NO ADS!

100% GARDENING

ClematisSECRETS TO
7 BOUNTIFUL
BLOOMS
Page 12

PLUS:
BEFORE & AFTER
A WATER GARDEN OASIS
Page 8

GARDEN GATE’S
TOP 10 PLANTS
THAT LOVE CLAY
Page 20

NO-FEAR
ROSE PRUNING
Page 26

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 ®
®

The Illustrated Guide to Home Gardening and Design

EDITORIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR

Steven M. Nordmeyer
MANAGING EDITOR
Kristin Beane Sullivan
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Stephanie Polsley Bruner
Jim Childs
Glen O. Seibert
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Sherri Ribbey

ILLUSTRATION: Mavis Augustine Torke

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Deborah Gruca
Monte Hammond
ILLUSTRATOR
Carlie Hamilton
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
David C. McClure
CORPORATE GARDENER
Marcia Leeper
ELECTRONIC MEDIA SPECIALIST
Troy Clark from the editor
PUBLISHER

W
Donald B. Peschke elcome to Garden Gate! Who among us hasn’t
coveted a neighbor’s arbor bejeweled with
CORPORATE
Corporate Vice Presidents: Mary R. Scheve, Douglas L. Hicks • Creative Director:
clematis blooms or dreamed about having our
Ted Kralicek • Creative Resources Art Director: Douglas A. Flint •New Media Man-
ager: Gordon C. Gaippe • Multi Media Art Director: Eugene Pedersen • Web own rose garden? If this sounds familiar, you’ll want to
Server Administrator: Carol Schoeppler • Web Content Manager: David Briggs
• Web Producer: Terry Walker • Multi Media Designer: Kara Blessing • Web check out two stories in this issue. Clematis, on p. 12,
Developer: Justin Gruca • Research Coordinator: Nicholas A. Jaeger • Senior
Photographer: Crayola England • Controller: Craig Stille • Director of Financial
Analysis: Lesia Smith• Professional Development Director: Michal Sigel • Senior
will show you everything you need to know to have gor-
Accountant: Laura J. Thomas • Accounts Payable Clerk: Mary J. Schultz • Accounts
Receivable Clerk: Margo Petrus • Production Director: George Chmielarz • IT
geous clematis in your own garden. It all starts with
Manager: Brian VanHeuverswyn • Elec. Pub. Director: Douglas M. Lidster •
Systems Administrator: Cris Schwanebeck • PC Maintenance Technician: Robert knowing which pruning group your clematis falls into.
D. Cook • Hiring Specialist: Jessica Tesar • Benefits Specialist: Jenny Westover •
Facilities Manager: Kurt Johnson • Office Manager: Jeanne Johnson • Administrative
Assistant: Brandi Hammond • Mailroom Clerk: Lou Webber
Sound complicated? It won’t be after you read our story.
CUSTOMER SERVICE AND FULFILLMENT
Then on p. 26 you’ll find out that pruning roses isn’t as
Operations Director: Bob Baker • Customer Service Mgr.: Jennie Enos • Senior
Customer Service Reps: Anna Cox, April Revell, Deborah Rich, Valerie Jo Riley,
“thorny” an issue as you may think!
Tammy Truckenbrod • Customer Service Reps: Kim Harlan, Tara Benshoof, Katherine
Parker • Merchandise Buyer: Linda Jones • Assistant Buyer: Nancy Downey • Another common problem gardeners face is clay soil.
Warehouse Mgr.: Nancy Johnson • Fulfillment: Sylvia Carey, Kim Freauff, Stephen
Griffin If you’re thinking of tackling a clay area, you won’t want
CIRCULATION to miss this issue’s Top Picks article on p. 20. In it we
Circulation Operations Director: Sandy Baum • Circulation Marketing Director:
Wayde J. Klingbeil • Circulation Marketing Analyst: Patrick A. Walsh • Circulation
Manager: Steph Forinash • Renewal Manager: Paige Rogers • Fulfillment Manager:
share our list of 10 plants guaranteed to thrive in even
Suzanne Hejkal • Circulation Marketing Associate: Christine Forret • Strategic
Business Analyst: Kris Schlemmer • Senior Graphic Designer: Robin Friend the stickiest soil.
Have you ever noticed how the best advice comes
from fellow gardeners? We think so, too. That’s why we
like to pass along our readers’ great ideas to one another.
Be sure to read on p. 32 how one reader designed several
®
®
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ways to save time, money and energy straight from the
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contents
in every issue
AT HOME GARDENER
adrian bloom
on conifers..........................6
BEFORE & AFTER
a water garden oasis ..........8
GARDEN GATE’S TOP PICKS
10 clay-loving plants ........20
GARDEN GATE’S
DESIGN CHALLENGE
new home front yard..........38
FROM THE DRAWING BOARD
a sunny entry garden ........40
CONTAINER RECIPE ............43
FROM THE TEST GARDEN ONLINE
dividing grape hyacinths ....48
EDITOR’S CHOICE
prairie smoke....................50
departments
reader tips ..........................4
pest watch ......................5
what’s new........................44
did you know? ..............45
ask Garden Gate ..............46
resources ......................47
weed watch ......................49
finishing touches ..............52
features
ON THE COVER
Clematis ....................12
Learn how to prune the “queen of
the vines,” as well as other
secrets to growing perfect
clematis. ONLINE
Rose Pruning ............26
Think pruning roses is complex? It
doesn’t have to be! Let us show you
some simple techniques. ONLINE
Sand-Cast
a Birdbath ................30
You bring the leaf and concrete
and we’ll give you the know-how
to create your own birdbath in
5 simple steps. ONLINE
Garden Rooms ........32
Find out how one gardener cre-
ated a haven in a surprisingly
small backyard.
ON THE COVER:
‘Ville de Lyon’ clematis
Photo: Deborah Gruca
www.punchapaadam.com
12
32
ONLINE
To find more tips, plans and step-by-
step instructions, look for these
symbols on our Web site.
• More Clematis Cultivars
• Sharpening Pruners VIDEO
• Sand-Cast a Birdbath VIDEO
• Dividing Grape Hyacinths VIDEO
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readertips
“Genius is 1 percent inspiration and
99 percent perspiration.” The same is true
Thomas Edison of gardening, but a moment
of inspiration can save hours
of perspiration! Tell us about
your inspirations that save you
time, effort or money. Mail
your tip to Garden Gate Tips,
2200 Grand Ave., Des
Moines, IA 50312, or e-mail
gardengate@gardengatemag.
com. We’ll consider publishing
your tip in one or more of our
works, and we’ll pay you $25
if we use your tip. Please
include your name, address
and daytime phone number.
New life for an
old hose
Jim Allen, California
When Jim replaced his
garden hose, he thought
he ought to be able to
use the old one some-
how in the garden, even
though it had a few
cracks in it. He attached
a cap to seal the end of
the hose (available at
garden centers or hard-
QUICK TIP Leave your clogs at the door
Elaine Cooper, Iowa
Garden clogs are wonderful outside, but it’s amazing the way they
carry mud inside. Elaine came up with a way to keep her clogs handy
and ready to use, without having to find a place to stash them indoors.
She pounded 1-in.-diameter dowel rods into the
ground beside her steps. When she’s
ready to go in, she slips off her clogs
and hangs them toes-up on the
dowels to keep them dry inside.
And when she wants to do a little
gardening, she steps out on the
porch and her clogs are right there
waiting for her.
Divide hosta
with a bulb
ware stores), then he planter.
•
used a fine nail to poke
small holes down the
length of the hose. Now
he’s got a handy (and
free!) soaker hose. chemical released by the Slide the
division
lavender won’t kill into a
Cleaner algae already growing, precut hole.
birdbaths but it does prevent new
Margaret Juler, California growth from starting.
Margaret has a tech-
nique her English grand- Cut to fit
mother taught her years Judy Stahley, South Dakota
ago to keep slimy green Judy has come up with
algae from growing in a great way to save time
her birdbath. and energy when she’s
She starts with a dividing her hostas in year for hostas, but
clean birdbath and fills the fall. it’s best done in fall
it with fresh water. First she uses a small when the plants are
Then Margaret binds bulb planter to dig going dormant.
six to eight stems of holes where she wants You do lose some of
lavender flowers her transplants. Then the foliage when you
together with a daylily she removes a small make the cuts in the
leaf and lays the bundle amount of soil around root. But whenever you
in the water. a mature hosta to decide to divide them,
One bundle of expose the root. She both mother and baby
lavender will keep the selects a section that plants do well because
water algae-free for two has some sprouting they’re not exposed to
or three weeks. During “eyes,” or leaf buds, the stress of being dug
hot weather, she removes the fading up and manhandled
replaces the bundles foliage and slices the into their new homes.
more frequently. The root with a twist of the
bulb planter. Disinfect pruners
Because Judy cuts with no drips
them with the same Earl Simmons, Maryland
tool, the root core fits Sterilizing your pruners
perfectly into its between cuts is an
planting hole. The important way to keep
whole process takes less your plants healthy and
than 30 seconds per disease-free. Most
plant. With the divi- people use a jar of
sions safely in place, bleach and water, but
she simply repacks the Earl found an easier
soil around them and way. He uses Clorox®
around the mother disinfectant wipes to
plant’s exposed roots. clean his pruners
Judy says this divi- between cuts — no
sion technique can more messy jars or
be used any time of drips on his clothing.
www.punchapaadam.com
 pest watch
Japanese beetle
Popillia japonica

IDENTIFICATION
Metallic green bodies
with white tufts of hair
and bronze outer wings Adult beetle
Kitchen recycling Finger tip make ½-in.-long Japanese 1/ in. long
2

Hazel Benwel, Idaho Ruchelle Gee, beetles hard to miss. But if you
Hazel was looking for South Carolina don’t notice the insect, you’ll notice the
an easy way to label the Much as we love damage. Japanese beetles skeletonize leaves,
plants in her Idaho gardening, there’s no eating the tissue between the veins, on a wide
garden so she wouldn’t denying it’s hard on range of ornamental plants. Roses, birch, plum,
forget a variety name or the hands. Here’s one apricot, cherry, apple, crabapple and peach trees
a color when it wasn’t way to keep your mani- are favorite snacks. Damaged leaves often look
in bloom. She discov- cure looking as nice as almost lacy, and soon wilt and die. Adult beetles
ered that disposable your garden does. are most common in spring and early summer as
plastic knives make Ruchelle tucks half a they feed. During this time, the females burrow into
good plant labels when cotton ball into the tips the ground where they lay eggs.
she uses a permanent of her glove fingers After the eggs hatch, the larvae do a different
marker to write on the before she puts them kind of damage. The 1-in.-long white grubs often live
handle. They’re weath- on, which adds a little under turfgrass, feeding on the roots. A heavy infesta-
erproof and last for sev- extra protection for tion can kill sections of lawn, which you can pull
eral years, and the ser- nails and cuticles. The back like carpet to see the grubs underneath. Moles,
ration on the blades cotton can stay in the raccoons and birds like to feed on the grubs.
makes them easy to gloves for several work The larvae overwinter several inches under-
stick into the ground by sessions before it needs ground. They pupate in the spring and emerge as
each plant. to be replaced. adults in spring or early summer.
Japanese beetles do their damage in the
Northeast and Midwest, as far west as Iowa and
as far south as Alabama, and in southeastern
Canada. They show up occasionally in plant ship-
ments to the West Coast.

