25 to 40 ft.
Bald cypress Taxodium distichum
5 to 10/10 to 1
40 to 60 ft./20 to 30 ft.
5 to 9/9 to 2
50 to 70 ft./25 to 45 ft.
7 Great Front-Yard Shade Trees
Plant
Cold/Heat Zones
Japanese zelkova Zelkova serrata
Linden Tilia spp.
3 to 9/9 to 1
50 to 65 ft./25 to 30 ft.
Red maple Acer rubrum
3 to 9/9 to 1
40 to 60 ft./30 to 50 ft.
Sweetgum Liquidambar styraciflua
6 to 9/9 to 1
50 to 70 ft./30 to 50 ft.
Tuliptree Liriodendron tulipifera
5 to 9/9 to 2
50 to 70 ft./35 to 50 ft.
38
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
TIP THREE: Dress up an awkward space
For some reason, many new houses have “the narrows” — pint-sized
porches and awkward strips between the sidewalk and the garage. The
porch on this house isn’t large enough for much furniture, so we put a
single bench where you can sit down to take off your shoes. Let the far end
of the bench double as a plant stand.
Not sure what to do with the planting strip? Check out From the
Drawing Board on p. 40, where we give you the plan and plant list for
this garden as well as one suitable for our Southern readers.
TIP FOUR: Ornamental trees
Small ornamental trees give a garden structure. There are so
many great ones out there, with new varieties each year. Here,
we put in a white fringetree. Whatever you choose, place it far
enough from the sidewalk and the driveway that you don’t
have a big mess from dropped flowers and fruit to
clean up. In this case, planting it about 10 ft. in
from each keeps the drive and walkway clean
and also gives you a clear view when you
back out of the garage.
TIP FIVE: Hardscaping
Hardscaping immediately adds structure to a new landscape. Here, a
low, open fence along the front of the property echoes the railing on
the front porch. Unlike adding a tree, you don’t have to wait for the
hardscape to grow. Also, it gives a sense of permanence to a new
flower garden. Notice how it’s set about 3 ft. from the sidewalk,
making a great backdrop for flowers on both sides of it.
The arbor and limestone path leading from the sidewalk
beckon guests to stroll to the front door while enjoying the garden
along the way.
www.GardenGateMagazine.com 39
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
from the drawing board
a sunny entry garden
QUICK TIP
A cottage garden is
made up of plants that
often weave themselves
together into a solid
mass. Because air can’t
circulate well through
them, keep your eye
out for powdery
mildew. Try to water
early in the day and
make sure the foliage
stays as dry as possible. If you do spot this
gray fungus on your
roses, delphiniums or
other perennials, control its spread with a
fungicide, following the
label instructions.
T
his entrance garden, taken
from our Design Challenge on
p. 38, says “welcome” with its
friendly, cottage-garden look.
Plants spill onto the sidewalk,
giving the illusion of a casual
garden path. Clematis-covered
trellises grace the blank garage
wall; they’re a quick and easy
way to add height in a narrow
space like this. Even better, the
trellises don’t waste any of your
precious planting space.
You’ll have color from early
spring until fall in this garden
designed for Northern climates.
To start the year, the bed is
underplanted with tulips, daffodils and crocus. By late spring
into summer, perennials take
over, as will a fragrant shrub rose
40
and the clematis. By midsummer,
the annuals along the walk reach
their peak; they take the garden
through the heat of summer. In
late summer, perennials, such as
the tall Japanese anemones, are
the focus once again. Evergreens
that frame the porch entrance
direct guests to the front door,
especially in the winter. And a
container or two lets you add
accents that you can change with
the seasons.
This is a low-maintenance
garden. A layer of mulch — at
least 2 inches thick — keeps
down weeds and conserves moisture. Keep a bucket handy so you
can deadhead a few daisies as you
walk to and from the driveway
each day. But don’t deadhead the
www.GardenGateMagazine.com
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
rose or you’ll miss its bright-red
hips. In fall and winter they
attract birds and other wildlife.
