My Northern Garden - Mary Schier

Who knew my Mom was so cutting edge? In Florida this winter, she showed me her containers, a trio of nice-looking decorative pots, each with a single Sunpatiens impatiens in it. “I’m not putting all kinds of plants in my pots anymore,” she said. “I just put one in there and it looks good.”

Right on, Mom. According to Ed Lyons, the director of the Allen Centennial Gardens at the University of Wisconsin and a frequent author and lecturer, one-plant pots are among the latest garden trends. One reason is containers themselves have become more interesting: high-gloss glazes, bright colors, fun shapes. Using fewer plants per container also allows for more design flexibility. If a plant peters out or doesn’t like the sun in one location, just move it. Re-arrange a big group of pots for different looks. Lyons noted that designers also are using more containers in garden designs.

Since he was addressing a group of plant fanatics at the Midwest Regional Master Gardener Conference in Milwaukee, Lyon also noted which plants are hot now. Here are the top four on-trend plants he sees:

• Succullents–any and everything, and if you’ve got a spot in the basement and grow them in pots, you can overwinter them successfully;
• Heucheras–Lyons likes the Heuchera x villosas , which come in colors like ‘Caramel’, ‘Citronelle’ and ‘Brownie’. Be careful: not all Heucheras have been trialed thoroughly in northern climates.
• Echinaceas–There are dozens of new coneflowers coming on the market. Not everyone will like all the new varieties (personally, I hate the ones with the puffballs in the center), but there is something new for almost every taste. An article I read in Horticulture magazine recently said the new coneflowers may cross pollinate with each other or the old ones, resulting in a variety of colors in your garden. That sounds cool.
• Baptisia–According to Lyon, this is the next new hot plant with lots of cultivars coming. Start watching for it in plant catalogs and garden magazines. He likes a cultivar called ‘Purple Smoke’.

While gardening is often viewed as a classic, homespun activity, it is as shaped by trends and fashions as clothing, home decor, or music. Ed Lyon, director of the Allen Centennial Gardens at the University of Wisconsin and a frequent garden lecturer and author, helped Master Gardeners pick through demographic data and trends during Friday’s Midwest Regional Master Gardener Conference.

He noted two big trends: Baby Boomers are getting old and the generations behind them are not as tuned into gardening as a hobby, at least not if it involves much work. These folks, the oldest of whom are in their mid-40s, are financially burdened with big houses and mortgages and want low to no-maintenance gardens because they work all the time, and in their off-hours they go to kids’ soccer games. They want gardens that are great for hosting BBQs, but don’t require much weeding or pruning. The gardens these busy people prefer often look more like a patio with yard attached, boasting several thousand dollars worth of furniture and an extremely cool pot with a single tropical plant in it.

The second big trend, which seems paradoxical in some ways, is that the so-called Generations X and Y are very concerned about health and food, which is leading to an increased interest in growing vegetables. Will this translate into more vegetable gardens or just more shoppers at Farmers’ Markets? Either one is a good trend in my book.

Good news for lazy rose growers: Another Knockout® rose will be available next year, and this one is white. William Radler, the Milwaukee breeder who created the incredibly popular Knockout roses in his backyard, told a group of Midwest Master Gardeners that a new white rose, expected to be called WhiteOut, will be introduced in 2009. Radler’s organization, Rose Innovations, is also prepping a new verbena, called Sweet Thing, for the marketplace in 2009.

Knockout roses are bred for gardeners with limited time and less inclination to fuss. They require no spraying and no winter cover, just a little fertilizer and water. Radler and his crew gave the master gardeners an inside look at how they develop these tough roses. Radler’s yard/lab, located in suburban Milwaukee, is planted with 1,400 roses, 500 of which are replaced each spring because they could not make the cut. To develop extremely hardy roses, Radler treats them in the worst ways possible. He waters from sprinklers at night several times a week to encourage disease. He intermittently dusts them with a powder made of leaves of other diseased roses. They get one treatment with fertilizer a year. Those that survive might become Knockouts, which also have to be self-cleaning, meaning they drop their petals naturally to keep a neat appearance, and, of course, they have to look good. In addition to the shrub-type roses, Radler is working on developing a sturdy, disease resistant hybrid tea rose.

