how to grow

Flowers Of May: Bearded Iris

March 29, 2016 by Ilona Erwin

This old fashioned favorite is top of the list for many gardeners. Although the peak bloom for most of this class of iris is May, they can start as early as April and flower into June (or late summer if you count the reblooming types).

bearded iris flower parts — Main flower parts labeled

Called “Bearded” because they have what looks like a bushy tuft of hair growing on it’s fall.

Named Iris from the Greek goddess who rode rainbows, because it seems to come in all the colors of the rainbow.

As you may have guessed, like the tulips and other popular flowers, the iris is classified into categories of bloom and height.

Iris Germanica

Not A Bulb

German iris grow from a flattened underground stem which has food stores and sends out roots from its growing points.

Beaux Art Iris — Beaux Arts is an orchid pink self with an orange beard. It is luminous in the morning garden.

Bearded Iris Types and Classifications

Class Descriptions

Miniature Dwarf Bearded have the earliest bloom time. This short variety reaches about 8 inches in height. It’s height and early bloom make it a good candidate for a dooryard garden, or the very front of a flower bed. Like the smaller bulbs of an earlier spring garden, this iris looks pretty massed in a large group.

Standard Dwarf blooms next. They grow up to 16 inches tall. Growers like Schreiners have this and the first group classed together, and they may be used in the same way in the garden.

Intermediate Bearded– blooms later than the dwarfs, but overlaps their bloom time. Range in size from 16 inches to 27 inches high.

Border Bearded & Tall Bearded-these bloom during late spring/ early summer. They have the largest flower heads, with long stalks bearing numerous buds. Heights are taller than 27 inches.

These produce many types of flowers, including:

Self: Falls and the standards are the same color.

Plicata: Darker margins which are stippled, dotted or look like stitches (pretty picotee) on falls of a lighter color.
Neglecta: An iris of blue or purple bitones with lighter tone standards.
Amoenas: Colored falls and white standards.
Variegata: Yellow or near-yellow standards with darker falls of brown or purple.
Glaciata: Iris without purple anthocyanin pigment.
Luminata: An iris with a white or yellow base washed over with color.
Bitone and Reverse bitone: Standards and falls of the same color, but the standards are a lighter shade (and vice versa for the ‘Reverse bitone’).
Bicolor: Two different colors for standards and falls.

A few more variations are the ‘Emma Cook Pattern’ and ‘broken color’.

How To Grow

At least half a day of sun or they won’t bloom.
Well-drained soil or you risk rot. Fertile, neutral to slightly acidic soil is best.
Soil drainage is very important.
Plant iris in mid- to late summer.
Bearded irises can be grown in borders with other perennials, but they do best in a bed of their own.
Rhizomes (fleshy roots) should be partially exposed, or thinly covered with soil. Plant singly or in groups of three with the fans facing outwards
Dig a trench 4 inches deep. Make a ridge of soil down the middle and place the rhizomes on the ridge, spreading roots. Backfill depressions where roots are with soil and firm gently.
Water thoroughly at planting time.
Top-dress with a low-nitrogen fertilizer, and again in next early spring. When crowded, divide in late summer during dormancy.

Truly for Cold Climate Gardens

Hardy to temperatures of – 40 °F

Complete Instructions On Iris Germanica

Gardening Tips for German Iris

Wet feet, dry knees

Don’t use high nitrogen fertilizers which will results in sappy leaf growth.
Remove dead leaves during winter, to prevent iris borers.
Keep the rhizomes exposed to light and air. A bit of loose, thinly laid mulch is fine, and helpful.
Divide every 2 to 5 years.

How To Deadhead Iris

It is pretty futile to try to recommend specific varieties with any sort of consistency, because like petunias, the breeders just keep making more and more new, increasingly beautiful ones. I have one I can’t find anymore, ‘Beaux Arts’ which is the most gorgeous orchid pink with frilly petals. (used for the flower parts illustration). Looks like a Nevada Showgirl in my humble garden.

However I will say that there are “types” from clear shades of delicious color to speckled or deep jewel toned ones.

Fascinating Facts

Iris germanica describes many hybrids, not a species.

