I defy the blizzard outside my windows to affirm: Someday, Spring will come. Until then, there is garden planning. From the NYTimes, “At Plant-O-Rama in Brooklyn, the Message Was That Beauty Is No Longer Enough“:
… Plant-O-Rama has been a bellwether for trends in the garden world since its founding in 1997, by Mr. Hyland and other leaders of Metro Hort Group, a network of New York-based urban horticulturists. Exotic species as well as natives have ignited plant lust here, depending upon which rock star of the garden world extolled their virtues on the big screen in the darkened room. But always, the focus has been on aesthetics: what makes an attractive garden.
Last week, the keynote speaker, Douglas Tallamy, an ecologist, informed us that beauty is not enough.
“We have to raise the bar on our landscapes,” said Mr. Tallamy, a professor and chairman of the department of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware. “In the past, we have asked one thing of our gardens: that they be pretty. Now they have to support life, sequester carbon, feed pollinators and manage water.”
A daunting order, perhaps, but maybe it’s just a shifting of gears. Yards filled with beautiful natives that can provide all of these services don’t have to look unruly and formless. And they are key to survival, Mr. Tallamy argued. Pollinators, he reminded us, “pollinate 90 percent of all plants, not just crops.” And if the plants crash, so do the rest of the species, including us.
Landscape ecologists estimate that only 3 to 5 percent of the lower 48 states is undisturbed habitat for plants and animals. Farmland now covers more than half of the country. Most of the rest is taken up by suburban sprawl and about 40 million acres of lawns (“eight New Jerseys,” as Mr. Tallamy put it), along with highways, malls and growing cities. A world with half those lawns, he said, might have 20 million acres of habitat, or more than 13 national parks, including Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Adirondacks, if you added up the acreage.
Instead, thanks to vanishing habitats, Mr. Tallamy said, “We have 50 percent fewer birds than 40 years ago,” referring to results of yearly bird-banding studies that track those numbers. And some 230 species of North American birds are at risk of extinction, he added, citing the 2014 State of the Birds Report (stateofthebirds.org)….
Lovely pics at the link.
Well, I’ve replaced our front “lawn” with raised beds, where I battle non-stop to keep the ‘native’ ailanthus, knotweed, bittersweet vine, oak & norway maple seedlings in check. (The bees seem to be grateful for the nepeta that blooms even before the forsythias, so I leave clumps for them.) I’m not going to give up my lilacs, though. One of the reasons we bought this house was the massive two-story lilac taking pride of place in the front, and we’ve put in many more to delight us every Spring.
How’s your garden / garden planning going, this week?
Major Major Major Major
my cymbidiums are about to bloom. Five stalks. Should be glorious, will share.
OzarkHillbilly
Well, we are finally going to get some snow in our hills and hollers, 6-12″. We’ll see. The wife had already planned on taking Monday off. Now with the snow not ending until some time tomorrow (not yet begun), my money says she stays home on Tuesday too.
Meanwhile, I started my plants 2 weeks ago. Mostly hits, a few misses: 60% of the eggplants did not come up, and I had a fail in the tomato tray in the form of a leak I did not spot and some of the soil dried out and a few died. The tomas I’ll get back easily enough, not sure what is up with the eggplants.
Keith G
My potted basil is doing quite well outside my door, though it is losing leaves – very tasty leaves.
raven
I doesn’t look like they will be able to pave our street this week because of the temps. There are large areas of our yard and the neighbors that have been seeded and covered with wheat straw but no sign of the rye coming up. I took down a couple of crepe myrtles that were getting too big and cut back a bunch of monkey grass.
greennotGreen
Since I’m building a home this year, my gardening will consist of putting in barrier trees and shrubs and removing the invasive non-natives like paulownia and tree of heaven. I would have done the latter anyway, but now that I’m going to be a “forester” for tax purposes, it has become even more incumbent on me to look after the health of my woods.
satby
I’m holding off seed starting for one more week, and then will dig out the domes and heat mats. I usually start way too early so I was proud of myself for controlling my impatience for spring.
I grow a lot of plants just for the seed they produce for the birds to eat all winter, and I want to expand that this year with a sunflower border along one side of my yard. And I may reclaim the fallow garden patch, but it became such a small habitat I may just put in a new garden bed and start over. Wasn’t happy last year trying to grow veggies in pots, lots of green leaves but not much produce.
Mustang Bobby
It was below 40 F outside this morning here in South Florida, which is kind of chilly for these climes. Checked on the orchids; they seem to be okay with it, and it might kill off some of the more vulnerable pests… unless they seek refuge in the house.
