Garden-Related Book: “Founding Gardeners” by Andrea Wulf

What do you do when it’s too cold to garden? You read about gardens. Yes, not only am I a garden geek, I’m also a book geek – and a bit of a history geek, as well. I blame my interest in history on two people: My mom for giving me an appreciation of American history and my art history teacher in college for giving me an appreciation of European history.

My mom grew up in Virginia and whenever we’d go there for a visit she would make sure to take us to somewhere historic. From president’s homes like Monticello (Jefferson’s home) and Mount Vernon (Washington’s home) to the many battlefields, we got a fine education in American history. So given that background, I think it’s pretty obvious why I was excited when I heard about Andrea Wulf’s new book, “Founding Gardeners,” which I recently finished reading. It’s about Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Madison as farmers and gardeners – showing how their passion for gardening helped shape American history. Before I read the book I had gone to a lecture given by the author at Winterthur in Delaware. The lecture had me hooked and the book was simply fascinating – at least to this garden/history geek! I’m sure I’ll do a very poor job of explaining what the lecture and this book were all about, but I’ll give it a shot. 

I think it’s an interesting perspective to have an author who was born in India, raised in Germany, and moved to England write a book about America’s founding fathers and their gardens. Ms. Wulf had no idea that America had such a rich garden history until she was doing research about botanist/horticulturalist/explorer John Bartram for her book “The Brother Gardeners.” (Surprisingly, I have not read that one yet.) While following in the footsteps of Bartram, Andrea found herself in Virginia and decided to pop in and see Thomas Jefferson’s home Monticello. In her words, she was “flabbergasted.”  Jefferson had crafted his grounds as carefully as he had planned his house – transitioning the wild forests into his orchards, vegetable garden and decorative gardens. Her real epiphany came when she saw his huge vegetable garden (1,000 feet long) that was carved into the hillside. She realized that here was a truly innovative gardener who successfully changed the landscape so that it was a perfect union of wild and rugged, ornamental and useful.

When America was still under British rule, we weren’t planting native plants in our gardens. Instead we were obsessed with European plants, while Europe was the one obsessed with plants from The New World. Most of Philadelphian John Bartram’s clients were Europeans. So it was pioneering thinking when Washington, who was busy fighting the war with Britain, wrote his property manager and told him to rip out the gardens and start over with native American plants. As you approach the bowling green at Mount Vernon, it’s trees and shrubs that are native to this country that you first see. The great American hero wanted a great American garden. It symbolized his patriotism and his dedication to the future of this country. These days we hear a lot about gardening with native plants, however, when Washington decided to start his garden over with native plants and trees it was a pretty novel idea.

The American Revolution instilled a want of independence on many levels. Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and Madison felt that agriculture was the key to our survival as an independent country. We needed to be self-sufficient and our gardens and farms would help us stand on our own two feet. These men shared the idea that working the land was the most honorable pursuit, whereas industrialized cities could lead to corruption. An agrarian society would make America strong and independent. As Jefferson said in his “Notes on the State of Virginia” book: “Cultivators of the earth are the most virtuous and independent citizens.”

All four men were avid readers of any new book on agriculture and farming they could lay their hands on. They read the latest from Europe and tried to find ways to implement their ideas in America. They experimented with new crops, crop rotation, different types of fertilizers, and produced tools to make their plantations more efficient. They collected and exchanged seeds to find out what did well and what didn’t. They shared idea with other farmers, thinking of themselves as just farmers as well. 

Thomas Jefferson was an experimenter, a planner, and an obsessive note-taker. His vegetable garden is the best example of that. He would plant many different varieties of the same vegetables and record what did well and what did not. His home, Monticello, was also a constantly changing “experiment” – he was always designing, building, then tearing down and starting over. He was a man of many ideas. It’s as if the real world couldn’t keep up with his brain – as soon as he got an idea and implemented it he had another new idea. He believed in the “sublime beauty” of America and his house takes full advantage of that as it sits on a hilltop overlooking the mountains and valleys around Charlottesville, VA. He carefully planned the road that took visitors to his home so that they would transition from the wilderness, to tamed forests, to a working farm, to decorative gardens.

