A "Fixer-Upper" Garden

What a man needs in gardening is a cast-iron back, with a hinge in it.
~Charles Dudley Warner, My Summer in a Garden, 1871
A little while ago a reader asked if I’d post some photos of my garden. What a great idea! As it is the beginning of fall here, I thought I may have to dig for some old snaps, that the garden today was mostly too tired looking, but I grabbed the camera anyway and snapped a few. The results are not too bad, there are still several plants blooming, so here they are. Just to give you an idea of what can be done with time, a not-so-cast-iron-back and a passion, I’ll include three photos of the garden way back 23 years ago when the ideas and transformation began.


A badly neglected yard. I can’t call it a garden at this point…it’s all grass and weeds with a few overgrown shrubs. It is spring of 1986.



After some major clean-up, you can see it is a small urban size lot with a house and detached garage.



It is fall of 2009. The neighbors call it an urban oasis.

These last two are of the same location: one current and the other with ‘Miss’ was taken in spring when the wood hyacinths (Hyacinthoides hispanica) are at their peak.

So there is a good portion of my garden, where I’ve had some of my most relaxing, enjoyable moments as the reward of the transformative effort.


Photographs taken by and property of the author

Charming Abyssinian Glads

I know that if odour were visible, as colour is, I'd see the summer garden in rainbow clouds.
~Robert Bridges, "Testament of Beauty"
 The Abyssinian Glad is blooming now. Is it a glad or not? Formerly Acidanthera now re-named as Gladiolus callianthus, you’ll find both names still used in catalogs adn package labeling. Old House Gardens says of it’s history, “ collected from the mts of Ethiopia in 1844, it was featured as brand new in Garden and Forest in 1888.
I’m not particularly fond of the standard garden glads….too stiff like soldiers only to flop to one side with the weight of the flowers. They always seemed to need staking, which I don’t like to do, so I got rid of mine long ago.
Then last year I came across the Abyssinian Glad in the Old House Gardens catalog. They look nothing like the regular glads. I couldn’t resist the promise of fragrance and the promise they never need staking.

Fragrant? YES! It is wonderful. So much so that the Old House Gardens newsletter had a “name that fragrance” write-in last year. Submitters used words like…
"Perfumey," Alexa said, "Like lilac, with a touch of . . . ?"
"Honeysuckle," Renee suggested, "lilac and honeysuckle . . . and maybe forsythia?"
"Forsythia? What does forsythia smell like?" everyone asked.
"I love this scent," Jessica said, "but I can't describe it."
"I can't even smell it," Scott lamented.
“A delicate jasmine”
“They smell only like Abyssinian glads! I know of no other fragrance quite like theirs. All I need do is step out of my front door and their scent reaches me from 50 feet away.”
“Definitely an angel-trumpet-type fragrance (Datura), perhaps tending a bit toward its relative, Brugmansia. “
“...smell like Easter lilies."

Enough said to convince you to try them? I am at a loss as to a comparison…perhaps wisteria? Nontheless…they are wonderful. If you want fragrance to greet you in your garden (I’m not sure about 50 feet away though) you simply must try them. Put them on your bulb buying list for next spring, when they hit the stores. My first ones were mail order but sadly didn’t survive last winter which was especially cold here. I’ve also seen them at the Pacific Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle, as well as Fred Meyer (aka Krogers) when their spring bulbs come in. They bloom in late summer, are hardy to USDA zone 7 so may or may not winter-over where you are. I’ll buy them as annuals if necessary, they are that wonderful.

In bloom in my garden today: cyclamen coum, colchicum, lycoris, cicimifuga, hosta lancifolia, caryopteris, Echinacea, salvia, daphne, roses, coreopsis, hardy geranium, nepeta, solanum crispum, gauara, fushia, canna, schizostylis, green beans, zucchini, borage, alpine strawberries.

