They're Taking Over! A True Scary Story

I have something to show you. It's not for the squeamish or the faint of heart. It's just beyond this door.

It's a dirty little secret that I hide from the world, but I've decided I need to come clean about it.It's my stash of empty garden pots. I haven't counted them. This isn't even all of them. They're multiplying at an astonishing rate. Every spring there are more of them, breeding like rabbits. It's out of control now. I've run out of room to store them. Pretty soon, they will be everywhere.

But there may be a happy ending for me. In August, at Midwest Groundcovers, I saw something that can save me from being overrun by pots. It's this lovely machine, which recycles plastic from garden pots.
While I can't take my pots to Midwest Groundcovers, I can take them to one of the local garden centers from which Midwest Groundcovers does take pots. All I have to do is remember to load them in the car next spring when I go plant shopping again.

What do you do with your old garden pots?

Happy Halloween!

OOTS: Fall Edition (Out in the Streets)

I've finally managed to take a photo of the garden (I can't call it landscaping) outside of the Palatine Inn restaurant in, unsurprisingly, Palatine, Illinois. All summer I admired it while driving past on our way to the girl's Irish Dance class. Finally, I went there for breakfast last week and, even though it was raining, I got a photo. There is more garden around the corner too.

In keeping with the restaurant idea, I swung by The Onion Pub in Lake Barrington to get a photo of their parking lot plantings, which are filled with native plants.
Unfortunately, the day I went, there was a work crew with a large vehicle blocking the main bed. I've been wanting to take photos at The Onion all summer, as they also have a lovely deck with vines and a large waterfall visible from the deck. But I kept forgetting the camera. Next summer, go to The Onion, see their parking lot, eat on their deck, drink their microbrewed beer. You won't be sorry.

The following photos reflect what I've been doing lately. The first two were taken at my doctor's office, a short distance from The Onion.
It's amazing that after several hard freezes, this Daylily is still blooming. But it's the grasses that make the planting.
Above, another view, this one with Burning Bushes. (Click to enlarge to see the grasses.)

And finally, from the parking lot of the girl's orthodontist in Long Grove, Miscanthus.
You just can't beat grasses for fall interest.

OOTS is the brainchild of our favorite Chippingham (England) blogger at Veg Plotting. I've been trying to participate all summer and even had some photos from July and August, but time slipped away, and I missed the September deadline too. Communities and businesses in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago have made great strides in improving their plantings over the last couple of years. All along Route 14, from Mount Prospect to Barrington, communities have planted the areas abutting the railroad tracks, so they now sport grasses, Roses, and Hydrangeas. Businesses also have incorporated grasses and Knockout Roses in their plantings. It's all very encouraging.

Book Review: What's Wrong With My Plant?

Every gardener, no matter where they garden, what they grow, nor how large or small the garden, will sooner or later have a problem with a plant. It might start wilting for no apparent reason, or it might, like my Redbud (Cercis canadensis), develop unsightly blemishes on its leaves. (That makes it sound like my tree has zits, but there is no such thing as "tree acne.") While many of us have turned to the internet for answers, "What's Wrong With My Plant? (And How Do I Fix It?)" by David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth, has an easier way to figure it out. Timber Press sent me a free advance copy* to review. As clearly stated on the cover in nice friendly letters, it is "A Visual Guide to Easy Diagnosis and Organic Remedies." This user-friendly manual is divided into three sections, diagnosis of the problem, options for solutions, and a photo gallery.

Part I, "What's Wrong?" uses flow charts to help gardeners determine what exactly is going on with a plant. Rather than describe each flow chart, let's use my Redbud as an example to demonstrate how well the flow chart method works.Here's a photo showing the problem some of its leaves have experienced all summer.

First, we answer whether the whole plant is wilted or whether only some or all of the leaves are discolored. This leaf has a spot on it, rather than being discolored. So we turn instead to the section on leaf symptoms, where there is a set of questions with an illustration to help determine the cause of the problem.

While it might seem that we should follow the path for the symptom "The leaf has very large irregular spots or blotches," some of the leaves are distorted as well.So we'll follow the path for the symptom that the "leaf is distorted...bubbled, cupped, curled" etc. After answering a series of questions with reference to helpful illustrations, we come to the question "Is the distorted leaf spotted with dark spots?" Well, it has a large brown spot. So we turn to the image depicting leaf-spot to see if that looks like our problem. Not exactly, but it could be. So we repeat the process with the questions for large irregular spots or blotches, and we wind up with the same answer, leaf-spot. (A person could make a mistake and call this discolored and follow the flow chart to the conclusion that there is a virus at work, but a comparison with the image of a leaf with a virus looks very different.) On the whole, the flow chart system works very well for beginning to experienced gardeners.

