Tag Archives: KGC

Mid-October, in the Garden

A Gardener's Journal Posted on by

Much of the time in mid-October in the garden is maintenance – cleaning up beds, composting, recycling, putting away stakes and cages, harvesting vegetables, deadheading, raking, draining hoses, prepping irrigation for the blowout, and more.    With one night of light frost, the cucumbers and zucchini were gone, but the nasturtiums seemed fine.     There will be more frost damage this month. 

Ongoing work on landscaping is a slow process, but we are adding paving stones and rock borders over time. 

In the flower gardens, many species continue to flower, some of which are shared here in a Google Photos Album.   Captions were added to the images for ease of identification: 

A Gardener’s Journal posts will continue with weekly posts all fall.

 

Thrift in the Garden

A Gardener's Journal Posted on by

Thrift (Armeria maritima), also known as sea thrift or sea pink,  is a low-growing perennial for home gardens, best suited to the front of a bed or in a rockery.   Thrift develops grass-like mounds which stay tidy throughout the growing … Continue reading →

Cosmos in the Garden

A Gardener's Journal Posted on by

Cosmos are annual flowers usually grown from direct seeding in spring after the last frost.   They prefer sunny spots with well-drained soil.  They grow tall stems and flower in about two months in warm conditions.     They will continue to … Continue reading →

Lamium in the Garden

A Gardener's Journal Posted on by

Lamium consists of about 50 species in the mint family.    Lamium maculatum (deadnettle) are fast-growing, mat-forming evergreen herbaceous perennials.    They are commonly planted to fill in spaces in shaded areas.    The leaves are heart-tear shaped and are … Continue reading →

Snapdragons in the Garden

A Gardener's Journal Posted on by

Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) are colorful spike-like short-lived perennials often grown as annuals.    We have had them growing in our gardens, but we have only bought seed once, long ago.    They readily reseed or gardeners can easily collect seed … Continue reading →

Blanketflower in the Garden

A Gardener's Journal Posted on by

Blanketflower (Gaillardia sp.) is a showy perennial native to our area, but also planted into home gardens.    The native perennial is Gaillardia aristata which grows from a tap root, has several unbranched stems, lance-shaped leaves, and flowers in summer … Continue reading →

Balloon Flower in the Garden

A Gardener's Journal Posted on by

Balloon flowers (Platycodon grandiflorus) are clump-forming perennials in the bellflower family (Campanula).    They are hardy in Zones 3-8 and prefer full sun to part shade.   As the plant grows, the buds swell like small balloons before emerging as upward-facing … Continue reading →

To Spirea or Not

A Gardener's Journal Posted on by

There are over 100 species of deciduous shrubs that fit into the Spiraea genus, many from Asia, but a few from North America.    Locally, we can find birch-leaved spirea (Spiraea betulifolia) in the forest.    For home gardens, most … Continue reading →