Daffodil Planter

Queen Elizabeth gives New Year Honours to gardeners

2012-01-01T20:05:00.000-08:00

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are shown a new vegetable patch by a Buckingham Palace gardener. (Photo courtesy The Telegraph)

Queen Elizabeth II has pronounced gardening an honourable profession.

In the annual New Year Honours List she acts on behalf of the government and gives titles and medals to hundreds of politicians and their pals. Some worthy citizens who have served their country are commended too.

The Queen also has a few awards that are her own personal gift, and this year she recognized four gardeners.

No doubt as we weed and hoe we wish that someday, someone would notice our efforts. These lucky four had The Queen notice and reward them. Let's take a look at the gardens where they toil.

Sandringham House, The Queen's residence in Norfolk, England

(Photo courtesy KL Magazine)

People who live in glass houses...well, they apparently get gold medals. Royal Victorian Gold Medals.

David James Benefer, RVM. Glasshouses manager, Sandringham Estate (he has previously been awarded the Silver Royal Victorian Medal).

Highgrove House, Prince Charles' country home in Gloucestershire, England

(Photo courtesy Highgrove)

Royal Victorian Medal (Silver) to Mrs. Marion Rose Cox. Part-time Gardener, Highgrove House.

The Queen on the grounds of Balmoral, her estate in Scotland

(Photo courtesy The Telegraph )

Royal Victorian Medal (Silver) to Joseph MacLugash. Woods Foreman, Balmoral Estate.

Savill Garden, Windsor Castle, England

(Photo courtesy Charlotte Weychan)

Royal Victorian Medal (Silver) to Graham Passmore Stone. Horticulturalist, Crown Estate, Windsor.

Dr. Shirley Sherwood at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew Gardens, England

(Photo courtesy Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew)

The government fished up this garden great and The Queen will give the Order of the British Empire to Dr. Shirley Angela Sherwood. Botanical Art Collector. For services to Botanical Art.

All hail Shirley for her astonishing collection, now safely stashed in an eponymous gallery at Kew Gardens; the first gallery ever to focus on botanical art.

As for the rest of us, we'll have to name a lot of plants after The Queen in her Diamond Jubilee Year and see if that gets us on the list.

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Daffodil growing tips from around North America

2011-10-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy #FleurChat

The #FleurChat daffodil chatterers are everywhere from British Columbia to the Deep South. We had fun talking daffodils when I was honored to be the #FleurChat guest.

Read about their favorite daffodil varieties, growing tips, and how many bulbs they're planting right now (lots!) in the transcript from our convivial #FleurChat about daffodils.

#FleurChat is a Twitter event on alternate Thursdays at 6 p.m. Pacific time.

A recent guest on #FleurChat was Kathy Jentz, editor/publisher of Washington Gardener magazine, and member of the board of the Garden Writers Association, talking about her favorite flowers for the D.C. zone 7 climate.

An earlier guest was Debra Lee Baldwin, Queen of Succulents, with comments on blooming succulents and cacti.

The mastermind behind #FleurChat? Fern Richardson, whose new book Small Space Container Gardens is top of the hit parade of forthcoming garden books. Fern will be speaking at a garden show near you in 2012.

For more daffodil tips, click on DAFFODIL INFORMATION at the top of this blog. Please add your ideas in the comment section here about what daffodils to plant and why. Questions too, if you have any.

Looking forward to February, when my 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation' will get daffodil season underway here in Zone 7b.

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Still: Life

2011-07-03T19:10:00.000-07:00

Guest post: a poem from award-winning poet, essayist, and radio presenter, Molly Fisk. Molly gardens in Nevada City, California. Find your own voice when you sign up for her writing classes (either in Molly's Nevada City living room or online). Need to get your mojo going? She's a life coach too.

Grass waist-high and tough to pull by hand, you've tried it.

Some broad-leafed plant the mower balks at

so it owns the leach field. A rainy spring and cold--

every green thing grown thick-stalked, deep-rooted, hollyhocks

spying over seven-foot deck railing, vast explosions

of nasturtiums. Want to bet the willow gains another third

in height? That box elder's shade spills halfway across the patio

Yes, Egypt's revolution, Libyan armies, oil spills, devastation.

All of it, and more. But still: life. Tenacious. Dedicated.

Unapologetic. You can swear by it.

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Announcing the Daffodil Blogorama winners!

2011-05-15T22:15:00.000-07:00

Photo: ori2uru

Daffodil season may be over, but five lucky readers will have daffodil note cubes to cheer them through the rest of the year. Perfect for jotting down bulb orders!

The blind, random selection yielded the names of Claire, plaisanter, Angela, Jan and Kathy.

I will send the names to First Daffodils 2011, our generous prize donor, and she will ship the prizes. If you didn't win, you can still order your own note cubes at her site.

Why so long for this announcement? I was hither and yon, at flower shows, and then entranced by my own daffodil season. The last bloom was poeticus Narcissus 'Actaea'. What was yours?

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Daffodil Blogorama 2011

2011-03-20T00:10:00.000-07:00

Narcissus Nirvana returns, with the second annual Daffodil Blogorama (a round-up of blog posts about daffodils) and a daffodil notecube giveaway from First Daffodils 2011.