CONTROL You can buy traps at most garden

centers, but they’re not the best way to deal with
this pest. They often attract more beetles than
they actually catch, making the problem worse.
Insecticides, including imidacloprid and car-
baryl, can control the larvae in lawns. But there are
more environmentally friendly ways to dispose of the
grubs: Insect-eating nematodes (Steinernema glaseri
and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora)
control Japanese beetles in turf-
grass. Milky spore, applied
any time the ground isn’t
frozen, controls the
larvae, too.
To get rid of the
adults, keep plants
healthy. Stressed
plants are more
susceptible to pests. If
you only have a few Grub
beetles, handpick them off 1 in. long
plants and drown them in a pail of soapy water.

www.punchapaadam.com
at home gardener

adrian bloom on conifers A

drian Bloom started out
working with perennials in
the family business, Blooms of
Bressingham. After trying dif-
ferent areas of horticulture, he
felt it was time to branch out and
find his own garden niche. He
chose conifers.
Why? They create excitement
even during the coldest, dreariest
weather, especially with all their
sizes, textures and colors.
THE EVER-CHANGING GARDEN
Transforming a flat meadow in
Norfolk, England, into a struc-
tured garden was Adrian’s first
challenge. It’s taken many years,
but he’s learned a lot in the
process. For example, planting
small starts of conifers leaves a
garden looking pretty sparse. To
get a fuller look more quickly,
interplant the conifers with
perennials and purposely set the
conifers close together. When
you plan a new garden, Adrian
says, it’s a good idea to keep in
mind that the garden will evolve
over time.
As the conifers grow, pull out
some of the perennials to make
room. And some of the conifers
will need to be dug up and
moved to roomier digs. Pruning
will corral others.
TAKING CONTROL “Years ago,
I thought it was wrong to prune
conifers,” Adrian says. But in
working with them, he’s dis-
covered that it’s a necessity. Not
all of them age gracefully —
some grow thin, lopsided or
simply too big. Pruning is the
best way to keep plants looking
their best and in scale with their
surroundings.
It’s a skill that anyone can
learn. A little time and practice is
all it takes. Adrian prefers “rea-

“You need to prune to keep conifers under control — especially in a small garden.”

www.punchapaadam.com
 (1) The first step in pruning this spreading ‘Prostrata’ spruce (Picea pun-
gens) is cutting back the branches that are forming leaders.
sonably natural” pruning to a
formal style.
To get an idea of what he
means, take a look at photo 1.
This is a conifer that has begun
to outgrow its place in the
garden. Rather than removing it,
Adrian is cutting it back.
As you can see, this is not a
light pruning — just look at the
piles of branches left on the
ground in photo 2. And the
shrub still has a natural-looking
form, but now it fits better in its
surroundings.
Just when the new growth
begins to stretch is a good time
to do a dramatic pruning like
this. The new growth that’s left
on the plant will grow and
cover up the pruning cuts.
Timing is important when
PHOTOS: © Richard Bloom
pruning conifers. Spring is a
good time to prune many of
them. But within that, some
recover best if you prune before
new growth starts, and others
do best if you prune just as the
new growth is starting:
1 With many of the junipers,
falsecypresses, yews and hem-
locks, pruning in early spring,
(2) Next, shorten the longest side branches. The spruce looks
“reasonably natural” and new growth will quickly cover the cuts.
before new growth stretches, is a
good time. That way the new
foliage will cover up where
you’ve cut so you’re not left all
season with a plant that looks as
if it just had a haircut.
2 Pine, spruce and fir are best
pruned just as new tips, the
candles, begin to stretch in
spring. All you need to do is nip
back the shoots before the new
needles form.
When you prune a conifer,
never cut it back to a point on
the stem where there’s no foliage
left. If you do, some, such as yew
and hemlock, will leaf out
again. But most won’t, and
you’ll be left with lots of
bare stubs.
There’s a conifer for
almost any landscaping sit-
uation. They can be mixed
into perennial gardens or
foundation plantings.
Some make wonderful
hedges, shrub borders and
even specimen plants.
Want to learn even
more about how Adrian
uses conifers in his
garden? Check out his
www.punchapaadam.com
most recent book, “Gardening
with Conifers,” or take a
virtual tour of his garden,
Foggy Bottom, at www.
bressinghamgardens.com. To
learn about conifers that grow
best in your region, visit the
American Conifer Society at
www.conifersociety.org or call
410-721-6611.
Adrian hopes that more
Americans will find ways to add
these colorful and easy-to-care-
for “missing ingredients” into
their gardens. ®
— Jim Childs
WANT MORE?
Adrian Bloom’s latest book,
“Gardening with Conifers”
is full of information he’s
gathered from more
than 35 years of
growing them. It’s
available from
online book sellers or local
book stores, selling for $39.95
hardcover or $24.95 paperback.
before&after
a water T his gardener’s dream was a backyard aquatic
paradise — a place to relax, surrounded by
ponds filled with swaying reeds and cattails. A
sparkling waterfall would fill the air with the sound
garden oasis of splashing water, and fish would play beneath the
fragrant, floating water lilies. Step into this garden
and find out how the dream became a reality.

One pond in this backyard just

wasn’t enough (inset). Five years
later, the garden boasts six ponds
and a host of water plants.

www.punchapaadam.com
 STARTING SMALL This gorgeous backyard garden
started five years ago as a featureless expanse of
lawn that sloped away from the house. The first
year, there was only one pond, in the inset,
installed at the yard’s lowest point. It showed off
a patch of surface-floating water lilies you could
see from the house. But then, like so many folks
www.punchapaadam.com
who are bitten by the “water bug,” this gardener
discovered the fabulous forms, sizes and colors
that water plants could bring to her garden. She
realized that one pond just wasn’t going to be
enough. Over a period of several years, she
installed five more ponds. As you can see, the
garden has really taken shape.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
The ponds are made from high-
strength commercial stock-
watering tanks in various shapes
PHOTO: Shirley Jung (inset)
and diameters. Each one is 2 feet
deep. They run along a line that
snakes down the slope of the yard
like a waterfall. A curved-edge
gravel bed creates a well-defined
line between the pond area and
the surrounding lawn. Disc-
shaped stepping stones echo the
bed’s bubbling, flowing water
theme. And while this garden’s
soil drains well, if it didn’t, the
gravel would keep any rain and
irrigation water from running
into the ponds. In addition to
floating water lilies, cattails,
rushes and elephant’s ear grow in
the ponds. Their forms — strap-
like, stiffly vertical and heart-
shaped — echo those of the
daylilies, grasses and hostas that
line the back of the garden. To
the left of the pond in the fore-
ground, hen and chicks mimic
the floating water lilies.
Goldfish live in the largest
pond near the bench arbor. Here
they’re protected from the hot
summer sun by the fence and
water lilies, which cover about
50 percent of the pond’s surface.
A half-barrel fountain spills into
the pond, oxygenating the water
and creating a focal point of
sparkling reflections and
soothing tones. Along with col- Botanical
orful containers, the refreshing Names
sound invites visitors to relax on
the bench and just watch the Cattail Typha angustifolia
Daylily Hemerocallis spp.
water flow. Elephant’s ear
Building and maintaining a Colocasia esculenta
water garden has its challenges. Hen and chicks
But the rewards are worth the Sempervivum spp.
time and effort. On the next Hosta Hosta spp.
Spike rush Eleocharis dulcis
pages we’ll take a look at the Water lily Nymphaea spp.
design points and plant materials
used in this special garden.
 3-sq.-ft. barrel
Water hyacinth
Eichhornia crassipes
64-sq.-ft. fish pond
Hardy water lily Nymphaea ‘Virginalis’
N. ‘Odorata Sulphurea Grandiflora’
N. ‘Fire Crest’
Japanese dwarf cattail Typha minima

before&after continued

Pcomplex
onds are dynamic systems and must be kept bal-
anced to stay healthy. There have to be enough
plants to use up nutrients in the water or
simple algae will run rampant. It’s the same for sun-
light. About 50 percent of a pond’s surface should
be covered with floating foliage of some kind to
block out light and keep algae in check. If you’re
supporting fish, floating plants will give them
shelter from the sun and a place to hide from
predators. In the plan at right, floating water lilies
grow mostly in the large, round ponds with lots of
surface area. The tall spike rushes and cattails are
vertical punctuations popping up from the smaller
ponds. Marginal plants, such as iris, arrowhead
and sweet flag, nestle along pond edges.
Ponds have to hold up under some tough condi-
tions — direct sun, water pressure and a few
inevitable kicks and dings. So use high-density
molded-resin stock-watering tanks, available from
farm and ranch supply stores. They’re practically
indestructible. The tanks come in different shapes
and sizes, but make sure they’re at least 24 inches
deep so they can accommodate the needs of various
water plants. See the Quick Tip below for which
plants to use and how deeply to plant them. ®
— Glen O. Seibert

QUICK TIP Arrowhead

DEPTH AND DIVERSITY A pond needs several kinds of plants to stay healthy: Water
lily
• Submerged oxygenators, such as parrot’s feather, help Water
• hyacinth 4 in. of 3/4-in.
keep the water clear. gravel
•
• Free floaters, such as water hyacinth, have large,
complex root systems that support bacteria, which
•
clean and filter the water.
• Surface floaters, such as water lilies, prevent
algae growth by blocking sunlight.
• Marginal plants, such as arrowhead, provide shelter for Parrot’s
feather 24 in.
aquatic insects, frogs and toads at the pond’s edges.

QUICK TIP

BUILD IT ON SAND Dig a hole 3 to 4 in. larger than the 3 to 4 in.

of sand
tank and fill the bottom of the hole with play sand. The soft
sand makes adjustments easy. When the tank is placed
correctly, use more sand as backfill to cushion the tank and
help support the weight of the water.

www.punchapaadam.com
 8-sq.-ft. oblong pond 28-sq.-ft. round pond
Cattail Typha angustifolia Tropical water lily Nymphaea ‘James Brydon’
Spike rush Eleocharis dulcis Hardy water lily Nymphaea ‘Vesuve’,
Arrowhead Sagittaria australis ‘Silk Stockings’ N. odorata, N. ‘Fire Crest’

Variegated sweet flag Acorus calamus ‘Argenteostriatus’

Arbor/seat
• Fence

27-sq.-ft. kidney pond

Parrot’s feather
Myriophyllum aquaticum
Water pennywort
Hydrocotyle verticillata
Blue flag iris Iris versicolor
Spike rush Eleocharis dulcis
Cattail Typha angustifolia

19.5-sq.-ft. round pond

Hardy water lily
Nymphaea ‘Virginalis’
N. ‘Odorata Sulphurea Grandiflora’
N. ‘Attraction’
Cattail Typha angustifolia
QUICK TIP Elephant’s ear Colocasia esculenta
DRAW THE LINE Plastic edging
makes a crisp, clean definition
between gravel and turfgrass. It
keeps the stones in place and
helps prevent grass from
spreading. Install the edging so
only about an inch is above
ground level. To mow, raise the 8-sq.-ft. oblong pond
mower’s blades to 2 or 3 in. and
Hardy water lily
run the machine right over the Nymphaea alba
edging to keep the borders neat. N. ‘Pink Sensation’

www.punchapaadam.com
www.punchapaadam.com
 7 secrets to beautiful blossoms
Clematis
T
here’s nothing more spectac-
ular than a clematis in full
bloom. Who doesn’t dream of
trellises covered with vibrant-red or
rich-purple flowers in late spring? Even
as the blooms fade, they leave spidery
seedheads. And fall just wouldn’t be
perfect without sweet autumn clematis’
intoxicating fragrance.
But how do you get your clematis
to grow as lush and beautiful as those
you’ll see on the next few pages? If
you’ve grown clematis, you know that
pruning can be puzzling. Should you
cut the stems to the ground each year
or just clean the plant up a bit?
The fact is, your clematis will sur-
vive, and even bloom, with no pruning.
But with the right pruning, it’ll grow
and bloom more vigorously. And let’s
face it: We grow clematis mostly for
colorful flowers. Why else would you
grow ‘Madame Julia Correvon’ at left?
PRUNING POINTERS So, how do you
prune a clematis? Timing is impor-
tant: Don’t prune in the fall. I learned
this the hard way when I cut a sweet
autumn clematis down in fall, thinking
PHOTO LOCATION: Chicago Botanic Garden
I’d save time in spring. However, I
only encouraged the plant to emerge
from dormancy at the first sign of
warm weather. The problem was, this
(1) ’Madame Julia Correvon’ is a group C
clematis. To get the most flowers, prune it to
the ground each spring.
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was still in January, so the new growth
couldn’t take the return to winter, and
the plant died. No matter where you
live, it’s best to let your clematis stay
unpruned and dormant until spring.
Before you start cutting, you’ll need
to know which pruning group your
clematis is in: A, B or C (sometimes
called 1, 2 or 3). When you buy a plant,
the tag will often tell you which group
it’s in. But if it doesn’t or you can’t
remember, just watch it for a year. First
pay attention to when it blooms.
Second, notice whether it blooms
on woody stems that grew last
year and then survived the winter
(old wood) or green, flexible stems
that came from a main stem this
year (new wood). Once you know
this information, you can usually
put your clematis into group A, B
or C. On the pages that follow, I’ll
help you do that and then show
you how to prune each group.
CLEMATIS SPP.
Clematis
6- to 20-foot-tall vine,
3 feet or more wide
White, pink, red, blue, purple
and yellow flowers
Blooms early spring to fall
Full sun to part shade
Moist, well-drained soil
‘Comtesse de
Sometimes bothered by clematis wilt Bouchaud’
Cold-hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8
Heat-tolerant in AHS zones 9 to 3
13
GROUP C CLEMATIS

(3) Sweet autumn’s fragrant blooms open in fall. Train it

onto a large structure or let it ramble as a ground cover.

