Friday, April 26, 2013

Flood, Soy Bean Meal, and Breaking The Rules

Blogging is an interesting activity.  I'm not sure why I post random thoughts about gardening on the Internet.  It is a nice chronology of my gardening activity.  Maybe that's it?

My house in Chicago abuts the North Branch of the Chicago River.  Generally, the water depth is less than one foot and I would characterize it as a creek rather than a river. Last week, though, we had a flood and the water went up about 11 feet in a few hours.  This is only the second time that this has happened in 17 years.  All of my plants were submerged for a few hours. For those interested in what a flood looks like in your backyard, I've attached a picture.

After the water receded, I was left with a dilemma.  About one week prior to the flood, I was working on preparing my beds and I had applied soy bean meal as I had heard it was a good, inexpensive, organic source of nitrogen.  After the flood, I had a dilemma and didn't have a clue as to whether to reapply soy bean meal as a top dress to my plants. Did it wash away?   I decided today to re-apply it.   If it did wash away, at least it was organic.  Maybe fish and ducks like soy beans?  I was surprised that more plants don't die after being under water.

I bought two Phlox stolenifera 'Sherwood Purple' the other day.  What a great looking plant.  I dug two holes and put them in the ground.  I didn't amend the soil with any organic matter or even water them in.  What heresy, right?  There isn't a garden book out there that doesn't talk about amending the soil . . . . . blah, blah, blah.  I don't have great soil here in Chicago.  It is mostly clay.  At the end of the day, though, I didn't feel like getting out the compost, lugging it to the backyard, digging, and then planting. 
Flooded Backyard

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Helleborus x hybrid 'Carousel Strain'

I acquired this plant in 2009 and I think it bloomed the first year and then I never remember seeing it bloom again.  I think part of my problem was that I didn't remove the evergreen leaves in the early winter. 

Because I didn't prune away the leaves, I don't know whether it bloomed in the intervening years, and I didn't see it, or it didn't bloom.  Anyway, here it is blooming in 2013.  The colors are beautiful.  Here is the link to the youtube video from Springhill Nursery that provided me with the information I needed  :-)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvtSGQ0Km_A



Sunday, April 7, 2013

What's Blooming in Chicago April 7

Iris reticulata  'Clairette'


Scilla mischtschenkoana 'Tubergeniana'