A Weed By Any Other Name: Reviewing Michael Pollan's "Second Nature"

I'm so glad Carol at May Dreams Gardens chose "Second Nature: A Gardener's Education" for the February/March Garden Bloggers' Book Club selection. This book made me laugh and made me think. This is not a gardening "how-to" book, but rather is a discourse on the political, historical and social aspects of gardens. Because it is so packed with interesting points, I am limiting this post to a single chapter, "Weeds Are Us."

In this chapter on weeds, Pollan describes an annual flower bed he created while under the influence of Ralph Waldo Emerson's philosophy of a weed as simply a plant whose virtues have yet to be discovered. I almost snorted my coffee as I read how Pollan allowed a "delicate vine" with morning glory flowers to take hold in the bed. The poor misguided fool; anyone who has ever battled Bindweed could never describe it as "delicate." Bindweed is the only non-woody weed on which I will use Glyphosate. That's how "delicate" it is. As Pollan subsequently learned, Bindweed cannot simply be dug up once it has gained a foothold. No, the spreading, deep, yet thin roots will sprout new plants at each break in the root. He aptly describes it as a "hydra-headed monster." A gardener's education indeed.

After examining the nature of his weeds, how they are more resilient and versatile than other plants, he concludes that a weed is not so much a plant in the wrong place, but is instead more in the nature of a horticultural cockroach. In his opinion, weeds are plants that need human intervention in the landscape, that, without humans messing about, weeds could not survive in the wild. Then there are the "gray area" plants that can be called "wildflower" or "weed," which may be included in a garden at the gardener's whim. While I agree with this in theory, I find it difficult to understand how Pollan could choose not to eradicate the Purple Loostrife (Lythrum salicaria) that he had planted in his perennial bed, despite learning that it has been outlawed as a noxious weed in many States. Merely because a plant may appear to behave itself within the garden does not mean that it will not act like a weed without, where its myriad seedlings crowd out native plants and destroy ecosystems. However, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. The edition of "Second Nature" that I read was published in 1991. I'm hoping he has reconsidered keeping Lythrum in his garden.

I Must Be a Masochist..

because I looked at my garden journal entry for this day last year. As I type this, it is snowing and there's couple inches of accumulation on the ground. Last year on this date it was sunny and 73 degrees. All my Hellebores were blooming, the Scilla and Daffodils were also in bloom. All the Snowdrops were done blooming and the Crocuses had nearly finished. It is very unusual for there not to have been at least one day in the 70s by this point in Chicagoland.
Because I'm not a sadist, I have chosen not to post a photo of how the garden looks today. Instead, here is a photo from yesterday showing a rare, unprecedented event at Squirrelhaven:the Winter Aconites blooming with the Giant Snowdrop (Galanthus elwesii). This is what I had in mind when I planted this area. Sadly, most of the Aconites have disappeared. I blame the squirrels.

The Only Good Rabbit...

is a chocolate rabbit. How I delight in biting off the head.

Okay, enough revenge fantasies, it's time to take action to prevent any need for revenge. With the garden finally awakening, and the rabbits busy having babies, now is the time to restock the arsenal. The weapons of choice: hot pepper wax and spray repellent. Those with deer problems are already familiar with the latter. Liquid Fence, Deer Off, and Bobbix are just some of the available repellents. Forget everything else (except chicken wire and electric fences). Rabbits have been known to hold their little noses and munch away in the presence of blood meal, human hair, and coyote and fox urine.

The disadvantage of the deer repellents is the smell. Of course that's also an advantage, because the rabbits will know that the plants will taste horrible without having to take a bite. The red pepper wax (which is harder to find), has the advantage of being odorless. That, however, requires the rabbit to take a bite to discover that this is something not worth eating, ever.

The choice of weapon depends on one's circumstances. If the garden is fairly close to the neighbors' houses and they have sensitive noses, the hot pepper wax route might be preferred, especially if the plant that needs protection can afford a bit of injudicious pruning, such as a shrub. Otherwise, the deer repellent is the way to go. Just make sure when using it that the wind is blowing away when spraying. The only other caveat is that when plants are in active growth, all newly grown parts must be sprayed. Otherwise, once a season should do the trick.
And now for that chocolate rabbit...