Photo courtsey of Pat Chissus

Tulips and Other Spring Bulbs

If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,

And of thy meager store

Two loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.
--Saadi, Persian Sufi poet, in Gulistan (The Rose Garden), 1258

I know tulips should be a spring subject but now is the time for you to choose and plant your bulbs that will bloom in spring. Tulips are known for not being long living bulbs. Unlike the daffodil, tulips will often peter out after a few years. It’s not your ineptitude as a gardener; it’s usually just the nature of the bulb. If you want your spring bulbs coming back year after year, most garden writers suggest daffodils rather than tulips. That said however, I have had daffs bloom beautifully for 2 springs only to have them totally disappear after that. Experts will say I must have voles, moles or squirrels who are the culprits. Well, squirrels will dig them up from the surface, which is easy to spot…so that’s not my problem. I’ve never seen mole hills in my yard and I have no idea about voles but I suspect not them either. I do know daffodil flowering decreases as the clumps grow and get crowded. That’s not my problem here either as crowded clumps would have a mass of leaves. In that case dig them up after the foliage has died completely back, divide the clump and replant, spreading the joy in more areas of the garden. Garden experts WANT to give you an answer (too wet, too warm, too cold, too deep, too shallow or critters), but sometimes I think the answer is simply “that’s just the way it goes with some bulbs”. Simply move on, buy more and don’t get the same one next time. Well of course I did try the same again…and lost them too. Several years ago I was enamored with the white petal, greenish cup daffs. I bought several varieties, all of which were delightful the first year only to disappear forevermore. (sigh) Happily though, the super fragrant Erlicheer daffodil has come back spring after spring. The mildly fragrant Thalia continues thus far and Tete-a-Tete has been a faithful miniature returning too. I love poeticus, the short deep colored cupped narcissus with white petals, notably the Narcissus poeticus “Pheasant’s Eye”. Alas, after 2 years they have left me as well.

But I am undaunted! I have turned my attention to other spring blooming bulbs like Muscari (Grape hyacinth), Hyacinthoides (Spanish bluebells) both of which “self seed, spreading rapidly”. Ooh, bad news in my garden so I deadhead them, foiling their “irrational exuberance”. I’ve also planted Fritillaria meleagris (checkered or snakehead lily -I like the purple ones), Fritillaria michailovskyi (pictured here), Crocus, Hyacinths (which also slink away as the years wan), Galanthus nivalis (snowdrop), Erythronium ‘Pagota’ (trout lily), and Tulips.

So getting back to tulips, abit more than 7 years ago throughout the garden I planted 100 Tulipa “Gavota”. It is a beautiful long pointed burgundy tulip with yellow edging. As of now I have maybe a dozen left as they slowly disappear. Originally I bought a bag at Costco. Now I can only find them on-line at just a few sites, at a much higher price of course. I would love to plant another 100 Gavota. It’s amazing how put together a garden looks when color or texture is repeated throughout. Seven years and counting of longevity doesn’t seem too bad…does it?

I recently discovered another email newsletter adding it to my list of favorites. It’s by Ken Druse, entitled Real Dirt and in his latest edition he writes, “…That said; one bulb in the garden hasn't failed me yet. It is a late-season heirloom tulip I bought from Old House Gardens [www.oldhousegardens.com] called 'Insulinde'. The petals or tepals are striped or flamed purple on white. In 2009, the blossoms lasted - from bud to tepal drop -- an astonishing four weeks! And this is a perennial plant returning every spring as large and strong as the previous year.”

I almost forgot to mention the species tulips. Much smaller, some don’t even look like tulips but I have Tulipa turkestanica, they are so sweet. Tiny in size by comparison to today’s standard tulips, they close up at night and open by day also, but they don’t abandon the garden over time. There are several varieties to choose from. Mine came from McClure and Zimmerman (mzbulb.com) I think.

Now about those dying bulb leaves. Yes, you must leave them intact to wither even though the flower has dropped off. It is through the leaves that the bulb is fed and strengthened for next spring’s flowers. If you remove them before they have withered you are starving the bulb. For 8 weeks or more after the flowers are finished, the leaves will continue to grow and produce food for the bulb. If you tie them in a knot, band them or braid them they will not only look silly, you are also reducing the amount of leaf surface the sun and air can access. Also, be sure to deadhead after the flowers fade so the energy can go into the bulb, not seed head production. If you simply cannot leave bulb leaves to die naturally in your garden, perhaps you shouldn’t include bulbs in your plantings.

