Today held a MASSIVE installation of 25+ yards of homemade compost, a whopper of a huge bag of sterile compost for the existing flower/herb beds, 104 pine needle mulch bales and a Dingo and a very large caterpillar device. Not to mention the 5 people it took to get it all done today. The work isn’t quite finished, but it’s well on the way to completion. Even with 5 people, it’s hard to do that much shifting and scooping in 6 hours. I will post a final “after” shot so you can get the entire scope of what exactly has happened (if you even care! ).

I mentioned what they put in, but just listen to what they took out. They brought three massive landscape trucks, one being a literal dumpster size, and they hauled out two trucks of nasty, mucky clay and rocks… and a fence panel that just had to go! With the entry to our back garden now open, it feels so much more grand and more welcoming. It was past time to take down the barrier. It’s going to be really something special getting it to come to fruition over the next few years. This was a brilliant first step.

Marvin, the owner operator of Marvin’s Organic Gardens, was at the helm, followed by Ricky organizing all duties to be done. They worked splendidly well all together, a total of 5 people, and it truly seemed like they all respected each other, and the plants. They were all very careful not to disturb a newly made nest of a Robin on the fence post. Marvin drew it to everyone’s attention right as I told him. I watched in sadness all through the week building up to the work day, hoping she’d wait until after the digging and noise, but she laid her eggs and sat for two days and nights right before they got there. I do hope she returns and the two blue eggs hatch and fly away someday soon. I know she came back soon after they left. Perhaps she’s there now?

My first experience two years ago, with the “rock wall” project, I didn’t feel this way about the crew of the other landscape outfit at all. I almost felt I was just barely tolerated at my own house and felt I was intruding and not welcome if I came to see what was going on. But this time that wasn’t at all the case, thank goodness! Marvin and his crew are fabulous to work with on site. There’s never a wrong question and they actually want you to be happy. What a concept! I’ve been going to Marvin’s place (greenhouse/garden center) for many years now. I will continue to go back and promote them in any way possible. It’s not just about the work they do, it’s about what they plant along with it. Hope.

My “other parents”, also known to most people as in-laws (but I hate that term), Peter & Carol also had their garden done by Marvin last Fall. They are loving the spring flush of bulbs that Marvin and Ricky planted. Plus, all of their new plants are doing very well. Their Hellebores are spectacular!! Now, they will have a relatively maintenance-free garden full of life and color. It’s because of them that I learned of Marvin in the first place… a flier in the mail that Mummy Carol thought I might find useful. Boy did I!! I’ve never been so grateful for a flier in my life! Now, we all share a love of Marvin’s Organic Gardens. It’s the only place we’ll get plants from now on!

So, as they left for the day, I joyfully went out, wellies on feet, and began uncovering some of the little babies that were under their fresh mulch. The thing about the pine straw mulch is that it’s so easy to cover and uncover a plant without disturbing the plant itself. I’m loving it already! So, I’m winding around, plant to plant, making sure everything is ok. And, happily, everything is. War-N watched me from the kitchen window enjoying the joy I expressed as I tended to my babies. It has already given both of us so much joy and it isn’t even finished yet! Not one new plant has gone into the ground yet, but I feel that the garden has already benefited tenfold just from today alone. Things look greener, seem more alive and look much, much better. Step two with a few plants and re-seeding all grassy areas will follow within a week or so. I get to meet with Marvin again to decide final plant choices this week. That’s the ultra fun part. Plants!!

In the meantime, Marvin gave me a task list of things I need to do before they come back. Excellent!! One of those tasks is that I get to build another new rock wall in front of the house. I’m building it out of existing rocks that are around my trees and such. Turns out I wasn’t giving my trees enough of a “ring” around them for growth and water absorption. One of the many lessons I’m learning. So, I’m getting them away from the trees and building another raised bed for compost and new plants. When it’s all nice and done, it’ll just be grow, grow, GROW!! This has forced me to really clean out the garden and all that will remain will be … a Garden! No storage bits, extra wood pieces left strewn about, empty pots, messiness and the like. Only a nice, glorious, healthy green space full of life. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. A true garden.

