Camassia

Throughout Ault Park’s double border gardens Camassia is about to bloom. Their large clumps of tall, grass-like leaves in shades of pale green to darker green are very welcoming in Cincinnati where our winters can be quite grey and gloomy.

Yesterday morning, after pulling myself away from the woodland shade garden, I was entranced with these flowers on the verge of blooming. A few are starting to bloom at the base of the plant’s central stalk and soon there will be a soft pale blue to violet swath of color, like a soft blue haze above the garden beds.

On Sunday, when I was talking with a few of my fellow gardeners about adding spring flowering bulbs to the adopt-a-plot area for a punch of color, these beauties caught our eyes. I asked Bennett, one of my go-to garden gurus, if he thought these would be a nice addition the ‘prairie garden' I am working on behind the adopt-a-plot gardens. His answer was one only a gardener could give and gardener could love, ‘Oh that would be hot!’ So true!

Camassia blooms for two to three weeks in mid- to late spring. It is attractive to a number of insects, re-seeds itself and is fairly long-lived.

It is native to North America and in the Northwest was a traditional food for Native Americans who roasted the roots or boiled them to create a sweet treat.

They prefer moist, open habits and will tolerate shade when it is a bit drier.

According to the Pacific Bulb Society, “What family they belong in has been subject to revision. They have been considered in the Liliaceae family, the Hyacinthaceae family and lately with DNA studies have been assigned to Agavaceae or Asparagaceae."

The Ohio Buckeye

The Buckeye, as you very well may know, is the official tree of Ohio. Thank you to The Ohio State University for making this fact known to much of the country. I sure do not know the state tree if Idaho or Louisiana. Do you? Primarily an understory tree, this native Midwest tree can reach 60 tall when grown unobstructed. In the early spring, such as now, the woods are full of the buckeye’s leaf buds opening. Are you new to dendrology? This tree is an easy ID- just look at those young leaves and buds.

Of all the trees native to Ohio and available for the home landscape this is not one of my favorites. Now, as I scout for signs if spring in the woods I am taken with this tree. However, I think it is a bit of weedy, raggedy tree. Gasp! Am I allowed to say that about my own state tree?As part of the native landscape I love it. As part of a woodland planting such as in a park, it is wonderful. As a specimen tree all on its own, it is not on the top of my wish list.

The Buckeye is a member of the Horsechestnut Family. Its botanical name is Aesculus, the name of the mythological Greek god of medicine. The German botanist Willdenow named the Ohio variety Aesculus glabra. The tree’s common name, “Buckeye” comes from Native Americans who thought the seeds of the tree looked much like a buck’s eye (that’s a male deer to my city friends).

Lost in the autumn woods with nothing to eat? Never fear, the Buckeye is here… Native Americans and early settlers would roast, peel and mash the buckeye nut, into a nutritional meal.

They are Here!

What a treat to arrive home to find that my 36 succulents arrived in perfect condition. On a very rare occasion I order clothes online. Most often if there is a package for me at the house it's books.  Now that I think of it, this may be the first time I have ever ordered plants.  

I was researching plant companies for work and came across The Succulent Source. They were extremely pleasant on the phone, they have great prices and the size of the plants is ideal. Thirty-six succulents in 2" pots is exactly what I need for the raised rock garden at the park. The tiny pots will make it far easier to get the plants to the park and it will be a breeze fitting the baby plants into the smaller planting areas with the garden.
 

The days are getting warmer and the nights, for at least this week, are very comfortable. Once the plants are acclimated- they are settling in nicely in the garden room-  I will be ready to install them at the park.

Just one more garden, please.

To say I covet this new garden space may be a bit strong, but I do wish it was my space to tend. The large area is part of the condo’s property. It sits at the far end, on the other side of the parking lot. Right now it is grass, invasives and a chain link fence. When I look at it I see naturalizing wildflowers and bulbs, native trees and shrubs, a vine covered arbor and a few benches to sit and while away an hour. I would like to add some privacy planting along the fence to block the view of said offence as well as give our neighbors a bit of screening.

There is a water spigot at the back corner of the lot, I am not sure if it works or not, though. A few desirable mature trees set a nice foundation of shade and the new garden space adjoins a very quiet, private road. All-in-all, the bones are good and it would be a lovely feature of the property once it is re-designed.

My dad, who also lives in the building, has invited me to join the landscaping committee. I hope that by being part of this fine group and residing in the building more than a month (I am a newbie here) I can earn the trust of the committee and residents and be given the green light to garden. I would pay for the plants myself, at least to get things moving so residents can see what the space has the potential to become. Then, if over time interest in a more formal garden setting takes root, perhaps the building can invest in the arbor and understory trees.

