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From the Archives
Archive for April, 2010
Fragrant Hardy Vines to Grow in Your Garden
I was not a huge fan of climbing plants until we moved into this house and became acquainted with Jack. Jack, of course, is the beautiful Clematis ‘jackmanii’ that reigns over our back yard. He is beautiful, and is the reason I fell in love with vining and climbing plants. Since getting to know Jack, we’ve also planted some honeysuckles and trumpet vine, as well as many beautiful annual vines, such as morning glories, sweet peas, purple hyacinth vine, and thunbergia (or black eyed susan vine.)
Of the vines we grow in our garden, the heirloom sweet peas and honeysuckle are the most fragrant, and I’ve been seeking out more and more fragrant vines to try out. So I was thrilled to receive an advance review copy of Allan Armitage’s wonderful book, Armitage’s Vines and Climbers: A Gardener’s Guide to the Best Vertical Plants 
Anyway, back to fragrant vines. One of the nice features of the book is that in the back, Armitage has put together several lists of vines and climbers that share specific characteristics or uses. And one of those lists is “Fragrances.” Let’s just say I have a shopping list for my next trip to the nursery!
Three Fragrant Hardy Vines for Your Garden
1. Actinidia kolomikta (Variegated Kiwi)
Variegated kiwi is a woody vine that can overwinter as far north as zone 3. It sports small, fragrant white blossoms, which are usually hidden by the foliage. Also known as “cat vine,” Actinidia seems to have the same effect on cats as catnip, which adds a whole new dimension of interest to the plant!
2. Lonicera sempervirens (Trumpet Honeysuckle)
This honeysuckle is native to the eastern and southeastern U.S., and, unlike Japanese honeysuckle, is definitely NOT invasive. I’ve been growing L. sempervirens ‘John Clayton’ in my garden for several years now, and it is definitely fragrant. It’s also much tougher than it looks. I’ve moved it twice, and it has always bounced back strong.
3. Roses
You can’t talk fragrant hardy climbers without talking about climbing roses. There are plenty of good options open to you here. I grow ‘New Dawn” rose in my garden, and I absolutely love the fragrance. ‘John Cabot‘, ‘William Baffin,’ and ‘Dortmund‘ are also very pretty hardy climbing roses.
Armitage’s Vines and Climbers: A Gardener’s Guide to the Best Vertical Plants
By Allan Armitage
212 pages
Published by Timber Press
April, 2010
An advanced review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher with the understanding that a review, and any opinions presented in said review, were solely my own.
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Garden Book Review: Herbal Remedy Gardens
Herbal Remedy Gardens: 38 Plans for Your Health & Well-Being
By Dorie Byers
Storey Publishing, 1999
I read a book a while back called Herbal Tea Gardens, and I noticed that there was another book in that series about growing herbs for homemade remedies. It took a while to get my hands on a copy, but it was worth the wait. My experiences with my pregnancies, and the amount of drugs pumped through my body during labor and delivery (and how horrible they made me feel) heightened my interest in natural healing. I am at a point in my life where I’m trying to get my own health “right” in many ways. Conventional medicine made me feel like crap, and while it was necessary at the time, I want to take control of my well-being as much as possible.
Herbal Remedy Gardens has plenty of information to help me do just that. While a small part of the book deals with how to grow different types of herb (22 common herbs are profiled) the majority of the book is about designing gardens to treat a variety of health issues. Whether you’re dealing with colds and flu, stomach ailments, or dental problems, there is an herb garden in this book for you to grow. I was especially interested in the stress relief garden, woman’s care garden, and headache relief garden (stupid migraines…) The book offers lists of herbs to grow as well as recipes for how to use them.
I recommend this book for anyone who wants a more natural approach to dealing with common ailments.
ITGO Rating: 4 Trowels
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Bleeding Hearts
One of my favorite spring flowering plants is in full bloom right now — Dicentra spectabilis, AKA old fashioned bleeding heart. (Note: Kate mentions in the comments that the name has recently been changed from Dicentra spectabilis to Lamprocapnos spectabilis — I love it when botanists change the name on me, don’t you? Thanks, Kate!)
Each year, we get more blooms on our bleeding hearts, and I’m hoping to add at least a couple more to the front garden, which is on the north side of our house, and in the shade of a large (ugly) birch tree. A few quick tips for growing bleeding heart:
1. They will die back once the weather turns hot and dry. The foliage will yellow, and eventually turn brown. This is normal, and the plant will come back beautifully in the spring. Cut off the dead foliage and plant some annuals to fill in the bare spot in the garden.
