Friday, June 19, 2009 10:07 PM CDT
Yard and Garden: Time to relax and just smell the roses
By Jackie Record, Master Gardener
There has been good and bad news for backyard gardeners all spring. After the wettest and stormiest spring in recent memory, we are entitled to sit back and enjoy the beginning of summer.
The bluebells, tulips, daffodils and azaleas have come and gone, but we have lots of other garden blessings to enjoy. The spring flowering trees and bulbs were at their most beautiful this year, in spite of (or maybe because of) the torrential rains and occasional flooding in our area.
I am just sure there are mushroom spores in our basement and I am thinking of growing our own rice down there. Our tropical paradise in central Illinois is both lush and weedy but I don’t like to work too hard in summer.
I was brought up in the south, where we were trained to sit under a tree fanning ourselves and drinking sweet iced tea in hot weather, and trying to avoid heat stroke.
It won’t officially be summer for another few days but I am enjoying my blessings by walking around admiring the flowers that are already in bloom; daisies daylilies, yuccas, roses, clematis, sweet woodruff and lavender are in full bloom here.
Some of our hostas are showing their spiky blooms already, along with the annuals we have mixed around them for color. I don’t really like the blooms on most hostas; some of them look almost like weeds to me. I’ve resisted cutting their blooms so far, but fortunately they don’t last all that long.
There are other plants I don’t like well enough to grow here (cannas and gladioli come to mind) mostly because I am too lazy to dig bulbs and corms in the fall and figuring out how to store them out of reach of the mice and squirrels. I’d much rather spend my time planting new tulips and daffodils for the following spring.
Speaking of squirrels, some of my friends have been asking about Alphie, our resident squirrel, as they like to pretend they are concerned for his welfare, when I know they are enjoying the fact that I have been totally defeated by a rodent whose mission in life is to raise my blood pressure and bankrupt us buying bird seed.
I thought I had the problem licked; we bought safflower seeds (expensive) and filled our main feeder. The only problem is not only did Alphie not like it, most of the birds didn’t like it either. If only the squirrels would eat clover, like the rabbits do. Our rabbits LOVE clover, and we have lots of it, and lots of rabbits, too.
And then, most of the herbs that grow in my garden are maturing way too fast; I am spending parts of my days cutting off their seed heads. If the dill and basil go to seed I won’t have any for the lone tomato that is ripening on the one Early Girl plant that I brought home in a pot so that we could have a tomato or two before frost.
I was driving around Mattoon earlier this week, postponing the work waiting at home, and realized I could claim research for this article if I visited several of the public parks and admired their plantings.
We can’t exactly rival Champaign-Urbana where public plantings are concerned; those towns are much larger, and richer, too, but Lytle Park, Peterson Park and Friendship Park all look lovely, full of those ever-blooming Stella d’Oro daylilies, Russian sages and native grasses. Lots of homeowners have them, too, as do businesses and churches in the area. Mattoon’s grade schools have really impressive displays.
Or take a look at the Annabelle hydrangeas planted around the gazebo in Peterson Park. It may have been a disappointing spring for farmers but a lot of landscaping in the area just looks wonderful.
So, take a walk or a drive around your neighborhood and enjoy the hard work that your friends and neighbors have done. I guarantee it will brighten your day.
After complaining about all the water, I realize the heavy rains mean I don’t have to water for a while and I have been assured that the extra-cold winter means that we might have fewer problems with Japanese beetles and bagworms. I guess there is a positive side to almost everything.
Our tulip poplar tree that was struck by lightning last year will be coming down soon, opening up the east garden to sunlight, so we can grow all the sunny annuals I have been coveting for years and haven’t been able to grow.
And maybe Alphie the squirrel will grow tired of having to move from tree to tree and go pester some other family on our street. I do like to think positively.
If you have any horticulture questions, call the U of I Extension office at 345-7034. Volunteer master gardeners are in the office from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday and 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday and Friday. This column is based on information and materials at the University of Illinois Extension office, located at 707 Windsor Road, Suite A., Charleston, 61920; phone 345-7034; or Web site: www.extension.uiuc.edu/coles/.
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kamfong wrote on Jun 21, 2009 9:11 AM: