Mumsy's Romantic Garden Advice

[aoxa]

I'm with you guys. I hate that sort of thing as well. I hope that's not what you took from my suggestion.

My neighbour has planted the most awkward flower garden I have ever seen. It looks like a raised veggie garden.. but is a flower garden.. generic.. boring, odd.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I was just joking when I was talking about "fancy pants" Latin names...

I agree we all need to be talking about the same thing.


Quote: This is what we call "Black Eyed Susan" also.

 

[lalaland]

Still thinking through a backdrop for that fence.

After reading about the ivy (which I love by the way) I am thinking that I probably don't want to use what's now considered invasive (unless y'all can convince me...I really do like the look and it would definitely do the job...). I also know that it is poisonous at least to goats but I'm hoping that a goat would have better sense than to pig-out on something like that.)And I

I think you are looking for two things: short term and long term. So, what about hops for short term? it is a perennial, it grows in zone 3 so you would be fine, and you can often find some from another gardner for free. comes in a lot of varieties. It is a rapid grower, and covers chain link fast.

It won't really help a heck of a lot in winter, but..that gets you to long term: planting evergreens and woody bushes.

Also what about a raspberry hedge? think layered, you could do hops or wild clematis on the fence itself, bushes, evergreens, raspberries, forsythia, in front of the vines on the fence. OH trumpet vine too.

Maybe start with the fast growers, plant the longer term guys like grape vines, trumpet vines, etc.....at the same time.

You could do a section at a time as your $ allows....

And I love the climbing roses Mumsy has... are you able to plant on the street side of the fence? you could protect stuff from goats on that side and have goat resistent (really is there such a thing?) on the inside.

 

[MumsyII]

I think you are looking for two things: short term and long term. So, what about hops for short term? it is a perennial, it grows in zone 3 so you would be fine, and you can often find some from another gardner for free. comes in a lot of varieties. It is a rapid grower, and covers chain link fast.

It won't really help a heck of a lot in winter, but..that gets you to long term: planting evergreens and woody bushes.

Also what about a raspberry hedge? think layered, you could do hops or wild clematis on the fence itself, bushes, evergreens, raspberries, forsythia, in front of the vines on the fence. OH trumpet vine too.

Maybe start with the fast growers, plant the longer term guys like grape vines, trumpet vines, etc.....at the same time.

You could do a section at a time as your $ allows....

And I love the climbing roses Mumsy has... are you able to plant on the street side of the fence? you could protect stuff from goats on that side and have goat resistent (really is there such a thing?) on the inside.

I love all of these suggestions. There are fast growing roses in the rambler family. Hard to find but not impossible. They grow up and out in three years. The one covering my cherry tree is the size of a garage. There are others that spread in large mounds. Deer can graze them to their hearts content but it just prunes the rose and it keeps going. Often you need to find a back yard rose nursery but that can be a needle in a haystack. There are online catalogs for old rose varieties. I'm talking about hardy ones that have been around for hundreds of years.


Evangeline and New Dawn growing together with raspberries.



Evangeline


Complicata on an old arch. That is my barn yard and orchard you can get a peak of through the gate.

Paul Ricault

Complicata in full boom reminds me of giant pink butterflys fluttering in the sun. I love it. Not everyone likes single roses though.


My daughter Shadow loves Constance best. This is called an English rose. Intensly fragrant.


Kiftsgate. Will cover a building.

I can go on about rambling roses.

Add to the perennial vine/shrub list:

Virginia Creeper genus Parthenocissus

Bitter Sweet Celastrus genus (sometimes goes by 'Oriental Bittersweet')

Varigated Kiwi actinidia kolomikta

Regular Kiwi

 

[armorfirelady]

Wow I have never heard or Sean a climbing hydrangea bush. Now that would be perfect for my plans next year. I need to do some research to see if they will grow here. We have hydrangeas in our area so I am guessing the climbing would work to.

Mumsy I was at Home Depot with my friend who has an amazing green thumb. We were looking at the roses that were half off and both remarked they don't have any fragrance anymore. Even my climbing roses have very little. The one rose I have that does smell wonderful I got from a friend years ago. He took it from his parents gardens. Theirs were very old.

I have a question. I have a lot of sunflowers growing. Different varieties. I want to dry them and keep them over the winter to feed the flock. Now any veggies I have grown for them I freeze. Can I freeze the sunflowers? Or should I just hang them to dry and feed out as needed? My basement tends to be damp even with a dehumidifier but I could hang them near the furnace vent ?

 

[MumsyII]

A few posts back, someone asked about plant identification books I could suggest. I'll be working on that today. Off the top of my head any paper back called The Wild Flower Field guide by the Audubon. I have them on birds, mushrooms, trees, flowers, and minerals. Try to find one that concentrates on your region.

 

[armorfirelady]

Thanks Mumsy for the book suggestion I will see what I can find.

Leah's mom this time of year our lowes and Home Depots have perennial flowers, bushes and roses half off or more. I like to walk around the clearance racks looking for some new plants for my yard this time of year. They normally have tags that explain them attached or you can scan the barcode thing with your smart phone to get more info.

I got Burberry bushes for $5 each. Normally price was $23 !!! They are large to. Every pay day I put some $$ aside to get some new plants. Even if they have died back some they will grow next year. It's the cheapest way (except free ones from friends and family) that I have found to get different varieties in my yard. You just need to water them well till they get established. I am hopefull they put the blueberry plants on clearance so also

 

[lalaland]

Mumsy, your roses could make a girl swoon! just beautiful. Here, I need a zone 3, or with global warming perhaps a 4. IT leaves out lots of gorgeous roses.

If anyone is shopping for roses, try to remember to try to see if they have any scent - as Mumsy said, its the old roses that have the scent.

If you have a farmers market, that can be a good place to get old roses. or watch for your local garden club plant sales - and when you are there, ask! lots of times people have old roses that are suckering out and are happy to share.

Also, there are shrub roses which tend to be highly scented. Not as delicate as Mumsy's in appearance, but tougher than nails re weather/goats/deer, etc.

I am lucky to have a huge flea market near me that almost always has stuff people have dug out of their gardens. I got two old farmstead roses that way, and some varieties of monarda/bee balm/bergamot (sorry I don't know the latin names). When the lunch ladies at the local elementary school wanted to go to a lunch lady conference, they had a garage sale and one of them brought in a bunch of north star cherry trees - I'm getting my first signficant crop this year. tiny tart cherries, a lot of work, but.....

I'm like Mumsy, I really enjoy the small nursery garden stores - such interesting possibilities, lots of choices, and people who know what they are talking about. Plus, shopping local supports your own community where as big box stores don't. Having said that, I do keep an eye out this time of year for the "garden center" clearances at big boxes. One problem I have noticed is that since they are national chains, they get in lots of plants and trees and shrubs that won't grow in the area, only in parts of the us.

 

[lalaland]

earlier this year, I was complaining about the unusual amount of rain that was keeping me from planting my garden for literally weeks. Look what it did to my chives! I've never seen this before - the pic shows a spent chive blossom still on the chive stem where the seeds, instead of falling to the ground, have sprouted and are growing! The whole plant is covered with little babies where there were blooms.

I am going to plant each blossom in a small pot, and see if I can have some pots of chives for kitchen gardens to give as gifts this december - nothing like having a little green herb in the dead of winter when there is nothing but snow outside.

 

[aoxa]

Mumsy, your roses could make a girl swoon! just beautiful. Here, I need a zone 3, or with global warming perhaps a 4. IT leaves out lots of gorgeous roses.

Wow, you are way colder than us! Surprising! We are between zones 5a and 5b.