The Month is June, The Year is 2021 and Summer is here
The Month is June, The Year is 2021 and Summer is here
“Deep summer is where laziness finds respectability.” Sam Keen
Sam Keen is a wonderful American author and philosopher whose quote about the lazy days of summer made me go through my photo archives. I recall this anonymous reader at the Botanical Garden at the University of Georgia. She demonstrates a perfect combination of summer, laziness and respectability.
“Deep summer is where laziness finds respectability.” Sam Keen
Sam Keen is a wonderful American author and philosopher whose quote about the lazy days of summer made me go through my photo archives. I recall this anonymous reader at the Botanical Garden at the University of Georgia. She demonstrates a perfect combination of summer, laziness and respectability.
How wonderful it is to be out of jail.
I am still on my best behavior around crowds and among strangers, but to greet my friends unmasked and to enjoy our book club without sitting six feet apart is wonderful. I quote my good friend Patricia Collins from Pine Mountain, GA who states “… getting together now is a bit like getting out of jail.” Everyone I hang out with has been double-vaxed, and we couldn’t be happier.
I have long given up trying to understand those who refuse to be vaccinated. I can only control my own actions, and do my best to avoid the freeloaders in life. While we are surely not totally free of the Covid monster, we have made it this far. I know with certainty that my garden made the jail time bearable for me and continues to do so.
We have been fortunate in the United States to have access to vaccines, but others are still waiting. Most of my family and friends in Canada have received the first shot, but await the second. Patience is not an easy master, but at least getting in the garden gives all of us something more to look forward to.
June not only brings respectability, the month is awash in celebration.
Just celebrating summer is reason enough to smile, but who knew that that this month is National Rose Month, National Pollinator Month and National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month. And of course, one of my favorites I love to chat about is Perennial Gardening Month.
Just for fun, here is an idea or two that crossed my mixed-up
mind about these various plant fetes.
National Rose Month: I have been accused of not giving sufficient love to roses. I have been quoted, “Dr. Armitage hates rose gardens!” I suspect I said that, but the second part of my statement seems to be left out. What I actually said was, “I hate rose gardens, but I love roses in the garden.” Let me show you want I mean.
I have some favorites in my garden. One of my favorites is the very old-fashioned ‘Cecile Brunner’ who climbs my trees and house in a single leap. She is beautiful, she is fragrant but she is a thug. I very much enjoy the mini climbers that paint my fence. I have loved the far less thuggish ‘Winner’s Circle’ and my new ‘Highwire Flyer’ is prettying my ugly fence. As for major excitement, get out of my way when I start talking about the new Brindebella series of bush roses. Clean foliage, fragrant flowers, I wish I had stock in the company. This should be the next great rose for North American gardens. ‘Purple Prince’ and ‘Dawn’ both Brindabellas, can be cut to bring in or take to your book club.
I have included these in my section on roses in my Garden App, Armitage’s Great Garden Plants. But you need not listen to me, here is a link about rose month: Rose Month and check out more though the App.
National Pollinator Month: We don’t need a “month” to realize how important pollinators are, but a little kick in the behind does not hurt either. What would our gardeners be without pollinators and hosts for the good guys, like fennel for swallowtails, milkweed for monarchs and almost any flower for bees and butterflies. We don’t need to be a botanist, ecologist or entomologist, just include flowering plants and they shall come.
Some favorites in my garden are butterfly bush, like ‘Pugster Pink’, and calamintha which attracts everything. I love Salvia ‘Rose Marvel’ and my trumpet vine ‘Hot Lips’ (hummingbirds love it, but it is a major thug.)
For those who love to be on the cutting edge of the pollinator movement, the National Wildlife Federation sponsors the Million Pollinator Challenge.
I have included all these plants under pollinators on my App. For more info on Pollinator Month, National Day Calendar, Pollinator Month.
Veggies: Me and a vegetable garden simply don’t have room to coexist in separate spaces. I think of veggies like I think of roses, I love veggies in my garden. I don’t have the room or the desire to take care of a vegetable plot. However, that does not mean I won’t tuck a few tomatoes in here and there, a little fennel and lots of lettuce, even in containers. Truly, other than a pig running around, what else do I need for my BLT?
Veggies can be the conduit to introduce your kids and grandkids to gardening. My grandson Ben does not really eat many veggies (what teenage boy does), but he likes potatoes and loved strawberries. I helped him plant some of both and a few months later, we dug our potatoes. Hallelujah, I may have found a gardening buddy. Look out carrots! Success and excitement go hand in hand, help them with both.
