Caladiums can be SO easy and SO pretty and SO inexpensive. I used to envy their bright colored leaves at the garden center, sigh at the high price to do my large area, then move on. Those days are long gone. For years now, I’ve planted Red Flash Caladium bulbs with total success.
This area gets shade in the morning and early afternoon. Its sunny from about 2:00 on. Nothing else I planted seemed to ‘shine’, but the caladiums do. So much so that you can easily see them from the house, which is quite a feat considering our yard in huge, but then so is the caladium leave.
The bulbs won’t sprout till the ground is warm, so no point in getting them in early. I plant them in June here in the Chicago suburbs, and even then, I bet its July before I get a sprout. Once they start coming, its like magic…a sudden explosion of color till frost.
This year the display is even more impressive since I ordered from Amaryllis & Caladium Bulb Company. I missed the opportunity to get a package at Costco, which turned out to be a good thing. I only ordered 10 bulbs since they were more expensive. I figured I would just have to live with 10 instead of my usual 20. Surprise, surprise, surprise! Each jumbo bulb from Amaryllis & Caladium Bulb Company was really a clump of 2-3, which I separated into singles. The planting looks better than ever!
Silver Brocade Artemisia might be a plant you don’t know. I hadn’t heard of it either till the day I bought it 5 years ago. I love the silver color and the texture. It boasts vigorous growth – which makes it a groundcover as far as I am concerned. Here it is under our oak tree where it is about 8 inches tall. It would be a bit taller if I didn’t trim it back hard in mid-summer, when stems begin to grow upright. Silver Brocade needs lots of sun, and since it was planted at the same time as the slow growing oak tree, sun is what it gets.
Silver Brocade Artemisia apparently survives neglect, not that I would recommend that, but neglect is certainly what mine got. Its outside the fence and not close to a hose, so I have to admit we don’t water it much. It is also in an area that doesn’t get stomped on – that it would not tolerate.
It looks a lot like my Dusty Miller, which often comes back. But Dusty Miller is an annual, so it won’t spread and you can’t count on it to make it through a winter. Silver Brocade is a hardy perennial. It doesn’t have flowers, and it doesn’t need them. So pretty just as it is!
Our Aubrey is becoming a gardener! At one year old, this cutie spends more time in the garden than Mike and I. Here she is “logging” some time.
Aubrey – Logging some time in the garden
What is it about puppies that we all love so much? Soft, cuddly, cute, destructive. Well, ok, they get away with that last one cuz, well, they are soft, cuddly, and cute. And then there is devoted. Puppies love you with all of their heart and then some. Why I bet at this very moment you are looking at the picture below and you are falling in love too. Who wouldn’t?
Aubrey – Totally adorable
Mike loves her too. After all, a man and his dog surveying their kingdom together is about as good as it gets.
Surveying the kingdom
She was already helpful last summer. Here she is moving (ok, also chewing) a pot for me.
Aubrey helps
Last year she was also into digging. This was not necessarily a good thing. It was mostly where there was a toy buried. You know, a toy like landscape fabric. Sigh. Fortunately, I don’t use a lot of landscape fabric and she is digging less now that she is almost a year old. Her niche seems to be chewing the logs and branches into tiny pieces. I would need a lot more of those tiny pieces for them to be an effective mulch. Right now they are an effective mess. Still, she is part of the team and we have promoted her to Branch Manager!
This winter planter is going to be outside for months! Not just weeks, which is what would have happened if I themed it for Christmas instead of winter. Pretty smart, huh? Sure, the bows will have to go after Christmas, but everything else can stay till I change the planter a bit for Valentine’s Day. That will take a whole 5 minutes and give me even more use out of this one design.
Winter planter
The birch branches are from a tree we took down a few years ago, but you can buy them at craft stores these days. We even saw them at the garden center when we bought our tree last night. We also used some evergreen branches that Mike cut off the bottom of the tree, as well as some from our yard, and some not-quite-natural ones that have lasted from year to year.
And how about that snowman? He’s from a birch branch too, one that had a tiny branch sticking out that was just the right size and place for his nose. I made him a few years ago and he has survived well. The hat is actually a Christmas tree ornament.
Winter planter snowman
Here is the key – Even the sign is for winter, not Christmas. I did the same thing in the past using a birdhouse.
Winter planter sign
So go scrounging in your yard for branches, and if you must buy a decoration, resist the temptation to get one that is specific to Christmas. If you live if Chicagoland like we do, better get out there soon, cuz once the dirt in your planter is frozen, you won’t be able to put anything in it.
And if you think I did a really good job of buying just the sign without buying anything that screams Christmas, well, my resistance is not that good. This cute puppy picture had to come home with us. It will be a nice reminder of the year we got our own cute puppy.
Sometimes you just have to hide the ugly. In perfect world, gardens wouldn’t have any ugly, but don’t be deceived by all those gorgeous garden photos, we all have ugly somewhere. Whether its the compost bin, gardening paraphernalia, a neighbor’s yard, or the place your spouse stores junk. We all know its there.
