Daylilies + Daffodils = Double Delight/Dynamic Do Oh!

I have a love/hate relationship with daffodils.  I adore the flowers.  They are graceful, resilient, occasionally scented, come in a crisp array of spring whites, yellows, golds and orange and make fabulous cut flowers.  They provide the perfect hiding place for your resident garden fairy.  They cannot be damaged by old man winter and his late season rastiness.  

 

BUT, I hate the foliage.  I would someday like to ask God, what were you thinking?!  Such a beautiful bloom, but those leaves...!  I mean, it all starts well enough, but after the flowers are gone you have to leave all that foliage until it browns before it can be removed.  It would be different if they would stand up like most respectable foliage (liriope, for instance) but oh, no!  The daffodil foliage lays around like an overgrown bunch of spineless grass.  


What is a gardener to do?


Give the Daffodil a gardening buddy, a partner in sublime.  Who is this mysterious counterpart? This ying to the daf's yang?  Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce, the Daylily!  

Here's how it happens.  Plant the daffodils just below the daylilies in the same area.  In the spring, the daffodils will do their thing.  By the time the flowers have passed and the foliage is beginning to get irritating, the daylily leaves are quickly growing up and out.  The lilies successfully conceal their low lying companions while their graceful blooms turn to the sun.  Double the fun.


This is my kind of math.  Daylilies + Daffodils = a Dynamic Do Oh!


Let's Grow,
Ann/GG

All for Bulbs and Bulbs for All!

Today I made an important decision.  
I am a woman on a mission.  I am out to reach the world, one bulb at a time.

As a garden center manager, I had many responsibilities but my favorite was purchasing.  Christmas ornaments, organic fertilizers, watering cans, I was catalogue after catalogue of beautiful things.  But when I first saw the books of spring bulbs, I was stunned. 


Did you know there are hundreds of different kinds of tulips?  Single, double, fringed, multi stemmed, tall, short, early, late, mid season, hybrid, not to mention red, pink, blue, white, purple, orange, cream, veined,  parrot, Darwin, etc.  But that's not all.  Then there are the hyacinth, alliums, anemones, crocus, snowdrops and daffodils.  Scented, unscented, giant, mini, grape, wild, dutch, ... it never ends.

Why have we gotten away from planting these breathtaking beauties in our gardens?  Is it cost?  Really, for something that will come back year after year, bulbs are a great value.  Convenience?  Probably.  We are all just to busy to get out there and plant them.  Sometimes when we have the opportunity, Mother Nature is uncooperative.  Still, it's a shame.  We need to find a way to turn this around.


Spring bulbs have a unique roll in the world of gardening.  They are a visual trumpet for our winterized eyes, like nature's hot sauce waking up your senses and adding zest to an otherwise colorless landscape.  

It's time to revisit the bulbs in your life.  What else can you plant that doesn't immediately need watering and lots of TLC?  Bulbs are virtually free of pests and diseases making them a maintenance dream.  They are forgiving and carefree unless you plant them upside down!  They plant well with others.  They keep to themselves and don't insist on traveling beyond their borders.   They insist on blooming their heads off in spite of Mother Nature's late winter antics.


So, have I converted you yet?  I dare you to pick up a bulb catalogue and not drool.  This is one indulgence you should give into.


All for bulbs and bulbs for all!
Let's Grow!
Ann

Fresh Peaches n' Cream Pie Recipe

Ok kids,
This is the probably the most delicious peach pie recipe you will ever eat!  
As my son Michael would say, it is TASTETASTIC!  
Thank you to my friend Carole Tolbert for sharing this with me.  
My life has never been the same since I tasted it's yumminess!


Fresh Peaches N' Cream Pie


1 pie crust
3-4 medium fresh peaches
3 tablspn cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 pint heavy cream
2tsp almond flavoring

Peeled, halved peaches pit-side up in crust
Sprinkle mixture of cornstarch and sugar
Pour almond flavoring and cream over it
Bake 350 for 1 hr.  Let it "set" for awhile before serving.

Don't Get in Trouble for Concentrating

We've all done it.  

You are in the garage mixing a big batch of weed killer.  You think to yourself, hmmmm, if 6 tablespoons is good than 12 tablespoons should really get the job done!  

Right?  WRONG.

Did you know that when you purchase any concentrate, you automatically enter into a contract with the US Government to follow the labels instructions?  FYI, in Europe, you cannot even buy a concentrate of weed killer.  Why?  Because they know people basically think like you do.  They do not trust us to mix as indicated. 

Sooooo, FOLLOW DIRECTIONS.  Mix that week killer, or any other product exactly as recommended.   

Don't want to see you arrested for concentrating.

:-)

GG

Will I ever grow out of it?

Dear friends,
Everythng I know about working in the yard I learned from my many years in the Horticultural School of Hard Knocks.  Here I majored in Trial and Error Gardening, under the watchful eye of Professor Sunshine. I've taken all the basic classes... Building Stone Walls 101, Intro to Sod Flipping, Advanced Bug Squashing, Hose Wrestling (with a lab), etc.  Like many Midwest gardeners, I've done some things right and others, not so right.  I've worked through heat, cold, humidity, freezing rain, and rasty midwest winds.  At the end of each session, I passed.  Eventually, I even graduated.  For some reason, however, I just can't bring myself to leave campus.

I suppose, I will be one of those "perpetual students", those people who never seem to get sick of school, who never move on.  Why is that?  What is the reason I bother with new perennial varieties?   What is so thoroughly rewarding about pulling tenancious weeds?  Why am I glad there is no end to deadheading?   What would happen to me if I could not get my hands dirty on a regular basis?

I suppose it's because somehow, this all works together to feed my soul.

If you are like me, you don't care about getting dirty.  You're not concerned about your hair, nails or filthy knees.  You have worn out the tips of more gloves than you can possibly count.  Your most precious possession is your dandelion digger.  You appreciate the shade of an old sugar maple.  You can't wait for the lily of the valley to bloom in May.  You can identify "Lambs Ear" with your eyes closed.  A stand of Sycamores in fall can give you reason to pause.  You adore the Ginko's golden carpet.

You are at your very core, very simply and forever, a gardener.

Sincerely,
Ann