Marie's Gardening Blog

Sometimes the simplest flowers make the best garden plants. Who hasn’t grown a marigold? They’re so common in garden centers we barely notice them. Yet they grow great everywhere and pretty much all season long. All they ask is some deadheading and they’ll carry you right through to the fall, when their golden colors are the perfect seasonal accent. They’re also great for attracting beneficial insects and for deterring rabbits. So to all those garden snobs who think plants like petunias, geraniums, salvia and marigolds are too pedestrian for their garden beds, think again. Many of us still love and grow marigolds.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.

Some questions don’t need a lot of explanation. I know snowball bush is a popular name for mophead hydrangeas. And even if I didn’t, the one plant that people complain about the most - for not flowering - is the ever popular hydrangea. It’s wonderful that they are breeding so many new hydrangea varieties that promise to bloom no matter what, but many of us inherit old fashioned hydrangea shrubs when we buy our homes and why shouldn’t we expect some blossoms from them? After all, they’ve bloomed for years.

There are several reasons why gardeners have trouble getting their hydrangeas to bloom. The first thing you have to ask yourself is, what type of hydrangea is it? Some hydrangeas bloom only on old wood, or branches that sprouted last season and will bloom this season. Some bloom only on the current years growth. Then there’s the question of when they set their flower buds. If it was last year or early in the current season, the problem could be that a late frost killed all the buds. Or maybe a late pruning. Here are the guidelines for when each type of hydrangea will set their flower buds and how to take care of them, so your snowball bush will flower again.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.

I often mention that I’m planting more and more shrubs in my gardens. I like the big impact and I love the lower maintenance. But my first gardening love has always been vegetable gardening. Since there aren’t too many vegetable shrubs and, even if there were, I have too much wildlife to grow them out in the open, I’ve been turning my attention to fruits and berries. While I’ve managed to squeeze in apples, peaches, cherries, quince, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and currants, I haven’t had much to show for it this year. The critters are quick and they’re not so fussy about letting things fully ripen on the plant.

Still, I’m always looking for something new to grow. I think our Trees and Shrubs Guide, Vanessa Richins, shares my fondness for growing things you can eat. She has a profile of pomegranates that intrigued me. I don’t know how many pomegranates I’d actually want, but given my harvesting record, that shouldn’t be a factor in my decision. However Vanessa says that pomegranates are only hardy down to Zone 7. That could be a challenge for me, but I’m still not ruling the plant out. Especially since there are dwarf pomegranates that grow to only 3' tall.

I also happened to be reading Charlie Narodzzi’s Edible Landscaping column on "Unusual Edible Berries". The trendy Goji Berry (Lycium barbarum) is hardy from Zone 5 - 9. Honeyberry (Lonicera caerulea) is even hardier and who wouldn’t be tempted to try a honeysuckle berry? All of the berries he lists also seem to be attractive plants. So I’ve got my work cut out for me this winter, trying to narrow down next season’s foray into suburban farming.

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Take advantage of the cooler weather and do some of that yard work you've been putting off all summer. David Beaulieu offers Tips for Fall Lawn Care & Winterizing Gardens, to get you started with everything from cool season grasses to putting your garden to bed. Even winterizing your compost bin! Pick a task or two to complete. You'll rest that much easier this winter knowing your landscape is ready for the big chill.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.

September gardening can mean cool, crisp nights or hot, hazy, Indian summer days. Either way, there’s no time to rest. Short season gardens need to be put to bed. Warmer zones are starting a whole new growing season. Even the southern hemisphere is back in the gardening groove. So here are some monthly gardening tips to get you back out in the garden this September.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.

I find it curious that as my garden winds down, dandelion are popping back up. What makes the dandelion so special it gets 2 seasons of bloom? I’m sure I don’t know. But my philosophy about weeds has always been, if you can beat them, put them to use. So before you mow them down, spray them or actually try and dig all the dandelions out of your lawn, grab a basket and harvest a batch. Both the flowers and the leaves of dandelions can be put to work. Amy Jeanroy, About’s Guide to Herb Gardens, sautes dandelion greens into a tempting and nutritious side dish. Amy also uses the flowers to make a dandelion infused oil, to soothe her aching muscles, from pulling dandelions. And our Homecooking Guide, Peggy Trowbridge Filippone, sweetens the pot with dandelion honey. Perfect as a breakfast pick-me-up, before going back into the garden to weed again.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.

The cool night weather has really revived my nasturtium plants. I’d almost forgotten they were there. Now they’re the first orange and golds of fall. It’s been awhile since I’ve had to purchase seeds of nasturtium. They’re so large, it always seems a shame not to scoop some up and save them to plant next year. They don't even need to be started indoors.

I finally tried using some of the seeds to make "Poor Man’s Capers". I resisted for so long because I don’t really like capers. They’re always overly salty and usually kind of mushy. But nasturtium capers were a real treat and I plan to try it again this year. Unlike real capers, which are the flower buds of the caper plant, poor man's capers are made from the nasturtium seeds. You’ll need to pick the nasturtium seeds while they’re still green and firm. That’s about as difficult as the process gets.

For every cup of nasturtium seeds, you’ll need:

• 1 cup of white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 5-8 peppercorns, slightly crushed

Rinse and drain the nasturtium seeds and blot them well on paper towels. Next, pour them into a 1 pint canning jar. Bring the vinegar, salt and pepper to a boil and pour over the seeds. Seal and refrigerate the jar and let them sit for about 3 months. Then enjoy!

You can spice them up further by tossing in garlic, onion or spices like celery seed, dill or thyme. Try a few different flavors and use them in salads and on vegetable and fish dishes.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.

David wrote into the About Gardening Forum: “My heirloom tomatoes have a new problem this year. They appear to have blossom end rot but at the stem end. The rot is on the fruit not the stem and causes the fruit to drop. Please see the picture. Does anyone know what this is, the cause or the solution?”

We’ve all heard of blossom end rot, but this summer I got a lot of questions about tomatoes rotting where they join the stem - and then I got it on my own tomatoes. It seems to be gray mold or botrytis. Gray mold attacks a wide range of plants. Common hosts are strawberries and peonies. Wet weather exacerbates the problem and there’s not much you can do once you get it. If this looks familiar, or if you’d like to try avoiding it next year, here’s some help with tomato gray mold. And if you have any tips to share, please, please do.

Photo submitted by David (dgadams)

It’s kind of a shame that just as your garden gets to its ultimate glory, it starts to go downhill. Even so, the end of summer is a good time to take a look at how well your plants work together, now that they’re reached mature size. Are things so tight you’ve lost a few plants under the crush? Did everything peak a month ago, leaving little to look at now? Have you spent the whole summer deadheading and primping, just to keep some color in the garden?

These are the things you’ll want to make note of now, to correct while your dreaming up next year’s garden over the winter. If the problem is too many similar plants fighting for attention, the solution could be to base your garden around one drama queen plant and let your other plants complement her. It’s amazing how a single eye-catching plant, used as a focal point, can pull a garden together. This tip is especially good if you’re trying to down-size your garden maintenance. Most drama queens spend the whole season growing, requiring little to no maintenance. Some could easily be confused for shrubs, but unlike shrubs, they’ll keep their size in check.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.

There is no better time to start a compost pile than in the fall. The weather is cool enough to work comfortably, there’s usually plenty of rain to keep the pile moist and you have all that plant debris from cleaning up and pruning back your garden beds. Even if your area gets too cold for the pile to cook all winter, it will certainly be compacted enough to give you lots of space to add to it in the spring. Don’t let all that wonderful raw material go to waste this fall. Get a new compost pile started ASAP, with some help from this video.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.