First, the giveaway

The daffodil notecube giveaway is courtesy of First Daffodils 2011 -- a photo blog that chronicles daffodils coming up all over the world each spring.

The blogger makes daffodil note cubes with William Wordsworth's poem on the sides, and she is kindly donating five note cubes as prizes, one each for five lucky readers.

Enter by going to the First Daffodils 2011 site and looking at the photos. Then return here and leave a comment at the bottom of this post. Tell me which photo you like best and why. If you have trouble leaving a comment here, you can also enter with a comment on my Facebook Wall

Five winners will be randomly chosen from the comments. Contest closes April 8 at midnight PDT. The giveaway is open to anyone in the world with postal delivery.

The daffodil note cubes are reasonably priced and make perfect gifts for daff-loving friends. And Mother's Day. Just saying. You can purchase the note cubes via a link at the First Daffodils site.

News from the annual meeting of the American Daffodil Society

Skilled photographer and award-winning daffodil grower Kirby Fong generously agreed to share photos from the annual show, held last week in Jackson, Missippi. Many thanks, Kirby!

Gold Ribbon for the best standard daffodil in the show. 'Angel Face' 3W-YYO

exhibited by Steve Hampson.

White Ribbon is for the best set of three standard daffodils. The winner was 'Loch Lundie' 2Y-O from a collection of twelve sets of three. Our photographer, Kirby Fong, was the exhibitor.

Bender Award for the best standard daffodil hybridized by the exhibitor. This "challenge class" is one of the few that accepts flowers grown in glass houses instead of outdoors. The winner was seedling 04-214 6W-W exhibited by Larry Force.

Daffodil Blogorama

The Daffodil Blogorama tour begins in California and moves East around the globe. Click on the name of the blog to see a daffodil story:

* Sue Langley profiles 'Ice Wings' in her Sierra Foothill Garden.

* I'm on the red carpet at Daffodil Planter with 'Misty Glen' as she wins the Wister Award.

* Claire Splan at An Alameda Garden explains how to propagate daffodil bulbs by scaling.

* Jayne Locas and the Paradise Garden Club planted 90,000 daffodils. See their photos at Daffodils Across the Ridge and scroll down that site to read Jayne's inspiring story "To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow."

* Mississippi blogger Gail at Yardflower celebrates her late narcissi.

* Frances from Fairegarden in Tennessee offers a controversial technique for dividing daffodils.

* The Canadian sister act: Helen and Sarah of Toronto Gardens report on the daffodil's role as a symbol for the Canadian Cancer Society.

* Tyla reveals the true story of 'King Alfred' at All About Daffodils in Alabama.

* Trailblazing garden blogger, Kathy Purdy of Cold Climate Gardening in upstate New York, has stories about her heirloom narcissus.

*Kathy Jentz, editor and publisher of Washington Gardener magazine, showcases early daffodils (including 'Katie Heath') at Washington Gardener.

* Maryland flower photographer Patty Hankins at Beautiful Flower Pictures shows a group of tazetta narcissus photos.

* Janet is The Queen of Seaford in South Carolina, where she's planting a new garden with daffodils.

* Mary "Moosey" is in a category all her own. A pioneer in garden blogging, she was sharing online stories from Moosey's Country Garden in New Zealand before the word blog was invented. She posts about recycling unwanted daffodils from other gardens. Will she be able to resist buying bulbs? Find out.

Thanks to all the bloggers for sharing their work!

Ready to experience your first daffodil show?

There are shows going on all over the country this spring.

Plan to visit Baltimore for the 2012 national show. Daffodil questions? Check the American Daffodil Society website for answers. For the ultimate in daffodil fun and information, join the American Daffodil Society and a daffodil society near you.

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What if John Grisham were a garden writer?

2010-12-09T22:00:00.000-08:00

I just finished one of John Grisham's legal thrillers, The Appeal. Gripping, and a change from my steady diet of garden literature.

I wondered why Grisham so often called his novels "The noun" (The Firm, The Client, The Chamber) -- and I also wondered, would he ever set one of his books in the world of horticulture?

If he did, it might sound something like this:

The Greenhouse

Chapter 16

Sam ran down the dirt road, finding his way by the light of the half moon, clutching the seed tray to his chest. The sprouts were all that remained of his years of botanical research on corn.

Was it only two months since George Luger had first visited Sam's University of Mississippi greenhouse lab?

As his feet thudded along the packed dirt, Sam's thoughts went back to the day when he accepted the research grant Luger offered.

What he had not realized until this evening was that Luger was the central actor in a corporate conspiracy that reached from Wall Street to the corn fields of the Midwest. A conspiracy that sought to destroy the hybrid corn Sam had developed.

The sprouts Sam carried were the last survivors of his hybrid corn -- corn that could grow easily without pesticides. This robust hybrid would dramatically increase corn crops all over the world, alleviating mass hunger.

And the pesticide companies wanted his hybrid wiped off the map.

Sam ran on, hoping he was heading for the highway, where he would hitchike into Jackson and find the one man who could help him. He knew the senior Senator from Mississippi, Taylor Thomas, was in Jackson tonight, and as head of the Senate Agriculture Committee he had the power to crush the pesticide companies.

