Owner: Ilona's Garden Journal URL:http://ilonagarden.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 23:23:26 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Recording events of my garden season and its inspirations, while jotting down information on plants and gardentips. A garden journal that connects with other gardeners and shares the joy of the art and craft of creating a personal landscape. Site statistics:Click here
St. Patrick's Blessing 2007-09-29 04:18:00 ST. PATRICK'S BLESSING ON MUNSTER(From the Early Irish) Blessing from the Lord on High Over Munster fall and lie; To her sons and daughters all Choicest blessing still befall; Fruitful blessing on the soil That supports her faithful toil. Blessing full of ruddy health, Blessing full of every wealth That her borders furnish forth, East and west and south and north; Blessing from the Lord on High Over Munster fall and lie! Blessing on her peaks in air, Blessing on her flagstones bare, Blessing from her ridges flow To her grassy glens below! Blessing from the Lord on High Over Munster fall and lie! As the sands upon her shore Underneath her ships, for store, Be her hearths, a twinkling host, Over mountain, plain and coast; Blessings from the Lord on High Over Munster fall and lie!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Isn't that a lovely blessing? One I wish over my own gardens and community!Technorati Tags: Irish blessing, Blogroll Me! Read more:Patrick
Now's A Good Time To... 2007-09-27 17:08:00 Improve your soil, so I wrote an article on the subject.It is also a good time to make a compost pile ( or two) if you haven't already... think of all those available leaves, garden refuse, grass clippings, Starbucks coffee grounds (just one more excuse to swing by and get your favorite latte)... oh, did I say that? Must be thinking of something else;) Although it is a good idea.It is a good time to get things planted, and it's almost October, so don't wait too long!A good time for apple cider and trying a new apple variety.Check out what gives good color in the garden during this time. Take a hike around the neighborhood or in the parks, visit and arboretum, there are many places to get good ideas.Enjoy whatever bright sunny days you can before the rain and snow decides to visit in earnest.Technorati Tags: soil improvement, Blogroll Me! Read more:Good Time
Rural Observations, Mid September 2007-09-20 06:28:00 Well, the golden waves of grain are now golden piles of corn being poured from the harvesters into the bins and off to the silos. Huge trucks with arched covers, telltale spills of grain on the road, and bare fields of chaff- not yet plowed, are September
's story. The dried cornstalks of fields yet unharvested wait their turn, but soon all will be shorn clean until next year. The soybean fields will be next, but presently they are still greeny gold.Everywhere the colors of early fall are apparent, and in my garden it is the purple and pink of asters. When I moved here and started the garden I bought named varieties, but since then all the asters are self-seeded later generations. They grow like weeds and I am constantly pulling them out, but they are gorgeous in their time, so I like to keep parts of the garden given over to their rangy, but floriferous selves. Golden rods are blooming now, but the autumn clematis, for me, is over. It turns to clouds of diaphanous seed heads, with a Read more:Rural
Boulder Belt Blog describes cherry tomato hell 2007-09-19 19:06:00 Boulder Belt Blog: "Cherry tomato hell has hit Boulder belt. This happens every year when we have more cherry tomatoes than we can possibly sell but they have to be harvested anyway. If we do not pick them they will start splitting and rotting on the vines which will attract the wrong insect crowd as well as a lot of fungi, bad bacteria and viruses. The result will be dying vines loaded with inedible fruit long before frost kills them off. Something we want to avoid"Enjoyed reading Lucy's little rant that just happens to be full of great gardening tips. It is in her environmental passion that I can intersect with her politics... but otherwise we are polar opposites. For me, that shouldn't matter in good gardening camaraderie, although I know that some don't want any politics with their gardening and others want the politics to at least be of their own flavor. Good reading written by a knowledgeable and dedicated organic grower. I personally try to incorporate locally grown organic p Read more:Boulder