The Return of the Spring

Hey, I don't care if it does snow tonight and again tomorrow. I don't even care if we get the forecasted half foot of snow. IT'S SPRING! How can I tell? Well, the Crocus are blooming, the Eranthis/Aconites are about to bloom, the Hepatica are in bud, and the Mertensia and Caulophyllum thalictroides are sprouting. But what really seals the deal is this: the Great Blue Herons have returned. Go ahead, Snow, dump all you want. You won't last long.

A Policy of Containment

This post is part of Garden Bloggers' Design Workshop.

I am a recent convert to the benefits of container gardening. There has always been a "fixture" container that came with the property when I bought my houses. Here at Squirrelhaven, there were two half whiskey barrel planters, one by the front door and one on the back patio. I used these containers mostly for annuals. But it is only in the last few years that my container gardening adventures have moved beyond these basics.


My back garden is mostly shaded mini-woodland, not conducive to a vegetable garden, and I am not such a good designer that I can attractively incorporate edibles into my increasingly less sunny front garden. My solution for growing vegetables? Pot them up. The back patio has enough direct sun to grow veggies in containers. At first I tried terra cotta pots, but they dried out too quickly. Then I tried the thin, cheap plastic pots, but things rotted in them. My most successful vegetable plantings and outdoor seed startings were in two plastic-lined baskets. I poked holes in the plastic for drainage, which rendered them, in the words of Goldilocks, "just right." I've used these baskets for three years now, and it looks like it's time for replacements.
The baskets would have lasted longer had they not been left out over the winter, but we have no shed, so storage space is a problem. This lack of space is the main reason why I do not use ceramic planters for my ornamental containers. Containers around here need to be durable enough to be left outside all winter. The whiskey barrel planters lasted a long time, but last spring when the one in the back started falling apart, I decided to replace it and the one on the front porch as well. I've never liked the look of the whiskey barrel planters; they were too rustic for their setting. Instead, I found new planters made of fiberglass and plastic which mimic the look of ceramic which I love. I bought two matching planters for the front, a large container for the back, and this green one for where ever I found a place to put it.

These new containers are perfect for my ornamental container gardening. They hold moisture better than terra cotta, but with the bottom plug removed, do not water log the plants. For a planting of annuals, I use potting soil with fertilizer in it. For growing perennials in containers, I mix potting soil with equal parts compost or leaf mold and (horrors!) garden soil. I add a slow release fertilizer to these containers every spring. I use perennials that are at least one Zone hardier than my Zone 5, and the plants have never been winter killed.

I learned my lesson about using polystyrene peanuts to make the containers light enough to move. No, instead, for large containers, I put an upside down nursery pot with drainage holes in the bottom of the container and then put the potting soil over that. To keep the soil from washing out of the bottom of the containers, I put a square of window screening over the drainage hole.

In planting the ornamental containers, I try to follow Steve Silk's recipe of Thriller, Filler, Spiller design.Later in summer, the Spiller, Scaevola, spilled down over the edge of this front walk container.

The TFS plan also works for mixed or all perennial plantings, although the Thriller of this grouping, a Pelargonium, had finished blooming by the time this photo was taken.

I have one terra cotta container that I had to have because I love its shape. It gets cleaned out in fall, its plants relocated to the garden or a more durable container, and the pot itself goes inside for the winter. Instead of constantly watering this container, I plant it with Sempervivums and a Sedum/Hylotelephium. They're happy, I'm happy.

I also have my Cacti in terra cotta and ceramic pots because they have to go inside for the winter anyway.

This is my most utilitarian container a stump which has stubbornly refused to break down. To hasten the process, I planted this Painted Fern in the decayed cavity.The fern seemed to enjoy its moist new home.
Recently, I picked up these two containers.What I wanted was a combination of these two: tall and cobalt. Of course it was sold out. If I see it again, I'll get it. In the meantime, I have to find homes for these containers, which make a focal point on their own, even empty.

I'm still a neophyte container gardener. Someday, I hope to have enough containers so that I can combine individual planters of Thrillers, Fillers and Spillers.

March Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: Spring Strikes Back

Spring has arrived!!! I'm doing my Snoopy happy dance. All it took was a couple of sunny days in the 50s to melt nearly all the snow in the back garden. There's still snow along the south fence though. And the front? Don't even ask.

Yesterday, between bouts of tending to sick kids, I was finally able to do some gardening - Huzzah! I dead-leafed the Helleborus nigers and cleaned up the Iris and Hosta foliage under the crabapple. But the best part was just sitting on the swing (for about a minute) looking at my snowdrops.This is Galanthus elwesii, the Giant Snowdrop, which blooms earlier than the Common Snowdrop, G. nivalis. I started off with three clumps of Snowdrops, but through dividing and self-sowing, there are now six groups (it's hard to call three plants a "clump"). Yesterday, they opened wide, looking like doves in flight.The honey scent of these flowers is a powerful cure for the Winter blahs. As there are so many of them, I'll cut a few today to bring in for easier sniffing.

After lingering in a state of suspended animation since January, the Witchhazel has finally bloomed!This is Hammamelis 'Sunburst.' Unfortunately, this is one of those fancy new hybrids that has sacrificed scent for bloom size. These flowers are all the more appreciated because this plant failed to bloom last year. There would be even more flowers here, but I found two bud clusters on the ground. As does Frances, I blame the squirrels.(Round up the usual suspects!) And if all these flowers aren't convincing enough, I saw the first robin of Spring yesterday. That makes it official.

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for coming up with Bloom Day. (Carol, you should trademark that.)

Force-ythia

Tired of winter, I decided I needed some flowers, some color, to give me a lift. So I cut some Forsythia branches to force into bloom in the house. A total no-brainer here: I cut the branches, brought them inside, stuffed them in a vase and added water. One week and several water changes later and voila: oodles of color. This photo has not been photoshopped. I just put a piece of very bright pink poster board behind the vase. Now that's just what I needed.

Spam Warning and Mini-rant

On another blog I saw a comment from a "blogger" with the name "The Bench." The comment was merely an advertisment for and links to Heronswood's Hellebores. An investigation revealed that "The Bench" does not have a blog. I refused to honor the Heronswood site with a visit. (Don't want them to think that their cheap ploy worked.) This tactic is doubly offensive because Heronswood under Dan Hinkley was such a great nursery. Now its name is being dragged through the mud. Mr. Ball, have you no shame?

Do I Truly Need a Soil Test?

Gardeners are advised strongly to have their soil tested. This advice I have persistently ignored. However, while poking around in the reference section of my local library, I came across a soil survey of my county done in 1970. Each part of the county was photographed from the air, and then soil maps were made from these photos. Because this was a reference book, I could not check it out. Here is a copy of my part of the soil map (the original was color).The red X marks my spot. According to this map, my soil is "Markham silt loam, 1 to 4 percent slope[]." "Markham soil" "consists of deep, nearly level to strongly sloping, well drained to moderately well drained soils that form in thin silty deposits and the underlying calcareous glacial till of silty clay loam texture...The native vegetation consisted of grass and hardwood trees." (Read savanna.) "These soils are medium acid... [with] a somewhat clayey subsoil. The available moisture capacity is high." The "1 to 4 percent slope[]" sites are "generally at the top of moranic ridges." (Not to be confused with moronic ridges.)
With the Spring planting season immanent, the time for having a soil test done will soon arrive. I have worked with this soil for almost 15 years, so I have learned how plants grow in it and how much moisture it needs. Will a laboratory soil test tell me any more than I've already learned about my soil from the soil survey book? Is having a soil test done worth the bother?

Searching For Signs of Spring

The headline in today's local paper was "Spring dreams," with the subtitle "This winter, too shall pass." I don't need to take it on faith, I've seen the evidence. The above freezing temperatures over the weekend and half of yesterday significantly reduced the amount of snow on the ground, allowing me to find this: the sprouting leaves of a Monkshood (unknown species of Aconitum). This plant is in a microclimate of a raised bed against the east side of the house, but a microclimate does not explain away this:an already leafing out volunteer Viburnum. Once this week's chilly days pass, I'm certain this Witchhazel will finally unfurl its petals.Huzzah!