However, one of my favorite organizations, The National Gardening Bureau (NGB) highlights various plants for gardeners, including flowers and houseplants. For veggies, this is the Year of The Green Bean (https://ngb.org/year-of-plants-2021/).. Who knew?
Yes, it is Perennial Gardening Month, how silly to designate a specific time to something every gardener does. I love my trees, my shrubs – hey, wait a minute, aren’t those perennial? – as well as my herbaceous plants. So many to tell you about, but really you simply need to visit.
That way, you can smell the nepeta, touch the lobelia, savor the heucheras and wait on the phlox and asters. The wonderful thing about perennials is that they are always changing, one week they are emerging and a few weeks later, they are spectacular and then a few weeks later they are dead – oh, wait, we don’t want to celebrate that. However, I wish I could find some of those plants that looked so good last year, the gremlins must have got them.
Or maybe the squirrels and chipmunks got them. Those little buggers fatten up on the crocus in the fall, but now Chip and Dale are uprooting things just for fun. It’s like Alvin can’t help himself. My solution – cayenne pepper! I am not sure it works, but it looks good, and what else am I going to do with cayenne pepper?
Ben and his spuds
After going on about all these other plants, I must say I am glad there is no Gardening Month to celebrate Annuals. That would be just as silly as Perennial Gardening Month - I mean who doesn’t want color all season long. I can hardly stand myself with the pleasure I derive from my containers of color, and my impatiens filling the ground with pastel hues. It is June, get them in the garden, fill your containers and plumb up those window boxes.
The Window Boxes, a truce?
A quick follow up about window boxes: From last newsletter, you may recall that Susan was very impatient with my window boxes, so much so that she stuck some Dollar Store silk pansies in them. Remember those photos?
It was just a wee bit embarrassing to explain to my friends that yes, I am a horticulturist, and yes, those are fake. It was even more embarrassing when they liked them. Well I have redone the window boxes this spring and this time, I jammed every square inch with colorful flowers and foliage. We have reached a truce!
I have had a wonderful time walking around the garden on Facebook Live, I do hope a few of you have joined me. My session with Rachel Winkle at her cut flower farm was a lot of fun – cut flowers have just taken off! I think it might be one of the most talked about topics this year. We had a ball talking about what to grow, when to cut, stem length and preserving.
My next Facebook Live will be on June 9th, 7:00 pm at the lovely garden of Ann Frierson. This is truly a spectuacular garden. Hope you can join me.
Make sure you keep up with me on Facebook. This past week has been full of fun, each evening we have been having Primrose Parties in the front yard. Gardeners and non gardeners alike have been joining me at dusk to watch the Primroses surprises us! Check out the video to see the magic!
And visitors:
Scott Beuerlein, the Curator of Horticulture at the Cincinnati zooScott
I have had a few guests recently as Covid has loosened its grip. Scott Beuerlein, the Curator of Horticulture at the Cincinnati Zoo and his wife Michele visited for a few days. Great fun. Recently Wayne Amos, who spent most of his horticultural career beautifying the grounds of the White House visited with his friend and former student extraordinaire, Toni Senory. Wayne was making the capital beautiful from the Carters to the last Bush administration. I am so happy to be unmasked!
Wayne Amos, who spent most of his horticultural career beautifying the grounds of the White House
We have been reasonably busy trying to stay in shape. I am still playing tennis but Susan has started playing pickleball! This is great news; we run around with wooden rackets and whiffle balls and try to beat up on each other and congratulate each other when we do. I recommend this game to all, easy to start, easy to play and much easier on the body than tennis or squash.
A pre-sale!
So much going on, but I will end with very exciting news. One of my most popular books, Armitage’s Garden Perennials (2011) was put out of print many years ago. By popular demand, it was picked up by Echo Point Books and with minor updates is available once again. With literally hundreds of photos, witty remarks and text to learn by, this book will now be in the hands of the next generation of gardeners. I am thrilled. It is also the best complement to the big tome, Herbaceous Perennial Plants, 4th ed. The two are like love and children, you can’t have one without the other.
Go to the website and order now, the book will be available by June 15th.
With the first 25 pre orders, you will receive 2 packets of seeds from Botanical Interest chosen by me! Be sure to get your orders in quickly! Limited quantities available.
Absolutely – join me with “Tales from the Garden” (stories about plants and their names) and “Back to School with Dr A”, where I provide five-minute thoughts about the science of gardening and horticulture. No tests involved.