Suddenly Sam was blinded by headlights.

Stop, Sam, boomed a man's voice, Come over here and get in the car.

Sam ran into a ditch at the side of the road, trying to see past the lights and find out who was talking.

Sam, said the voice again, It's Senator Thomas. I've been looking for you. We have to get into town fast.

Sam walked slowly to the car, peering into the darkness.

Hurry Sam, we don't have much time.

As Sam reached the car someone pulled the seed tray away from him. Sam tried to hold on and several seed plugs came away in his hands. Then he felt a sudden pain in the back of his head, and as he fell to the ground he heard the car drive off.

*****

And so, dear reader, what is your Grishamesque conclusion to this story?

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Adventures in canning: Plum jam and pink grape juice

2010-10-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Yellow plum, blue plum, zinfandel jam...

A guest post from award-winning poet, essayist, and radio presenter, Molly Fisk. Molly gardens in Nevada City, California. Her beguiling radio essays are broadcast on KVMR-FM and collected on two CDs, Using Your Turn Signal Promotes World Peace and Blow-Drying a Chicken. Read her new poetry collection, The More Difficult Beauty, and see Molly on her West Coast book tour.

For the seventh year in a row, I did not enter my plum jam in the County Fair. I watched the deadline approach and then waved when it went past.

Partly this comes from being caught up in the usual hustle and bustle — who has time to fill out one more form? And partly it’s because not much was ready to pick in early August, when the Fair entries are due.

Everything ripened late this year because of a cold wet May, and now, of course, it seems to all be happening at once. There are still peaches in the farmer's markets, next to the pumpkins, and strawberries, of all things — even a few plums are still on the trees. A friend of mine who runs a restaurant went picking at a secret location with some of her staff and brought me back her overflow of an amazing pink seedless grape, to the tune of twenty pounds or so.

My kitchen, which was spotless for two days due to my procrastinating about something else, is now full of big plastic storage containers of grapes, colanders separating pulp from juice, the Cuisinart with which I pulverized the plum skins to an edible size, water baths on the stove boiling jars and lids, and some open bottles of zinfandel, which I add to everything.

My four now-teenaged kittens have learned to play soccer with strawberries bobbing in the sink as well as grapes that have leapt onto the floor, and there are sticky pawprints on every conceivable surface.

I can't tell you how happy this makes me.

One of the things I miss from my upbringing is the chaos we could get up to in my parent's kitchen cooking together. My friend Peggy and I would pick blackberries all over town and then make jam and pies, or we'd go after plums in our and our neighbors' yards and my mother would make Chinese plum sauce.

Just the idea of people doing huge messy kitchen projects that will result in something, whether it's temporary, like dinner, or lasting, like 30 jars of jam to give away for Xmas, makes me feel as though everything's right with the world.

Everything, of course, isn't really right with the world.

What might become of us is up in the air and I think that understanding permeates almost everyones' thoughts in some way, together with confusion about what to do about it.

A friend just wrote a poem about the BP Oil Spill and included a line referencing the day it started, April 10, 2010: “If it was the end of the world as we knew it, we didn't know it.” Maybe the end of the world has already started. I, for one, can't tell. And maybe my jam-making frenzy is a futile effort to try to be safe when there's no way to be safe. I might put up enough jam this week for two years worth of peanut butter sandwiches, but knowing how to preserve fruit isn't going to do me any good when we're out of water, much less jars, lids, sugar and Sure-Jell.

What's going to do me the most good regarding an uncertain future is curiosity, love of living, and a respect for my own capacity to change. Which is why I'm boiling an insane number of grapes on the stove this morning.

I've never made grape juice before. Have you?

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Autumnal Equinox 2010

2010-09-22T00:05:00.000-07:00

The Harvest Moon, c. 1914

Sir Ernest Albert Waterlow (1850-1919)*

This year in North America the first full day of the Autumnal Equinox coincides with the Full Moon. September's Full Moon is traditionally called the Harvest Moon. Sending hope that it shines on a fruitful time for you and yours.

*Sir Waterlow was an English landscape painter and academician at the Royal Academy. He worked in oil and was also President of the Royal Society of Water-Colour Artists.

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Sigmund Freud asked, "What do garden writers want?"

2010-09-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

Sigmund Freud in the garden, with his daughter Anna.

Or am I getting my quotations mixed up? That's the hot topic tossed out by the new group, Garden Writers Today.

Dr. Freud had clients lie on a couch and free asssociate. As a garden writer I'll lie on a hammock and go through the same mental process.

Readers who want to charge $150 an hour to analyze my responses had better stop here.

I want more of the same great support that I'm getting from my online and local community of garden writers:

Debra Lee Baldwin sent me the rule for when to capitalize and italicize the name of a genus. I printed that out and taped it to the wall in my office. I know--I'm supposed to have it pinned with an adorable trowel tack to a charming cork board. Feel free to send either one.
Writers who shall remain anonymous have shared information on current rates for writing gigs.
Dee Nash took a dazzling photo of Chionodoxa forbesii 'Pink Giant' and let me use it as the illustration for a newspaper story.
Rebecca Sweet threw a party for garden bloggers and tweeters who were going to the 2010 San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, and Laura Livengood Schaub made sure we had an "alternative media" press room at the Show.
Retired Sacramento Bee garden writer Dick Tracy is my neighbor in Nevada County. He reached out as an encouraging mentor and introduced me to his circle of friends.

