Sisyrinchium striatum

The plant pictured here is a border staple in and around London in mid-May (which translates to about early June here, maybe later...maybe more like now). When I say a staple, I mean it's everywhere, every garden. I even found some out in back of the pub we stopped at for lunch between Sissinghurst & Great Dixter. I think it's Sisyrinchium striatum, a blue-eyed grass, closely related to the iris. We grow the garden version here that is actually blue, and I have seen wild ones in the fields in Henrietta, but they're so small they're very hard to find. I looked this one up in Armitage, and he says it's hardy to zone 4, so why have I never noticed it in an upstate New York garden or garden center? Anyone have any experience with this plant? I miss Anne Stonehocker. She would know.

It's very beautiful and stately, with cream-colored flowers on spires and spiky leaves. Here is it pictured in the Monocot Border at Wisley. (I know what you're asking yourself. "Jane, why don't YOU have a Monocot Border?" Well. Just how do you know I don't?) Look how great it is with the dark irises.

Images from the Odyssey

This year we visited Cornell's Bluegrass Lane, which was very interesting, I thought. Growers send their plants to be tested there under upstate New York conditions. Some plants are new to the market, others aren't.

I saw Coreopsis tripteris for the first time, tall tickseed. I'm not big on coreopsis and I've never actually kept one alive longer than one season, but this I love just for its structure. It's like a mini-bamboo.














Even though I am highly allergic to its milky white sap, I love spurge. Euphorbia of any kind. It makes me crazy when I see those giant orange-headed ones in England that we can's grow here. But what is this? E. griffithii! How has this plant escaped my attention? Must possess.





Hosta 'Invincible'. I love these gorgeous leaves. Like everything at BGL, this hosta is growing in full, hot, scorching sun. See what irrigation can do.








Dictamnus, photographed at Bakers' Acres (.net). Reenie was very very careful to warn us about the volatility of whatever it is that you can light on fire here, the fumes I guess, and warned us (Cheryl Wallace and myself, who were dead set on dictamnus this year for some reason) NOT to let any of the plant's parts, and especially the flowers, touch any of our parts, or anyone else's. Cheryl and I both almost immediately stuck our entire upper bodies in the plants. I got away OK; I ended up with what looked like four claw marks on my chest. They'll fade in a few months. Nothing on the face. I haven't heard from Cheryl...maybe she's hospitalized....

Poppies

The other day I went out to photograph a garden. I didn't end up with too much, but driving home, very near my house, I came across this farm field completely covered in red poppies. "Gee," I thought, "too bad I don't have my camera..." Then I realized I actually DID have my camera and turned around. Duh.

It's a good thing I did, because two days later the field had been plowed and the poppies were all gone.

I've been thinking about the poppies a lot. How did they get there? Did someone plant them? Is it a war memorial? Did a bird drop just one seed in the exact right spot years ago?

Annual Flower Show, Syracuse

Submitted by the Men's Garden Club of Syracuse

Men's Garden Club of Syracuse, New York: Annual Flower Show; 7:00-10:45 AM-set up time, Saturday-Sunday, June 16-17, 2007, Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park, Syracuse, NY in the Banquet Room. Public entries welcome. For questions or further information, contact 420-6369.

The Betties Ride Again

P6010083.JPG, originally uploaded by Jane Milliman.

Sunday Dean and I hosted our 4th annual Tree Peony Ride Party. We had a good group, good weather, good food, etc. Linwood looked fantastic. If you have never been to the Tree Peony Festival, well, it's too late for this year, but mark your calendar for next!

83rd. Annual Rose Show - June 16th.

From the Greater Rochester Rose Society:

If you have never been to a rose show......here is your opportunity to do so. The Greater Rochester Rose Society will be staging its 83 rd annual rose show on Saturday, June 16th. This year it will be held at the Gates Town Hall, 1605 Buffalo Road, Gates, NY. The theme of the show is 'Headlining Roses'. It is free and open to the public from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
The show will feature hundreds of roses that grow well in this area, along with a rose arrangement section which is always popular with the public. An educational table will be set up and manned, and will offer information and literature on growing roses. If any non-member in the Rochester area wishes to exhibit any of their named roses, here is the opportunity to do so. You may even win a blue ribbon or possibly a keepsake trophy.
Show chairmen, Ron Sibs or Terry Brooks can be reached for further information at 227-3135 or RWSibs@frontiernet.net

Or perhaps fish and chips?

P5210066.JPG, originally uploaded by Jane Milliman.

Back from England, and our group had a fantastic time, glorious weather, etc. I'll post more when I can. Despite walking about ten miles a day, I came back no lighter than when I left. I wonder why!

From Urban Roots (Buffalo)

Urban Roots Community Garden Center is pleased to announce two events for gardeners this Saturday, June 2, taking place at 428 Rhode Island Street.

