Missinghenrymitchell

LATEST ARTICLES ( 236 )

• Garden Log, 5.12.14

  

  It’s so hot outside. At 9 p.m. it’s still nearly 80 degrees F (26.6 C), and it’s early May. After dinner, I went out to water because everything looks desiccate... Read more

  Posted on 13 May 2014 GARDENING

• Hunger Games: The Joys of Aphid-lady Beetle IPM

  

  This weekend, as I cleaned up the spent blooms of my bearded iris (Iris germanica), I noticed that one of the leaves was absolutely covered in aphids. Read more

  Posted on 12 May 2014 GARDENING

• Surprise Strawberry Harvest

  

  The best kinds of strawberries are those you don’t have to put any effort into. I love growing small fruits, but strawberries need a lot of space to run. Read more

  Posted on 10 May 2014 GARDENING

• Garden Log, 5.6.14

  Iris ‘War Chief’ and ‘Helen Collingswood’ bloomed today. Pruned two boxwoods out of seven–the two I thinned last year are looking robust again and benefitted... Read more

  Posted on 07 May 2014 GARDENING

• Bletilla Striata: Hardy Ground Orchid

  

  Some years ago I encountered at a garden center a 4-inch pot of Bletilla striata, or hardy ground orchid, in bloom. I don’t require much persuasion when it come... Read more

  Posted on 02 May 2014 GARDENING

• Wordless Wednesday: Backyard Blooms

  

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  Posted on 30 April 2014 GARDENING

• Sustainable Fertilizer: Nettle Tea

  

  Among other new things I’m trying out this year, I’m making a liquid fertilizer out of stinging nettles (Urtica dioica). Urtica dioica grows easily from seed an... Read more

  Posted on 29 April 2014 GARDENING

• Spring Planting Time: Building a New Raised Bed

  

  We eat a lot of fresh produce in our house. I’ve been wanting to grow more of it myself, but sunny space and time have been limiting factors. That changes this... Read more

  Posted on 25 April 2014 GARDENING

• Project Update: The Rain Garden, One Year Later

  

  Last spring, I built a large rain garden to handle runoff from my roof. Here are a few photos of it, one year later. Rain garden, looking northeast. Rain garden... Read more

  Posted on 25 April 2014 GARDENING

• First Dates: Anchusa

  

  Third in the series “First Dates: Plants I’m Trying This Year.” When I saw the rich blue flowers of Anchusa ‘Dawn Mix’ featured in the catalogue, I knew I... Read more

  Posted on 22 April 2014 GARDENING

• More of a Good Thing: Propagating Trilliums and Other Rhizomatous Plants

  

  My favorite time of the gardening year is when my trilliums come into bloom. Trillium luteum These plants, native (in the case of Trillium luteum) to North... Read more

  Posted on 15 April 2014 GARDENING

• Garden Log, 4.14.14

  

  After four or five days near 80 degrees (26C), everything in the garden has exploded. The daffodils, which like a long, cool spring, expired in the... Read more

  Posted on 15 April 2014 GARDENING

• First Dates: Gilia Tricolor

  

  Second in the series “First Dates: Plants I’m Trying This Year” Gilia tricolor is an annual plant native to central California. Bees (and I) love the small,... Read more

  Posted on 09 April 2014 GARDENING

• First Dates: Plants I’m Trying This Year

  

  This week, I will share some of the plants I’m trying out in my garden for the first time. Mina lobata Mina lobata uses numerous aliases, including firecracker... Read more

  Posted on 08 April 2014 GARDENING

• Know Thine Enemy: Common Weeds to Know

  

  Here’s a terrific chart of common weeds, by the Missouri Botanical Garden. Get to know the weeds that make their homes in your garden. Read more

  Posted on 03 April 2014 GARDENING

• Wordless Wednesday: Spring Blooms

  

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  Posted on 02 April 2014 GARDENING

• Resisting Temptation: Still Too Early to Plant Much.

  

  Spring seems finally to be here. I’m in the midst of a series of days in the mid-70s to low 80s (23-27C), and curbing the desire to plant every seedling I’ve go... Read more

  Posted on 01 April 2014 GARDENING

• Garden Log, 3.31.14

  

  A gorgeous, clear spring day, high of 72. Planted a ‘Yuletide’ Camellia sasanqua, dug up Helianthus and Crocosmia to share with a local plant sale. I am not... Read more

  Posted on 31 March 2014 GARDENING

• Early Spring Charmers: Chionodoxa

  

  This year, I’m enjoying Chionodoxas for the first time. These are charming and relatively-unknown “minor” garden bulbs, closely related to Scillas (squills). Read more

  Posted on 27 March 2014 GARDENING

• Unidentified Sleeping Object

  

  There is some kind of cocoon hanging from one of my blueberry bushes. It is perhaps as long as my thumb, and a little larger in size than a chicken egg. I have... Read more

  Posted on 26 March 2014 GARDENING