Pavord’s October Tasks
• Gather up autumn leaves and stack them in an enclosure of wire netting to rot down into leaf mould. This makes a superb mulch.
• A collection of different mints can be difficult to control. Punch or burn holes in the bottom of a number of big square ice-cream or margarine containers and plant a different mint in each box. Sink the boxes under the earth.
• Continue to plant daffodils, scattering bonemeal into the planting holes. A long-handled bulb planter that takes out neat plugs of earth is the easiest tool to use when planting daffodils in turf. [I agree; one example of a “modern” hand tool that makes a real contribution to ease and efficiency.]
• Leave dahlias and begonias in the ground as long as possible before lifting; tubers do most of their growing in the short days of autumn. Lift them only when the foliage has been blackened by the first frosts. Cut the stems off about 4 inches above the ground and stack the tubers upside down in boxes to dry out. Store them in a frost-free shed.
• Spread muck thickly over at least a third of the vegetable garden after ground has been cleared and roughly dug. The mulch can be dug in during the spring months when it has weathered.
Monday, 3 October. 11:50 am; 68F; 66% humidity; overcast; slight breeze. Major task this morning was digging up daylilies in bed “I”. Many were root bound and generated few blooms in the spring. I excavated all the non-bloomers and will donate to Buffalo UMC. Two of the largest clumps I subdivided into five smaller segments and replanted those. Prior to replanting, I dumped in the hole a load of compost to enhance the soil/compost mix. Watered them well. Now we’ll see what happens. Met with Katie and we walked around the garden, identifying which flowers will be in the flower identification contest for tomorrow’s Garden Party. I sent out a mass email this morning, and Katie put together some lovely posters advertising the event.
5 Oct. 11:05 am; 68F; 76% humidity. Overcast, slight breeze. Sprinkled last night but no measurable amount. Yesterday was our Garden Party, 4:00-7:30. We had 20-30 students and 8-10 faculty, a good turnout. Katie did a great job organizing the event, creating an advertising poster, and baking pumpkin cookies and pumpkin bread, accompanied by trail mix, pretzels, and hot apple cider. A few folks played croquet, and we should get enough student photos to create a slide show for the website. The weather was ideal. As the sun was going down, Katie lit some candles in mason jars, floating in water, and the walkway lights came on (though the fountain lights don’t yet work). A beautiful evening.
Since I was here all day yesterday, I did a lot of small stuff–such as hoeing and raking the gravel walkway by beds “J” & “K”. At the moment, the walkways look good. I did a lot of weeding in “L” near the stepping stones. Removed several small rose bushes and pulled out a lot of grass in “C”--that grass is relentless. This morning I re-organized the pots in the greenhouse--sorting them by size and shape–and cleaned up the area behind the greenhouse. The inside looks good. I just hope the new PVC support structure works. My primary concern is that one of the “legs” may give way, but I’ll wait and see what happens once it’s burdened with January snow and ice. [As it turned out, the winter months never produced a major challenge: the portable greenhouse survived the winter with an intact and stable roof.] This morning I created zinc labels for several plants in “A1” and the astilbes in the “D” bed. Still have about 15 plants that need zinc labels.
7 Oct. 4:10 pm; 63F, 38% humidity; definite breeze; sunshine. When I arrived this morning, temp was in the 40s, and with the breeze, it definitely felt like early autumn weather. First day I’ve needed a jacket while working. Most of day was minor cleaning up around the garden. This afternoon dug up weeds (including some snakeroot) out of “D” bed, and thoroughly plowed the eastern raised “E” bed. I moved a couple blanket flowers to “F”. A large plant, perhaps some kind of mallow, has appeared in the “E” bed, and I’m not sure what to do with it. Good looking foliage; similar plants have appeared in “C” and “L.” Probably weeds that should be thrown out, but I would like to see what develops. I cleaned out a lot of Sweet Annie from A2 and cut down the yarrow at the back of the bed. That yarrow needs to be relocated—where it can get more sun.