Third Annual Plant Swap
June 2, 10am-2pm
Park next door to Urban Roots at 428 Rhode Island Street, free and open to the public.

Vegetable Gardening in a Small Space
June 2, 2pm
Urban Roots at 428 Rhode Island Street, free and open to the public. Reservations not required.

362-9282
www.urbanroots.org


Join us for our Third Annual Plant Swap, June 2, 10am-2pm on June 2, in the park next to our store at 428 Rhode Island Street. Take home some locally grown plants for free or bring some of your own to swap.

Join us for a special workshop on Vegetable Gardening in a Small Space. Jeff Gilbert (Cornell Grad and hydroponic grower) will be presenting. It is on Saturday June 2nd at 2pm at Urban Roots. There is no fee for the workshop. Contact urbanrootsworkshops@hotmail.com or call the store (362-9282) with questions.

I'm Outta Here

I'm in the mood for a ploughman's lunch and a pint of stout.

















I'm off to London and the Chelsea Flower Show. The last (and only other) time I was there I found this fabulous piece of art, crafted entirely of flower petals, of "Bert Simpson and his dog Christmas."

Everyone knows Bart's dog is Santa's Little Helper!












Here's the garden that has shaken out to be my favorite as I've reviewed my images about 53,000 times over the past 4 years: The Octopus's Garden. Can't wait to see what's in store this year.

Have a wonderful week and Memorial Day Holiday!

Odyssey to Ithaca

We still have a few seats left on the Ithaca shopping extravvvvaganza.
Don't miss out! Call Judy over at the RCGC: 585/473-5130.

It's where I found these fabulous terra cotta orbs!

I visited Dan at the Plantsmen last week, and he only had a few left....

Palmiter's Friday

The gardens look great, as ever. Here are some pictures. I didn't know what the yellow-flowered, fuzzy-looking thing was, but Marla clued me in: Saruma (like Asarum, only different) henryi. I shocked myself by remembering this all the way home. In fact, I concentrated so hard on remembering it, I forgot to bring with me the very thing I had gone to Palmiter's for in the first place, not to mention paid for already...my beloved Fafard 52 mix.

More Trouble in the 'Hood

Please allow me to dispense some garden wisdom. If by chance you should sell the property housing your current garden and move across the street, never ever look at that garden again. Approach your new home from the other direction. If you must drive by, avert your eyes. Do whatever it takes to shield yourself from witnessing the inevitable carnage that will occur.

I have absolutely nothing against my new neighbor; in fact I met her briefly at a party a few weekends ago and she was lovely. I frankly could care less what she does to the house; I let go of that attachment years ago. I don't even care what she does to the garden. I just want to get my stuff out first.

Another neighbor, Mike, asked me why I didn't take these things when I moved in the first place. I didn't take them because I didn't think it was right. You don't move from a place and take with you every living thing in the ground! It's actually against the sale contract. You're not supposed to take light fixtures, either. I did move many, many special plants, but who transplants a big old suckering bottlebrush buckeye? Well I did, yesterday, but I'm getting ahead.

So. Yesterday started like any Mother's day would. I wandered out into the garden with absolutely no agenda but to let my short attention span guide me through the day. Bliss! I was happily puttering when my neighbor Judy from across the street wandered in to return some items from the aforementioned party (we do a lot of this kind of wandering from yard to yard on my street). She then asked if I'd noticed that all the plants had been ripped out of the front yard of the house across the street and were sitting in garbage bags. Well, I hadn't, but I tore over there like a maniac, and she was right.

In a previous post I talked about rescuing the hellebore from that same garden, but I was under the impression that everything that was left after that first cleansing session was to remain intact. I had also heard that I was welcome to go get out the prized (expensive!) hostas from that bed, but, my own fault, I hadn't gotten around to it. I forgot, actually.

Judy helped me load up the garbage bags into her cart and we dragged the whole thing into the way back of my yard to sort through it all. Judy wanted a few lily-of-the-valley pips of which there were thousands.

We dumped these bags into the cart, which worked perfectly for sifting.

I wasn't prepared, though, for what I would find in the bags. I thought there would be, you know, plants. Plants that had been dug up. In the case of the hostas, maybe plants that had been chopped a bit in trying to get them out of the ground. I was not expecting pulverized plants. It was as if my neighbor had some kind of a personal vendetta against the hosta.

Neighbor: "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
Hosta: "..." (Speechless.)

Upon further reflection, I can only assume that there was a rototiller involved. Anyway, we dumped out the bags, and this is what we got:

Can you tell which are the lily-of-the-valley, which are the bloody cranesbill and which are the sought-after hosta?

