American Potager

american cranberry bush viburnum

    Viburnum trilobum 'Bailey's Compact' is planted right outside my potager picket fence. I am impatiently waiting for these native shrubs to grow into a nice hedge. I am also impatiently waiting for the shrubs to produce berries. I can't quite understand it.... no bright red edible berries.... this season or last. Is the tag wrong? Do I need another American cranberry bush viburnum? Until I get it sorted out I am enjoying the vibrant fall color. My last post was about green walls. This plant creates seasonal red walls for the kitchen garden if you are architecturally or spatially inclined.

green walls

    I have been mulling over a design problem for a while now. We have been designing an estate garden in the south. The client has a brick colonial home and we are incorporating a formal potager with shrub and perennial borders. We are locating the greenhouse and designing the walls, fences, gates, storage buildings and compost bins. It is a tricky site and one of the issues has been how to screen the property while maintaining the formality, attention to detail and aesthetic we have created on the rest of the site.

    In an odd triangle of left over space we have created a green triangle room. These are the conceptual drawings from my sketchbook of this vision. The green room will truly be a secret garden with two entrances. The tall wood gates will need to be wide enough for a wheelbarrow to pass through yet solid like a door to screen views. Inside the green room will be the double compost bin. The green room is adjacent to the kitchen garden and will be a work room to support the edible garden.

    I have decided on two types of evergreens for two different areas. The green triangle room needs a plant that that can be sheared into a dense, formal evergreen hedge maintained at a height of eight to ten feet. Prunus caroliniana 'Monus' or Bright 'n tight Carolina cherry laurel is a cultivar that is narrower than the species and will be ideal. It's also native to the southeast and has small black cherries to attract birds. This green hedge will join another hedge planted along the property line for privacy. I have decided on a very reliable holly, Ilex x 'Nellie R. Stevens'. Nellie R. Stevens holly will provide the height needed for this part of the wall. It eventually will grow twenty feet high to block out the views into the neighbors property. This hedge will also be sheered to create a formal green background. This part of the wall is meant to be a backdrop for the dogwoods, flowering shrubs and perennials that will be planted in front of it.

Plant peas when the daffodils bloom. Harvest peas when the peonies bloom.

    We've been snacking on peas in the garden. Sometimes we just run outside simply to pick a few and eat them raw. They are of course, best this way. The 'Sugar Annes' are very sweet, and meant to be eaten in their entirety- shells and all.  Last night we had some carmelized shallots with pasta and pea shoots. With some raw peas on the side. Peonies and pea shoots for the vase.

 

It's time for May wine.

    I made May wine last year for the first time. It's a lovely spring drink to serves guests. You need to open and use a whole bottle of wine (or more). It just makes sense to share it with friends. Here's how I made it.    
    I picked some sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) flowers and leaves. (Of course, it goes without saying that I don't use pesticides, so no worries on using the home grown herbs.) I dried a bunch of leaves in the microwave. The flavors intensify when you use dried leaves.
    I poured a bottle of Riesling wine in a container. It just made sense to use a German wine since this recipe is of German origin. Any white wine you love will do. I added the dried sweet woodruff leaves, covered the container and chilled it for a few hours.
    I then strained the wine into glasses. Garnished with strawberries, fresh sweet woodruff leaves with sweet woodruff flowers and bright purple-blue borage flowers.

kitchen garden at the white house

    I must say I am thrilled about the new kitchen garden that we are getting. The one on the South Lawn of the White House. Michelle, I applaud you. I love seeing the images of you digging in the dirt with children from a nearby school. It speaks volumes about what's important. The earth. The health of our children. What we eat. Self sufficiency.
    The ripple effect, I hope it's far and wide. That we all plant a little bit. An organic kitchen garden at the White House. It's a great day.