It’s funny… as Marvin & co. were cleaning up, one of our neighbors had been watching the process. He is a very nice man that I’d waved to on occasion on our nightly walks. Very friendly guy. He was very interested in what they were doing and asked (rather forcefully, but nicely) that Marvin come to his house right after he was done here. So, Marvin did! He was dog tired, but off he went to help another potential customer. I do wonder what time he and Lily (the wonder-dog) finally got home?

So, this will be a good garden year for me. I’m constantly learning and constantly hungry for more information that I can learn about organic gardening and plants in general. I used to think I was too old to learn new things a few years ago. Turns out, I was just trying to learn the wrong things. If there’s no interest, there’s no learning. It just won’t happen. I never want to stop learning. That much, I know.

I shall report back again when the project is complete. There will be some grand photo “before & after” shots. It’s so amazing I can hardly believe it’s finally happening! Even War-N is excited to see the final product. Even at this at this stage, he’s so impressed!

And whether you garden or not, enjoy the great outdoors and all it has to offer. There’s something for everyone… somewhere.

Much love to all.

cb

What a start to Fall, ay? Still in the upper 80′s here in the Ohio area and not much cool weather yet. The mornings are cool, so that’s a plus. Also, the days are getting shorter…YAY! I do love a nice dark morning to greet me after I take War-N to the bus. It gives me that “Winter” feeling and I can pretend, at least for half of the day. Also, I can go outside very early and enjoy the garden before it gets too hot. Just this morning I sat outside in my big blue chair, sipped my tea slowly and watched the birds fly from house to house avoiding loud sounds. I had my hand over my cup too, in case the birds decided to “drop” anything Hee hee!

So, I started my day with a lovely breakfast with War-N. Then, I took him to the bus and came home to enjoy my tea and time with the boys. Peanut has become much more of a lap cat lately, and Sebastian always was. So, it’s nice to have them fight over who will sit with me first! Lately, Peanut wins.

Peanut’s fur is growing back nicely. After his clean, close shave about 4 weeks ago, you can’t even tell in most photos that he’s been shaved. He’s still as regal as ever and loves being free of his dreadful dreads! He does have a bit of a resemblance to a poodle, though :/

Sebastian enjoys starting his day with the back door open, no matter the weather. He cries if you DON’T open the door! And why is it that Sebastian is so cute, and Peanut is so handsome? Size? Eyes? What is it?? Not that it matters. Just a wonderin’.

So, onto Garden News!! Aside from getting my fingers pricked by pulling the wrong weeds bare handed, I have been busy with normal maintenance (mowing, weeding, whacking and the like) and planting my Fall plant of choice, Mums. Crysanths to you lot in England! I usually go for the rusty varieties and the darker shades. I managed to get a lot of the deep colours, but I have offset them with the Bronze colours as well. It will be a big surprise as to what the Bronze ones look like though, as no buds were open as of yet. Yay…a garden surprise!

I love this particular plant. It’s a red variety mum, not blooming yet either, which name escapes me at the moment. I just love the way some of it hangs over the front of the pot. I think this one works very well in this pot. I can’t wait for opening day!

This one is an orange variety and looks great in an orange terra-cotta pot with the blue-grey rocks as a backdrop. You can see its colours already, so I just look forward to more of it.

I did a special project for Halloween, too. I got two plain old plastic black cauldrons at a craft store. I drilled 4 drainage holes in the bottom and voila! A cauldron planter for my Mums! I put them on the front porch so I can enjoy them when I sit in me rocker. The drill went through that plastic like butter, baby! Easy peasy. These varieties are Caesar Bronze (left) and Sunset Orange (right).

Then, I planted the smaller babies in the ground, mainly because I ran out of pots! I moved my Rosemary pots behind the newly planted Mums in hopes to make a cute little area for adding pumpkins and such to a bit later. I think it will work when it has more visual impact.

