Cold Climate Gardening

Cold Climate Gardening Turns Eight

Kathy Purdy — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 03:16:52 +0000

Yes, I started blogging on this date eight years ago. So much has changed. I’ve been through three different publishing platforms, adopting WordPress in 2005.

Felt so alone when I started, so began a blog directory to keep track of other garden blogs. Now my directory is only the tip of the iceberg! Zanthan Gardens was one of my first garden blog buddies.

But the goals that I stated in that first post are pretty much the same, except I never did manage to make it work as a collaborative blog (my friend Bub announced she was getting OFF the internet before I got the chance to ask her to be a co-author). And I decided against creating a fan page for Winterrowd & Eck, though I did review A Year at North Hill..

Now instead of a pioneer, I am ~~more of an old fogey, getting left behind in the dust as all these young whippersnappers latch onto social media, the new frontier, so to speak. But I’m still plodding on.~~ a citizen of the increasingly populated Blogasphere, with neighbors on every side.

Joe-Pye Weed: Wildflower Wednesday

Kathy Purdy — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:28:35 +0000

Joe-Pye weed grows along the seasonal brook at the edge of our property

A brook borders the northern edge of our property, and several clumps of Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium fistulosum) grow along the banks. I love the silvery mauve blossoms, which are large enough and tall enough to be seen across the chicken yard, a good seventy feet away.

The dusky mauve color complements the goldenrods also in bloom at this time

Allan Armitage, in his Native Plants for North American Gardens, says, “The combination of Joe-Pyes, goldenrod, and asters all flowering together gives fall color another meaning.” Armitage confirms what I’ve always maintained, that fall starts in mid-August here, though I have to admit that the asters are just starting, while the Joe-Pye weed and the goldenrod are at their peak. They do look swell together.

Three eupatoriums are fairly similar. I know my Joe-Pye weed is Eupatorium fistulosum because I cut one open and saw that it has hollow stems. The other two, E. purpureum and E. maculatum, both have solid pith, but E. maculatum has spots on the stems. According to William Cullina in Wildflowers: A Guide to Growing and Propagating Native Flowers of North America, “the names are used interchangeably in the trade, and there is some confusion about the identity of several selected cultivars. …[But] all make excellent garden plants.” However, the USDA says my Joe-Pye weed is actually Eupatoriadelphus fistulosus.

As you would expect from a native plant, the blossoms attract a variety of wildlife.

A bumblebee and a moth share the wealth on Joe-Pye blossom. Do you know the name of the butterfly?

This butterfly posed for several shots, but I’m afraid I don’t know which one it is.

Posted for Wildflower Wednesday, created by Gail of Clay and Limestone, to share wildflowers/native plants no matter where you garden in the blogasphere. It doesn’t matter if we sometimes show the same plants. How they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most. It’s always the fourth Wednesday of the month!

Earliest Colchicums Ever

Kathy Purdy — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:26:42 +0000

I've never seen colchicums bloom this early

After two days of much-needed rain, I decided to walk around the garden to see what I could see. I wasn’t really expecting to see colchicums blooming, because they usually start in September. Perhaps the extended hot and dry spell, followed by the cool, rainy weather encouraged them to break dormancy early. At any rate, it was a pleasant surprise. These ones should be the variety ‘Zephyr’.

How to Garden Like You’re in the Tropics When You’re Stuck in the Snow

Lisa Ueda — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:10:56 +0000

Editor’s note: Starting seeds is usually something cold climate gardeners do in the wi– no, I won’t say that word. But some seeds can be started now. Guest blogger Lisa Ueda shares her method for starting cannas from seed.

You, too, can grow cannas from seed!

My winter vacation destination of choice has always been the Florida Keys, where I usually fantasize about selling shells on the beach and leaving the snow behind. I find myself fascinated by the lush flower structures thriving in that great subtropical climate, so different from the Midwest. Wanting to recreate that in my own life, I’ve found that cannas are a great summer addition to my cottage gardens. With their dramatic banana leaf like foliage and impressive flower spikes, they help to draw the eye away from annuals and perennials that may be past their prime while I wait for their seed to ripen.

