It's Finally Winter!

We have snow here, as we should in a Connecticut December. It's snowed a couple of times already, and though today is warm, we should be showered in snow twice this week. So it's time for some winter gardening chores.

* If you have pots of perennials or woodies that didn't get into the ground last autumn, tip them onto their sides; don't leave them standing up. This is a technique my great gardening buddy Paul Young taught me. It prevents the roots from rotting in the inevitable freeze-thaw cycle that the next few months will bring.

* Keep up with your cuttings. Water at least once a week, and watch for signs they need to be repotted. I take coleus cuttings each autumn, and repot at least twice during the cold months, depending on how large I want my potted plants to be when I set them out in late May or early June.

* Start a new gardening diary in January. That's where to assemble a wish list of new plants, seeds, shrubs etc, for 2010, and where to list ways to ease your chores this coming season.

Happy New Gardening Year! The days are growing incrementally longer and before we know it, a new gardening cycle will start.

'Tis a too-warm autumn

Is this going to be another winter like the one several years ago when the hellebores bloomed in January? I'm fearful. There aren't many years when I haven't started the winter compost, put in the pond de-icer or started the birdbath warmer by now. And I know, 'cause I keep copious notes on all things gardening in my yard, and have for nigh onto 30 years.

Spring comes 8 hours earlier every year, the pundits say, and it's borne out by my records.

While it's nice to have these johnny-jump-ups in my yard in December, as well as the salvia 'Victoria' still in bloom and the 'Knockout' roses in the backyard garden, their presence makes me worry what we've done to the planet.

Does this bad boy live in YOUR neighborhood?

It's not a northern bamboo. It's not an ornamental. It's Japanese knotweed and it's taking over large swaths of Connecticut, creating monocultures and choking out useful plants that provide homes and food for wildlife.

A fast-growing, aggressive perennial, this knotweed spreads by rhizomes and doesn't appear to be particular about where it infests. I see it on roadsides, along streams, in abandoned fields, and in hedgerows. Like so many invasives, it was introduced to America as an ornamental decades ago and has escaped cultivation to become a noxious weed.

If you have this thug, removal is recommended if you don't want it to take over. My gardening friend, Don Warfield, and I have been working on removing Japanese knotweed from a stretch of Rte. 58 in southern Bethel for a couple of years. Here's the approach we've found works best:

1. Cut down the reddish shoots that emerge in the early spring. They can be tugged out, albeit with difficulty. A hand-held claw works well to evict them from the soil.

2. During the first year of eradication, be prepared to rip out the stems about once every 6 weeks. Try to do it after a rain, when the ground is softer.

3. If you've been diligent, the second year just a few shoots will emerge, but these must be removed as well, or the entire grove will return.

4. Monitor thereafter.

In the area we've freed, more desireable material such as aster, milkweed and chicory is returning. Don and I both check the progress of our little freed area on a regular basis. We feel it's important to do our bit for the land. Won't you help, too?

Let's get familiar with Fothergilla

Such a funny name for such a marvelous shrub. Dwarf fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii) or bottlebrush shrub, is native to the Eastern United States and thrives in sun or shade. It'll grow to 3' high and 3' wide, (Fothergilla major, also native, will grow to 10' x 15', by contrast) Both have several seasons of interest. The fragrant, bottle-brush shaped flowers appear in spring; the somewhat crinkled green leaves stay crisp all summer; and tah-dah! the fall foliage boasts a symphony of orange, purple, and red hues. The shrub colors up late (like right now) and holds it well.

I added fothergilla three years ago to my White Pine Garden, a semi-circular bed under a majestic white pine on the south, albeit shady side of the yard. It's accompanied by Azalea 'Beauman's Pink', & 'Mother's Day'; by witch hazel 'Jelena' and 'Arnold Promise'; by redcedar juniper seedlings which I purchase from Alice Mayer at our annual church Bazaar, (coming up next Saturday, the 14th!); an oakleaf hydrangea which I think is 'Pee Wee', and a curtsey of various hosta. All the plantings are shade tolerant, and though I do apply deer repellent, they've not been bothered in the several years they've been in residence.

