[gardeners] Re: Lazy Gardening
Cheryl & Erich Schaefer (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Sun, 21 Sep 1997 11:18:57 -0400
Well, not one of you lovely people shared the jokes, so on to the new bed
without further delay.
I used about half inch of newspaper. There were no untoward weed problems
except that resulting from the compost itself which were easily done in.
But I made the mistake of prematuely planting in it - for lack of another
place - and that's where the problems with depth arose because while the
plants survived, they needed soil as soon as they emerged and gardening in
cold, damp spring weather wasn't fun but necessary if the plants were to
survive. I planted many bulbs which made it, but they now need another six
inches of compost/soil if they are going to make it this winter. The area
isn't large, about 11 x 4 ft, and it took 10 midsize wheelbarrows full to
inadequately cover it; 20 would have been more like it. That's going to
happen sometime soon. Unfortunately, the compost pile is a long way from
this bed. If you aren't going to plant in it immediately, the lesser amount
does the job. Some grass and ivy would work its way through but should be
fairly easy to remove in spring.
As for the rest of my garden, it has been a glorious season. The stars are
heleniums that I planted in spring, now 3-4' tall and brilliant yellow, red
and blends of both. They share the autumn spotlight with seed grown
gloriosa daisies which bloom later than those that survive the winter.
There is also rudbeckia, purple asters in short medium and tall varieties,
the latter wild New England ones that surround us amidst a sea of goldenrod
and wild blackeyed susan, dahlias and spring planted chrysanthemums, three
colors of buddleia (deep purple, white and lilac) pink anemones and linum
perenne, a favorite of mine which has bloomed since May, albeit with less
flourish than in spring. There is nearly as much color now as there was in
June and July.
One iris rebloomed in late August/Sept., Champagne Elegance. I have another
which bloomed nearly all of October last year, Blessed Again. We now have
40 other rebloomers which won't do anything until next year. We hope to
specialize in rebloomers which will actually do so reliably in zones 4 & 5.
Total irises planted, about 600, 200 plus named varieties labelled and
mapped!! Hope somebody wants some next year.
Cheryl Schaefer, Schaefer Yarns
Beautiful hand painted fibers
schaefer@epix.net
Zone 5 in the fabulous Finger Lakes of NY