Speaking of Rosemary, the one in my front bed really found its roots this season! I can remember when it was a little twig of a plant that slightly resembled a small christmas tree. It, and its sister plant out back, are both flowering now. It’s so easy to not see their flowers. They are a light blue and they get lost in the sky behind them. You know what they say about Rosemary, don’t you? Where Rosemary grows, a wise, powerful woman is in charge Not really, but something like that.

Under this Rosemary is a special remembrance stone for Chloe that my sister Angie gave to me. I named her Chloe Jr., obviously, and I thought under Rosemary was an appropriate place. After all, “Rosemary is for Remembrance”.

Then, I have my growing rock collection, mostly given to me by my nephew, Jason, who is a master at collecting interesting rocks. This one looks like an old-fashioned telephone, complete with handset AND base!

He found these two rocks at the Hamilton Riverbank. I sat and watched clouds as he collected rock after rock. It’s so cool what he comes back with! He said these were for me & War-N. So, I put them under the “love seat bench” at the top of the garden.

I have some other random rocks he gave me that I just use here and there for great accents. This looks like a little river of rocks going under the pot. I love a little rock play in the garden, obviously!

And get this! These Willows were the tiny twiglets leftover from nearly three years of being in the wrong place. We had 10 originally, given to us by War-N’s parents, Peter & Carol, and we had to move them due to an error in property lines and fence problems. So, I moved them to the lowest point at the time and the didn’t like it there either and never really grew at all. Then, when we had the work done in the back yard, I moved the remaining living ones, 5 total, to the top bed with the most new, good soil in the bed. Since July, they are now nearly as tall as me and quite a bit wider than I am I’ll have a private Willow cove by next Summer! I certainly won’t be planting any additional Willows. 5 is quite enough for our space!

Then, on the subject of strawberries, they sure do like to play leapfrog! My eldest sister Angie, my Gardening Angel, gave me tons of plants a few months back. Some of them were strawberry plants from her own divisions. She gave me 11 and, after my count this morning, I have 37 contact points with the ground! Each “runner” (the little red vines) make little offshoots which, in turn, make another plant. These seem to be easy enough to control at this stage. You simply cut them off where you don’t want them to go. I want them to fill in the lower lip of the right hand side, so I’ll let them run for now. You can’t see all of them in this shot. But, trust me, there are plenty! One of the tiniest plants, with no offshoots, is even producing 2 berries in the dead end of summer! Wow. I can’t wait for the strawberry flowers in early summer next year!

Now, on to some red colour! When I planted this sturdy, blue-flowering plant, Plumbago (Leadwort to most folks), I had no idea of the glorious red colour it gets with age. After the flowers are spent, it starts to turn red…even in August. I just let it do its thing and see what happened. It surpassed the Dead Nettle beside it and went on to live a happy, healthy life as a red plant. Actually, I think my Dead Nettle died! I guess it lived up to its name, huh? Oh well. Lesson learned.

More red in the garden will follow, just a few feet north of the plumbago. Above the leadwort’s head is Russell, The Red Maple. This is the ‘October Glory’ variety and I’m starting to see signs of why. This tree will look like it’s on fire when all the leaves are in full fall colour! I’m REALLY looking forward to this show. Just the peep show is cool so far! This is also why I got this particular Maple to begin with.

Out in the front bed, I discovered a few other types of species. I saw in a few of my Rue plants a yellow, white and black caterpillar. I didn’t know what type of caterpillar it was, so I looked it up during one of our weekly trips to the bookstore. I swear to Goddess I opened the book, which was hundreds of pages, to the EXACT caterpillar that was in my garden! I looked further and found another possible match. But no. It was the first one I saw. Craziness. The match was a Black Swallowtail Butterfly. Well, it will be soon. The other candidate was the Monarch. But, the Monarch was absolute stripes with no spots and funny little antennae on its head. I don’t normally go for the crawling specimens. I saw one and I was ok. Then, I noticed quite a few on one plant. I instantly felt sick and ran inside!! Am I a girl or what? Now, it seems to only be this little guy. At least, I can’t SEE any others out there.