Tomato Issues 2007-09-19 12:17:00 I hope all who planted their tomatoes are enjoying the harvest. I have some ripe ones that I have to pick before something happens to them! Bugs, and other hungry varmints must be watched for... or rather beaten to the pick :) Anyway, I've been surfing and doing other things that have brought tomatoes to the forefront of my mind and that always means a blogpost.I have been reading Hanna's tomato reviews through out the summer, and one type that caught my interest was the so-called "black tomato". I happened to spy a display of "Heirlooms" @ my local Whole Food Market and noticed some that seemed to fit the bill of "black tomato". Of course, I bought some. These were much smaller than I expected. I suppose because they have that bumpy look like beefsteak types that are always huge. They were nice, but not spectacular in taste and consistency. I have to say I hate the "gel" in tomatoes. The more meatiness, the better in my book. Sometimes that is due to the growing conditions and the a Read more:Issues
, Tomato
Chill in the Air 2007-09-13 09:37:00 It has gotten quite cool all of a sudden here, the chill of fall has arrived, no mistaking. Last night there were areas in the 30's. This is typical September weather. I can remember, as a girl, walking to school with my new sweater in the morning and feeling too warm for it walking home in the afternoon. Cool and crisp mornings followed by brightly blue and sunny days, September is always a pretty month in my mind.I took note and determined that I will cover the tomatoes in hopes that I will get a decent crop once it warms up a bit. Fall time here usually warms up for most of October and you can usually get some last tomatoes, if you cover them at night. Tuck them in with a sheet to keep the frost out and get the last little bit of summer on the table.This time of year always makes me feel wistful. Foggy mornings and misty evenings, interspersed with the clear afternoon light that seems too short... lovely days always seem too short. The butterflies dance obliviously around the autum Read more:Chill
Innis Garden : A Lovely Place To Visit 2007-09-12 13:03:00 I have highlighted Innis Garden
Metro Park in several posts, but this is to summarize the experience. What I like most is the personal, human scale that has been preserved in this gardened place. Now that it is in the Metro Park system certain concessions are made to the fact that it is a public garden, but it keeps its intimate personal feel, and I like that.Yet, there is a plethora of features to visit, here is the rundown:Nature PreserveHerb GardenSisters Garden ( children's garden space)Rose GardenPrairie GardenWhite GardenRock GardenMemorial GardenCutting GardenConifer GardenThese features are in varying amounts of development (the conifer garden, for instance, is not very large or "grown up" yet), but the entire garden is a pleasant experience for all ages. Not too large to tax little children and seniors, but still a lot to see. Three acres with seven theme gardens surround the former home of the "Sister", Grace and Mary Innis, who donated their home and property to Columbus Read more:Lovely
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Results: Great Garden Blog Poll 2007-09-11 11:29:00 Results are in:19 people voted on what makes a great garden blog.68% say it has to have pictures.26% say technique, method, and info are important.31% say they want daily ramblings from a friendly, neighborly blogger.36% say that a unique style is important to them.10% felt that their territory should be included in the mix of information.21% say lots of garden news and views make the blog interesting for them.So there you have it, the sampling was small, but I think it gives me a good picture of the state of mind in the garden blogosphere. We are interested in the far-flung world of gardening and not yet settled into niche blogging -when it comes to climate and geography, anyway. I think pictures have become increasingly important and that reflects what garden-oriented readers want in their books as well. We are still bloggers in outlook and that is why we still enjoy reading each other's ramblings. That is the part that may change if we follow the stream of the rest of the blogosph Read more:Garden
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Meet a Good Neighbor 2007-09-07 12:55:00 Go say hello to a new neighbor garden blog I just visited:Good Neighbor
s BlogShe grows the most luscious looking veggies! Oh, those heirloom tomatoes... lovely :) Technorati Tags: , Blogroll Me!