Steeplejack (phone)
Very cold in NoVA this morning: 6°, wind chill &endash;15°. Mama! Still have a high wind warning and a wind chill advisory in effect. Wind steady at 25 mph from the northwest. Gardening is right out.
Buddy H
My wife found an interesting way to grow potatoes. Fill an old laundry basket with soil. When it’s time to harvest the potatoes, shake the soil out of the laundry basket.
I remember the year we had a yard full of pumpkins. We had bought some small decorative ones for halloween. After the season we tossed them in the back garden. They grew and we had about ten giant pumpkins. Delicious cooked like squash.
I’ve been anti-lawn for years. Twenty-two years living in a cul-de-sac exurb where the other inmates WORSHIPPED their lawns. Riding mowers on tiny backyards that could have been handled with a reel mower. One guy I remember crouching in his front yard with a spray bottle of some toxic shit, individually poisoning each dandelion. When I told him that dandelions weren’t native to north america; that they were brought over by the european settlers for use as food and medicine, he looked at me like I’d spoken to him in mandarin.
Racist guy across the street, every year he’d have a “lawn treatment” company visit and apply poison to his perfect wall-to-wall carpet front lawn. They’d put yellow flags up as a warning to dogs and children. He’d come home and immediately remove the flags. He wanted to create the impression that his perfect lawn was the result of his exceptional character and not chemical application.
JPL
Good Morning, My thermostat tells me that it is nineteen degrees but it’s going to warm into the 40’s. The NWS has changed the winter watch area but parts of fulton county is still included. I’m sure they will do further adjustment later. Weather Channel is streaming live so I can see the winds pick up in Boston but so far the total amount seems light considering previous storms. It will be fun to see Tom’s pictures.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Steeplejack (phone):
FYWP. Wind chill –15°.
Buddy H
When we moved into our city house, first thing my wife did was have me dig out the front lawn. It’s now all perennials and ground cover.
Lots of bee balm in our back yard – a native plant. The humming birds seem to like them.
Buddy H
Right now there’s two feet of snow outside. In a few hours I’ll dig out the additional four inches we got last night.
My wife is growing tomato, basil and rosemary in our living room. She bought a big container and a grow light. (When we bought the grow light, I think we were the only people in the store actually planning to grow tomatoes).
Small spray bottle next to the container. The cat understands.
Betsy
Lawns aren’t half as bad as parking lots, which take up far more space in most communities. Lot parking is so bad in so many ways, as documented by Shoup, lawns are practically a red herring.
bemused
@Buddy H:
Bee Balm is at the top of my favorite perennial flower list and line the back of our south facing house Love the scent. Our two indoor cats are very entertained sitting at the window watching hummingbirds flit around. Fun to see two heads moving side to side in unison as they watch the birds together.
Robert
As a committed Lawn slave, I am looking forward to spring…As it stands now, in Colorado, I mowed my leaves and other organic matter, mulched, and trimmed…and awaiting another water dropping event…We haven’t seen any moisture for quite a few weeks…The East Coast is getting our winter, and I object…We are used to many feet of snow, and can handle it…Does this mean my semi-arid region is becoming an Arid region? oy vey….My lawn provides cover and keeps the dust down…I cut holes in my lawn to plant what I want…This year, I am contemplating a dozen pot plants for recreatin’ and medicatin’…
OzarkHillbilly
@Robert:
Asked, and answered: Climate Change To Bring ‘Megadrought’ To US,
currants
@JPL: Can’t speak for Boston (can’t get there this morning) but about 10 miles west/southwest of Boston we had 6″ by 10 pm, and got DUMPED on this morning, and it’s snowing at 2-4″/hr now through about noon. This guy is pretty good on weather and also tweets (I don’t). He hasn’t missed anything yet, and does a good job explaining apparent anomalies (in forecasts and in weather). I started reading him because he does gardening weather too, actually.
currants
@currants: Also, my garden is under several feet of snow. I can barely see the outlines of the raised beds, and can’t see the outlines of the 3 ft fence and 4 ft posts AT ALL. But I can see the top 12″ of a 72″ trellis, so I still know where it is….
JPL
@currants: wow! You won’t be able to plant until May.
Most of the schools are closed for President’s Day tomorrow and Cobb County just canceled classes. Yes it’s sunny here but after last year, I assume they don’t want to take any chances. There was a sweet story last year about a dad who walked five miles to his kindergarten age, daughter’s school. The students couldn’t get home and he didn’t want his daughter to be scared.
jeffreyw
Mmm… bee balm
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Buddy H: We had a lawn company call and try to sell us on “taking proper care of our lawn”. When I wasn’t cooperative, he asked to speak to my husband. I replied that he’s have even less luck with hubby, as he doesn’t dicksize via his lawn.
