Challenges...

Are you a gardener?

the joy of watching things grow

Only to be trampled…


I had a recent conversation with a fellow gardener who reminded me that you’re either a gardener or a dog lover, and if you’re devoted to your garden, you don’t own a dog. Well, I happen to be a terrier lover and a gardener. When we moved to our current home I begged for a terrier and we soon rescued a delightful Australian terrier with short legs who quickly adapted to the fences placed around our landscape. He would occasionally dig but never to any great detriment and we all spent many great hours outdoors in blissful coexistence.

When we lost our four legged companion to cancer, we vowed not to replace him, but in donating items to our local shelter we were captivated by this little white terrier. Bella is an engaging addition to our routine but she’s a Jack Russell and a true definition of a terror in the garden. I should have known we’d be in for an adventure, no sooner than I introduced her to her new yard, she looked up at me, took a vertical leap to the envy of many and dove into the tiger lilies emerging with a toad egger to share her prize with me! I haven’t seen the toad much, but after some hard lessons, we are resigned to protect any new transplants with generous applications of chicken wire to insulate them from the ravage of her daily quest for the resident field mouse.

We used to place pots for their esthetic use in the garden, now they serve to temporally divert Bella’s devoted pursuit of whatever sound captures her complete attention at the moment. Her daily trash talk with the neighbor dogs over who’s really in charge, keeps her nails in shape but walk may never fully recover.

MISTAKES

I've sure made a lot of mistakes since I started gardening - the vast majority were small and inconsequential, however two really stand out that make me wish I could have a 'do-over'. The first and most fundamental mistake was not studying the sun's pattern throughout the year as it exposed various parts of the yard to full sun and/or shade. I sure would not have placed various elements and components of our back yard garden where I did - most notably the terrace. So now I'm stuck doing modifications to make it more useful for our summer enjoyment. And the other big mistake - the one every garden book and gardener preaches - AMENDING THE SOIL. Yes we were in such amateurish haste to start planting and enjoy the benefits of our efforts that I never properly amended the soil. Here in the midwest we have the worst soil - because it really isn't soil - underneath 6 to 12 inches of black soil is heavy clay - the kind of stuff NOTHING can really grow in. No wonder the prairie of the midwest is dominated by native plants that are tougher than tough.
So there it is. My major gardening mistakes. I'll comment more on these in future posts and on several of the lesser gardening mistakes I've made. I guess I'm continuing to learn and hope I never stop.

Ah....

Suspicious delight

a graceful flower appears

a weed, determined



One persons weed is another's delight...are weeds the bane of your existence? Just how many monarch butterflies have you spotted this season? Their particular munchies of choice are:

Apocynum cannabinum - Indian Hemp
Asclepias incarnata - Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias syriaca - Common Milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa - Butterfly Weed
Aster sp. - asters
Cirsium sp. - thistles
Daucus carota - Wild Carrot
Dipsacus sylvestris - Teasel
Erigeron canadensis - Horseweed
Eupatorium maculatum - Spotted Joe-Pye Weed
Euptorium perfoliatum - Common Boneset
Hesperis matronalis - Dame's Rocket
Medicago sativa - Alfalfa
Solidago sp. - golden rods
Syringa vulgaris - Lilac
Trifolium pratense - Red Clover
Vernonia altissima - Tall Ironweed[22]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_(butterfly)

It’s a sure bet not many of these are currently in residence in very many gardens.
I began this journey after a conversation with my gardening consultant and sometimes adversary or advisory (I’ll leave the final determination up to you) on an unidentified plant which took up residence in our garden. We decided to let it grow to determine what it was. It turned in a pretty nice performance with a wonderful delicate flower that butterflies were attracted to. Which lead to my haiku, then wiki search and here we are. Oh, about that “weed” I’m still not sure, but what a journey it has been.

HOW I GOT INTO THIS MESS

I didn't always garden. In fact I didn't ever consider gardening until Terre and I bought our house in 2001. Terre was insistent on wanting a house with a yard so that she could have a dog. So we bought a place with a postage-sized lot on the 'prairie' in suburban Chicago. Having a natural adversion to lawn care (a childhood affliction) and realizing that something had to be done with this piece of scrup grass I had little choice but to consider gardening. Besides the back yard would need completely fenced in if 'Stinky' (the mythical dog) was to join our family. And I promised Terre she would have an electric garage door opener (detached garage/buried electrical line from the house) by winter. Then two events got us going - the spring inexpensive plant sale at the local supermarket, and the discovery of an old flagstone patio buried under 4 inches of soil and grass. I now had enough stone to build a walk, a wall and you get the picture. I was off and running.