So hide it! Here is the camper we wanted to hide. Not exactly a great backdrop for my zinnias, is it?
Now you hardly see the camper. It was lots more work than I anticipated, and LOTS more fun.
One of the doors got its own spot.
So how did we do it?
Mike and I collected old doors from garage sales, antique markets, and yes, other people’s garbage. I had leftover outside paint in the basement. Home Depot had small containers of outside paint literally named “Oops” that were really cheap. I bought a bunch. I had plenty of inspiration from Pinterest. Best of all, I had friends who could paint. Some who would even be considered artists.
But first the prep work. Fortunately, I have bonded with our power washer. We are old friends and spent a lot of time together cleaning the doors.
Other old friends were even more important along the way. I learned from Huck Finn that having someone else paint your fence was a good thing. So when it came to painting my doors, I threw a Huck Finn Party. I had already painted base coats on the doors as needed…that’s about the extent of my painting “gift”. But think of the artist friends in your life and do them a favor by letting them get all creative on your doors.
My job that day? I did paint one panel. Impressive, isn’t it?
I did have one other job – I kept everyone well fed.
Was it really fun? You better believe it. Look at those smiles.
Installing the doors
We let everything dry, really, really dry. Then Mike applied several coats of exterior grade polyurethane.
Installation was a big deal. The doors are tall. They are heavy. And in a storm, they would act like sails if not securely supported. This is another case of “not my gift”. Fortunately I could again rely on someone else. My husband, Mike, gets this kind of task. He excelled!
4x4s are attached to the back of the door, and 4×4 post anchors hold them in the ground. The doors survived a recent windstorm (quite a nasty one I might add.) They are also removable. After all, we will want to move the camper, and we will want to store the doors inside for the winter.
Inspiring? Yes. Doable? Yes. A project for the meek? Not so much!
Central States Dahlia Society just put out a great list of pests that attack dahlias, and more importantly, how to get rid of said pests. We’re talking about bugs, deer, and rabbits.
Bugs: We’ve seen some of these on our dahlias over the years, and really don’t find dahlias any more susceptible to bugs than other garden plants. So if FOB (Fear of Bugs) is stopping you from growing dahlias, don’t succumb!
Thrips ‒ Slender pests with fringed wings, thrips damage plants by puncturing the leaves and sucking out the juices.
Although thrips rarely kill dahlias, they can affect the appearance by causing stippled leaves, leaf drop and stunted growth. They can also spread virus from one plant to another. Pesticides aren’t usually helpful because the pests move from plant to plant so quickly.
How to get rid of thrips The strategy in the battle to get rid of thrips is to use yellow sticky traps. Park Seed & Harris Seed has them.
Spider mites ‒ About the size of a tiny speck of sand, tiny spider mites are difficult to see with the naked eye. You can locate the pests with a magnifying glass, but a magnifying glass usually isn’t necessary because you will notice telltale strands of thin webbing on the leaves. Spider mites are often more apparent during dry, dusty weather.
How to get rid of spider mites Set the water to a high pressure and try to target the underside of the leaves in particular. This should help to wash spider mites away. (You should do this often in dry weather.)
Spray underside of leaves with homemade rosemary oil or Neem oil.
Spray underside of leaves with dishwashing soap or insecticidal soap.
Aphids – How to get rid of them Dilute in water, 1 tablespoon lemon dish soap in 1 gallon of water & spray on your plants.
You can also use insecticidal soap or Neem Oil that you diluted with water & add some dishwashing liquid too.
Put up a hummingbird feeder. Ruby-throated hummingbirds feed on aphids & thrips.
Slugs and snails are capable of doing tremendous damage to dahlias and other plants. However, they are easy to spot; they chew large holes in leaves, and they leave slimy, mucous tracks wherever they go.
Slugs look like an exceptionally fat worm with two snail-like eyestalks.
How to get rid of snails & slugs Put out slug bait immediately after planting and at least every two weeks thereafter.
Fill some small containers with beer and bury them in the soil, so they are level with the surface. Slugs are attracted to the smell & crawl in and drown.
Buy commercial slug & snail rid pesticide, Sluggo Plus. You will have to sprinkle this on the surface several times, especially in damp weather.
Kill slugs with cornmeal, It’s a lot cheaper, but may not attract as many slugs. Put a tablespoon or two of cornmeal in a jar and lay it on its side. Keep the cornmeal dry, and it will kill slugs by expanding inside them.
Earwigs – How to get rid of them Use oil traps. Fill a tin can with leftover vegetable oil. They will crawl into it and drown.
Trap them with a rolled up newspaper or a short length of old garden hose.
Sluggo Plus also gets rid of Earwigs.
Grasshoppers While not a major pest of dahlias, grasshoppers do occasionally feed on the plant’s leaves.