Guy hung up on me for some reason.
jeffreyw
Humming birds are cool, but I really like the birds who really belt a number out.
jeffreyw
OK, I’ve had plenty. Send for the robins.
jeffreyw
They sang, that were the young world’s gleaners,
Like birds on a bough
Pogonip
@Major Major Major Major: I see cattleya hybrids at the big-box store. Are they worth the $20? I have east and west facing windows and 50-70% humidity (old “energy-efficient” building from the ’70’s, tighter than tight).
bemused
@jeffreyw:
Ahh, lovely, can’t wait to not only see mine in full bloom but smell them too. I’ll take the aroma of Bee Balm or Rosemary, just about any herbal scent over roses.
SiubhanDuinne
@jeffreyw:
Gorgeous photo.
@jeffreyw:
Gorgeous cardinal.
jeffreyw
I haz killed it, this thread.
raven
@Pogonip: Princess say yea if you have the setup to grow orchids.
Pogonip
@raven: What is the setup?
Woodrowfan
Bee Balm huh? will have to Google that to see if it grows well in my area (northern Va)
Amir Khalid
Off topic, but I know you’ll all be interested:
Hey, you guys! Jeb’s mom said it’s okay if he runs for President!
raven
@Pogonip: Oops, she left for coffee. I’ll axe later.
Try this
https://www.aos.org/Default.aspx?id=222
debit
Right now it’s 1 degree. For some reason the last two weeks of February in Minnesota feel like they last for months.
I don’t have any garden plans as I’ve given up and declared Creeping Charlie to be the victor. It may have my yard and the sad remnants of my garden. (I’ve been fighting this battle since 2000 and I just don’t care anymore.)
Mary G
It was so hot here in Southern California the last couple days – 84 degrees – that I had to open my windows and last year’s tomatoes are flowering and setting a few fruits. We had two weeks of winter in December but no rain since. It’s really scary. HBM and his wife came down for a visit yesterday with Leland. They are doing great.
Amir Khalid
@Mary G:
It’s great to hear that HBM is doing fine. But I thought he was alone when he came to stay with you.
ETA: Was there some happy news that I missed?
currants
@JPL: Definitely not getting my peas in the ground by St Patrick’s Day. Fingers crossed for April.
Actually, I’m slightly more worried about when/how it all goes away. It’d be ideal if it slowly melted into the ground, but I’m imagining a horrific warm rain storm while the ground is still frozen, and that would be a mess (not to mention the flooding, or that my little house might slide down the bank into the pond…).
currants
@jeffreyw: Great bird pictures–who’s the singer?
I sent links for my granddaughter who’s a nascent birder (she’s almost 2 1/2 and will spend the morning on a stool watching the birds at the feeder, and can already identify the ones we have regularly). Thank you!
PurpleGirl
It’s cold and windy in NYC today. Had some snow late yesterday afternoon; it stopped overnight. But the predicted 19 F is below 0 (I think) with the wind chill. I can hear the wind even though I have all windows closed, it’s that strong.
GregB
The wind is whipping up here in southern NH. The big temperature drop is on the way next.
Looks like we are at the tail end of the snow and this one seems to be about 10 inches or so.
Just got an e-mail about a seed swap for the community garden so it appears that people are planning for spring to actually arrive. I have my doubts, but remain hopeful.
The plus side of all this blizzard like weather is it is keeping the arrival of Washington DC hacks at a bare minimum. It’s getting close to prime campaign season here.
Roger Moore
@Betsy:
They’re bad in different ways. Parking lots are even more useless as habitat than lawns, and they contribute to the urban heat island effect. OTOH, lawns consume far more water and noxious chemicals than parking lots. Here in LA, the water use is the deciding factor. We simply don’t have enough water to waste it growing grass, so water districts are actually paying people to rip out their lawns and put in drought-tolerant plants. It’s interesting, because even people who have no interest in native plants for ecological reason are thinking about switching to save on watering costs and to get the incentive money.
gelfling545
I was given a Meyer lemon tree for Christmas. The thought was nice but most of my useable windows face North & West and while I’m pretty successful with the outdoor plants, I’m not great with houseplants. Any tips for keeping the thing among the living in Buffalo conditions?
jeffreyw
@currants: Thanks! He’s a starling.
Roger Moore
@currants:
That looks like a starling.
Robert
@OzarkHillbilly: yeah, I read that…not much hope for the lower elevations. We are fighting drilling and fracking in our watershed, and losing…
jeffreyw
@currants: Send her this one.
