The Month is June, The Year is 2021 and Summer is here
“Deep summer is where laziness finds respectability.” Sam Keen
Sam Keen is a wonderful American author and philosopher whose quote about the lazy days of summer made me go through my photo archives. I recall this anonymous reader at the Botanical Garden at the University of Georgia. She demonstrates a perfect combination of summer, laziness and respectability.
How wonderful it is to be out of jail.
I am still on my best behavior around crowds and among strangers, but to greet my friends unmasked and to enjoy our book club without sitting six feet apart is wonderful. I quote my good friend Patricia Collins from Pine Mountain, GA who states “… getting together now is a bit like getting out of jail.” Everyone I hang out with has been double-vaxed, and we couldn’t be happier.
I have long given up trying to understand those who refuse to be vaccinated. I can only control my own actions, and do my best to avoid the freeloaders in life. While we are surely not totally free of the Covid monster, we have made it this far. I know with certainty that my garden made the jail time bearable for me and continues to do so.
We have been fortunate in the United States to have access to vaccines, but others are still waiting. Most of my family and friends in Canada have received the first shot, but await the second. Patience is not an easy master, but at least getting in the garden gives all of us something more to look forward to.
June not only brings respectability, the month is awash in celebration.
Just celebrating summer is reason enough to smile, but who knew that that this month is National Rose Month, National Pollinator Month and National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month. And of course, one of my favorites I love to chat about is Perennial Gardening Month.
Just for fun, here is an idea or two that crossed my mixed-up
mind about these various plant fetes.
National Rose Month: I have been accused of not giving sufficient love to roses. I have been quoted, “Dr. Armitage hates rose gardens!” I suspect I said that, but the second part of my statement seems to be left out. What I actually said was, “I hate rose gardens, but I love roses in the garden.” Let me show you want I mean.
I have some favorites in my garden. One of my favorites is the very old-fashioned ‘Cecile Brunner’ who climbs my trees and house in a single leap. She is beautiful, she is fragrant but she is a thug. I very much enjoy the mini climbers that paint my fence. I have loved the far less thuggish ‘Winner’s Circle’ and my new ‘Highwire Flyer’ is prettying my ugly fence. As for major excitement, get out of my way when I start talking about the new Brindebella series of bush roses. Clean foliage, fragrant flowers, I wish I had stock in the company. This should be the next great rose for North American gardens. ‘Purple Prince’ and ‘Dawn’ both Brindabellas, can be cut to bring in or take to your book club.
I have included these in my section on roses in my Garden App, Armitage’s Great Garden Plants. But you need not listen to me, here is a link about rose month: Rose Month and check out more though the App.
National Pollinator Month: We don’t need a “month” to realize how important pollinators are, but a little kick in the behind does not hurt either. What would our gardeners be without pollinators and hosts for the good guys, like fennel for swallowtails, milkweed for monarchs and almost any flower for bees and butterflies. We don’t need to be a botanist, ecologist or entomologist, just include flowering plants and they shall come.
Some favorites in my garden are butterfly bush, like ‘Pugster Pink’, and calamintha which attracts everything. I love Salvia ‘Rose Marvel’ and my trumpet vine ‘Hot Lips’ (hummingbirds love it, but it is a major thug.)
For those who love to be on the cutting edge of the pollinator movement, the National Wildlife Federation sponsors the Million Pollinator Challenge.
I have included all these plants under pollinators on my App. For more info on Pollinator Month, National Day Calendar, Pollinator Month.
Veggies: Me and a vegetable garden simply don’t have room to coexist in separate spaces. I think of veggies like I think of roses, I love veggies in my garden. I don’t have the room or the desire to take care of a vegetable plot. However, that does not mean I won’t tuck a few tomatoes in here and there, a little fennel and lots of lettuce, even in containers. Truly, other than a pig running around, what else do I need for my BLT?
Veggies can be the conduit to introduce your kids and grandkids to gardening. My grandson Ben does not really eat many veggies (what teenage boy does), but he likes potatoes and loved strawberries. I helped him plant some of both and a few months later, we dug our potatoes. Hallelujah, I may have found a gardening buddy. Look out carrots! Success and excitement go hand in hand, help them with both.
However, one of my favorite organizations, The National Gardening Bureau (NGB) highlights various plants for gardeners, including flowers and houseplants. For veggies, this is the Year of The Green Bean (https://ngb.org/year-of-plants-2021/).. Who knew?
Yes, it is Perennial Gardening Month, how silly to designate a specific time to something every gardener does. I love my trees, my shrubs – hey, wait a minute, aren’t those perennial? – as well as my herbaceous plants. So many to tell you about, but really you simply need to visit.