Seed-Grown Cannas Outperform Purchased Cannas

I was unhappy when the first cannas I brought home from my local mega store were stunted, didn’t bloom, and the rhizomes never kept. Not good. I was fortunate enough to be the lucky recipient of a large variety of canna seeds from a gardening friend who was thinning out her collection. This gave me the opportunity to boldly experiment with finding which seed starting technique would give me the highest germination rate and healthiest plants. My seed grown cannas are easy to grow, flower abundantly, and the rhizomes, they’re massively healthy and keep VERY well during the winter.

Where to Find Canna Seed

Not everyone is lucky enough to score the kind of seed haul that I did. Park Seeds and Thompson and Morgan are two of my favorite companies, both offering canna seeds. As an active seed collector and trader, I’ve also enjoyed trading for canna seeds on the GardenWeb Seed Exchange. Being observant of forum etiquette and offering up more often than asking will increase your odds of finding the seed you’re looking for.

Start Canna Seed in January or August

Seeds started inside during January bloom the first year by July or August in my zone 4-5 garden, before being cut back by the first heavy frost, and dug and packed in peat moss for storage in my just above freezing basement. Canna rhizomes should not be kept too warm, allowed to freeze, or completely dry out. Starting in August will produce good sized seedlings but no rhizomes. Bring them inside to a Southern facing window before the first frost, and continue to water and lightly fertilize until ready to plant out after the last Spring frost.

Basic Method for Starting Cannas from Seed

Since my gardens are caught up, I thought it would be fun to try germinating seed again. The last time I wound up with a gorgeous dwarf canna with the palest yellow flowers and red speckles, ever so delicate.

	I start with a baggie of ‘Tropical Sunrise’ seed and a Pedi file (only used to help nick seeds, part of my essential toolkit). ‘Tropical Sunrise’ has light green leaves and a marbled peach colored flower, so I’m really looking forward to this one.
	Firmly grip your seed and file the seed until it exposes a little bit of white. If you carefully feel the canna seed in your fingers, you’ll notice a slight bump, that’s the embryo, file on the other side of the seed to avoid damaging it. My daughter has nimble fingers, she’s my official canna seed filer.
	Next, put a small saucepan to boil with about 1″ (2.5 cm) water. Just as your water starts boiling, turn off the heat and take your pot off the stove.
	Once the water stops boiling, but is still hot, take all of your prepared canna seeds and briefly drop them into the very hot water until you hear them crackling, just a few pings. It’s not the same as listening to the last few pops of popcorn in the microwave so don’t overdo it. Immediately add cold water until it’s lukewarm.
	Soak until the seed double in size and you begin to see a white root emerging as in this photo (just passed 6 o’clock), typically in three to five days. Plant in sterile, moist growing medium, just below the soil surface. Keep warm and continue giving ample sun and water. Using this technique gave me an 80% germination rate on two to three year old seed.

Ta da! Four week old cannas thriving on my front porch. I’m already noticing variation among the leaf form. Two with strappier shaped foliage look like they might be struggling, the remaining six with standard shaped leaves are thriving. I won’t cull the two oddballs, I’m interested in seeing what they look like if they survive.

These cannas were started from seed

About the author: Lisa Ueda offers home gardening tips at The Frugal Garden. Her aim is to inspire, awaken and motivate new gardeners into discovering their inner green thumbs.

Three for Thursday: Tomato-Pesto Pizza

Kathy Purdy — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 01:04:27 +0000

Tomatoes

Tomatoes grown by the Gentleman Farmer, photo by Cadence Purdy

Pesto

Basil, pesto and photo all by Cadence Purdy

Tomato-Pesto Pizza

Tomato-Pesto Pizza, 2006 version. Photo by Cadence Purdy

Here’s how we make this pizza. Three for Thursday: playing along with Cindy of My Corner of Katy.

August Doldrums: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day August 2010

Kathy Purdy — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 03:03:40 +0000

Sunflower courtesy chipmunks. Flowering tobacco courtesy last year's flowering tobacco

Most of the garden looks a bit unkempt. Browned foliage, browned, undeadheaded flowers, interspersed with plants that like August. Bring on the heat, they say. What’s a little drought to a plant like me? The garden would look pretty terrific if I had been deadheading and deadleafing right along. But as usual, I am pulling weeds I meant to get to before I went to Buffa10. Which was over a month ago.

Fantastic Foliage

There are foliage plants that look good:

Bonfire euphorbia sidles up to Alligator Tears coleus

I always thought coleus needed a lot of moisture. But I planted several kinds of coleus in a bed dominated by a lilac and a smokebush, both moisture sucking shrubs, and the coleus have looked spectacular all summer. I might have watered them once. ‘Alligator Tears’ above is a new introduction from Proven Winners.