It's not always easy to find attractive, native, shade-tolerant shrubs that also lend interest all season. Give fothergilla a chance, you won't be sorry.

My Sassafras Story

When we moved here to Fairfield County, Connecticut our woods edge hosted a few sassafras. I'm almost sure of it. These small trees are easy to identify, since they have three different shaped leaves; hand, mitten and glove.

Dunno what ever happened to them, but they're long gone. Did the blankety-blank deer eat them? Did disease wipe them out? Whatever. So I've been searching for a few little ones to get started around the edges of the Backyard Garden. Paul Young has been helping me in this, but those little trees are the devil to transplant.

Earlier this year Florence and Donna Bosworth invited us to come and dig up what I naively believed were sassafras seedlings from the huge specimen in their front yard. Paul & I trotted up there on a damp March day, only to find the "seedlings" were actually root suckers. We dug and potted 5 or 6, nonetheless. They had no roots of their own and we weren't optimistic about their survival. I placed them by my shed, and waited. Lo and behold, they sprouted leaves! So I moved them into more sunlight, and they thrived.

Until August, when they all but one faded, lost their leaves and seemingly croaked.

I waited a month before I took action. When no revival was apparent, and I needed the pots, I yanked out the sticks and tossed them into the brush pile. Then I looked at 'em.

Drat! They all had little white roots...they were alive! At least, they had been until I pulled them from their home.

Above is the sole baby remaining It's still in its original pot (with some volunteer forget-me-not). The fall color is exquisite, don't you think? I'll keep it potted this winter, tipping the pot over once the ground freezes so the roots don't rot. And plant the little guy early next spring. Here's hoping he makes it!

Paul and I have been invited to dig more sassafras come March. Maybe I won't inadvertently murder next year's crop.

Gorgeous Autumn Color

Regular readers here know I'm enamoured of all things hydrangea. The delicate lacecaps of 'Blue Bird', the spectacular purple blooms of 'Glowing Embers', the old-fashioned pink of 'Preziosa', to name but a few of my favorites. Here's another:

Hydrangea paniculata 'Pinky Winky' is one of the large, late-blooming types that decorate our yards in fall. The 12" to 16", conical-shaped flowers start out white, gradually turn pink and end up a deep, resonant rose. The plant stays in bloom for at least two months, and flowers on new wood, so you don't have to worry about winter kill. It produces regardless of climate, soil, pH or pruning. He's hardy to Zone 4.

Pinky is a moderately big fellow, eventually reaching to 6-8 feet. I do protect him with deer repellent, and he's not been bothered by hungry herbivores. Pinky appreciates a spring application of slow-release fertilizer meant for trees and shrubs, and like most of his ilk, does best in 1/2 to 3/4 day sun, at least here in Connecticut.

Grow this guy where you can see him frequently---he's a beaut!

What's in Bloom in Your Garden?

Autumn is upon us, but that's no reason to give up on color in the garden. We here in Connecticut have at least another month of vibrancy at our fingertips, if we plan well. Here's some of what's blooming today in my yard:

Annual Vines: Morning glory, cardinal flower & scarlet runner bean

Shrubs: Oakleaf hydrangea, and 'Pinky Winky', 'Preziosa', 'Blue Bird', 'Nikko Blue', 'Blushing Bride', 'Endless Summer' hydrangea, 'Knockout' roses, spirea.

Perennials: various asters, Japanese anemone, several types of sedum, turtlehead, daylily 'Happy Returns', phlox paniculata, coneflower, obedient plant, buddliea.

Annuals: impatiens, verbena, cleome, portulaca, marigold, salvia 'Victoria', perilla, petunia,

Bulbs: dahlia, caladium, cyclamen.

And that's off the top of my head, excluding the wildflowers such as goldenrod; the red and gold fruit on the crabapple trees, viburnum & kousa dogwood; the patio pots, and the goldfish.

The point is, it's easy to have all-season color in your garden. For each plant you choose in the spring, also pick up a late bloomer. You'll soon have a garden full of flowers from March 'til November!