The Unplantables

The thing that started my love of plants was my mother's sudden obsession with trees. You could say she planted the seeds. (Too good/predictable to let slide!) She, um... would look at trees while driving and try to identify them. I didn't like this, but it made me very curious as to what the big fuss was about.

The problem is, I became better at it. She's not a gardener. She loves wooded areas and wildlife and she knows her oak from a maple and she knows the common names to a few plants, usually invasive ones, but not much else. But that's neither here or there. The topic I'm trying to get to here is i-n-v-a-s-i-v-e-s. So many garden plants still available are unfortunately invasive. Not in the garden sense, but the ecological one. I love the forest, the swamps, the meadows, and I can't with a good conscience plant species that are ecologically damaging. Even ones that aren't (yet) in New Jersey, but I feel could be.

Like:

Photo courtesy of Monrovia

(Pennisetum alopecuroides)

I love that plant. I love the way it looks. So whimsical, light, and airy. It softens other more rigid plantings and looks great with wildflowers. What I don't love about it is that it potentially invasive. Although, I hear that purple fountain grass is fine to plant. It's an annual here anyway.

As far as I know, there is no good native substitute for this. I tried both white and pink muhly grasses (Muhlenbergia capillaris) last year, and although they're meant to be good to zone 7 and sometimes 6, only the largest clump that I found at a local nursery survived. They did incredibly well all summer, tripling in size, and then never came back. I attribute this to improper drainage, maybe. They weren't in a wet area, but maybe still too wet for these xeric beauties. Maybe I could get them to work if I had a sloped area in full sun (spoiler alert: I don't.).

Rip, muhly guys.

Another unplantable:

 Photo courtesy of Missouri Botanical Garden

(Duetzia gracilis)

That one is even on our unofficial state list that I refer to, which you can browse here if you really want to. Deutzia is a beautiful, beautiful shrub. I have a weakness for white flowers. The good news is native Clethra and Philadelphus shrubs can fill the white-flowering-shrub void. 

Last unplantable of the post:

Photo courtesy of White Flower Farm

(Clematis terniflora)

A classic. Sweet autumn clematis, or SAC. You drive me crazy, SAC. You are too pretty to be real, but so damn invasive. I see you strangling trees all the time. Luckily I know of an almost 1-for-1 native alternative. Clematis virginiana, or Virgin's Bower, looks almost identical to SAC. It also blooms around the same time. This will likely be an addition to my garden very, very soon. I hope it's just as vigorous as SAC, because I have a lot of fence to cover.

That's it for now. Here's an extra photo of my monster Supertunias. Note how they've started trying to take over the other plants. There is no escape.

I'm beyond impressed with their (borderline) invasive performance.

Violas & Virginity

So, I finally lost it. And by it, I mean my spray paint virginity. I'm no stranger to painting, ya know, when you dip a brush into some goop and spread it on to the desired surface as evenly as possible. I considered painting this old, rusty, found shepherd's hook with metal primer and oil paint, but with all the little nooks and crannies I decided it was time to just man up and to spray it.

Before

Originally I wanted to go with oil rubbed bronze, to "match" the door handle and light, but my local big box big store didn't seem to carry it so I settled for "hammered brown". Truthfully, the hammered texture is a lot subtler than I thought it would be, and for that I'm thankful.

After

Not perfect, but I don't care.

The petunias were $4 or so, and worth it just to tide me over until next year when I can do my own thing. I want plants trailing down to the ground!

So, tips. Other than follow the instructions, I repeated this mantra: "If you're a-sprayin' your arm better be a swayin'." (Obviously from YHL!) It really helped to make the paint go on evenly and without drips. If you spray full strength ahead at any one part, you're bound to get drips. Keep your arm moving and a thin later of paint will be deposited. The more thin coats, the better. When you're satisfied with the coverage, leave. Just leave and let it dry. Oh, and you have better been wearing a mask and eye protection while using the stuff. 

As for prep, I sanded down the very rough parts and then hosed it down and let it dry. There are still a few uneven spots, but they're covered in paint now so further oxidation isn't an issue right now. You'd have to get pretty close to the hook to see the uneven spots, and if you did I would ask why are you so close to my shepherd's hook.

Now, for the mystery violas! Last year, right before Hurricane Sandy, I planted many pansies. I planted both the cheaper regular type and "cool wave" pansies. Of the two, the cheaper ones are much better in the ground, and the cool wave in planters. The cool waves, as a groundcover, were cool in theory and did well... up until a point. Then they got leggy and awful looking, but it was almost summer anyway, so I guess their time was up. I'd recommend them for planters rather than the ground. Their real strengths are the spring after looking awful all winter (nobody can blame them). Can we do a before and after? Let's go for it.

Immediately after planting

Early spring

Pansy Peak

I like this pansy trick. Plant these anemic looking little things in the fall, have a few blooms until it gets real cold, and then in the spring you'll be in pansy heaven. Nobody believed me that they would live through the winter, and especially not in a galvanized planter, but I proved them wrong. An elderly neighbor even stopped by and bent down and touched them "to make sure they are real". It wasn't even hard to overwinter them. I threw snow on them when it snowed or gave them water when the soil got dangerously dry. They didn't look so good, but they were green and supple. Sleeping, I guess.

Anyway, the point. The pansies reseeded!! So now I have some mystery violas. 

Viola x ???

This is pretty exciting stuff, to me. Pansies are hybrids, so I have no idea how these will turn out, but I guess time will tell. In the meantime I guess I'll find another galvanized planter and do it all again.