Gardeners know when to "fold"

Gardeners are gamblers

We plant seeds or seedlings and we bet that we'll end up with a bountiful harvest, but it doesn't always happen that way. So when a crop is in distress, we need to yank it out and move on to something else. Case in point: our fall cucumber crop that I talked about last time. We had a pretty good harvest of 20 or so crispy cukes, but the vines got hit with a blight, so it was time to pull them out even though there were small fruits coming along and frost will not come until late December. The vines would not be able to overcome this fungus, and the longer you leave an ailing plant in the garden, the more likely it is to leave tainted soil behind. So I pulled the vines, gathered all the fallen leaves, and put them out with the yard trash. I never put diseased plants in the compost. We have to know when to fold, just like the old gambler...

"You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
"Know when to walk away and know when to run..."

Even though there were more cukes coming, I ripped them out.

Fall blight...

Eat your seeds!

Eat the seeds!

We enjoyed a lovely acorn squash for dinner the other night and I also prepared the seeds for eating.
Separate from the squash flesh, cook for 10 minutes in about a half an inch of salted water, and then place the seed/saltwater slurry on a cookie sheet to dry. I turn my oven to 300 degrees for 10 minutes and then turn it off, leaving the seeds in the warm oven for an hour. You can also dry the seeds in the hot afternoon sun. Of course, this is also fun to do with pumpkin seeds, which you may have on hand very soon.

Add a little salt to about 1/2 an inch of water, bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Pour the seeds onto a cookie sheet or pizza pan. Put in a cold oven, turn the heat to 300 degrees for 10 minutes and then turn off. After an hour, delicious seeds to eat.

Snags are so important for bluebirds and other wildlife.

 

Snags, stumps, and logs

Whenever possible leave this deadwood in your landscape to provide food and shelter for bluebirds and other wildlife.

I covered this in my upcoming book, "The Art of Maintaining a Florida Native Landscape." Marjorie Shropshire, my excellent illustrator, created a lovely drawing to illustrate the concept.

I turned in all the drawings and their captions into University Press of Florida this week. This was the last piece of the puzzle; I'd already turned in the final draft, the color photos and captions, the B&W photos and captions, and a collection of possible cover photos, so now the ball is in their court. Yay!

I hope you are enjoying the excellent gardening weather. Just remember, if you are planting trees or shrubs that this is the beginning of our dry season and extra irrigation will be needed for the best success.

Green Gardening Matters,
Ginny Stibolt

Sunrise this morning. How can you not love Florida sunrises?

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Mignonette

So I was reading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and I reached a spot in the book where Mary has found the secret garden and decided to grow flowers in it. She has her friend Dickon buy seeds for her. He bought her poppies and Mignonette. He told her they were the sweetest smelling flower in the world. You know what, I want a secret garden, I want Mignonette. Mignonette, also called Reseda has very plain flower spikes. They are often used in flower arrangements or potpourri because of such a sweet fragrance. 

According to Outside Pride
"Growing Minonette from see is not difficult, but the flower seed should be started outdoors as the plants do not transplant well. Prepare a seedbed and place the Mignonette seeds on the surface. Pressing the flower seed into the soil and barely covering. Maintain moisture until determination occurs. Thin the Mignonette seedlings to the strongest plant. 12 inches apart. Young Reseda Odorata plants should be pinched back to encourage a bushier growth habi. Mignonette seeds can be sown over a period of time to create a longer growing season."

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Tapping into the creative side of gardening

I've been thinking about this topic for a while:  this post a couple of years ago reflected on some of my thoughts then.

I totally rediscovered my creative side through gardening and thinking about designing with plants, in general.

Writing about my nature and gardening observations has been a wonderful creative outlet, I've realized, too, for the past seven years.  And through many posts. Teaching classes about gardening, too, has focused my attention back to creativity as well.

What do YOU really want in your garden?  It's all individual.  We all have different tastes, color preferences, plant memories, etc.

An artist friend of mine said "creativity" was a word that would scare folks away from a workshop or class;  she was right.

I've not managed to have a workshop or class make (around gardening and creativity) until this fall, now with the "Tapping into the Creative Side of Gardening" title).

It's puzzling to me, as so many gardeners are truly creative, but perhaps don't recognize it as such?

Artists who are also gardeners frequently create extraordinarily unusual gardens.  I was reviewing images this afternoon from some that I've seen (on Garden Bloggers Flings) -- amazing gardens!

Here are some images from Kayla Meadow's garden in the East Bay (Berkeley), CA, from 2012, visited during the SF Fling.

tiles, lilies etc.

a colorful combination

out a side door

a wonderful tiled area

my clogs matched the tiles

inside her house

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Still more monarchs

one of many monarchs nectaring on the large Buddleia

The flow of monarchs continues;  the abundant Buddleia flowers are actively being visited, with the nectar resources shared with Painted Ladies, skippers and other butterflies, and bees of all sorts!

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Monarchs, in abundance!

I wish I'd managed a photo today, but our one butterfly bush (Buddleia spp.) was covered in nectaring monarchs all afternoon, along with a few painted ladies and frittilaries.

There were at least 25 monarchs visiting, at about 4 pm, when I went out to check with my gardening companion (and assistant, too).  Marvelous.

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Remembering...

We often walk through downtown after dinner, when we're in the mountains. 

We enjoy seeing the scene -- tourists, locals, street musicians, and restaurants full of folks.  Our dog Woody likes the walk, too.

Asheville has been a destination for visitors throughout its history, from its heyday in the early 20th century, to its resurgence over the last three decades.

There are many "travelers" of all ages who pass through, too, as well as people that are really at the end of their resources, too. Fortunately, Asheville has bed and soup kitchen capacity for most all of them, unlike many southern cities.

This evening, we walked past a fellow on a bench near Pack Square (clearly 'down on his luck') who noticed Woody.  Woody's a rescue Golden, so is sometimes a bit timid, but he responded right away to this fellow.

It was magical to see how the man on the bench responded.  It clearly brought back memories of dogs that he had loved in his past.  It brought tears for me, too.

It reminded me of another moment, some years ago, watching a homeless woman, waiting for a meal, transplanting weeds.

These experiences are magical for all of us.

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Thank you, garden clubs!

In an odd twist, my garden club group in the mountains is co-hosting our District meeting (it cycles around the member clubs) tomorrow.

I never thought I'd be a member of a federated club, but was recruited by someone who's become a good friend, and who was one of the founding members of what is a wonderfully eclectic group of folks -- young, old, and everything in between.

We meet at different times and days each month, unlike traditional clubs. This helps mix things up and also includes many folks who work during the day, too.

I've TOTALLY appreciated the contributions of garden club work and my associations with garden club folks for the 3+ decades that I was a botanical garden staff member.

They do good things, and have done so for many decades. 

So, thanks, garden club members!

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