Fall Mums

Like so many people, this time of year, when summer is winding down and school is getting started again, I start looking forward to cool, crisp autumn days.  And, because the sizzle of my hot summer containers has started to fizzle, often autumn at my house is heralded by the arrival of a container of mums.  I know I am not alone.  Last year, the garden center I work at sold well over 900 mums in gallon pots alone!  So today I thought I would address a few of the mum questions I get regularly from customers.


Chrysanthemums, or mums for short, have been a prized plant for centuries, in many cultures. The name, from botanic latin roots, means Chrys-golden and anthemum-flower, and the straight species is yellow.  Through cultivation, this plant is available in an almost-endless variety of coloration, size, and shape.  The Chrysanthemum is the official flower of the city of Chicago.  This flower symbolizes optimism, fidelity, the sun, and meditation.  Just looking at it's warm, cheerful flowers helps brighten a chilly autumn day.

The mums you find in garden centers are carefully groomed for several months to produce an
incredible number of blooms on short, sturdy stems.  This involves a careful feeding schedule, and, most importantly, regular "pinching" to keep the plants short, bushy, and to increase the number of stems which will produce blossoms.  Keep in mind that, even if you successfully transplant and winter over a mum in your garden bed, it is unlikely to look the same as it did that first season without lots of grooming throughout the summer.

When selecting a mum to bring home, it is often tempting to grab the one with the biggest display of blossoms.  That would be a mistake.  These plants, while glorious, are in their final show of beauty.  After those blossoms fade, in a week or two, your plant will spend the remainder of the seasoning looking sad and disappointing.  While it is hard to resist that cushion of flowers, it is a much smarter plan to look for a plant with many buds and only a few opened or opening flowers.  While it may start off slow, it will not take long for this plant to start impressing you.  And, with all those buds, it will continue to impress you for weeks to come.  As the flowers fade and turn brown, simply pinch them off and discard them.  The next flower will quickly fill in that empty spot.

Once you have brought purchased your mum and brought it home, you can pot it up, or simply place the pot it came in inside a larger decorative container.  But, whichever you choose, water it well. I recommend not only daily watering, but add to that water a weak mix of fertilizer to help support all the energy that plant will require to keep those blooms going for you.  It can be difficult to not have your mum dry out, so I like to water mine at the same time every day, so as not to forget.  If you have simply put the plant, pot and all, inside another decorative container, remove it.  Completely saturate the soil.  Let the pot drain freely, then set it back in the container you are using. This will keep your plant happy and beautiful for the full length of autumn.

People often ask me if they can plant their mums in their garden once they are done blooming.  That can be a tricky question to answer, for several reasons.  Firstly, some, but not all florist mums are hardy here in Illinois.  The more important factor is a little more complex to explain, but here is a brief overview:  Remember that these plants have been groomed since they began to produce the maximum amount of flower on the minimum amount of plant.  Flowering takes an incredible amount of energy.   Plants create energy via photosynthesis, and store extra energy in the roots to help them winter over, when there are no leaves.  However, often these plants burn through all of their energy in creating their floral display.  In combination with a late planting date, leaving very little time for the roots to establish in a new environment, and there is not guarantee of success in planting these beauties out in your garden bed after they are done flowering.  However, I have sometimes had success doing it, so my short answer is this:  Why not try it?

Confessions of a Pot Grower

 Weed, Bud, MJ, Ganja, Smoke.  Love it or hate it, legal marijuana is making its mark in the U.S.  As laws pertaining to the legal used of marijuana are being passed around the country, the old barriers and paradigms about this plant and its uses are breaking down and being re-invented.  Most of the advocacy behind this movement is focused on the medicinal attributes of this plant, and the wide variety of conditions it is reported to effectively treat.  As a result, I think one of the hottest new trends in gardening may well be the growing interest in Cannabis cultivation for personal medicinal use.  To-date, 23 states in the U.S. have passed laws legalizing the medical marijuana.  These laws vary widely from state to state, but many of them include the right to grow your own, some allowing up to 12 plants in cultivation!

On a recent visit to my home state of Maine, I had the opportunity to interview a certified "Care Giver," a designation which allows her to have in cultivation up to 6 mature marijuana plants per patient, with a maximum of 5 patients. In addition she is allowed to have a substantial amount of immature plant material in other various stages of growth - up to 12 immature female plants per patient, and an unlimited amount of seeds, seedlings, cuttings, stalks and roots.  As you might imagine,cultivation of this much plant material takes a not-insignificant amount of time, effort, and knowledge.

The following interview is with the Care Giver in Maine, who is happy to share her thoughts, but not so eager to share her identity.  Please know that this interview represents one person's views in regards to the legal cultivation of marijuana in one state, Maine.  This information is not intended to guide or instruct anyone, but is written purely as an informational document.  

How does the law work in Maine?

Maine passed a medical marijuana law in 1999, and has had activists all along the way lobbying to make sure Maine is serving the population that needs this, both the patient and the grower.  While it has an established 8 state dispensaries, Maine has  also allowed for private growers called Care Givers that deal directly with patients. A patient is someone with a treatable  condition and has received a prescription from a doctor specifically licensed to write certify patients for use of medical marijuana.  This certification needs to be renewed annually.  They are issued a watermarked certification printed on watermarked paper, so it is not easily counterfeited.  Once they have that certification, they can purchase from the dispensary, grow their own, or search for a care provider.  Some doctors provide business cards of growers at their offices, but they do not recommend specific growers.

Certification can be obtained for a wide number of conditions.  Specifically, the law states that a patient may receive a certification for any "debilitating medical condition." In addition to the named medical conditions one might be familiar with (Cancer, Glaucoma, HIV, etc.), this can include conditions that cause "intractable pain," muscle spasms, seizures, and nausea.  There is currently a push to have OCD added to the list of treatable conditions.

How did you get started growing?

Years ago I owned a greenhouse/nursery business, and had an employee who suffered from chronic back pain.  She was taking approved pharmaceuticals for years, but didn't like the side effects.  After medical marijuana was approved, she purchased it from a state dispensary, but was dissatisfied with the quality of the products she was able to obtain there.  A few years ago, she began to encourage me to consider becoming a Care Giver.  She knew I could produce a high quality product, and she kept after me to consider it.  I finally applied for and received a growers license in 2013, but, by then, I guess she had found another supplier, because I haven't heard from her since.

How do you determine how many plants to grow?  

Well, as a Care Giver, I may have up to 5 patients.  I pay the state $300 per patient, which allows me to have up to 6 plants mature plants in cultivation per patient at any given time. Mature plants mean plants that are coming in to bud.  I can also have a large number of immature plants per patient.  That gives allowance for loss. For example growers need remove any male plants without impacting the supply they require for each patient. It is impossible to tell male from female plants until they reach maturity, so you  must cultivate the plant at least until that stage to identify the plants that must be removed.

Some people cultivate indoors, and can grow year round.  That is more complicated and more expensive, so I choose to only cultivate outdoors, and can only do one crop per year.  

Currently, I have 3 patients.  I had 2 other patients, but one recently passed away from cancer, and the other has started growing their own.  I'd like to find 2 more patients, but need to be discreet because I don't necessarily want everyone in town to know what's growing in my back yard.

Tell me about the growing process?

Well, marijuana plants are dioecious, which means there are male and female plants.  Growers are only interested in the female plants, as it is their buds that are what is harvested.  These days, most plants are cultivated from cuttings, although you can purchase feminized seed.  I purchased some of my starts at a conference I was at this winter.

If you grow from seed, it is important to pay attention as the plants mature and weed out the males before they can pollinate the females.  Last year, I failed to do this, and ended up with a plant that not only was pollinated, but also dropped seeds.  This year, I have some volunteer plants in my garden that came from that, so I need to pay attention in the coming weeks to make sure I remove any males.  The rest of my plants are all females, and should start going into bud in the coming weeks.

Tell me about the harvesting process?