Tommy
This post just made me add “plan out my garden.” Well on graph paper. Already did it in my head to a large extent. Adding a third raised bed this year which will add about 30% to my garden size. But the BIG project this year, and I know I will be here with endless questions, is more landscaping. Some shrubs and roses across the front half of my house. And what I want more than anything, a raised bed (just dirt) on the side with a collection of wildflowers.
How I want to make that work. Seen many pictures posted here of similar things and that would be close to a dream for me. I LOVE fresh flowers in my house and my gosh they are darn expensive in a shop. Heck I will even admit I’ve been working in my yard/garden, see my neighbor leave who has dozens and dozens of flowering plants, and maybe cut a few and ducked into the house feeling guilty but happy at the same time :).
srv
A national day of mourning for John:
Tommy
@gelfling545: I used to kill any plant I brought into my house. Caused me not to start gardening until a few years ago. Living in DC, no yard for so long. Moved to southern IL and a good size yard. But I felt if I couldn’t keep a house plant alive in DC, how could I grow a garden. Found it wasn’t easy to grow a garden, but through some trial and error became somewhat successful, if not successful.
I say talk to somebody with a greenhouse because I did and now I’ve kept four plants I bought from her (used to get them at like Home Depot) alive since May/June. Might not sound like much, but a huge success story for me. She talked to me about what I wanted. What type of light they’d get. The way windows faced.
I asked about watering (which I think was how I killed most plants in the past). Repotting. You name it.
Lady seemed to enjoy the conversation even more than I did, because she got to talk about something she loved. Those four plants were a “test run.” This year I’ll go back to her and buy a ton more plants for just about every room in my house.
I will ask the same questions and ask for the same advice!
Ira-NY
So good to read about gardens and flowers as ice pellets pummel the house and the weatherman forecasts an afternoon blizzard. Reminds me that better times are ahead.
the Conster
There is so much snow outside my door… I can’t even. Gardening? lolwut
Mary G
@Amir Khalid: Yes, they have been married more than 30 years but we’re estranged. Now they are back together. A happy ending!
Tommy
@the Conster: Had multiple forecast throughout the season of a foot or so of snow. Never more than maybe an inch or two.* See climate change isn’t real. We are supposed to get more than a foot tonight. Have a feeling we will see it this time. I welcome it because I like a “little” snow a few times a year.
But with that said, some of the snow totals I’ve seen in other parts of the nation …. wow I can’t wrap my mind around it.
*But it has been really, really cold this season. 12 right now. Rarely does it seem we’re about 20. Even had the second coldest day in history. -1 with a -20+ windchill.
weavrmom
Best thing here in SF is that the ground is wet and supporting growth. Put in a drought-tolerant drip-system native plant front yard to replace our lawn recently, to go with the on-your-own natives in the back. It’s such a popular trend that certain plants are impossible to find right now, but that’s fine. An early season, with native manzanitas flowering, and the buckeyes already leafed-out. It’s a garden party, and the birds are nesting early, making the best of it! Daffodils have been blooming for a month, and the rosemary is covered in blossoms that seem very popular with the goldfinches, that hang from the branches like little ornaments. We keeping hoping for more rain, and lots of Sierra snow.
wmd
Ailanthus (Tree of Heaven) is a non native menace. It smells bad, sends runners out that become saplings 3″ in diameter and 15′ tall in the course of a summer. Does it provide any benefits?
bemused
@Woodrowfan:
Bee Balm thrives in iceberg NE MN, zone 3-4, so you should have no problems. I have red and fuschia colors which grow 3 to 4 feet but Bee Balm are available in shorter heights and in various colors. They need a sunny location and bloom later in the summer here.
WaterGirl
I never grow my vegetables from seed – I always buy little tiny plants from the organic guy at the farmer’s market. But this year i want to try some round zucchini and other zucchini varieties that can apparently be grown in containers.
If I have a choice between Burpee and Johnny’s for the same variety, who do I want to buy from?
How about Park Seeds?
Heirloom Seeds?
2BSeeds?
HPS? (Horticultural Products & Services)
thanks in advance for any help!
WaterGirl
@raven:
Oh, no! Those are the trees I most wish I could have, but they are not zoned for me here in CU.
the Conster
@Tommy:
You have no idea – it’s bizarre even for me, a lifelong New Englander. We get storms, but not back to back to back to back to back, each as bad if not worse than the last. This one comes with bitter strong winds – the worst yet. It’s like Mother Nature wants us to start over.