One of the types of iris ( I.pallida is another) harvested for Orris root, the powdered rhyzome. Used in perfume and as a food spice.

The only flower color not available is bright scarlet red.

German Iris Dykes Medal Winners

The Dykes Medal is awarded each year to the finest iris of any class. Tall bearded irises have won more often than any other class of iris.

Interesting site to explore some old varieties, Pickle Barrel House

Hope you enjoyed this overview of a fine old perennial, one that is considered a stalwart of the garden. They do take a bit of work, but when blooming they are real showstoppers.

Do you grow them? Do you like the older varieties, or have you tried a new one that is becoming a favorite? During the years I had to let the garden go in favor of attending family needs, many of my old irises were lost (plowed under). I made sure I had three remain, and will try to get more going in the garden: Bubbling Over, Beaux Arts, Scotch Lass.

How To Grow Lavender For Its Heavenly Scent

January 1, 2016 by Ilona Erwin

Growing Lavender Plants in your Garden

First thing to remember is that Lavender requires full sun to grow well. Choose a sunny spot, which means it has 6 hours or more of sun exposure.
Good drainage is the next most important condition.If your garden does not have good drainage, plant your lavender in a raised bed, or get the planting area built up so that the roots will not sit in waterlogged soil.
Prune your new plantings. Always good to strengthen the roots of new perennials by pruning top growth; but cutting back is especially helpful in establishing new lavender plants.
Keep moist, just not water logged. Even drought tolerant plants need moisture when newly planted, until the roots get established and grow deeper into the soil.
Lavender plants like a more alkaline soil, which means the soil pH is closer to a reading of 7. Don’t know what this means? Some people call these soils “sweet” soil. An inexpensive kit can test your garden soil to see where it is on the pH scale. This soil information is good to know when planting many types of plants.
Is the pH lower than ideal? It is easy to correct with a little horticultural lime, available in many garden stores. If you have some wood ashes, those will do the job, too.

Water Properly

Don’t overwater lavender plants, but do give them plenty of moisture (drench) once their soil dries out

Growing and Maintaining Your Lavender Plants

Around the Mediterranean Sea the lands are the perfect place for growing this shrubby, grey leaved plant. Hillsides of Provence in southern France are filled with fields of fragrant lavender.

While the English and Californians can grow gorgeous gardens full of it, it originates in those lands around the sea which separates Africa and Europe. Because it is so ancient, pinpointing the exact area of origin is difficult. Both Romans and Carthaginians used it in bathing.

It grows in southwest Asia and southeast India, and is considered a little too well settled (invasive and noxious) in Australia and in parts of Spain.

Pruning Lavender

Pruning lavender is an important part of its cultivation. Cut back new growth to give vigor to the plant.

Pruning lavender is one of the most helpful growing tips I learned from the internet. With a few important planting tips it is easy to grow healthy stands of lavender to beautify your yard and give fragrance to your home.

Care Guide Video:

More about taking care of your lavender plantsHow To Prune Lavender

White Lavender

You might be surprised that Lavender is not only purple, there are pink and white varieties, as well.

Lavender Plants Are Easily Grown

Lavender is popular for a reason, as both a perennial plant in a flower garden and as a denizen of the herb garden. Harvested flowers and stems make fragrant crafts, potpourri, perfumes, and even an unusual -but delightful- food flavoring. It is easy to grow and its Mediterranean roots means it is adaptable to drier conditions than many common garden plants.

Once you know more about it, and how to propagate it, you may find Lavender becoming one of your favorite perennials.

Come explore the world of lavender. How to grow it, propagate it, and use it, to add enjoyment to your home and garden.

Propagating How-to

Lavender Seed Starting Tips

Most people know about using a soilless mix as a starting medium, and that grow light fixtures bring growing success when you are short on windowsill space (or even if you are not). Fewer know the secret tip about how using heat underneath can speed up germination and help stimulate root growth.

Heat Helps Germinate

Using heat underneath your seed starting trays helps germination and root growth.

How To Start Lavender From Seed

Starts From Cuttings

Make new lavender plants from cuttings – my favorite way to multiply plants.