There was an alumni event in the Alumni House (50th class reunion for class of ’66) and Audrey Martin’s mother came out and introduced herself. We had a nice chat; wonderful to hear that Audrey (one of the first consultants to work in the Writing Center) is doing so well back in San Francisco. Two children; her second husband is a lawyer. As for the garden, though it is no longer in prime bloom mode, the emergence of various browns and oranges in the leaves give the garden a real “autumn aura.” The blooms on the mums are just beginning to emerge. The cheap Hy-Vee mum in bed “I” is enormous. Interesting that the first blooms to open are in the back and not the front. The mum in “C” is also finally opening.
28 Oct. 11:20 am; 57F; 84% humidity. Feels like it could rain. First day I’ve been in the garden since 9 October for the Writing Center Alum reunion. Past 18 days on trip to the Pacific Northwest, including driving through Yellowstone in a mild blizzard. Back at the garden this morning, I discovered we have still not had a hard freeze. A tropical Moses-in-the-cradle was frizzed, but most of the garden remains intact. This will be the latest hard freeze date since we moved to Iowa in ’78 (that fall, the first hard freeze was the last week in September). This morning I hoed/raked the “F” gravel walkway, pulled up weeds at east end of “F”, and cut back some dead Joe Pye Weed and Hibiscus (which was still blooming at the beginning of the month). Piled up the cuttings in preparation for the chipper/shredder. We have a lot of old vegetation to compost in the next couple of weeks. Should cut the hostas before a freeze since they are much easier to work with before they go soft. Overall, the garden looks in good shape.
Pavord’s November Tasks
• Clean mowing machines after the last grass-cut of the year. Wash off all mud and grass and cover all the important shiny-looking bits of the engine with a thin layer of oil or grease.
• If possible, order seeds this side of Christmas.
• Plant tulips at the beginning of the month. They are excellent in tubs. You can also use them in windowboxes, but choose the shorter varieties and those of the Greigii and Kaufmanniana families with striped and mottle leaves. Miniature tulips such as T. Tarda or T. Turkestanica are charming in troughs and rockeries.
• Pile dry leaves on top of agapanthus and nerines for insulation.
• Continue to cut down stems of later summer perennials such as Michaelmas daisy, golden rod and perennial verbascum. Mulch thickly around the clumps.
• Pick fallen leaves from rockeries where they may smother and rot alpine plants underneath. Top up the stone chippings around rock plants to improve drainage. Shelter lewisias with panes of glass.
• Plant garlic at the beginning of the month.
Tuesday, 1 November. 11:00 am; 64F, 80% humidity; sunshine; gorgeous fall day. Primary frustration: can’t get the chipper/shredder to run. Filled it with fuel and have pulled the cord dozens of times; flywheel turns over but no ignition. I was hoping it might start once the temp had warmed up, but just tried a few minutes ago and no change in behavior.
So far no hard freeze. I saw a black and orange butterfly in the zinnias–not a Monarch but a Red Admiral. Also saw a white cabbage butterfly–which in April was the first butterfly in the garden. Even on 1 November, still some pollinator action. I walked around the garden and noted plants that have at least a few blooms. While fall colors are the garden’s main attraction, it’s fun to see these lingering, evocative moments of color. Here’s my list:
• Buddleia: two new plants in A1; blooming all summer and into the fall
• Hollyhocks: several nice pink blooms
• Fleabane: a weed but still one of my favorite wild asters
• Spider Plants: they are amazing; now in their 5th month of blooming
• Blanket Flowers: two varieties
• Lavender: two varieties
• Hosta: several lovely white blooms on hostas under yews
• Mums: three varieties; the burgundy mums are just beginning to open
• Goldenrod: another aster weed that I don’t want to eliminate completely
• Aromatic aster: a couple of small blue blossoms
• Bloody cranesbill: an occasional bloom here and there
• Salvia: four different varieties
• Coreopsis: both annuals and perennials
• Nicotiana: they still look great
• Zinnias: three varieties, still producing new blooms
• Hyssop: several locations in the garden
• Larkspur: dwarf variety; still covered with blooms
• Amaranth: the red-heads are continuing to put out new flowers lower on the stem
• Ageratum: blooming all summer
• Daylilies: Stella d’oro and two other rebloomers; perhaps a dozen blooms this morning
• Veronica spicata: the tickled pink speedwell in “D”
• Phlox: two tall garden phlox (David and variegated) in “F” and moss phlox in rock garden
• Scabiosa: both perennial and annual
• Dianthus: the Pink Flame in the “C” bed
• Roses: shrub roses in “G” and “H” and the red rose in “M”
• Snakeroot: most have been pulled up but left a couple in the “G” bed
• Joe Pye: the “Baby Joe” in “G”
• Cleome: a couple of late-season loiterers
• Lobelia: Blue perennial in rain garden (blooming for three months) and the Crystal Palace in the “J” bed.
