Grow Something Wacky

"Imitation is suicide." —Ralph Waldo Emerson

The other night, someone reminded me of an old acquaintance. This acquaintance—let’s call him Dudley—was a character. He spent 20 years writing a spy novel, owned three cars and one battery that he rotated among them, and sometimes got around a girls’ pink bike. A friend of mine loved him for his quirkiness.

Some people love plants for their quirkiness. The green rose, the old striped roses, the new brown roses, the double purple coneflowers, and sunflowers the size of dinner plates all command attention.

I’m not the drama queen that Dudley is, but I like being a little different, too. I like living in a yellow house—I find it a sumptuous color, and there aren’t many yellow houses in Denver—and growing plants others have never heard of. But the plants can’t just be uncommon, they must perform. One is a white climbing rose that doesn’t die back in the winter: ‘Ilse Krohn Superior’. Another is a purple rose, ‘Veilchenblau’, that grows happily in the shade. As for vegetables, the ‘Mortgage Lifter’ tomatoes have a taste as good as their name.

It’s more fun than limiting myself to ‘Peace’, petunias, and lawn. Did I mention I don’t have a front lawn? I got tired of mowing it; now the front yard is full of flowers and bushes that get watered once a week. Even last Halloween, when most of the plants were dormant, a few trick-or-treaters said they liked the yard. There is a rose called ‘Halloween’ (my favorite holiday), but there are enough orange flowers in my front yard.

There’s nothing wrong with growing the tried and true, of course. It can save you some of the trouble of growing things that don’t work out. But the tried and true will only get you so far.

Water They Thinking?

The Rocky Mountain News reports that the city utility Denver Water is stumped as to "why water use is down so dramatically….Next month, the agency plans to hold focus groups to better understand how water-use habits have changed."

The article goes on to state that since 2002, Denver Water has "launched high-profile conservation programs. It offered rebates for water-saving appliances, imposed strict watering rules and charged penalties for excessive water use." It also imposed "a rate hike that took effect January and a hike in service fees last September." The grounds of Denver Water feature xeriscape garden with plant tags. Several years ago, the agency published a terrific book, Xeriscape Plant Guide.

Possible remedies for Denver Water’s fiscal problems include a "mid-year rate hike, additional budget reductions, tap[ping] into cash reserves, [and] surcharges, as a last resort."

Shovel Pruning: Out with the Old

You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs.

It’s hard for some people to let go of that which they don’t need, even to their detriment. Some people suffer from CHAOS (can’t have anyone over syndrome) because of their clutter. Others spend years in divorce court, rather than quickly cutting the legal ties to their spouse.

And so it is hard to get rid of plants that haven’t worked out: lilacs that get more mildew than blooms, roses that freeze to the ground, groundcovers that don’t cover much ground, and so on. Women, especially, tend to see the potential in things: "If I just sprayed, or fed, or mulched, or moved the plant, it would really take off." Maybe. Sometimes, knowledge or even benign neglect really will help: some people kill the toughest plants by spraying or overwatering them; others prune roses so hard that they don’t bloom. Other plants need coddling. If you love the plant, you can baby it, but remember that certain plants aren’t suited to your area. Ferns, rhododendrons, and rambling roses, for example, won’t live up to their potential in much of the West. If you have tried different things to grow a plant without success, the next step is to shovel prune: dig up the plant and get rid of it.

Shovel pruning doesn’t have to mean waste. You can give the plant to a friend, exchange it for another plant with a neighbor, or bag it or pot it and put it by the sidewalk with a note that reads "free."

Not only will someone else get a free plant, you’ll have a bare spot that really will have potential. A few tips for growing a great plant there:

• If you are replacing one rose bush with another, remove all the soil and replace it with new. Otherwise, the new rose may suffer from "rose sickness," a mysterious condition where a new rose won’t thrive where another one lived.
  
• If no plant has ever done well in a particular spot, don’t waste your time or money on another plant. There are a few spots in my yard where even weeds don’t grow; perhaps the soil is contaminated. (Some places in other people’s yards get waterlogged and are thus unsuitable for certain plants.) I put decorative stones or pots there.
  