Growing the plants is relatively easy.  Marijuana plants are vigorous growers, and given proper amounts of nutrients and water, grow relatively pest-free.  Harvesting, thought, is the trickiest and most important part of the whole process.  There is a point in the budding process where the female is producing the maximum amount of hormones.  Identifying the perfect time for harvest is an art form that maximizes the effectiveness of your product.  I use a jeweler's loupe with 60x to check the buds during this stage of growth.  I am monitoring the trichomes-the tiny hairs that project from the female bud.  The trichomes begin to exude a sticky resinous substance. As the bud matures, this substance changes in appearance from clear to milky white, to, finally, amber.  Exactly when the bud is harvested during this process greatly impacts the affect the bud will have when used--from a "head high" to a "body stone," so knowing your patient and their needs plays a role in this.  I harvest in the "milky white" phase  When they are ready, I harvest only the buds--only the top 6" of the stems.  

Once the bud has been harvested, it needs to be hung to cure in a dry, shady spot.  Then comes the most tiresome work of all--trimming the bud.  Literally, all the extra plant material needs to be trimmed away, leaving just the bud.  This is very detailed work, and I can only do so much at a time before my hand hurts from holding the scissors.  But a clean bud makes for a high quality product, so I spend the time to do it right.

Tell me about the strains you are growing?

As I already mentioned, timing of harvest impacts the affect obtained when used.  That said, it is important to know that different strains have been selected over time for their ability to treat different conditions.  Some are great for pain relief, and relax the body. Others have more of a head effect, affecting your mental acuity. So I have selected a variety of plants that are specific to needs of the patients I have.  I have about 8 strains this year, including M.O.B. (Mother of Berry, a privately cultivated indica strain not widely available), Train Wreck, G13, AK-47, Blue Hell, Hash plant, and Sour Deisel, as well as some Isleboro crosses.   In the past couple of years, I have grown from purchased seeds and/or cuttings, but in the coming year, I plans to try to winter over some of my own "Train Wreck" cuttings as starts for next spring.

Marijuana has long been an illegal substance in our country the growing and/or use of which was punishable by law.   Why do you think that is changing now? Do you think there is a gap between public acceptance and legal acceptance.  What do you think the future holds for marijuana use in our country?

In part I think this was an inevitable cultural shift. Marijuana had been perfectly legal until a series of laws began to penalize its use in the 1930s..  But facts win out in the end.  I  believe, like many people, that Marijuana is neither addictive nor physically damaging in the way that alcohol abuse can be. As the older generation ages out, younger folks who didn’t grow up with that “Reefer Madness”  image experimented and found it to be not only a pleasant, mellow high but also instrumental in pain relief, seizure disorders, autoimmune conditions and a long list of other chronic complaints. I suspect that veterans returning from the Vietnam War accelerated this trend.


 It appears to me that the country is ready to accept medical marijuana and possibly to decriminalize recreational marijuana as well... in the same pattern as the civil rights movement, women’s rights and gay marriage. Change is inevitable. I expect to see resistance from the alcohol industry, the pharmaceutical industry, even the prison industry since so many are now privately owned and full of people whose only mistake was to have in their possession a “usable” amount of marijuana. Ironically, I’m not a consumer myself — I never cared for the buzz and I have no medical condition to treat. But since there are cannabinoid receptors in every cell of the human body, it would appear that God and nature conspired to give us a plant that would both delight and heal. What’s not to like about that?

More on 930 Rosemary Lane Lake Forest, IL (Pirie Garden)

Yesterday I wrote about my visit to the beautiful gardens at 930 Rosemary, Lake Forest.  These gardens date back almost 100 years, when they were first designed by Rose Standish Nichols.  Today, they have been lovingly restored by the current owners of the property, and through their generosity and the Garden Conservancy Open Days program, opened to the public for a special viewing day.  

I was so taken with my visit that I spent some time researching these gardens (some of the details can be found in my entry from yesterday).  In the process, I came across a couple of archival photos of the garden known as "The White Garden."  It is fascinating to look at the evolution of this garden.

The first photo, below, is dated in the Smithsonian Institute archives as 1914.  While most written records seem to date Rose Standish Nichols work on this garden to 1920, it is not inconceivable that she accomplished some of that work earlier, as the house was built in 1904, and it does seem a little odd that the owners would wait some 16 years before landscaping their property.  In this photo, you can see the two reflecting pools, along with the Chinese statue at the far end of the garden.  Those elements remain exactly the same today, but the overall impact has changed dramatically.  Note the walls of evergreens.  If you look at the shadows, you see the suggestion that there is space to pass in between each of them, creating many "doors" to the garden.  The garden is a simple and elegant green.