The Siberian iris won’t rebloom
even if you deadhead, so leave the
papery brown seedpods which
also add late-season interest. Cut
down the catmint and delphinium
after they flower to encourage a
second flush of bloom.
The yews need clipping once a
year to keep them in scale. And
prune the clematis lightly in early
spring while it’s dormant to keep
it blooming its best.
If you’d like alternative plants
for this design — ones that are
tolerant of the heat and humidity
you find in the Southeastern
United States — check out the
list on p. 42.
Container of annuals
•
E
H
Garage
J
K
K
D
L
C
L
L
C
A
G
G
F
D
D
F
F
B
H
I
I
H
H
J
J
Porch
J
Sidewalk
J
B
J
I
Scale: 1 square = 1 square foot
A HARDY GARDEN FOR THE NORTH
Plant
Code Name
No. to
Plant
Bloom
Color
Bloom
Time
Plant
Type
Cold/Heat Height/
Zones
Width
Comments
A
Shrub rose
Rosa ‘Blanc Double de Coubert’
1
White
Summer
Deciduous shrub
3-9/9-1
5 ft./5 ft.
Hardy, disease-resistant shrub rose;
colorful, 1-in. hips for fall interest
B
Pyramidal yew
Taxus cuspidata ‘Capitata’
2
N/A
N/A
Evergreen
5-7/7-1
3 ft./3 ft.
Easily clipped to maintain small size;
rich dark-green color
C
Delphinium
Delphinium ‘Black Knight’
5
Dark blue
Early to
midsummer
Perennial
4-9/9-1
4 ft./2 ft.
Tall spires of flowers; cut down after
flowering for a small second bloom
D
Siberian iris Iris sibirica
‘Butter and Sugar’
3
Yellow and
white
Late spring
Perennial
4-9/9-1
E
Willow bluestar
Amsonia tabernaemontana
1
Steel blue
Late spring
Perennial
3-9/9-1
F
Shasta daisy Leucanthemum
xsuperbum ‘Becky’
9
White
Midsummer
to fall
Perennial
4-8/8-1
G
Japanese anemone Anemone
xhybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’
6
White
Late summer
to early fall
Perennial
4-8/8-1
H
Catmint Nepeta racemosa
‘Walker’s Low’
9
Lavender
Late summer
to fall
Perennial
4-8/8-1
12 in./18 in. Provides nectar for butterflies; cut
down after flowering and it’ll rebloom
I
Mealy cup sage
Salvia farinacea ‘Victoria’
7
Blue
Midsummer
to fall
Perennial*
8-10/12-1
18 in./10 in. Will self-seed; good for cutting; deadhead to keep it blooming all summer
J
Petunia
Petunia ‘White Storm’
21
White
Midsummer
to early fall
Annual
K
Clematis
Clematis ‘General Sikorski’
2
Blue-purple
Summer
Deciduous vine
4-9/9-1
10 ft./4 ft.
4- to 6-in. flowers; prune lightly in
early spring before growth starts
L
Asiatic lily
Lilium ‘Connecticut King’
8
Yellow
Midsummer
Hardy bulb
3-8/8-1
3 ft./12 in.
Multiplies easily in well-drained soil;
deadhead to keep plants looking neat
30 in./18 in. Spiky foliage makes a good texture
contrast; easy to grow
3 ft./3 ft.
Foliage changes to yellow for fall
interest; stands well without staking
36 in./24 in. Excellent for bouquets; deadhead to
promote continued bloom
4 ft./18 in.
Late blooming; good for cutting; may
need staking in windy areas
Annual/12-1 10 in./12 in. Deadhead occasionally; durable
annual for a hot area
*Treat as an annual in colder zones.
www.GardenGateMagazine.com
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
41
Container of annuals
from the drawing board continued
•
E
H
Garage
A Southeastern welcome
J
K
K
L
D
L
C
L
C
A
G
G
F
D
D
F
F
B
H
I
I
H
H
J
J
J
Porch
If you live in an area where the summers
are blistering hot and the winters are
mild, like the American Southeast, this list
is invaluable. Many of the plants listed
here were chosen for tolerance of those
conditions. A few plants, like ‘Becky’
Shasta daisy, which is a very heat-tolerant
cultivar, and the fall-blooming anemone
are carry overs from the original plan.