I think group C cultivars are the easiest ones to

prune, and that’s why the three pictured here,
‘Ville de Lyon’, sweet autumn and ‘Jackmanii’,
are so popular. Group C has cultivars that bloom
in spring or summer, as well as fall.
The range of colors in group C goes from white
sweet autumn to the lantern-shaped yellow species
tangutica and on to large, star-shaped, velvety
purple ‘Gipsy Queen’.
Many of these in-between sized cultivars,
such as 7-foot-tall ‘Betty Corning’, are great
for growing on obelisks or trellises or training
into small trees or shrubs like lilacs or Korean-
spice viburnum. These clematis are large enough
to show up, but not so big that they’ll smother
the shrub. They’ll give the illusion that the
woody plant blooms twice a year, with com-
pletely different flowers.
This is a large group of clematis with lots of
different heights to choose from. Sweet autumn

(2) ‘Ville de Lyon’ grows 6 to 10 ft. tall, and the summer

blooms are 4 in. in diameter.

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is is one of the tallest, at around 20 feet. You’ll
need to give this plant a large structure to climb
on. Otherwise, you may find it twining its way
into surrounding plants. However, photo 3 shows
this vine in another use — as a ground cover. If
you leave it on the ground, you might find that
some of the stems take root where they touch the
ground and you end up with a few extra plants
to share. Any group C cultivar can be used as a
PHOTO: Deborah Gruca (2) GARDEN DESIGN: Sandra H. Branam (3)
ground cover.
Careful selection of smaller vines is the
answer if you want to grow clematis in a con-
tainer. Try late-flowering violet-blue xdurandii.
It only grows about 6 feet tall. Since it doesn’t
climb on its own, you’ll need to fasten it to a sup-
port. Other compact, early, large-flowering cul-
tivars, such as ‘Blue Boy’ or dark-red ‘Niobe’,
will climb on their own.
Have a shady spot where you want to grow
clematis? ‘Comtesse de Bouchaud’ and ‘Hagley
Hybrid’ are two pink cultivars that perform
great in the shade. They’ll even tolerate a north-
facing wall. However, you’ll probably find that
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(4) ‘Jackmanii’ is one of the oldest cultivars and arguably the most popular
clematis because of its lush crop of flowers and rich color.
the flowers are smaller and sparser than those of
plants growing in more sun.
Flower sizes in group C vary greatly. ‘Betty
Corning’s’ nodding pale-blue flowers are about
1 inch across. ‘Jackmanii’ in photo 4 falls in the
middle with 4-inch blooms. ‘Crimson Star’ and
purple ‘Lady Betty Balfour’ are at the other end
of the range with 6- to 7-inch-diameter flowers.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE? If you’re not sure, leave
it unpruned for a year. If it dies to the ground over
winter or if the flowers are only at the top with
lots of last year’s dead foliage and bare stems Cut near the
ground each
showing at the base, it’s probably a C. spring.
You have to be ruthless to grow group C cul-
tivars to their best. Since they only bloom on new
wood (stems that have grown on the plant since •
winter), cut the entire plant down each spring as
you see in the illustration. If
you don’t, the plant will be Pruning group C
thin at the base and full of To keep plants full and lush, cut all of the stems to
dead stems from the pre- within a foot of the ground, leaving just two to four sets
vious year. And you’ll get of buds per stem. Train the new vines onto your trellis,
smaller and fewer flowers. spacing them apart so the flowers will show better.
 (5) ’Multi Blue’ is a
newer group B
clematis that blooms
double on both old
and new wood.

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GROUP B CLEMATIS
(6) ‘Bee’s Jubilee’ grows great in full sun or part shade. As with most clematis,
part shade will keep the vibrant colors from fading as quickly.
L arge-flowered doubles and rebloomers usu-
ally fall into group B. New double hybrids,
such as ‘Multi Blue’ in photo 5 or white Arctic
Queen , bloom double in late spring and again
TM
in summer. However, that’s a relatively new devel-
opment. Most doubles, such as silvery mauve
‘Belle of Woking’ and purple ‘Kiri Te Kanawa’,
produce double flowers on old wood and single
flowers on new wood.
Heights of group B clematis can vary almost
as much as those in group C. Most grow 10 to
12 feet tall and make excellent subjects for cov-
ering structures, such as pergolas, arbors, fences
and trellises. Look for a structure with plenty of
cross pieces no more than about 6 inches apart
so the vines can climb from one to the next.
And make sure it’s tall enough. Otherwise, when
the stems reach the top, they have nowhere to go
and tend to flop over into a tangled mess. Large
arbors and pergolas allow tall clematis vines to
grow to their hearts’ content. Just make sure the
leaf stems can grab onto the structure. I’ll tell you
more about that on the next pages.
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(7) ‘Henryi’, a large-flowered, 8- to 10-ft.-tall clematis,
is the perfect size for a sturdy trellis.
‘Bee’s Jubilee’ and a pink climbing rose in
photo 6 are a classic pairing. Group B cultivars
are good companions to roses because their
•
Trim back
the tips.
pruning requirements are similar. As plants leaf
out in spring, remove any stems that have died
back. And then do a light pruning to keep both
vines trained to their structure. The illustration
Thin out
to the right shows you more about pruning. • congested
Group B covers a wide range of colors, from areas.
pure-white ‘Henryi’ in photo 7, to pink-striped
‘Nelly Moser’ and deep-red ‘Ruby Glow’. Most
have large spring flowers, up to 8 inches across, •
like ‘Henryi’. ‘Elsa Späth’
has lavender, 6-inch-diam- Pruning group B Remove
broken and
eter flowers with overlap- Cut away broken damaged
branches.
ping petals. Rose-red ‘Em- branches and thin to
press of India’ is even larger, balance the look of the
at 7 inches. The large vine. Trim weak and
flowers open in spring on dead stems back to a
old wood. By late summer, set of strong new buds. Cut away remaining foliage
the new wood produces and arrange stems on the support to fill in gaps. Tie
smaller flowers about half them loosely in place with strips of fabric or plastic-cov-
as large as the earlier ones. ered wire to avoid a big tangle of vines in the future.
 GROUP A CLEMATIS
(8) Clematis armandii is a 10- to 15-ft.-tall group A (9) Dark-pink ‘Superba’ and pale-pink ‘Tetrarose’ bloom at the same time as
species with fragrant white flowers in spring. pale-yellow ‘Lutea’ banksian rose, and both require only minimal pruning.
Cut back •
I f you have a clematis that doesn’t die back in
winter and blooms early in spring, it’s
probably a group A cultivar. This group only
the tips. needs enough pruning to keep plants looking
fresh and under control.
Some of the most popular species in group A
include C. armandii, in photo 8, C. alpina, C.
macropetala and C. montana, like the pink
‘Superba’ and ‘Tetrarose’ in photo 9. The flowers
are often less than 2 inches across, but they more
than make up for their size in quantity.
Since these clematis bloom in early spring on
old wood (produced the previous season), wait
to do most of your pruning until after the main
flowering has finished. Prune too early and you’ll
Never
be cutting off the flower buds.
•
remove In zones 4 and 5, winters sometimes kill back
main stems.
the tips of group A clematis. If that happens,
you’ll need to do a bit of pruning earlier than
normal. Wait for new leaf buds to sprout on the
Pruning group A stems you suspect are
Cut out damaged wood and any winter-damaged dead before you prune.
stems as soon as you spot them. After the vines bloom, Then, starting at the top,
prune the stem tips to keep the vine in bounds with its cut the stems back in
support if you need to. Thin spots can be addressed stages. That way in the
now by pruning a few side branches near the thin area tangle of vines you won’t
and then directing new growth to fill in holes. cut off any more than
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you need to. Stop when you reach the spot
where there is green under the brown outer
layer of bark. That’s the point where it should
start to leaf out.
Keep an eye on the plant for a few weeks.
Sometimes, even though the stems are green,
the buds are weak and may not have enough
energy to grow. You may have to cut some stems
back further.
Any group A clematis that is not flowering well
or has overgrown its spot probably is due for a
renovation pruning. After the vines flower, cut off
almost all of the side branches, leaving only the
main vertical stems that fasten the plant to the
trellis. However, don’t cut the plant back near the
ground like you would group C because you’ll
ruin the form of the clematis and may even delay
next year’s bloom cycle. By the following spring,
the new growth that sprouts will have had time
to mature and it’ll flower normally.
Pruning your clematis the right way is the
first step to growing perfect clematis. On the
PHOTOS: © Ken Meyer (8&9)
next page, I’ll share six more tips that’ll help you
get your plants off to a great start.
ONLINE
More clematis
cultivars
7 STEPS TO
CLEMATIS SUCCESS
•
•
•
4 in. of mulch Plant with two
cools the soil. sets of leaf

1 KNOW YOUR VINE I’ve already shown you one

of the most important things you can do to
ensure beautiful clematis — pruning the right
nodes below soil
surface.

way for your type. Here are six more steps. Keep mulch
8 in. from the
stem.
•

2 START WITH THE SOIL It is true that clematis

prefer slightly alkaline soil. If a soil test tells
you that yours is on the acid side, your vines will
benefit from some agricultural lime. But if it’s
already alkaline, don’t add lime — you can
overdo it. A pH of 7 to 7.5 is just right.
Dig the hole 18 inches deep and wide like the
one in the illustration. Work in lots of moisture-
holding compost. Set young plants deeply so the
first two sets of leaf nodes will be underground.
This encourages plants to send up more stems so
you’ll have a thicker plant.
•
Dig hole 18 in.
wide and deep.
Work lots of
compost into
the soil.
immediately after you remove infected por-
tions. Read the package label for specific appli-
cation information. The rest of the plant usu-
ally survives, providing there are enough other
healthy stems. That’s another reason to plant
clematis deeply: If a stem becomes infected and
has to be removed, more will come from the

3 MULCHING MATTERS “Head in the sun, feet in

the shade” is old clematis advice. However, a
4-inch layer of mulch keeps the roots cool and
base to replace it.
Cultivars that have proven resistant to wilt
include ‘The President’, ‘Ville de Lyon’, ‘Nelly
moist just as well as shade does. To prevent stem Moser’, ‘Betty Corning’ and ‘Jackmanii’.
rot, keep the mulch about 8 inches from the stems.

4 MAKING THE CUT The

best place to prune a
6 SERVE A BALANCED DIET Clematis like to be
well fed, but not overfed. I feed my clematis
once a year right after pruning with an all-pur-
Cut just
above a pair stem is just above two pose, granulated fertilizer, such as a 10-10-10.
• of strong strong buds. The illustra-
buds.
tion at left shows how you
can spot them — where
two leaves were growing
7 CHOOSE THE RIGHT TRELLIS Clematis climb by
twisting petioles, or leaf stems. The vine
itself does not twine. So, if your structure is too
the previous year. These buds will large, the leaf can’t wrap around it. Anything
quickly develop into new vines. Don’t over ¾ inch in diameter is too large for a leaf
worry about making angled cuts — it’s to grasp. Nylon fishing line is a great way to get
not necessary. a clematis to climb a light
pole or arbor post. See the

5 RECOGNIZE DISEASE QUICKLY Clematis wilt is

easy to spot: A portion of your vine wilts
quickly, often just as the plant starts to bloom.
small knot in the photo at
right? Tie one of those
every foot or so to keep the
Wilt is caused by a fungus that enters the stem, vine from sliding.
usually just above the soil line. There is no cure Now that you know
other than to cut the entire stem to the ground these secrets, you no longer
and dispose of it in the trash. Do this as soon have to wonder how to get
as you notice the wilt. That’ll prevent spores those spectacular flowers
from moving to other stems. Systemic fungicides you see in photos — you’ll
can help prevent wilt from spreading to healthy be enjoying your own! ®
stems. Apply benomyl or carbendazim to vines — Jim Childs