Crimson Gold coleus brings out the best in the purple smokebush

‘Crimson Gold’ is from Ball Horticultural. These are not the coleus my grandmother grew, that’s for sure.
This combination really pleases me, but it happened by itself:

A fringe of Allegheny vine foliage adorns Blackout heuchera

These are first year seedlings from the Allegheny vine that bloomed last year. I am not 100% certain this is ‘Blackout,’ from Skagit Gardens. It could be ‘Mahogany’. I had two of each and planted them all together, and they got a case of lost-tag-itis. They’re both nice coral bells that have survived two mud seasons now. I find just about all heucheras will make it through my winters, but a lot of them die during mud season.

Animated Annuals

The heat-lovings annuals that most people consider summer staples are just now coming into their own at the beginning of autumn. You heard me. Autumn is just around the corner for us and many annuals here are cut down by frost before they’ve reached their peak. Still, they make August a more interesting month in the garden. Take, for example, this zinnia:

Apricot Blush zinnia, a pretty big one, at that

Cadie started a lot of zinnias from a lot of different packets and planted them wherever there was an empty spot. We’re pretty sure this is ‘Apricot Blush’ from Renee’s Garden, though it is a deeper color in Renee’s photo.

It has become tradition for Cadie to plant morning glories all along the chicken yard fence. Update: Cadie just corrected me: ~~This year ‘Early Call’ was one of the few to germinate.~~ It’s actually the pink from Botanical Interests Sunrise Blend, which now has a different set of flowers on the seed packet.

Early Call morning glories, though they are none too early. Mid-August, and they haven't reached the top of the fence

~~Last year, Grandpa Otts just about brought the fence down, but I guess he decided to retire this year.~~ Grandpa Otts didn’t retire, just moved to a new location of his own choosing.

New Plant Gamble: Crocosmia

Distant Planet crocosmia. The first, and perhaps only, year growing in my garden

‘Distant Planet’ crocosmia was obtained this spring from the late, great Seneca Hill Perennials nursery. Ellen Hornig believes it to be “northern-hardy” and rates it Zone 5 with a question mark. Crocosmia is not typically hardy here, but what if . . . ? A girl can dream, can’t she?

Inspired by the words of Elizabeth Lawrence, “We can have flowers nearly every month of the year,” Carol of May Dreams Gardens started Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. On the 15th of every month, garden bloggers from all over the world publish what is currently blooming in their gardens, and leave a link in Mr. Linky and the comments of May Dreams Gardens.

Thanks to Proven Winners, Ball Horticultural, Renee’s Garden Seeds, and Skagit Gardens for the opportunity to trial their plants and seeds.

Hydrangeas that Thrive in a Cold Climate

Kathy Purdy — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 04:41:49 +0000

Click on the photo for a list of plants

Hydrangea arborescens, Hydrangea anomala, and Hydrangea paniculata are three terrific hydrangeas for cold climates. Remember those names. Write them down on the inside of your arm with a pen if you have to before you visit your local nursery, so that you will not be seduced by the flashy macrophyllas calling to you from every endcap. You know who I’m talking about.

I’ve been growing two varieties of H. arborescens: ‘Abetwo’, which has the trade name Incrediball®, and ‘NCHA1′, which has the trade name Invincibelle® Spirit. I think both of them are far better choices for a cold climate garden than any macrophylla.

Invincibelle Spirit

When I first saw photos of Invincibelle Spirit, I wasn’t sure I liked the color, but I’ve found it much more pleasing “in real life.”

Invincibelle Spirit fits in well with other plants in a border

This shrub started blooming in early July and hasn’t stopped. The flowers open up a deep pink and slowly fade, giving a pleasing multi-hued effect. Despite the heat and dry weather they experienced, the first flowers still look good, not browned or shriveled. And I haven’t babied it at all. It got no protection for winter and has not been fertilized, though it is in a moist location and gets about a half day of sun. Yes, I am very happy with this shrub, especially with Actaea simplex ‘Black Negligee’ providing the backdrop.

Invincibelle Spirit Hydrangea and Black Negligee actaea

Incrediball

Perhaps you’ve seen this image of the world’s largest hydrangea blooms?

