I'm all ears!

The last of the plants that were stored in my garage this winter are the Elephant Ears. Apparently not only will I never need to buy another one of these again in my life, but nobody I know will ever need to either. It seems there's no wrong way to store these and have them survive the winter -- as long as they don't freeze.

Two autumns ago I just left them in the large pots, then dragged the pots out in the spring. This year I left three of them in their large pots, but also stored one bare on a shelf in the garage. Since they're starting to wake up now, it's time to get them out of the garage.

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Rain rain rain rain (no rain) rain rain...

The severe storms that have affected so many people throughout the middle and southern parts of this country make it seem petty to talk about any weather that's non-lethal, but I can only talk about my own recent experience, and in St. Louis our recent experience has been rain. For the past 10 or so days it's been rain, rain, and more rain. It comes as hours of light or moderate showers punctuated by thunderstorm, sometimes severe. We had a few hours of sunlight late Tuesday afternoon, but then the clouds and rain returned.

Yesterday morning was the first sunrise we've seen for a while, and although it rained later in the day it was nice to see sunlight for most of the morning and early afternoon. I took advantage of the morning rays to take some photos of the wetness -- the first photos I've taken in five days!

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Some vines need a boost

I grow several different types of flowering vines, and most of them have no trouble climbing on their own. Spanish flag vine, cypress vine, scarlet runner bean, hyacinth bean, snail vine -- these all will gladly wrap around anything vertical and vault themselves skyward. Even a slippery surface like a smooth metal pole isn't a problem for them.

The one perennial vine I grow right now is a different story I've learned. Sweet Autumn Clematis is a beautiful late-summer bloomer, but it just doesn't have the gripping power that the annual vines do.

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Too many plants

If you're like me, you like your planting beds full of plants. To me there's nothing stranger-looking than a bed with each plant surrounded by its own little "neutral zone" of mulch. Yes, there is plenty of room for growth. Yes, that reduces competition between plants. Yes, it improves airflow to minimize fungal and other problems. Yes, it looks weird.

I prefer my plants all packed together. There's a limit though, and in some of my beds that limit has been surpassed. In some areas it looks like I was growing delicious sprouts for my salads, tiny plants all packed together, but then forgot about them and let almost every plant grow. Time to take action.

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Goodbye and Hello

In today's short post, I'll say a couple of goodbyes, and a few hellos too. Think of it as a type of "good news / bad news" post. First, the bad news: this will be the last update you'll see of these cactus seedlings.

As you may know I planted these this winter as an experiment and to tide me over with some small-scale gardening until spring arrived. Since they are not cold-hardy cactus, they were always going to be winter houseplants for me.

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Grass, you dig?

The hardest plant-related projects in my garden always involve grasses. Digging bamboo rhizomes (bamboo is in the grass family, did you know?). Removing turf grass when creating a new planting area. Removing or transplanting ornamental grasses. These are all hard work. About ten days ago I did one of these "little" projects, and I can't believe I almost forgot to post about it.

I removed a large ornamental grass that I was no longer happy with: this Miscanthus sinensis that I grew from seed a few years back.

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cardboard opens, plants revealed

This past week I received two exciting packages in the mail, cardboard boxes that even if I had no memory of arranging for them to be delivered to me, I could still probably figure out what they contained. Of course, they contained plants!

The first package arrived on Thursday, and I could see it was a "custom" box, and rather tall. This could only mean one thing in my experience: it contained bamboo!

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More bamboo pretty

As you may know, I grow many different varieties of bamboo in my garden. Most of it is running bamboo, and all of the species I grow produce new shoots in the spring. Bamboo shooting season (as we like to call it) is an exciting time, with new surprises every day.

In my ongoing efforts to share my excitement with you, I offer another series of photos that I hope captures some of the beauty I see when looking at the bamboo shoots and newly-emerged culms.

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Bugleweed, essential in my lawn

In yesterday's post about the woodchuck, you can see a nice drift of purple flowers in the background in many of the images.

That's the bugleweed (Ajuga reptans) that my neighbor inherited when he moved in, and has spread in large swaths through his lawn and to a smaller extent mine.

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