Sutton Garden Club

"Pressed Flowers, Small Gardens & Desperate Gardeners"

Except for the occaisional 90-degree day, summer is coming to it's end (all 12 days of it, this year!) and Fall is on our doorstep. The Sutton Garden Club's monthly program schedule will begin in September with a workshop on creating art from presssed flowers grown in your own garden. If you haven't started to dry your garden flowers, it's not too late to begin. There are simple, step-by-step, instructions in this issue of the Fine Gardening e-Newsletter to guide you through the process. You'll need at least a month's time to allow the flowers to dry. However, if your own flowers are not quite ready, come to the workshop/meeting on September 22nd to watch SGC member and floral designer, Ann McDevitt, demonstrate her method for creating art with pressed flowers. Location: Sutton Congregational Church, 307 Boston Road ,Sutton MA. Meeting Time: 7:00PM

  We've all seen the results of planting a too-large tree on a small property where the home seems to be being swallowed whole. Those shrubs/trees were perfect for the garden when first planted but then they grew and grew and-well, you get the idea. The article by David Leckey,"Trees for Tight Spaces", provides valuable information on how to approach the dilemma of a small garden and select the plant that best suits the area.  The 'Diana' Weeping Larch, pictured here, is one of the suggested plants. Hmmm! How do you think it'll look in your garden? 

 

Just in, an e-mail from Plant Delight's Nursery that their Fall catalogue is available! You'll never find a plant catalogue, anywhere, as entertaining as this one. Humorous plant descriptions, while remaining informative, are the norm. However, you do need to be selective if you purchase from them. Many of the plants listed are grown for zones 7 and up but there are ample choices for our Zone 5b gardens. http://www.plantdelights.com/index.php

 

 

Herbal Balms

The fabulous fragrances of herbs lend themselves to not only being the source of flavor in preparing meals but the essence of the scents in moisturizing balms. This issue of the Fine Gardening e-newsletter contains an easy, step-by-step video on making herbal balms. If your not currently growing some of the herbs mentioned, it's not too late to plant them in the garden! Caution:I've made the mistake of buying lemon balm instead of lemon verbena. Both have an intense lemon scent, however, the lemon balm is a very vigorous plant and nearly took over my garden! Like the mint family, if it's kept in a container when planted , it's less likely to become a problem. If you plant the container in the garden, be sure the top is at least two inches above ground level and put a piece of landscape fabric in the bottom of the pot to prevent the plant from escaping through the drainage holes.

Another garden project to check out is How to make your own Garden Lanterns and a U-Tube video on planting an Italian Kitchen Garden . Sit back and enjoy-it's still raining!

Plantings for Four Season Interest

This issue of the Fine Gardening e-Newsletter is packed with great tips on inexpensive ways to add four season interest to your gardens, beginning with an article featuring native grasses. Names like Praire Dropseed, Purple Lovegrass, and Eastern Gamagrass were totally unfamiliar to me. The article describes these and other grasses in great detail and the companion plantings that would complement them.

Container planting, for me, has always been a fun and creative way to use annuals to decorate the deck and doorway entrances to the house. I do it every year knowing, that with the first frost, the plants would be relegated to the compost pile. This is a chore, emptying the heavy containers and storing them for the winter. How about planting your containers with shrubs and perennials that will not only provide year round interest but will last for several years? Sounds good to me!

If you're the least bit concerned on how to approach dividing your perennials, read on!  There's a very detailed article in this issue on that very subject and a video, as well. The Sutton Garden Club Plant Sale is right around the corner on Saturday, May 16th-providing  the perfect incentive for members (family and friends, too!) to get out into the garden to find plants to donate. 

Enjoy this gorgeous Spring weather and 'Thank you' for supporting the Plant Sale!

Hypertufa and Glorious 'Glories'

you've probably seen these troughs at flower and garden shows or nurseries, planted with succulents or rock garden varieties, at costs approaching, or even exceeding, one hundred dollars! There have been numerous how-to recipes circulating around for years but this is the first I've come across that actually seems doable. The recipe ingredients are easily colected and the directions clear and simple to execute. However, I did notice that there was no mention of the weight of the finished trough. It is, afterall, made from cement! It'll be much heavier when the hypertufa is wet ,therefore, I would suggest you create it where it will be as close as possible to the shady spot it needs for drying. I especially love the idea of embedding leaves in the rim to give it that antique ,fossilized look. If you decide to make a trough, photograph it so we can put it on the blog. A fun project to do with your children!

If your looking for an annual that gives you a big bang for the effort (and who isn't?), consider morning glories. Those old-fashioned, easy-to-grow plants we grew in kindergarten. The colors range from white, to reds and pinks and gorgeous shades of blue and purple. Some are dawn bloomers, others will bloom all day. In the same family as the morning glories (ipomoea) you'll find the moon flowers, cypress vines and cardinal climbers, offering very different flower shapes and leaf textures. And if this isn't enought to get you to try this group of annuals, there are the sweet potato vines now available in a myriad of colors.

With the cost of purchasing perennial plants rising every year, it might be time to consider growing some of your own. Would you have ever thought that lupines, penstemons and primroses would be considered 'easy' to grow? The how-to for success with these and other perennials is discussed in this issue of the Fine Gardening e-newsletter. With a little bit of time and patience, you can fill your garden with colorful perennials at a bargain price. 

Pruning Tomatoes, Growing Viburnums & a Pet Contest!