You can even create your own custom
garden if you want to. Mix and match
plants from both lists as long as the ones
you choose are hardy for your USDA
zone. And don’t be locked into our
annual choices. If you prefer different
ones, both in the ground and in the
container, feel free to switch. The result
will be a charming entrance garden that
reflects your individual taste as it
welcomes your guests even before you
open your front door. ®
— Jim Childs
Sidewalk
J
J
J
B
I
Scale: 1 square = 1 square foot
HEAT-TOLERANT GARDEN FOR THE SOUTHEAST
Plant
Code Name
No. to
Plant
Bloom
Color
Bloom
Time
Plant
Type
Cold/Heat
Zones
Height/
Width
Comments
A
Butterfly bush
Buddleja davidii ‘Nanho Blue’
1
Pale lilac-blue
Summer to
fall
Deciduous
shrub
5-9/9-1
5 ft./4 ft.
Compact form; cut down to the
ground in spring
B
Boxwood Buxus sempervirens
‘Vardar Valley’
2
N/A
N/A
Evergreen
shrub
6-8/8-1
3 ft./3 ft.
Easily pruned for size;
light-green foliage
C
Foxglove Digitalis purpurea
‘Apricot’
5
Apricot-pink
Summer
Perennial
4-8/8-1
4 ft./18 in.
D
Crocosmia Crocosmia
xcrocosmiiflora ‘Solfatare’
3
Apricot-yellow Midsummer
Perennial
6-9/9-1
E
Wild blue indigo Baptisia australis 1
‘Purple Smoke’
Dusky purple
Late spring
Perennial
4-9/9-1
F
Shasta daisy Leucanthemum
xsuperbum ‘Becky’
9
White
Late spring
Perennial
4-8/8-1
G
Japanese anemone Anemone
xhybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’
6
White
Late summer
to early fall
Perennial
4-8/8-1
H
Lavender Lavandula angustifolia
‘Munstead’
9
Blue-purple
Midsummer
Perennial
5-8/8-1
18 in./24 in. Fragrant flowers on dense
spikes; drought tolerant
I
Verbena Verbena hybrida
‘Peaches and Cream’
7
Orange-pink
Summer
Annual
Annual/12-1
12 in./18 in. Orange-pink flowers age to
cream; spreading form
J
Petunia
Petunia ‘Sonata’
12
White
Summer
Annual
Annual/12-1
12 in./18 in. Double-flowered white cultivar;
deadhead to keep it blooming
K
Clematis Clematis florida
‘Sieboldiana’
2
White
Late spring
to summer
Vine
6-9/9-2
8 ft./3 ft.
L
Lily
Lilium ‘Enchantment’
8
Orange
Summer
Hardy bulb
2-8/8-1
3 ft./12 in.
*Treat as annual in colder zones
42
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
Short-lived perennial; easily
started from seed; self sows
28 in./24 in. Bronze foliage; spikes of arching
flowers; good for cutting
4 ft./3 ft.
Drought tolerant; ornamental
seed pods; pest-free foliage
36 in./24 in. Excellent in bouquets; deadhead
to promote continued blooming
4 ft./18 in.
Late blooming; good for cutting;
may need staking in windy areas
Prune lightly in spring; 3-in.
flowers have purple centers
Multiplies quickly; flowers have
black spots on petals
container recipe
I
PHOTO LOCATION: Norenburg Gardens
always start the gardening season
off with the best of intentions —
especially with my containers. But I
often forget to water them. This container plan takes the heat, and doesn’t
dry up the first time I forget to drag
the hose around.
Flowers really start popping by
early summer with pink verbena and
coral-red twinspur swirling around
the red-veined foliage of rumex, also
called bloody sorrel. My favorite
plant is the ornamental oregano, with
its pastel bracts trailing over the side.
The contrast of foliage shapes is
nothing to sneeze at, either.