• Note the sun exposure and type of soil of the site, and get a plant that is suited to those conditions. Remember that sun exposure changes with the seasons.
  
• Thoroughly till the soil and amend it if necessary. Keep an eye on the new plant, especially during its first year in the ground.
  

Free Deals

It's true that you generally get what you pay for, but there is worthwhile stuff out there for free or close to it. It just doesn't get our attention because it doesn't come in pretty packaging. But I've tried most of the following tips, and they work.

Mulch—see if your community offers free mulch from taking Christmas trees and crunching them into wood chips.
Weed control—use several layers of old newspaper under the mulch.
Bulbs and perennials: exchange plants with a neighbor when thinning perennials
Annuals—collect seeds from spent plants like cosmos or sunflowers and start them indoors or sow in place. Try growing poppies by scraping seeds off of pastry and scattering them on the ground. I haven’t tried this, but author and gardener Lauren Springer says it works.
Soil softener—use soapy water; mop water is OK.
Soil: make your own compost—get a compost bin and put in fruit and vegetable scraps, leaves, shredded paper, egg shells, coffee grounds, tea leaves, the waste of vegetarian animals (e.g., horses, chickens, rabbits, as long as they don’t eat weeds), anything organic without dairy, bones, or meat. Don’t put in too much grass clippings. The bin should be watered and sifted regularly.

Nesting Boxes

Now is the time to invite some birds to raise their families in your garden. Many birds eat garden pests; kestrels will even eat rodents. How to attract them? Nesting boxes will attract chickadees, wrens, finches, bluebirds, woodpeckers and kestrels that live in your area.

A nesting box can help solve another problem. If woodpeckers are trying to make a home in your house—not the birdhouse, but the house you live in—putting a nesting box over the place they are pecking will make them cease and desist. If the box is suitable, they’ll live in it. My brother’s neighbor, on the other hand, put a coffee can lid over the hole that woodpeckers were making in his house. The birds started another hole, and he put up another lid. Another hole and another lid followed. All the holes and lids are still there. Doesn’t that sound attractive?

Now, birds won’t live in just any birdhouse. Not all birdhouses are built for birds; some are built for decoration. Nesting boxes should replicate a hollow tree, these birds’ natural home: they should be made of untreated wood, have no perch, and have exactly the right size entrance for the kind of bird. Perches and oversized holes invite predators. The box should be vented at the top, the entry should have an overhang (think of an eave on a house), and have a means for a person to easily muck out the nest when the birds have gone.

Once you have the nesting box, place it at the right height for the kind of bird it’s for, point the entrance away from the street, and place the box near some cover (like a large bush or pine tree) for the protection of the baby birds when they leave the nest.

I would recommend Wild Bird Center (http://www.wildbirdcenter.com/) for nesting boxes; the hanging wren box I bought from them has been home to many clutches of chickadees.

The Best and Worst of the Catalogs

In the dead of winter, gardeners love to dream over plant catalogs. Here are a few I have had experience with. If you don't want to order online, you can order by phone. Remember: first, order early, and second, you pretty much get what you pay for.

High Country Gardens (www.highcountrygardens.com) A nursery in New Mexico that specializes in plants for the Western garden. The plants I ordered from this nursery cover almost half my yard. The plants are pretty small when shipped, so they take special care and patience. But most of the ones I received survived being planted in awfully hot weather. They also carry a few very hardy roses.

Michigan Bulb Company (www.michiganbulb.com) This nursery’s reputation is so awful that I don’t let them advertise on this web site.

Antique Rose Emporium (www.AntiqueRoseEmporium.com) One of my favorite rose nurseries, since I have always received high quality plants from them. Wide selection, large, own-root roses, and realistic zone ratings for the roses. As the name suggests, they carry lots of old garden roses, as well as hardy modern roses. The one drawback: they stop shipping potted roses in April. Here in zone 5, the roses have to live in my bathtub for a month.

