Sustainable Gardening Blog

Also known as Gardenblogger Bloom Day 

Here’s a very deliberate combination of beauties that bloom at the same time: 2 lacecap hydrangeas, spirea ‘Anthony Waterer,’ and an assortment of astilbes.  There’s also closer-up photo of the hydrangea/astilbe combo over on GardenRant.

My other favorite scene right now has this oakleaf hydrangea as the centerpiece.  It’s also gorgeous in the winter, thanks to exfoliating bark.

Sustainability Report

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed the garden porn as much as I have - and looking through dozens of photos was pretty trippy, I must say.  But we’re trying to be informative here, so it’s time to talk turkey.

These lacecap hydrangeas gets nothing from me all year except supplemental water during periods of drought, and the removal of dead flowers - only.  Other than that I spare them the Felcos because their spent flowers look good for months and I’d rather keep it around.

The spirea gets a lot less water - it’s a tough, adaptable plant.  Pruning-wise, I’ll shear and shape in a week or two after these blooms are done, and be rewarded with a very nice rebloom.

Astilbes are reportedly both thirsty and hungry, which would make them one of the higher-maintenance perennials.  But I grow a large variety that bloom just fine with no fertilizer except leafmold mulch every spring.  I leave their spent flowers alone unless and until their foliage goes crispy later in the summer, at which point I shear them to the ground.  That results in new foliage that looks fine for the season, but no reblooms.  I do give astilbes some supplemental water, though not a lot.

In full shade, oakleaf hydrangeas are as close to literally sustainable as any plant in my garden, including the large oaks.  It gets nada!  It’s indigenous from the Carolinas southward, I believe.

Tomorrow is Gardenblogger Bloom Day and this month there’s plenty to show, but let’s examine what these plants require to keep on blooming like this.

SALVIA X SUPERBA ‘MAY NIGHT’
On the left is a perennial that’s popular because it’s a DOER, blooming like crazy all summer with little or no help from the gardener.  So yes, I’d call it pretty near sustainable, as perennials go.  Its neighbors are lamb’s ears, creeping sedum groundcover, and on the right, the foliage of an ‘Oron’ spirea.

TRADESCANTIA VIRGINIANA (SPIDERWORT)
Next, on the right, is a wildflower around these parts, and recently the subject of much Yahoo group discussion - what’s this weed?  And it appeared here as a weed, too, or to be kinder, a volunteer.  Its foliage looks notoriously crapping after blooming, however, so I hack it back, which results in much better looking new growth and a bit of reblooming.  So I’ve made my peace with spiderwort and it can stay where it is in my garden.  Others are using the "I" word - invasive - and complaining that’s hard to get rid of, especially in gardens farther south than here.

RHODODENDRONS AND AZALEAS - WITH HEMLOCK 
Okay, I live in the heart of Azalea Belt so I’ve gotta have a few, and I do.  Just a few.  NOT a whole garden of them, but that’s another post.  And I can’t even tell you which one this is but I do know the name of the rhodie in the foreground - the English Roseum type.  That’s all I know, plus the discouraging information that it’s sold as one that does especially well in this area and STILL they’re dying off in my garden, one by one. My guess is that, like mountain laurels, they’re happier at higher elevations.  But whatever the reason, I routinely advice against them.

What I like most in this woodland tableau is the new foliage on my Canadian hemlock - one of my favorite trees.  Yes, it’s under siege by a deadly invading insect but to me, hemlocks are worth a little coddling, if required, to keep them alive.  I keep an eye out for the telltale tiny cotton ball signs of wooly adelgid and am ready to buy a product!

‘RAINBOW‘ KNOCKOUT ROSES
Now I know that Knockout roses are proliferating in gardens at such a rate that I may eventually be just as sick of them as I am of azaleas, but for now I’m promoting ‘em - big-time.  That’s because unlike azaleas, they contribute to the garden for months.  In this area from May through November - seriously. With perfect foliage, and no fertilizer required. 

Shown here on the right are three Knockouts of the ‘Rainbow’ variety that I planted last June.  I’ve never fed them and they bloomed very happily right up until the first hard frost.  They’re on their way to becoming 4 or 5 feet tall and wide and making a nice big contribution to the garden.  I say God love ‘em.

Also blooming are the snowball viburnum, Mexican evening primrose, all the weigelas, a glorious Renaissance spirea, and some Johnson’s geraniums.

