Marlys' Gardens ~ What's Happening

What's Happening

"Show me your garden and I will tell you who you are"

This is a place to focus on what's currently happening in the gardens. I want to share fun seasonal garden stories & events with you. Josh is going to archive the posting as seasons evolve. We hope you will embrace it with a fun-filled spirit.

February 2006

When it's freezing cold outdoors what do real gardeners do in Iowa??? Good Question - huh! I suppose every gardener has his or her own ways of coping with not being able to actually dig in the dirt all winter-long. For me & other people who suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affect Disorder) days without sunshine are just a bummer. I fight feelings of sadness & loneliness. Each fall I consider moving to a sunshine state just ever so briefly, as my family is deeply rooted in Iowa. Ron & I use the hot tub for hydro-therapy to relax & fight winter chills. We find projects to keep us motivated so that we don't just hibernate all winter. And of course, we dream of spring & the next gardening season.

The garden catalogs that arrive in our mailbox are life savers for me. Each time a new one comes I get so excited & a bit of joy grows in my heart. I can't wait to scour it's pages. I look at them over & over studying every detail. I learn all about new plants & make long lists of plants I want to try to grow. Most of the time I end up not ever ordering them as I am so out of space but sometimes I just can't resist. I also tell myself that Sunny Slopes Nursery (one of my favorites near here) will have all the newest things in spring & I can see them before I buy them. I have had several unhappy experiences with mail order live plants over the years.

Three favorite catalogs are Plant Delights, Khlem's Song Sparrow Farm, & Shady Oaks Hostas. I love Wayside Gardens catalog also but have never actually ordered anything from them. My mom has, though, so I get her catalog when she is done with it. Some of the plants they sent to her were very small for the money. Brecks Bulbs used to put out a spectacular catalog that I always couldn't wait until it got here. And I ordered lots of stuff from them too. But in the last couple years they have gone to a less expensive catalog version which I think was a big mistake. Nothing sells like a perfect picture. A new garden friend turned me onto Oakes Daylilies last year. I love their catalog too. I didn't think I really liked daylilies that much before but now I do.

Nursery websites are really a wonderful oasis to visit. BUT!!! There's nothing quite like curling up in your favorite chair with a blanket and a nice cup of hot tea and escaping into beautiful gardening catalogs and books and magazines.

November 04 I joined the Knoxville Federated Garden Club. It is always a bright spot in each month for me. We hold monthly meetings & have lots of other projects on the yearly agenda. We go on lots of garden tours during the gardening season. We are a pretty relaxed group & have a really good time.

We sponsor the Bessie Spaur Butterfly Garden which is located on the south lawn of the Knoxville Area Hospital, Knoxville, Iowa. "The garden was created to honor Bessie Spaur, longtime Knoxville resident and an avid gardener. The unique natural setting combined with community-maintained garden plots provides food for both butterflies and wildlife. The 10 acre garden draws various types of butterflies and other interesting insects. A beautiful gazebo marks the edge of the garden." Many weddings are being held in the garden gazebo / patio area. It is a fun & refreshing spot to visit. I feel proud to be involved in such a worthwhile place.

In recent years the club hosts a spring Garden Gala in early April. I always went to it even before I became a member. It is very nicely done, a real class act. I worked on getting the vendors for the event last year & I'm doing it again this year. That gives me lots to do on cold winter evenings.

Wow! It's February 1st all ready! And it was above freezing again today. January was so mild. Many days the temperatures were above 40 degrees & some days in the 50s & one day it was just over 60 degrees. I know there was one or two cold days. It only snowed once & promptly melted the next day or so. It rained, a gentle rain all day last Saturday. The rain was wonderful. The gardens were so dry.

Yesterday, January 31, 2006 I planted 3 huge Globe Master allium bulbs. The ground wasn't frozen at all. I just used my usual little garden shovel to dig. I find it hard to believe I was out planting bulbs in Iowa on January 31. It was a new experience for me.

My friend Connie & I had not seen each other for months. With working full-time, & the holidays, & home, & family, & grandkids it is some times difficult to find time to sneak away & play. Connie's birthday is February 18th & we hadn't gotten together over the holidays at all. So we made plans to goof-off together last Saturday (the rainy day).

We visited De Bloemen Hof (Dutch for flowers court / German for De Bloemen yard). I'm not Dutch! & I don't speak German. It is a very small family owned & operated back yard nursery in Pella. There were left-over fall bulbs. I couldn't resist the Globe Master allium 1/2 price. I got three in a small paper sack.

We ventured on over to their next building, housing collectibles & antiques. This was our 'Girl's Day Out'. Connie & I were meandering & chatting, intermittently a whiff of some awful smell would engulf my olfactory senses. Simply stated, I smelled something awful. P-U! I thought someone was leaking those silent but lethal farts. I could hardly keep from gagging & I was trying to keep a good distance between Connie & myself. Then it hit me! It was those giant allium bulbs that were stinking to high heaven! What a good laugh!

Yesterday the gardens were nonstop motion - commotion. Birds were twittering at every glance. The feeders were filled early morning, once obvious anticipation of changing weather was so pronounced. I didn't have to listen to the weather report to know snow was on the way.

Sure enough, this morning - (Feb 7) - it's freezing, glistening, bright-white outdoors.

Hope is presented with the darkest green, green-green of two holly bushes. What an oasis of hope avails in their heavy substance, waxy, evergreen leaves. The architectural structure with sharp sticking points is beauty in the eye of the beholder. And their tiny, little fruits must be a delight for winged creatures visiting the gardens.

