It's White Outside

It's snowing again, a very soft powdery snow that is easy to shovel though not quite as pretty as the heavy, wet snow that creates the most magical snowscapes.
The gardens are safe under their blanket of snow but I am worried about my Oakleaf Hydrangea. You can see its flowers in the fall bouquet featured on the Jan. 13th post below. This past summer the blooms were spectacular but last winter it barely went below zero. I suspect the recent nights of 12 below zero weather have killed the flower buds, at least the majority which are above the snow line. Many summers we only get blooms along the bottom edge of this shrub. Where is global warming when you need it?
Last night was almost warm, with a low of 9 above zero.

Snowed in I like to bead. This bracelet is crocheted with thin silver wire and silver seed beads in different sizes and tones. You string all of the beads onto the wire before beginning and then pull them into the stitches as you crochet.


You can see more of my bracelets in my Etsy jewelry shop, Beaded Wire.



Find of the Day:
I am completely enthralled by Heather Knight's ceramics and had a terribly difficult job chosing which piece to feature. The forms are organic and elegant, mostly white with an occasional splash of color. There are pears and fungi, ripple bowls and petal plates. Visit her Etsy site Element Clay Studio and be astonished.

Bog Garden

I'm happy to say that the birds have found my cherry tree. I saw a robin and a scarlet tananger munching away and the cherries are almost all gone.
I spent the morning weeding the little bog garden in this photo. It was originally a little pond but we did not maintain it well. It is only about a foot and a half deep and lined with rubber. When we decided to give up the pond we just filled the rubber lined hole with dirt. It is a perfect spot to grow plants that like very moist soil .
The yellow trollius shown here love the damp and grow exuberantly, they are almost three feet tall in this spot.
When I first planted the garden I planted filipendula but it loved the wet soil too much and filled the entire garden by the end of the first summer. All of the filipendula has been moved and I now use this little area for the trollius, iris ensata, and Siberian iris. All of these grow well in ordinary garden soil but love this boggy spot.

Flower Find

Who could not love a Jerry Garcia Grateful Dead Peace Crane? The red flower paper is gorgeous and it is embellished with glitter. Handmade by Localcolorist

Maidenhead Fern

Ferns can be a wonderful addition to the shady garden. However, they should be used with care since many are very aggressive and spread by underground runners. They can easily over run the border. But many are wonderful feathery additions to the garden, staying lush and green all summer. The Japanese Painted fern is never a problem. My favorite is the Maidenhair fern which stays where it is planted, slowly growing into a nice sized plant The first picture shows the maidenhair fern in early spring when it is about to unfurl. The second was taken in my friend Marion's garden. She has planted several different fern behind her Japanese primroses for an effective backdrop. I don't fuss with my maidenhairs. plant them in ordinary garden soil in partial to full shade. The maidenhair seems quite drought tolerant and I don't water it unless there is an extended period without rain.
Flower Find
This maidenhair fern scarf is hand painted silk by Morgansilk. Her silk scarves are each a work of art.

California Poppies

Eschscholzia californica. The California poppy is not a true poppy but it shares their lovely papery petals and form.
The native California poppy comes in lovely warm orange shades but the hybrids come in many shades of orange, red, creamy whites and pinks. There are singles and doubles, all very beautiful.
These poppies are quite hardy and even in New Hampshire can be started early by seed strewn outside or started in little peat pots that can be planted out in early May even before the last frost.

A Flower Find
If you prefer to wear your flowers what about this cute poppy skirt? Made by AnnaBlues of pumpkin colored corduroy over layers of netting and a wild flower print. Gorgeous.