Books:
Can you believe it - I have been selling quite a few books. As any author knows, a new book is like a new plant, lots of interest when first introduced but it has to have “legs” to remain standing. Fortunately, my books seem to have pretty strong legs. Specialty Cut Flowers was originally written in 1993, and revised in 2003 with my colleague Judy Laushman. It has always been the standard for cut flower growers and did well, but certainly not one of the best sellers in recent years. However, it was lately recommended by the cut flower guru Nicole Pitt of Flower Hill Farm in Boonville, New York (www.flowerhillfarmny.com). She has a horde of followers and her followers have eaten it up.
The original introduction of Herbaceous Perennial Plants appeared in 1989, and has always been well received by industry and garden people. I introduced the 4th edition a few months ago and it too is selling very well. Naked Ladies, Legends and even The Hat book are still selling.
Mind you, it is not easy to have a new book every year, but I am trying. In fact, I hope by the next newsletter I will have a new color book on perennials for you to look at. And after that, a real surprise …
Online Courses
You can find out all about the online courses I teach on my website. Click the button below to find out more.
YouTube
The Month is April, The Year is 2021 and Spring Brings New Life
The Month is April, 2021, The Year is 2021 and Spring Brings New Life
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” Margaret Atwood
How can you not admire the writing and creativity of Margaret Atwood, the marvelous Canadian poet and writer? Her thoughts on spring certainly reflect mine, and those of most of you reading this. So, let’s get out and paint our fingernails with soil.
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” Margaret Atwood
How can you not admire the writing and creativity of Margaret Atwood, the marvelous Canadian poet and writer? Her thoughts on spring certainly reflect mine, and those of most of you reading this. So, let’s get out and paint our fingernails with soil.
Make no mistake, Covid is still around. Perhaps it is no longer the coal car feeding the maw of the engine but, it is the same cunning and patient beast it has always been, but now in many different disguises we call variants.
I have been told that people are tired of hearing me talk about Covid. I am tired as well. The subject of a pandemic and how people would protect themselves and others would never have been part of this writer’s narrative two years ago, but here we are still debating vaccines, masks and social distancing. I want to invite everyone to my garden, and to continue taking people to the great gardens of the world. But that is still impossible if I must wonder whether someone sitting at a table beside me is too stupid or uncaring enough to refuse vaccination.
Perhaps the political dialogue is somewhat calmer, or I am simply watching and reading less news. As for me, I’d rather be six feet apart than six feet under. I am ready to emerge from this long, dark, dank tunnel, I hope you are as well.
We are at an advantage, one of the best places to be is in the garden. No self-respecting variant will find you there.
Enough of that, April is here.
So many great events are happening in April. There are all sorts of national garden celebrations, such as National Gardening Day (April 14), National Orchid Day (April 16), not to mention Earth Day (April 22) and Arbor Day (April 30) this month. Let’s all plant one new plant in the garden or container to celebrate such days. And of course my upcoming walkabout! Join me on Facebook Live back in my garden for an early Spring tour, April 3rd, this Saturday at 10 am!
And travel:
Like everyone else, just when I thought I was getting zoomed out, I am starting to get the hang of this thing. I can drink wine, laugh at my own jokes and mumble to myself without people frowning, or at least I can’t see them frowning. However, I admit to missing those frowns, the smiles and laughter and appreciation of my bad jokes and many stories. And travel is opening again. I just returned from a real face-to-face symposium at beautiful Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, GA and others are on the schedule. If you would like Dr A. to speak to your group, by zoom or otherwise, contact Maria Zampini.
Of course, those pale in comparison to the April birthdays of my wife Susan, my brother Howard, our grandson Hampton, and our granddaughter, Avery. Add those to the dual punctures Susan and I have received, and there is no doubt April is going to be a great month.
As busy as April will be, I want to mention a cause celebre we missed in March, that is, Woman’s History Month. So much to celebrate, to be sure, but I want to revel in those amazing women who “grow in our garden”. Woman like Nellie R. Stevens (holly), Francis Williams (hosta), Betty Corning (clematis) and the sisters Kirkpatrick (Annabelle hydrangea). We are so much richer because of their insights. You can always read more on these women in my book Legends in the Garden.
Every now and then, I think I know what I am doing, but no matter how you plan, the garden has a way of making you look a little foolish.
“….she had stuck silk pansies and some white things in the boxes. So much for my horticulture creds. Geez!”
My window boxes have been plotting against me all year, and I have been telling my impatient wife that they will look much better when spring arrives. Hasn’t happened. I came home the other day and she had stuck silk pansies and some white things in the boxes. So much for my horticulture creds. Geez!
Add insult to injury, my redbud is not budding well, my crocuses were eaten by chipmunks and squirrels, the deer got the pansies (maybe why Susan likes the silky things), and my App has crashed more than once.