As for the container, it’s made of
concrete with a basket weave along
the side that contributes to the interesting texture of the whole planting.
GROWING TIPS Another great thing
about this plan is that it blooms all
summer. A little deadheading keeps
the verbena in shape. If the twinspur
slows down, cut it back by a third and
it’ll rebloom as the weather cools.
Go ahead and pull the bloody
sorrel if, by midsummer, it gets too
ratty. ‘Minus’ licorice plant, with its
compact habit, is a real time saver: It
doesn’t need all the pinching you have
to do with other licorice plants.
If you can’t find the oregano, sorrel
or ruby grass at your local nursery,
check out the Resources on p. 47 for
some mail-order sources.
You’ll save yourself a lot of guilt
over lost plants if you remember this
plan when it comes time to pot up
your containers this year. ®
• Full sun
• Well-drained potting mix
• Fertilize every 10 to 14
days with a 9-59-8 mix
from Fertilome®
Container is 281/2 in. long by 91/4 in. wide
PLANT LIST
Code Plant Name
Tips
for care
No. of
plants
A
Bloody sorrel Rumex sanguineus
B
Ornamental oregano Origanum ‘Kent Beauty’ 3
C
Verbena Verbena tenuisecta ‘Edith’
2
D
Twinspur Diascia ‘Red Ace’ (‘Hecrace’)
4
E
Ruby grass Melinis nerviglumis ‘Pink Crystals’
1
F
Licorice plant Helichrysum petiolare ‘Minus’
2
D
C
E
2
A
B
D
D
F
B
A
C
B
www.GardenGateMagazine.com 43
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
F
D
what’s new
www.GardenGateStore.com
Container Gardening
This new book by Paul Williams could change your perspective
on containers. A quick flip through the pages shows you plants and
plant combinations you may never have thought of. For example,
what do you think about ‘Plum Pudding’
coral bells with cape daisies? Or burgundy flowering maple, licorice plant and
white petunias? You’ll find these, along
with many other combinations, in the
pages of Container Gardening. The practical details aren’t neglected, either.
There’s a plant directory with brief care
instructions and how-tos on designing
combinations, choosing containers and
growing plants in pots.
Container Gardening by Paul Williams
is published by Dorling Kindersley and is
available at your local or online bookstore. You can also buy it online at www.GardenGateStore.com.
Retail price is $25.
Floating rain gauge
Simple but elegant, this copper rain gauge ages to a classy
looking patina, but that’s not all it has going for it. It holds a
cobalt-blue, plastic measuring tube calibrated in ¼-inch
increments with easy-to-read bright-white numbers. The
cobalt tube hides inside the copper until raindrops start
falling. Then it slowly floats up as the rain accumulates. A
decorative iron stake wraps around the copper tube to
hold it off the ground and is coated so it won’t rust.
Buy the floating rain gauge from T.M. Hoff
Handmade at 845-255-0197 or check out
www.GardenGateStore.com. Suggested retail is $37.
44
www.GardenGateMagazine.com
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
did you know?
Although deer will eat anything when food is in
short supply, knowing what they usually pass by
can help keep your garden looking good. Now
there’s a list that rates more than 500 common
garden plants on how attractive they are to deer.
Using input from nursery and landscape professionals, Master Gardeners and the extension staff, Rutgers University Extension has
developed a list you can check out online at
www.rce.rutgers.edu/deerresistance/default.asp.
Natural alternatives to deet
‘Fragrant Angel‘coneflower
Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) are known for
hardiness and long bloom time. Now you can add
fragrance to the list. ‘Fragrant Angel’ coneflower
has a sweet fragrance and large, 5-inch white
flowers. Plants are a sturdy 20 inches tall by 24
inches wide. It needs full sun in moist, well-drained
soil. It’s cold-hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9; its heat
tolerance is not yet rated.
Get ‘Fragrant Angel’ from Busse Gardens at
www.bussegardens.com or call 800-544-3192.
