Our Garden by Linda Cobb

Our Garden in Winter 2012

What kind of growing year has it been?  Just plain horrible is my response.  The spring was nice but then the unending heat settled in way too early.  Followed by drought and more heat, the plants in my garden just stood there frozen in time.  They would not grow nor would they die.  It looks as if my plants cannot function properly after the temp gets to 95 degrees and above. 

I was questioning my own ability to garden.  Now that is saying a lot because I can always find some good in gardening.  It is an uplifting experience, and it is an extreme sport also!  After the heat kept up its onslaught for over seventy days, I just went indoors and stayed. 

My roses quit blooming.  The dahlias just stood there not doing anything.  I took some advice from my friends at Great Dixter and trimmed the dahlias down by one third to encourage them to bush out and bloom.  But the biggest gift was from Mother Nature.  She dropped the temperatures by ten to fifteen degrees.  Well, you would have thought that spring was here again!

The roses bloomed wonderfully followed by incredible dahlias.  It is mid November and I have just cut the last vase of flowers!  The season recovered wonderfully.  I am grateful too!  So I am winding it down and preparing for next spring already.
We planted about 1100 bulbs here in preparation for spring.  We re-planted the red shine tulips that did so well in the knot garden as well as some of the black parrot tulips that I love.  In addition I added about 50 orange parrot tulips to make it sparkle.
We planted about 18 peonies and will try the method of cutting the peonies and freezing them when they are just about to open.  I am told that you can thaw them out and they will bloom naturally.  I don’t believe it but I am willing to try.  We shall see.  Go to www.oldhousegardens.com, click on newsletters and look up peonies by topic.  They describe how to do it.  Check it out.  We planted a ton of alliums, all kinds.  My favorite is globemaster, hair, and flavum.  They will look great planted around the bird bath.
I am going to grow some funky muscsari called Valerie Finnis and Ocean Magic.  They are different shades of blue.  I can just see the tiny vases of muscsari, daffodils, and narcissus sitting on my desk next spring. 
In addition we planted the tulip snow parrot and blumex.  November is the time to plant tulips so better get busy.  You will not be sorry for the tiny effort you put out.  You will be rewarded tenfold with tulips.
I have pulled up all of my dahlias tubers for the first time.  I am going to store them in some sawdust in boxes in the garage until next spring.  I am planning to divide them and we will see how they do.  When you divide them you must be sure to see an “eye” or growing point on the top of each bulb.  They look like tiny baked potatoes.  This will be a challenge, but I am excited in trying something new. To learn more about how to do this, go to www.dahlias.com, the website of Swan Island Dahlias.  They will explain it all to you.
Get out there and plant some bulbs for next spring.  In addition it is time to plant the amaryllis bulbs to force.  You will want to give them as Christmas gifts to friends.  Nothing is more inspiring then that huge amaryllis bulb bloom pushing up out of that dead bulb and blooming this huge 6 to 8 inch flower.  Usually they have four flowers per stem and two stems. 
As winter approaches, the garden is going into its rest period.  Remember to add fresh birdseed to all of the birdfeeders scattered around.  Keep the water in the birdbaths clean and fresh.  Bird will not use or nest in a dirty place.  It is nice to remember to put out little “gifts” for the birds during this holiday season such as seeded bird houses that are edible by the birds.  In addition you can hang bird seeded balls in the trees in the garden also.  This will invite the birds into your garden.

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