A Secret Garden 2007-09-06 20:32:00 Ever since reading (and re-reading) that book as a child the whole idea of a secret garden has always fascinated me. I love stories of secret passageways and hidden rooms, so a lovely little garden, tucked away and seemingly forgotten by time is a delight to discover. As one follows a pathway into what seems to be a wild part of the garden, there appears an entrance into constructed ruins... as if there were just the foundations of some long ago brick abode, all with garden-wise sayings and vining plants and a fountain. Divided into several small rooms, including one with heavy mists to cool off visitors on hot summer days, this is my favorite portion of Innis Garden
. Mists that cool on a hot summer day... and lend a little mystery.This woman insisted on being in the picture, which is the only one I have of this fountain. Technorati Tags: Innis Garden, secret garden Blogroll Me! Read more:Secret Garden
2007-09-03 17:19:00 Absolutely beautiful gardening days, but I haven't been able to put time in... and it feels like it is killing me. It's not, just feels that way. The main distraction is the looking for and buying a new refrigerator. The old one is kaput. The other distractions are that I have lots of child centered work and errands, and the garden really must take a backseat to that. I did manage to buy some needed peatmoss while out, though. So I really am hoping this week will continue to be ideal weather and I will get my plants in and some weeding done. I probably will move a round a few things while I'm working out there.This week we did remove some weed trees, and finally trimmed out almost all the purple sand cherry. It was such a fine specimen before this past winter's damage. I do remember the warning that these are short lived trees, and damage from different sources is to be expected. Still, it is a fraction of what it was now- not half the tree it used to be! but that whole experimenta
Better Late Than Never : Tomatoes 2007-08-31 12:51:00 I planted my tomato plants late, and I put them in the wrong place, since last years upheaval of my garden ( for those who don't know: new septic system and garage remodel wrecked havoc on my vegetable garden space). Yet, I ate my first vine-ripened tomato of the season. Oh what bliss... really, tomatoes from the garden are what gardening is all about. Forget that almost everything I do is geared toward ornamental gardening... I don't think I enjoy anything quite as much as a summer tomato with sea salt. The story is that I planted several hybrid types which I promptly forget the names of since they are all new to me ( see the former post on garden journaling). The season wasn't kind so far, and the fact is that they are in part shade in an area where I had been composting leaves. I tell you I have the tallest peppers with the biggest leaves and no fruits than anyone I have ever seen! The related tomato plants are fruiting well, but need more sun. I picked a few of the biggest green Read more:Tomatoes
A Garden Journal 2007-08-31 12:03:00 When I created this blog it was with the idea that I would make a journal of my own garden and the experiences throughout the growing season. I have done that, to a certain extent, but because blogging has turned out to be more community-oriented for me, rather than introspectively writing down my garden's facts and follies, I think I need more of a hard copy journal. Why? Because I am now at a stage (whether age or simple quantity of things to remember, I don't know) where I forget which plants I planted, what cultivars I had, or want. Perhaps because in a hard copy journal you have the things right there in front of you, and with a virtual garden journal they fly off the frontpage all too soon.... into the vaults of the "archives". And we all know how often we open those archaic archives!So as much as I like this new fan-dangled GardenJournal
as Garden Blog experience, I am finding a need for digging up one of those first posts I wrote and making myself something I can paste and w
Innis Garden's Bug Story 2007-08-28 15:24:00 During my visit there was an exhibition of bug sculptures throughout the grounds, Here are a number of them... they were impressive in person.The first creature to greet you was this huge Praying Mantis.The assassin bug was hiding among some evergreen plantings, laying in wait no doubt. The spider and her web had many people in awe -they congregated about; but I stood with them to take this angle.The humble bumble bee was not quite clothed with the intended colorings of his stripes. He was located in the herb garden.Technorati Tags: bugs, garden sculpture Blogroll Me! Read more:Garden
OK,OK, Pictures! 2007-08-28 10:57:00 In my little poll in the far right sidebar ( which only has 10 days or so left to vote, BTW), I see the greatest weight given so far is for the blog to have pictures. I must start to bow to the will of the people ;) So, the next post is a resumption of the Innis Garden pictures, there are two more main parts of the garden to show. I should say features, because the next set of pics will be the temporary exhibition of garden bug sculptures that were there at the time I visited. Sounds a little hokey, I know, but they were actually quite intriguing. And then the final portion which is my favorite: the Secret Garden. Not at all like that of the book by that title ( was that anyone elses favorite growing up? The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett?) this is a hidden garden in created ruins... but I'll describe it more when the post with the pictures is ready.Technorati Tags: , Blogroll Me! Read more:Pictures
Book Review: the Ohio Gardening Guide 2007-08-28 10:03:00 The Ohio
Gardening Guide
by Jerry MinnichAs much as some books are great for inspiration with their many ideal, if not practical, plans and pictures, some books do a 180° turn and present facts, information, and techniques with a no-frills approach. This is a preeminently informational book.The book is largely dedicated to the Kitchen gardener with the most information concerning the edible fruits of the garden, especially the vegetables. There are information tables, individual plant profiles, techniques and tips all to help the food gardener get the best results for their efforts. Many Kitchen garden varieties are noted for the Ohio climate, such which strawberry hybrids to plant, etc.Excellent basic information on everything from making compost to transplanting to pruning. A street tree list, an annuals list, and good appendixes of resources, this is like one of the old time no-nonsense garden resource books that covers a broad range of gardening information. There are drawn il
Tomato tip 2007-08-27 16:53:00 I ran across this gardening tip for tomatoes:Tomato
plants prefer acid soil. Adding used coffee grounds helps increase the acidity of the soil. That is great news since I recently followed up another tip that I reported on in the spring: Starbucks provides the gardener with free coffee grounds. Read all the Starbucks coffee for Gardens info here.That's right- I went to Starbucks and they gave me a bunch of coffee grounds! I was so excited. I usually only have the pittance from my own coffee maker that goes into the compost pile, but now a whole bagfull to dig directly into my garden:) Another hint is to keep cut basil fresh by putting it in a jar of clean water. I guess that one is obvious but I never thought of it!Technorati Tags: coffee grounds, gardening tips Blogroll Me!
