david spikes

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with spring near no matter what the thermometer says vigorous root growth will be starting on the plants that make great root cuttings. if you have an extra(or an old) eryngium or anchusa, or any other strappy, tappy rooted plant-jackpot. loosen the soil all the way around and gently lift from one side, cut the white, vigorous roots so that you will have pieces about an inch long. pot them into damp medium fine sand put them in a cool, shady place- in a month or less you should see little nubbins-is that a tautology-are there big nubbins? once growth appears handle as usual.

searching for seeds

does anyone have a source for malva mauretania? i have pictures-looks tasty-last year i ordered it from thompson and morgan but received magic merlin-nice but disappointing-tell me where or better yet send me some and i will gladly reimburse

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is there anything-other of course than a fast compost heap-which makes a gardener feel more godlike than propagation?  whether seeds or cuttings, reality and lets face it good sense go out the window in the lust of creation. in a time of small gardens how many of one thing does one need-a dozen rosa nevada-certainly-two dozen buddleja alternifolia-why not? flats of this , rows of that and one day you realize-where will all these orphans go? friends who congratulate themselves on their adventurousness when they add a flat of zinnias to their regular marigolds and petunias gaze on my gifts with suspicion verging on panic-well there it is, the burden has been passed-on their heads be it

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at the moment i am technologically disabled but will try pictures in the future

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yesterdays snow is melting before another storm comes in tomorrow. everyone is hoping the storms we didn't have in winter will come in spring. took out an amelanchier alnifolia-the last survivor of a different garden idea . i would have left it-it's enormous-but it is blocking the humulus aurea and the vitis purpurea that are at the center of a new scheme-isn't scheme a great word almost as though we are in a conspiracy to bend mother nature to our will, but then we are, aren't we? The vitis will have a clematis warsaw nike twining through it, the humulus a julia carrnevon- i see them as impossibly opulent. the plantinf also contains gold elder, gold variegated elder, buddleja dartmoor and rosa hugonis-the possibilities i think are for grandeur but--maybe not-comments would be appreciated

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four inches of snow last night and light snow all day-every branch and twig bears its light burden-the air utterly still-under the snow spring continues to work -when it melts -perhaps only a few days away-where only dozens bloomed yesterday there will be hundreds-the species tulips have peeked above the ground-both because of their nature and their location-north side of the house-they will be the last to bloom just at the end of spring

Talkback: Red spider mites

Talkback: Red spider mites

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raked the litter off the front garden and found sieberi in bloom everywhere-as the years pass i like the little bulbs more and more- other than their beauty and their earliness the reason is that i grow them mixed in the beds, the first of may when the beds seem to be full of drying grass i wonder if even the tinies are worth it, then in a week or two the perennials have covered the evidence and all is well-the foliage of the larger things-narcissus, hybrid tulips- never seems to go away-in midsummer there the wretched evidence is for all to see -usually right in the middle of something otherwise perfect-the weather continues fine-the sky so blue and pure that laying on my back i feel as though i am falling upward

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last year at this time the nearby mtns had 650 inches of snow-not a record but still very impressive-this year is on track to be the driest on record-even in the high sierra there is little more than 24 inches-here in the valley because we don't depend on local precip we hardly notice except to enjoy the fine dry weather-we wait until it is time to panic-bulbs-chrysanthus ladykiller opened yesterday nestled in its foliage the blossom almost on the ground-chrysanthus aura opened today-it has faded from the beds and grows now only in the gravel paths where it has seeded-ladykiller has no such compunctions-it seeds and blooms everywhere-go figure-cleanup and composting slowly proceed-the season comes round

just curious

searching for seeds

Talkback: Dieback on Leyland cypress hedges

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