2 January [Written at Henderson State Park near Panama City, Florida]
Yesterday I started plotting locations for new plants in the Alumni Garden. Made a map to scale of each bed, identifying location of current perennials while imagining possible purchases. In most instances my knowledge of these plants is quite limited, primarily based on what I’ve read in the last year. I’m currently relying on two books: Michael King and Piet Oudolf’s Gardening with Grasses (read while attending the NCPTW Conference at Disney World in November) and Anthony Kahtz’s Perennials for Midwestern Gardens. One must start somewhere as I start guessing what might work someway, somehow. A few principles to help me sort out priorities:
• Work as much as possible with what is already planted and growing: Joe Pye weed, purple coneflowers, asters (though need more variety), hostas (though many need to be moved into shadier areas), cranesbill, siberian iris, false indigo, daylilies, peonies, spiderwort.
• Remove most of the goldenrod, rose bushes, and the tall asters in the beds in front of the patio, and the spiderwort and daylilies (probably all stella de oro) in the raised beds.
•Establish clearer patterns of repetition of plants and flowers in terms of color, form, texture; give the garden more structural coherence.
• Don’t be afraid. Trust in trial and error. For the next couple of years introduce a lot of grasses, shrubs, and flowers in a lot of different ways. Trust a decent percentage will work out okay.
5 January [Written at Gulf State Park in Alabama]
Concerning the Alumni Garden, my primary concerns today were thinking through the tension between a desire for order and a desire for natural emergence, as if the plants had chosen their location, the gardener’s hand invisible. Thoughts stimulated by reading Planting: A New Perspective by Piet Outdolf and Noel Kingsbury. I love the photos of their “German” school of planting–but I also love the grouping of flowers in a Jekyll tradition. Maybe it’s possible to blend the two approaches. . . . I definitely need to think more in terms of broader swathes of color and more “informal” plant arrangements. But my knowledge is so thin, I know so little about how these various plants will work in this habitat. This next year will reveal many mistakes. It’s hard to be patient, knowing it may take years to figure out what goes with what. . . .
15 January
Temperature above freezing–first time since we returned from Florida. I walked to Coe. Most of the sidewalks were clear and did not have any problems with ice. No wind. . . . Visited the garden for the first time this year–and took some photos (e.g., snow on a Leopold bench, seed heads of grasses and sedums). Fortunately there was not much garbage to pick up. Absence of tracks indicated there had been no visitors to the garden, not even squirrels or rabbits, since the last snow–everything looked pristine. . . . In walking around the garden, I was struck by how small the flower beds appear. For the past four weeks I’ve been working with the garden on paper, and despite the dimensions written on the page, I had lost my sense of scale. I need to get my eyes and mind readjusted to the actual terrain.
24 January
Working in the basement at home, mixed Burpee organic seed starter mix with water. I wasn’t sure how much water to use. Mixture was initially too wet so had to let mix dry out. Created starter blocks for seeds using Johnny’s Seeds soil block maker. Worked okay. Sowed the following:
6 Giant Single Hollyhock blocks (Fethergill’s seeds from England)
6 Mammoth Grey Stripe Sunflowers (Heifer International gift seeds)
6 ‘Sensation Mixed’ Cosmos (Fethergills)
6 German Winter Thyme, Thymus vulgaris (Johnny’s Seeds)
6 Heavenly Blue Morning Glory, Ipomoea Tricolor (Johnny’s)
6 Hybrid Grape Tomatoes, Smarty F1 (Johnny’s)
12 Dahlia Pompon Mixed (Fethergill’s)
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[For over 50 years, Thomas Jefferson kept a Garden Book, detailing the evolution of his garden, the plants introduced into the garden, the dates for planting and harvesting, the moments when blossoms would first appear, the arrival of birds on their annual migrations. Robert C. Baron’s edition of The Garden Book (Fulcrum, 1987) records that between 1766 and 1824, 50 varieties of peas, 30 varieties of cabbage, and 44 varieties of beans were planted at Monticello.]
1775. Feb. 25. sowed a bed of Early and a bed of Marrowfat peas.
1782. Feb. 12. sent to Poplar For. 6 Apricot trees, 2 large Morellas, 2 Kentish cherries, 2. May Dukes. 2 Carnations, 2 Black hearts, 2 White hearts, 2 Newtown pippings, 2 Russetins, 2 Golden Wildings, & some white strawberries.
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13 February
Ordered more online seeds, this time from Wildseed Farms in Texas (good reviews on Dave’s Garden website and all seed packets are $1.25): Baby’s Breath, Blue Flax, Candy Tuft, Catchfly, Clasping Coneflower, Dwarf Red Plains Coreopsis, Golden-Wave Coreopsis, Indian Blanket, Mexican Hat, Missouri Primrose, Perennial Lupine, Plains Coreopsis, Flanders Poppy, Rose Mallow, Scarlet Flax, Sweet Alyssum, Spurred Snapdragon, Tahoka Daisy, Wallflower, Wince Cut, Tidy-Tips. . . .