Gin & Tonic
@the Conster: Yup, just got inside from shoveling the roof, again. Another cup of coffee then out to try to clear part of the driveway. It’s hard because I have to shovel up over my shoulders to get it over the snowbanks. Not quite in the mood to think about gardening, as I probably won’t see soil until Easter at this rate.
debit
@Mary G: That is awesome news! Very happy for both of them.
weavrmom
Just adding that as everyone knows, the crucial resource out West is water. This makes me diligent about keeping our backyard
birdbath clean and filled, and we are rewarded by having local wildlife rely on it day and night. Like a watering-hole in the Kalahari desert, for much of the year pretty much every local critter stops by.
the Conster
@Gin & Tonic:
Next up – flooding!!
debit
@WaterGirl: My friend the expert gardener swears by Johnny’s.
@thread and I guess I lied earlier. I think I’m going to make some raised beds and see if that works to keep the crap out.
Gin & Tonic
@the Conster: Yeah, worst thing now would be a warm spell. Luckily (?) it’ll be freezing all week.
Svensker
@WaterGirl:
I’m a big supporter of Johnny’s Seeds. They do good work and are employee owned. If you have a choice, go for Johnny’s. Also, I always got good seed and good service from them.
Tommy
@the Conster: Yeah I’ve been in a few storms with 2.5-3 feet of snow. I wouldn’t say they were fun, but I never thought they were as bad as everybody else did. However, those storms come once every 10-15 years. It is what you said, the back to back to back …. that I can’t wrap my mind around. You guys/gals must literally feel under attack/siege by Mother Nature at this point.
Gin & Tonic
@Tommy: The thing with this last month’s pattern is all of the heavy accumulation is within a relatively short distance from the coast. The ski areas in Vermont and NH, which would love some of this, have generally been getting only a few inches at a time.
Tommy
@Gin & Tonic:
File this under you learn something new every day, I didn’t know that. I guess things can get worse for the region.
raven
@WaterGirl: We have a big one in the front. These two bordered one of her fenced gardens and were blocking the sun.
shelley
@bemused: Try growing Anise Hyssop. The bees go absolutley bonkers over it when they’re in bloom.
Pogonip
@WaterGirl: I wouldn’t buy anything from Park Seed. I ordered a plant stand from them once. They ran out, which was fine, but what was not fine was it took nearly 4 months of phone calls and several letters to get my money back, and this was AFTER waiting the six-week period the company allowed for a refund.
Bill D.
@wmd: Yes. Shade, carbon sequestration, soil conditioning, perching and nesting habitat for birds, etc.
However, all that comes at too high a cost. This species gets loose everywhere via seeds (both here in California and at my relatives’ back east) and takes over from native species without providing support for the food web.
Native plants anywhere in the world generally have toxins to discourage their being eaten, and local herbivores have adapted to these to at least some extent. Put that plant somewhere else in the world and chances are nothing can eat it. The exceptions are a few plants that are non-toxic (grasses) or cases where the pests for that plant came along for the ride to the new location. In the latter case these pests (usually insects) then are not very edible to native predators due to the toxins they’ve ingested, so you still don’t have good support for wildlife from that plant species.
Note that plant toxins to ward off insects pervade a lot of stuff we like to eat (herbs and spices, for instance). However, there’s an enormous difference between eating a sprig of mint vs. making it your sole food source (two pounds a day, anyone?) which is what herbivorous insects would do.
currants
@jeffreyw: @Roger Moore: I have clearly under-appreciated starlings so far. Will make a note to change attitude!
currants
@jeffreyw: DONE! Thank you–that’s a red-bellied woodpecker, right? We have all of those (and she can ID all, thank you very much) except the brown thrasher (if that is a brown thrasher?)–I have yet to see one here and have lived here for 8 years. At this point she’s seen them mostly in snow, which may make them a little easier to distinguish, for my eyes anyway.
buddy h
@Woodrowfan: The beautiful thing about bee balm is how it spreads. We started with one plant and some seeds. Each year it spread and spread… now we have a ton of bee balm.
LanceThruster
Have a roommate moving in soon who said she’ll help me with the xeriscaping [I’m in the California high desert]
jeffreyw
@currants: Sorry, we made a milk run before the snow hits. Yep on the woodpecker, also correct ID on the thrasher
Anne Laurie
@wmd:
Not in my yard, it doesn’t. All of the plants I mentioned are invasives, which had taken over the yard when we bought this place 20+ years ago, and resisted all my efforts since then to eradicate them.
Our lot is located on two overlapping Superfund sites — this is an old town that was founded almost 400 years ago for industries too toxic & foul (pig farming, leather tanning) to put closer to Boston. My great consolation as a lazy gardener has been that anything I do here has to be an improvement over the status quo!
opiejeanne
Ailanthus. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
We did battle with that nasty stuff for years because a neighbor in SoCal liked “exotics”.