Book Review: English Cottage Gardening for American Gardeners 2007-08-25 12:01:00 English Cottage Gardening for AmericanGardeners
by Margaret Hensel,1992Loving the style of English Cottage gardening with its wonderful examples in jolly old England, I picked up this book with eagerness, heightened by the fact that Tasha Tudor wrote the foreword. If one is unfamiliar with her "Corgi Cottage" garden, it is a delightful example of cottage gardening that truly pictures what is possible for that sort of landscape... with all the old fashioned lifestyle that Tasha Tudor is also famous for, in life and art.I think that the "for American Gardeners" part of the title is a misnomer, unless it refers only to the zones that mimic English climate such as the Northern coastal regions of the West Coast and the lower New England and Mid Atlantic states on the East Coast. A good half of the book showcases gardens situated in England, which is good for educational purposes in style, but holds drawbacks for the American gardener.A few of the reasons:we have a lack of ancient stone wal Read more:English
Hot, Hazy, Lazy 2007-08-23 14:35:00 That is what it is like here, the heat finally made it in conjunction with the thunderstorms, and we are steaming. The grass is growing and I might make it out there early tomorrow to mow ( if it doesn't rain again) but there is no way I am going to melt away in this heat. What survives -survives. Trying to be one of the surviviors here....Not that I am complaining- my part of Ohio went relatively unscathed, while not too far north there is flooding and all sorts of misery. I've seen more insects which is not surprising, considering the warm and moist conditions. I added some of the new bloomers I've observed to the sidebar in the past week. As I've walked around the garden I notice there are some perennials that made it through the last years neglect. Plumbago has cheerily been blooming its bright blue little flowers for awhile now. They are a very intense greenish blue. The autumn clematis is just starting to break into bloom, and rudbeckias are everywhere- my garden, others gard
Herb Gardens 2007-08-22 00:13:00 Almost forgot: I made a new page on herb gardening,and am working on a page of plantlists right now.Technorati Tags: herb garden, herb garden webpage Blogroll Me! Read more:Gardens
Garden Update August 22 2007-08-21 23:26:00 It seems a bit soggy here, but we don't have the heavy rains that they have suffered in other parts of Ohio. Usually, because of the high water table, if we get lots of rain there is ponding, but we are not experiencing that. The weatherman says that because the ground was dry the rain sheeted off into the waterways. Likely so.All is green and I have tomatoes but they are still green - no sun, no ripening, and it is gray every day right now. The weeds are flourishing, but I haven't been out there to work on that. I did get the butterfly weed (asclepsias) and another lavender plant transplanted in before the rains. I put the butterfly weed over by the pyracantha, because I thought the oranges of the flower and the berries would nicely echo each other. I should harvest my peppers. I'll probably pick some tomorrow. I have plenty fo Hungarian hot, but nary a bud on the sweet peppers. I think I planted them in too good of ground. They are tall, lush, green plants, but no flowers or peppe Read more:August
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Dividing Daylilies 2007-08-20 11:42:00 The US Arboretum advises on "Dividing Daylilies" : "The best time to divide daylilies is shortly after they have finished flowering in late summer to early fall."It has a step by step how-to with pictures and method. So if you have some dayilies to divide, take a look at this helpful resource. Now is the time!* can't remember where I got the picture :( - but it shows off the beauty of the daylily to perfection.