While Washington and Jefferson were visionary in gardening and farming, they weren’t usually the ones doing the “real” work. They rode around their plantations on horseback overseeing the work of others. They relied on their plantation managers to execute their ideas and their slaves to do the manual labor. In contrast, John Adams was a much more hands-on gardener. He was happiest while working the earth. In fact, he had a true obsession with manure. Yep, manure. He read about manure, conversed about it, experimented with it, and was constantly trying to find the formula for the best manure because he believed it was key to good soil. He had a much smaller plantation than the others, however, he felt his garden was essential to his happiness. 

Madison’s home at Montpelier was a model farm where he applied the many things he learned from reading gardening and farming books. Madison was also one of the country’s first environmentalists. As Americans moved westward, the wilderness and forests were seen as obstacles that had to be removed. Madison promoted the idea that our forests and lands were precious and should be preserved and treated with respect. After being elected as the first president of the Agricultural Society of Albermarle County in Virginia, he gave a memorable speech that earned him the reputation as one of the most respected farmers in America at that time. He spoke of soil conservation and chemistry, plant physiology, over-timbering, preserving nature, and more. His theories came from the many books that he had read, however, he was the first one to bring all of these ideas together. His approach was revolutionary.

All four men were thankful when they retired because it allowed them to do what they wanted to do most – be in the garden. They saw themselves as gardeners and farmers more than politicians or revolutionary heroes. However, they knew their homes and gardens would be part of their legacy and they wanted America to know they were patriots in every possible way.

There is much more fascinating history in “Founding Gardeners,” I only touched on a few key things. I can’t say enough how much I loved this book. I found it truly fascinating how it looked at history through the founding father’s gardens – such a new and interesting perspective. Almost a quarter of the book is “notes” with bibliographies and such, so it’s clear a lot of research went into it. I also really enjoyed Andrea Wolf’s writing style. She helped bring to life these men and their gardens. Not only were they revolutionary heroes, they were pioneering gardeners and farmers who made a lasting impact on America’s agricultural history.

Below are links to the homes and gardens of the four founding fathers featured in “Founding Gardeners.” All homes are well worth the visit:

George Washington’s Mount Vernon (VA) http://www.mountvernon.org/

Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello (VA) http://www.monticello.org/

John Adams’s Old House at Peace (MA) field http://www.nps.gov/adam/index.htm

James Madison’s Montpelier (VA) http://www.montpelier.org/

Warm Winter Day

Well, you wouldn’t believe it was January if you were outside today. It was a gold-medal day: High of 56 degrees and a warm winter sun shining down. I I raked leaves and Brian and I put together my garden bench (that took 9 months to get here – I could’ve birthed a baby in that time). All with just a light-weight hoodie on. Crazy! Overall, this has been a warm winter so far. We’ve only had a few really cold days. Not that I’m complaining, being the warm-weather person that I am. I prefer NOT to have to wear long underwear! In fact, it’s been so warm, the daffodils seem to think it’s springtime already. I have several that are showing they’re green shoots already.  I wonder what they’ll do when winter REALLY gets here....

Daffodil shoots in January?!?!

Problem Areas to Tackle in 2012

It has been much too long since my last post. The holidays got the best of me. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about the garden, though. Winter is a good time for planning – for assessing and reassessing different areas of the yard. All too often my blog focuses on the things that are doing well in my garden. Unfortunately, it doesn’t all look that good. There are some areas I haven’t tackled yet and others that I can’t seem to grow anything in.

I’ll start with my largest “problem area.” This area is in the back yard next to the screened-in back porch. It literally takes up 1/4 - 1/2 of the back yard. It is an overgrown mess of ivy, honeysuckle, hostas, grasses, various weeds, and my least favorite weed of all poison ivy. (I have two other areas in my yard where poison ivy grows and I think I found them all the hard way. Now I know enough to spot it before I jump into it with pruners in hand.) This is where that gorgeous, old tree used to be (see my earlier post called “Mourning the Loss of a Tree.”) Once the tree was gone, the invasive vines took over. I get in here and hack at this mess a few times a year. However, with the amount of poison ivy I discovered in it earlier in the year, I admit I didn’t readily jump in there too often this year. This mess extends from the porch to the back property line, roughly 20' wide x 60' long. There’s a fence (the neighbor’s fence who lives to the left of our house) that you can barely see due to the tentacles of greenery.

(Note: The following photos were all taken in October and November of 2011.)

Overgrown mess next to the screened-in back porch.

Here is the same area as seen from the back end of the yard looking towards the screened-in back porch.

The same overgrown mess as seen from near the back of the yard looking towards the house.

