Cold Climate Gardening

Brave the snow, get out of the house, and learn something new! Here are some gardener-worthy events coming up in my neck of the woods.
“CNY Blooms” –Spring 2007 will sprout up before you know it, and with it the blossoming of Syracuse’s flower and garden show, now known as “CNY Blooms”. Mark your planting calendar and get ready to enjoy this beautiful show, devoted exclusively to the world of flowers and gardening. It all starts blooming March 1st through the 4th, 2007, in the Convention Center at Oncenter, Syracuse. Hundreds of area landscapers and horticulturalists will be offering you the best of the season’s blooms. Interested in learning more about perennial flower gardens? Want to know more about creative outdoor structures or innovative patio designs? There will be seminars and presentations to help with your landscape plans. Adults-$9, Children 12 and under free. Discount coupons available at a Price Chopper store near you

Popularity: 44% [?]

In my series on Garden Blog Pioneers, I reported in the final part that Notes From Zone 4 was MIA. Well, they’re back.

If you ever had doubts that a cold climate garden could look good, take one look at their banner image and doubt no more. Then, appetite whetted, browse through their gallery. A sight for snow-blinded eyes.

As noted in their About section and other places on the site, they are very involved in raising animals now, and the garden takes a back seat. But of course, even in the animal department, they don’t do things halfway. I had never heard of Icelandic sheep, and wasn’t aware that any sheep breed could live on the …

Popularity: 18% [?]

It’s great fun to compose wishlists of seeds to try and plants to grow, but, you know, you have to put those plants somewhere. Figuring out where to put them is called the design process. I’ve come across two books lately that help.

The Perennial Gardener’s Design Primer by Stephanie Cohen and Nancy J. Ondra provides in one volume the kind of information it took me several years of reading gardening magazines to acquire. If, like me, you’re a magazine addict of long-standing, you probably won’t learn much, though you’ll be reminded of an awful lot you might have been on the verge of forgetting.

The biggest problem with most introductory books is they are superficial and boring. Cohen and Ondra manage to avoid both.

Popularity: 18% [?]

I’ve often thought my biggest hindrance to becoming a professional garden designer is my aversion to spending money, mine or anyone else’s. Consequently, I tend to filter out great-but expensive-ideas almost as soon as I’ve thought them, even at the risk of being penny-wise but pound-foolish. So it should surprise no one that I find The Greater Perfection: The Story of the Gardens at Les Quatre Vents mind boggling.

I have no idea of author Francis Cabot’s net worth, nor whether he inherited most of it or single-handedly multiplied the family fortune. All I know is this guy has a lot of moolah, and he knows how to use it, at least from a gardener’s perspective. Les Quatre Vents has been in Cabot’s family for over a century, but he did not start his own work on the gardens until 1975. The estate, which is reckoned in square miles, not acres, would be squarely in USDA Hardiness Zone 3 were it not for the moderating influence of the St. Lawrence River, which is broad enough at that point to be considered an inland sea. Not the type of climate most people would consider ideal for creating a world-class landscape.

I should make that plural: landscapes. Rock gardens, Japanese gardens, woodland, perennial borders, potagers, orchards, magnificent views, intimate spaces–this place has it all. About the only thing missing is polar icecap and steamy jungle, but the rope bridges certainly lend that kind of tropical ambience. Yes, rope bridges. Two of them.

Popularity: 11% [?]

This is a section of the Birthday Garden, which is a somewhat raised bed sandwiched between the driveway and the house. At the base of the stone wall, looking rather pale, are some Colchicum byzantinum. Above them is an unknown chrysanthemum, which Debi Lampman of Bedlam Gardens in King Ferry, NY gave to me this spring, when I visited her in the course of researching an article on gardening hotspots in Ithaca. Next to the mum, Colchicum ‘Lilac Wonder’ emerges from the blue-green foliage of a catmint (Nepeta sp.). I got it from Bluestone Perennials as ‘Six Hills Giant,’ but it has never …

Popularity: 30% [?]

Now that you have been reviewed, and someone has complimented your writing and synergy, I hate to wreck it by by my disjointed off topic rambling. This is probably the last time I post, since I am very, very pregnant.

I spent a lot of time working out my seed order, knowing that I will not be able to think straight soon, and for quite some time. Kathy wanted to know how I was possibly going to start seeds with a newborn infant. My plan this fall was that I was that I was going to convert all my annual space into perennial beds, so I got all these plants this fall, but we just redid our …

Popularity: 5% [?]

One of my favorite places to buy gardening books is Edward Hamilton. They do sell some new books, but most of them are remainders and closeouts. No problem when it comes to gardening books, as they don’t go out of date that fast and the good ones always bear re-reading.

Popularity: 8% [?]