Speaking of critters… if you ever see your crocus petals just laying on the ground…that is squirrels! I’ve watched them, with their front ‘paws’ pick off the petals, turn them over, nibble something delectable from the base, drop the remainder 0f the petal to the ground and proceed likewise through the whole patch! Apparently my buttery yellow crocus taste better than my purple ones. Sheesh!

So it’s September!! The spring blooming bulbs are in the stores, nurseries and catalogs now just waiting to be snuggled down into your dirt for the winter!

Photos: Fritillaria michailovskyi, Tulipa “Gavota” - courtesy Pat Chissus

The Schizostylis

No two gardens are the same.
No two days are the same in one garden.
~Hugh Johnson


The Schizostylis coccinea aka Kaffir Lily or River Lily is blooming in my garden now. It has been renamed Hesperantha coccinea but I think I just like saying Schizostylis better. All names are apparently used depending on the grower, so if you look for it take all four names with you to the nursery. Confusing I know but often plants do get reclassified so patience is helpful. It is native to South Africa and has lovely delicate flowers that come in various shades of reds, pinks or a white. The flowers close up at night and open wide for the daylight. It spreads by rhizomes, fairly shallow so it is easy to dig, divide or thin. I read that thinning is suggested every 3 years for the plant to flourish.
It loves full sun, reaches for it in partial shade and craves moisture. I’ve seen it growing at the side of a pond at the Highline Botanical Gardens. I have one that gets ample water but slightly shaded and one (a division of the same plant) in a dryer but sunnier place. The former grows bigger and blooms earlier than the latter. Maybe that difficult sunny spot by the downspout? It has a fairly long bloom time as multiple buds open in progression up the stem. The leaves are long, slender, sword shaped that form basal clumps. Divide them in the spring.

I found mine at a local farmer’s market. The variety I have is named ‘Watermelon’ and the color is just like the inside of a watermelon (the photo of mine above makes it look more red than in person). I see Kaffir Lily now and then in the larger independent nursery. Best to buy them when in bloom so you can get the color you like best, so now is a good time to check your nurseries. Hardy in zones 5-9 (USDA).

Oh by the way, did I mention the hummingbirds love it? Indeed they do.

In bloom in my garden today: schizostylis, daphne, roses, star jasmine, alpine strawberry, artichoke, borage, phygelius, fushia, greenbeans, tomato, cucumber, tigridia, canna, coreopsis, Echinacea, salvia, catmint, solanum, gauara, liatris, oregano, loosestrife, lavender, Russian sage, hardy geranium, verbascum.

Photo by Pat Chissus

What I Read

“By the time one is eighty, it is said, there is no longer a tug of war in the garden with the May flowers hauling like mad against the claims of the other months. All is at last in balance and all is serene. The gardener is usually dead, of course.”
Henry Mitchell, The Essential Earthman, 1981

Over the years my favorite gardening magazines have been English Gardening, BBC’s Gardeners World, Organic Gardening and Northwest Garden News (the last is available free at most nurseries). I have found the English garden magazines to be the most useful to me for my maritime zone 7-8 (USDA) garden. We can enjoy most if not all of the plants the English do whereby making use of the entire magazine, whereas American gardening magazines write for a variety of zones. For example, Sunset magazine features garden advice for the whole West Coast, so I can only use about 30% of the magazines offerings. Fine Gardening writes for zones across the entire US, giving me even less useful information. I can use all of the British magazine’s articles, even though the magazine is nearly double the cost, it is more cost effective to me and so fun to see the similarities of our regions.

Usually in January, when I can’t do much in the garden, I checkout all the Organic Gardening magazines I can find at the public library. OG is a wealth of info on vegetable gardens and soil health. Northwest Garden News is by local garden authors for the Washington and Oregon area.