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top
garden gate’s
picksC lay. The soil that can strike dread into
the hearts of gardeners everywhere.
Most will tell you they prefer any type of
soil, even sand, to clay. Why? It takes the
most work to change clay into something
that you can grow plants in. But if you
have clay, why go to the trouble of trying
to change it? Grow plants that thrive in
clay soil — you’ll have a beautiful garden
and keep a healthy back!
Often you can adjust the soil for a
smaller plant like a perennial or a bulb if
you have to. But what about large trees
and shrubs? You can’t possibly mix
enough organic matter into an area that
will accommodate the root system of a
shade tree. And you can’t build a raised
bed big enough to hold it. In this case it’s
definitely better to fit the plant to the soil
rather than change the soil.
In fact, when you dig a hole to plant in
clay, it’s not a good idea to amend the soil
with compost or peat in just that spot.
You’ll need to do the entire area.Why?
When the roots reach the clay wall, they’ll
turn back. And roots need to push out into
the surrounding soil to brace the plant
upright and to gather nutrients to keep the
plant healthy and growing.
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10
clay-loving
plants
How do you know if you have clay?
The easiest way is to pick up a handful of
your soil when it’s moist, but not too wet.
Squeeze it in your hand as hard as you
can. After you release your grip, gently
tap the ball of soil with your fingers. Does
it break apart easily? Or does it stay in a
firm ball? If it stays in a ball, you have
clay. But there are different kinds of clay.
Rub some between your thumb and fin-
gers. If it feels gritty, there is some sand in
it. Try to form a ribbon of soil as you rub.
If it falls apart before it’s an inch or two
long, you have a fair amount of organic
matter in it. Both of those types of clay
will allow some plant roots to penetrate.
But if your soil forms a 3-inch ribbon, you
have sticky clay that will be hard for most
plants to push their roots through.
All the plants I’ve listed here will tol-
erate any clay. Of course the better the
drainage, the better they’ll grow. And
sure, perennials and bulbs will benefit if
you work organic matter in to the entire
bed to help the soil hold more oxygen and
drain better. But save your back and see
how beautifully these 10 plants will grow
in the soil you already have. ®
— Jim Childs
Quamash
Camassia leichtlinii
This North American
native typically grows in
the moist meadows of the
Cascade and Sierra moun-
tain ranges.
Plant the bulbs in fall in
groups of 15 or more to
get the best visual effect.
Set them 6 inches deep (to
the bottom of the bulb)
and 6 to 8 inches apart.
Once they’re established,
don’t disturb the bulbs.
Clumps will expand slowly
over time. You can start
quamash from seeds, but
it’ll be three or four years
before you get any blooms.
The star-shaped flowers
open along the stem from
the bottom up. Each stem
is sturdy, and rarely will
fall over on a wet or windy
day. Flower colors range
from clear or creamy white
to blue and purple.
3 ft. Martagon lily 6 ft.
Lilium martagon
Martagon lilies also bloom
just fine in shade. Indi-
vidual flowers are about 2
2 ft. inches in diameter, but the 4 ft.
tall spires can have 50 buds
on one stem, taking several
weeks to bloom from
bottom to top.
1 ft. Colors range from crisp 2 ft.
white to orange to an
almost-black burgundy-
red. Some of them have a
spicy fragrance.
0 You can plant potted 0
Type Hardy bulb plants anytime; bulbs are Type Hardy bulb
best planted in the fall.
Size Up to 48 in. tall by Size 5 to 6 ft. tall by 1 ft. wide
These slow-growing plants
12 to 15 in. wide Bloom Early to midsummer
can live in the same spot
Bloom Midspring for years, eventually Soil Moist
Soil Fertile, slightly acid forming large clumps. If Light Full sun to part shade
Light Full sun to part shade you do have to move or
Pests None serious
divide them, they may not
Pests None serious come up the first year, Hardiness
Hardiness especially if you divide in Cold: USDA zones 3 to 8
Cold: USDA zones 4 to 10 the spring. Be patient and Heat: AHS zones 8 to 1
Heat: AHS zones 10 to 1 they’ll be back.
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top picks continued
Joe-Pye weed
Eupatorium purpureum
maculatum
If you’re looking for a focal
point or a background
plant for your late-season
garden, look no further.
Joe-Pye weed is an excel-
lent choice. First, the
foliage is large and striking
— sometimes leaves grow
12 inches long. The stiff,
sturdy stems, which rarely
need staking, hold 12- to
18-inch-diameter domes of
pink to mauve flowers in
late summer.
After the flowers fade,
this stately plant still has
one more feature to offer
— attractive, fuzzy seed-
heads that last well into
winter. I don’t cut mine
down to the ground until
spring cleanup time.
‘Gateway’ in the photo
is one of the most easy-to-
find cultivars.
6 ft. Swordleaf inula 2 ft.
Inula ensifolia
The mounds of small
swordlike leaves are almost
covered with 1-inch-diam-
4 ft. eter golden-yellow flowers 1 ft..
in midsummer.
Swordleaf inula is easy
to start indoors from seed.
Barely cover them with
2 ft. potting mix. Keep them 0
moist with the temperature
at 65 to 70 degrees, and Type Perennial
they will sprout in about 3 Size 2 ft. tall by 11/2 ft. wide
weeks. Move the seedlings
Bloom Mid- to late summer
0 to your garden after the
danger of frost has passed. Soil Moist
Type Perennial
Since it is a low grower, Light Full sun
Size 5 to 7 ft. tall by 2 to 4 ft. wide use swordleaf inula as a
Pests Powdery mildew if allowed to
Bloom Mid- to late summer border for taller perennials dry out too frequently
Soil Fertile, alkaline and shrubs.
Don’t let plants stay Hardiness
Light Full sun Cold: USDA zones 4 to 9
wet, especially in the
Pests Leaves may scorch if the winter, or they will rot. Heat: AHS zones 9 to 1
soil dries out Set the crown on a mound
Hardiness at least an inch or two
Cold: USDA zones 3 to 9 higher than the rest of
Heat: AHS zones 9 to 1 your garden.
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 Bugleweed
Ajuga reptans
PHOTOS: ©Jerry Pavia (Joe-Pye weed, swordleaf inula) PHOTO LOCATION: Chicago Botanic Garden (obedient plant)
This fast-growing ever-
green creeper makes a
wonderful ground cover
or edging plant. It spreads
by stolons, but not so fast
that it gets out of hand,
especially in clay soil.
Colors range from
white-flowered ‘Alba’ to
‘Pink Elf’, but are most
often beautiful shades of
blue, like small-leafed
‘Chocolate Chip’ in the
photo above.
Flowers aren’t the only
colorful feature of bugle-
weed. ‘Catlin’s Giant’ has
large bronze leaves. You’ll
have small, variegated
gray-green-and-cream
leaves with ‘Vanilla Chip’.
‘Multicolor’ grows dark-
bronze leaves marked
with pink and cream.
Many of the species have
rich dark-green foliage.
4 in. Obedient plant 3 ft.
Physostegia virginiana
Obedient plant can
spread much too quickly
and will get away from
2 in. you in a hurry in 2 ft..
enriched garden soil.
However, clay will slow
it down. Fertile soil
grows lush foliage and
0 floppy stems. If your 1 ft.
obedient plant grows too
Type Perennial tall, even in clay, cut it
Size 4 in. tall by 10 to 12 in. wide back in early spring to
Bloom Late spring to early summer promote shorter and
stockier stems. 0
Soil Moist
White ‘Miss Manners’
Light Full sun to shade Type Perennial
stays in a clump no
Pests None serious, occasional crown matter where you plant Size 18 in. to 4 ft. tall by 2 ft. wide
rot if kept too wet it. Spreading white culti- Bloom Late summer into fall
Hardiness vars are ‘Alba’ and Soil Acid and low fertility
Cold: USDA zones 3 to 9 ‘Summer Snow’. If you
Light Full sun or part shade
prefer the rich color in
Heat: AHS zones 9 to 1 the photo, plant bright- Pests Occasional rust
purple-pink ‘Vivid’. Hardiness
‘Variegata’ has pink Cold: USDA zones 3 to 9
flowers and gray-green Heat: AHS zones 9 to 1
leaves edged with white.
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 top picks continued
Flowering quince
Chaenomeles japonica
As the weather warms in
spring, flowering quince
begins to bloom. You’ll
find bright-red-orange, soft
pastel pinks and white-
flowered cultivars to
choose from. Some even
have double flowers.
Plant a flowering quince
or two in a perennial
border. The flowers will be
gone before most peren-
nials bloom, so they won’t
compete. And the flow-
ering quince foliage will
make a good background
and wind protection.
But this shrub is more
than just an ornamental.
Because of its twisting
branches, flowering quince
grows into an almost
impenetrable hedge. It
blooms on old wood, so
prune it right after the
flowers fade.
8 ft. Slender deutzia 2 ft.
Deutzia crenata nakiana
The graceful and arching
branches of deutzia are
covered with clusters of
4 ft. white flowers for 10 to 14 1 ft.
days each spring. Later, the
summer foliage is a clean
medium green.
‘Nikko’, in the photo
0 above, grows 2 feet tall 0
and makes a good edging
Type Deciduous shrub Type Deciduous shrub
plant or ground cover.
Size 4 to 8 ft. tall by Plus, it has foliage that Size 2 ft. tall by
4 to 10 ft. wide turns red-purple in 3 ft. wide
Bloom Early spring autumn. Plant several of Bloom Midspring
Soil Acid them where they can grow Soil Acid
together into a dense 2-
Light Full sun to part shade foot-tall mass for a spec- Light Full sun to part shade
Pests Occasional leaf spots tacular spring show. Space Pests None serious
and aphids the plants about 2 feet Hardiness
Hardiness apart to get the best effect. Cold: USDA zones 5 to 8
Cold: USDA zones 5 to 8 If ‘Nikko’ deutzia is
Heat: AHS zones 8 to 1
marginally cold-hardy in
Heat: AHS zones 8 to 1
your zone, plant it among
taller shrubs or against a
structure for a bit of extra
winter protection.
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 White ash
Fraxinus americana
More than just a fast-
growing tree (1 to 2 feet
per year), white ash has a
lot of other things going for 40 ft.
it: Flexible and strong
wood that won’t break
easily in a storm; thin
PHOTO LOCATION: Chanticleer (flowering quince)
leaves that break down
quickly if you don’t get
them raked, and finally,
leaves that drop early to let
lots of autumn sunlight
into your windows.
But I think the fall color,
like Autumn Purple™ in the
photo above, is enough to
recommend this tree.
Other colorful cultivars are Bloom Insignificant
‘Rosehill’, ‘Autumn Blaze’
and Windy City™. All four
of these white ashes are
male trees, so you don’t
have to worry about seeds.
That means that later there
won’t be white ash trees
sprouting everywhere.
60 ft. Flowering currant 6 ft.
Ribes sanguineum
April or May, depending
where you live, brings clus-
ters of flowers hanging
from the branches of this 4 ft.
shade-loving shrub. The
leaves have not yet fully
expanded, so the flowers
stand out clearly on this
20 ft. loose, informal-looking 2 ft.
shrub. ‘King Edward VII’
in the photo above is the
darkest red of the group.
Other cultivars are pink
0 ‘Claremont’ and crisp 0
Type Deciduous tree White Icicle (‘Ubric’). Type Deciduous shrub
All three of these flow-
Size 60 ft. tall by 40 ft. wide Size Up to 8 ft. tall by 4 ft. wide
ering currants produce
edible fruit. They’re col- Bloom Midspring
Soil Rich orful but not very tasty. By Soil Low fertility
Light Full sun July they change from Light Part shade to shade
green to bright red before
Pests Occasional scale finally turning blue-black. Pests Aphids
Hardiness They’ll hang on the Hardiness
Cold: USDA zones 3 to 9 branches until you pick Cold: USDA zones 6 to 9
Heat: AHS zones 9 to 1 them or they’re carried Heat: AHS zones 9 to 1
away by hungry birds.
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 Rose
No-fear
sharp blade and a flat surface,
which will crush the rose stems
instead of making a clean cut. If

Pruning
you’ve never sharpened your
pruners yourself, check out our
Online Extra, where we’ll show
you how.
To avoid spreading disease,
disinfect your pruners as you
work. A mixture of 1 part bleach
Let’s get started

W
ant your roses to have
gorgeous flowers, a nice
shape and healthy foliage?
Believe it or not, pruning is one of
the key factors, even though roses
can be pretty forgiving.
Pruning is one of the best things
you can do for your roses. You’re
opening up the center of the plant
to increase air circulation, leading
to healthier foliage. And you’re re-
moving dead and diseased wood.
ONLINE Last, but definitely not least, prun-
ing encourages new growth and
Sharpening
pruners more and bigger flowers.
Before you make that first cut,
you’ll need to have a few things
on hand. First, protect your skin
with long sleeves and heavy
gloves that reach well past your
wrists. I leave my favorite thin
goatskin gloves inside and wear
thicker pigskin ones when I work
on my roses.
Another essential is a sharp
pair of bypass pruners. Why
bypass? They work like scissors,
with the blades slicing past each
other. Anvil pruners have one
to 4 parts water is a good disin-
fectant — dip your pruners into
it between cuts, and especially
between plants.
You’ll also need something to
seal the canes to keep rose cane
borers out. There are lots of com-
mercial sealers available, but a
couple of drops of good old
Elmer’s Glue-All® work just fine.
In these photos I’ll show you a
few basic pruning techniques.
They’ll come in handy whether
you’re doing a full-scale spring
pruning or just deadheading.