After about an hour of sorting (Judy gave up on me), I ended up with a gallon container of shredded, tiny bits of hosta. About 30 bits.

Since the leaves are all torn off, I can't tell which is which, so I'm going to pot them up and grow them on for a year, then find them suitable spots in the garden.

And so I've learned my lesson. If I had been a day or two earlier, I could have saved myself���������and the hostas���������a lot of pain. If I had chosen to ignore the situation, well, ignorance is bliss, right? One thing's for sure: I wasn't going to see this happen to the 5 x 5 bottlebrush buckeye I planted in the back 10 years ago, or my lovely, mature asparagus patch, or the 100-year old peonies I rescued when another neighbor put up a fence....

Jody Mills Joins Birchcrest

Submitted by Birchcrest Tree & Landscape

Jody Mills has joined Birchcrest Tree & Landscape as staff horticulturist. In the newly created position, Mills will work with the company’s Plant Health Care technicians on diagnosing and prescribing treatment for diseases and insects, answer technical questions posed by customers and the media, and research and distribute current technical information. She will also be responsible for the company’s marketing program.
For the past 10 years, Mills has been a horticulturist for Broccolo Tree & Lawn Care. Before that, she was a researcher in the Department of Plant Pathology at Cornell’s Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva.
Mills, who lives in Penfield with her husband Len, earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and worked in graphic arts for 10 years before going back to college at Finger Lakes Community College to earn a degree in ornamental horticulture.
Mills, a Certified Arborist and a Certified Nursery & Landscape Professional, is co-chair of the New York State Nursery & Landscape Association’s Region V certification committee. Region V is also known as the Gardenscape Professionals Association.
Birchcrest Tree & Landscape, headquartered in Webster, is one of the fastest growing, full service tree, lawn and landscape companies in the area. The company has been servicing residents and businesses in Rochester’s eastern suburbs for more than 25 years.

Heirloom tomatoes at Urban Roots

Submitted by Urban Roots

Urban Roots Community Garden Center is pleased to offer a wide variety of heirloom and unusual vegetable plants to the area���������s gardeners. Through partnerships with regional organic growers, Urban Roots is bringing customers vegetable varieties that are otherwise unavailable to the area.

This year continues Urban Roots��������� special sale of a selection of heirloom tomato plants. In 2006 Urban Roots offered these plants through a special grass roots sale. This year, the heirloom tomatoes and other vegetables (see page 2 for varieties) are available for purchase at out retail garden store located at 428 Rhode Island Street, three blocks west of Richmond Avenue.

The tomatoes you buy in your average grocery store were chosen for shelf appeal ��������� not flavor. When you eat an heirloom tomato, you won���������t believe what you���������ve been missing: The flavors. The colors. The textures.

We have a limited supply of these tomato plants, so pre-ordering is advised to reserve your plants. Further information and rder forms may be found at www.uirbanroots.org, or may be made over the phone at 882-1923, by May 19. All heirloom and unusual vegetable plants will be available for purchase between May 25 and June 3, 2007.

Urban Roots Community Garden Center is also offering a greater variety of tomatoes than we did in our special 2006 sale. We have five selections with four different plants in each selection, suitable for a city garden.

��������� Selection #1 ��������� The Unusuals: Zapotec Pleated (earthy flavor), Japanese Black Trifele (purplish-brick color, very rich), Black Krim (rich & sweet), & Carbon (best tasting 2005)
��������� Selection #2 ��������� Small-Medium: Green Zebra (chartreuse w/ stripes), Rouge d���������Irak (finely flavored), Thai Pink (pink, grape shaped), & Egg Yolk (yellow orbs, rich, fruity flavor)
��������� Selection #3 ��������� Cherry: Peacevine (flavor begins tart, finishes sweet), White Currant (superb flavor, very sweet), Black Cherry (unique and delicious), & Fox (perfect for salads)
��������� Selection #4 ��������� Beefsteak: Brandywine (benchmark for flavor), Persimmon (deep orange, juicy), Black Pineapple (giant multicolored fruit), & Yellow Brandywine (rich flavor)
��������� Selection #5 ��������� Paste: Olga���������s, Amish Paste (ultimate paste tomato), Principe Borghese (for sun drying and sauce), & Orange Banana (fruity sweetness)

Other heirloom and unusual vegetables plants being offered:

��������� Hot Peppers: Cayenne Purple Long, Bulgarian Carrot, White Habanero, and Thai Red Chili.
��������� Sweet Peppers: California Wonder, Red Mini Bell, Sunrise Orange Bell, and Nardello Sweet.
��������� Eggplant: Thai Long Green, Rotunda Bianca Sfumata di Rosa, Turkish Orange, and Ping Tung
��������� Basil: Genovese, Lime, Lemon and Red Rubin
��������� Greens: Sorrel, Arugula, and Amish Deer Tongue
��������� Mixed Lettuce: Tom Thumb, Flame, Red Batavian, and Gentilina

Urban Roots Community Garden Center is a consumer cooperative retail business whose mission is to provide quality products for gardening in the City of Buffalo and be an active and enriching member of the community. Our mission is to offer affordable, unusual heirloom, organic and local plants and gardening supplies; to foster a working relationship with the greater neighborhood in order to encourage beautification and urban renewal; and to engage the community through education, employment, outreach, expertise and volunteering efforts.