• Persicaria firetail: another long-time bloomer
• Verbena bonariensis: past its prime but still blooming behind NE bench
• Mexican Sunflower: two dozen blooms, still looks great
• Russian sage: steady bloomer from mid-summer into November
• Sneezeweed: Mardi Gras Helenium autumnale has two blooms
• Dahlias: the Bishops are done but a lovely purple red dahlia now at its peak and a couple of nice Kelvin Floodlights
• Toad lily: one plant behind NW bench has over a dozen blossoms, blooming for two months
• Catmint: several still blooming
• Ballerina yarrow: a few tiny white blossoms
• Ice plant in rock garden: most blooms it’s had all year
• Thyme: two varieties in rock garden
• Oregano: two varieties in A1, both blooming for several months
• Petunias: still look good in pot in front of patio
• Hall’s Honeysuckle: planted last spring; its first, wonderful blooms have just opened
Later in the morning, while messing with the chipper/shredder, I discovered the air filter was wet, and I could see water in the compartment below the air filter. I wheeled the machine into the garden shed and am running a fan to dry it out. I need to find a better cover for this machine.
4 Nov (Friday); 12:35 pm; 65F; 61% humidity. Another gorgeous fall day. It did rain Wednesday evening, perhaps 0.5”. Rain gauge had over 2,” but I had forgotten to empty it after returning from the Pacific Northwest trip, so the 2” would represent cumulative rain for the past 3 weeks. Got the chipper/shredder started with no difficulty. Most of the vegetation processed this morning was Joe Pye, asters, and Sweet Annie, which produces a wonderful fragrance while being chopped up, making the work much more pleasant. I used a face mask for the first time to cut down on the dust, pollen, and seeds I inhale. Lungs did not become as congested as they have in the past.
I love the garden in November. So many wonderful foliage colors and textures, an absorbing mix of beauty and sadness. A lot of old stems and foliage to compost, but out of that material comes new life. And it’s fascinating to consider how much activity is happening in the soil and the decaying vegetation—so much of the action now at the microscopic level, behind the scenes. A bit like a play: the flowers are the featured actors, strutting on stage, but they are totally dependent on the tech crew, invisibly working behind the scenes.
7 Nov. 11:45 am; 65F, 53% humidity; thin clouds; very pleasant morning; can hear a flock of birds chirping quite vigorously outside the shed. Saw a lot of insect activity on some flowers (such as the dahlias) this morning: several bees, couple of wasps, brief glimpse of a brown butterfly. Most of my morning was spent cutting down large asters in “G” and “H” and filling two bags using the chipper/shredder. Did apply some fertilizer on the compost and then watered it—which became a fiasco. The garden hose was unhooked, so I put it back on the water supply, but did it by hand and didn’t get the coupling sufficiently tight so when I turned on the water, I got thoroughly sprayed, and was being sprayed while turning off the water. Fortunately today’s temperature is moderate and I dried quickly.
One job I started was creating a map of flowers for the entire garden. Began with the “D” bed, now half done, but it’s frustrating that in several areas I’ve can’t recall what plants were there in the spring in summer. Problem compounded by my limited skill in distinguishing among different rudbeckia (e.g., purple coneflowers or brown-eyed susans). I need to really focus on learning how to identify those plants when they are not in bloom.