A Knockout hybrid tea is still several years away, but the visit to Radler’s prompted some discussion among the master gardeners. Apparently some enthusiastic (fanatic?) rose growers don’t like Knockouts because they make gardeners believe roses are “easy,” said one of the master gardeners, who is a rose grower herself. But she liked the Knockouts because they introduced gardeners to roses–and once they were interested and had success with Knockouts, they could move on to other roses.

Despite a lot of rough weather in Wisconsin, I’ve arrived in Milwaukee for the Midwest Regional Conference of Master Gardeners, which has attracted gardeners from Minnesota to Michigan. Full disclosure: I am NOT a master gardener–far from it! But consistent with the generosity that is the essence of master gardeners, the conference is open to the public. What better way to learn about plants and gardening than to hang out with people who genuinely care about these issues?

Master gardeners go through extensive training, 48 hours in the classroom in Minnesota followed by 50 hours of community service. Many of the 300 or so gardeners here are taking the course for additional master gardener credits. I’ve met many master gardeners over the years, and as a group, they are among the most giving, knowledgeable, and just plain fun folks to be around. I’m looking forward to meeting more of them. The convention has attracted a bunch of top-notch speakers, including author and TV gardener, Melinda Myers, and Micheal Weishan, host of the PBS program, The Victory Garden.

The educational component is Friday. Thursday is all fun, with a full day of garden tours. I’ll report back tomorrow night.

The summer flowers are in full bloom now, and for that, I am grateful. The perennial bed near my front door tends to look a little–um, how shall I put this?–scruffy–until July when the rudbeckia and coneflowers come in. The bed looks nice and summery now and a few other mid-summer blooms have checked in as well.

In the front, good old Grandpa Otts morning glories (above) are running wild and starting to bloom. I know many gardeners hate Grandpa because he reseeds so freely. I’ve always liked morning glories, and don’t mind pulling a few–maybe a few hundred–out. In the past, I’ve pretty much let Grandpa and his ilk take over one bed, but have vowed this year to restrict the morning glories to a few areas fitted with climbing structures. This one is climbing a metal obelisk-type piece of garden art. Another summer flower that is making an appearance is bee balm (Monarda). I believe this one is ‘Marshall’s Delight’.

In back, the Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’ has collapsed. This Perennial Plant of the Year grows so prolifically it keels over the minute its blooms are up. What I love about ‘Walker’s Low’ is that you can cut it way back and it will re-bloom. Sometime next week, I’ll cut all the blooming stems back to a couple of inches. Another batch of foliage is growing inside the plant, which may flower in late August or September.

I bought the two tomatoes pictured here on the same day, from the same vendor and have fertilized and watered them in nearly identical ways. They are different varieties, but each tomato came in the same size pot, a 4-incher. So what happened? Why does the tomato on the left look so sad, even though it is working hard to ripen a handful of fruit? And why does the tomato on the right look so–well, lush?

Most likely culprits: Disease or depleted soil. The tomato on the left is planted in one of my ground-level beds, a bed in which I have grown tomatoes for several years. Perhaps the nutrients tomatoes love have been pulled, and pulled, and pulled out of that soil, even though I add compost to it each year. (Think Irish potato famine or the Dust Bowl for more devastating examples of soil depletion from monocultures.) More likely, the poor performance is due to a soil-borne disease, as this paper from Iowa State indicates. The tomato on the right is in my newest raised bed, enjoying lots of fresh black dirt and piles of compost from the local compost pile.

My plan is to let the poor guy on the left produce his tomato or three, and then pull out the plant, disposing of it in the trash rather than the compost, and replanting the bed with something from a different plant family. Since we are late in the season, I may try a quick-growing green bean or chard. Next year: No tomatoes in that bed.