Annual Poppies

The season is over for the great perennial Oriental poppies but it is not the end of the poppies this year. There are many wonderful annual and biennial poppies that flower later in the summer.
Papaver Rhoeas, the common annual poppy is a great favorite of mine. In its natural state it is flaming red but has been hybridized into many soft colors as well (Shirley poppies) in both singles and doubles. My photographs feature this poppy in its red and softer pink manifestations.
Another lovely annual poppy is papaver somniferum, the opium poppy. This poppy is the source of both opium and poppy seeds. Its big seed heads are often dried for winter arrangements. I believe this poppy also started out red but there is an army of hybrids including huge, fluffy mop heads in white, purple, pink. A particular favorite of mine is called Flemish poppy, a soft off white streaked with red that belongs in an old Flemish oil painting.
Papaver nudicaule, the Iceland poppy, is usually classified as a biennial but in cooler areas like my New Hampshire hillside it is more or less perennial It has the look of crepe paper and comes in warmer colors than Shirley poppies, soft oranges, yellows and whites.

Growing Annual Poppies
Poppies are easy to grow. They can be started by scattering seed over prepared garden soil in early spring: since they are quite hardy they can withstand mild frosts. I usually start mine inside under lights in March to plant out in early May. They don’t like transplanting so they should be started in individual peat pots or plastic pots. They reseed readily so plants emerge all over the garden adding little touches of color.

I love this shirt and its name, the Hippy, Trippy, Butterfly and Poppy Shirt. What a joy to wear these poppies and butterflies. It is made by Vigilante Labs.

Iris Again

I have been experimenting with scanning flowers directly into the computer on my flat bed scanner rather than photographing them with a camera. I am seeking an ethereal, transparent effect, almost like an x-ray of a flower.
The little yellow iris I am using here has been with me all of my life, it grew in my grandmother’s and my mother’s gardens. One of the easiest iris to grow, it is not as showy as the big hybrids but also less susceptible to borers and wind.

I love the little iris pendant. It is a real iris petal preserved and embellished with crystals to make a unique necklace. The pendant and other flower petal jewelry can be seen (and purchased of course) at http://www.paperplanet.etsy.com/ .

Another incredible iris find is Iris, the dress, from Barcelona, Spain. Expensive ($285) but it is silk and so elegant. Many products have flower names but this one actually has the look and feel of its namesake. Imagine wearing a silk iris. The dress and other creations is at http://www.cocottecouture.etsy.com/ .

I

Grape Kool-Aid Iris

I think today is officially the end of this year’s bearded iris season, torrential downpours have flattened the last stragglers, along with the late peonies and oriental poppies. I always mourn the passing of these magnificent plants.
I am fond of all iris and even have an iris tattoo on my leg. But one of my favorites is my Grape Kool-Aid Iris, a simple purple iris with a strong and lovely aroma, reminiscent of grape Kool-Aid. About fifteen years ago, maybe more, there was a flurry of letters in Organic Gardening Magazine, describing this iris and trying to track it down. A few years later I found an offer for Grape Kool-Aid Iris in the Flower and Herb Seed Savers Exchange from a gardener in upstate New York. He sent me some fat rhizomes and they have become a major feature in my early summer garden.

The photographs here are my grape iris, including a Polaroid Manipulation. This was taken with an old Polaroid SX-70 Land camera from the 1970’s using Time Zero film. The emulsion of this film does not set immediately and I move it around with knitting needles to create a painterly effect.

Growing Iris:

Bearded iris are simple to grow. The rhizomes are usually shipped in late summer and are planted flat just below the soil surface in ordinary garden soil, not too rich. I transplant them at any time after they flower, they can even be left to bake in the sun with roots bare for a few days without harm. The only problem I have with iris is weeds which seem to love to grow around them, under them, all over them. I have a lot of garden and weeds tend to get ahead of me so I just dig the iris out every other year or so and pull the weeds off the roots and then put them back into the ground. They don’t mind at all. Iris need to be divided every few years anyway. The dead, withered parts of the rhizomes can be cut off and each piece that has leaf growth can be planted as a new plant.

Garden Resource:

The Seed Savers Exchange and the Flower and Herb Exchange
Seed Savers is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the preservation of heirloom seeds. They publish two fat catalogues each year full of member’s offers of seeds and plants, One is dedicated to vegetables and the other to flowers and herbs. This is a wonderful source for seeds, many handed down in families over generations, and also a great way to meet and share with other gardeners.