My “once Around” garden stroll began and ended with the eyes of Peanut and Sebastian. You can’t see Seb’s eyes fully, but if you look closely, you can see one of his eyes in the flower head of the Yarrow. Aw. My dear, sweet boys! They, of course, sat and watched out back as I took picture after picture. Peanut gets mad after a while and really wants me to either come in, or let him out! I won’t do the latter, so I go in

I can’t describe the feelings I get when I look at my now growing garden. To see it how it used to be, and how it is now, is such a huge transformation already. I feel so much more calm when I visit the back yard now. I used to feel ill and depressed every single time I looked out at our barren hill. No more of that, please! Even though it will all go to sleep, I know it will come back stronger, fuller, greener and more alive! Plus, I can watch the new shoots emerge from the ground. My oh my, I love every part of gardening!

This is a nearly full view of the back garden at its current state, Mum pots and all. I know you wanted to see it, Christopher, so here ya go

Okie, dokie. That’s about it for now. I have bulbs coming to me today which I shall plant when it finally cools down. 3 types of Muscari (Grape Hyacinth) and 2 types of Iris. Join me next time when I’ll be planting all of those beauties!

With a Cup of Tea,

Christa Belle

P.S. The alignment of this article is not fully representative of my vision. I couldn’t get my code to obey me, so I left it as it is now. Not horrid, but not great either Sorry.

So, outside I went to find many glorious treasures of new growth, and much more green than I was expecting. It was early morning, around 8 AM (early to some, not so early to others!) and the light was hitting the leaves of the Viburnum (‘Blue Muffin’) so gracefully.

This particular Viburnum is in the Arrowwood family, as well as being a ‘dentatum’ cultivar. That just means that it looks like an arrow and also has teeth-like ridges along the outer edges of the leaves. It’s pretty cool how these things have been named. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense! The ‘Blue Muffin’ has white flowers in spring followed by dark blue fruits/berries in summer. The birds absolutely LOVE this shrub. It offers protection and food. What better combo for a bird can you get?

I kept this metal sign that was on my Viburnum. There was one on each of the 4 plants I got, but this one was the least damaged and most readable. I keep it underneath one of the four that I have for identification. I love that someone hand scratched this and took the time to put one on each individual plant. The metal is so pliable and soft. I like it!

Another of my favourite newly planted specimens is the Hydrangea Panticulata ‘Brussels Lace’. It’s definitely more of a tough landscaping plant that it would seem. It’s not like it’s sisters, the mopheads, lacecaps and such, who need more shade and attention. This beauty stands out in the heat, sun and just blooms away! As long as it gets it’s fair amount of water, it’ll stand through 100F +!! This past week is testament to that!

This graceful baby sports scentless, white on white spikes of flowers surrounding smaller clusters of tiny florets. It’s dark green glossy leaves add a splendid touch of contrast that pokes through any shade to add a bright touch of white. An important element in my garden, as it’s a lot of mostly green plants…so far.

I think most people would want more fragrance than I search for. With myself, and my husband, we often can’t tolerate a strong fragrance in a garden, such as Lilies, without getting a blinding headache! So, I research and find the varieties that offer the LEAST amount of fragrance. If it is a variety I want and it does have fragrance, I at least make sure it’s a short-lived bloom or that it fades after the first few days. So, my ultimate goal is a Rose and Herb garden that makes no scents!

Speaking of Roses, my Fairy Roses are doing spankingly well. With new buds-a-plenty, they just keep growing new canes, new leaflets and new buds daily. Whatever I did, I’m thrilled they are so happy.