It still looks a little sparse, which is to be expected for the first year, but my front-yard garden is blooming at last. The Russian sage in the photo at left is light and airy. The ‘David’ phlox at right is starting to flower. I’m really getting a kick out of the blazing star (Liatris spicata ‘Kobold’). I have five plants; one is up to my hip and this little guy (lower left) is below my knee. Not sure why there is so much variation in height, but they look pretty with their puffy purple bottle-brush blooms.

If the weather cooperates, July is the perfect time for a garden party–and I made it to two beautiful ones this week.

Thursday night I got a chance to swing by Bob and Trish Johnson’s garden near Hampton, where they were hosting a benefit for the Virginia Piper Breast Center. The event was called “An Evening in the Garden: Living, Healing, Giving,” and featured a silent auction, music, dessert, and arts of all kind. That’s cellist Anna Vazquez at right, who volunteered her services for the event. She’s playing in a formal garden near Trish’s arbor and white garden.

Despite a brutal wind and rain storm that came through Hampton (and Northfield!) Thursday afternoon, the evening was fresh and clear and Trish’s garden looked amazing. (She told me they did some really fast clean up before the party.) I profiled Trish’s garden in the January/February issue of Northern Gardener. This landscape has it all: views that go on for miles, gorgeous stonework, art placed throughout (even tiles on Trish’s pea trellis), and carefully planned and cared for plantings. Trish is a Master Gardener and her experience can be seen throughout this large garden, which easily accommodated a couple of hundred folks for the benefit.

Earlier this week, the Minnesota State Horticultural Society hosted its annual Garden Gathering, which is a “Thank You” event for contributors to the society. The gathering was held at the garden of Ken and B.J. Dahlberg on Lake Minnetonka. The Dahlbergs’ garden features rolling lawns, both shade and sun beds, and quite a bit of wooded area. The place was immaculate and a wonderful setting for this event. That’s MSHS President Joe Plante and CEO Rose Eggert enjoying the event.

That’s it for my social whirl for this week, but next week the party continues: I head to Milwaukee for three days of garden tours and hoopla. I’d better rest up.

Lots of blooms are out, but I have to book-it up to the Twin Cities now, so here are a couple of garden regulars that have appeared. Left, Rudbeckia; right, purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). More later on other bloomers.

I was starting to feel like one of those high-end Minneapolis developers, thinking no one would live in my condos, but some insects have finally moved in. I just hope they are bees. Earlier this spring, I built a bee house for orchard mason bees.

Orchard mason bees are solitary, non-honey producing bees, that are gentle but effective pollinators. They are prized by orchard owners and other gardeners. I certainly don’t have an orchard, but we have a decent-sized bed of raspberries, a couple of apple trees, a cherry tree, and lots of flowers. So, why not provide housing for the guys (well, actually, they are all gals) who do the work pollinating. The houses are easy to make, but mine sat empty for a long time.

The other day, I noticed that three or four holes seemed to be plugged with grass. The web sites on mason bees describe them as plugging the holes with mud, so I’m not sure if these are mason bees or something else. While examining the house last night, I noticed a blue-black insect going into the house, and mason bees are described as blue. So, maybe that’s who has moved into the neighborhood. If so, welcome! If not, does anyone else know what kind of insect would nest in holes like these and plug them with grass?

Not the bad kind. The good kind–the kind you smell walking on the lakeshore on breezy day, putting your nose close to a baby’s head after a bath, the kind from flowers you love.

Lilies are new to my garden this year, and I am awfully glad I picked up these Mona Lisa lilies (Lillium ‘Mona Lisa’) at the Minneapolis Home and Garden Show in February. Per instructions from the MSHS experts selling the bulbs, I stored them in the vegetable bin of my refrigerator until spring. I planted these, perhaps a bit early, in May. Three of the bulbs are in a pot, two in the ground. Today all of them are blooming. While I caught a little scent outside, they are reputed to have a lovely fragrance, so I picked one fresh bloom and put it in a vase in the house. The fragrance is noticeable, but not overpowering, very floral and rich.

