Off with their heads

I relish taking the part of the Red Queen (or was it the Queen of Hearts?) and commanding, "Off with their heads!" I truly enjoy deadheading plants. In a recent article in Garden Design magazine, the director of some public arboretum that did a lot of plant trials revealed that his staff never deadheaded (removed the old flowers); he said they found it made no impact on re-flowering. That may be true, although I don't feel that way, and I think it makes the plants look so much neater.

Here are before and after pictures of Majestic Beauty Indian hawthorn. It looked fabulous blooming its big pink flower clusters but once the blooms faded to beige it was shabby looking. I just couldn't stand the sight of it anymore and cut all the old flowers off. I think it looks much better now.

I also deadheaded most of the potted roses which had just finished their first bloom cycle, and the Spanish lavender, silver leaf sage, and anything else I noticed had ragged looking blooms. I feel so much better now.

Martha Gonzales rose before their heads were cut off

Martha Gonzales rose after

Stop and smell the roses

Most of our roses are blooming at Blue Moon Gardens. The most beautiful are the Double Red Knock Out roses out in front. These are only 2 years old but they have done very well. Here you can see them behind Kaleidoscope Abelia, which has also thrived in this very sunny spot.

At the other end of this bed is a Ballerina antique rose. It has been planted for a number of years. Up until two years ago when the electric company cut down every tree along this fence line, this poor rose grew in the shade a received little water. It hung in there, blooming only in the spring. Now that it gets full sun and regular irrigation, it is covered in clusters of pale pink flowers for months. Unfortunately, we have not been able to find this rose to sell this year, so we are taking our our cuttings.

Ballerina rose just starting to bloom



Kale

We cooked fresh kale for dinner last night. I planted two varieties this year. This one is Blue Curlee. Very attractive, but has tiny spines on the edges of the leaves. Ouch!

It needed a good washing; the crinkled leaves are like spinach - they hold dirt. Then I cut the leaves into strips and stir-fried them in a little oil olive with soy sauce and ginger. Pretty good, but I am now on the hunt for new kale recipes.
 I did try kale chips last month. I used Lacinato kale for this recipe, its leaves are slender, slightly bumpy and a beautiful gray-blue color, without the spines. Toss the whole leaves in a tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and seasonings and bake at 325 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes until crisp. I tried garlic powder and chili powder as my seasoning and liked them both. I think I will try it with curry powder and lemon pepper.

Fabulous patio

We have a fabulous patio at our new house. It has wonderful structure, thanks to James and his crews. They constructed the great stone walls, fireplace and two water features.

Here are views from the upper deck
down to the patio. This is the stream -
3 feet deep to protect the koi from
predators. It starts with a waterfall
in the corner and ends under the
wooden foot bridge that hides the
skimmer.

The waterfall makes a soothing splash as the water hits several shelves of rocks sticking out from the wall. In the early morning and evening when the sun is not shining directly on it, this bench is a nice, peaceful place to sit.


This is the opposite side of the patio with another small waterfall adding its gently trickle to the audible ambiance.

New herb garden

I finally got my new herb garden planted today. It doesn't look like much in this photo but I am pleased with how it turned out.

I was pleased and surprised to find how well the lasagna method worked. On the smaller pots, I only had to push aside the layers of compost and leaves to place the plants on top of the cardboard. With the larger pots it was easy to cut through the moist cardboard (I have watered the spot occasionally since layering it) and dig below. I planted herbs today and moved in some bulbs that were not getting enough sun in their original location.

First I set out all the plants in their pots to decide where to plant them. Good thing I did this, and started on the left because the first hole I dug was on top of a covered flagstone. I had to shift all the plants on this end. Because I want them all full and stocky, I trimmed most of them a bit. Here are the cuttings - I will wash them and use them this week, or hang them up to dry for use later.

I think I will fill in the bare spots with nectar flowers for the butterflies. As I was taking a picture, a large swallowtail was mudding in the moist soil. I will have to invite it back for dinner.

Geraniums - The Old Lady Flower

I have a love/hate relationship with geraniums. I love their bright colors, their tidy form and their sometimes interesting foliage. I dislike the constant cleaning involved to keep them looking their best.

I consider geraniums old lady flowers and I think many modern gardeners agree. It doesn't help their image that the original variety name was Martha Washington.