Next, we refer to the appropriate page for what to do about leaf spot. According to the book, leaf-spot is caused by air-borne fungi. The authors first recommend changing the growing conditions for the plant, including sanitizing the area by removing and destroying the infected plant material. Oops! I didn't know I should be doing that. I'll get rid of any infected material right now. They also recommend mulch. D'oh! I let all the mulch rot down and disappear, and the poor tree needed more. I'll mulch it now and make sure I keep it well mulched next summer. There are other recommendations I could also try before moving on to stronger measures, such as baking soda spray. But hopefully removing the infected foliage and properly mulching will solve the problem. The authors also list chemical sprays, but advise using caution with such products, which should be considered as a last resort.

There are also sections on diagnosing problems with flowers, fruits and vegetables, stems and branches, roots and bulbs, and seeds and seedlings.

While I could have figured out the problem from searching online, looking for images of Redbud leaves with spots, sorting through websites for descriptions of diseases, it would have taken much longer, and I wouldn't have been as certain. I'll be keeping this free copy, as it is just what I needed. I wish I had it sooner, so I could have prevented the spread of the fungus. Bottom line: this is a valuable reference for gardeners of virtually any skill level and experience.

*Although Timber Press sent me the book for free, the views expressed herein are solely my own and do not represent the views of Timber Press or the book's authors. Any similarity between their views and my own are coincidental. I have read the entire book and reached my own conclusions. If the book had been dreadful, I would have no qualms about saying so.

I'm Hijacking This Post to Cuba

Cuba Marsh that is, for the Fall Color Project, brought to you by Dave of The Home Garden. I was going to take photos of the same things I did last year for a color comparison, but the path along Baker's Lake was closed and I was able to get only this photo.Unfortunately, it doesn't make a good comparison with last year's photo here, as that one was taken a week later and apparently past peak of color. I think this time I got it on time, but it's hard to tell when the color is as pathetic as it is this year. So this morning I went in search of color to Cuba Marsh, where I managed to find some.Sunny days have been few and far between this October, which is why the color isn't as vibrant as last year. Highs in the 40s haven't helped either. Today was an anomaly: sunny and nearly 70F/21C.
This trail winds around to the boardwalk over the marsh. Out on the Marsh itself:
Not a complete washout:
After my walk at Cuba Marsh, I needed to stop off at the library, where I found this.
Better than anything in Cuba Marsh.

Back at Squirrelhaven, the best color is from the Pagoda Dogwoods (Cornus alternifolia).With color like this, why did I bother to go looking for it?

'Black Beauty' Lilies

The evil Burning Bush Euonymous alatus, with the red foliage of Geranium maculatum

The purple foliage is Cotinus coggygria 'Nordine,' and the yellow-orange on the right is Porteranthes/Gillenia trifoliata

Even the Magnolia has turned

'Prairiefire' Crabapple

There's no place like home, there's no place like home....Physocarpus opulifolius 'Monlo' (Diablo) with Cotinus coggygria 'Ancot' (Golden Spirit)

And that's as good as it gets.

I've Had Some Diem to Carpe

I've been Outside, under the sunny skies and the warmth of 60F plus. I just couldn't bear to be inside reading or writing anything, so I've been very derelict in responding to comments and in reading other blogs and/or leaving comments. Like these bees on the Smooth Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve 'Bluebird'), I've been making the most of the best days of autumn.

With minimal help from the kids (alright, the girl helped some, but the boy found his Hot Wheels in the basement while hunting for the Halloween decorations and decided to do that instead), we attempted a graveyard. The dead Cosmos and Dahlia add just the right touch. So don't be too hasty in putting those frost killed annuals into the compost. They work a treat in Halloween vignettes.

I was all set to start planting bulbs. I even had the Daffodils laid out when I discovered that the soil was cold, wet and sticky. I need to find someone to plant them for me. The conspicuous absence of large drifts of spring bulbs is owing to my disinclination to plant the things. I could probably do large drifts of the small bulbs, such as Crocuses and Scilla, because they need a hole that's only a couple of inches deep, but with Daffodils, we're talking 6 or 7 inches down. That's a lot of digging in the cold, cold ground when you have to dig each hole individually. I can't just dig a trench, because I stuff them in between existing plants. Must hide hideous aging foliage somehow. Or maybe I should trash the idea of planting Daffodils in the ground and just stuff them in large containers that stay outside. (An idea inspired by Elizabeth (The Bulb Queen) of Gardening While Intoxicated and Garden Rant and by Mary Ann of Idaho Gardener.) These bulbs are hardy; they could probably manage a Zone 5 El Nino winter.

There aren't many glorious days like this left, so when you get one, Carpe diem, baby!

After the Freeze -October Bloom Day

Come into the garden, where there are a surprising number of things still blooming after the hard freeze, including the Anemone 'Andrea Atkinson' in the photo above. Do you notice a change in the quality and color of the light? Everything seems gilded and glowing. The Anemone has been upstaged this month by a new star, the Monkshood (Aconitum charmichaelii), which is in full bloom. It can almost make me forget (if it wasn't for the shivering) that I'm stuck in the middle of the fourth coldest October since records have been kept in Chicago. It feels more like the end of November, with highs only in the 40sF/50sC.

