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Growing native Bee Balm

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Bee Balm Monarda Didyma

Description:

Striking red flowers that look like Jesters’ hats and last for weeks give this plant a slightly comical air. Its stem is square (characteristic of plants in the mint family) and its leaves are dark green, sometimes flushed with dark red. Quickly growing into a large, tall clump, bee balm is altogether a sturdy, colorful addition to the garden.

Maintenance and requirements:

Although bee balm prefers moist places in the wild, it can be grown in average moisture conditions in the garden.

Versatile in its light requirements, from partial shade to full sun, and also in its PH tolerance, from slightly acidic to neutral (pH 5.5 to 6.5), bee balm is very easy to grow. The only problem you might encounter is mold, which often covers the leaves in a whitish film, signaling that the plant is crowded and not getting enough air movement; divide plants every few years, and don’t spray eaves when watering. Deadhead to extend blooming.

Height: 2-5 feet (60 to 150 cm)

Blooming period: Early to mid-summer

Exposure: Partial shade to full sun

Moisture: Moist to average

Habitat: Moist woods, moist meadows

Range: North East – North America

Propogation:

Bee Balm is easy to start from seeds. Simply sprinkle seeds in pots or a bed in late fall or early spring (seeds do not need cold stratification). Or divide the plant in early spring, which is not only useful for propagation, but also helps keep the plant from getting too crowded in the center.

Good Companions:

At the woodland edge, plant bee balm with black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta) and woodland sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus).

Related Species:

Wild Bergamot (M. Fistulosa)

Wildlife:

Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds swarm this plant for nectar.

Misc.:

Also known as Oswego tea, because the plants were used by the Oswego Indians for a hot drink. Bruise its aromatic leaves for the scent of Earl Grey Tea.

I grow two of the hybrid species of Bee balm and I love them. Their care is exactly the same as that of the native species that I’ve described above. Enjoy!






Raspberries

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Did I tell you that I grow raspberries?

Fresh Raspberries Now doesn’t that look yummy?

The raspberry bushes are one of the few plants left in the yard by the original owners. I’ve changed pretty much everything else. Well, there wasn’t much to begin with, but I knew during that first summer, as I picked a colander full of raspberries almost each day, that the most of the bushes would be staying.

Originally, there had been perhaps more than 50 raspberry bushes in the back right hand corner of the yard. Lovely for the fruity benefits, but not so great when I decided to landscape during the spring of 2002 in order to begin my lovely rose garden. I only left about 15 plants when I created what is now my raised garden beds. In the years since, the plants have started to multiply, and I think there are likely 25 bushes out there.

Growing Raspberries:

Would you like to grow your own raspberries in your yard? Here’s how.

Nothing caps a summer evening better than a raspberry smoothie, or a bowl of fresh raspberries and cream. Ripe berries sprinkled on cereal in the morning is always nice too. Because of their delicious uses and ease of growing, the perennial raspberry ought to be in every garden.

The most commonly grown raspberry is the red, but the purple and black type make interesting variations on the raspberry theme. All can be grown in most zones and they are self fertile. To make the most of your raspberry patch check with your local nursery or county extension to make sure that the variety that you want to buy will thrive in your area.

Planting:

Moisture and plenty of rich organic matter in the soil are essentials. When deciding on a location, look for a spot that gets some protection from the blustery cold winds of winter. To improve the soils ability to retain moisture, work in plenty of well rotted manure or sphagnum peat moss.

Set the bushes in the ground as soon as you bring them home from the nursery. If roots appear dried out, soak them in water for an hour or two before planting. Red raspberries can be planted two or three inches deeper than at the nursery. black and purple varieties should be planted at the same depth. Space plants three feet apart and rows five to eight feet apart. (Needless to say my plants are much closer together than that in my tiny backyard.)

Raspberry bushes My raspberry plants are sheltered behind my neighbors garage. In this photo you can see them beginning at the Japanese Maple with the row going back towards another neighbors house.

Care and Feeding:

After the canes have been set out, cut back central canes to a height of six inches, then mulch to conserve moisture.

When plants are dormant in early spring remove weak and spindly canes. Then remove any suckers that have grown up between the rows. If properly pruned raspberry canes are self supporting. Cut back your black raspberry varieties to 18 to 24 inches; purple and red varieties to 30 to 36 inches. the amount and the quality of the fruit will be greatly improved if lateral branches are trimmed back to at least four to six buds.

In the Autumn remove all old, spent canes and destroy them.

Insects and Diseases:

Raspberries are hardly immune from disease and insect attack, but problems will be few if you practice good garden hygiene. Purchase only healthy disease resistant plants from a trust worthy nursery or garden center.

Make sure that old canes are removed and destroyed so insect larvae and fungus spores don’t overwinter. If a plant appears doomed because of disease, remove it immediately so that the other plants don’t become affected.

Now that you know how to grow your own raspberries I think I’ll go fix myself a small bowl of raspberries. Mmmmm delicious.

War of the Roses

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It figures.

I finally manage to get out into the garden this weekend and of course it’s during a heat-wave. Needless to say I didn’t go out into the garden until late afternoon or early evening as I was waiting for it to cool down a bit.

Still, I made some progress!

The wind was blowing quite hard on Friday afternoon – probably bringing in all the hot weather that’s settled in this area. I noticed that my climbing rose- Antique89 was tipping over in the wind and was crashing into my patio table.

The rose is approximately 7 feet tall and has very thick canes. It was leaning over at more than a 45 degree angle. I quickly grabbed some stakes and my garden tie (plastic ribbon) and scissors and ran outside to fix the rose.

Antique89 rose and bud

While I was wrestling with the rose our boarder apparently came outside looking for me. She didn’t find me. I was under the rose! Hello! Roses don’t normally scream. That was me that was moaning and groaning as the thick thorns dug into the skin on my hands, arms and even my legs.I’d say that Antique 89 and Baron Prevost are probably the thorniest roses that I have in my garden. I’ll be working with all of my roses over the next few days and I’ll let you know if I find any other ones that fit in that category.

Unfortunately, since I haven’t been in my garden all that much over the last two months I have a lot of work to do and a lot of rose wrestling to do. I know, I know … this is the time of year that a gardener should be in the garden regularly, but I’ve been sick and just haven’t been able to get out there.

Much to my dismay and joy as well, the rose are growing as if they are on steroids. Must be all that alfalfa tea I put on them last year. They are huge! Since they are so large they are beginning to flop all over the place too.

Last winter as we prepared the garden for it’s cool slumber my husband thought he was doing me a favor by removing most of the stakes I had in the garden supporting many of my somewhat floppy roses. He did me no favors – especially now, since I’ve let the garden become somewhat overgrown. I’m going to have to climb right into the flowerbed and try to untangle rose branches and discover perennials that are hiding below them.

I’m proud to say that one half of the backyard garden has been tamed! The roses have been straightened, and the plants below them can now be seen. Half the beds have nice red cedar mulch on them. It’s starting to look pretty nice back there. I hope to get the other half of the backyard and the front garden done within the next two days. I still haven’t planted all those annuals though. I thought that I’d better tame the garden first so that I can actually see what areas are a little bare and need annuals. The rest will go into my planters.

I’m going to get my husband to take a picture of my arms tomorrow and if he does I’ll post it. I must have about 50 scratches on each arm – pretty much from the elbows down. They are burning and they look terrible.

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