<-- Thai pink

What's in Bloom Today?

Pasqueflower














Tiarella














Norway maple

Greece Garden Club Plant Sale

Huge Plant Sale
When: May 19
Where: Grounds of Greece Historical Museum, 595 Long Pond Road,
Time: 9:00 am until 12:00 Noon
Contact: 227-3135

Four Greece Garden Clubs- Lakeview, Shorewood, Wildwood and Woodside will hold their Seventh Annual Plant Sale on Saturday, May 19th. It will be held on the grounds of the Greece Historical Museum, 595 Long Pond Road, Greece, NY. Perennials, annuals, dahlias, hostas, houseplants, and garden related items will be on sale from 9:00 am until 12:00 Noon(or until sold out), rain or shine. In event of severe weather, the sale will be postponed until Sunday. For more information please call 227-3135 or e-mail Dolores@aol.com.

Open Garden - Painted Post

This listing arrived too late for the May-June UGJ:

Open Garden

Bill & Jane Plummer’s Woodland Garden
10 Fox Lane East
Gang Mills
Painted Post
Sunday May 20th
NOON– 5:00 PM

An award winning native plant garden under mature oaks, pines and hickories featuring Trilliums, Bloodroot, Virginia Bluebells, Jack-in-the-Pulpits and many other wildflowers planted in masses. As you enter, the driveway is lined with Epimedium rubrum. Numerous paths wander throughout both front and back woods allowing close-up views of the plants. There are scores of ferns, both native and exotic, scattered throughout the woods and along a Pteridophyte Ptrail. Bill has planted numerous understory trees including Dogwoods, Redbuds, Silverbells, a Paper Bark Maple and various striped Maples. The shrub border consists mostly of native plants and provides privacy as well as obscuring the deer fence. A large collection of Rhododendrons, Azaleas and Mountain Laurel provide bloom from April into July. A half dozen stone walls provide sunny sites for rock garden plants and shady sites for shade lovers. A perennial bed in front is filled with Hellebores, spring bulbs and a host of perennials. The flagstone patio is ringed with flowering shrubs and trees and allows a view of the back woods. A flower bed off the flagstone patio in back contains more shade plants. Still another bed is home to a collection of Epimedium and Astilbe providing color both in spring and in summer.




Directions

From the South: Take Exit 3 from Rte 15. Follow Rte 417 into Gang Mills to the 3rd light at Beartown Road. Take a left on Beartown. In a mile the road will swing to the left. Go straight on Swan Lane and take an immediate right on Badger Lane. Proceed through the next intersection (Chatfield Place) and bear right at the Yield sign (Fox Lane). Go straight at the next intersection (Weston Lane). We are the third house on the right.

From the North and West: Take Exit 44 toward Gang Mills (Do not take Rte 15 to Williamsport). Turn right at the flashing red light and left at the traffic signal at the foot of the ramp (Canada Rd). Turn right at the next light (Robert Dann Drive) and left at the light onto Chatfield Place (The entrance to Home depot and Wal-Mart will be to your right). In one mile turn right on Weston and an immediate right onto Fox Lane. We are the third house on the right.

From the East: Take Exit 44 toward Gang Mills (Do not take Rte 15 to Williamsport). Turn left at the traffic light at the top of the ramp. Turn left at the light at the bottom of the ramp (Canada Rd). Turn right at the next light (Robert Dann Drive) and left at the light onto Chatfield Place (The entrance to Home depot and Wal-Mart will be to your right). In one mile turn right on Weston and an immediate right onto Fox Lane. We are the third house on the right.

Note: Should you inadvertently take Rte 15 proceed to Exit 3 and follow the first set of directions.

Please park head in on the grass strip by the road!

Syracuse - rose fest - date change

June 20: Rose Day, E. M. Mills Memorial Rose Garden, Thornden Park, noon – 3 pm. This celebration is co-sponsored by the Syracuse Rose Society and the City of Syracuse Department of Parks, Recreation and Youth Programs. For more: Don Magaro, 315/457-4351

Please note: this is a NEW date. The roses weren't going to be ready for the 13th.

What's Blooming: Caledonia

Spring in S'ville

I spent a few hours over at Richard and Jim's last week, where things are looking fantastic!