The Daily Gardener
Summary: The Daily Gardener is a podcast about Garden History and Literature. The podcast celebrates the garden in an "on this day" format and every episode features a Garden Book. Episodes are released M-F.
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- Artist: Jennifer Ebeling
- Copyright: Copyright ©2019-2022, Jennifer Ebeling|The Daily Gardener All rights reserved
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There's are some lines from a TS Eliot poem that go like this : Oh, Do not ask, "What is it?" Let us go and make our visit." If you've never visited your local botanic garden this time of year, you really should go. I have a friend who recently did this, and she posted amazing pictures from her visit to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. She said this: "This is my PSA : Get yourself to the Arb ....now . Don’t wait to go just to see the change in color of the trees (like everyone else ) Go now! .
Last night I shared the trailer for The Secret Garden remake which just dropped. It is a visual feast for lovers of gardens everywhere. The new adaptation of the children's classic stars Colin Firth and Julie Walters and is set for release in April (2020). It looks fantastic. The Secret Garden is a children's novel written by American author and gardener Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was first released in the early 1900's as a serial in The American Magazine...
Listener Rebecca Stoner Kirts recently shared a photo in the Facebook Group of her transplanted iris along with an enchanting caption. She wrote: Mom's 50 year iris rescued and replanted. Mom always told me, “they like their own space and plant them like ducks floating on a pond." There you go mom. Rebecca's mom's analogy of planting iris like ducks floating on the pond is a good one to remember. As I mentioned on a show a while back, they don't like to be buried...
#NationalIndoorPlantWeek is this week! Be sure to follow my friend, Lisa Steinkopf - the @HouseplantGuru- on twitter for a chance to win copies of her books and some houseplants. And remember, it's all week long - so Happy Indoor Plant Week. Go get yourself something new for the Indoor season which is just around the corner if you live in a colder climate...
What's the secret to beautiful begonias? I asked this to a friend recently who has the most gorgeous begonias every single year. Her answer: fish emulsion. This means you should feed your begonias with fertilizer. Since we love that begonias flower and they do flower their hearts out, that makes begonias are heavy feeders. Since fish emulsion (5-1-1) is a low-intensity total fertilizer it's perfect for promoting large, healthy, beautiful begonias...
How's your garden doing? Is there something blooming that is stealing your heart? In my garden, I'm especially enjoying the Yellow wax-bells or Kirengeshoma palmata ("kih-ren-gesh-OH-mah palm-AY-tah"). Heidi Heiland installed these for me last summer during my garden renovation. They are right up by my front door in a North-facing garden - and I see them every day as I go in and out the front door. I have to say that this plant has slowly won my heart...
If, over the course of the summer, you found yourself driving down the road and spying a little electric blue blossom by the side of the road; chances are, you are looking at chicory. Listener Danny Perkins shared a post at the end of August sharing beautiful photos of chicory. A few years ago, I used to drive the boys into St. Paul for basketball camp and when I pulled off the free way, there it was. Chicory....
Right about now is the perfect time to get out the power washer. Clean your water features, edging, rocks, fountains, and your outdoor entertaining spaces. The reality is that once you start up that power washer, the list of things that you can clean with it goes on and on. As you're working, you invariably find more things to wash. When it comes to our maintenance free decking, I'll add a little Dawn dish soap to help release the dirt out of the grooves.
I thought I'd start today's show off with a quote by Beverley Nichols from his book, Sunlight on the Lawn: “Why do insurance companies, when they want to describe an act of God, invariably pick on something which sounds much more like an act of the Devil? One would think that God was exclusively concerned in making hurricanes, smallpox, thunderbolts, and dry rot. They seem to forget that He also manufactures rainbows, apple-blossom, and Siamese kittens. However, that is, perhaps, a diversion.”
September is my favorite month for planting trees, shrubs, and perennials. The cool air makes outdoor exercise a joy and the ground temperatures add the perfect amount of warmth for plants to get established. Planting in the fall is preferred because it's the time of year when perennials experience less transplant shock. At the same time, there is still sufficient time for plants to establish their roots in the garden in time for winter...
If you have struggled to grow tomatoes successfully, maybe it's time to give cucumbers a try. They are much easier to grow than tomatoes. Just add some organic matter to the soil and mulch around the base of the plant. Cucumbers benefit from support, so install a trellis for the vines to climb. That's it. The saying, "cool as a cucumber" refers to the fact that it's about 20 degrees cooler on the inside of a cucumber...
I had to chuckle the other day as I was putting together my fall containers. The first thing I do when I transition from one season to another, is determine which plants are salvageable - the ones that have enough gas to go another season. One of my pots ended up being a bit of a hodgepodge. I call it my "Must Go" Container in honor of my husband's Great Aunt Lena...
Have you ordered your spring bulbs yet? Here's a new perspective on planting spring bulbs - they're important resources for pollinators. Most gardeners think about spring flowering bulbs in terms of color - which is something we desperately need after a long winter. But spring flowering bulbs are valuable for another reason: they're an early source of nectar for pollinators. Think about planting these spring bulbs this October to help out bumblebees, native bees...
Now is the perfect time to play doctor in the garden. Look for the sick or injured. Look for plants that haven't thrived, plants with disease, and plants riddled with pests. You don't want to leave any diseased plants in your garden over the winter. If you are able to do only one fall garden chore, taking out the sick and infirm is what you want to do. All these babies get dug up and escorted out of my garden. Generally I say that nothing green or brown leaves the property ...
Well, it's time to get serious about remaking our containers – especially on the front porch and around the front door. Editing containers from time to time is essential to keep them looking great. Sometimes combinations don’t work well, other times plants can grow in unexpected ways – too tall, too bushy, or just an abject failure. With the arrival of fall, it’s the perfect time to remove spent plants and replace them with selections that are more seasonally appropriate...