Outward-facing bud Healthy pith Cane borer damage

(1) Make pruning cuts at a 45-degree angle about ¼ in. above an out- (2) The cane on the left is healthy while the one on the right is
ward-facing bud. Choosing buds that are headed away from the center of hollow, a sign of cane borers. Old stems may be hollow all the
the plant will keep your rose open in the middle, improving air circulation way to the ground, so go ahead and cut them back to the base.
among the leaves. As you’re pruning off winter damage, cut down to healthy pith.

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 Deadheading keeps
reblooming roses going
strong all summer. You’ll
want to make deadheading
cuts right above five-leaflet
leaves that face outward.
That’s where the strong new
shoot emerges. I’ll snip off
everything above that as I’m
deadheading this rose.

Make cut here

•
•

Strong new shoot

Five-leaflet leaf

(3) It’s a good idea to seal cuts on bigger canes to keep out
insects that bore into rose canes. You don’t have to seal every
tiny deadheading snip, but if the cane is wider than about
1/ in., seal it with glue.
8

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4 SIMPLE TIPS
WHEN TO PRUNE The best
time to prune roses that
bloom all summer is in early
spring, before the leaf buds
open but after the danger of sev-
eral days of severe cold is past.
It’s OK to snip out a branch or a
whole cane as needed during the
summer, but don’t do extensive
pruning late in the season. If you
prune too late, the plant will pro-
duce a lot of new growth that will
be damaged by cold weather.
Roses that only bloom once
usually bear their flowers on year-
old wood. So prune these roses
right after they bloom or you’ll
be cutting off most of next year’s
flower buds.
HOW TO PRUNE Let’s talk about
what to prune out of your roses.
In the illustration at right, you’ll
see a rose with areas marked
for pruning.
1 Step back and look at your
rose before you start pruning. As
you choose which canes to cut,
remember that you want to open
up the center of the shrub for good
air circulation. That doesn’t mean
to cut all the canes out of the
center, though! 2 Remove
crossing and rubbing canes —
those areas will create wounds
that could let in disease. 3 Cut
back blackened, winter-damaged
tips, trying to keep all the canes
about the same length. 4 Prune
old canes back as close to the base
as possible. In colder climates,
roses should be planted deep
enough to cover the graft, so you
may have to dig away a little soil.
Pruning principles are similar
for all roses, but I just showed
you the basics on a shrub rose,
which is a category that gener-
ally needs only light pruning.
They’re usually cold-hardy in
USDA zone 5 or 6 without extra
protection, and are grown for
their overall appearance, not just
the flowers. In “Fine-tuning your
pruning,” find out how to use
these techniques on some other
popular rose categories.
Use these pruning tips and the
techniques on the first two pages
to get your roses in shape for a
beautiful summer. ®
— Stephanie Polsley Bruner

FINE-TUNING YOUR PRUNING

There are almost as many pruning techniques as there emerging from the
are types of roses — and the All-American Rose rootstock, below
Selections organization lists 35 types! Here are some the graft, that needs
specific tips for the most common kinds of roses. to be removed. • Graft
union
MINIATURE ROSES are pruned just like shrub roses, Often, the foliage is
opening the center by removing a third of the old wood. a different color or size • Sucker
HYBRID TEA ROSES are grown for their flowers. on these suckers. Cut them
• Rootstock
Most gardeners cut them back harder than they do back as close to the root as
shrub roses. It’s OK to cut all the canes back to 10 to possible. You may need to
12 in. high in early spring, to an outward-facing bud dig the soil away to get close enough.
on each cane, as in the GRANDIFLORA AND FLORIBUNDA ROSES can
illustration below. You’ll get be pruned lightly, like shrub roses, which will result
rid of winter damage and in more, but smaller, flowers. Or prune them hard,
promote new growth and like hybrid teas, for larger flowers.
bigger flowers. If you still have questions or want to prune
Most shrub roses grow on climbing roses or old or unusual roses, check out
their own roots, but hybrid teas “Taylor’s Weekend Garden Guides: Easy,
and many other roses you’ll buy Practical Pruning,” by Barbara Ellis. Or look for
Cut hybrid teas
back to about a at the garden center are grafted Stephen Scanniello’s “A Year of Roses” — it’s out
foot in early spring. onto a rootstock. In the illustration of print and can be hard to find, but it’s a great
at right, you can see a cane guide to rose pruning and care.

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 TAKE OFF TIPS Trim off •
3 any dry, blackened,
NO CROSSING ZONE
2 Remove these crossing, rub- winter-damaged
bing branches. You’ll reduce growth at the end of
the risk of damage to the the canes, looking for
plant and create a more an outward-facing bud.
open, appealing shape for
the rose bush.
•

OUT WITH THE OLD Older UNCOVER THE GRAFT In USDA

1 • 4 zones 5 and colder, the graft
wood looks gray and woody,
unlike fresher, greener growth. should be buried 2 to 4 in. under
You can cut up to a third of the the soil line. So in these zones,
older canes back to the ground you probably won’t see the actual
or the knobby base to encour- graft. Just cut old canes off as low
age new growth. As you can as you can — brush a little soil
•
see, some of these older canes away if necessary. Most, but not
are in the center of the plant, all, shrub roses are grown on their
so you’ll also be opening up own roots, but floribundas, gran-
the middle of the plant. difloras and hybrid teas are usu-
ally grafted.

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 A weekend project in 5 simple steps
Sand-Cast a Birdbath
L ooking for a simple project with
lots of potential? Try this sand-
cast birdbath — it’s easy to
make, works with any large leaf and
can be finished a number of ways. For
a large birdbath like the one in the
photo above, plants like rhubarb, gun-
nera or ‘Sum and Substance’ hosta
work best. This one’s rhubarb.
You’re not limited to big leaves,
though. When I made this rhubarb
birdbath, I had a little leftover con-
crete, so I used it on sycamore, datura
and even small lantana leaves. They
came out great! Now I have some
30 www.GardenGateMagazine.com
© 2004, August Home Publishing Company
www.punchapaadam.com
unique garden accents scattered
through my garden. I use the sycamore
leaf as a small ground feeder.
As for concrete, even though it’s the
most expensive, I like Vinyl Patch by
MATERIALS
& TOOLS
Materials:
1 large leaf
Quikrete®’. When it’s dry, its fine con- 1 40-lb. bag of sand
sistency preserves the leaf details clearly. 1 40-lb. bag of premixed concrete
Cheaper concretes are just as strong, 1 roll of plastic wrap
but they look coarser. 1 gallon of concrete sealer,
Who’d have guessed that for less such as Thompson’s®
than $25 and a few hours of work, Paint or concrete dye (if desired)
you could have such a unique garden Water
ornament? Are you ready to make Tools:
your own? Let’s get started. ® Bucket or mixing tray for concrete,
— Sherri Ribbey trowel, scrub brush, paint brush
 1
GETTING STARTED I make my ornaments at a
table outside, but this project can be done on the
ground, too. Start by making a dome-shaped pile
of sand that’s big enough for the entire leaf to rest
on plus a couple of inches to spare. This rhubarb
leaf used all of a 40-lb. bag of sand. Any type
will do. The sand pile will support the concrete-
covered leaf and create the shallow depression
that holds the water.
In the photo above, I’m covering the com-
pleted sand dome with plastic wrap to keep the
sand from sticking to any concrete that might leak
through or run over the edge of the leaf.
4
DRY AND CLEAN Now you can remove the top
layer of plastic and turn your concrete leaf over. In
my experience, if it hasn’t dried thoroughly, a
chunk along the edge is the most likely part to
break off as you pick it up. To be on the safe side,
have a friend help you turn it over or work your
hand through the sand and lift it from the center.
Peel off the second sheet of plastic wrap and
start pulling out the leaf. Most of it comes out
easily, but as you can see in the photo, you may
have to scrub a bit.
Even though the concrete is dry, it needs to
cure for a week, so wait to paint or add the water.
2
BRING IN THE LEAF Now lay the leaf face down
on top of the sand like the one above. After I laid
this leaf down, I needed to adjust the sand pile a
bit to make sure the leaf was fully supported. You
may need to do this, too.
Many leaves wilt quickly, so wait to harvest
yours until you need it or keep it in a bucket of
water until you’re ready. Cut the stem off close to
the base of the leaf. Check the plastic wrap to
make sure it extends a couple of inches beyond
the leaf’s edge. If the leaf you want to use has a
hole or a tear, no problem. Just cut a piece from a
different leaf and lay it over the hole as a patch.
5
PAINT YOUR LEAF To use your leaf as it is,
just add a coat of concrete sealer, such as
Thompson’s® Water Seal® or Drylock®, for pro-
tection. In the photo, I’m painting on several
coats of a thin wash of acrylic paint. This
wash was about three drops of paint to two
cups of water. It dries quickly and you can
begin another coat almost as soon as you
finish the first. I’ve also used concrete dye,
water color, oil and spray paint. In our Online
Extra, I’ll tell you more about painting and
show you how these different products look.
Finish your painted leaf with a coat of sealer.
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3
TIME FOR CONCRETE Pour the dry concrete into
a mixing tray and add water until it’s the consis-
tency of a thick brownie mix. (It took three quar-
ters of a 40-lb. bag for this leaf). Scoop some
concrete onto the center of the leaf and begin
working it toward the outer edges like I’m doing
in the photo above. Make it about 3/4 in. thick in
the middle (or whatever it takes to cover the leaf
veins) and taper it to 1/4 in. at the edge.
Once the leaf is covered with concrete, cover
it with plastic wrap. If it’s hot outdoors, put a piece
of moist burlap over the plastic so the concrete
dries evenly. Give it at least 48 hours to dry.
BIRDBATH PEDESTAL
MAKE THIS SIMPLE MATCHING PEDESTAL.
We’ll show you how to raise your birdbath
off the ground in our Online Extra.
ONLINE
• Gallery of colorful leaves.
• Video: How to make a
birdbath and pedestal.
www.punchapaadam.com
 Designing beautiful

Garden
Rooms
W
ant a big look in a small space? Follow
these gardeners’ lead and you’ll have a back-
yard oasis filled with private getaways,
sweeping perennial beds and loads of color. All on a
typical, city-sized lot.
When Suzanne and Max Birdsall moved into their
Saratoga, New York, home in 1980, they knew the
yard could grow things: It had several grape arbors and
a huge vegetable garden. But they wanted seclusion
(and not so many grapes). So they took out some of
the grapes and put in a privacy fence. Over the years,
plant choice and bed design have created an even
greater sense of seclusion. And finishing touches, such
as the repetition of red in patio accessories, plants and
even the house color, create a unified look.
Resting places like the bench and the circle of
marble pavers, on which the birdbath sits, help define
some of the garden rooms. As with any garden, this
one isn’t static. The circle of pavers started out as a
straight path, but a middle-of-the-night “aha!”
moment prompted a redo the following morning.
And a garden room was created.
Finally, although you can’t tell by
looking at these photos of the
garden, it speaks to more than just
your visual sense: A gurgling water
garden and great-smelling roses, phlox
and herbs make it a soothing place to
visit. With all the seating areas, you
really can relax. Turn the page to find
out how to get this look in your garden.

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 PRIVATE GETAWAYS

GARAGE
Patio covered by
W hat’s the secret to creating privacy and lots of
separate spaces in a backyard that’s only 50
feet wide and 80 feet deep? It starts with getting in
grape arbor
shape. And this has nothing to do with early morning

>
3
The 6-foot • • workouts (unless you mean edging and deadheading!).
•

>
privacy fence
and arborvitae NO STRAIGHT LINES A former country dweller,

2
SHED
hedge create
Brick patio Suzanne wanted more seclusion than most city lots
privacy.
offer. One of the most effective ways this garden cre-
•
Juniper arbor ates privacy is with large, sweeping beds. It may
Marble • seem counterintuitive, but breaking up the space
slab path Waterfall
Lavender bed • • and pond with lots of curving gardens actually makes this
HERB
GARDEN backyard seem larger. Why? You can’t make out
Metal arbor • the whole thing from any one spot. For example,
photo 1 was taken from the back porch. From there,
you can’t see the seating area in photo 2 or the brick
Bluestone patio • patio near the garage.
Suzanne says, “Curves soften things, and I like the
surprise factor when people round the corners and
say, ‘Oh!’.”
This garden started with a straight concrete path
h
pat

between the house and the garage. That’s gone now

ick

>
Br

Botanical 1 • in favor of a brick walk with some curves to it. You

Back porch
Names can still get to the garage efficiently (more than one
way, actually), but it’s a much prettier trip now.
Bee balm
Monarda didyma The Birdsalls have installed a lot of brickwork
Juniper Juniperus spp. and paving material over the years, and much of
Lavender Lavandula spp. HOUSE what they’ve learned has been through trial and
Redbud Cercis canadensis
Serviceberry error. They’ve found the best way to deal with bricks
Amelanchier grandiflora is to dig a trench, then put down a layer of land-
Shasta daisy > Indicates the direction the
scaping fabric to keep the weeds down in the future.
Leucanthemum xsuperbum photo was taken in the garden
Put a bed of sand in the trench, lay the bricks on top
and then sweep more
sand into the cracks. A
once-yearly weeding is
all the bricks need. Some
professional landscapers
use rock dust instead of
sand, but the rock dust
sticks to shoes and makes
a mess when it’s tracked
into the house.