As you can see on this close-up of the new flower, the sun is making them less pink than they normally are. As I get more shade from surrounding plants, I’m sure they will be more pink in the future. I have also noticed that this second flush of flowers is less clustered than the first. It’s more single blooms. I don’t mind either way. I just like looking at them. They also offer very little fragrance

Then there’s my troubled Willow babes. This is the third time they’ve been moved, and we lost 4 of them when we moved them. The ones that lived are now doing much better than they ever have. This one in particular seems to be growing out as well as up! I couldn’t be happier about this. There’s something about this new soil that the plants either love or hate. The Willows are sure loving it. It seems to hold more moisture without making the plants have wet feet…which only a few plants truly like. This also keeps the roots cool and the top hot and sunny. A hard nut to crack in the garden world, but a true triumph when it happens. Again, more shade from other surrounding plants in the future will help nearly all the other plants, including the Willows.

Then there’s this freaky, sturdy little shrub. The Shoal Chaste Tree (Vitex agnus-castus ‘Shoal Creek’). You can ignore it till the cows come home and it will just get more and more new growth! It requires very little water, attracts butterflies and loves a sunny spot. The leaves are slightly fragrant when you brush by them or rub them between your fingers. A very curious little plant that I’m glad I brought home with me. It sits perched on the back corner of the house waiting to greet visitors who meander to the back garden. I planted this about a month ago and it has so much new growth it’s ridiculous! I’m absolutely loving this one so far.

And then there’s Russel, my ‘October Glory’ Red Maple. No problems as of yet and he’s standing tall through the heat as well without a single day of wilting.

Isn’t the red on the veins and stems amazing? I’m so curious for the Fall colour this will provide. Then, I can save the leaves and make my own nutrient rich leaf mold. Always a bonus to give back to the garden with last years remnants. I named him Russell because he makes such a wonderful sound in the wind. How cheesy am I??

Well, my ladybug tells me of luck in my garden in the future. I hope she’s right! Anytime you see a ladybug in your garden, you know the garden is alive and well

I hope to plant a load of Roses, Peonies, a new tree or two and some varieties of Muscari in September/October. Join me then as I walk through that process of planting in the Fall. You may see my gardening helper who only shows up in the cooler months

Until then, I’m in the Garden!!

CB

As you can plainly see, this was a horrid mess of erosion, badly flooded clay mud and a nice dead Pine tree in the corner! You can’t even see the Willows at the cusp of the hill as they are hidden by dead grassy growth. YUCKY POO POO!! So, you understand why I complained the way I did! Yeah?

Now, the lovely, ever-expanding new back garden. Well on it’s way to being lovely We haven’t had any massive pooling, as we did before, and the plants growing here now are already growing in size. This took roughly two and a half days for a company to come in and do all the heavy Bobcat work, moving the boulders, and hauling in tons (literally) of good soil, peat moss and mulch. This isn’t the whole of the back garden, but it’s the main view.

The fine, green blades of the new grass (a dwarf fescue) is already growing by leaps and bounds. I am amazed any grass is growing now. I can hardly believe it!! I’m not normally a grass person, but this dwarf fescue seems as though it will be a dream to walk on. Isn’t it cute?? I love the tiny rain drops clinging to the tips of the blades.

War-N’s favourite view is of the new, lovely, sturdy stone steps! They are graced with three potted Rosemary plants (‘Athens Blue Spires’ variety) and the top pot is my absolute favourite blue ever!!

I have started planting bit by bit and it already looks so much more lovely! The view from our living room chair frames the perfect view of the newly planted Fairy Roses, Phlox and the Hybrid Willows in front of Marge, my Tulip Poplar.

Some new plantings are a Coral Bell (‘Purple Palace’), freshly rained on, and looking lovely.

Also, beside the Coral Bells, are some Columbines. These are ‘Winky Purple & White”. What makes them “Winky”, I have no idea?? If anyone else does, let me know!

I plan to add many more varieties of Columbines in whites and blush colours. The mood goal of this back garden is calm, inspiring and just a comfy, cozy place to contemplate music, art, food and life in general.

