GARDEN RESOLUTIONS

This is the time of year when one naturally thinks about resolutions and self improvement.  I am not typically one for New Year’s resolutions, but I know a lot of folks use the 1^st of January as a starting block for a race of their choosing.  In the dead of winter, however, I do find myself planning the garden season ahead.  When I plan, I imagine a perfect garden; a garden without the preface of “if I only…”.  And in this yearly planning, I am guilty of making garden resolutions.  Here are some garden resolutions I have been known to promise and perhaps you will recognize some of them as your own:
I will….

• Not only fill, but regularly clean my slug traps
• Clean and oil my tools after each use
• Weed in the winter months
• Prune the wisteria heavily to promote heavy flowering
• Train the Clematis & hop vines bi-monthly to prevent a tangled bramble
• Pinch back the asters and Chrysanthemums in May
• Tie colored ribbon on the stems of lilies and gladiolas to identify their colors when dormant
• Apply manure to the asparagus
• Adjust the pH of my lawn at the right time of year
• Not weed unless wearing gloves
• Deadhead the Italian parsley
• Dig out all the Alstroemeria after all
• Apply deer/rabbit repellent regularly throughout the year
• Prune the plum and willow at the right time in winter for forcing indoors
• Keep up with weeding the bird’s foot trefoil
• Divide my perennials this autumn
• Use the strawberry runners to make new plants
• Transplant the winterhazel to where I can appreciate it when it blooms
• “Pinch” rather than prune the boxwood
• Tie up the dying foliage of the narcissus to disguise it
• Turn my compost pile regularly
• Coppice my red and yellow twig dogwood to improve bark color

Whether you resolve to garden better, garden more, or garden less in 2012, may your time outdoors bring you joy and may your appreciation of the wonders of nature grow.  Thank you for reading my blog.

Cheers and Happy New Year,
Colleen at VERDURE

© Colleen Miko, 2012

Dealing with Deer in December

Italian Parsley--even deer like a garnish!

A gardener always needs to be aware. Of late I’ve been spending more time indoors than out as the garden is at rest and needs less of my time (cool season weeds not withstanding).  As a result, this week’s stroll about the yard reminded me that you can never turn your back on the garden—even when the plants are sleeping.

Deer adore strawberries

Deer have been having a field day; the longer spells of darkness providing them better cover from my notice.  Despite bi-monthly sprays of repellent, they are managing to munch down on plants that either haven’t yet, or won’t lose their leaves.  The succulent, still green leaves of the Hebe buxifolia, strawberry, Italian parsley and their favorite Heuchera, have been eaten down to nubs.  I have to keep watch over the evergreens all winter.

The oakleaf hydrangeas, only just flushing red before the leaves drop, have been a surprising target. The limited availability of any leaves apparently makes this shrub, which holds its foliage later than most; more palatable than when the selection is wider.  Yet, in a discussion yesterday, my friend DeLona mentioned that her hydrangeas have also fallen prey.  We surmised that young deer are the culprit, as normally the hydrangeas aren’t a prized meal.

Leaf me alone! Oakleaf hydrangea

I rotate different spray repellents throughout the year with a goal of applying every 2 weeks.  In the heat of the summer I have to be especially careful, since the spreader sticker oil mixed in to make it last longer on the leaves can burn the plant—Lewisia, for instance and other fleshy leaved beauties like the larger leafed sedums, will end up with brown spots that endure all season.  Some brands seem to react wrong with certain plants, causing necrotic splotches where the repellent pools and dries on the leaf.  Of the brands I’ve tried, Not Tonight Deer works the best for me.  It’s also easy to mix and I have not noticed dramatic phytotoxicity with it, other than the examples I mention above (caused I believe by the oil and not the repellent itself).

At this time of the year when I’m not out in the garden much, I’ll put cages of chicken wire around smaller plants—Heuchera, Tiarella, and others as its easier than spraying and doesn’t wear off.  I do use netting for a handful of larger plants which is more attractive than homemade wire cages.  I find the netting harder to use effectively.  A tangled mess results when foliage inevitably grows through the netting.  

There are many, many strategies for dealing with deer and buying a dog one of the surest of them, though depending on the dog, one can trade one garden pest for another.  Avoiding plants that deer like is another successful strategy, though the deer haven’t read anyone’s well-researched plant lists and vary in their preferences.  Besides the plants I have named above, others that deer seem to relish over others: roses, red twig dogwood, cherry and other fruit trees.  If you want to grow these plants successfully, fencing is your best option.  Dealing with deer is no different than other garden pests, as the IPM (Integrated Pest Management) would indicate: a combination of tactics is most effective.