TM
Firefly
solar light
Add a distinctive look to your
garden with this new solar light. It
has a crackle glass globe that makes an
interesting pattern of light on anything
nearby. The height is adjustable from just
over 5 feet tall to 42 inches. Since the Firefly
is solar, it doesn’t need any wiring and is
easy to move. A sunny day keeps your Firefly
glowing for 8 hours.
Get Firefly from Rittenhouse at www.
rittenhouse.ca or call 877-488-1914. Or visit
www.GardenGateStore.com. Suggested retail
price is $36.99 each.
Currently, deet is the most effective mosquito
and tick repellent. However, there may be some
natural alternatives available in the future.
Studies at National Taiwan University have
shown that cinnamon oil may be an effective
pesticide for use against mosquito larvae. Testing
for use as a repellent is coming soon.
In another study, scientists at North Carolina
State University are working on an insect repellent that taps into the natural compound tomatoes use to keep insects at bay.
Wheelbarrow recall
Ames® True Temper® has recalled a wheelbarrow
that was sold under a variety of names between
1993 and 2000. In some circumstances, the
wheel assembly has been known to cause injury
by shattering while being inflated. Check for a
wheel 14 inches in diameter with a black plastic
rim divided into 16 pie-shaped wedges. For
more details, go to www.ames.com. To get your
free replacement wheel, call 866-239-2281.
Join the beetle brigade
The viburnum leaf beetle has been munching its
way through viburnums in Canada and the
Eastern United States for years. Adults and
larvae feast on the leaves of this hardy shrub —
sometimes even defoliating an entire plant. Help
keep an eye on this pest’s migration by becoming
a citizen scientist for Cornell University. Learn
about the beetle’s life cycle, document sightings
and keep track of damage to help researchers try
to contain this pest. Go to www.hort.cornell.edu/vlb/
to learn more. In Canada, contact the Ministry
of Agriculture and Food at www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA/
english/crops/facts/vlb.htm.
www.GardenGateMagazine.com 45
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
PHOTO: Courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc. (‘fragrant angel’ coneflower)
Deer-resistant plants
askgardengate
Save the
hemlocks!
P.P., Massachusetts
Q
Questions?
Send them to Garden
Gate Q&A, 2200
Grand Ave.,
Des Moines, IA
50312, or e-mail us
at gardengate@
gardengatemag.com.
Please include your
name, address and
daytime phone number
in case we need to
reach you. Because we
receive so many questions, we can’t answer
all of them, but we’ll
certainly contact you if
we publish yours.
My hemlocks have
little cocoons on
the undersides of the
twigs and needles.
What are they?
You’re seeing the
woolly fuzz on the
bodies and egg masses
of hemlock woolly
adelgids (Adelges
tsugae), a serious pest
of Eastern hemlocks
(Tsuga canadensis) in
the eastern and northwestern United States
and southwestern
Canada. When the
adelgids feed on sap,
they inject toxic saliva
into new needles and
buds, causing the needles to dry out and fall
off. Adelgids can kill a
mature tree in three or
four years.
A
•
Wooly adelgids on
underside of hemlock
twigs
46
Pinch down the streaks
in the leaves to smash
the borer.
They can hitch a ride
on anything, so look for
adelgids in yards or the
woods, especially from
March through June.
Insecticidal soap or
horticultural oil,
applied in early April
and in June, can control
adelgids. Sprays like
imidacloprid can be
used for a heavy infestation. Contact a local
arborist to find the best
way to treat yours.
•
Iris borer larva
•
1 in.
Banishing borers
N.S., Ohio
Crispy astilbe
S.T., Michigan
Q
My astilbe foliage
turns brown in the
summer even when I
water. Why?
There are a couple
of possibilities.
Astilbe does best in
morning sun and afternoon shade. Your
plants could be getting
a little too much sun.
They may do better in a
shadier spot.
Astilbe also likes
moist soil. So even if
you’re watering it as
often as the rest of
your garden, it might
still be drying out
between waterings.
Spread a layer of mulch
around your plants,
and then water deeply
and slowly.
It’s not uncommon
during a hot, dry
summer for astilbe
foliage to get a little
crispy around the edges.