A Very Short Garden Jaunt

I wanted to share photos of some of the new pots I planted in the Garden Room, (Garden Room, that will be the name of the enclosed balcony), but it has been two days and they are still not growing. I am being a bit silly. I blame this crazy winter-spring tango we have going on here. Warm and sunny one day, cold, dark and snowing the next. Really, this has to stop.... I - NEED- SPRING!!

So I went out to find spring and start once again the wildly popular, (well, I hope it is popular) regular installment- A Very Short Garden Jaunt in which I brave the mean streets of Hyde Park, armed only with a camera and $5, in case I need coffee or a cookie, and find fabulous gardens to share with you.

Today, the pickings were a bit slim. I did mention the winter-spring tango, yes?  But I did find some nice blooms and it did feel good to venture out again after work, to take in a quiet stroll before dinner.

Cheers!

The Glass Garden

We moved across the street and to the fifth floor! I am still a landless gardener but now I have a sunny home and a roomy balcony to garden. Do I say I am gardening in the sky? Maybe if we were on the 20th floor I could say that. For now we will simply say balcony gardening. The space is 7'.5" x 21' and is glassed-in. The building is heated quite well so by simply opening the two patio doors the area stays rather warm. I doubt it will drop bellow 30 but how cold it gets out there I still do not know. I have to get a thermometer to know for certain. And that may be the most important thing to do before we dig in and plant the glass room. Can I install tropical plants or will it get too cold for them? Do we plant perennials and annuals for a burst of color in the spring and summer and lush green foliage year-round?

Right now the room is a hot mess. I am still deciding what stays and what goes; we have a few too many tables and certainly not enough planters! We will update the heavy green wood blinds with lighter, bamboo blinds, paint the walls and install a deck floor. We are also getting some cushions for the metal bench and a dining table and chairs.

While we waited to close on this condo, this was the room I would daydream about. I love how it overlooks the green space and is quiet. We have trees, a great view of the sky and many, many birds about. It is a lot like being in a treehouse.

PS I am not showing you the end with the mess!!

Putting Down Roots

We are pretty much settled into the condo and I love the view from the new office. Darryl and I have a room just for our desks (yeah!). I have all my garden books in here with me and next to my chair is a wall of glass overlooking the green space behind the building. As we are on the fifth floor I have a bird’s eye view of the trees; the Sycamore really stands out against the other trees and there is a sweeping view of the sky. From my desk I can watch the clouds roll in and out. In the morning the sun illuminates the woods and sky and in the evening we are treated to some pretty remarkable sunsets.

The light in our new place still surprises me. Huge walls of glass and an enclosed balcony invite the sun and views of the outdoors into each room. I am certain our houseplants are breathing a sigh of relief. As much as I loved my old condo across the street, it was dark and not the best home for plants. The courtyard garden was spectacular and we could enjoy the gardens and sounds of the fountain as we sat on the patio, but it was dark and at the end of the day I had to check my garden life at the door; plants simply did not thrive in the house or on the balcony.

I am still officially a landless gardener. But with all the light and the yet to be planted sun room my garden life has expanded greatly.

Sacred Soil

"Sacred Soil," she spoke those words a few times this evening; our guest speaker for the Greater Cincinnati Master Gardeners Association. I will share more about her in the next post- she was fabulous!  During her presentation about four season vegetable growing I kept repeating her words in my mind - Sacred Soil, Sacred Soil... For her, the sacred soil was in which and from which her vegetable seeds grew to become the food she harvested. The sacred soil nourished her body. I do not grow veggies, my gardens are ornamental in nature but the truth of the sacred soil still applies. The plants that grow from my sacred soil nourish my soul and put me in a good mood. Well, most of the time. ha!

No one gardens because we have to, we garden because we want to. Edibles or ornamentals we garden because we have a love for plants, working with nature, creating something beautiful or growing healthy food. Whatever drives our passion for gardening it all starts with the sacred soil.

Admittedly, as of late there has been very little gardening in my garden life. The annual succulents I am trying to over winter in the house are not too pleased with me right now and the weather is still keeping me at bay from my gardens at the park.  However, I have been going to the park several times a week to enjoy the lovely grounds and take photos as part of a re-launch of A Year in the Park. And there has been a lot of daydreaming and planning for what I will do this year with my sacred soil at the park.