Pickering Nurseries (www.pickeringnurseries.com). Another catalog with a wide selection. Since they grow the budding wood from seed every year, the plants shouldn’t have rose mosaic virus. The Canadian-American exchange rate keeps their prices low.

Hortico (www.hortico.com) I had heard a lot of negative things about this nursery, but ordered three roses from them anyway. One was misnamed, and despite their promise to correct the mistake, they never sent another rose bush.

Edmunds Roses (www.edmundsroses.com) They are well-known for their good customer service and high quality roses. They don’t have a large selection, though; they cater to hybrid tea lovers and exhibitors.

Jackson and Perkins (www.jacksonandperkins.com) Good quality bare root roses. They stock the latest and greatest, along with a few golden oldies. Some of the catalog descriptions are overwrought: some floribundas from them, rated zone 5, died back to the ground the first winter I had them.

Heirloom Roses (www.heirloomroses.com) Wide selection of guaranteed virus-free, own-root roses. Lots of old garden roses, shrub roses, and hard-to-find Buck roses and fragrant hybrid teas. The drawback: the roses are really small; they look like year-old cuttings. They take awhile to catch up to the larger, #1 grade bare root plants.

Wayside Gardens (www.waysidegardens.com) A mixed bag: I have heard good and bad about this nursery; my own limited experience with them

When is it Time to Plant Cell Phone Casings?

Scientists are working on biodegradable plastic cell phone casings. Each special casing will contain a seed. So far, they have been working with dwarf sunflower seeds, but plan to have some other flowers available.

When to plant them? The scientists at PVAXX Research (in England--of course!) say they will be available in about a year.

Source: USA Weekend, February 13, page 8.

Trash into Treasure

Jerry Baker tells us to use stuff around the house for gardening tonics. Unfortunately, I don’t have much of that stuff around my house—chewing tobacco, baker’s yeast, molasses, etc. But I do have lots of junk mail, shredded documents (for identity theft protection), and ruined panty hose now that the 90s are over and hose is de rigueur in the office. Here are some ways you can re-use your own stuff:

• Shredded paper: use as mulch or in compost bins.
  
• Panty hose: tie climbing rose canes to supports.
  
• CD’s: hang to scare away birds or us as a coaster for pots.
  
• Plastic grocery bags: use these to cover bare root plants when you plant them. Secure them to the ground with pieces of coat hanger folded in half. Cut a few slits in the bag.
  
• Paper coffee cups: cut to about 3" high and start seeds in them.
  
• Phone cords: perhaps these could be used to secure young trees to stakes.
  
• Dryer lint: use in compost bins.
  

In fact, any type of fruit, vegetable, egg shells, or coffee grounds can be used in the compost bin. Just make sure it has no dairy, bones, or meat. The smaller the pieces, the faster they will turn into soil.

Microclimates: Pushing the Zone

Looking through catalogs, you may find some plants you love, but they are for a warmer zone than you’re in. Should you get the plants anyway?

It depends on your microclimate. Although the USDA map shows climate zones in wide swaths, there are small areas—maybe even within your yard—that are warmer or colder. For instance, an area out of the wind (like a courtyard) is warmer than an area where the wind comes sweeping down the plains. An area with a lot of stone or pavement is warmer than one without. The other day, I passed a building in Denver with a stone planter out front next to a wide sidewalk. Rosemary, a zone 6 plant, was growing in the planter in a zone 5 region, and was so large that it must have been growing there for years.

The area next to a building or house is usually warmer, too. My parents grow Zephirine Drouhin, a zone 6 rose, next to their house, as do I. The canes on this wonderful old garden rose are several feet long. If you want a plant next to your house, don’t plant it too close. Watering next to the foundation can flood your basement, and someday, you may need to paint or put new siding on your house.

The Gardener Next Door

I just read Millionaire Women Next Door by Thomas Stanley, one of the authors of The Millionaire Next Door. Dr. Stanley studied women who are self-made millionaires and found many common traits among them. Many of the women enjoyed gardening. As one might expect, they worked hard and loved their work. What can we learn from them, and how can we apply their lessons to making a successful garden?