After it flowers, you can
cut the entire plant back
to encourage new,
healthy looking growth
from the base.
A
www.GardenGateMagazine.com
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
How can I get rid
Q
of iris borers without using pesticides?
To control iris borers
A
(Macronoctua
onusta), destroy their
eggs by clearing away
leaf litter in fall. In
spring, pinch down the
telltale brown streaks on
leaves until you crush
the larvae. If the
streaking reaches the
rhizome, dig up the rhizomes and look for exit
holes. Cut away the
damage and soak the
rest in a 10-percent
bleach solution for a few
minutes to prevent soft
rot and drown larvae.
Rinse the rhizomes and
let them dry for a day or
two before replanting.
Two beneficial nematodes (Steinernema car-
pocapsae and Heterorhabditis bacteriospora)
are just as good at
controlling iris borers
as chemical pesticides
are. Stir them into
water and spray them
on the plants. The
Beneficial Insect
Company (336-9738490) and Territorial
Seed Company (541942-9547) both carry
the nematodes.
Compost vs.
peat moss
A.K., Minnesota
Which is a better
Q
soil amendment —
compost or peat moss?
Compost. It imA
proves soil texture
and adds nutrients.
Peat moss, or partly
decomposed sphagnum
moss, is not the best
Borer exit
hole
•
•
Rotten
area
•
Healthy rhizome
resources
CLEMATIS (P. 12)
MAIL-ORDER CATALOGS
soil amendment by
itself. It improves soil
texture, but it’s
nutrient-poor. It’s also
slightly acid, which
your garden may not
need. Add peat moss to
your compost pile and
put the compost on
your garden to take
advantage of the compost’s nutrients and the
peat moss’s waterholding capacity. Don’t
use peat moss as mulch
— it takes water from
the soil and forms a
crust water can’t penetrate.
vacuum at the foot of
the back side of the
fence. Downdrafts can
damage plants at the
base of the fence as
badly as the original
wind problem.
Use a picket fence or
a fence with slats spaced
2 or 3 inches apart to
slow the wind. Or you
can use shrubs to create
a living windbreak in
your garden. You may
need to protect the
shrubs until they are big
enough to baffle the
wind for smaller plants.
As they grow, they’ll be
able to tolerate more
wind themselves.
Caught in the
downdraft
J.C., Illinois
Hard water is
hard on pumps
I want to put up a
Q
fence to create a
windbreak. What kind
C.M., Kansas
of fence is best?
A good windbreak
fence should slow
the airflow down
without blocking it
completely. Solid fences
can create a downdraft,
where the airflow is
first pushed up, then
drawn down into a
A
Q
We have extremely
hard water. I
haven’t been able to
find a recirculating
pump that will last, and
I’d love to have a fountain in my garden.
What can I do?
There are several
ways to deal with
hard water:
A
A solid
fence creates
a downdraft.
One possibility is to
use a water softener —
you probably already
have one in your house
if your water is this
hard. Water softeners
remove the minerals
that settle out of the
water, corroding metal
and leaving white
deposits on your fountain. A plumber can
route your outside
water supply through
your water softener. Or
you could fill the fountain with water from
inside the house.
Collected rain water is
also a good source for
softer water.
You can also look
for a metal pump made
with a “sacrificial
anode,” a replaceable
zinc and magnesium
piece that attracts the
mineral particles so
they don’t settle on
other parts of the
pump. Many new fountain and pond pumps
are plastic, and the
minerals in hard water
don’t corrode plastic as
they do metal, although
they’ll still collect on
any rough surface.
A baffled fence
slows the wind.