The next image was also found in the Smithsonian archives, and is dated in the archives as 2003.  It reflects the renovation of this garden completed by Craig Bergmann (other documentation I've read dates this renovation to have occurred in 1997).  In this version, the pools have remained, but the statue has disappeared.  Pavers have been laid as an additional element between the two pools, and the overall look of the garden has become markedly more "ornamental" with the addition of flowering shrub and ornamental flowers.  Look how the trees have grown--those tall vertical trunks have become their own design element in the garden. The garden "walls" have filled in, in spite of the tall trees, and there are no longer multiple entries to the garden.  The overall effect is definitely more appealing to our modern design sensibilities.  

The final picture, below, is the garden as it appears today.  The statue is back, the pavers are gone, and the overall landscaping look has changed slightly once again, achieving a softer, fuller, more mature look while still remaining true to the original concept of the garden. This garden is truly hidden now, with solid green evergreen walls that give no hint of what lies behind them.  The landscaping at the foot of the statue has evolved to a rich and dramatically impactful design statement, as can be seen in the first photo at the head of this post.  This garden flows naturally, with smooth, curving lines that don't look contrived.  A true respite from the world.

I think it's wonderful that the original design has stood the test of time, and has been preserved for 100 years, while the world outside its walls have gone through some pretty dramatic changes.

I wonder, what is your favorite version of the garden?  

Garden Conservancy Open Days

One of the joys of any gardener is the opportunity to peek into other people's gardens, which is why garden walks are a summer staple for many.  A few years ago, I stumbled into the Garden Conservancy Open Days, completely unaware that they would rock my garden-walk-world forever.  

The Garden Conservancy is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping sustain some of the notable gardens in the US.  They regularly schedule Open Days throughout the US as well, an amazing program that allows people access to incredible private gardens that would otherwise be unavailable to them.

I am always astonished at these gardens, which, with their combination of history and splendid design, capture my imagination.  Today's garden was no exception.  

There were 4 gardens schedule on the walk, but we only made it to two.  The first was pleasant. Lovely.  But the second was a show stopper.  It was originally the home of Mr. & Mrs. John T. Pirie of Lake Forest, IL (Pirie as in Carson, Pirie, Scott).  The home was built by Benjamin Marshall in 1904, and the gardens designed by Rose Standish Nichols.

The property covers 11 acres, so there is plenty of room for puttering around in the garden.  And almost every inch has been properly puttered in--manicured, pampered, and finessed.  We were greeted at the front door by the owner, the aptly named Posy Krehbiel.  A little later, we met the head gardener, with whom I enjoyed a lovely chat (she claimed that her sister was a regular customer at the nursery at which I work, but maybe she was just being nice).  At some point in our ramblings through the gardens, we picked up the tidbit that the garden employs 15 full time gardeners during the summer season.  That's basically 1 per acre, plus a couple of people to do all the containers, and a few spares to cover days off!  Their efforts are evident.  So without further ado, let's dig in and see what all the fuss was about.

At the back edge of the lawn that marched away from the rear of the house stood a tall evergreen hedge, forming an impressive wall.  Following a small footpath around the edge led us into a shady private retreat so well tucked away that it came as a delightful surprise.  It features a pair of matching Chinese statues at either and, at the feet of which are still, dark reflecting pools.  The "walls" of this garden are exquisitely designed, dense layers of a beautiful selection of shade-loving plants.  At the feet of the statues, a lovely collection of Ghost fern, Japanese Painted fern, and 'Jack Frost' Brunnera.  The lateral walls featured Annabelle Hydrangea, variagated Dogwood, and Aruncus, it's frothy white blooms nodding gracefully in the breeze.  I could have spent the whole afternoon just exploring this garden room, but there was so much more to see.

A woodland path set in wide flagstone led us along the edge of a ravine, with occasional garden resting spots featuring beautiful vignettes.  In this one, a dead tree trunk forms an elegant architectural element, and has been set around with a bed full of Prairie Dropseed grass.  The effect was so stunning that a photo cannot begin to capture the actual beauty of the location.