• Most of the self-made women had encouraging, loving parents. Your plants, too, will need care, especially the first year you plant them.
  
• A minority of the women—the Beta Women—overcame neglectful or even abusive parents. How? Among other things, they were strong-willed and independent. If you cannot give your plants much attention, select plants with an iron constitution. Keep in mind, though, that even the toughest plants, like people, need care as babies.
  
• Many of the women (in fact, most of the Beta Women) had dumped unsupportive, opportunistic husbands. The gardening equivalent is called “shovel pruning.” Get rid of plants that won’t thrive no matter what you do.
  
• Many had mentors. Even more so than their male counterparts, they sought advice from proven winners. So if you like your neighbor’s yard, ask him for gardening advice.
  
• Even more so than male millionaires, these women researched investments before buying. Do your homework on plants before investing the time and money in raising them.
  

Of course, it doesn't take scientific research to figure out some things:

• These women worked hard. As Thomas Edison put it, “Success is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Water your plants with your sweat.
  
• They persisted through adversity. Many of these women failed before they succeeded. They bounced around the job market for years, and finally started their own businesses at an average age of 36. Your gardening mistakes are opportunities for learning.
  
• They are frugal, frugal, frugal. Bust your behind, not your budget.
  

Gardening on a Nice Winter Day

"It felt like springtime on this February morning."

Days like this are great for gardening. You can water the roses (yes, they need a little water in the winter), prune your deciduous trees, or move plants around if the soil isn’t frozen. The one thing you should NOT do now: prune roses. Wait until late April or early May (that’s the time for the Denver area; your area may be earlier or later). Pruning will stimulate them to grow, and that tender new growth will killed by frosts yet to come. Make sure your tender roses are still mulched. Pile up some small or crunchy leaves around the base of the plant if the mulch has eroded.

Remember to disconnect your garden hose when you finish watering.

A Plan for Lots of Roses

"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity." –Oprah Winfrey

Life rewards those who prepare; so does Mother Nature. When you prepare the soil for plants, they grow better and faster. When you go even further and plant things that are suitable for the location, they’ll really thrive. When you plan colors, textures and bloom times, you can have a show-stopping garden. But what if you don’t have time for all that preparation?

If you really don’t think you will have time now to prepare, will you have time later to deal with the consequences? Let’s say you plant some hot new orange and russet roses bare-root in March ... forgetting that in three months, they’ll be surrounded by pink dianthus and purple salvia. No problem—just move the roses in 90 degree heat to avoid a color clash. It will save you a trip to the gym. Then buy some more roses to replace the ones you moved. It will help the local economy. Even if you spend an hour in your yard on a mild winter day recollecting what’s planted where, that’s a treat compared to moving shrubs under a Western June sun (or looking at orange and pink together).

Lack of planning costs money, too. Let’s say you want to plant a traffic-stopping row of roses out front. The easiest and cheapest way to do it is to order several bare-root landscape roses early via mail order and plant them in the spring. But if you don’t plan ahead, you’ll end up spending $30 apiece on potted roses from the nursery (which they might have bought from the same mail-order nursery you could have ordered from) and plant them in hot weather.

Planning and efficiency might sound dull, but they give you more time for the fun stuff. Assuming that your schedule isn’t going to change, if you don’t have time to plan for a gardening project, you won’t have time to execute it. What to do? You could make some more time for yourself by organizing the things you absolutely have to do. For instance, I shop online instead of going to malls. I make a week’s worth of lunches at a time. I take care of every piece of paper the day it comes in—it helps keep me worry-free and clutter free, and it frees up a lot of time that I might have spent looking for important papers or bills. Give some of these things a try; you might be able to free up some time for a substantial gardening project.

On the other hand, don’t overestimate what you can do. You’ll wear yourself out. For me, creating one bed is a good-sized project for one season. Make sure you have the budget, too, so you can enjoy your project without regret.