Incrediball hydrangea. Photo courtesy Proven Winners

Pretty amazing, huh? (Just to clarify, I don’t think Proven Winners has actually claimed Incrediball’s blooms are the world’s largest. That’s my own hyperbole.) Some people find them grotesque. But not to worry, the blooms on my Incrediball aren’t nearly that big:

Incrediball's flowers are in scale with the rest of the shrub

The blossoms are bigger than on Incredibelle Spirit, but they are by no means out of scale with the rest of the plant. Incrediball is a bit further back in the bed, so it gets a little less sun, but otherwise it has gotten the same treatment as Invincibelle Spirit. The soil was amended with organic matter, but neither shrub has been fertilized and neither got any winter protection.

The one weird thing about Incrediball is all the flowers are blooming beneath the leaves.

The blossoms are hiding underneath the leaves.

I still can’t see the blossoms from the front of the bed, though we do enjoy them from the windows. This may be a function of plant immaturity, or it may be some other environmental factor. I am happy enough with this shrub that I’d be willing to move it to a sunnier location if that would help it get those flowers up higher. But I think I will give it another year where it is.

We’ve spent a lot of time fussing and fretting over that other hydrangea, but I thought it was time to highlight a few hydrangeas that earn their keep without being catered to. How about you?

Proven Winners sent me Invincibelle Spirit and Incrediball to trial in my garden.

Colchicum interview on Web Talk Radio

Kathy Purdy — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:10:41 +0000

I join Helen Yoest of Gardening With Confidence this week to talk about Colchicums on Web Talk Radio. They will be blooming in about a month, you know.

Tree Survival Tips for Summer Heat

Kathy Purdy — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:11:26 +0000

Tree Survival Tips for Summer Heat via The Wired Gardener http://bit.ly/bvVLTi. The Wired Gardener is a newsletter, now become a blog, of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s McClean Library. It almost always has a link to an online gardening resource I hadn’t heard about, and now includes helpful blog posts about current gardening topics, such as this one about caring for trees when it is unusually hot.

Elderberry: Wildflower Wednesday

Kathy Purdy — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:18:35 +0000

The American Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) is a native shrub that grows in the ditches and hedgerows here. As you can see it has attractive white flowers.

American elderberry, Sambucus canadensis

The flowers attract all sorts of pollinators, but I don’t know any of their names. I tried to find a list but couldn’t. (If you know of a website that lets you enter a North American native plant and then tells you what pollinators depend on that plant, please let me know.)

Elder flower

I’ve read that people dip the flowers in batter and fry them. My thinking is: how does this improve on a doughnut? The flowers must have some flavor to them, because a cordial can be made out of the flowers, and even a soft drink.

We don’t eat the flowers. We just enjoy looking at them, because we are waiting for the berries.

Elderberries. Photo by me'nthedogs

Their flavor is a cross between blackberry and currant, with a slightly bitter undertone from the seeds. There must be some variation in flavor, because William Cullina in Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines calls the berries “sugary,” and I have never in my life encountered elderberries that didn’t need a lot of help in the sweetness department. (Cullina also talks about flower clusters the size of frisbees, and I’ve never seen that, either. Maybe they just grow them bigger and better in Massachusetts.)

Not to worry about the lack of sweetness, because we harvest these berries for pie:

Elderberry-Apple Pie

I discovered this in the 1974 edition of Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook, after my husband brought some fresh picked elderberries into the kitchen, and informed me they were used to make pie.

2 crusts pie pastry
2 cups elderberries from American elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
1 1/2 cups tart apples — chopped and peeled
1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons quick cooking tapioca
2 tablespoons butter

Wash and stem elderberries. Combine elderberries, apples, sugar, salt, and tapioca, crushing berries with back of the spoon. Spoon mixture into pastry-lined 9″ pie pan. Dot with butter and top with lattice crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, or until apples are tender and crust is golden.

Of course, the birds like the berries, too, so you have to beat them to the berries.

I’d be interested in hearing how you use the flowers or berries in cooking.

Update: Found a list of wildlife that appreciate the elderberry. Thanks to Gail for the term “faunal associations” which enabled me to find that page.

Photo of ripe elderberries by me’nthedogs. Posted for Wildflower Wednesday, created by Gail of Clay and Limestone, to share wildflowers/native plants no matter where you garden in the blogasphere. It doesn’t matter if we sometimes show the same plants. How they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most. It’s always the fourth Wednesday of the month!