The woodland path meandered around the edges of the path, eventually leading us out to the top northeast corner of the property, where a statue of Diana the Huntress stands cradling several varieties of Clematis in her arms.  It's so lovely that I'm tempted to hunt for a similar collection of Clematis myself. 

 Here is the view Diana the Huntress gets to look at--the perfectly manicured lawn leading, on the left, to the pool and pool house, and, straight ahead, to the house.  An amazing Linden Alle lies just outside the frame of this photo, on the left.  The wide terraced steps are wonderfully flanked by specimens selected for their shape, texture, and color, creating an impeccable view fit for a goddess, even if she is a statue.

Here is a detail from the purple plants flanking the steps.  Many of us are familiar with the lovely foliage of the smokebush.  Most gardeners would cut this plant to the ground at least once every few years, as we are told that is the best way to ensure good color as well as to control the size.  But this is a smoketree--the trunk was a good 6" around, and the tree stood about 18' high.  If you look at the photo of the steps above, you can see this specimen in the upper right of the photo--that will give you and idea of the scale of this planting.

The pool house, located in the back northeast corner of the property, featured formal knot gardens at either end.  This photo is from the south end of the pool house.  The north end was similar, but in an unusual move, the espalier were some very impressive Ginko biloba.  Both of these formal knot gardens were completely surrounded by tall yew hedges, and therefore create an intimate and private setting.

The pool house, framed by a lucky grouping of hollyhocks that suited themselves to photo ops.

As you come back up to the east side of the house, you find yourself in a fabulous cutting garden.  The perennial border was about 5'-6' across, tightly planted.  This is where I met up with the head gardener, who told me that most of it is planted fresh from plugs each year.  She had a particularly gorgeous Mallow called "Primley Blue," for which I will launch a dedicated and devoted search to include in my own garden next summer.

Oh, look, it's the Gardeners House.  And the front door has a cute little trowel as a door knocker.  I wonder if they are hiring?  What a beautiful place to work--I can't imagine ever having a bad day in this setting, although I suppose into every garden a little rain must fall.  But if you have a gardener's house into which you may retreat during the cloudburst, who cares!?!  

This garden was truly a delight.  I took far more pictures than I can decently share in a single blog post, so I may have to revisit this topic another time so that I can share the rest.  In the meantime, it's time to get back to reality and my own little suburban garden.  But this visit was a welcome respite from my mid-summer garden blues.

Fine Gardening Magazine Feature!

Today I'm posting a blog post of a blog post.  A month or so ago, I submitted a photo of my garden to Fine Gardening magazine in response to a "casting call" on their Facebook page, looking for gardens to feature in their blog.  I didn't really expect to hear anything back, but a few days later, I got an email from them requesting more photos and more information about me and my garden.  I scrambled to find some good pictures.  Funny, it turns out that I take WAY more photos of other people's gardens than I do of my own.  I generally snap photos for inspiration, not for documentation.  And, the idea of taking photos in July was not a thrilling prospect--my garden had just been cut back hard and was in "recovery mode" from it's June splendor.  Not looking it's best.  But with a little searching, I did come up with a handful of photos and sent them in, along with some information about me and my gardening philosophy.

 I was tickled pink that Fine Gardening notified me last week that my garden was being featured this week!  One could be tempted to let one's head swell if their garden were featured as Fine Gardening Magazine's Garden of the Day.  But that will never happen, as all I need to do is walk out into my yard and see how much work I still have ahead of me to build the garden I dream of having.  In the meantime, though, a little encouragement never hurts!!

Click on this link to go to the Fine Gardening Magazine blog:  Kirstin's Young "From Scratch" Garden in Illinois

Garden Clubs and Monarch Eggs

As we approach mid-July here in Northwest Illinois, summer is going full swing, even if the cooler-than-normal temperatures have us all scratching our heads.  I don't mind it at all, though!  Since I work outside all day, every day, the cooler temperatures have made me a happy gardener.  And the regular overnight rains have kept all my plants watered on a very convenient schedule.  My containers have never been perkier in mid-July!

Speaking of which, last night I had the opportunity to go and speak to the Rolling Meadows Garden Club about creating unique and interesting combo planters.  As always, I find the experience of speaking to a garden club so rewarding, because the learning process is nearly always a two-way street.  They learned about design principals behind planting combo pots, and I learned something interesting from them as well.