Yesterday I spent several hours preparing the September 2016 garden walk slideshow. Most of my time was concentrated on trying to provide accurate identification for the flowers. Just noticed this morning while walking through the garden that I mislabeled one of the perennial sunflowers. Also discovered a nepeta I planted in “D” this spring that is still alive—but it doesn’t look very healthy. It needs to be moved to a location where it can get more sun. I initially placed it in the middle of the “D” border because it’s supposed to be a taller nepeta, but it was overshadowed by the tansy. Didn’t have a chance. Perhaps the solution is to remove the tansy. [As it turned out, this past spring I did both: moved the catmint to a new location and permanently removed the tansy.]
8 Nov. 2:30 pm; sunshine; 63F; 42% humidity. Wind out of the north, but it still feels like a lovely September afternoon. The amazing weather continues. Began this morning by doing three compost bag loads with the chipper/shredder, mostly New England asters. Next job was digging up an ornamental grass (probably a miscanthus) next to Pegasus. Mixed in with the grass was a sunflower and several tall asters. It was tough digging up the root ball and then separating the plant roots from each other. I did get the sunflower and the other grass clump replanted—now two feet from each other. I added a lot of fresh compost to the soil mix around the root balls. The compost we produced this year is ideal–could not be better.
Katie came this morning, and after discussing the hypertufa project, I showed her the peacock orchid plants that need digging up. We dug up one and discussed how to save the corms. The three corms we uncovered have many baby corms attached. I asked Katie to do some research and see if she could learn how to best use the baby corms for new plants. I’m wondering if it would make sense to start them indoors early in the spring. Because they are so small, I don’t think they would produce flowers the first year. [In the spring we did plant dozens of these baby corms in several locations; they all produced healthy foliage but no flowers. We’ll dig them up in the next week and replant next spring.]
9 Nov. 11:00am; sunshine; 51F; 55% humidity. Although chilly, the birds and squirrels seemed to like it—everyone was quite vocal today. I came back to the garden to finish harvesting the peacock orchid corms. I cleaned them and put them in the greenhouse in a pot already filled with corms. According to gardeningknowhow.com, corms of peacock orchid Gladiolus acidanthera) need to be kept away from direct sunlight or freezing temperatures in the winter. The website suggests storing the corms surrounded by peat moss in a vented container with good ventilation. Storing temps should be around 50 degrees; they might benefit from a 3-week curing period before storage, where the bulbs are kept at a temperature of 85F.
14 Nov. 4:41 pm; 55F; 53% humidity; slight breeze. Sun is down, and quickly becoming cooler. We had our first real freeze Thursday night. The dahlias and zinnias were done in. The Mexican sunflowers were damaged but still have some blossoms. Other flowers—for example the ox-eye daisies—remained untouched. Also noted that the dianthus in A1 began to bloom again. Most of today’s efforts involved cleaning out the zinnias and dahlias from “E” and “J”. We have many more dahlia roots than we planted last spring. I laid them on the grass, washed them with garden hose, and put them up on the cement “seat” around the fountain (which has been drained). I packaged separately four sets of Bishop Llandaff bulbs for Harlo; the rest will go home for storage in my basement. I was surprised the Kelvin Floodlight bulbs were relatively small; it appears they put all their energy into their dinnerplate blooms. Other bulbs were quite prolific in bulb production but less vigorous blooming. I finally determined the dahlia with the multitude of red blooms—which was still going strong until it froze—was not a Thomas Edison but, alas, I’m still not sure what it is. The dahlias that produced all the nice, small, yellow blooms also had healthy bulb creation. This year I may store them in peat moss and see how that works—even though last year the vermiculite worked okay.
After removing the dead zinnias and the dahlias, I tilled the “E” and “J” beds, gave them each a wheelbarrow load of compost (thus emptying one of compost bins), and threw in some bone meal and Milorganite fertilizer. In the “J” bed I also emptied a bag of bulb food. I then planted 70 “Flare” tulip bulbs (mix of yellow and red coloring) that I ordered from Scheeper’s. Tomorrow I’ll plant matching tulip bulbs in the “E” bed.
Pavord’s December Tasks
• Check that frost has not lifted the ground around newly planted shrubs and trees.
