Heirloombulbgirl

Tag: Gardening blog

  • Spiderwort on the Move

    Spiderwort. Perhaps, the ugliest name in all the garden. I love to hear people pronounce it for the first time….

    “Spider-what? Spider-WART??”

    For such an incredibly beautiful flower, the name truly leaves something to be desired.

    Spiderwort is a member of the Dayflower family. The flowers bloom in the morning and diminish in the afternoon. The plant can actually produce new flowers up to 8 weeks. I typically cut the stalks with spent flowers down, to encourage new flower growth. Spiderwort has fleshy roots that resemble that of a Day Lily. When the stalks are cut, a web-like sap is secreted…hence the name Spiderwort.

    Spiderwort are one of the earliest of flowers to bloom in the Spring, mimicking a bulb. In fact, it’s one of my favorite non-bulb bulbs. Spiderwort is not a bulb, but behaves just like a bulb so I give it an honorary mention in my garden.
    Spiderwort come in all sizes, with colors of pastel Easter Eggs. I’ve been collecting Spiderwort for years from various fields. One particular field where Spiderwort grew wild was behind our old house. I collected just about every color in the rainbow.

    Yesterday, I started relocating these lovely clumps to the barren landscapes of yuk. The greatest part of Spiderwort is that they grow anywhere and everywhere. I’ve seen them grow in asphalt and cracks of cement. Spiderwort will go dormant in the heat of the summer, to give way for flowering annuals like Zinnia or Cosmos. The foliage just started to appear a few weeks ago, and I’m moving a bunch around a young Mesquite Tree that my violin student gave me.

    Division of Spiderwort is unnecessary, unless you just more things to do in the garden. Simply pull the roots apart. Bingo….A new plant. But be advised that Spiderwort drops many seeds and you will have unwanted lovely flowers all through your garden. Simply dig and give away to friends. Every garden needs a plant with a name that children laugh at. I have some to share if you are interested.

    Happy Gardening, my friends.

    Love, Keenan at Heirloombulbgirl

  • Surveying the Garden

    Last night I went to the studio to “survey” the gardens. Surveying is a normal gardening activity in my world. My husband came up with the term many moons ago…

    ”Where’s Mom?”
    “She’s surveying her plants.”

    “Surveying the gardens” also became a good excuse for all the things I *should* be doing, but I’m not…

    Diner dishes? I think I need to go survey. Packing for a vacation tomorrow? I definitely need to go survey. Grocery shopping? Survey….

    You get the drift. Surveying became my out. My time to be in the calm of nature. My rest. To survey is the walk slowly, intentionally looking at each flower or treasured bulb, in order to see what the gardens’ needs are. When one surveys, it is not time to work. It is simply a time to *see*. Seeing beyond the average hurried walk-through, and deeply studying each and every little plant on your path. Sometimes I have hours to survey, and other times, just a few moments. I feel connected and grounded. Surveying is good for the soul.

    One of my favorite parts about surveying is the calm. My garden can be full of weeds that literally grew overnight, and I just quietly make a mental note to myself to pull them later. Human nature is to get in the middle of a mess and frantically start trying to fix whatever is wrong. “Surveying the gardens” is synonymous with listening to someone speak, without butting in with your own thought or opinion. I think that we have lost the ability to simply be quiet and listen, whether it is a restful survey in the garden, or listening to a dear friend express their thoughts.

    So, back to last night’s survey.

    I walked through the little garden gate and took a few steps and my left foot sank into a hole. Not just any hole, a 4 foot deep hole. The level of being totally freaked out with my imagination was at an all time high. Was the badger back? Was it a secret cavern that my entire studio would sink into? Is it an underground sink hole full of snakes, spiders and who knows what else? I put some large sticks to mark the hole so I wouldn’t fall in, and continued my survey.

    Peaceful Survey? Nope. Not a chance.
    Freaked out? You bet.

    I got home and told my husband all about the enormous hole that almost swallowed me alive. He just laughed.
    “It’s just an old septic tank”

    How disappointing. secretly I was hoping for a secret cave with buried treasure, like the lost San Saba gold, or more heirloom bulbs. Now, the work begins to fill the darn thing up. But why do today what I can do tomorrow? It’s a beautiful day to survey!

    Happy Gardening, my friends!
    Love, Keenan at Heirloombulbgirl