There are a couple of women (at least--there are probably more, but I only spoke to 2 ) who are very interested in saving the Monarch, and have taken on an endeavor of collecting the Monarch eggs on bits of milkweed leaves, hatching them, and caring for them until they are full-grown butterflies, ready to be released.  To-date this year they report that they have released well over 200 adult butterflies.  That is pretty exciting news!

I  have a nice patch of Asclepias syriaca in front of my garage (and a smaller patch of Aclepias tuberosa in another bed).  The syriaca in years past has yielded caterpillars which I have helped my son raise and release.  But last year, we never saw a single caterpillar, in spite of seeing eggs.  One of the women last night told me that only 1% of the eggs ever hatch, and most are eaten by ants.  Since we live in Antopolis, the center of the ant universe, I instantly recognized our problem.  If I ever wanted to see a caterpillar, chances are I'd have to bring the eggs in and try my hand at hatching them myself.  She explained the process:  Cut the section of leaf with the egg on it, and place it on a moist paper towel in a container, egg-side up.  Check regularly over the next 7-10 days.  The eggs will start to darken shortly before hatching.  Place a fresh milkweek leaf in the container daily as soon as the eggs begin to darken, to ensure that the newly hatched caterpillars can find food right away.



I woke up earlier than usual this morning, and thought I'd go ahead and take advantage of my extra half-hour to check out my milkweed plants.  I hit paydirt almost immediately.  I'm not SURE they are all butterfly eggs, but we're going to give it a try and see what happens!

In other news, I've begun getting calls from garden clubs across Northwest Illinois to book me for the coming club seasons.  I've heard from 3 clubs in the past week or so--Antioch, Inverness, and Des Plaines.  Each of them booked a different program.  Looking forward to filling up my cold-weather months with these programs.  Because what's the only thing better than gardening itself?  Why, talking about gardening, of course!

Native Gardening is Hot, Hot, Hot!

What's the latest hot trend in gardening?  These days, it's all about getting back to our roots and selecting native plants.  The Perennial Plant Association selected a native grass as their 2014 perennial of the year:  Panicum virginatum 'Northwind', also known as Northwind Switch Grass.

Why go native?  There are so many great reasons! To begin with, it just makes sense that plants that are adapted to the climate and soil will thrive in our gardens. Instead of pouring money  into plants that aren't meant to survive here, spending loads of time coddling these fussy strangers along and trying to convince them that they like it here, we can look to the beautiful and often overlooked plants that have set their roots here for many generations-they are more cost and time efficient.  

All Asclepias species are hosts to Monarch Caterpillars

Perhaps you are a great gardener, with a green thumb and a micro-climate, who is able to successfully grow plants not native to our region.  There are still very important reasons you should consider incorporating at least some natives in your garden beds.  Many species rely on these plants in order to eat and survive!!  Perhaps you've heard the plight of the Monarch butterfly, and the plea to plant milkweed.  Milkweed is the only plant that the caterpillars of the Monarch can eat.  They cannot survive on any other plant.  And the Monarch is the rule rather than the exception.  Many of the other butterflies rely on specific plants as a food source, and if that food source disappears, so will the butterflies.  They cannot adapt.  They cannot change their digestive system to suit the plants that WE think they should.  And, as our land is continually developed, their ecosystems, with the natural plants they rely on, are quickly being replaced with sod and non-native species.  Even incorporating a small, diverse selection of native plants into your landscape can provide an oasis for these species which they desperately need!

There is a lot of press out there right now about butterflies and bees.  Attracting pollinators to your yard is a must-do these days.  Many catalogs and greenhouses offer lists of  plants to attract bees and butterflies to your yard.  And it is a wonderful endeavor, to create a habitat for these creatures.  But before you set off to plant up your butterfly plot, double check that the majority of those plants are native to your area.  Planting lovely flowers will certainly attract bees and butterflies.  But if you wish to keep them in your yard, if you wish to truly create a habitat that will invite them to come and stay, those native plants are your key to success!!

Other

More Reading:  Illinois Extension Article on Butterfly Gardens