Grow Lights For Your Seedling Starts

Many gardeners like to grow their own plants from starts, either cuttings or from seed. Either method will be an economical way to have a large number of plants. Using grow lights in your basement or utility room is the ideal way to grow lots of healthy plants for filling your garden beds and not break the bank.

You can increase your plants by taking softwood cuttings and rooting them either in the garden or in pots. Lavender branches can also be simple layered by scraping the underside of a branch and holding it to the ground with a rock or a pinning wire until it roots into a new plant.

Find out all about methods of plant propagation.

Sometimes lavender plants will self-seed, although I have not found that to be reliable. If you have ideal conditions, it might be the case for your garden.

‘Munstead’ is best for tolerating summer heat.
‘Hidcote’ is best in a cooler climate, may not do well in the South.
‘Sarah’ is more diminutive in size than other L. angustifolia lavenders, yet with a good show of bloom. That should make it your choice for container growing.
The ‘Lavandins’ are better choices for warmer climate conditions.

Eight Lovely Varieties:

Choose which cultivar is best for your garden.

Fragrant lavender beds in a formal garden. Use all of one variety for uniformity.

Lavandula angustifolia -common lavenderAKA Lavandula officinalis, English lavender, and the one which sports many named varieties such as ‘Munstead’ and ‘Hidcote’. Although the varieties vary in hardiness, this type is the most hardy of the lavender species.
Lavandula stoechas -Spanish lavender is hardy in zones 8-10
Lavandula Vera is synonymous with L. angustifolia
Lavandula dentata – French lavender, hardy in US zones 8-10
Lavandula viridis, “Yellow Lavender”. blooms at the same time as French lavender, and is tender north of zone 8.
Lavandula lanata ‘boiss’ is also known as “woolly lavender”. Another tender type not hardy north of zone 8; it is worthy of note for its felted white foliage. Grown as a tender perennial in pots, it would be a beautiful foliage contrast to purple leaf sage.
Lavandula x intermedia are called the ‘Lavandins’. A cross between L. angustifolia and L. latifolia. They start to bloom just as the the English Lavenders are finishing, and continuing to mid summer.
Lavandula x intermedia ‘Grosso lavender’ is cultivated for oil. It is one of the best cultivars for lavender crafts.

Outstanding Cultivar: Lavandula x intermedia Grosso

Lavender Plants “Grosso”- 8 Live Plants – 2″ Size Plants

Outstanding fragrance, but more difficult to grow. Drought tolerant, they are best for thriving in the arid West, tender in my Zone 5 garden, and best treated as annuals in the humid South.

Live Lavender Plant in 4″ Clay Washpot

Lavandula ‘Provence’ is best grown as a protected plant in Northern zones. Beautiful plant in an attractive pot for a summer porch.

Special Varieties of English Lavender

L. angustifolia ‘Blue Mountain White’ for pure white flowers
L. angustifolia ‘Hidcote Pink’ for pink flowers
L. × intermedia Walburton’s Silver Edge=’Walvera’ for variegated foliage
L. angustifolia Miss Muffet=’Scholmis’ for a very compact, dwarf habit
L. angustifolia ‘Lodden Blue’ excellent for hedging

Propagate by Cuttings

Easiest way to increase Lavender plants is by taking softwood cuttings.

Buy Lavender Plants – From a local nursery or right here

English Munstead Lavender

Grosso Lavender

L.xi. ‘Hidcote Giant’ Live Lavender Plant

Deep purple flower spikes are its claim to fame, with the usual silvery foliage. A shorter variety which grows to 18 to 20 inches tall.

Lavender’s Sweetest Companion: Purple Petunia

My Fragrance Memo

I love a fragrant garden and there is nothing so memorable as the delightful scent companions of lavender bushes and deep purple petunias. Please, do try this perfume combination of plants that scent the garden.

Cultivar: English Munstead

These plants are selections that you may not easily find in your local nursery. By following the care guidance in this lens they should do well for you. Remember to check whether the type of lavender you buy is hardy in your area; if not, pot it and keep it indoors during the cold winter months.