(1) From the back porch,

you can’t see all of the back-
yard at once. Curving lines,
raised beds and tall plants
create some mystery.

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 Tall plants, such as the red bee balm and white (2) Relax! Because of
Shasta daisies in photo 3, grow on a raised bed its proximity to the gur-
around the brick patio. This is another reason you gling water garden,
can’t see the patio from the back porch. this patio, shaded by
CREATE TRANSITIONS Steps, arbors, gates and pil- a grapevine-covered
lars mark garden room entrances and exits beauti- arbor, is a favorite
fully. The circular lavender bed rests in the middle of dining spot.
this backyard, with an arbor on either side of it to
mark its borders.
The living arbor in photo 3 marks the south end
of the herb garden. You can make your own juniper (3) Frame views
arbor by planting one of these upright shrubs on with hardscaping,
either side of a path. When the tallest tips reach high such as this recycled
enough to shade the path, tie them together. String iron fence and the
or flexible plant ties will probably be good enough juniper arbor near
at first, but eventually you’ll need wire. As the the herb garden.
junipers grow, prune off wayward branches that
stick straight up. If you find that the shrubs grow
too closely together, you can either prune them or
you can carefully dig them up and spread them
apart a bit.
Once you’ve created these rooms, you’ll need a
way to unify them. We’ll cover that on the pages
that follow.

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 CREATING A THEME
GARAGE

E ven with several garden rooms, this backyard

doesn’t seem disjointed. Unity is important
because although you’ll never see the whole thing
Repeated
red plants SHED
from any one vantage point, as you walk around, you
• Brick patio still want to feel as if you’re in the same yard. And
from the upstairs window, where photo 4 was taken,
you can actually see quite a bit of the garden at once.
REPETITION IS KEY Notice how the beds all have sim-
HERB
GARDEN ilar curves to them. A square bed or straight line in
Bench on • this garden would feel out of place. The repeated
Paperbark
blue paving birch curving lines help pull it all together.
stones
The color red is another unifying element. As
•
•
you move through the garden, you’ll see red patio
accessories, red flowers dotted throughout the peren-
Paperbark nial gardens and red begonias in containers. Even the
birch house is painted brick red!
All this red adds a spark of color to the traditional
pinks and blues that started in this garden. They’re
still here, but the red just livens things up a bit.
> Indicates the
Using a few favorite plants throughout the garden
direction the • Back porch

>
photo was taken
is another way to use repetition to create unity.
5

in the garden
There’s plenty of variety in the photo below, but you
>

4 can see the distinctive leaf shape of hostas dotted here

> HOUSE
6

• (4) Hostas’ textures create repetition when they’re dotted

here and there throughout the garden.
Front porch

36 J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 4 / I S S U E 55 G A R D E N G AT E

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(5) On the back porch, red
cushions, awnings and
plants create a dramatic
place to entertain.
and there. These large leaves make great backdrops.
For example, the usually rangy spiderwort pokes up
through the sturdy hosta plants for a nice combina-
tion. This garden was all
shrubs and perennials until
nine years ago. Now that the
three paperbark birches are
larger, they block views and
create garden rooms while
taking up a surprisingly small
amount of space and light. If
you’d like to plant some trees
in your backyard without sac-
rificing much sun or ground
moisture, try small, airy trees,
such as paperbark birch, ser-
viceberry or redbud.
Other plants you’ll see
throughout this garden are
daylilies, astilbes and ferns.
They’re all easy care and look
good for long stretches.
PLENTY OF STOPPING PLACES
Once you’ve created curves to
block some views, you need
places to stop. From the
charming wooden bench in the middle of the garden
to the secluded back porch in photo 5, a perfect
spot for entertaining, this garden has several patio
and seating areas.
Finally, this garden makes Botanical
everything old new again: Names
From a no-longer-used swing-
Astilbe
set turned into an arbor, to old Astilbe spp.
paving bricks reused in patios Begonia
Begonia hybrids
and pathways, and vintage Daylily
wrought-iron fencing turned Hemerocallis hybrids
into trellises, there’s always a Hosta Hosta spp.
Paperbark birch
use for good stuff. Twelve Betula papyrifera
years ago, after some home Redbud
Cercis canadensis
renovations revealed a trea- Serviceberry
sure of beautiful blue paving Amelanchier spp.
stones buried in their own Spiderwort
Tradescantia hybrids
backyard, the Birdsalls decided
to use these stones as the patio
under the wooden bench.
Who knew you could do
so much with a small city
backyard? Now you know
(6) Even the front porch gets in on the act, how to create a big look of
with red begonias dripping from a hanging your own. ®
basket and window boxes. — Kristin Beane Sullivan
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 GARDEN GATE’S

DESIGNCHALLENGE
TIP ONE: Pick a shady character
In a new development, it’s unusual to have any trees on your lot to
begin with. Yet trees look nice, and, planted in the right place, a tree
will save you money on heating and cooling your house. While it may
be tempting to plant a stately oak, consider something a bit faster

NEW HOME growing, and then splurge on the biggest specimen you can afford.
See “7 Great Front-Yard Shade Trees” below for a list of trees that
FRONT YARD grow quickly but not so much that they’re weak limbed.

Eciallyver been overwhelmed by a

project? I bet you have, espe-
if you’ve purchased a new
home and have been faced with
creating a brand new garden
out of bare soil. While a blank
slate may be exciting, it also
poses a challenge. Where do
you begin to make a new house
feel like a home and a yard feel
like a garden?
This yard has a lot of possibili-
ties. For a traditional suburban
look, you’d want to put in a
foundation planting, an island
bed and a shade tree in the front
yard. Sometimes the covenants at
a development dictate this. What
if you want more?
Here are some unique ideas
for a suburban front yard. This
design allows more room for
flowers. I’ve also given you some TIP TWO: Location,
practical tips about tree and location, location
shrub placement.
Remember that a few small Besides the importance of getting the right
changes can make a big differ- tree, putting it in the right spot is essential. A
ence. A gorgeous hanging basket deciduous shade tree can work for you when
goes a long way toward making it’s placed by the south-southwest corner of
an entry inviting. Even livening your house. It shades the house from the sun in
up the paint color of the shudders summer and lets in light during the winter,
quickly dresses up the property. while buffering blustery winds.
Allow 20 ft. between
the house and your
7 Great Front-Yard Shade Trees planting spot. This’ll keep
a full-sized tree from rub-
Plant Cold/Heat Zones Height/Width bing against your shingles
Ash Fraxinus spp. 4 to 10/10 to 1 50 to 60 ft./25 to 40 ft. and tearing your siding.
Bald cypress Taxodium distichum 5 to 10/10 to 1 40 to 60 ft./20 to 30 ft.
Japanese zelkova Zelkova serrata 5 to 9/9 to 2 50 to 70 ft./25 to 45 ft.
Linden Tilia spp. 3 to 9/9 to 1 50 to 65 ft./25 to 30 ft.
Red maple Acer rubrum 3 to 9/9 to 1 40 to 60 ft./30 to 50 ft.
Sweetgum Liquidambar styraciflua 6 to 9/9 to 1 50 to 70 ft./30 to 50 ft.
Tuliptree Liriodendron tulipifera 5 to 9/9 to 2 50 to 70 ft./35 to 50 ft.

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TIP THREE: Dress up an awkward space
For some reason, many new houses have “the narrows” — pint-sized
porches and awkward strips between the sidewalk and the garage. The
porch on this house isn’t large enough for much furniture, so we put a
single bench where you can sit down to take off your shoes. Let the far end
of the bench double as a plant stand.
Not sure what to do with the planting strip? Check out From the
Drawing Board on p. 40, where we give you the plan and plant list for
this garden as well as one suitable for our Southern readers.

TIP FOUR: Ornamental trees

Small ornamental trees give a garden structure. There are so
many great ones out there, with new varieties each year. Here,
we put in a white fringetree. Whatever you choose, place it far
enough from the sidewalk and the driveway that you don’t
have a big mess from dropped flowers and fruit to
clean up. In this case, planting it about 10 ft. in
from each keeps the drive and walkway clean
and also gives you a clear view when you
back out of the garage.

TIP FIVE: Hardscaping

Hardscaping immediately adds structure to a new landscape. Here, a
low, open fence along the front of the property echoes the railing on
the front porch. Unlike adding a tree, you don’t have to wait for the
hardscape to grow. Also, it gives a sense of permanence to a new
flower garden. Notice how it’s set about 3 ft. from the sidewalk,
making a great backdrop for flowers on both sides of it.
The arbor and limestone path leading from the sidewalk
beckon guests to stroll to the front door while enjoying the garden
along the way.

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 from the drawing board
a sunny entry garden
QUICK TIP
A cottage garden is T his entrance garden, taken
from our Design Challenge on
p. 38, says “welcome” with its
made up of plants that
often weave themselves friendly, cottage-garden look.
together into a solid Plants spill onto the sidewalk,
mass. Because air can’t giving the illusion of a casual
circulate well through garden path. Clematis-covered
them, keep your eye trellises grace the blank garage
out for powdery wall; they’re a quick and easy
mildew. Try to water way to add height in a narrow
early in the day and space like this. Even better, the
make sure the foliage trellises don’t waste any of your
stays as dry as pos- precious planting space.
sible. If you do spot this You’ll have color from early
gray fungus on your spring until fall in this garden
roses, delphiniums or designed for Northern climates.
other perennials, con-
To start the year, the bed is
trol its spread with a
underplanted with tulips, daf-
fungicide, following the
fodils and crocus. By late spring
label instructions.
into summer, perennials take
over, as will a fragrant shrub rose
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and the clematis. By midsummer,
the annuals along the walk reach
their peak; they take the garden
through the heat of summer. In
late summer, perennials, such as
the tall Japanese anemones, are
the focus once again. Evergreens
that frame the porch entrance
direct guests to the front door,
especially in the winter. And a
container or two lets you add
accents that you can change with
the seasons.
This is a low-maintenance
garden. A layer of mulch — at
least 2 inches thick — keeps
down weeds and conserves mois-
ture. Keep a bucket handy so you
can deadhead a few daisies as you
walk to and from the driveway
each day. But don’t deadhead the
rose or you’ll miss its bright-red
hips. In fall and winter they
attract birds and other wildlife.
The Siberian iris won’t rebloom
even if you deadhead, so leave the
papery brown seedpods which
also add late-season interest. Cut
down the catmint and delphinium
after they flower to encourage a
second flush of bloom.
The yews need clipping once a
year to keep them in scale. And
prune the clematis lightly in early
spring while it’s dormant to keep
it blooming its best.
If you’d like alternative plants
for this design — ones that are
tolerant of the heat and humidity
you find in the Southeastern
United States — check out the
list on p. 42.
 Container of annuals
•