It also extends to the very back of the property. I had cleared out this area at least twice in the past couple of years, but it always comes back. I keep having to dig out the woodpile.

The overgrown area is not as wide at the very back since I cleared out some of it
when I created the Kitchen Garden.

Obviously, the most difficult part about tackling this area is to get all the roots so that it doesn’t all come back. As I mentioned, I’ve already experienced a bit of that. I have come to the conclusion that I think I need help with this project. I may have to get a landscaper to clear it out. I hate to admit that since I am the kind of gardener who takes pride in doing things on my own. I already had some help clearing out the area where my Kitchen Garden is. There used to be an overgrown hedge where the so-called fence (aka The Invisible Fence or The Fence Farce) should be. Our neighbor’s friend cleared out most of that, however, I spent a lot of time digging out stubborn roots that he hadn’t gotten out. Unfortunately, from spending many weekends doing that, I developed chronic tendinitis and an inflamed nerve in my left elbow. Yep, good times. So I think I learned my lesson. There are times when a scrawny-armed girl needs a little muscular assistance. What will I do with this large area of land once it is cleared? Good question. And one I’ve been thinking about for quite awhile. It’s a nice sunny spot. We talked about wanting a patio for grilling and lounging, perhaps with a fire pit. However, that’s a big project and we’ll probably have to wait a bit on that. For now I may just plant some grass and put in some garden beds. But my plan is to have more bones and structure on this side of the yard – some evergreens, conifers. things that won’t require a lot of maintenance and that will screen the neighbors.

Another problem area that I have been trying to improve for the past five years is an L-shaped area next to the lean-to greenhouse. This spot does not get a whole lot of sun, as you can tell from the lack of grass. It also suffers from poor drainage and poor soil. I have been working on improving the soil over the years and finally have gotten a few things to grow – some Winter Gem Boxwood, a spirea, a hellebore, Castle Spire Holly, an anemone, an Aureola Hakonechloa grass, a VERY slow growing hydrangea, some daffodils that don’t really bloom much, and some hostas (the hostas were already there – I’m not sure you’ll ever see me willingly planting a hosta). I won’t go into the long list of things that I’ve attempted to plant here over the years that died. It would fill a mini graveyard.

L-shaped problem area next to the greenhouse.

The hostas seem to party it up in this space. Maybe I should swallow my gardener pride and plant a few more. Pretend you don’t see the mold on the siding of the house. I really need to do something about that. As I mentioned, this area doesn’t get a lot of sun, so hence the mildew and mold.

Happy hostas with a happy Hakonechloa grass next to them.

Here’s the Winter Gem Holly on the right, spirea on the left, and I think that wiry looking shrub is a type of Viburnum or maybe a Pagoda Dogwood. There’s a couple of thin looking ferns in there, too, along with some Rubrum Epimedium (barrenwort). The Epimedium has actually done pretty well in this low light area.

Sad looking, isn’t it?

Another difficult area has been the side yard that is in front of the shed/workshop. When we first moved in this was a mess of overgrown weed-trees and ivy. I have spent a lot of time digging out roots and amending the poor soil over the past five or six years. On the left I have some dwarf English Boxwood (ah, the smell takes me back to my grandfather’s house in Virginia), a rhododendron that has never bloomed, and a ground cover perennial that blooms little blue flowers in the fall. Directly in front of the shed are two Knockout Roses and a Clematis on the trellis. I had some catmint in front of the roses, but something seems to have eaten it all. On the right there’s what I think is a Sassafras tree and still some ivy, along with an ornamental oregano (Oreganum Herrenhausen),  a grass, some daylillies, Chelone Hot Lips (the pink flowers are seen blooming here), a Wine & Roses Weigela, and some Joe Pye Weed (the last two are cut out of this photo on the right). So at least I finally have some things that are growing here. Gives me hope for some of the problem areas mentioned above.

The side yard, in front of the shed/workshop.

One of my goals for the new year is to work on these problem areas and make them less of a problem! We will see how that goes. In the meantime, I’m busy planning for my 2012 vegetable garden and plotting what new plants I can find and where I can fit them.

Mourning the Loss of a Tree

As the rain brings the brightly colored leaves to the ground, I can’t help but become nostalgic for a great, old tree. How old the tree was, I have no idea. But probably a lot older than me. It was a huge tree that shaded half of our back yard. It was a focal point of the back yard. When gardeners talk about the “bones” of a garden, this would’ve been the back bone, the spine, the bone that held all other bones together.