Lilies are not tough to grow. The bulbs can stay in the ground outside through the winter. I’ll move the ones from the pot to the ground after they finish blooming, although this Oriental hybrid does well in a pot. (The potted lilies are taller than the ones in the ground.) Lilies should last many years in the garden and spread a bit as they get established. I’m looking forward to many years of ‘Mona Lisa’ smells.

Northern Gardener’s publisher, Tom McKusick, visited Northfield and Faribault last week, as part of his efforts to stay in touch with nursery and garden center owners around the Midwest. I joined Tom for a tour of Leif Knecht’s nursery. Leif’s a life-long Northfielder, graduate of St. Olaf College and self-taught plantsman, and he really knows his trees. We talked at length about the new disease resistant elm varieties, several of which Leif carries in the nursery and grows in his tree-growing ranges around the area. One of the big advantages for home gardeners of purchasing trees from a local nursery is that you can buy trees that have been grown in your climate. If it’s a good sized tree–and if you can afford it, I say plant ‘em big–you know it has survived several winters in your area.

Leif and his crew also maintain display gardens on the nursery site, which helps buyers see how perennials, shrubs and trees can work together to create a landscape. They have a good-sized collection of hostas, too. After the tour, Tom and I grabbed lunch at Hogan Bros. before he headed off to Faribault to visit Donahue’s.

Yesterday, I took a side trip on my way home from the Twin Cities to Afton, Minnesota, to visit Squire House Gardens, a garden center specializing in unusual plants and accessories for home and garden. I visited the store last December to talk with co-owner Martin Stern and designer Kathy Oss about creating holiday pots. The garden was lovely then, under a coating of new snow, but it’s even more impressive in summer.

Martin, who designs and maintains the gardens with his partner, Richard Meacock, and a small crew of gardeners, describes his style as “English, but not formal.” The paths in the garden intersect at right angles, but each bed is less formally planted with perennials, annuals and shrubs that bloom in sequence. The peonies and iris are done for the year, but a few lilies were beginning to bloom. In another week or two, the garden will be filled with blooms, according to Martin, with more bursts of bloom in late summer and fall. Martin uses art and pots to create focal points. (I loved this statue and bench.) Martin will be sharing design advice in an upcoming issue of Northern Gardener.

If you are planning a short, scenic drive over the next few weeks, Afton’s a great place to visit. (They are having a Fourth of July celebration and parade.) My daughter, who was with me on the trip, enjoyed an iced tea in the local coffee shop, the Afton Bean while I visited the garden.

With the extra heat we’ve had, more and more blooms are popping. I was particularly excited to see the English larkspur (Delphinium elatum ‘Pagan Purples’) I planted last summer blooming. This is a plant I had given up for dead at one point, but look at it now. The larkspur adds much needed height to the bed near our front door and I love the deep purple blooms. It’s standing in a tomato cage to prevent toppling.

I’m also thrilled with the blooms showing up on climbing nasturtiums, which I grew from seed. They don’t seem to be climbing much yet, but I love the creamy yellow blooms and the round foliage of nasturtiums. If you look closely in the photo, you may be able to see a bug stealing some pollen from the flower.

Finally, the old reliable flower-carpet roses have started to bloom. These are some of the easiest care roses around. You give them a little water, fertilize a couple of times a year, cut them back in the spring, and they just bloom and bloom. No covering, no spraying. Nothing.

That’s my garden blogger’s imitation of Stanley Kowalski. Stella is back–Stella d’Oro, that is, probably one of the most planted perennials of the past 20 years, a plant that is both loved and disdained. I’ve heard it called,”the most worthless perennial of all time,” by Northern Gardener’s own Don Engebretson, a.k.a., The Renegade Gardener, and praised as “the most popular daylily selection of all time.” Of course, it’s possible to be both: Think reality television, Cheetos or stiletto heels.