24 February
Since I will be starting a new seed germination group in two days, I moved all the plants up from the basement. Put two trays in the window in front of the sink, including 6 tomatoes, 6 German thyme, 2 hollyhocks, 2 sunflowers. and 1 morning glory. The thyme looked leggy so I cut them back. The sunflowers are almost a foot tall. The tomatoes look good. The rest of the plants from the basement (11 dahlias, 6 cosmos, and 1 morning glory) I put on the new plant stand in front of family room sliding door. I cut back all the dahlias; they were all beginning to look weak stemmed. Did the same with the cosmos.
25 February.
Snowed most of the day. Temp. in teens, about 6" of new snow. Sent off my second big daylily order, this to the firm Easy to Grow Bulbs: Baja (3), Purple de Oro (3), Strawberry Candy (3), Country Melody (3), Strutter’s Ball (3), Frans Hals (5), Prairie Bell (1), Catherine Woodberry (1), Mary Reed (1), Bonanza (3), Barbara Mitchell (1), Stella Bella (3). Bulbs significantly cheaper than last week’s Oakes order. We’ll see how the quality compares. Have one intentional duplicate: the Catherine Woodberry.
This afternoon set up two new grow lights in the basement. Have three two-foot long grow lights on metal stand and the three-foot on table. I broke the leg of one new grow light while assembling it, but the leg will still work. Tomorrow I will sow five flats of seeds and we’ll see what germinates.
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1811 [Excerpts from Jefferson’s Garden Book]
Mar. 16. planted 5. Tuckahoe grey cherries in the rows e-1-2-+ 1.4.5.
from Enniscorthy
18. planted 30 Monthly raspberries in the 3 terrasses next below the common raspberry.
planted Asparagus seed in beds 5.6.7. & replanted 3.4.
22. Mimosa pudica. Sensitive plant. oval bed in < of N. W. Piazza & covd. way.
Reseda odorata. Mignonette d. near N.W. cistern
Delphinium exaltatum. American larkspur. outer flower border. N. W. quarter
Pentapetes Phoenicia. Scarlet Mallow. Outer flower border S. W. quarter
23. Lathyrus odoratus. sweet scented pea. oval bed in S.W. < or S. W. portico and d. S. W. < of Sl. piazza & covd way also Ximenesia Encelioides. in the same belle grande plante
annuelle d’ornament. from Thouin
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24 March
Picked up load of mulch at Ever-Green. Dale told me that Methwick might have some limestone blocks they would be willing to sell cheap. I drove to Methwick, looked at the retaining wall that is caving in. Talked with Jay at Methwick, and it looks like they will donate the limestone once they can work out the insurance liability and determine how to move the stones off their property. Plenty of stone for the rock garden project. Then drove to Earl May. Bought two more gro-lights and heat pads for the garden shed at Coe (no more room in the basement). Next stop to the Extension Office and obtained forms for submitting soil samples. Final task for the day in the garden. Used Dad’s old post hole digger to drill several holes in potential rain garden sites to determine the speed of the water drainage. The four gallons I poured into the hole in the small bed next to patio drained very quickly. The hole in the “G” bed was much slower. Still water in the hole when I left. [The next day there was still water in the hole, indicating the ground under the surface was tightly compacted; we would have to dig a deeper trench for that site than was originally planned.]
27 March
Worked in garden most of the day. Thoroughly mulched the “L” bed. Vacuumed and shredded several leaf piles and added to compost bins, which are now full. Hyacinths and daffodils we planted last fall are emerging in “K” & “L” around bench but no similar growth from bulbs planted in beds “C” & “D.” The northern beds get morning sun and warm up much faster than “C” & “D”. Nearly all the old daffodils and tulips have come out. So far no sign of any life in the tulips planted in the plastic pots covered in leaves and straw. It appears they all froze.
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1775. [Excerpts from Jefferson’s Garden Book]
Mar. 10. the peach trees at Monticello in blossom.
we have had the most favorable winter ever known in the memory of man. not more than three of our snows to cover the ground, of which two might lie about two days and the others not one. the only weather which could be called any thing cold was for about a week following the frost before noted Nov. 17.
some time in this month (the particular time I omitted to note) there came very cold weather & frosts every night for a week, which killed every peach at Monticello. they were generally killed . . . (tho’ not universally) in the neighborhood also. apples & cherries were also killed. this was the first instance since Monticello was seated of the fruit being totally killed; as the first of May. 5. 1774. was the first of a partial loss.