It was the large tree on the right, next to the house.

It was at its most magnificent in the fall. The green leaves would turn a bright golden yellow. And when the leaves would fall, they would carpet the grass in a warm, golden hue. Yes, it was a lot to rake. It was almost too pretty to rake.

Golden leaves covering the ground.

I wish I knew what kind of tree it was. I’m not good at identifying trees. If I had to guess I would say a sugar maple???? Heck, I have no idea what I’m talking about. Whatever tree it was, I loved it and I miss it every year at this time of the year.

Yellow leaves everywhere.

I took the photos above in November of 2007. Less than a month later the tree split in half and half of it ended up on the house. It was a sad, sad day.

Now, the left half of our back yard is an overgrown eyesore - with a huge stump buried in the mess. Something I have yet to tackle, but it’s in my plan for next year.

Overgrown left half of the yard, minus the big, old tree.

Late Fall in the Garden

Well, so much for that snow. What you saw on my last post was the extent of what that October snow brought to my area. Not that I’m complaining. I didn’t want snow in October anyway! But since it’s now November, I guess I’ll have to pull out the ole longjohns and prepare for the inevitable winter.

Here’s some photos I took on November 1st. This first picture is of the flower garden, looking from the back of the garden towards the front where the shed is. The hydrangea may be all dry, but it’s still an interesting feature in the fall garden. The pineapple sage is still showing off it’s red blooms.

Flower garden in late fall.

That annual Texas Sage is also still hanging on as long as it can.

“Lady in Red” Texas Sage

The Kitchen Garden is looking pretty sad. Some slugs or something have attacked the broccoli leaves, the Swiss chard is wilting, the tomato plants are brown, and the purple hyacinth bean vines are withering. Raking leaves from my gravel paths is proving to be a bit challenging. (Note to self, would you plant something tall to shield the neighbor’s play-set already?! Sheesh.)

Kitchen Garden in late fall.

I can’t believe I haven’t posted a picture of this wonderful shrub yet – the Beautyberry Bush that I planted last summer. It wasn’t looking too good after I planted it and I wasn’t sure it would survive, but it did and the purple colored berries have been gorgeous late summer into fall. The color of these berries against the bright green leaves truly is stunning. I planted it along the (invisible) fence that my neighbor behind us has yet to put up that he said he’d put up over a year ago. Yep. The Fence Farce continues. I should start taking bets as to whether or not that fence will ever happen.

The bright purple berries of the Beautyberry Bush.

This random tree is in front of the shed/workshop. Maybe it’s a Sassafras tree??? Not sure. But the bright yellow leaves in fall are a favorite, even though it’s in an odd spot. I actually cut it down accidentally one year and it came right back as if nothing had ever happened. This whole area in front of the shed was a problem spot for the first couple of years we lived here. It was an overgrown mess of weeds and weed-trees. I cleared it out and kept adding compost and organic matter to the soil until I could get stuff to grow other than weeds. It now houses a couple of Knock-out roses, a clematis, sedum, a hydrangea, Joe Pye Weed (not seen in this picture), daylilies (also not seen here) and ornamental oregano (aka wintersweet, wild marjoram or Origanum Herrenhausen). Of course there’s still ivy because that just keeps coming back. Then on the left of the path is some small English boxwood and a rhododendron that has never bloomed since I planted it. Maybe one day it will.

Plantings in front of the shed/workshop.

Here’s the front porch, looking a bit Halloween-ish.

Potted plants on the front porch.

Mum with sweet potato vine.

As much as I love fall colors, that brisk chill in the air reminds me that fall is fleeting and winter will soon arrive. I tend to hibernate and become a bit hermit-like in the winter because I am not a fan of cold weather. But winter is my time of planning. Soon I’ll be busy sketching out my veggie garden plans for next year, thinking of how to solve the dilemmas in my problem areas, and scheming on what to do with the overgrown area by the screened-in back porch. You can put the garden to bed for the winter, but you can’t put the gardener to bed. Always too much to think about for next year!

Snow in October?!