© Colleen Miko, 2011

GET REAL: Choose a fresh-cut Christmas Tree—VIVA VERDE

Support a farmer with a real, locally grown Christmas tree this year

Did you know that the first embellished Christmas tree originated in Latvia in 1510? It’s remarkable to think that the tradition that I’ll be engaging in this weekend spans 500 years.  If only the individual who with serendipity decorated that first tree could see how the tradition has evolved–that’s a “Fresh Air” interview I’d like to hear.

The National Christmas Tree Association’s website states that close to half a billion trees are growing on tree farms in the United States alone and according to the USDA 2007 Census of Agriculture, more than 343,000 acres of land is used for growing them.  And what of faux trees?  According to an article in the New York Times, “How Green is your Artificial Christmas Tree”, from December 2010, there were more than 50 million artificial trees set up in homes last year. 

So, how does one decide which type of tree to have?  For me, there’s never been a contest—a fresh tree is the only way to go.  Whether you cut your own or go to a tree lot, the whole selection process is a holiday treat: which species to select; finding the right height; walking around the tree whilst deliberating and lastly, shaking the branches (akin to kicking a tire).  Sure, it’s more work than getting a massive box out of the rafters of the garage, but it’s enjoyable and the sight of a car with a tree on top always makes me smile.

The fragrance a real tree imparts to one’s home is fabulous; consider it holiday aromatherapy.  On the other hand, an article in this month’s Organic Gardening magazine states that artificial trees are made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and metal and can release toxic chemicals into the air and dust of your home.  In fact, the EPA released a report in 2008 warning of potential lead poisoning from older artificial trees.  Apparently as the plastics in trees naturally degrade, carcinogenic chemicals such as phthalates are released in our homes.    

Some folks are under the impression that buying a plastic tree saves a real tree in a forest.  The reality is that Christmas trees are grown on farms–they just take longer to be “picked” than most crops.  While a tree is growing to its desired size, it creates oxygen, provides habitat for wildlife, can prevent soil erosion and fixes carbon.  Few Christmas tree farms use any supplemental irrigation.  Especially important these days, trees can be grown on marginally productive farmland near urban areas, preserving land that might otherwise be developed.  According to the National Christmas Tree Association, for every tree harvested on a farm, growers plant 3 seedlings.

One of the biggest pluses for choosing a fresh cut tree over a faux one is that real trees are biodegradable and recyclable.  Most municipalities offer curbside recycling of Christmas trees—carting them off to be ground down to rich mulch, not thrown in the landfill, as a tired artificial tree must.  Studies indicate that most people use a fake tree for 6-9 years before tossing them.  According to a New York Times story, a plastic tree would need to be used for longer than 20 years to make it more environmentally sound than buying a fresh one annually.  This is based upon greenhouse gas emissions, uses of resources and human health options.  For the typical 6 year lifespan of a faux tree, getting a fresh cut tree every year is responsible for 1/3 the carbon emissions of an artificial one.

If you are shopping for a Christmas tree this weekend, read some of the articles below first.  I think you’ll come to the same conclusion I have—it’s better to “Get real.”

For listings of local Christmas tree farms and recent articles about the benefits of real Christmas trees, see the following links:

Kitsap Sun article “U-Cut Tree Farms in Kitsap and North Mason Counties”: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2011/nov/24/u-cut-tree-farms-in-kitsap-and-north-mason/?partner=RSS

The National Christmas Tree Association www.christmastree.org

“How Green is Your Artificial Christmas Tree”, NY Times, Dec 2010: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/18/business/energy-environment/18tree.html

Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association www.nwchristmastrees.org

“Real Trees for a Healthy Holiday” by Elizabeth Peterson, Organic Gardening December 2011/January 2012; Issue Vol. 59:1. Tips for recycling a real Christmas tree at www.organicgardening.com

© Colleen Miko, 2011

Fresh Thanksgiving Bouquet Garní–MAKE IT

A bouquet garní is a French mixture of loose herbs, collected fresh and assembled according to the dish you wish to flavor.  When we speak of French herbs it conjures up images of tarragon, savory and thyme, but a bouquet garní can be used for anything from Indonesian soup, to Italian stew.

We’re lucky here in western Washington, with our mild weather, that even on most Thanksgiving morns; we can sneak outside with snips and come back into the warm glow of the kitchen with a fist full of rosemary, parsley, oregano, sage and thyme, among other flavorings.  A bouquet garní can be used in or alongside the turkey to season the meat and drippings or used in the stock made from the carcass.

For those of you who have kitchen twine, that’s the traditional means of tying the bouquet, but I simply use a light colored cotton yarn.  Tying the stems tightly round and round several times, I finish with a bow.  A bow with very long loops and end allows me to tie it to the pot handle for ease of removal, and the long loops are easy to snag with a fork when the bundle has given up its essence.

