Gardens of the Wild Wild West

From the legendary plantsman, Michael A. Dirr, another brilliant tome:”Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs”. This is the book every garden center worth its trees should have at the ready. Any nursery I work with has the old edition: a falling-apart-mud-splashed copy under the checkout counter. They don’t hesitate to use it. You get an idea how valuable it is.

As a home gardener, if you are going to be spending your hard earned cash on trees for your garden, this is the book for you. Do the research, folks. Trees take time to grow. Trees should be placed carefully. Trees are an investment in time and money and they will pay you back handsomely if you put the right tree in the right place. 3500 photos, 952 pages. $79.95 and absolutely worth every penny. This week, Timber Press is giving away a copy of this remarkable book. Go HERE to sign up for the contest.

For years I’ve relied on my old Dirr, and for good reasons. Dirr’s knowledge of the plant material (trees, shrubs, fine vines) is amazing. He is unerring in his assessment of each plant, and lets you know exactly what he thinks.

On Cornus alba, Tartarian dogwood:  ”Their bright red and yellow stems (respectively) set against a steel-gray winter sky provide a tremendous psychological lift.”

I concur, whole-heartedly. And much better said than the old saw: provides good winter color.

And this bit about using the weeping white pine, Pinus strobus ‘Pendula’ just cracks me up:

“Use as an accent plant; one is acceptable, two represent bad taste, and three disgrace.”

In the world of landscape design, garden design, independent nurseries and the science of arboriculture, Michael Dirr is a rock star.  He has received the highest honors from the American Horticultural Society, Garden Clubs of America, and the American Society for Horticultural Science, among many others.

Oh yeah, and there’s an APP for that: Click here to find the $14.99 Dirr Tree Finder  http://www.timberpress.com/books/dirrs_tree_shrub_finder/dirr/9781604692136.

Disclosure: Yes, I am recommending this. Yes, I received a copy of it. I’d be buying one for myself if they hadn’t sent the one for review.

This is my contribution to GBBD, November 2011. The meme brainchild of Carol of May Dreams Gardens.

Yup, better late than not at all!

Dog lovers everywhere: here’s an eye opener. Beware the toxicity of grapes and raisins and the damage they can do to your beloved canine pet.

Read this: The consumption of grapes and raisins presents a potential health threat to dogs. Their toxicity to dogs can cause the animal to develop acute renal failure (the sudden development of kidney failure) with anuria (a lack of urine production). The phenomenon was first identified by the Animal Poison Control Center (APCC), run by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). A trend was seen as far back as 1999.[1] Approximately 140 cases were seen by the APCC in the one year from April 2003 to April 2004, with 50 developing symptoms and seven dying.[2]

So, our beloved Cash was noshing away on the pretty, tasty grapes we’d been tending the last few years. This is the second year we’ve had some to share with our friends. Enough for our table, and enough to pass around. And the dog loved them. Then, there was that nagging little voice in my husband’s head (NOT MINE, MIND YOU!). “Do I recall you telling me grapes aren’t good for dogs?”. Hmmmmmmmmmm. A quick internet search, a call to the emergency vet, a call to the ASPCA Poison Center, and then a trip to the vet. Dog had to spend the night w/an IV of fluids. ($$$$$$$$).

So remember:

and

DO NOT MIX. Thank you. This was a public service announcement.

For years now, I’ve lusted for a cupola for my garden. The shed went up this year, and I don’t think its big enough (scale-wise) to put a top hot on it. Didn’t stop me from buying one tho. Hell no. Had to have one. And my good pal Docky found this one on the way home one day:.

One of these days, we will dismantle it – by that I mean remove the bottom 1/3 of the metal sheeting – and then we can get it on a truck and get it home. It only took about 4 men and a flatbed to get it to her ranch. Until then, it sits happily at the Double Aught. Waiting. Patiently waiting. Yup, those are bullet holes.

Here was the one that started it all:

For Carol, May Dreams Gardens and her Bloom Day meme! Finally, I am back in the game.

Interesting to see what’s still growing and glowing in my garden. Kind of have those happy hot colors rocking it.

October Bloom Day 2011 AOctober Bloom Day 2011 B

October Bloom Day 2011 B

Folks,

Yes, this is shameless self promotion but that’s how books are sold these days. You can pre-order now at Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Hopefully, the book will be here in January vs. February.

You may want to turn your volumn down just a bit for this.

I rue the day I decided to go with my husband’s notion that asters were a pain in the ass. He has such a strong dislike of them -icky sticky gross – and I was so tired of whacking them back two or three times a season, each plant, to keep them a manageable, attractive shape and size. Well, I agreed to let him pull them out. Big mistake. Now I see them all over town and I miss them in the garden. Besides, I have a rockin’ new perennial composition of blue grama grass ‘Blond Ambition’, echinops, agastaches ‘Ava’ and Blue Blazes, sedum Matrona and one big droopy ‘Loves Lies Bleeding.’ The colors are swell, purple, blue and red, and I can just see the those colors echoed around the garden in ASTERS. So, this time, I’ll try the shorter (hahahahaha) varieties. Maybe Purple Dome?

2012 will be the year of the frit at my house. My bulb orders are lined up, heavy on the giant fritillaria maximus and the checkered snake lily, meleagris. Oh yes, going to try the tall persica, again. Two of the bulbs featured are NOT frits, but a split corona daffodil (it will be my first) and more of the Sicilian Honey Lilies or the hard to spit out: nectoscrodum bulbaricum. Pffhshshsw. And the little purple and yellow one folks refer to a “mikey.”

As per the one on one instruction from Brent Heath of Brent and Becky’s Bulbs: plant em deep. Keep them dry in the summer. So, if it says, plant them 6 inches deep, add two-3 inches of mulch on top of that. Worked like a charm last year. My Sicilians were great for the first time. Ever. After 5 years of trying. Doh.