E
H
Garage

J
K K L
L D
C
L
C
A
G G F

D
D
F F
B
H
I I
H H
J J
J
Porch
Sidewalk

J
J
B
I

Scale: 1 square = 1 square foot

A HARDY GARDEN FOR THE NORTH

Plant No. to Bloom Bloom Plant Cold/Heat Height/
Code Name Plant Color Time Type Zones Width Comments
A Shrub rose 1 White Summer Deciduous shrub 3-9/9-1 5 ft./5 ft. Hardy, disease-resistant shrub rose;
Rosa ‘Blanc Double de Coubert’ colorful, 1-in. hips for fall interest
B Pyramidal yew 2 N/A N/A Evergreen 5-7/7-1 3 ft./3 ft. Easily clipped to maintain small size;
Taxus cuspidata ‘Capitata’ rich dark-green color
C Delphinium 5 Dark blue Early to Perennial 4-9/9-1 4 ft./2 ft. Tall spires of flowers; cut down after
Delphinium ‘Black Knight’ midsummer flowering for a small second bloom
D Siberian iris Iris sibirica 3 Yellow and Late spring Perennial 4-9/9-1 30 in./18 in. Spiky foliage makes a good texture
‘Butter and Sugar’ white contrast; easy to grow
E Willow bluestar 1 Steel blue Late spring Perennial 3-9/9-1 3 ft./3 ft. Foliage changes to yellow for fall
Amsonia tabernaemontana interest; stands well without staking
F Shasta daisy Leucanthemum 9 White Midsummer Perennial 4-8/8-1 36 in./24 in. Excellent for bouquets; deadhead to
xsuperbum ‘Becky’ to fall promote continued bloom
G Japanese anemone Anemone 6 White Late summer Perennial 4-8/8-1 4 ft./18 in. Late blooming; good for cutting; may
xhybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’ to early fall need staking in windy areas
H Catmint Nepeta racemosa 9 Lavender Late summer Perennial 4-8/8-1 12 in./18 in. Provides nectar for butterflies; cut
‘Walker’s Low’ to fall down after flowering and it’ll rebloom
I Mealy cup sage 7 Blue Midsummer Perennial* 8-10/12-1 18 in./10 in. Will self-seed; good for cutting; dead-
Salvia farinacea ‘Victoria’ to fall head to keep it blooming all summer
J Petunia 21 White Midsummer Annual Annual/12-1 10 in./12 in. Deadhead occasionally; durable
Petunia ‘White Storm’ to early fall annual for a hot area
K Clematis 2 Blue-purple Summer Deciduous vine 4-9/9-1 10 ft./4 ft. 4- to 6-in. flowers; prune lightly in
Clematis ‘General Sikorski’ early spring before growth starts
L Asiatic lily 8 Yellow Midsummer Hardy bulb 3-8/8-1 3 ft./12 in. Multiplies easily in well-drained soil;
Lilium ‘Connecticut King’ deadhead to keep plants looking neat
*Treat as an annual in colder zones.

www.punchapaadam.com
 Container of annuals

from the drawing board continued E

•

H
Garage
A Southeastern welcome J
If you live in an area where the summers K K L
are blistering hot and the winters are L D
C
mild, like the American Southeast, this list L
is invaluable. Many of the plants listed C
A
G G F
here were chosen for tolerance of those
conditions. A few plants, like ‘Becky’
D
Shasta daisy, which is a very heat-tolerant D
F F
cultivar, and the fall-blooming anemone B
are carry overs from the original plan. H
You can even create your own custom I I
H
H
garden if you want to. Mix and match
J J
plants from both lists as long as the ones J
you choose are hardy for your USDA
Porch

zone. And don’t be locked into our

annual choices. If you prefer different Sidewalk
ones, both in the ground and in the
container, feel free to switch. The result
will be a charming entrance garden that J
J
reflects your individual taste as it J
welcomes your guests even before you B
I
open your front door. ®
— Jim Childs Scale: 1 square = 1 square foot

HEAT-TOLERANT GARDEN FOR THE SOUTHEAST

Plant No. to Bloom Bloom Plant Cold/Heat Height/
Code Name Plant Color Time Type Zones Width Comments
A Butterfly bush 1 Pale lilac-blue Summer to Deciduous 5-9/9-1 5 ft./4 ft. Compact form; cut down to the
Buddleja davidii ‘Nanho Blue’ fall shrub ground in spring
B Boxwood Buxus sempervirens 2 N/A N/A Evergreen 6-8/8-1 3 ft./3 ft. Easily pruned for size;
‘Vardar Valley’ shrub light-green foliage
C Foxglove Digitalis purpurea 5 Apricot-pink Summer Perennial 4-8/8-1 4 ft./18 in. Short-lived perennial; easily
‘Apricot’ started from seed; self sows
D Crocosmia Crocosmia 3 Apricot-yellow Midsummer Perennial 6-9/9-1 28 in./24 in. Bronze foliage; spikes of arching
xcrocosmiiflora ‘Solfatare’ flowers; good for cutting
E Wild blue indigo Baptisia australis 1 Dusky purple Late spring Perennial 4-9/9-1 4 ft./3 ft. Drought tolerant; ornamental
‘Purple Smoke’ seed pods; pest-free foliage
F Shasta daisy Leucanthemum 9 White Late spring Perennial 4-8/8-1 36 in./24 in. Excellent in bouquets; deadhead
xsuperbum ‘Becky’ to promote continued blooming
G Japanese anemone Anemone 6 White Late summer Perennial 4-8/8-1 4 ft./18 in. Late blooming; good for cutting;
xhybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’ to early fall may need staking in windy areas
H Lavender Lavandula angustifolia 9 Blue-purple Midsummer Perennial 5-8/8-1 18 in./24 in. Fragrant flowers on dense
‘Munstead’ spikes; drought tolerant
I Verbena Verbena hybrida 7 Orange-pink Summer Annual Annual/12-1 12 in./18 in. Orange-pink flowers age to
‘Peaches and Cream’ cream; spreading form
J Petunia 12 White Summer Annual Annual/12-1 12 in./18 in. Double-flowered white cultivar;
Petunia ‘Sonata’ deadhead to keep it blooming
K Clematis Clematis florida 2 White Late spring Vine 6-9/9-2 8 ft./3 ft. Prune lightly in spring; 3-in.
‘Sieboldiana’ to summer flowers have purple centers
L Lily 8 Orange Summer Hardy bulb 2-8/8-1 3 ft./12 in. Multiplies quickly; flowers have
Lilium ‘Enchantment’ black spots on petals

*Treat as annual in colder zones

42

www.punchapaadam.com
 container recipe

I always start the gardening season

off with the best of intentions —
especially with my containers. But I
often forget to water them. This con-
tainer plan takes the heat, and doesn’t
dry up the first time I forget to drag
the hose around.
Flowers really start popping by
early summer with pink verbena and
coral-red twinspur swirling around
the red-veined foliage of rumex, also
called bloody sorrel. My favorite
plant is the ornamental oregano, with
its pastel bracts trailing over the side. Tips
The contrast of foliage shapes is for care
nothing to sneeze at, either.
• Full sun
As for the container, it’s made of
• Well-drained potting mix
concrete with a basket weave along
• Fertilize every 10 to 14
the side that contributes to the inter- days with a 9-59-8 mix
esting texture of the whole planting. from Fertilome®
GROWING TIPS Another great thing
about this plan is that it blooms all
summer. A little deadheading keeps
the verbena in shape. If the twinspur
slows down, cut it back by a third and
it’ll rebloom as the weather cools.
Go ahead and pull the bloody
sorrel if, by midsummer, it gets too
ratty. ‘Minus’ licorice plant, with its
compact habit, is a real time saver: It
doesn’t need all the pinching you have
to do with other licorice plants.
If you can’t find the oregano, sorrel
or ruby grass at your local nursery,
check out the Resources on p. 47 for
some mail-order sources.
You’ll save yourself a lot of guilt
over lost plants if you remember this
plan when it comes time to pot up
your containers this year. ®
PHOTO LOCATION: Norenburg Gardens

Container is 281/2 in. long by 91/4 in. wide

PLANT LIST
Code Plant Name No. of
plants D C D
A Bloody sorrel Rumex sanguineus 2 E F
A A B
B Ornamental oregano Origanum ‘Kent Beauty’ 3 B
C Verbena Verbena tenuisecta ‘Edith’ 2
D Twinspur Diascia ‘Red Ace’ (‘Hecrace’) 4 D C B F D
E Ruby grass Melinis nerviglumis ‘Pink Crystals’ 1
F Licorice plant Helichrysum petiolare ‘Minus’ 2

www.punchapaadam.com
what’s new
www.GardenGateStore.com

Container Gardening
This new book by Paul Williams could change your perspective
on containers. A quick flip through the pages shows you plants and
plant combinations you may never have thought of. For example,
what do you think about ‘Plum Pudding’
coral bells with cape daisies? Or bur-
gundy flowering maple, licorice plant and
white petunias? You’ll find these, along
with many other combinations, in the
pages of Container Gardening. The prac-
tical details aren’t neglected, either.
There’s a plant directory with brief care
instructions and how-tos on designing
combinations, choosing containers and
growing plants in pots.
Container Gardening by Paul Williams
is published by Dorling Kindersley and is
available at your local or online book-
store. You can also buy it online at www.GardenGateStore.com.
Retail price is $25.

Floating rain gauge

Simple but elegant, this copper rain gauge ages to a classy
looking patina, but that’s not all it has going for it. It holds a
cobalt-blue, plastic measuring tube calibrated in ¼-inch
increments with easy-to-read bright-white numbers. The
cobalt tube hides inside the copper until raindrops start
falling. Then it slowly floats up as the rain accumulates. A
decorative iron stake wraps around the copper tube to
hold it off the ground and is coated so it won’t rust.
Buy the floating rain gauge from T.M. Hoff
Handmade at 845-255-0197 or check out
www.GardenGateStore.com. Suggested retail is $37.

www.punchapaadam.com

‘Fragrant Angel‘coneflower
Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) are known for
hardiness and long bloom time. Now you can add
fragrance to the list. ‘Fragrant Angel’ coneflower
has a sweet fragrance and large, 5-inch white
flowers. Plants are a sturdy 20 inches tall by 24
inches wide. It needs full sun in moist, well-drained
soil. It’s cold-hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9; its heat
tolerance is not yet rated.
Get ‘Fragrant Angel’ from Busse Gardens at
www.bussegardens.com or call 800-544-3192.
TM
Firefly
solar light
Add a distinctive look to your
garden with this new solar light. It
has a crackle glass globe that makes an
interesting pattern of light on anything
nearby. The height is adjustable from just
over 5 feet tall to 42 inches. Since the Firefly
is solar, it doesn’t need any wiring and is
easy to move. A sunny day keeps your Firefly
glowing for 8 hours.
Get Firefly from Rittenhouse at www.
rittenhouse.ca or call 877-488-1914. Or visit
www.GardenGateStore.com. Suggested retail
price is $36.99 each.
www.punchapaadam.com
did you know?
Deer-resistant plants
Although deer will eat anything when food is in
short supply, knowing what they usually pass by
PHOTO: Courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc. (‘fragrant angel’ coneflower)
can help keep your garden looking good. Now
there’s a list that rates more than 500 common
garden plants on how attractive they are to deer.
Using input from nursery and landscape profes-
sionals, Master Gardeners and the ex-
tension staff, Rutgers University Extension has
developed a list you can check out online at
www.rce.rutgers.edu/deerresistance/default.asp.
Natural alternatives to deet
Currently, deet is the most effective mosquito
and tick repellent. However, there may be some
natural alternatives available in the future.
Studies at National Taiwan University have
shown that cinnamon oil may be an effective
pesticide for use against mosquito larvae. Testing
for use as a repellent is coming soon.
In another study, scientists at North Carolina
State University are working on an insect repel-
lent that taps into the natural compound toma-
toes use to keep insects at bay.
Wheelbarrow recall
Ames® True Temper® has recalled a wheelbarrow
that was sold under a variety of names between
1993 and 2000. In some circumstances, the
wheel assembly has been known to cause injury
by shattering while being inflated. Check for a
wheel 14 inches in diameter with a black plastic
rim divided into 16 pie-shaped wedges. For
more details, go to www.ames.com. To get your
free replacement wheel, call 866-239-2281.
Join the beetle brigade
The viburnum leaf beetle has been munching its
way through viburnums in Canada and the
Eastern United States for years. Adults and
larvae feast on the leaves of this hardy shrub —
sometimes even defoliating an entire plant. Help
keep an eye on this pest’s migration by becoming
a citizen scientist for Cornell University. Learn
about the beetle’s life cycle, document sightings
and keep track of damage to help researchers try
to contain this pest. Go to www.hort.cornell.edu/vlb/
to learn more. In Canada, contact the Ministry
of Agriculture and Food at www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA/
english/crops/facts/vlb.htm.
 askgardengate
Save the
hemlocks!
P.P., Massachusetts
Q My hemlocks have
little cocoons on
the undersides of the
Questions?
twigs and needles.
Send them to Garden
What are they?
Gate Q&A, 2200
Grand Ave.,
Des Moines, IA
A You’re seeing the
woolly fuzz on the
bodies and egg masses
50312, or e-mail us
of hemlock woolly
at gardengate@
adelgids (Adelges
gardengatemag.com.
tsugae), a serious pest
Please include your
name, address and
of Eastern hemlocks
(Tsuga canadensis) in
daytime phone number
in case we need to
the eastern and north-
reach you. Because we
receive so many ques-
western United States
and southwestern
Canada. When the
tions, we can’t answer
all of them, but we’ll
certainly contact you if
adelgids feed on sap,
they inject toxic saliva
we publish yours.
into new needles and
buds, causing the nee-
dles to dry out and fall
off. Adelgids can kill a
mature tree in three or
four years.
• during a hot, dry
Wooly adelgids on
underside of hemlock
twigs
Pinch down the streaks
They can hitch a ride in the leaves to smash
the borer.
on anything, so look for
adelgids in yards or the
woods, especially from •
March through June.
Insecticidal soap or
horticultural oil, Iris borer larva
applied in early April
and in June, can control
adelgids. Sprays like
imidacloprid can be
used for a heavy infesta-
•
tion. Contact a local 1 in.
arborist to find the best
way to treat yours.
Banishing borers pocapsae and Hetero-
N.S., Ohio rhabditis bacteriospora)
Crispy astilbe are just as good at
S.T., Michigan
Q My astilbe foliage
turns brown in the
Q How can I get rid
of iris borers with-
out using pesticides?
controlling iris borers
as chemical pesticides
are. Stir them into
summer even when I
water. Why? A To control iris borers
(Macronoctua
water and spray them
on the plants. The
A There are a couple
of possibilities.
Astilbe does best in
onusta), destroy their
eggs by clearing away
leaf litter in fall. In
Beneficial Insect
Company (336-973-
8490) and Territorial
morning sun and after- spring, pinch down the Seed Company (541-
noon shade. Your telltale brown streaks on 942-9547) both carry
plants could be getting leaves until you crush the nematodes.
a little too much sun. the larvae. If the
They may do better in a streaking reaches the
shadier spot. rhizome, dig up the rhi- Compost vs.
Astilbe also likes zomes and look for exit peat moss
moist soil. So even if holes. Cut away the A.K., Minnesota
you’re watering it as damage and soak the
often as the rest of
your garden, it might
still be drying out
rest in a 10-percent
bleach solution for a few
minutes to prevent soft
Q Which is a better
soil amendment —
compost or peat moss?
between waterings.
Spread a layer of mulch
around your plants,
rot and drown larvae.
Rinse the rhizomes and
let them dry for a day or
A Compost. It im-
proves soil texture
and adds nutrients.
and then water deeply two before replanting. Peat moss, or partly
and slowly. Two beneficial nema- decomposed sphagnum
It’s not uncommon todes (Steinernema car- moss, is not the best
summer for astilbe
Borer exit Healthy rhizome
foliage to get a little hole
crispy around the edges.
After it flowers, you can •
cut the entire plant back
to encourage new, •
healthy looking growth Rotten •
from the base. area
www.punchapaadam.com