© Colleen Miko, 2011

The Collector—Explore the life of David Douglas—Perennial Bookworm

The Collector: David Douglas and the Natural History of the Northwest, Jack Nisbet, 2010.  Sasquatch Books, 288 pages, 8.5” x 5.5”, $23.95 (hardcover). 

The Collector is the tale of Scottish naturalist David Douglas as he traversed our region between 1823 and 1834 under sponsorship of the London Horticultural Society.   A rich look back at the bountiful natural landscape of the time, it’s also an insightful snapshot of the lives of native peoples.   From Douglas’ diaries we learn the relationships tribes had with the plants he was seeking, each other and foreign settlers such as those hired by the Hudson Bay Company.  Nisbet brings us the excitement and botanical passion of a man who endured rough conditions and suffered an untimely death doing, as they say– what he loved. His name is still attached to over 80 plants and animals, not including the hundreds of species he introduced to European cultivation.

At the time Douglas discovered the plants and wrote of them originally, their classification was obviously not determined.  As a result, his original names for them may not hold to this day. The only downside I found in this book is that I would have liked the author to refer to the plants that Douglas references in his diary with their current, accepted names in botanical Latin.  I would have felt a closer connection to the stories of discovery in this book if I could have better determined which species he was journaling.  That aside, it did not diminish from my awe of this man’s passion and accomplishment.  Whenever I’m feeling like a helpless plant addict, I can console myself with the botanical zeal of David Douglas.

Sasquatch Books www.sasquatchbooks.com

 © Colleen Miko, 2011

Recycled Glass that Rocks!

Lightcatchers for the garden

Do you like to make things?  Are you on the lookout for interesting garden art? Do you use salvaged materials?  If so, you ought to know about Bedrock Industries inSeattle.

Always worth the ferry trip, a visit to Bedrock stirs the imagination.  I went with two friends in September to get ideas for a mosaic project. And what ideas we all came away with!  I bought chunks of a broken iridescent glass countertop to use amongst pavers, one friend bought glass to make stepping stones and we all came away with some sort of impulse buy.  Displayed cleverly was everything from glass sold by the pound, colorful as candy to container plantings and handmade pendant lights resembling luminescent jelly fish.    

Bedrock collects salvaged stone, rock, glass and tile; selling some of it as is, and turning much of the glass into sophisticated household tile, serveware, sea glass and ground glass in varying textures.  The portfolio of kitchen and other home tile installations is pretty impressive.  On a sunny day, the collection of glass mobiles and light catchers effectively glow.  The unique fountains, votives and mosaics are super inventive—they have some very creative minds working there.

Besides selling inspiring re-used and recycled materials, Bedrock also holds a nice selection of mosaic classes—The Bedrock Academy of Mosaics, it’s called.  If you haven’t been there, you should check it out.

 http://bedrockindustries.com/

 © Colleen Miko, 2011

The Garden on Halloween

A jumble of lily bulbs await planting

Halloween in my garden is a dichotomy.  On the one hand, I’m cleaning up the dying reminders of summer’s luxuriant growth. On the other, I’m transplanting strawberry runners and planning for spring.

Today’s yard project, accomplished through a persistent foggy rain, is planting bulbs.  Every year I peruse the catalogs that hit the mailbox from spring to fall, wide eyed in anticipation of more lilies for cutting, extending flower color into autumn, and trying something exotic.  When the order is placed, seldom do I consider the fact that when it arrives the UPS lady will have to wrap the box in a garbage bag to save it from a soaking.  Nor do I remember what I thought during the previous year’s planting, my garden gloves heavy with wet mud: “500 narcissi? What was I thinking?” 

When I flip through the catalogs, my recent memory is of a glorious fair weather show.  Every bulb retailer seems to have a photogenic child holding a bouquet of blooms with the sun catching their hair–not a rain drenched waif weighed down by a dirt clogged auger.  It seems gardeners more than any other group understand the concept of delayed gratification.

That’s what gardening comes down to around All Hallows Eve—braving the wet and cold because the tasks that are accomplished now set the stage for a rich and rewarding spring.

© Colleen Miko, 2011

The Purple Flowers of Autumn–Plant Fix

Monkshood is an autumn standout

I have always loved purple.  It’s a rich and magical color, and surprisingly, not overly abundant in the flowers of hardy plants.  I have wondered why that is.  Are purple flowers rampant in the tropics, but not colder climes? Is purple less attractive to pollinators, giving plants with purple blossoms less reproductive advantage?  Does a purple flower require certain chemicals to produce, and perhaps need more energy than say, a white flower?  I’m sure there are scientific answers to my questions.