• Dig over heavy soil, leaving it in large clods to be broken down by frost.
• Bring roses grown in containers into the greenhouse. Prune them hard while still under cover. This will encourage them to flower earlier than usual next season.
• Prune outdoor roses any time between now and early spring. The later time is safer in cold areas.
• Continue to spread manure on the vegetable garden, leaving one area unmanured. This is where you should grow root crops. If grown in freshly manured ground, carrots and parsnips fork into multiple roots.
• Continue to tidy beds and borders if the weather is kind.
1 December. 2016; 4:10 pm; temp still at 38F. Today the weather was kind, and I had a successful day cleaning up the “M” beds, particularly the rock and crevice gardens. In the spring I will need to cut back several of the sedum, thyme, and moss phlox–which have all grown more aggressively than I ever imagined. I did trim a big thyme in the crevice garden; will take those clumps home, dry them, and use them for cooking during the winter. After Katie left, I ran one load through the chipper and piled those fresh cuttings in with three bags of leaves we had vacuumed up in the M beds. Should make good compost. BTW, one of the moss phloxes in the rock garden has started to bloom again. A dianthus was blooming until a week ago, there are a few blooms on a thyme, and the ice plant was blooming until last week.
6 Dec. 11:50 am; 33F; 54% humidity; windy; will soon be getting much colder. It snowed this past weekend, about 5”. Temp was close to freezing, so the snow was soft and wet and most of it has melted. Just a thin sheet of snow/ice on grass and some plants. The brown mulch absorbs heat so it’s all snow-free. This morning Katie and I assembled four plant supports and set them up: a big one for the big Joe Pye in the southeast corner; the other three were smaller and used to support grasses in the “D” and “K” beds. They seem flimsy, but the ones we put up last year worked well and are still in place.
Final fall bulb planting: 5 big Forelock alliums in “L” (NE corner, at edge of daylily bed). The bag also had several baby bulbs, which I planted in shallower holes. This allium is supposed to be mahogany/red with white tips. Eager to see what they look like in the flesh.
This morning received an email from Cara Farmer with sketch for the two garden globes–they look great and the price is reasonable. I sent an email to Chris with attached drawings and information on the globes. They should add a real presence to the garden, particularly in the winter months. Being “see through” spheres, they won’t block any views of flowers and plants.
I tried to dig up the caladium bulbs in the two big planters, but could only find two bulbs–one of which I accidentally sawed in half while digging for them. Not sure what happened to those bulbs—they either rotted or are deeper than I thought—or perhaps I just missed them. The caladium worked well, particularly in “L” bed planter. The “D” bed planter did not get as much sun and the potato vine really took over that pot.
23 Dec. 9:45 am. Overcast, 34F, 68% humidity. Small pellets of snow coming down; will likely continue through the day. We had terribly cold temperatures last weekend (the high on Sunday was around -5F; lows into the minus teens). Colder than it ever got last year. Fortunately there was a snow cover, about 6” of snow, so some insulation. I’ve been thinking about which of the tenderest perennials will not survive.
Fortunately we had some relatively warm weather, beginning on Monday. The snow and ice on the streets melted enough so I could get my Chevy S-10 out of storage. I emptied some mulch, drove to Marion, and picked up Cara’s two steel spheres. They are 5’ tall, weigh about 150 lbs. Fortunately they could be rolled into the garden. We positioned them in the two eastern grass quadrants. They look pretty good. One advantage of their design is that they can be moved around, including times when the grass needs mowing. It’s now beginning to snow and my hands are getting a bit cold (temp in the shed is 38F). I envision a time when this shed will be insulated and heated—with perhaps a door that leads directly into a lovely little greenhouse. But I’m not complaining. This shed has been invaluable. Not the design I wanted, but hard to imagine how we could maintain the garden without it. A great place to work. [As it turned out, one year later the garden shed was winterized for year-around occupancy, and a lovely greenhouse had been attached to the shed–with an interior door connecting the two structures. Perhaps I should become an 18th-century, English garden “hermit” and live here year-around. ]