On the positive side, my grandson Ben in Augusta and I are sharing in the joys of growing potatoes and strawberries together, and so far, he believes in my skills far more than my wife.
How about a few plants I can share with you.
Hope is the one thing even nature can’t mess up, especially for a gardener. And for all those who despaired last year, and stated, “Wait till next year”, well, next year is here! April is time for planting, so in keeping with my love of spending your money, here are a few plants I recommend for my daughters (and for you).
In the last Newsletter, I mentioned lilies, hellebores, clematis, gerbera daisies and baptisia. If you added any of those to the garden, you are richer because of it (perhaps poorer in the pocketbook, but you know what I mean).
Annuals:
Alternanthera Little Ruby: Best small edging plant I have tried. Has substance, maintains color and tolerates sun and shade.
Sunflowers: Dwarf hybrids like Sunsational, Suntastic, Suncredible. Totally confusing names, but colorful and flower all season, without becoming “Suntrees”.
Perennials:
Nepeta: Any of the newer nepetas, such as ‘Blue Prelude’, ‘Cat’s Meow’, ‘Cat’s Pajamas’ and other cat-sy names. Low growers, wonderful blue, lavender flowers. Great around roses.
Delphinium Delgenius series. It may be impossible to find these this season, they are one of the “in vogue” plants. They are brand new, so while I would love my daughters (and me) to try them properly, they may also be a bust. More heat tolerant than standard delphiniums. There are three colors, get what you can.
Dicentra Gold Heart. Nothing new about this plant, but one that my daughters and neighbors love. Bright, well flowered and well behaved.
Echinacea Kismet series. One more echinacea, but for what I have seen, I am impressed. If you like nativars, go for it. I have.
Shrubs:
Dwarf crape myrtles: A number are now available, such as the Dazzle series, and if not sold out, grab a few. However, I am really impressed with the GreatMyrtle series, ‘Cherry Delight’ is exceptional. Excellent for the front of the garden or in containers.
Aralia ‘Sun King’ is usually sold as a perennial but looks like and behaves like a golden shrub. Afternoon shade is best. Grown for the foliage, don’t worry about a flower.
Absolutely – join me with “Tales from the Garden” (stories about plants and their names) and “Back to School with Dr A”, where I provide five-minute thoughts about the science of gardening and horticulture. No tests involved.
Books:
Can you believe it - I have been selling quite a few books. As any author knows, a new book is like a new plant, lots of interest when first introduced but it has to have “legs” to remain standing. Fortunately, my books seem to have pretty strong legs. Specialty Cut Flowers was originally written in 1993, and revised in 2003 with my colleague Judy Laushman. It has always been the standard for cut flower growers and did well, but certainly not one of the best sellers in recent years. However, it was lately recommended by the cut flower guru Nicole Pitt of Flower Hill Farm in Boonville, New York (www.flowerhillfarmny.com). She has a horde of followers and her followers have eaten it up.
The original introduction of Herbaceous Perennial Plants appeared in 1989, and has always been well received by industry and garden people. I introduced the 4th edition a few months ago and it too is selling very well. Naked Ladies, Legends and even The Hat book are still selling.
Mind you, it is not easy to have a new book every year, but I am trying. In fact, I hope by the next newsletter I will have a new color book on perennials for you to look at. And after that, a real surprise …
Online Courses
You can find out all about the online courses I teach on my website. Click the button below to find out more.
YouTube
The Month is February, the Year is 2021 and I See A Brighter Light Ahead
I See A Brighter Light Ahead
It was hard to belt out Auld Lang Syne with feeling when there was no one with whom to celebrate the New Year. Such was the Year of The Beast!
Not only on New Year’s Eve but on nearly every other reason when, in normal times, friends and family would revel in their company. The words, made popular by Scottish poet Robert Burns, is “For the sake of Old (Auld) Times”. Seems to me that the demise of 2020 should have been toasted everywhere. Finally, the year 2021.
Helleborus ‘Cinnamon Snow’, from author’s garden, Feb 1, 2021
I See A Brighter Light Ahead
It was hard to belt out Auld Lang Syne with feeling when there was no one with whom to celebrate the New Year. Such was the Year of The Beast!
Not only on New Year’s Eve but on nearly every other reason when, in normal times, friends and family would revel in their company. The words, made popular by Scottish poet Robert Burns, is “For the sake of Old (Auld) Times”. Seems to me that the demise of 2020 should have been toasted everywhere. Finally, the year 2021.