That way, you can smell the nepeta, touch the lobelia, savor the heucheras and wait on the phlox and asters. The wonderful thing about perennials is that they are always changing, one week they are emerging and a few weeks later, they are spectacular and then a few weeks later they are dead – oh, wait, we don’t want to celebrate that. However, I wish I could find some of those plants that looked so good last year, the gremlins must have got them.
Or maybe the squirrels and chipmunks got them. Those little buggers fatten up on the crocus in the fall, but now Chip and Dale are uprooting things just for fun. It’s like Alvin can’t help himself. My solution – cayenne pepper! I am not sure it works, but it looks good, and what else am I going to do with cayenne pepper?
Ben and his spuds
After going on about all these other plants, I must say I am glad there is no Gardening Month to celebrate Annuals. That would be just as silly as Perennial Gardening Month - I mean who doesn’t want color all season long. I can hardly stand myself with the pleasure I derive from my containers of color, and my impatiens filling the ground with pastel hues. It is June, get them in the garden, fill your containers and plumb up those window boxes.
The Window Boxes, a truce?
A quick follow up about window boxes: From last newsletter, you may recall that Susan was very impatient with my window boxes, so much so that she stuck some Dollar Store silk pansies in them. Remember those photos?
It was just a wee bit embarrassing to explain to my friends that yes, I am a horticulturist, and yes, those are fake. It was even more embarrassing when they liked them. Well I have redone the window boxes this spring and this time, I jammed every square inch with colorful flowers and foliage. We have reached a truce!
I have had a wonderful time walking around the garden on Facebook Live, I do hope a few of you have joined me. My session with Rachel Winkle at her cut flower farm was a lot of fun – cut flowers have just taken off! I think it might be one of the most talked about topics this year. We had a ball talking about what to grow, when to cut, stem length and preserving.
My next Facebook Live will be on June 9th, 7:00 pm at the lovely garden of Ann Frierson. This is truly a spectuacular garden. Hope you can join me.
Make sure you keep up with me on Facebook. This past week has been full of fun, each evening we have been having Primrose Parties in the front yard. Gardeners and non gardeners alike have been joining me at dusk to watch the Primroses surprises us! Check out the video to see the magic!
And visitors:
Scott Beuerlein, the Curator of Horticulture at the Cincinnati zooScott
I have had a few guests recently as Covid has loosened its grip. Scott Beuerlein, the Curator of Horticulture at the Cincinnati Zoo and his wife Michele visited for a few days. Great fun. Recently Wayne Amos, who spent most of his horticultural career beautifying the grounds of the White House visited with his friend and former student extraordinaire, Toni Senory. Wayne was making the capital beautiful from the Carters to the last Bush administration. I am so happy to be unmasked!
Wayne Amos, who spent most of his horticultural career beautifying the grounds of the White House
We have been reasonably busy trying to stay in shape. I am still playing tennis but Susan has started playing pickleball! This is great news; we run around with wooden rackets and whiffle balls and try to beat up on each other and congratulate each other when we do. I recommend this game to all, easy to start, easy to play and much easier on the body than tennis or squash.
A pre-sale!
So much going on, but I will end with very exciting news. One of my most popular books, Armitage’s Garden Perennials (2011) was put out of print many years ago. By popular demand, it was picked up by Echo Point Books and with minor updates is available once again. With literally hundreds of photos, witty remarks and text to learn by, this book will now be in the hands of the next generation of gardeners. I am thrilled. It is also the best complement to the big tome, Herbaceous Perennial Plants, 4th ed. The two are like love and children, you can’t have one without the other.
Go to the website and order now, the book will be available by June 15th.
With the first 25 pre orders, you will receive 2 packets of seeds from Botanical Interest chosen by me! Be sure to get your orders in quickly! Limited quantities available.
Absolutely – join me with “Tales from the Garden” (stories about plants and their names) and “Back to School with Dr A”, where I provide five-minute thoughts about the science of gardening and horticulture. No tests involved.
Books:
Can you believe it - I have been selling quite a few books. As any author knows, a new book is like a new plant, lots of interest when first introduced but it has to have “legs” to remain standing. Fortunately, my books seem to have pretty strong legs. Specialty Cut Flowers was originally written in 1993, and revised in 2003 with my colleague Judy Laushman. It has always been the standard for cut flower growers and did well, but certainly not one of the best sellers in recent years. However, it was lately recommended by the cut flower guru Nicole Pitt of Flower Hill Farm in Boonville, New York (www.flowerhillfarmny.com). She has a horde of followers and her followers have eaten it up.
The original introduction of Herbaceous Perennial Plants appeared in 1989, and has always been well received by industry and garden people. I introduced the 4th edition a few months ago and it too is selling very well. Naked Ladies, Legends and even The Hat book are still selling.
Mind you, it is not easy to have a new book every year, but I am trying. In fact, I hope by the next newsletter I will have a new color book on perennials for you to look at. And after that, a real surprise …
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