Then, here is one of my Rue babies that showed up in my front area. I have managed to get 6 new plants just from luck and a windy day. I had to really search in the messy bed, full of wild grasses and not much else, but I saw the distinctive leaves of the Rue and just dug them up…VERY gently! They are growing rapidly in good soil and I’m glad I took the time, and effort, to save them. They say to be very careful with Rue because it can cause a skin reaction in some people. It doesn’t affect me, so I’m happy to live happily with my non-reactive Rue. Did you know the Rue plant was the inspiration for the Club design on a deck of cards? Cool, huh?

Apparently, I’m making what is also knows as a “Mary Garden”. I want tons of blues & whites, as that is my fav colour and it calms me down the most. The blues & whites are also used for the colours of the Virgin Mary. I didn’t know that’s what I was doing, but hey! We can all enjoy the great garden in blue & white. Maybe I’ll put a Mary out there in statue form. Who knows? There are a lot of things I still have no idea what I’m doing out there. I’m letting the garden tell me what to do.

Now, here are some of my fav photos I shared some of these with a few family members and they really liked them. The first is a combination potted planting I did about a month ago. It is bigger and more full and lush now, but this was how it looked right from the start! Just imagine it now!!

These are Tuberous Begonias (the pinkish one is called ‘Henny’, the red one is called ‘Barkos’) and they are planted with a Silver Mound (Artemesia, ‘Nana’ variety) right in the middle. It has really expanded and fills in all the open spaces at the edges of the pot. I must show a more recent picture later. It’s my fav arrangement I’ve ever done, thus far It sits on my front porch, near my rocking chair, and I just sit and enjoy it’s lushness and gorgeous blooms. I often have a cuppa on the porch in the morning and just enjoy the fullness of my front garden.

Speaking of Silver Mound, I planted a rather large one under my Birch tree, Sally, in our front yard. It looks great with the rock wall that I built around the tree. I will definitely be putting more underneath the Birch next year, or even this Fall

This helps to shade Sally’s roots and keep her in a little bit of a better condition. I will be planting a tree to shade Sally further this Fall. She’s ok for now, but she’s really not very happy :/ I was unaware at the time we planted her of the proper conditions she should have had. So, I strongly suggest you do a little research on larger plantings before you dig and plant and then wonder why it’s not doing well. I am a research queen now!!

Then, here’s the Lavender from the front bed. I believe this is the ‘Hidcote’ variety.

I have ‘Munstead’ as well,but it is paler and was my own seedling from 3 years ago.

The Lavenders were purchased, as are a lot of my plants, from a place called Marvin’s. Actually, I shall give you my list of my most frequented nurseries. Here they are:

Marvin’s Organic Gardens, Lebanon, OH. A superb place for organic plants, seeds, soil amendments and a great abundance of knowledge!! Marvin will never steer you in the wrong direction! I will always go to them for advice.

Sharon Nursery, Maineville, OH. Located near Mason, OH, and my In-Laws, I often go here just for the ambiance. It tempts me to buy, but I can often restrain from purchasing and just enjoy the surroundings. The Begonias and Silver Mounds came from here. They always have healthy, gorgeous plants. Such a tempting place!!

Meyer’s Garden Center & Landscaping, Fairfied, OH. They don’t have a website, but boy do they have fabulous plants! They are mostly shrubs and trees and foundation plantings. I got my Fairy Roses from them, and will be getting more trees from them very soon! Always happy, willing and able to give advice, they have steered me away from bad choices for my soil type and weak tree choices. Who in the world would do that but a TRUE gardener! I love that they don’t want to always make a sale. They’d much rather their plants go to a good, knowledgeable home!

Lakeview Garden Center, Fairfield, OH. This is our main source for trees. We’ve gotten most of our trees from them, and they are the ones who did the work in the back garden. Wow! I go here when I need to be surrounded by mature trees. They are expanding their nursery section too, so I can get great, large specimen plants for the new areas closer to home. You should see their Hosta and Rose sections. Lovely!!

Well, I do believe that should do it for this first installation of my Gardening progress. Please send me a comment if you have anything you think I’d be interested in. Sharing, especially in the garden, is always great!!

Always Growing,

CB