Growing Wise in the Garden 2007-08-17 10:51:00 a few quotes to ponder:"A person who undertakes to grow a garden at home, by practices that will preserve rather than exploit the economy of the soil, has his mind precisely against what is wrong with us. . . . What I am saying is that if we apply our minds directly and competently to the needs of the earth, then we will have begun to make fundamental and necessary changes in our minds. We will begin to understand and to mistrust and to change our wasteful economy, which markets not just the produce of the earth, but also the earth's ability to produce."-Wendell Berry We learn from our gardens to deal with the most urgent question of the time: How much is enough?-Wendell BerryNow 'tis the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted; Suffer them now and they'll o'ergrow the garden.-William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) King Henry VI, Part II, Act III Many things love to come and live off your plants, including bacteria, bugs, birds, and bunnies. If you don't control them, entire crops can be Read more:Garden
, Growing
Continuing Tour of Innis Gardens 2007-08-15 13:37:00 Here are more of the promised photos from the trip to Innis Gardens
. As you can see there are quite a few types of gardening styles melded into this space and one part I don't have any pictures of is the Nature preserve- that is completely another effort of posting and picture taking! It so happens that one elderly sister was more interested in the cultivated gardens, while the other sister took an active interest in building a nature preserve ... both parts of the garden are a pleasure to stroll, just the right size area to explore on Sunday afternoons.A part of the garden I especially like is the herb garden. It has raised beds built with cut stone walls. The first picture is of the lavender and thyme collection of which there are quite a few varieties represented.A long view of that same part of the garden, it shows how protected and private-feeling some this garden is. There is a small green-blue painted gazebo on one side with a few benches and large open circle to view the garde
Fast Grow the Weeds: Fruit Fly Catcher 2007-10-04 08:56:00 Fast Grow the Weeds
: More bugs: "September is a beautiful month around here, but it is also Fruit
Fly Month."If you have a glass jar, a paper cone, and a piece of juicy fruit.. you can be on your way to ridding your kitchen of fruit flies. See El's directions and picture for full information.What? don't have 'em? Lucky you! Read more:Catcher
I ♥ Peat Moss 2007-10-02 04:00:00 I do. Peat moss has been my garden's best friend for a long time. It is mainly a soil conditioner, and that is what makes it so valuable. I used to garden on heavy clay, and even though my soil is now clay loam, it still benefits from the incorporation of some peat moss when planting. The going advice now on planting trees or shrubs is to not make any special efforts to amend the soil, the logic being that the roots will be too happy in their little spot and not reach out into the native soil, but I've tried both ways now and I thought the adding of peat moss was one of the best boosts for my new plants. It is an easy way to generally keep improving the soil of an established garden to dig in some compost and peat moss with each new planting, too. I picked up that last little technique early in my gardening days. There was a older neighbor lady who had a lovely old fashioned garden. I went over to help her a bit, and she shared that technique with me, it is one I've used happily thr
Siberian Iris, Hardy Elegance 2007-10-15 12:12:00 Siberian irises are one of my favorite garden plants, and they hold a sentimental value as well. Growing up, we had an impressive stand of a deep purple variety that I believe was "Caesar's Brother" that old centurion of perennial gardens. For me, they were something out of the Japanese prints my father was partial to, and my mother mistakenly called them "Japanese iris", but I now know them by their proper name, Iris siberica. No self-respecting Japanese iris, Iris ensata, would have survived in the somewhat dry and partly shady garden near a garage and competing with tree roots. But the Siberian soldiered on and thrived through cold snow and frozen winters, droughty summers, and all the Midwest climate could throw at them.As is true of these sturdy and dependable plants, they grew in part shade, and never needed special care, although they were watered and fed along with the rest of that part of the garden. All the more amazing since they grew in the vicinity of the Black Walnut tre Read more:Elegance
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Feeling Like October 2007-10-10 13:13:00 Finally, the horrid heat wave is over. fini. All the things I loved about October
were evaporating in the July-like heat (one of my least favorite months), but now all is back to normal. Now I can direct you, dear reader, to my October gardening tips, and let you know about a frost date selector ( no, it won't let you select your own choice...just your area;). That way you are prepared for frosts which, though we know they are coming, just seem to sneak up on us.frost date selectorI saw that Reader's Digest has a new garden book out, and it looks good. Always liked their books and have an old one from years past "Creative Gardening", but I think I'm due for a new resource book. That book was geared more for British gardens, although it had beautiful combination ideas (which is the main reason I bought it). Ortho was ok, but too basic- really useless for a mid-level gardener,imo.***well, maybe not new- published in 2000,but new to me and it looked like a very fine book for my bookshe Read more:Feeling
MucknMire: Vinegar: an antibacterial wash for fruits and vegetables 2007-10-06 11:56:00 A new tip for you!MucknMire: Vinegar: an antibacterial wash for fruits and vegetables: "Vinegar: an antibacterial wash for fruits and vegetables" advises on the research results on cleaning your veggies.With so many people getting ill from drug resistant strains of E. coli on salad greens and wondering about the cleanliness of lettuce and spinach - finding no good way to clean them except rinsing under running water, I found the results of the study to be illuminating and better tastingExcellent tips and information for better tasting, clean veggies.
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