Azaleas in bloom, February 2009 at Rosedown Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana

Some plants are beautiful AND edible.  Have you thought about edible landscaping?  Fruit trees, vegetables, and even some flowers are all potential food producing plants.

 

This is probably the epitome of a casual garden--a climbing rose against a picket fence. 

What could be more welcoming?

 

Reprinted with permission http://www.freeplants.com/resellers.htm     Azaleas can be either evergreen or deciduous. Deciduous Azaleas are known as Mollis or Exbury Azaleas. They bloom in the early spring with vivid orange and yellow colors. They can be grown from seed if the seeds are collected in the fall and sown on top of moist peat at about 70 degrees F.     Evergreen Azaleas are known as broad leaf evergreens because they do not have needles. They bloom later in the spring, and are usually propagated in the fall over bottom heat, discussed in detail at http://www.freeplants.com Rhododendrons are also broad leaf evergreens and are also propagated over bottom heat in early winter.     The best time to prune Rhododendrons and Azaleas is in the spring right after they bloom. These plants start setting next year's flower buds over the summer, and late pruning will cost you some blooms next year, so get them pruned as soon as they finish blooming. It's also a good idea to pick off the spent blooms so the plants don't expel a lot of energy making seeds, unless of course you'd like to grow them from seed. But keep in mind that they don't come true from seed.     Seeds from a red Rhododendron are likely to flower pale lavender. Cuttings ensure a duplicate of the parent plant. How do you prune Rhododendrons and what does pinching a Rhododendron mean? These are frequently asked questions.     Pinching is a low impact form of pruning that is very effective for creating nice, tight full plants when you are growing small plants from seeds or cuttings. Typically a Rhododendron forms a single new bud at the tip of each branch. This new bud will develop into another new branch, another bud will form and the process will continue. If left alone this will produce a very lanky plant with a lot of space between the branches, forming a very unattractive plant.     So if you are starting with a plant that is nothing more than a rooted cutting all you have to do is pinch off this new growth bud as soon as it is about 3/8" long. Just grab it between your fingers and snap it completely off. When you do this the plant usually responds by replacing that single bud with two, three, or even four new buds in a cluster around the bud that you pinched off. Each one of these buds will develop into branches and eventually a single bud will appear at the tip of each of these branches, and of course you should come along and pinch each one of those off, forcing the plant to produce multiple buds at the end of each of these branches.     The more often you pinch off these single buds, the more branches the plant will form, making a nice, tight, full plant. This is especially helpful with young plants such as rooted cuttings or young seedlings.     But what about larger plants, how do I prune them? I prune mine with hedge shears!!! I just have at it and trim them like I would a Taxus or a Juniper, and guess what? The result is a very tight compact plant loaded with beautiful flowers. My Rhododendrons are so tightly branched that you cannot see through them, and that is the result of vigorous pruning with hedge shears. Sure you can use hand shears, and you'll have a nicer plant because of it, but I just use the hedge shears because that's the tool that I happen to have in my hand as I am going by.     Keeping Rhododendrons and Azaleas healthy and happy is as simple as understanding what they like. First of all, they like to grow in a climate that suits their tastes. Many varieties of both don't like it in the north, and to prove the point they will up and die as soon as extreme cold weather hits.   Buy plants that are known to be hardy in your area.  Here in zone 5 (northern Ohio) the following Azaleas seem to do well: Hino Crimson (red), Stewartstonia (red), Herbert (lavender), Cascade (white), Delaware Valley (white), and Rosebud (pink). Hardy Rhododendrons include Roseum Elegans (pinkish lavender), English Roseum (pinkish lavender), Nova Zembla (red), Lee's Dark Purple, Chinoides (white), and Cunningham's (white).     How should you fertilize Rhododendrons and Azaleas? These broadleaf evergreens are laid back and like to take it slow and easy. Do not fertilize them with quick release nitrogen fertilizers, it could kill them. Instead give them an organic snack, like Millorganite or well rotted cow manure or compost. Millorganite is an organic fertilizer made of granulated sewage sludge.     No, it doesn't smell any worse than other fertilizers, and plants like it because it is plant and soil friendly. It won't burn the plants, and it actually reactivates the micro- organisms in the soil. That's a good thing. Most full service garden centers carry Millorganite.     A long time ago somebody let the word out that Rhododendrons are acid loving plants, and people are always asking me if I think their struggling Rhododendron needs more acid. The answer is no. Your struggling Rhododendron probably needs a great big gulp of oxygen around its root system.     Rhododendrons do not like wet feet. They don't even like high humidity let alone wet soil around their roots. They like to be high and dry, and like an unobstructed flow of oxygen to their roots. You can accomplish this by planting them in a bed raised at least 10" with good rich topsoil. They will be smiling from branch to branch.     A few years back my friend Larry and I had several hundred small Rhododendrons that we were going to grow on to larger plants. We planted most of them in Larry's backyard which is fairly good soil, but a little sticky. We didn't have room for all of them so we planted the last 105 down the road from my house in a field we were renting. (Never heard of anybody renting a field? You should get out more.)     This location had absolutely no water for irrigating and the soil was very dry and rocky. Other plants at that location often struggled during the dog days of summer due to the lack of water, but those Rhododendrons were as happy as pigs in mud. They outgrew the ones at Larry's house by twice the rate and we sold them years earlier than the others.    My point? Rhododendrons don't like wet feet. They do well in the shade, but contrary to popular belief they do even better in full sunlight.     Michael J. McGroarty is the author of this article. Visit his most interesting website, http://www.freeplants.com and sign up for his excellent gardening newsletter. Article provided by http://gardening-articles.com About the Author Michael J. McGroarty has more than 30 years experience in the landscape gardening/nursery industry. He's spent the better part of his life on his hands and knees in the dirt working with plants and his hands-on experience allows Mike to write in a manner than many gardeners find to be helpful and beneficial.  Written by: Michael J. McGroarty