How to get rid of grasshoppers Use a garlic spray. Fill a spray bottle with one part garlic solution and three parts water. Once ready, spray the solution onto the leaves of affected plants. Be sure to spray the undersides of the leaves as well.
Caterpillars– (the larval stages of moths and butterflies) Caterpillars leave no slime, but like slugs, they chew holes in the leaves. They often roll themselves up in leaves, and rolled, curled foliage is a dead giveaway that caterpillars have been feasting on your dahlias.
How to get rid of caterpillars Use SAFER caterpillar killer. WalMart has it.
Cucumber beetles The larvae tend to gnaw on the roots of your plants, and the adults chew on the foliage. Even worse, they spread plant disease.
How to get rid of cucumber beetles Use Safer Brand Yard and Garden Spray to get rid of them.
How to get rid of Japanese beetles Unfortunately, the most effective way of getting rid of Japanese beetles is to hand pick them off of plants. It’s time consuming, but it works, especially if you are diligent. When you pick them off, put them in a solution of 1 tablespoon of liquid dishwashing detergent and water, which will cause them to drown.
Wirewormsare the larva of click beetles and develop from eggs laid in the soil. After they tunnel into bulbs, they hollow out the plants stem, causing it to fall over.
Leaf miner, any of a number of insect larvae that live and feed within a leaf, which causes white lines on your dahlia leaves.
Use Permethrin Sprays to get rid of the larva.
Those cute deer and rabbits.
How to get rid of rabbits or deer Purchase Irish Spring bars of soap. Cut the bars into 1” cubes. Put the soap into cheese cloth or netting & hang the soap from bamboo sticks about 6” from the ground for rabbits & higher for deer.
Mix ¼ cup of milk with four drops of lemon dish soap. Place the mixture in a spray bottle, and fill the rest with water. Spray the mixture on garden plants every 10 days and after rain to keep deer away.
Put a tablespoon of cayenne pepper in a sprinkling can, fill it with water and sprinkle it on your plants. If it rains, be sure to repeat this process.
What do you do when you have too many dahlias? Yes, I know it’s hard to believe there is such a thing. My usual outlets for selling Mike’s dahlias are the Elk Grove Garden Club sale and speaking engagements at garden clubs. None of that has happened since this whole COVID thing started, but our dahlias didn’t know that and they continued to send up sprouts. Jim and Marily Jedd, also members of Central States Dahlia Society, had extras too. So we had a Driveway Dahlia Sale and raised $205, all going to COVID relief. Woohoo!
I started to get rid of horribly invasive Star of Bethlehem last year. And by started, I do believe I started what is going to be a multi-year project. This nasty little plant is such a deceiver. The leaves look like my scilla. They look like my grape hyacinths. It looks innocent. It looks tiny and cute with its diminutive white flowers in May. Even its name seems promising, after all, a star of Bethlehem led the wise men to Baby Jesus.
No. No. No. Its a monster! See what its doing to my iris!
That is just part of one of the areas that is being taken over. Here is more of it, where I have been digging today. Bucket after bucket of dirt coming out, digging out a good 8″ deep.
You may be thinking I’m going a bit overboard. Nope. That little sneak was in-between all of the ground cover sedum you see below. Once I am sure I have the sedum 100% separated from the Star of Bethlehem…oh I was just kidding. There is no such thing as 100% separated. I will do the best I can, then grow the sedum in a large pot and continue removing the “nasty” till its all gone or until I sacrifice the sedum as collateral damage.
So, if you are thinking you can control it, think again. When May comes and they start blooming like the photo on the left, you will be tempted to say “oh, so cute”. Replace that visual with an image of hundreds and hundreds of bulbs like those on the right ravaging your garden.
Sure, it’s tempting to call a gardening article this time of year something like “Putting the Garden to Bed” or “Autumn Cleanup”, but I’m going to instead go with a theme of “Winter Interest”. I’m going to show you one of my tricks to prepare the garden to be interesting even when summer breezes turn into the gales of November and worse.
No, it’s not leaving your scarecrows outside inordinately long. These two were both unfortunately and unusually decorative after our non-traditional Halloween snow.
Halloween snow scarecrows
My garden looks good in winter too. Granted, I define “good” differently in summer than in winter, changing my expectations, but also stacking the deck in my favor. For example, my bird bath makes a lovely fairy garden in the summer, as you can see. Here, my shy fairy opted not to be photographed.
Fairy garden in my bird bath
Then, as temperatures cool, the tender plants come inside, as do any figures. Yep, still no fairy.
Fairy garden ready for winter
But wait, there’s more. Here is Mike moving a fence behind the bird bath to draw more attention to this area that will be a focal point over the winter.
Fairy garden and fence ready for winter
I truly am done with outside gardening for the year. Chicagoland winters make that decision for me. My tools are cleaned up and in the basement till spring and my wagon is moving to the shed. But I’ll still be looking out the window enjoying my garden!