Let's keep the camaraderie and information flowing!

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Invasive plants on the lam

2010-06-21T06:30:00.000-07:00

Butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii) is a Class B Noxious Weed in the State of Washington.

Notify the authorities if it approaches your garden.

Photo: Bildtankstelle.de

I read up on invasive plants last week and enjoyed the lively descriptions of their behavior. My favorite--"escaping from cultivation."

Don't you love the prison-break movie sound of that? Some invasives even have prison-style nicknames: Albizia julibrissin goes by "Silk Tree", Pueraria labata "Kudzu", and Perilla frutescens is leader of the chain gang as "Beefsteak".

These invasives deserve their own film about breaking out of a perennial border. Here's a preview of some plant-action-movie sequences:

Plants gathering at night under outdoor lighting to draw diagrams of the garden (with plant marker pencils filched from the potting bench).

Buddleias filing down metal tools when the gardener isn't looking. (That's what happened to your missing trowels).

Invasives coordinating their wristwatches.

Digging tunnels.

And then running wildly across the open land outside the garden fence.

The most exciting horticultural film since Avatar, coming to you in 2011 from Fox Searchlight. Title TBA but may be Cool Hand Loosestrife. Your suggestions?

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Garden boots of the rich (?) and famous

2010-05-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

So, you've been gardening for a while. You've got your favorite shovel, found a dandy garden center, and settled the glove-or-not-to glove issue.

Had it with your soggy sneakers?

Time to get some real garden shoes.

Here's the scoop from garden writers who are famous for their garden boots.

Their signature footwear.

As the saying goes, by their boots ye shall know them.

*First up is Billy Goodnick, landscape architect, contributor to Fine Gardening magazine, author of the Garden Wise Guy blog, and former landscape architect for the City of Santa Barbara.

"Since I left the 8-5 sludge behind a year ago, I pretty much live in my Crocs. They really CAN go anywhere: Got the solid black for state dinners, khaki when I disappear from the paparazzi, 6” heel-snake-print-platform-sandal-Jimmy-Choo knock-offs for garden openings, and my steel-toed orange Doc Martins for manly activities. My shoes love me as much as I love them. Look how they flock around when daddy comes home!"

*Angela Davis has flowers, vegetables and Silkie chickens in her garden near Seattle. She's so obsessed with garden footwear that she named her blog Gardening in My Rubber Boots. Angela likes classic Wellington boots (a.k.a. Wellies) and her favorites are the Hunter brand worn by Queen Elizabeth.

"I have two pairs of black rubber boots. I wear my Hunter boots to plant sales, garden shows, Little League games, the grocery store, etc. Then I have my "stunt double" basic black rubber boots that get all the hard jobs around the house. When my Hunters are no longer new, I'm sure I'll start using them for the harder jobs too.”

*Shawna Coronado is all about getting green and getting happy. Author of the hit book Gardening Nude, she's everywhere, communicating her message of how to heal yourself and heal the world. Find out more about this dynamo at her site The Casual Gardener.

“Due to a tight budget, I was unable to buy garden boots. I used my old tennis shoes when working in the mucky areas of my gardens and promised myself if I ever saw a pair of taller boots that were priced right I would get them. Happily, I found a pair for under $25 this season at Target and they look great. Turns out they are a stylish and inexpensive solution to keeping your ankles and pants clean when gardening and I love them with a passion!”

*Dianne Benson is the style maven of the gardening world. A former fashion designer and retailer, she famously turned to gardening and wrote the classic book Dirt: The Lowdown on Growing a Garden with Style. Dianne has created stunning gardens in the Hamptons and recently opened an online store offering her top picks of garden tools and accessories. Find them all at The Best@DianneB. and read her blog Dirtier. She's wearing some boots from her shop:

“These boots are as good in town as they are in the garden...they are not heavy...they are not ugly and they have that fabulous see-through heel that is not too flat. I, personally, cannot make mad dashes around the garden in Wellies -- they make me trip over my own feet."

"A tasty and young garden writer from The Wall Street Journal, Anne Marie Chaker, recently introduced me to the Chasseur boot from Le Chameau -- they are as sturdy as but much sleeker than Wellies...it could be because they're French or it could be because they're $400...either way they are very chic in a more rugged way; but still not as quirky as the Panther Boots from Dianne B. via Sarazienne in France.”

A close-up of those Dianne B. boots:

Which brings us to our First Gardener. Hmm. Those Converse sneakers are not good for more than one hour in the garden.

Ma'am, with the greatest respect--don't you think, as a role model for gardeners all over the world, you need to kick it up a notch in the footwear department?

Lots of great choices for you here. I look forward to seeing some serious garden boots in the White House garden soon!

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The future of upside-down gardening

2010-05-22T16:20:00.000-07:00

Topsy Turvy in action. Photo: Topsy Turvy.

As The New York Times points out, the Topsy Turvy tomato planter is a hot ticket in the big-box stores. Thousands of American houses will be festooned with dirt-filled plastic cylinders and dangling tomatoes this summer.