However, for me, January has given Susan and I a whole lot of things to celebrate. My adopted country and my adopted state provided bundles of glorious light in the elections. I am not naïve, I don’t expect those who stormed our democracy in January to ever see the same light I see, but to me and millions of others, we have many more reasons to celebrate.
But not only have those events provided reasons for hope, we are halfway home.The vaccines will bring us further. In mid-January, we received our first shot of the Pfizer vaccine. When you read this, hopefully we will have received our second. Not for a minute will I take off my mask around strangers, but the light at the end of the tunnel is brightening, by this fall, we may be hugging our grandkids and joining others on real garden treks. I have three garden talks, that are going virtual in the next month or so, and I for one will be glad never to have to say the word “zoom” again.
I hope I have not bored you to death about how Covid has shown truths too long brushed aside. How Covid has revealed the need for people to play in the dirt, to plant a tomato, to learn what a succulent is, and to revel in the simple joy of watching seeds emerge. I can’t wait to see Covid fade away, but I don’t think our fortune at choosing “The Garden” as a hobby or as a career will ever fade away. We always have something to look forward to, and we are hooked.
Speaking of being hooked…
Can you believe I have resurrected my old love of African violets. I was so nerd-like in my twenties that I actually belonged to the African Violet of the Month Club. As the damn things kept piling up, my wife quickly realized her choice for a husband needed serious questioning. However, I recently bought a few for my indoor garden (no Clubbing allowed), and must say they are significantly better than those I remember. If Covid is keeping us in, might as well garden inside. You can see my thoughts on these on my App and on my YouTube page. People reading this letter are no different than any others but we have one thing in common that many others do not; we always have something to look forward to.
While there may be snow on the ground and bitter winter winds outside, spring will come and we might want to try a few new plants for the garden. I have talked about many of my favorite plants on my YouTube channel, you won’t run out of ideas if you follow me there.
Must Haves…
For today’s newsletter, here are a few more of my must haves. If possible, shop locally, the Independent Garden Centers are equipped for social distancing and need your support far more than Amazon. However, if online is your only option, many of my recommended online sources are on my App.
Oriental/Asiatic lilies: I can’t be without them! Easy to find, easy to garden with and oh my, they provide such pleasure in the spring and summer.
Hellebores: I have been singing the praises of the new ‘Frost Kiss’ series for some time. Spectacular season-long foliage, fabulous flowers, no deer pressure and shade tolerant.
Baptisias: Native, persistent, beautiful in flower, interesting fruit and available in many handsome colors. If my garden were larger, I would have a dozen. As it is, I plan on buying two more.
Gerbera daisies: One of the best choices for flowers on the deck and patio. I love the Garvinea series, but many fine ones are now available. Annual in much of the country, but often perennial south of zone 7.
Clematis: My garden is so small it is already stuffed with plants. So I go vertical. I have planted climbing roses, black-eyed Susan vines, moonflowers and trumpet vine. However, the easiest and prettiest for me is clematis. I have my favorites, but love them all.
My Valentines...I am offering you all 14% off of my book Of Naked Ladies and Forget-Me-Nots.
Use the code Valentines at checkout.
Instagram, me?? Absolutely – join me with “Tales from the Garden” (stories about plants and their names) and “Back to School with Dr A”, where I provide five-minute thoughts about the science of gardening and horticulture. No tests involved.
Online Courses
You can find out all about the online courses I teach on my website. Click the button below to find out more.
YouTube
Book Store
If you are interested in looking at the books I have written, check them out here. Click the button below for all my great reads.
Award Winning.
Gold: Publisher/Producer: Book (Technical/Reference)
Herbaceous Perennial Plants, Stipes Publishing LLC
Gold: Writing: Book (Technical/Reference)
Herbaceous Perennial Plants; A Treatise on their Identification, Culture and Garden Attributes, Fourth Edition, Dr. Allan M. Armitage
Silver: Publisher/Producer: Book (Technical/Reference)
Herbaceous Perennial Plants, Stipes Publishing LLC
Silver: Writing: Book (Technical/Reference)
Herbaceous Perennial Plants; A Treatise on their Identification, Culture and Garden Attributes, Fourth Edition, Dr. Allan M. Armitage
The “bible” of perennial books; this is a must-have reference to the world of herbaceous perennial plants. The book provides easy-to-read information for over 500 genera, species and cultivars used in the gardening and landscape trade. Changes in taxonomy, detailed information on morphology, and Dr. A.s thoughts on perennials, gardening in the South and North, along with many other topics make this an important book for professionals and gardeners alike.
Available in both softbound & hardbound, For people who will be using this book “a great deal”, hardbound is highly recommended. Make sure you check softbound or hardbound.
1092 p