blue bamboo poles

    I am often asked about the royal blue bamboo poles that I use in my potager. Don't be fooled by the photo; spring has not come to my garden.... yet. This was taken a few years ago, but it's a good reminder to get structures ready now. Here is what I did and maybe it will be helpful for you.
    I ordered 7' x 3/4" natural bamboo poles online. (I don't remember exactly where, but do a search... there are many sources.) At least seven feet is a good height because when you place them in the garden, you will bury them 3-5" in the ground for stability.
    I painted them with latex paint. I do not know the exact color. It was paint I had on hand because my dining room is painted the same color. Yes, this was deliberate. My kitchen garden is planted near my house- the dining room, kitchen and family room windows overlook the garden. So there is a continuation of the indoors with the outdoor garden and the other way around- outdoor garden brought indoors.
    Pick a color that you love and think in terms of contrast. Much of the time, the vines if they are beans or peas will be green. So choose a color that contrasts with green. Red or orange come to mind but royal blue also works.
    I won't mislead you. Bamboo doesn't really take latex paint well. It will take a couple of coats. I have to touch up the poles every spring but for me the effect and result is worth the trouble. Enamel spray paint would probably work better. Let the paint thoroughly dry for a few days.
    Place the painted poles in the garden, pushing each pole into the earth. Lash the tops together with twine in a figure eight motion. You can create a tee pee with about six poles or line them up like I have done in the photo with a pole at the top.
    With a favorite color and a little time you can personalize your garden so that is suits you. That's the point.... gardens should make us smile.

what's growing in the winter garden; thankfully.

    Thanksgiving day in the middle of winter. In Ohio. What could I possibly glean from the cold kitchen garden? Surprisingly, a few things.... the first to harvest will be the sage. Perfect for the stuffing. Perfect for the turkey. Salvia officinalis 'Berggarten' does well in my garden. The gray leaves stay evergreen, well ever gray-green all winter. The last few years I have enjoyed harvesting this culinary sage on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
    Under my glass cloches are varieties of kale and mustard. (The truth is these seedlings are growing outside of the cloches too!) I like the decorative element of the glass so I'll pretend it's necessary. A baby kale salad is on the menu. It will be simple. Greens + a bit of olive oil +  a drop or two of balsamic vinegar. That's it.
    There are a few beets remaining in the garden. I'll dig up the red 'Bull's Blood' heirloom variety. Come to think of it the beets would go well in the kale salad...
    I'm heading to the garden now. Gotta make the stuffing and get that turkey in the oven....

a november walk through central park

    These American elms line the grand promenade of Central Park, just as the landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux envisioned. These are not the trees planted when the park was designed in 1858. These were planted as saplings in the 1920s to replace the original trees. The form of the trees is so elegant revealed in the bareness of late fall. The dark bark contrasts with the misty gray sky of a late evening. The majestic native American elm (Ulmus americana) was once widely planted but now has declined because of Dutch elm disease.

I hope you transplanted your rosemary.

    Fall chores are always much more fun when the weather is warm and sunny. Here in Ohio we're past that and I still haven't planted my garlic or moved my rosemary indoors. I did plant some ornamental cabbage with pansies, thyme and sage to take me through the cool weather.
    There are still transitional plants growing in my potager... the calendula is still blooming, the flat leaf Italian parsley is still green. The 'Bull's Blood' beets are cool and happy. The 'Bright Lights' and 'Monstruoso' Swiss chard are colorful and thriving. I just harvested some yesterday.... stems and leaves, sliced them, quickly sauted them in Greek olive oil with garlic and fresh parsley and served it all over pasta. That is pretty much the mac and cheese staple here- something from the garden, great olive oil, fresh garlic and Italian pasta- oh and fresh parmesan. Maybe a glass of wine.
    I am experimenting with cloches- I've planted some cool season varieties like mustard, kale and arugula under glass. If the weather doesn't turn too cold too fast, I may have some fall micro greens, even in cloudy zone 5.

can you see the sound of the water

    I was just in Portland, Oregon for the annual Garden Writers Association Meeting. It was really a great time being with 600 other plant nerds. I wish I would have taken a step back to photograph the photographers photographing the plants as we toured gardens together.  Alas, my face was just as glued to my eyepiece as the other plant fanatics snapping shots of heucheras and coneflowers. So the image of the observers must remain in my imagination, unless my friend David Perry caught that photo, in which case I would like to see it. (One of my favorite photos from my travels is not of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, but of the crowds of tourists looking at the Mona Lisa.)
    I had the great privilege to walk through the Portland Japanese Garden with Hiroshi Makita. Hiroshi is a master garden designer. His gardens have appeared in Architectural Digest. We toured one of his gardens in Oklahoma City at the last GWA meeting. For a few hours I had a personal master class on the Japanese style- everything from the use of plants, the shaping of plants to the use of rock, meaning and water. Thank you Hiroshi.
    We passed by a bubbling fountain- a fountain that was tucked away- we couldn't quite see it. We could only hear the trickling water. Hiroshi asked if I could see the sound of the water. What does the sound look like?
    These top two images were taken at the Portland Japanese Garden. The third photograph was taken at the Portland Classical Chinese Garden. Water. Close your eyes. Now can you see?