Tomatoes are the number one crop in U.S. gardens, and more power to anyone who makes them easier to grow.

But as I always say, "The best way to earn money in the garden is to invent a gadget for growing tomatoes."

I'm not convinced by this upside-downing yet. For one thing, that fast-draining soil would need to be watered twice a day in my hot climate.

The upside-down gardening fans are full of zeal. What if they decide other plants could benefit from this growing technique? I fear for American gardens.

Come spring we could see:

And who knows if dedicated fans will seek their own health benefits with:

How about you? Will your tomatoes be doing a headstand this summer?

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Episode 2: Love blooms in Asheville, North Carolina

2010-04-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

One of many fine 1920s buildings in downtown Asheville;

note the green tile roof.

Last time on Love Blooms in Asheville we eavesdropped on the love-struck gardeners, George and Alice, who had just met and were discovering all they had in common. Let's catch up on their conversation that afternoon in a downtown Asheville bistro:

And George, I grow a lot of shade plants--

I do too, Alice!

Especially rhododendrons.

Native rhododendrons?

Oh, all kinds. You know George, there are so many pretty hybrids and I--

This won't work Alice.

What?! What do you mean?

I can't possibly have a relationship with someone who grows non-native plants.

George rises abruptly, knocking over his glass of organic red wine.

Alice gasps as the wine splashes on her white Patagonia Synchilla fleece vest.

Oh no!

Alice, what have I done?

Never mind George. Just go.

Alice, are you crying?

Well George, you didn't let me finish my sentence. I was about to tell you--the rhododendron hybrids were already in the garden when I bought the house. But that probably doesn't matter to you. You probably think I should have dug them all up. Now please, leave me alone.

George sits down.

Alice, I'm sorry. I was just so surprised. It seemed like we were on the same wavelength in every way, and then, when you said you grew hybrids--well, it made me wonder if I really knew you.

But George, we've only been talking for an hour. You said you thought I was your soul mate but you don't know me yet. You probably don't even know that you ruined my vest.

Alice, give me a little credit. I understand about red wine stains. And I even know your vest is made from recycled plastic bottles. It's one of the things that drew me to you.

Really?

Yes. I thought, "There's a woman who cares about the environment." Won't you give me another chance Alice? At least let me buy you a new vest?

Oh, you don't have to do that.

Well, could I buy you a plant then?

Oh George, you're sweet. You know, I actually do need some organic vegetable starts for the sunny spot in my garden. You could get me some of those?

Sounds good. Let me take you to my favorite nursery.

They stand and walk to the door.

This will be fun, George. I wonder if we have the same favorite nursery? I'm really looking forward to growing my own vegetables in the front yard this year.

Vegetables in the FRONT yard, Alice?

They stop and stare at each other. Alice sighs.

George, haven't you heard of edible landscaping?

Well, no.

Did your mother tell you it was tacky to grow vegetables in the front yard?

Well, yes.

Alice heads out the door.

Come on, George. Before your nursery, let's go around the corner to Malaprop's. I want to show you some books by Rosalind Creasy....

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In the zone

2010-03-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

USDA Hardiness Zone Map

The U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA] is about to release a new version of the weather map that divides the country into climate zones.

Just as a pick-up artist identifies himself, I'm an Aries, a gardener shares the salient information, I'm Zone 7b.

At least I do--don't you?

Are we in for a mass identity crisis? In an interview with the USDA, blogger Graham Rice was told the zones would not be changed but instead shown in more detail.

That's as may be. The USDA is, after all, a federal agency, and political pressure could be brought to bear on its good workers.

The temptations are great. Think of the massive population shift if Michigan were suddenly reclassified as warm Zone 9. Droves of naive gardeners yearning to grow tender plants could be fooled into buying Detroit real estate.

What if a Senator wanted to contradict global warming theory by giving his state a colder zone number?

Perhaps it's time to take this zoning power out of the hands of the federal government and give it to an expert, apolitical body.

Yes, I mean the garden editors at Sunset in Menlo Park, California. They developed their own Western states zones with detailed gradations, and expanded that system to cover the whole country.

I'd be fine with introducing myself as Sunset Zone 7.

The Sunset staff would have to watch their backs though. Lobbyists would be lurking in the Sunset test garden, leaping out from behind buddleias to harass editors.

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Narcissus 'Misty Glen' takes home the Wister Award

2010-03-17T21:50:00.000-07:00

Narcissus 'Misty Glen'
Photo courtesy of DaffSeek and Colorblends Flowerbulbs.

The what award?

We all watched the Academy Awards two weeks ago. The Wister Award is the daffodil version of the Oscar for Lifetime Achievement. 'Misty Glen' is pictured above--she's wearing white, which was not as big as silver on the red carpet this year, but elegant nevertheless. 'Misty Glen' is still clutching her Wister, presented to her last weekend by the American Daffodil Society at their National Convention.

To earn this honor 'Misty Glen' was required to be a "good grower" with a "floriferous habit", "showy at a distance" and "resistant to basal rot".

In her acceptance speech she thanked her parents, 'Easter Moon' and 'Pigeon'; her hybridizer, Frederick Board; the bulb sellers who promoted her in the horticultural community; and the many home gardeners who gave her the opportunity to perform in their front yards.