Copyright 2006 ProvenSuccessful.com Organic Gardening

 

 The curving path here just begs for exploration, and creates an illusion of depth.  This can be used for a "path to nowhere" that does the same thing in your garden.

Many people dream of having peacocks in their garden.  Peacocks are really only suitable for large country gardens.  They are large birds, with voracious appetites, loud cries, and fly quite well.  They will roost in your trees and announce the arrival of any stranger (and family members as well--your teenager won't be able to sneak past them!)

Sign up for our newsletter HERE

What better way to get the "dirt" fast?

Someone asked me today about what I would do if I had an "Exogeny Garden" that represented Exogeny Network.  It rather floored me, as I suddenly realized that I didn't really know what I would put in a garden if I had the space, time, money, and location to do so.  Still its a thought worth exploring.

     What would be the major features of Exogeny Garden, should I create one?

Okay, its not likely I could afford one like this (even if its not operating!)  This is an absolutely gorgeous solid marble fountain with amazing detail.  An authentic antique, it graces the gardens at Rosedown Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana.  Today, Rosedown Plantation is owned by the State of Louisiana.  Fully restored decades ago, today you can tour it for a mere $10 per person, and its well worth a visit!

     I'd want a fountain, because the sound of water is so  beautiful and relaxing.  A garden should have a relaxing facet.  I'd want a pond, because a natural style body of water is so grounding.  A fountain has a rather formal feel to it, a pond says fish and lilypads and reeds and rushes and cattails and frogs...not exactly a formal thing!  Both feature water, one of the important elements. 

     Exogeny Garden would have many herbs, as many as I could incorporate into it, because the herbs are so useful.  Some herbs are for eating, some are for pot pourri, and some have other uses.  So there would be an extensive herb garden, showing the many ways that herbs can be included in the garden.

     History is so important, because if we forget what came before us, we're apt to be doomed to repeat it's mistakes.  Heirloom varieties of vegetables and plants are part of our history too.  So I'd have an heirloom cutting garden, an heirloom vegetable garden, and many old varieties of fruit trees, bushes, and perennials incorporated into the landscape.

This is a water garden held in an old sugar kettle, once used to cook sugar cane down into sugar.  In Louisiana's sugar cane country, it is an object with a long history.  This is a beautiful way to bring a bit of history together with water gardening--it also has some gold fish living in the kettle to keep mosquitos from breeding in it.  This photo was taken in March 2009 at the Laura Plantation near Vacherie, Louisiana.  There is more about Laura Plantation on the New Orleans page. 

Koi (or other fish, such as goldfish)  are a beautiful and nearly essential addition to a water feature if you live in "mosquito country."  They come in a wide variety of sizes, quality, and prices.  There are also many books available to help you make your water garden or other water feature as "koi friendly" as possible--some things are actually toxic to the fish!  Personally, I love being able to watch the fish in the ponds, it adds an active and colorful accent to the whole concept.