Well, I never would’ve believed it without seeing it, but we’re in the process of getting snow in October. I personally don’t ever remember having snow this early in the year before. I heard on the news that the last time we had snow in October in this area was 1979. Ok, maybe I would’ve been old enough to remember that, but I don’t. :o)  Just when I thought this gardening year was crazy enough, this happens. It’s nuts! It’s been mostly raining so far, all morning long, but it has mixed to a wet snow now and then. We’re expecting 1-2 inches by the time it finishes in the overnight hours. We’ll see what happens. Here’s some rainy/light wet snow shots that I just took outside the back door this morning.

A bit of snow by a mum.

A few tenacious roses have been holding on as long as they can, but will the snow kill them? We shall see. You can do it roses! Hang in there!

Roses and a dusting of snow.

I must admit, there isn’t a whole lot of interesting things blooming in the garden right now anyway, other than the red Texas sage, a few roses, some mums and asters, and two pineapple sage plants. The pineapple sage is a welcome fall color. When I planted my first one, I didn’t realize it was a perennial. Then when I saw how glorious it was the following year, I planted another one or two. They are kinda freakin’ big now, actually. They are probably almost five feet tall. And yes, if you rub the leaves they smell like pineapple. Pretty cool. I assume you could use them in cooking, but I’ve never been sure what dish would benefit from the flavor of pineapple sage.

Red pineapple sage with a couple of roses to the left of it.

If I can get my camera to squeeze in a few pictures tomorrow, we’ll see how much snow is on the ground, if any. Unfortunately, my trusty Cannon Digital Rebel with 17-85 zoom lens that I love so much is experiencing difficulties. I’ve been working with Cannon’s customer support, but it seems like I may have to send it in for repair. It’s an elusive “Error 99.” I think it might be the lens and not the camera. Sigh... My blog may have to go without pictures for awhile. Or maybe with older pictures. At least it didn’t happen during the height of gardening season or while we were vacationing in Oregon. Always SOMETHING to be thankful for! It is getting close to that time of the year, after all. Am I thankful for snow in October? Well, not really.

Favorite Garden Tools: Bionic Garden Gloves

I have a few favorite garden tools that I can’t live without. This is my first post on one of those important tools. THE most important garden tool of all has to be a good pair of garden gloves. I’m not talking about those flimsy “women’s garden gloves” that are made out of thin fabric that you can get at any big box store. You call those garden gloves???? How dare you. Those gloves are for wimps who have enough money to hire their own gardener and only go out to cut some flowers to add to the centerpiece on their fancy dining room table. And don’t give me men’s gloves that are so bulky you can’t do anything with them because you can’t find your fingers. I’ve been through many, many, many different kinds of garden gloves through the years. From fabric with those textured fingers, to goatskin, to leather. And let me tell you, I wouldn’t spend my money on anything other than Bionic Garden Gloves.  After trying Bionic, there’s no going back. They can withstand pruning roses without poking through to your delicate skin, gripping a shovel as you dig out invasive roots without giving you blisters, and pulling at those tenacious weeds without losing your grip.

I’ll tell you why these are the best garden gloves ever. They were designed by an orthopedic hand surgeon with extra padding in targeted areas to reduce hand fatigue and blisters and provide better gripping ability. These supple leather gloves literally “fit like a glove,” fitting snug over the hand and fingers. No more gloves where my fingers don’t reach to the very ends. These fit perfectly (women’s size small for my tiny hands). There’s a stretchy fabric over the knuckles and finger joints to help provide flexibility. The “elite” style (as opposed to the “classic”) have extra tough material in the finger tips – essential for active weeders. Supposedly you can wash these cabretta leather gloves, but I’ve never tried that. Before trying the Bionic gloves I would go through at least two pairs of gloves a year. The Bionic gloves with the reinforced fingertips last me two to three years. That’s good for gardening gloves when you use them as often as I do. Really, it is — you can’t expect them to last forever.

I tend to order directly from www.bionicgloves.com, however, it looks like Amazon carries them now, too. They have changed the style over the years. The kind that I have now look more like the men’s style now. The new and improved gloves have a wrist closure now, which seems like it would be a good improvement. Unfortunately, the Elite style only come in WHITE with colored accents. WHITE gardening gloves?! Come on, guys.  The Classic come in brown, but they don’t have the reinforced finger tips. Let’s hope they realize that white is NOT the right color for gardening gloves.

Here’s my beat-up Bionic gloves that I will have to retire now. I think these are about two or two and a half years old. As you can see, even with the reinforced fingers, I managed to poke holes through them. But you won’t find better-fitting, more durable garden gloves than these. At least I haven’t.

My well-used Bionic gardening gloves.