I'm going to offer her a starring role in my garden next year. If you live in USDA Zones 4-8 you could do the same. Industry sources say she's not a prima donna.

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Daffodil Blogorama 2010

2010-03-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

Narcissus Nirvana is here with a Daffodil Blogorama (a round-up of blog posts about daffodils) and the annual meeting of the American Daffodil Society.

Drive to the Northern California Gold Country this weekend for the FREE show at the National Convention of the American Daffodil Society. The National Show will be at Ironstone Vineyards where the gardens boast 300,000 daffodils. Click on a photo to enlarge it.

Naturalized daffodils edge the vineyards.

Photos: Northern California Daffodil Society and Ben Blake.

Tubs of daffodils greet you at the entrance to the show.

Hundreds of flowers will be on display indoors, including the world's largest assemblage of miniature daffodils and a collection of green-hued daffodils. The National Show is open to the public March 12-14: Friday 1-5, Saturday 9-5, and Sunday 9-3. Click here for directions to Ironstone Vineyards in Murphys.

The Daffodil Blogorama tour of the world begins now, starting in California and moving East around the globe. Click on the name of the blog to see a daffodil story:

* Saxon Holt, the eminent landscape photographer, gives tips on taking pictures of daffodils at Gardening Gone Wild.

* The California farmers at Curbstone Valley blog about 'Dutch Master'.

* Pomona Belvedere posts at Tulips in the Woods on 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation'.

* I post at Daffodil Planter on 'Passionale' and the garden writer Henry Mitchell.

* Mississippi blogger Gail at Yardflower has a daffodil bouquet for fans of the garden writer Elizabeth Lawrence.

* Winner of Blotanical's Garden Blog of the Year for two years running, Frances from Tennessee posts at Fairegarden about mid-season daffodils.

* The Canadian sister act: Helen and Sarah blog at Toronto Gardens about 'Ice Follies'.

* Jan of Northern Virginia at Thanks For 2 Day brings Wordsworth to the daffodil party.

* Maryland flower photographer Patty Hankins at Beautiful Flower Pictures posts a group of daffodil photos.

* Janet is The Queen of Seaford in Seaford, Virginia. She posts about a miniature daffodil.

* Naomi Sachs in New York writes about the American Cancer Society's Daffodil Days program on her Therapeutic Landscapes Network Blog.

* Moosey is in a category all her own. A pioneer in garden blogging, she was sharing online stories from Moosey's Country Garden in New Zealand before the word blog was invented. She posts about the ultimate challenge with daffodils--deciding which varieties to buy.

Thanks to all the bloggers for sharing their work!

Can't get enough?

First Daffodils 2010 is a blog where people from all over the world send photos of the first sightings of daffodils in their towns. Order a daffodil note cube there too.

If you can't attend the National Show this year, check out the American Daffodil Society website for answers to all your daffodil questions. Join the American Daffodil Society and a daffodil society near you.

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A passion for Narcissus 'Passionale'

2010-03-05T12:15:00.000-08:00

Narcissus 'Passionale' (click photo to enlarge)
Photo courtesy of DaffSeek and Carlos van der Veek

In his weekly Earthman columns Henry Mitchell, famed writer for the Washington Post, made gardens sound like magical places whose creation was within our grasp.

He cast a spell over me, and all my gardening choices were ruled by his preferences. I love daffodils and soaked up his opinions on the subject.

Here's what he had to say about Narcissus 'Passionale' in his column called Daffodil Time:

There is a pink-crowned white flower, 'Passionale', which is, not to split hairs about it, supremely beautiful. ... I hope any gardener will try at least a few of the most beautiful sorts, like 'Passionale'. Even one bulb.

Ever the obedient reader, I bought 20 'Passionale' bulbs and planted them in front of my house. He was, of course, absolutely right. If I could have only one garden book it would be the collection of his columns, The Essential Earthman.

Henry Mitchell became ill and lingered painfully for many months. He died in 1993, planting daffodils with a neighbor. I'm sad Henry Mitchell is not here to attend the National Convention of the American Daffodil Society in Murphys, California next week. I'd love to know which daffodils he would find "supremely beautiful" these days.

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A snowy moon for Katie

2010-02-27T19:00:00.000-08:00

Katie, the much-loved blogger at gardenpunk, is very ill. Before she got sick she wrote about her new truck, the truck she had dreamed of:

A truck where I can drive out into a field, stand in the bed, and take pictures of the rising moon. A truck I can take to the snow.

I thought she'd like this picture. Adventures ahead, Katie! Come on back!

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I wrestled an Anaconda in my garden today

2010-02-24T22:00:00.000-08:00

Green Anaconda Photo: Ltshears

It was 20 feet long--green, sinuous and slippery.

I was pulling it down from the lamp post at the end of my driveway when suddenly it wound around my ankles, and then coiled up to my waist. I tried to grip it to get some control, but it kept sliding through my hands. We struggled for what seemed like hours and I was panting, sweaty and wondering how much longer I could last. Luckily I had my pruners in my pocket and I was finally able to subdue it.

