Should I Bite the Bullet?

The actual title should probably be, "Should I Bite the Worm?" but it doesn't really have the same ring to it.



Pictured above, is a "Can O' Worms," a worm composting system that I've been mulling over purchasing. I think it's between the Can O' Worms and the Gusanito Worm Bin. They both run around $100, and I've read pros and cons for both.

The bigger question is, should I really embark on growing a colony of worms in my basement? I keep reading about how awesome worm castings are (that's worm poop for the uninformed), and how I can cut down on household waste, but I'm still a bit nervous.

I mean, it's sort of like getting a puppy. There's a breaking in period, where the worms have to get acclimated to my bin, I have to water and feed the worms, and I have to do maintenance (i.e. figure out how to separate the worms from their poop). And it's sort of a lifetime commitment. What if we have to move? Do the worms go on a moving truck? Do they need care when we go on vacation? Will we need a worm sitter as well as house and dog sitter?

My husband already thinks I'm slightly deranged from all this gardening obsessing, so I think this would put me over into the certifiable category. I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it, but maybe my husband is correct, and this just puts me one step closer to my own special kind of bin (looney, that is).

Photo credit: http://www.wormbins.com/

Not Buying a Plant Because of Its Flowers?....pshaw!

My first, but hopefully, not my last Dahlia.

I read a recent blog posting on GardenRant that linked to a list of garden "hard truths" and one of the truths sort of bugged me, stuck in my craw, if you will.

"Flowers, from a design standpoint, are non-essential--throw pillow equivalents. It’s foliage that makes the garden. Or, as a former Sunset garden writer once put it, 'Buying a plant for its flowers is like choosing a wife for her bonnet.' "

I have heard this advice/truth before and its always bothered me. It seems to me that it seems to imply that "real" gardeners don't care about flowers, short-lived and fragile -- they just take away from the true stars of the garden -- the foliage. I know there are Hosta collectors out there, and people go ape for rare types of conifers, but I couldn't imagine a garden that didn't have flowers. I can imagine visiting such a garden once, but not returning to it. So in defense of the lowly flower, I will supply these photos as a rejection of this "hard truth."


I supposed the foliage is lovely on these California Poppies and Nigella damascena, but I wouldn't have planted the seeds if they didn't have these delicate and delightful flowers


My new favorite rose is this Belinda's Dream. It reblooms, it smells nice. I can offer no comment on its foliage.


This Carefree Spririt Rose is all about the flowers, contantly, non-stop. I supposed you could argue that the rose is great not because of its flowers, but because it is drought tolerant and disease resistant, but I think the flowers are really nice.


This Strawberry Candy Daylily is a repeat bloomer and drought tolerant, but I just think its pretty.


My floribunda rose, "Sun flare" does has terrific foliage, but I certainly wouldn't care about it, if it didn't have the most lovely yellow buds throughout the summer.


Two of my favorite plants, Lavender (Munstead variety) and Yarrow (Achillea). Both have that gray, spidery foliage that is popular these days, but I love the combination of the flowers, the soft purple spikes with the contrasting white umbrels.


Everyone seems to be putting down the lowly Rudbeckia (brown-eyed Susan), but it blooms for over a month, is drought tolerant, and the yellow contrasts with almost everything in my pink and purple garden, especially this Flowercarpet rose (a line of roses I am totally in love with).



I think the Rudbeckia also works well with my Rubrum Lily, which has the most wonderful scent, and blooms for quite a while.



I did buy this Caryopteris divaricata for its foliage, but I love how it provides a framework for the Cosmos to weave through. So I do admit readily, there are qualities to plants besides their flowers you should absolutely consider, like drought-tolerance, length of bloom, disease resistance, and whether a plant's form/foliage/color will complement its plant neighbors. Considering how a plant will look after its lost is flowers, perhaps should be emphasized more, but buying a plant just for its foliage seems to be missing the point a bit.

-Steph

List of Plants:
Purple Dahlia
Nigella damascena (Love-in-a-Mist)
California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica)
Rosa 'Belinda's Dream'
Rosa 'Sun flare'
Rosa 'Carefree Spirit'
Rosa 'Flowercarpet Pink Supreme'
Caryopteris divaricata 'Snow Fairy'
Lilium speciosum Rubrum (Red Species Lily, Rubrum Lily)
Cosmos bipinnatus (Cosmos, Mexican Aster)
Rudbeckia fulgida (Brown-eyed Susan)
Hemerocallis 'Strawberry Candy' (Daylily)
Lavender angustifolia 'Munstead' (English Lavender)
Achillea sibirica (Siberian Yarrow)

It's Dream Home Time

Every year HGTV gives away a "Dream Home" worth millions that the winner usually opts to sell for the cash. This year, the home is in Sonoma, CA. The house looks lovely, as do the interiors, but I have to admit, I was less than impressed with it's gardens. Tons of grass out front, some boring shrubs around the foundation, a teeny, tiny area tucked between the house and the garage for gardening, and more grass in the back. The patio and pergola look nice, but sort of plunked in the back. Don't get me started on the Arborvitae hedge in the back. The one sort of cool thing was a grape arbor (which makes sense when the house is smack in the middle of wine country).

Don't get me wrong, I'm entering the sweepstakes daily. And telling everyone I meet to do the same, but it does sort of bother me that the "G" in HGTV is a bit neglected.

Graphic from HGTV Dream Home Web Site.

I Want This Man as a Neighbor

Despite doing a boat load of work in my yard, I'm posting today about someone else! The dude with the cukes lives in Lynn and has a garden so awesome that he gets a write-up in The Daily Item of Lynn (an awesome source for local gossip). The yards on my street are all pretty small and except for a few pots of tomatos, I don't see much vegetable gardening. Ed sounds like a pretty interesting guy, picking beans from his 3rd floor window, using water from rain barrels, and I especially like his way to keep weeds down.

Another article I stumbled across that's worth a mention, is the story of a man in Lynn whose chickens were confiscated/removed by the city. If you read the comments to the article, there seem to be two camps; chickens are awesome and chickens do not belong in back-yards. I for one would love chickens, but have serious space limitations. Not to mention the fact that my dogs might like to eat the chickens.

-SG