For me, plants were the easiest way to introduce Lavendula into my garden. I took cuttings for extra plants sometimes, but small pots quickly grew into good sized plantings for me. I did have to replace plants that were damaged by cold winters at times. Overall this was the best alternative, since seeds only occasionally produced good sized plants for my hedge ( which is what I wanted along my front walk).

Plant growing supplies: From seeds to plants

container of lavender with name stakes — Lavender Stakes… .

‘Lavender: How to Grow and Use the Fragrant Herb”, covers the spectrum of how to grow, landscape ideas, and crafting with lavender.

In its second edition, it is one of the better books for the beginner, and included an all round introduction to this wonderful and fragrant plant. Look for it to add to your library

Lavender: How to Grow and Use the Fragrant Herb, 2nd Edition (Herbs (Stackpole Books))

Helpful to a long line of gardeners, now in its 2nd editions. Instructions, tips, and more from the pros.

More: Delivered to your door, ready for planting

‘Provence’ French Lavender – Potted – Very Fragrant – 3″ Pot -Indoors/Out

Tell Us What You Think Of Lavender

How expert are you?

Lavender stoechas — What type of lavender flower is this?

Everything Lavender

Everything-Lavender – LEARN ABOUT THE HERB LAVENDER
Lavender -The best, most exhaustive information all about Lavender gardening. Information for everything from Lavender Essential Oil, Lavender farms, to growing your own plants, along with recipes and products.

Trivia Tidbit

Lavender was found within Tutankhamen’s tomb

Herbal Crafts: Crafting With Lavender

Make some gifts and home accessories

There are some lovely gifts that are quite easy to make with your harvested lavender. Sachets and pillows, wreaths and dried flower arrangements, all sort of things from tea to potpourri.

Lavender Crafts – Lavender fragranced soaps, pillows, and more

Fill little satin pillows with dried lavender buds for an aromatic sachet
Create essences by distilling the oil
Make your own scented soap

Crafting with Lavandula

Wreaths and Arrangements

One of the ways I loved using lavender was in a simple dried wreath.

Whether heart shaped or circle, or even square for the avant garde, nothing is easier or more satisfying to create with your lavender.

Any type of lavender is fine for crafts, though some have longer stems.

Simply cut branches to arrange on a form and allow to dry. Or dry in bunches first, and then attach to a wreath form. Dried flower bouquets also benefit from the addition of lavender which retains its light purple flower color and adds fragrance to the arrangement.

Herb Harvesting

Harvest Lavender
…on a dry day, in the morning

Soaps and Scents

^Lavende

SOAP AND LAVENDER

Just about everyone is familiar with the use of lavender to scent soaps. In fact, the name of lavender derives from the ancient Roman custom of using lavender when washing. Lavender’s “late Latin name was lavandarius, from lavanda (things to be washed), from the verb lavare (to wash)” -Wikipedia knowledge.

Source: Natural Handcrafted Soap LLC

Lavender Wands

Lavender Wands or “bottles” were beloved by Victorian ladies who carefully wove the stems together with ribbons and then used them to scent linens and repel insects from clothing.

When is Lavender Not Lavender?

Don’t be fooled by these name-alikes

“Lavender’s blue dilly-dilly,

Lavender’s green.

When I am king, dilly, dilly,

You shall be queen.”

Lavender might seem a riddle if one goes by common names.

Cotton Lavender, is an old herb plant whose proper name is “Santolina chamaecyparissus”. It has yellow flowers, foliage reminiscent of French lavender in appearance. It was used in knot gardens, and has an aromatic fragrance.

Sea Lavender is well known to those who love dried flowers. It’s true name is “Limonium latifolium”. It has lavender hued flowers that dry well.