This title kind of reminds me of the children's game that asks,' which of these doesn't belong with the others? ' ! However, all these subjects, and more, are in this issue of the Fine Gardening e-Newsletter.

It might seem a bit early to be talking about pruning tomatoes ,but it really isn't. I saw this video well into last year's growing season, when it was way too late to do anything about the disastrous mess that my tomato plants had become. The supports had been weighed down by the vigorous plants and everything was lying on the ground making it a hide and seek game to find the ripe tomatoes.  Be sure to check out the support system that was shown in the video. I plan to give it a try this summer. Well, more like getting my husband to give it a try!

I am a big fan of Viburnums. They have attractive foliage, a diverse growth habit and many have very fragrant flowers in Spring followed by beautiful fall berries. There's a relatively new variety that I've grown in my garden, named 'Snowflake Viburnum'. It's covered with blooms in May and when that's over it starts blooming again, on and off, for the rest of the summer! If you're looking for a low maintenance plant to add structure to your garden, these plants should be at the top of your list.

Now, to the dogs (and cats, etc.)! February's Photo Challenge is titled 'Pets in the Garden'.  The winner will be chosen based on creativity,  originality, and cuteness. The pictures already posted on the site are adorable!

Of course, there's more in this issue of the Fine Gardeneing e-newsletter than I've written about. It's a fun and diverse issue. Enjoy! 

Pruning Roses

I'm feeling cheated! It's the end of January and we haven't had a thaw! Not that I love trudging through slushy snow but the warmer temperatures that come with it make it so much easier to endure the next six weeks. Oh yes, you can be sure that Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow- he always does!!

It's not too early to start planning ahead for Spring and those chores that will need to get done. Pruning will be at the top of the list for many of us. The damage done by last December's ice storm will, undoubtedly, change the look of many of our gardens. Shade gardens will be exposed to more sun and some plants will have to be relocated. However, there are those pruning chores that are annual. Rose pruning is one of them and this month's Fine Gardening e-newsletter has a number of very informative videos for pruning the various categories of roses-shrub,climbing,hybrid tea and floribunda.

If you have a bad case of the winter blues then get a head start on gardening by growing your own plants. There's an excellent article and video on seed starting in this issue with easy techniques for scarification and soaking seeds to improve germination.  

New additions to the e-newslettter include photos to help you choose the 'right plant for the right place , a new address for their blog site- The Dirt -and the Winter Wonders Photo Contest.

This year it will be a February thaw. I'm fine with that but I do wish it would hurry up!!

Think Spring!

The Holiday rush is over,at last, and the pace is becoming a bit more relaxed. Seed catalogues are replacing the holiday shopping ones and it's no surprise that we're already thinking (really wishing!) of Spring. 

Many of us bought poinsettia plants as part of our holiday decorations but what do we do with them now! This issue of the Fine Gardening e-newsletter has a wonderful article about the origin of the poinsettia, what makes them popular and, most important, how to keep them looking great. 

Check out the photo gallery on the Fine Gardening Blog (The Dirt) where readers can post pictures of their garden(s) to share with the public. Later there will be contests and photo challenges.

Videos available in this issue of the Fine Gardening e-newsletter include:The Kitchen Garden:How to Prune Tomatoes; Containing Mint; Grow Your Own Garlic; Garlic Begets Garlic; Rosemary Outdoors and In; Q&A; Harvesting vegetables; Extending the Salad Season; and The Herb Garden Redefined. There are videos on container gardening and design tips too!

Getting back to those seed catalogues:Order early! Those fancy new introductions sell out fast!

Stop Raking !!

The latest issue of the Fine Gardening e-newsletter has arrived featuring an article on how to clean up those knee-deep piles of leaves without the usual hours of back-breaking raking! And...enrich the soil in our gardens and lawn,at the same time. I've been using their method for years and have gorgeous, organic rich, moisture retentive soil as a result.

Click on the header categories for valuable, seasonal ,gardening information from pruning suggestions to overwintering dahlias and garden and landscape maintenance. 

Check out the list of videos below to view a variety of subjects including making martinis !

Forcing Bulbs

 Preparing Roses for Winter

Shelter Plants From Winter

Planting Garlic

How to Make Leaf Mold

A Simple Compost Bin

The Winter Vegetable Garden

Mix Up a Cilantro Martini

Introduction to Dividing Perennials

Don't miss the blog site with confessions from fellow gardeners of 'all the plants we killed this summer' !

Mums the Word!

  Well, it's happening, again!! Here comes Fall in all it's glory with cool, crisp air, bright blue skies and trees turning their leaves into firey red, orange and golden hues. The perennial gardens have begun to wind down ,even with our frequent trips to the box store's garden centers in a valiant attempt to keep them going. There is another way to extend the color in the garden and this issue of the Fine Gardening e-newsletter tells you how.

Dividing Perennials

Warm days and cool, dew-laden, nights make Fall the perfect time for dividing plants. This issue of the Fine Gardening e-newsletter gives an extensive description on how to divide just about any type of perennial. There are tips on when a plant needs to be divided and a number of videos you can watch,too. Timing and technique are key to successful plant dividing. Check the list at the end of the article for the optimum time and method. 

Instead of waiting for Spring to dig those plants for the SGC Plant Sale (May 16, 2009), divide them this Fall and put them in a corner of your garden where they can winter over. Come Spring you can easily pop them out, pot them up and bring them to the sale. Less stress for both the gardener and the plant!!