Busse Gardens
www.bussegardens.com
800-544-3192 • $3
Completely Clematis Specialty Nursery
www.clematisnursery.com
Wayside Gardens
www.waysidegardens.com
800-845-1124 • Free
TOP PICKS FOR CLAY (P. 20)
MAIL-ORDER CATALOGS
Brent and Becky’s Bulbs
www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com
804-693-3966 • Catalog free
Quamash and martagon lily
Busse Gardens
www.bussegardens.com
800-544-3192 • Catalog $3
Joe-pye weed, ‘Miss Manners’ obedient
plant and ‘Chocolate Chip’ bugleweed
Forestfarm
www.forestfarm.com
541-846-7269 • Catalog $5
Flowering quince, Autumn Purple ash,
flowering currant, swordleaf inula and
‘Nikko’ deutzia
CONTAINER RECIPE (P. 43)
MAIL-ORDER CATALOGS
Avant Gardens
www.avantgardensNE.com
508-998-8819 • Catalog $3
Ornamental oregano
Outsidepride.com, Inc.
www.outsidepride.com
877-255-8470
Ruby grass (also called
Rhynchelytrum repens)
Park Seed
www.parkseed.com
800-845-3369 • Catalog free
Bloody sorrel
Don’t Know Your Zones?
Find your heat and cold zones online at
www.GardenGateMagazine.com/zones.
www.GardenGateMagazine.com 47
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
notes
from the test garden
dividing grape
hyacinths
I
More
bulbs you
can divide
Daffodil
Narcissus spp.
Glory-of-the-snow
Chionodoxa luciliae
Netted iris
Iris riticulata
Snowdrops
Galanthus spp.
Squill Scilla spp.
sn’t it a thrill when you realize that the little bulb you put in
the ground several years ago is now a healthy monster?
And it’s even more exciting when you see that not only is
your plant thriving, but it needs to be divided. That means
free plants, and that’s a phrase every gardener loves to hear.
There are two main reasons for dividing bulbs. The first
— most gardeners’ favorite — is to get more plants. Many
plants that grow from bulbs do form seeds, but it’s a slow
way to grow new plants, and you can’t be sure that the
seedlings will be the same as the parent. It’s a lot easier and
quicker to divide the bulbs.
The second reason to divide is to rejuvenate an overcrowded planting. As clumps of bulbs grow, they compete
with each other for space, water and nutrients, which can
mean fewer flowers as they become overcrowded.
True bulbs, such as grape hyacinths, are modified stems
that store food for the plant. They reproduce by offsets, little
bulbs at the base of each mother bulb. You can break the
new bulbs from the main clump to make more plants. I’ll
show you how to divide
grape hyacinths step by
step in the photos below
and in our Online Video.
These steps will work for
any true bulb.
It’s best to divide
hardy spring bulbs like
grape hyacinths in late
spring to midsummer. So
gather up your garden
fork, your gloves and
some bulb fertilizer, and
you’re all set to make
new plants! ®
(1) The best time to divide bulbs is when they’re
dormant or nearly dormant after they bloom. It’s
easier while you can still see the foliage so you
know where to dig. When you dig the clump,
start far enough away that you don’t slice
through any bulbs.Gently shake the soil off the
clump so you can see what you’re doing.
ONLINE
Dividing grape
hyacinths
48
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© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
(2) Break the clump apart. Be sure that part of the
basal plate, the flat spot on the bottom of each
bulb, is included on each offset. You can plant
them all or just keep the biggest offsets.
Dust the ones you want to replant with
a fungicide powder from your local
garden center.
weed watch
Yellow nutsedge
Cyperus esculentus
IDENTIFICATION Yellow nutsedge is a perennial weed with slender, ½-in.-wide leaves that
grow up to 2 ft. long. It sprouts in early summer
and matures by fall. Triangular stems, up to 3 ft.
tall, rise from the center of each plant topped by
clusters of yellow-flowering spikes.
While yellow nutsedge does grow from
seed, its corms, often called “nutlets,” are the
structures that reproduce most quickly. Each
plant sends out underground runners that produce clusters of the nutlets. After these nutlets
are ready to grow on their own, the parent
plant disconnects and the nutlets sprout. When
you pull mature plants, the nutlets break free
and are left behind.
FAVORITE CONDITIONS This weed thrives
almost anywhere it receives full sun, especially
in wet and compacted soils. And it’s damaging
to crops: Yellow nutsedge hosts a soil-dwelling
bacteria that can destroy soil-borne nitrogen.