Aster 'Hella Lacey' starts blooming in September

Whenever I come across a purple blooming plant that is hardy here, I try it.  For whatever reason, that means that my autumn garden is a purple haze.  The Pulsatilla vulgaris (Pasque flower) bloom purple in late winter and there are many blues throughout the summer, but not until fall do the true, deep and velvety purple flowers break in mass.   The Clematis jackmanii has been blooming since mid-summer, but stands out now in the low angled light.  It will continue to bloom the rest of the month, the flowers opening smaller and smaller the chillier it gets.

'Violetta' mullein normally blooms in the later summer

Verbena bonariensis, which freely seeds around my beds, is tall and lanky and its paler purple flowers wave in the wind today.  Several types of asters are doing their thing—the ‘Hella Lacey’ flowers hold a redder tone, the bedding asters reflect more blue.  Aconitum ‘Spark’s Variety’ (monkshood) is sometimes navy blue, at times purple, depending on the time of day and looks remarkable with yellowing autumn foliage nearby. Surprisingly, a Verbascum chaxii ‘Violetta’ (mullein) is blossoming much later than normal, adding to the fall color festival.

Magical purple fruits of Billardiera vine

There are several plants whose fruits are following the purple theme–the Billardiera longiflora vine has the most incredible purple fruit you can imagine hanging in mass against the diminutive evergreen leaves.  The berries of Aralia californica (spikenard) are shiny and echo the skin of an eggplant. Even when the fruits have been eaten by birds or fallen into the duff, the stalks remain ornamental due to their dusky plum coloration. 

Deciduous foliage is starting to color now, giving the purple flowers and berries warm oranges, yellows and reds to play against.  It’s a glorious time of the year.

© Colleen Miko, 2011

Tracking the Woollybear at Theler Wetlands

Theler Wetlands in Belfair, WA

This is a lovely time of year to get out for a hike.  On Saturday, we took some friends visiting from California out to the Theler Wetlands trails at the head of Hood Canal.  We enjoyed patches of warm sunshine and both white and dark clouds against the blue sky as we leisurely took in the tidal estuary and the Union River.

Our friends’ seven year old daughter, Savannah, counted more than 150 banded woollybear caterpillars (Pyrrharctia isabella) on the trails.  This is the time of year where the banded woollybears are commonly seen wandering in search of a cozy place to overwinter.  When found in spring, they are looking for a spot to

Banded woollybear larva

safely pupate.  A well known old wives’ tale suggests that the width of the orange center band on a woollybear indicates whether the upcoming winter will be harsh.  The wider the band, the colder the winter is the saying.  When you see 150 of them in an hour or so, it’s easy to shrug off the tale, as each caterpillar seems to have a differing opinion as to whether this will be a mild or severe La Nina.

Yellow spotted tiger moth larva

Banded woollybears are the larval stage of the smallish Isabella tiger moth (1⅝ to 2 ⅛”), in the family Arctiidae.  Tiger moths hold their wings like a tent over their body, rather than spread out flat.  Other types of tiger moth caterpillars are also plentiful in autumn, are of similar size to the banded woollybear, but sport slightly different colorations.  We saw several color variations of the yellow-spotted tiger moth larva (Lophocampa maculata), which is not too dissimilar to the woollybear, both in the larval and adult forms.  The larvae were plentiful in the native plants along the trails, everything from Douglas aster (Aster subspicatus) to coastal willow (Salix hookeriana).  Apparently the Isabella tiger moths, which are nocturnal (not all moths are nocturnal), can be seen around lights at this time of the

Freshwater marsh at Theler Wetlands

year.  With any luck, I’ll spy one while putting up my Halloween decorations over the next week so that I can post a photo of it.

Theler Community Center and Wetlands Trails
Trails open dawn to dusk daily; admission is free. Hours for the exhibit center vary; call 360-275-4898 www.thelercenter.org

© Colleen Miko, 2011

Northwest Bonsai Style–Perennial Bookworm

Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees: The Life and Works of Dan Robinson—Bonsai Pioneer.  Will Hiltz, 2010.  Nara Press, 292 pages, 10.5” x 9.5”, $49.95 (hardcover).

This is the story of local bonsai expert and landscaper, Dan Robinson.  Dan has an unorthodox approach to bonsai that for years gained him only disparagement in traditional bonsai circles.  Only recently, almost two decades after the establishment of Elandan Gardens, is his approach recognized as having been before its time.  (If you’ve not been to Elandan Gardens in Bremerton, WA, this is a fine season to go.  The bonsai will be touting their fall color soon.)  Gorgeous photographs reveal Dan’s keen ability to capture the essence of an ancient tree; a skill honed from both formal forestry training and a lifetime of wild collecting.  The book articulates four principles that guide him in sculpting natural looking trees that appear to be touched only by father time. His is a truly American bonsai style born of and influenced by the forestlands of the Pacific Northwest.

More information on Elandan Gardens www.elandangardens.com

© Colleen Miko, 2011