Here’s my take on Stella: If you’ve got a spot you don’t want to think about much, plant Stella d’Oro daylilies (Hemerocallis ‘Stella d’Oro’). They can handle full sun (see the planting circle in front of the Northfield Public Library for an example) or mostly shade. They bloom consistently and prolifically from late June through much of July. They will re-bloom again late in the summer. Last fall, I had Stellas off-and-on into October–with absolutely no effort on my part. The flowers are a pretty yellow, though the foliage is a non-starter. Mine are planted on the north side of the house near some hostas that also require next to no care. They get a few hours of morning sun, but that’s it. I’ve divided the daylilies once in nine years, though I think they could use it again.

The back of our yard butts up against what is locally referred to as the “nature area.” It’s a series of storm water retention ponds with grasses and plants around them. The area boasts lots of birds and occasional visits from loons, which my friend, Penny, posted about earlier this year. It also hosts a colony of muskrats and a family of beavers, who have been the talk of the neighborhood this spring. When we first moved here, I spread a mix of wildflower seeds in the meadow right behind our house. During spring and early summer, I get a nice show of blooms. I’m not sure exactly what any of the plants are (though I think the yellow one is a form of rudbeckia), but they are pretty. I especially like these bluish purple blooms, which give the meadow a hazy look in the early morning.

During my recent vacation, I read Helen Humphreys’ novel, The Lost Garden. It’s a story about the Women’s Land Army in Britain during World War II. “Land girls,” as they were called, were sent to the countryside to raise food, particularly potatoes, for hungry Britons during the war. Humphreys has a lyrical style and the novel is a beautifully written story of love and loss.

I was reminded of the passage below by the many collapsed peonies in Minnesota gardens this week.

The blooms are white and pale pink, grow upright for now, giant buttons of brilliance festooning green leafy tunics. But soon their heads will become too heavy for the thin, reed-like stalks on which they rise with such hope, and the peonies crash to the ground in a wave of grief. They are too much for themselves and soon they know it… There is something almost heroic in their reckless collapse. And there is nothing sadder than a crowd of stricken peonies, their heads full of rain.

The July/August issue of Northern Gardener will be on news stands soon. This issue features articles on new hydrangeas, how to use tall plants and how to incorporate variegated foliage in your landscape. It also has a must-read article for folks interested in water gardens. Soni Forsman, an expert water gardener who has worked with gardeners at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory at Como Park in St. Paul, has written an aquatic plant primer full of information on what to plant in water gardens and how to keep your water plants healthy. Soni also took the beautiful photo of a water lily on the cover.

With the warmer temperatures and steady sun we’ve had the past 10 days, blooms and plants are exploding. Several new blooms are showing up in my garden. One of my favorite shrubs, Goldmound spirea (Spiraea japonica ‘Goldmound’), has started to bloom. These are tough shrubs that you see all over the Midwest. The leaves start out reddish, then go yellow, then turn lime green. The pink flowers last for several weeks. A couple of times, I’ve trimmed them back after blooming and gotten a second round of flowers in the late summer/early fall. These can get rangy, but that’s easy to correct. Simply cut them back to 4 to 5 inches tall. It seems drastic, but think of it as tough love. A master gardener told me spring is the best time to cut them back, but I did it in the summer last year. While the shrubs looked pretty shocking for a few weeks, they recovered and look better than ever this year.

Also in bloom is a plant that was labeled a “local daisy” that I bought at the Northfield Garden Club plant sale in May. I put it in a bed to keep an eye on it this year, but will transplant it to the meadow behind our house later.

Finally, I’ve got two kinds of penstemon or beard tongue in bloom. In the back, the Husker Red (Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’) looks great with its delicate flowers and striking red/green foliage. (It’s the one on the left.) In the front, the Phoenix™ series penstemon is also in bloom. This is a showy annual that looks like a cross between a snapdragon and a foxglove. Penstemon is a huge genus of plants, which include many wildflowers. Recently, fellow Northfield blogger Rob Hardy of Rough Draft posted some photos of a field of wild penstemon in the Carleton College arboretum. Check it out.