soil amendment by
itself. It improves soil
texture, but it’s
nutrient-poor. It’s also
slightly acid, which
your garden may not
need. Add peat moss to
your compost pile and
put the compost on
your garden to take
advantage of the com-
post’s nutrients and the
peat moss’s water-
holding capacity. Don’t
use peat moss as mulch
— it takes water from
the soil and forms a
crust water can’t pene-
trate.
Caught in the
downdraft
J.C., Illinois
Q I want to put up a
fence to create a
windbreak. What kind
of fence is best?
A A good windbreak
fence should slow
the airflow down
without blocking it
completely. Solid fences
can create a downdraft,
where the airflow is
first pushed up, then
drawn down into a
fence creates
a downdraft.
resources
CLEMATIS (P. 12)
MAIL-ORDER CATALOGS
vacuum at the foot of One possibility is to Busse Gardens
the back side of the use a water softener — www.bussegardens.com
800-544-3192 • $3
fence. Downdrafts can you probably already
damage plants at the have one in your house Completely Clematis Specialty Nursery
www.clematisnursery.com
base of the fence as if your water is this
badly as the original hard. Water softeners Wayside Gardens
wind problem. remove the minerals www.waysidegardens.com
800-845-1124 • Free
Use a picket fence or that settle out of the
a fence with slats spaced water, corroding metal TOP PICKS FOR CLAY (P. 20)
2 or 3 inches apart to and leaving white
slow the wind. Or you deposits on your foun- MAIL-ORDER CATALOGS
can use shrubs to create tain. A plumber can Brent and Becky’s Bulbs
a living windbreak in route your outside www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com
your garden. You may water supply through 804-693-3966 • Catalog free
need to protect the your water softener. Or Quamash and martagon lily
shrubs until they are big you could fill the foun- Busse Gardens
enough to baffle the tain with water from www.bussegardens.com
wind for smaller plants. inside the house. 800-544-3192 • Catalog $3
As they grow, they’ll be Collected rain water is Joe-pye weed, ‘Miss Manners’ obedient
plant and ‘Chocolate Chip’ bugleweed
able to tolerate more also a good source for
wind themselves. softer water. Forestfarm
www.forestfarm.com
You can also look
541-846-7269 • Catalog $5
for a metal pump made Flowering quince, Autumn Purple ash,
Hard water is with a “sacrificial flowering currant, swordleaf inula and
hard on pumps anode,” a replaceable ‘Nikko’ deutzia
C.M., Kansas zinc and magnesium
piece that attracts the CONTAINER RECIPE (P. 43)
Q We have extremely
hard water. I
mineral particles so
they don’t settle on MAIL-ORDER CATALOGS
haven’t been able to
find a recirculating
pump that will last, and
other parts of the
pump. Many new foun-
tain and pond pumps
Avant Gardens
www.avantgardensNE.com
508-998-8819 • Catalog $3
I’d love to have a foun- are plastic, and the Ornamental oregano
tain in my garden. minerals in hard water Outsidepride.com, Inc.
What can I do? don’t corrode plastic as www.outsidepride.com
877-255-8470
A There are several
ways to deal with
hard water:
they do metal, although
they’ll still collect on
any rough surface.
Ruby grass (also called
Rhynchelytrum repens)
Park Seed
www.parkseed.com
800-845-3369 • Catalog free
Bloody sorrel
A solid A baffled fence
slows the wind.
www.punchapaadam.com
notes from the test garden

dividing grape
hyacinths

Isn’t it a thrill when you realize that the little bulb you put in
the ground several years ago is now a healthy monster?
And it’s even more exciting when you see that not only is
your plant thriving, but it needs to be divided. That means
free plants, and that’s a phrase every gardener loves to hear.
More There are two main reasons for dividing bulbs. The first
bulbs you — most gardeners’ favorite — is to get more plants. Many
plants that grow from bulbs do form seeds, but it’s a slow
can divide
way to grow new plants, and you can’t be sure that the
Daffodil seedlings will be the same as the parent. It’s a lot easier and
Narcissus spp.
Glory-of-the-snow
quicker to divide the bulbs.
Chionodoxa luciliae The second reason to divide is to rejuvenate an over-
Netted iris crowded planting. As clumps of bulbs grow, they compete
Iris riticulata with each other for space, water and nutrients, which can
Snowdrops mean fewer flowers as they become overcrowded.
Galanthus spp.
Squill Scilla spp. True bulbs, such as grape hyacinths, are modified stems
that store food for the plant. They reproduce by offsets, little
bulbs at the base of each mother bulb. You can break the
new bulbs from the main clump to make more plants. I’ll
show you how to divide
grape hyacinths step by
step in the photos below
and in our Online Video.
These steps will work for
any true bulb.
It’s best to divide
hardy spring bulbs like
grape hyacinths in late
spring to midsummer. So
gather up your garden
fork, your gloves and
some bulb fertilizer, and
you’re all set to make
new plants! ®
(1) The best time to divide bulbs is when they’re (2) Break the clump apart. Be sure that part of the
ONLINE dormant or nearly dormant after they bloom. It’s basal plate, the flat spot on the bottom of each
easier while you can still see the foliage so you bulb, is included on each offset. You can plant
Dividing grape know where to dig. When you dig the clump, them all or just keep the biggest offsets.
hyacinths start far enough away that you don’t slice Dust the ones you want to replant with
through any bulbs.Gently shake the soil off the a fungicide powder from your local
clump so you can see what you’re doing. garden center.

www.punchapaadam.com
 weed watch
Yellow nutsedge
Cyperus esculentus

IDENTIFICATION Yellow nutsedge is a peren-

nial weed with slender, ½-in.-wide leaves that
grow up to 2 ft. long. It sprouts in early summer
and matures by fall. Triangular stems, up to 3 ft.
tall, rise from the center of each plant topped by
clusters of yellow-flowering spikes.
While yellow nutsedge does grow from
seed, its corms, often called “nutlets,” are the
structures that reproduce most quickly. Each
plant sends out underground runners that pro-
duce clusters of the nutlets. After these nutlets
are ready to grow on their own, the parent
plant disconnects and the nutlets sprout. When
you pull mature plants, the nutlets break free
and are left behind.

FAVORITE CONDITIONS This weed thrives

almost anywhere it receives full sun, especially
in wet and compacted soils. And it’s damaging
to crops: Yellow nutsedge hosts a soil-dwelling
bacteria that can destroy soil-borne nitrogen.

CONTROL The plant releases its nutlets before

chemical herbicides are able to kill it.
It’s tempting to pull the weed when you see
it, but pulling it in the spring just snaps off the
plant above the nutlets and encourages new
growth. Instead, dig everything
you can in early summer
when the nutlets are
“worn out” from pro-
ducing growth all
spring and before
new ones form.
To prevent it from
taking hold in a new
bed, put down a layer of
landscape fabric before
planting. Avoid plastic
because the new shoots
can poke through the
plastic as it gets brittle. ®

(3) Replant the new offsets at the same depth as the

original planting. Sprinkle some bulb fertilizer into the
bottom of the hole first, then cover it with a dusting of
soil or compost so the fertilizer isn’t in direct contact
with the bulbs. Spacing is up to you. Closely planted
bulbs will look better next spring, but you’ll have to
divide them sooner. Water immediately.

www.punchapaadam.com
editor’schoice

12 in.
prairie smoke
8 in.

I ’m a sucker for colorful names.

So when I heard of a plant
called “prairie smoke,” I
make a small mound and plant
my prairie smoke. Both the com-
post and a higher planting level
4 in. couldn’t wait to get some — even help with the drainage.
before I knew what it was! An easy way to get more
The small pink springtime plants is to divide a clump of rhi-
flowers in the photo at right have zomes. In spring, after flowers
0 a Dr. Seuss-like charm. When the fade, gently lift the plant out of
flowers set seed, as photo 1 the soil with a garden fork. With
shows, it’s obvious why names a clean, sharp knife, cut off the
Geum triflorum like “prairie smoke,” “old man’s smaller rhizomes, making sure
whiskers” and “torch flower” that you have some roots and
Size 12 to 15 in. tall
were hung on this native plant. foliage with each section.
by 12 in. wide
Prairie smoke (Geum tri- Replant immediately, with the
Habit Clump forming florum) easily makes the move top of the rhizome 1 inch below
from wild thing to well-man- the soil level, and water in well.
Bloom time A couple weeks
nered perennial. In spring, To give new transplants a
in midspring
columbine and scilla make good boost, mix some organic fertil-
Soil Average, well-drained companions. It also mingles izer into the soil of the hole
Light Full sun to part shade nicely with little bluestem and before adding the plant. Once
Pests None serious other ornamental grasses. Don’t established, prairie smoke
forget plants to complement the doesn’t need regular fertilizing.
Hardiness
seed heads, too. Try hardy gera- By spring, you’ll have even
Cold: USDA zones 3 to 7
nium, bee balm or phlox, to more of these charming little
Heat: AHS zones
name just a few. Prairie smoke’s flowers with the colorful name. ®
not available
deeply cut leaves also provide
a nice foliage contrast to sedum
or bergenia.
At 12 to 15 inches tall, this
low grower works best at the
front of your border. And since
the flowers are small, plant in

PHOTO LOCATION: Minneapolis Lyndale Park Peace (Rock) Garden

groups of three or more so you
can really enjoy them. Mature
plants form dense clumps that
make a good ground cover, too.
Mail-order source
Care and culture
Prairie Nursery Prairie smoke does best in full
P.O. Box 306 sun and well-drained soil. But it
Westfield, WI 53964 can also take part shade.
www.prairienursery.com Insects don’t bother prairie
800-476-9453. Free smoke, but root rot can be a
problem in poorly drained soil.
Don’t let that discourage you,
though — I have clay in my
garden and still grow this tough (1) Prairie smoke’s small, pendulous
little plant. I work a couple shov- flowers gradually move to an upright
elfuls of compost into the soil, position as the seedhead forms.

www.punchapaadam.com
www.punchapaadam.com
“The sun is on fire
In the sky
And in its warmth
Flowers open
In the garden
And the butterfly
Flutters by.
Wings widespread
It stops to feed
Fertile Crescent Nursery

At the flower bed

And on its favourite flower
The butterfly settles
Like two extra petals.”

www.punchapaadam.com