Pain In The Grass

First, i really apologise ~ the last few entries in this blog seem to have been complaints and/or rants, and oops, here's another one! Don't get me wrong...this is Spring, and for the most part, it is definitely the happiest time of the year for me! We've even had cold temps and way too much rain, but the flowers are coming up, the trees are blossoming, and the grass is that "brand new" shade of green, so it's still awesome.

BUT, let me say right now, i will NEVER plant another large ornamental grass on my property FOREVER!

They are pretty from midsummer to late Fall, but then they're nothing but problems. i see a lot of landscapes incorporating grasses, and even though they are not tended to, they grow tall and straight through rain, sun or wind, but mine always have to be tied or staked or trimmed or SOMETHING. i do know that if they are fertilized they can become soft and floppy ~ they like "poor" soil ~ so i never fertilize them, and they still flop all over.

 

THEN it is always mentioned to leave them as is over the cold season for "Winter Interest". AND for awhile they do add to the landscape ~ that is, until the first ice or freezing rainstorm that we get! Of course, i live in a smaller lot in Middle Suburbia ~ if the grasses were out in the back 40 it wouldn't be so bad. But here i am outside in the cold beating the poor things with a shovel to break the ice off them so they don't fall into the driveway. They can only take so many ice or snow storms, then they're down for the count and look sloppy till the weather gets nice enough to cut them back.
 

                                                  But wait, there's more!

We don't get "nice enough" weather until at least April, so the dead straw colored grass is breaking apart in our very windy Spring weather and is scattered all over the yard, in the pond, and in all the flower beds. i have dug out a few of my grasses, but after just a few years, they develop a rock hard root mass the size of Maine! Then after all that work cutting them down, there's a problem with what to do with all the huge piles of dead grass! Hey, i'm all for the ecology ~ the perfect answer would be to chop it up and compost it, and i would tell you to do that, but it's a huge mess, and most grasses have tiny hairs that act like cactus thorns ~ you know, the ones that are too tiny to find in your finger (or hand, or back, or feet!) but are large enough to drive you crazy until they work their way out (and/or become infected)!

So, basically, for smaller yards, i recommend you save the stress and do without unless you have lots of time on your hands!

Early Fall Holdouts (2010)

i say this every year - it's a certainty that i get teary eyed at least twice a calendar year - on the day i take my tropical and house plants outside for the season, because i'm so happy it's finally warm, AND - on the day i have to take them in because of the cold! That day is not a happy one...and this is that day (sniff...)

One of my Kalanchoes (Mother of Thousands) that went crazy this year. Didn't realize it was a vine - till this! Strange and ugly - but interesting!

Another Kalanchoe - i remember the cultivar name of this one - "Big Mama"! Having many babies this time of year (anyone wants any, let me know!)

The Amsonias have turned their golden autumn colors ( "amsoniared" has been my online name for many years - and yes, i know their flowers are blue...!)

Another Amsonia.... 

 And my first one (and namesake), Amsonia tabernaemontana, (Eastern Bluestar) with thicker leaves.

  

The Castor bean is smaller than it usually is, but still became a pretty good speciman!

But any day now, a frost will get it, and i'll have to start from seed all over again in the Spring

And one of my favorite small trees, Cherokee Daybreak dogwood, with its variegated leaves flushing pink now. Very pretty, but i'd still rather have it showing its Summer color!

My Garden Interview - Part 4

***i'm currently reading an older garden book titled, "Gardening From The Heart - Why Gardeners Garden" by Carol Olwell. The reason for this book is interesting, because, as she points out, gardening is hard work,

considered pretty much low grade manual labor, and is rarely lucrative -

so why do we do it? She compiles the story of many gardeners who were interviewed for this book. i am barely past the introduction, but i feel compelled to put into words how i myself came to be a gardener, and why....***
continued....