I'm not sure what the turning point was in the fight, but I think it caught sight of the label on the front of my tall rubber boots--Hunter--and that weakened its will.

This 20 foot garden terror has the Latin name of Hedera helix.

It's English ivy.

Once it gave up I crammed it in the yard waste container and slammed down the lid. We're due for a yard waste pick-up in a few days, but I wish it were sooner. I hear thumping from inside the container.

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Cupid's garden

2010-02-09T21:30:00.000-08:00

Psyche Opening the Door into Cupid's Garden, c. 1904,

J.W. Waterhouse (1849-1917)*

Who knew Cupid was a gardener? Of course he used a classical landscape design. And a whole lotta lawn. But Cupid's not to blame; the anti-lawn movement was centuries in the future.

We're in Cupid's favorite week with you-know-what in the air. These are my garden loves. Yours too?

Striped flowers
Nibbling the first leaves of agastache
Wild violets
Rangy rhododendrons
Garden swings
Afternoon sun shining through redbud leaves
Crows yelling at each other while they roost for the night

I got an early Valentine when the inspiring blogger Deja Pseu at Une femme d'un certain age tossed a Beautiful Blogger Award my way. In return I had to list seven things about myself. If you are a femme and hitting un certain age, drop those seed catalogs and rush to her always fab blog.

My Valentine to Deja Pseu--a candy heart that says TRÈS CHIC.

P.S. Gardening chic is not an oxymoron if you follow Angela's advice at Gardening in my Rubber Boots: use Armor All to shine up your Hunter Wellington boots. What do you bet Psyche had Wellies on with that pink gown of hers?

*Mr. Waterhouse was an English painter. This painting is in the collection of the Harris Museum, Preston, Lancashire, England.

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The groundhog's song

2010-02-02T03:30:00.000-08:00

Photo: Supherman

Oh, I'm Punxsutawney Phil

From the Keystone State.

Today I'll tell you all if

Spring is going to be late.

To all you eager gardeners

Who hounded me from my bed.

Go back to your flower shows*

And gardening books** instead!

*This week catch the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in Seattle, February 3-7. Philadelphia hosts the world's largest indoor flower show February 28-March 7. Garden experts from around the country will be flocking to the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show in San Mateo, March 24-28.

**I wrote two book reviews for The Union newspaper. Click to read author interviews about Fearless Color Gardens by Keeyla Meadows, and Succulent Container Gardens by Debra Lee Baldwin.

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Is it too late to ask Santa for a rain barrel?

2010-01-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

We've had an inch of rain in just a few hours this morning. In a pathetic attempt to balance the wet and dry seasons I set my watering can out on the deck to catch some rain. That should do the trick. No more summer water needs at this house.

The downpour reminds me that I always wanted a water feature in my garden. Do overflowing gutters count? They make a lovely trickling sound on the front walk.

Looking out the window at the sheets of rain I ask, Why, oh why didn't I have the wit to buy a rain barrel?

It's not like nobody warned me. Wonderful David at Montana Wildlife Gardener gave me chapter and verse on how to install a rain barrel. He's a genuine wildlife biologist. But did I listen?

And only yesterday that sound fellow, John Black at A Verdant Life, offered a thorough analysis of the ways and means of saving rainwater.

It could be worse; our driveway is gravel so the rain soaks on in, helping the roots of the Incense cedars, oaks and Ponderosa pines.

But inside the house I grieve over my short-sightedness. The children's song keeps ringing in my mind:

You can't holler down our rain barrel,

You can't climb our apple tree,

I don't want to play in your yard,

If you won't be good to me.*

Here's a two-part question for you:

Do you have a rain barrel? If so, do you holler down it?

*Two Little Maids (Music and lyrics, Petrie and Wingate)

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Tree Witness

2009-12-26T00:05:00.000-08:00

Pinus lambertiana (Sugar Pine)

One of my favorite days of the year is December 26th. It's not that I don't like the 25th - I do. It's just that no matter how hard I try, Christmas will get my number one way or another. It's so loaded with meaning, memory, expectation, and effort. I find myself happily wrapping little presents and singing the third and fourth verses of carols I didn't know I remembered. But after the ribbons and scotch tape, the cooking and socializing, which has been building for weeks, and then the crescendo of the day itself, I'm more than ready for lethargy and solitude.

On the 26th, I stay in my nightgown all morning, browsing through the books people gave me, now and then washing a dish or two. I go for a walk by myself, just to feel my feet on the ground and remember the human animal was designed for walking. I don't get into the car. Lord knows, I don't need groceries, and anything else can wait. My woodstove's flue got stuck last night at the half-way point, so I'll have to pay more attention to stoking the fire than usual. But I won't call for help until tomorrow.

Today the weather is clear and bright and freezing. I live on an acre of mostly open land. When I first arrived, I began planting trees to shade the house and provide more habitat for birds. A decade later, I've started a secret post-Christmas tradition. This is the day I go outside and talk to my trees. I know: it sounds like I've had too much eggnog, but remember, poets are allowed to be a little strange.