CONTROL The plant releases its nutlets before
chemical herbicides are able to kill it.
It’s tempting to pull the weed when you see
it, but pulling it in the spring just snaps off the
plant above the nutlets and encourages new
growth. Instead, dig everything
you can in early summer
when the nutlets are
“worn out” from producing growth all
spring and before
new ones form.
To prevent it from
taking hold in a new
bed, put down a layer of
landscape fabric before
planting. Avoid plastic
because the new shoots
can poke through the
plastic as it gets brittle. ®
(3) Replant the new offsets at the same depth as the
original planting. Sprinkle some bulb fertilizer into the
bottom of the hole first, then cover it with a dusting of
soil or compost so the fertilizer isn’t in direct contact
with the bulbs. Spacing is up to you. Closely planted
bulbs will look better next spring, but you’ll have to
divide them sooner. Water immediately.
www.GardenGateMagazine.com 49
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
editor’schoice
prairie smoke
8 in.
I
4 in.
0
Geum triflorum
Size 12 to 15 in. tall
by 12 in. wide
Habit Clump forming
Bloom time A couple weeks
in midspring
Soil Average, well-drained
Light Full sun to part shade
Pests None serious
Hardiness
Cold: USDA zones 3 to 7
Heat: AHS zones
not available
Mail-order source
Prairie Nursery
P.O. Box 306
Westfield, WI 53964
www.prairienursery.com
800-476-9453. Free
’m a sucker for colorful names.
So when I heard of a plant
called “prairie smoke,” I
couldn’t wait to get some — even
before I knew what it was!
The small pink springtime
flowers in the photo at right have
a Dr. Seuss-like charm. When the
flowers set seed, as photo 1
shows, it’s obvious why names
like “prairie smoke,” “old man’s
whiskers” and “torch flower”
were hung on this native plant.
Prairie smoke (Geum triflorum) easily makes the move
from wild thing to well-mannered perennial. In spring,
columbine and scilla make good
companions. It also mingles
nicely with little bluestem and
other ornamental grasses. Don’t
forget plants to complement the
seed heads, too. Try hardy geranium, bee balm or phlox, to
name just a few. Prairie smoke’s
deeply cut leaves also provide
a nice foliage contrast to sedum
or bergenia.
At 12 to 15 inches tall, this
low grower works best at the
front of your border. And since
the flowers are small, plant in
groups of three or more so you
can really enjoy them. Mature
plants form dense clumps that
make a good ground cover, too.
make a small mound and plant
my prairie smoke. Both the compost and a higher planting level
help with the drainage.
An easy way to get more
plants is to divide a clump of rhizomes. In spring, after flowers
fade, gently lift the plant out of
the soil with a garden fork. With
a clean, sharp knife, cut off the
smaller rhizomes, making sure
that you have some roots and
foliage with each section.
Replant immediately, with the
top of the rhizome 1 inch below
the soil level, and water in well.
To give new transplants a
boost, mix some organic fertilizer into the soil of the hole
before adding the plant. Once
established, prairie smoke
doesn’t need regular fertilizing.
By spring, you’ll have even
more of these charming little
flowers with the colorful name. ®
PHOTO LOCATION: Minneapolis Lyndale Park Peace (Rock) Garden
12 in.
Care and culture
Prairie smoke does best in full
sun and well-drained soil. But it
can also take part shade.
Insects don’t bother prairie
smoke, but root rot can be a
problem in poorly drained soil.
Don’t let that discourage you,
though — I have clay in my
garden and still grow this tough
little plant. I work a couple shovelfuls of compost into the soil,
50 www.GardenGateMagazine.com
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
(1) Prairie smoke’s small, pendulous
flowers gradually move to an upright
position as the seedhead forms.
www.GardenGateMagazine.com 51
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
Wings widespread
It stops to feed
At the flower bed
And on its favourite flower
The butterfly settles
Like two extra petals.”
— Stanley Cook
Fertile Crescent Nursery
“The sun is on fire
In the sky
And in its warmth
Flowers open
In the garden
And the butterfly
Flutters by.
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