Artisan asparagus

April 18, 2009 by Joanne Dibble

Photo credit: jasonwebber01 from morguefile.com

Early in my “guest” period on this blog, i wrote about my back-killing efforts to plant more asparagus, and the perils of the monsoon rains and mud for weeks, thereafter. some tiny plants made it, but i must re-plant over half the bed. it is getting a bit hotter here, and will be in mid-80’s in may. VERY grateful it is already dug out, well prepared. i burn easy.

my “old” bed (planted 22 yrs ago- they can produce for many, many years) is 3 weeks or so into its peak production, and will continue to bear for another few weeks, before the emerging spears reduce to pencil size. at that point, the roots are exhausted, and they must be lightly fed and cut no more. use any gentle organic fertilizer, higher in phosphorus and potash. better yet, compost- and then allow the actual plants to grow out, undisturbed.

their tall stalks stay beautiful all through the summer; the airy light-green ferns
feed the roots for the rest of the season. asparagus is actually an ideal garden crop.
it has a clear season and cycles, and once well-planted, requires minimum maintenance.
as a market crop, i think “artisan” asparagus (organic, lovingly hand-tended, raised on well-built soils with fine mineral content, and with greatest flavor) are green Gold!

Some points and tips for asparagus culture: SO Sorry!! read parts#1-5-4-3-2 for continuity.
writing straight out of my head can often be disorderly, and changing large chunks of text is beyond my feeble e-skills. perhaps friend ilona can fix/edit it…hint hint.

1- preparation of the bed is 3/4 of the work. plant in double-dug ditch about 2’deep with plenty of compost and or other amendments worked well into the bottom section.
keep a lower nitrogen/higher phosphorus/potash ratio. kelp meal works well or bone meal, as does aged manure or alfalfa pellets.
plus hardwoodwood ashes, LOTS!!!
it is the main”secret ingredient” for a prime crop of strong spears.
asparagus roots respond very well to yearly ash applications, up to several inches deep.
the first one goes on very early–here in middle ga in late january– in still-winter cold.
this must be done at least a month before the earth warms up-whatever your garden zone- in the midwest or northeast it can be scattered
directly on the snow and thawing weather will slowly wash it in.
the other ashing is best done in late fall, after crunching down the dead stalks.
Never cut these! (like daffodils and other bulbs) they continue feeding the roots
all winter, even as strawlike and bone-dry dead as they appear.

2- mulching asparagus keeps weed competition down; the surface protection keeps soil moist and easy for the fragile tips to penetrate. apply a good mulch after the fall ashing.

light texture mulch is better than heavy rotted, even fall leaves mat too heavily, but work ok if mowed or chopped in a shredder. asparagus roots are deeply planted and survive well-protected during even the coldest winters.

there are two methods for timing your spring harvest…. for earliest production,
rake mulch off the bed in very early spring; the sun-warmed earth brings up
an earlier crop. enjoy! beware of a late-frosty night, though.
their tips can get nipped and the new spears shrivel.

leaving the bed mulched, as usual, delays and extends the harvest another couple weeks.
it depends on what you want to do with your crop, sell it in bulk bunches all at once, or enjoy it at your leisure. a gourmet delight in abundance. it is easily put up and pickled.
spicy dilled asparagus pickles are so good they will make you “slap yore grandma”….. a southernism which conveys the meaning very well, if granny was truly a consummate country cook.
another plus, the cut spears are long-lived and hardy; they keep in excellent condition-with no real flavor loss, in ziploc bags for a week or more, if you need to save them.
although so very delicious, i don’t necessarily want to eat it daily-all day, for breakfast (eggs benedict) lunch (cream soup) and dinner( with lemon butter and roast chicken)
actually, it has been my good fortune to have had all of these over the last week =D

3- care and cultivation: in spite of being very deep rooted, asparagus requires adequate water supply throughout the entire growing season, especially with our ongoing drought conditions here in the south. i water infrequently, a good long slow soak.
if you have chosen to rake off the spring mulch, it can be re-applied or added around the small spears growing up, post harvest, but must be very carefully tucked in.
do not wait too long to do this. if they have grown up too far into the very-tender
new ferns, don’t disturb them with mulching at that time.
just keep an eye on the amount of timely rains over the season ( it rarely needs an extra soaking) and add back a mulch cover after the ashing in fall. it will bear
a reduced crop in times of extreme hot dry weather, and should not be cut at all
during those( infrequent) high-stress conditions.