     Gardens should be an inviting place, one that says come sit with me, come and enjoy me, come explore me...so there would have to be places to sit, little surprising hideaways to allow one to relax and feel as though you managed to step out of time and find that secret garden spot.  Some benches are wood, some are of far  harder substances. 

     I have a strange sense of humor sometimes, and I have always claimed that humor is the grease that gets us over the speedbumps of life.  Letting that quirky humor out to play in the garden creates places to make people smile.  I'd like things like a small pool of water shaped like a lilypad...with a giant frog sculpture perched on it.  Gardens should always make us smile.

     Gardens come to life when they have inhabitants--I'd want a pond with a pair of swans, another pond that had mandarin ducks, just because they ARE beautiful.  I'd love to see a silky bantam hen with her chicks come strutting out from under a rose bush to explore around a tree.  Have you ever seen anyone who was not amazed by the appearance of a peacock as he struts about showing off his glorious tail?

     If I didn't live in the subtropical south, there would of course have to be a solarium to exhibit the tender plants, as well as a greenhouse to start the many annuals that would be set out after the soil had warmed. There would also have to be a tool shed to hold the many tools required to maintain such gardens.

     I'd like to see the paths wide enough to accomodate a pony cart, instead of the  noisy and unappealing ATV's and tractors.  I'd like a meadow area with a few gentle jersey cows chewing their cud in the spring sunshine.  Some goats nibbling on hay in their pen (they are horribly destructive if allowed to roam free in a garden) would add more character to the visit to the Exogeny Gardens.

     Of course, all that strolling and gazing and sitting and admiring will create a powerful urge to have a cup of coffee or tea, which of course needs something to eat with it.  What better than a tea house hidden at the edge of the gardens where refreshments can be had?

What is an Exogeny Garden?

An Exogeny Garden is one with multiple purposes in one sense, yet in another, its a single unified purpose.  Its a garden where you feel at home and at peace, and it allows you to connect with nature.  Its a place that reduces your carbon footprint on this planet, and perhaps enriches your dining experiences with herbs, vegetables, greens or fruit.  Its a place to entertain guests, a place for children and pets to explore. 

Its most of all, a place to feel JOY. 

Its a place you enJOY. 

Don't turn it into another example of "gotta keep up with the Jones'"

Don't turn it into an exercise in endurance either. 

This is supposed to be relaxing, fun, pleasant, and grounding.  It is not supposed to be an exercise in budget deficit, endurance, heat exhaustion, and vegetable warfare.

One thing to think about is your water situation.  Do you have a low spot that frequently collects rain water run off?  A spring that leaves a soggy hole in your yard?  This is a natural pond, but if your situation allows it, you can add an artificial pond to your landscape plans for your garden.

Where can you get ideas?

Visit as many public gardens as you can in your own area and nearby areas.  See what plants they have growing, as well as what they look like at maturity.

An azalea in a quart sized pot looks very different from a ten year old plant in a garden.  They also look very different when in bloom versus the remainder of the season.  Keep in mind that all plants vary their appearance during the season somewhat, and almost no plant is in bloom year round. 

Oh, for an everblooming wisteria...

These vines are short lived in their blooming season, but their fragrance is heavenly, their blossoms aweinspiring.  The vines are vigorous, which means in some cases, they are "impossible to kill".  (Only if you are trying, is my guess.  Its all too easy to kill a plant you want, and all too hard to kill one that has become invasive.)  Its hard to not love this plant after seeing and smelling it in bloom!  (Photo taken at Laura Plantation, March 2009)

There are also a myriad of publications available with potential ideas, ranging from websites to magazines to seed/plant catalogs to books.  Do the research, it will save you an immense amount of time, money, and energy later.  There is nothing as frustrating as coddling a plant through the shock of transplanting to a new home, a summer of severe weather, and then enter fall only to discover that your winters are far worse than what this plant could possibly survive.  Or to discover that plant x, which you selected because of its beautiful blooms, will not bloom at all unless it has full sun AND alkali soil and gets virtually no rain during the winter, and you live with a lot of partial shade, acid soil, and continual winter rain. 

Spring bulbs such as this narcissus will often deliver a lot of drama and color for the investment.  Even so, their blooming period is not extensive.