It was fascinating, the first time I was up-close & personal with holly bushes. My previous acquaintance with holly had been the usual Christmas holiday decor. I remember so clearly, meeting my very first, hugely vivacious, perfect specimen, holly bush; a glowing testament of good health, good energy, & good cheer. It was during a late winter, 'Get Out of Iowa' visit with my relatives in Arkansas. Their spring comes 4 - 6 weeks before Iowa daffodils blossom.

Holly seems to grow everywhere down there even right out in their blazing hot-hot sun. It is pruned & used just as spirea shrubs are utilized in Iowa. I was amazed. It was love at first sight for me. I knew I would be trying to grow it back home, praying for survival of Iowa winter-cold. It's been a joy in my zone 5a gardens but has stayed small, yet a perfect, miniature of zone 7b holly.

I hate the weed seed from bird-feeders that germinate in the spring gardens. They really aren't that difficult to pull, I just resent the time it takes to do it. I always feel so pressured in spring, like I'll never get everything done. I know 'Preen' will help too but I don't really like to purposely add to my work-list. Yet, every winter I need the birds to assure me, there is life out there in the winter gardens.

I'm one of those seasonal bird-feeder people. In winter I derive great pleasures observing the birds at feeders out in the gardens. I hang a suet feeder & a finch feeder just outside our kitchen window. I also put out mixed seed & sunflower seed in two other feeders within view.

One snowy day, last winter, my grand daughter & I enjoyed an afternoon watching the birds. She sat on the kitchen counter with her little feet in the sink so she could see good. She said, "Nana, I've never seen birds so up-close before". I stood beside her & we talked all about what kind of bird each one was, & the difference between the woodpeckers, & which kind of food each birds like the best. It was a great time. And to really make it a remarkable day, we saw a Bluebird all puffed up on a branch in the walnut tree. He glistened & glimmered against winter's stark whiteness. We were so excited! When Marlee said there was a blue bird I expected a big Blue Jay but no, it was really an Eastern Blue Bird. He didn't look very happy though.

Seeing life out in the gardens lifts my spirit just as gardening grows the spirit. I feed the birds as much for my own well-being as for theirs. One winter day a small flock of the timid Cedar Wax-Wings converged in my dwarf Sergeant Crab tree. They delightfully devoured every dried & crinkled miniature fruit. I happened to be watching at just the right time & got to see it all. There are often Cedar Wax Wings around our ponds during spring & summer. They love to hide in the Birch tree on the island that parts the stream. They are definitely not boastful birds. Getting to see them is a rare treat.

All the usual Iowa winter birds visit our feeders. The vivacious Black-capped Chickadees always enthusiastically announce their presence with scolding tones. Occasionally we see a gray Tufted Titmouse. Blue Jays seem to prefer early mornings in the garden. I see them cleaning up under the feeder that hangs on the fence. I think they are too large (12") to be comfortable on our small feeder. Dark-Eyed Juncos (known as the snowbird) & White-Breasted Nuthatches are always a familiar sight in the winter gardens. The Nuthatch like the suet feeder I provide for woodpeckers.

Cardinals, of course, are a favorite sighting. At dusk, they linger, savoring that time in the gardens when all other birds have vacated for the day. The demure female Cardinals are delightful. Their brilliant co-parts seem to always be protectively watching over them.

Of course, the Gold Finch (Iowa's State Bird) put on a quarrelsome show, hissing & flittering & arguing on the Niger seed tube feeder. It amazes me how blah their color becomes during winter. It makes it difficult to believe how brilliantly yellow they shine in summer. Nature's wonders never cease to amaze me.

Watching the woodpeckers has sparked my curiosity as to who's - who. The really big (13") noisy Northern Flicker (known by over 100 different names) with the brilliant red splotch on his head, is so exciting to see so close-up. He has very sharp eye-sight so I have to stand very still on my side of the window to watch him. Downy Woodpeckers are a familiar visitor. And I've seen & learned about the Hairy Woodpecker too. He closely resemble the downies but is robin-sized with a much stouter, heavier beak than the downies. I think I've also seen the Red-Bellied Woodpecker & maybe a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker on occasion. I don't see the favorite Red-Headed Woodpeckers during the cold winter months. In fact, they don't visit our gardens much. We see them across the road fluttering around in the protected government habit. There's plenty of dead & decaying trees over there to be pecked on.

left to right - Pileated woodpecker, yellow-bellied sapsucker, northern flicker, red-bellied woodpecker, red-headed woodpecker, Lewis's woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, downy woodpecker

I bought "The Backyard Bird-Lover's Guide" by Jan Mahnken. I enjoy investigating & learning about all the birds that entertain & inspire me in the winter gardens. Ron has become interested in watching & feeding the birds too. Often one of us is calling for the other to "come-quick", to see who's out in the gardens. It's a good thing!

Drawings in this article - Illustrations by Jeffrey C. Domm
published - "The Backyard Bird-Lover's Guide" 1998 Storey Communications, Inc.

"Attracting BIRDS to Your Backyard" - 536 Ways to Turn Your Yard and Garden into a Haven for your Favorite Birds; Author - Sally Roth; Rodale Press, Inc.

"The Backyard Birdhouse Book" Building Nestboxes and Creating Natural Habitats; Authors - Rene' and Christyna M. Laubach; Storey Books

"The Backyard Bird Protection Kit" Expert ways to outwit backyard bandits; by the editors of Rodale Garden Books; by Rodale Inc.

I found an interesting educational publication on the ISU County Extension Service website / "Iowa Winter Birds"

Roses (Rosa) are usually thought of as symbols of love, passion, innocence, and friendship. However, the term sub rosa means silence. A rose hanging from the ceiling reminded those present that their conversations must not be repeated. The rose symbol also was placed over church confessional boxes in the late 1500s.

Sow seeds of broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower indoors in later February for April planting

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