Gardening 101

Our local nurseries have a native plant section and they claim this is Lobelia, Canadian style.
So they say. Anyway, I couldn't resist and we'll see how this one handles life in a suburban patch of land.
So far it behaves like a rather pretty and sturdy weed.



And on that subject, If I were to give advice to a novice gardener and it seems I am about to--never never buy anything with the word "wort" attached to it. It may look just lovely in the pictures but consider it a weed. Another word for weed is prolific. You will spend a lot of your natural gardening life trying to keep it controlled.

I do have one or two in my garden and deliberately so. But I know how to control then. In the spring I attack them ruthlessly so that only a small clump blooms for the remainder of the summer.

It's sound garden planning to invest in perennials like Delphinium-- lots and lots of them and keep them clustered, Hostas for the shade (they spread out in time) and any kind of Daisy and you have the start of a garden.

A few annuals planted in bunches of one color give a lush appearance to their surroundings.

It isn't written anywhere that you must plant rigidly around the edges of your property. Go wild and dig out a bed in the middle or somewhere off-center to draw your eye in a pleasing fashion.

Perennials will stay with you for many years and they are usually at their peak in the sixth year. After that, you might want to thin them out or divide the roots but by this time you won't worry about doing that. It's like cutting your kid's hair or removing a sliver.

Once you get the general idea, you start layering colors and textures like a wardrobe and add a berm or two so the land isn't too flat.

I'm not a big fan of lawns.I say leave them to golf courses and have some fun substituting ornamental grasses, rocks, ponds, anything but lawn. They require fertilizers, they get grubs and other nasties and it's tough to maintain them since those awful poisons are taboo now. Sneak poisons in if you want but remember your children play and roll on that lawn and is that good for them?

End of lesson



I'm still on my hydrangea kick; these show another beautiful facet each day.