The Monkshood is one of those plants I find myself thinking about ripping out every spring. And then October arrives, and I admire them anew. The other plants are this mystery Sedum, the only Sedum still in bloom, the Geranium nodosum 'Svelte Lilac,'which just doesn't look right where it is, and the Malva zebrinus,which is a particular favorite of the Japanese Beetles and self-sows like a weed. But all is forgiven of plants still blooming after a freeze.

I even forgive Anemone 'Party Dress' for drooping.It has a kind of grace to it, and actually does look like the skirt of a ballgown like this, as the girl recently pointed out to me. There has to be a way to site this plant where the drooping habit can be shown to advantage. I'm open to suggestions.

The Toadlilies have barely survived the freeze. Tricyrtis 'Gilt Edge' has only a few blooms not ruined,while 'Gilty Pleasure' got completely zapped. 'Tojen' has fared the best.It's such a robust plant.

In the miniprairie out front, the last of the Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) is nearly ready for the big sleep.It is surrounded by half-eaten seedheads, some adorned with bird poop. (I'll spare your sensitive feelings and not include a photo of that.) I'm so surprised that Phlox 'David' is still blooming and was not damaged by the freeze.Its companions in the above photo, Symphyotrichum oblongifolius 'October Skies' and Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritma), are still churning out blooms.

In one of the front porch containers is another surprise: still going strong is a Free trial Proven Winners Petunia*, whose name eludes me and I can't find the tag anymore. (It's the same one all the Spring Flingers got in June.) I have never deadheaded it, and, in truth, pretty much ignored it all summer.I had to pull out a Coleus that failed to survive the second freeze and replace it with a thing next to the Pennesetum and behind the Petunia. I don't know if the thing is a pumpkin or a gourd.

Most of the "Asters" still think it's great to be alive.

Symphyotrichum laeve 'Bluebird' with Sweet Alyssum and Prairie Dropseed

New England Asters (Sym. novae-angliae) 'Honeysong Pink' and seedling from 'Hella Lacey'
The towering Aster tataricushides the back fence.
This silly Wallflower (Erysimum) waited until the freeze to start blooming again after spending August and September comatose.I guess it likes moisture and cool temperatures. It's been in a container since spring, and I need to get it into the ground for the winter.

Just starting to open is the ultimate plant, the very last to bloom, the latest, if not the greatest, the mystery Korean Mum.Yes, I am aware of its orangish propensity, but the flowers are peachy-pink when they open fully. When I said I didn't have any orange flowers, I meant during the normal growing season and winter. This is a limited engagement, a very special exception because it is, in fact, the very last plant to open its first blooms in my garden. I wish it were white, or yellow, or just about any other color. But it's not. This is a passalong plant from my mom's garden, so, rather than look a gift plant in the mouth (so to speak), I accept that this is the best I'm likely to get for lush blooms in November. Beggars can't be choosers, or the truly hungry will eat anything, or something like that. It's a sign of seasonal desperation. Yes, even orange is forgiven after a freeze.

I don't usually include annuals I've just stuffed into the ground, but I couldn't resist these yellow Pansies with the amazing Geranium 'Blogold' (Bluesunrise).I planted it this spring, and I've been wowed by it all season. It might just give Geranium 'Gerwat' (Rozanne) a run for its money as the Energizer Bunny of perennials. Rozanne's autumn foliage is usually bright red, but conditions for fall color have been sub par recently.

Other plants still blooming:

This confused Helleborus x hybridus 'Pink Lady' never went out of bloom. It has more buds now than in the middle of summer, but still - it's a freak!I wonder when, or if, it will stop blooming.

I apologize for this next one. It's been featured in Bloom Day posts since August, and in several posts recently, but it is nearly done blooming.Ceratostigma plumbaginoides

It's hard to believe that the Heptacodium miconiodes is still blooming.But these blooms are pretty much an afterthought in the presence of the bracts.Who needs flowers?

How about these bracts?

I bought this Caryopteris 'Jason' (Sunshine Blue) on an impulse at the Boy Scouts' sale. I had no idea I would like it so well. I tried to propagate it, but the squirrels dug up the just-rooted cuttings. I'm hoping for a major El Nino effect this winter, so this Caryopteris will survive to do its thing next year, and I can try my hand again at propagation.

(Edit. 10/15/09) Oops! I forgot one.Campanula persicifolia 'Alba'

Also blooming, but not pictured:

Echinacea 'Emily Saul' (Twilight) (just 1 bloom)

Symphiotrichum laterifolius 'Snow Flurry'

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae 'Hella Lacey,' another purple flowered one and a magenta flowered one

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is brought to you buy Carol of May Dreams Gardens. Visit her to see what's blooming now in Indiana and the rest of the world. Tell 'em I sent you.

*Thanks to Leslie of Growing a Garden in Davis, we have a Petunia ID - Supertunia Vista Silverberry (Petunia 'USTUN160-01M')