Q: Do you have anything you want others to know about you?

i'm amazed at all the yards in our suburban neighborhoods that have nothing but grass and a couple trees growing in them. My God, at least stick one tomato plant somewhere! Many people i know never go outdoors,

are scared silly of bugs, and we have actually met some who don't know where eggs come from! If they ever had to live off the land to survive, they'd be dead in a hurry! I'm sure even i would have trouble doing that, having been a "city girl" all my life, but i think i'd manage better than they would..

i make it a point to live as simply as i can in our normal American Midwestern life. i have a lot of things to do, but always try to just sit in the garden a few minutes, or walk to the park. If i see a hummingbird and want to stop and watch it, i do. It takes me about 45 minutes for a decent walk in the park, and if i can't find 45 minutes for myself, then i feel something's wrong with my life! i take all the

breaks and lunch hours and vacations i'm entitled to at my job. i feel that all of that is vital to my well-being. All the workaholics i know either have heart disease, or cancer, or diabetes - or have already died!

i try to be as environmentally "careful" as i can, too. i don't know why - i don't have children, so it's not because of my concern for my descendants having clean air to breathe! No, it's just something i feel i have to do for my OWN peace of mind. Don't get me wrong, i have a car, and gas heat, and central air conditioning, and a microwave and a computer - all the luxuries of modern life, but i don't abuse them. We use our central air maybe as

much as two weeks most years, when it's really necessary for sleeping. A lot of acquaintances put their air on the first 80 degree (F) day, and don't turn it off until Autumn! I walk if possible - i don't start the car to drive across the street! If i find a tiny spider in the house, do i call the exterminator? No. Either i gently take it outside, or the cats get it (!), or i leave it - especially in mosquito or gnat season, a couple of spiders in the house is a natural, self sustaining extermination system!

All anyone has to do is THINK a little to improve their lives and the planet.

 

Our current home has about a third of an acre, relatively large for a city lot, but it's conversely not enough and too much for me! One side of me would love several acres of a large, maybe partly wooded lot, but on the other hand, when i get home from an 8 hr workday, a huge area would be daunting! i already have areas that "get away " from me in the summer, mostly because i have my leaf castings to work on now, so even though i work outside, i still can't work ON the outside! My husband does the mowing and weeding (but only the recognizable weeds!), and enjoys the yard when it looks nice, but the work is not out of love, as it is with me. One time i complained to a friend of mine (who is a non

gardener married to a "plant nut" like me) that it would be nice if DH was as passionate about the plants as i was, but she said, "Yes, but then you would always be arguing about what plants to buy, and what location to plant them in, and in what configuration, etc. This way, you can do what you want without another person with different ideas getting

in your way." Well, i thought that was quite the wise thing to say, and ever since then, i don't really wish as much that i had married a horticulturalist !

Happy Fall ! (NOT)

Only a few more hours of Summer - it's the time of year i dread! Yes, the days are cooler (except that the whole summer was cool this year), a lot of the days are very pretty (except that i'm at work 5 days a week and can't enjoy them), the leaves turn beautiful colors (except that it means the leaves are DYING)...See where i'm coming from? Don't think i CAN be satisfied in the Autumn! It would be my favorite time of year IF the next season was Spring - but since we have cold weather- meaning weather plants will not grow in- from October through April (at least), to ME it's sad.

This is also the time of year i start grasping at straws- "Well, at least the trees haven't started changing colors yet." "Well, at least it's still warm." "Well, at least i can still feed the fish in the pond." "Well, the trees are changing, but they still have their leaves." "Well, at least it hasn't snowed yet." "Well, at least the ground is still soft enough to plant bulbs." "Well, at least there's a few more weeks of Daylight Savings time, and i can still have some time outside before dark." "Well, at least it's not REAL cold yet.".... You get the idea.

i have always said that i cry 2 times a year (barring the occasional wedding or funeral). First, on the first beautiful warm Spring day that I can move my houseplants outside - those are tears of happiness! And the other is the day the first frost is supposed to hit, and i have to bring them all back inside, because that day is when i realize that Winter is truly here....After that, i do finally reach the point where i resign myself to the fact that Summer is NOT coming back, and i begin to enjoy the season somewhat. But i'm not very happy about it! ):o/