2. You can extend the time before the foliage dies back by making sure the soil is moist and mulched. They should be grown in part sun to full shade.
3. Bleeding hearts will set seed before dying back. The seeds are tiny, shiny, and black. They should be collected and planted immediately if you want to grow bleeding hearts from seed — fresh seed germinates much better than seed that has been stored.
4. Some good partners for bleeding hearts: hostas, ferns, heart-leaf brunnera, astilbe, and lungwort.
While Dicentra spectabilis is the most commonly grown bleeding heart, there are other options out there that are a little more heat-tolerant. Dicentra eximia, or fringed bleeding heart, will have a few bloom periods from spring through fall as long as the temperatures don’t stay too hot for long periods of time.
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Reuse Vinyl Window Blinds as Plant Markers
When you’re starting hundreds (or even tens) of little seedlings, you quickly come to grasp the importance of careful labeling. While some seedlings are easy to identify (morning glories, nasturtiums, and borage, for example) many of the others all look an awful lot alike. And if you’re kind of crazy (ahem) you may have started 13 or so varieties of tomatoes, a few different basils…well. It can all become a mess in no time.
But I hate buying labels. I know they’re not expensive, but I just don’t see the point. I’d much rather repurpose something that was destined for the trash, than buy something new for this utilitarian task. My favorite material to use for sturdy, durable plant markers? Vinyl window blind slats.
How To Use Window Blinds to Make Plant Markers
It couldn’t be easier to repurpose old window blinds. Just cut the strings that hold the slats together, then cut each slat into whichever size you want. You can even cut the slat into thinner pieces, getting even more plant tags out of it (depending on how thick your slats are).
One key point, especially if you’ve been shopping curbside for your window blinds, is to clean them well with vinegar, dish soap, or some other cleaner to remove dust and grease. You can write on the slats with a permanent marker, China marker, or pencil. No matter what you use, you can sand the printing off at the end of the season and reuse the markers again next season.
Other Options for Free, Repurposed Plant Markers
There are several other items that you can rescue from the trash or recycling bin to use as plant markers:
- Popsicle sticks
- Tongue depressors (I have been known to help myself to a few when we visit the pediatrician….)
- Plastic lids (to Cool Whip, margarine tub containers, etc.) cut into strips
- Paint stir sticks, used or unused (you often get a few for free when you buy paint)
- Plastic milk jugs, cut into strips. I can’t take credit for this one. My husband started doing this last year (when we were without any window blind slats) and it works really well.
These options work well indoors and out, and keep yet another item out of the landfill. And free is always a good thing!
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Seed GROW Project – April
After getting my nasturtium ‘Spitfire’ seeds last month, courtesy of the wonderful Renee’s Garden, I’ve been trying to decide exactly how I want to grow them. I grow nasturtiums almost every year. Most years, I add some along the edges of my vegetable garden. I’ll do that again this year with ‘Empress of India,’ an old stand-by that I absolutely adore.
But ‘Spitfire’ deserves a more prominent location, I think. I’ve been coveting this variety of nasturtium since seeing them on someone’s blog last year (maybe Mr. Brown Thumb? One of those Chicago gardeners, I think. I can’t remember.) Right now, I’m almost 90 percent sure I’m going to grow them in large containers on my front porch, up simple trellises, probably made from bamboo. I think they’ll look great up there, along with my container-grown tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants.
Of course, I could also grow them as a trailing plant, and I’m thinking they might look really fantastic planted around the edges of a large pot with a ‘Rosa Bianca’ eggplant in the center. (It always comes back to vegetables with me, have you noticed that?)
I have some time to figure it out. I can’t even sow the seeds until the last week of the month — according to the packet instructions, they should be sown indoors three weeks before the last spring frost date. I could direct sow them, but I used to do that and I get a much better germination rate when I start them indoors. When I sow them, I’ll post again — I’m thinking I’m going to use toilet paper seed pots to sow them in. From reading some of the other posts by GROW project bloggers, I see that some of you have baby nasturtiums already. I’m getting impatient waiting to sow mine!
I’m growing Nasturtium “Spitfire” for the GROW project, thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds.
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