I just learned that Gail of Clay and Limestone in Nashville, TN has chosen this humble blog as one of 10 Excellent Blogs - thanks!  It’s just the encouragement I need.  See, since teaming up with others at GardenRant, I haven’t known what the heck to DO with this one.  I’ve changed the name - a couple of times.  I’ve even (much to my regret) changed the blogging program - to the geeks-only Wordpress (long story there).

So what AM I doing here?  Supplementing my Sustainable Gardening site with how-to-garden stories, stories of coachees transforming their gardens, stories of my own garden’s transformation, especially the lawn-to-alternative-groundcover and lawn-to-veggie-garden transitions.  Oh, and occasionally veering off-topic whenever it suits. 

Now to pass on the encouragement to 10 others:  Okay, I pick:

• Urban Ministry Garden
  
• Gardening While Intoxicated
• Sweet Pea Chronicle
• Ellis Hollow
• Outside Clyde
  
• Open Register
• Deep Middle
• Back 40 Feet
• Art of Gardening
• Garden Wise Guy

Tweaking is still going on here at the new Sustainable Gardening Blog but domains are being forwarded and readers are finding me here, so welcome!  Here’s what’s going on.

This  blog’s been doing some moving lately, leaving its old home on Typepad and moving up to the world of Wordpress.  At least that’s how Wordpress is usually described.  Ultimate freedom, they tout.  Simple to use, some even claim.  And as much as I like (so far) posting here, setting this thing up was no job for amateurs. The GardenRanters discovered that two years ago and believe me, things haven’t gotten noticeably better.  Without the guidance of a web designer/graphic designer, my neighbor and new best friend AJ Campell, this wouldn’t be here at all.  She even managed to move everything - posts, categories, comments, the whole shebang - without the blog skipping a beat. 

What’s new for you, loyal readers?  (Okay, you slackers, too.)  The domain www.Takoma Gardener.com is still good, though if you’re using www.takomagardener.typepad.com you’ll need to remove the "Typepad".  The domain I’m passing around nowadays is www.SustainableGardeningBlog.com. 

If you happen to have used any permalinks to specific posts, they’ll soon be dead, baby.  Sorry about that.  I’ll try to make it up to you.

No, I’m not going anywhere.  Just the name.  Time to take this blog and DO something with it, namely, use it to supplement Sustainable-Gardening.com.  The "beyond" is my excuse to go off-topic occasionally, coz I just like to. 

No need for readers to change their link to this blog; I’ll keep the Takoma Gardener domain name.  Newcomers can use www.sustainablegardeningblog.com.

Lots of good news from my new-best-friend Colleen at IntheGardenOnline.   My buddies and I at Gardenrant have been nominated for the coveted Mouse and Trowel Award in the following categories:

• Best Writing in a Garden Blog
• Most Innovation in a Garden Blog
• Best North American Garden Blog
• Garden Blog of the Year

Now friends, it’s time to vote.  You have until May 11, but why wait?

"A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year.
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear."
            John and Yoko
 

  ‘Peace’ Rose

This quote, first posted here on Christmas Day of 2005, is now even sadder to read.

It’s December 1 and I’m already starting to feel desperate for plants to gaze upon.  Yeah, I know this is only Zone 7 and I’m a total wuss when it comes to winter.  But it’s still a long time before the hellebores bloom and in the meantime, how about this gorgeous photo, suitable for any computer?  Garden Design Magazine offers this and some other fabulous shots in various computer screen sizes.  After selecting one, right-clicking will give you the option to "select as wallpaper."  Just trying them has perked me right up.

We gardeners don’t pay enough attention to buildings, much less out-buildings like garages and toolsheds, but damn, they play a greater role in making our properties look good - or not - than all the plants put together.  And my architect neighbor demonstrated that recently by building (and I mean building himself) what he calls a casita in his back yard. He also calls it the most overdesigned toolshed ever built, but I guess he couldn’t help himself.  (Hell, gardeners overdo gardening as a point of pride!)

Now check out the casa that inspired this casita, also designed and partially built by the same owner/architect.  At the top of the driveway on the left you can spot  its offspring.

Next up is some landscaping around the casita, and I’ve been asked to help.  (Oh, goody, another chance to pretty-up my street.)  And starting with a building that’s downright adorable, you just know it’s going to be fun.

[You’ve seen a glimpse of this house before and because it’s directly across the street from me, I see it all the time.]

Since I’ve outed myself as an Elderblogger, I might as well share a front-page story about this very blog and yours truly that ran in D.C.’s newspaper for the over-50 set last January.  After a bunch of stuff about local bloggers Gabe Mirkin and his wife (he’s a MD/fitness guru), the writer finally gets to the good stuff. (Me, me, me!)

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