Gardening authors who have taught or simply entertained me include Margorie Fish (English), the late Christopher Lloyd (a British treasure), Henry Mitchell (humor), the late Ruth Stout (American humor/practicality) the late Louise Beebe Wilder (fragrance), Ann Lovejoy (garden design and plant care), Steve Solomon (vegetables), Tracy DiSabato-Aust (perennials/pruning). There are so many more, too many to remember or list.

One of the most fun books for me has been Gardeners Latin: A Lexicon by Bill Neal. Don’t let your eyes glaze over yet…it simply explains the Latin botanical name structure and how to make sense of it all. When you buy a plant the label should have its Latin name. We tend to prefer the common name for its ease of use but across the country or world there are too many ‘Bluebells’ - you may not get the right one you saw in your friends garden. The common name bluebells can refer to the spring blooming Hyacinthoides bulb but they also refer to Campanula that bloom in summer, and in Texas they refer to Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflora). Additionally, the English bluebell is different from the Spanish bluebell, one is stout, the other graceful and each with their own botanical name. Having the Latin will ensure the correct purchase. The book also contains numerous little known historical botanical facts. I refer to it a lot. Unfortunately it’s out of print, but available for purchase on-line at used book sales sites. I was excited to find a copy in ‘new’ condition on Amazon.

On the web I refer to botany.com often for plant info. You can search by common name or Latin there. Many nurseries and catalog companies have wonderful and informative monthly newsletters. Some of my favorites are Old House Gardens (MI) and Christianson’s Nursery and Greenhouse (WA), both have websites you can sign up on.

When you simply must speak to an expert, locally we have a garden hotline at 206-633-0224. If they don’t have an answer they’ll look it up and call you back!

Lastly, for murderous fiction, author Audry Stallsmith has created Regan Culver. An herbalist and nursery owner who always solves the mystery! A three part series: Rosemary For Remembrance, Marigolds For Mourning and Roses For Regret. Her books are full of herbal lore. Sadly these too are out of print, but used copies are out there. Audry Stallsmith has a great website too, http://www.thymewilltell.com/.

Happy reading!

I'm In The Garden Today

“My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view.” ~H. Fred Ale


I thought I’d start a blog on gardening because I love talking about gardening and sharing with people about their gardens. If you say “I have to do yard-work today” then this blog is probably not for you. If on the other hand you say “I get to garden today” then we are of a kindred spirit.

I live in the Puget Sound region, zone 7 – 8 with a maritime climate influence. This mild climate allows us to garden nearly year-round, winter over some sub-tropical perennials and enjoy hardy Mediterranean herbs. Believe it or not, we are considered a Mediterranean climate.

I am an urban gardener with an average city sized lot. I didn’t take botany or horticulture in college (I was an art student) and am not a Master Gardener, although I’d consider taking the course if they supported and taught organic practices instead of traditional chemical methods. I have been a gardener for more than 24 years. I have worked in a nursery and currently volunteer some of my time at the municipal greenhouses. Therefore any info I give in this blog is of my opinion or experience, or given second-hand based on reading or talking with professionals.

I garden organically, which simply means I garden without the use of petro-chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers. This is the healthiest alternative for people, animals, soil health and earth in my opinion. That is not to say I never use them…there are times when I will use a chemical herbicide only because a natural method isn’t available or known to me. The key is lessening the use; it is rare that I resort to them.

I do not expect perfection from my garden inhabitants. Weeds are inevitable as is disease on roses, both of which can be controlled by various actions, which may be the subject of future posts.

I also keep honey bees. It seemed like the most natural progression for any gardener. I have been a an organic beekeeper for 2 years and have 1 hive. I wanted the pollination for my vegetable garden but have become enamored with them and their amazing habits. Even though I find more of them in my neighbor’s gardens than mine (sigh), they are a delight. My dad is responsible for introducing me to the world of bees and is still my mentor.

I won’t write every day, but on those days I can get into my garden. In the winter months I may write less but will write. I hope my writing and successes and failures are helpful to your gardening efforts. Together maybe we can make beauty happen in our part of the world.

Welcome to my garden,
Joan