4- some words about planting technique: after working their nourishments into
the bottom of ditch, build a 6″mound of soil for each root, approx 2.5 to 3′ apart
(crowns spread in size as they mature over the years). arrange roots carefully around the crown sitting on top of the mound, they should never lie above crown level, arched slightly below is best. carefully place soil around the spidery thick roots, tucking and lightly firming with your fingers so they are well set with no air pockets.
keeping a good eye on the actual crown level, and partially fill in the ditch with the prepared dirt. the ditch row should be about half full, with crowns just at or below the surface. let the next good rain wash them in. if needed, add a bit more soil to keep the crowns barely covered and the warming sun will soon cause tiny sprouts to show you that their roots are well established and active. over the next week, gradually add layers of soil as they grow, until ditch is filled or slightly mounded. mulch well, using lighter materials , like old hay or wheatstraw, so as not to break their tender necks.

5- plants: the newer all-male hybrids are far superior in their bounteous harvest of spears.
they expend no energy on the seed/fruit process thus giving better crops.
purchase the oldest roots you can afford. 2yr. are most common, and give a very
small harvest the next season(which ought to be left alone to better nourish the
growing roots.) full production of larger stalks comes in 3d planting season, and spears increase in size with age of your bed.
the giant grade or 3 yr. roots are pricey…. they’re for for the immediate-gratification types.
one-year roots are cheapest, you can buy lots more but you must wait 3-4 years.
it is up to you and your garden budget. just remember this is an extremely longterm investment! it is more like planting fruit trees. 20 plants provide enough for a family for the spring season, but you and your friends will soon be hooked. more will be put in the ground, i promise… if you can get some digging help with bribes of bunches of the new crop, so much the better.

my french grandmother had a 50′ bed of blanched white asparagus. a bunch of
Mrs. Witman’s white asparagus was always an extremely welcomed and prized gift!
that bed was producing before i was born, and we greedily ate them every spring
whenever we visited the farm; i am certain its delicate sweet flavor, eagerly
awaited each childhood spring, created my lifelong asparagus passion!

Making Moss

May 9, 2008 by Ilona Erwin

mossgraffiti: “Moss Graffiti” is something I’ve tried before, but not with such an easy recipe. Time to try again. there are times you want to dress down your pond area and things like that…. gardeners like things like moss and lichens:)
moss art

The basic recipe is as follows, with more detailed instructions here:

1 can of beer
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Several clumps garden moss

a plastic container (with lid),
a blender and a paintbrush
_________________________________________________

To begin the recipe, first of all gather together several clumps of moss (moss can usually be found in moist, shady places) and crumble them into a blender. Then add the beer and sugar and blend just long enough to create a smooth, creamy consistency. Now pour the mixture into a plastic container.

Find a suitable damp and shady wall on to which you can apply your moss milkshake.

Along with the unique idea given, a gardener might want to hurry up the ‘moss process’ for any number of decorative projects. Giving character to pots and urns, a natural appearance to rocks around ponds, fountains, or making a rock or wall look like it had been there forever.

In growing a moss garden, Joni Blackburn, in Mad About Moss, said,

although I was curious to see if the often prescribed blended-buttermilk-and-moss method would work, I couldn’t bring myself to sacrifice my only blender to a botany experiment.

She does, however give a springtime “tonic of manure tea”; also recommended was a book, Moss Gardening: Including Lichens, Liverworts and Other Miniatures.

Ferns and moss naturally grow together and make a peaceful green garden. As long as there is little foot traffic, I think it would make a very low maintenance garden for the right conditions: a shady side yard that has sufficient moisture. Add a few stones, a fountain or garden ornament, a bench, and it could become your favorite place to sit and meditate… a small Serenity Garden.

TIME LIFE PLANT ENCYCOLPEDIA

True mosses grow 1/16 to 24 inches tall. They have many tiny flat leaves and stems that are often too closely packed to distinguish. The leaves expand when wet and close up when dry. Thousands of plants bunch together to make a patch of moss. Like ferns, mosses grow from spores. The spores develop green threadlike branches called protonema, which push into the ground and eventually develop leaves. The plants do not have true roots but attach themselves by tiny rootlets to the material on which they grow. By absorbing water, mosses allow moisture to soak into the ground gradually and help enrich the soil when they decay.

More ideas for growing and decorating with moss

Tags: moss, serenity garden