I place my hand on each trunk and say hello to the Persimmon, the two Crab apples, the Willow, Maple, Box Elder, and Purple Mountain Ash. I greet the hundred-year-old Apple tree that broke in half last summer under the weight of its own green fruit. I pay my respects to the Almond, which flowers but never sets nuts, to the six Blue Oaks reaching 30 feet into the sky, and the single scrawny Sugar Pine. I walk to the back of my studio and nod to the Little-Leaf Linden I brought in because our town is full of its sisters, flourishing here since the Gold Rush. I stand in the spot where I'd like to plant an Apricot, and wander over to the Juniper to run my hand through its prickly branches.

Some of these trees are going to live longer than I do. I may have planted a few, but I don't own them, I'm just the custodian - glad for their shade and the rustle of wind in their leaves. I go out with my broom on snowy mornings and gently thump the ice from their limbs. I prune the crossed branches and cry if a storm brings them down.

In one of his poems, Robert Frost mentions a Witness Tree - one that marks a common lot line. On the day after Christmas, I have become the reverse: a Tree Witness: slowing my pace so I can meander through the yard and greet these steadfast companions.

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Gifts for Gardeners 2009: A gem of a book

2009-12-22T13:45:00.000-08:00

Here's an assignment for you: write up the history of humans and plants in 250 pages. Oh, and start in prehistoric times. Remember to leave lots of room for full-page botanical plates.

Catherine Herbert Howell has done it, creatively mixing large themes, exciting details and copious illustrations for her successful sweep through the ages in Flora Mirabilis: How Plants Have Shaped World Knowledge, Health, Wealth and Beauty.

Each of the six chapters includes a timeline showing botanical discoveries and innovations, and the unexpected impact on societies. Sandwiched within the text are spotlights on significant plants.

For example, her chapter on the Enlightenment covers human-plant interaction from 1770 to 1840, peppered with quotes from major players. The timeline displays 50 events including the establishment of Kew Gardens for botanical study in England, and the crop failure that led to the French Revolution. Two-page features on the tomato, rose, grape, cotton and apple appear, not necessarily related to the primary text.

Published by National Geographic, the quality is everything you would expect. The illustrations are from the superior collection of the Missouri Botanical Garden and the appearance of the book is so sumptuous as to give the impression of an illuminated manuscript from the Middle Ages. All this for a list price of $35.00.

From its lovely endpapers to its detailed list of illustrations, Flora Mirabilis is a treasure, perfect for savoring at a winter fireside. Your fireside companions will have to get used to spontaneous outbursts of, Isn't this interesting! I recommend it to anyone with curiosity about plants, history or economics.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from National Geographic.

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Winter Solstice 2009

2009-12-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

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Gifts for Gardeners 2009: A glove to love

2009-12-19T20:40:00.000-08:00

The Ethel Traditional 'Signature' glove

The English language is about to change. No more “iron hand in the velvet glove”; from now on it’s “the iron hand in the Ethel glove”.

The new Ethel garden gloves for women are a sleek and comfy combination of Spandex fabric with synthetic suede palms, fingers and fingertips. Designed for a narrow hand, they fit me snugly. When in doubt, size up.

Ethel gloves come in more than nine patterns. My Ethel Traditional gloves with a two-inch cuff are ‘Signature’: dark brown with orange accents that look oh-so-Hermès and make me feel like a Parisian gardener swanning down the Rue du Faubourg Sainte-Honoré. They don’t show the red Nevada County dirt either.

How do these compare to Atlas gloves? The stretchy nylon part of Ethel is a bit softer inside than Atlas, and the synthetic suede fingers of Ethel have a much more appealing feel and a tighter fit.

For a regular garden day like today (raking, picking volunteer mushrooms before the dog gets them, scooping up gooky persimmons that fell during the storm) I choose Ethel. A muddy job--I’d go with Atlas.

The Ethel Rose glove

There’s another model in the Ethel line, the ultra-long-cuff Rose gloves. I’m sad to say they don’t work well in a rose bush. They’re fine on the way into the bush, but on the way out the thorns catch the gauntlet cuff. I hope these will be redesigned with the cuff made in synthetic suede. The current version works well with plants that have sharp edges but no thorns, like pampas grass. And my, they’re pretty.

Ethel gloves feel good, allow great dexterity and are fun to wear. I know they’ll give me that extra boost to get out in the garden on those mornings when I’m wavering. They machine wash and drip dry with no trouble at all.

Ethel Traditional gloves come in so many fabric patterns and it’s hard to pick just one. At least I know what to ask for as presents. Hustle on down to your garden center and buy some for the gardener on your shopping list or visit the fun Ethel website.

I received two complimentary pairs of gloves from Ethel Gloves, for trial and review. Actually they look nice together, so they are complementary as well.

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Gifts for Gardeners 2009: For gardeners who eat

2009-12-17T15:00:00.001-08:00

Finally, a coffee-table book to engage any reader for a few minutes or many hours. Pick up Food Journeys of a Lifetime and open it anywhere for a one-page trip to an exotic locale. Toothsome photographs and lively prose on each page immediately draw you in.

Many thanks to National Geographic for solving the problem of the perfect gift. This glistening, gleaming book is sure to seduce even the least-interested diner.

Chapters on Seasonal Delights, Favorite Street Foods, Great Food Towns, Ultimate Luxuries and more are artfully interspersed with Top Ten lists on everything from Best Old-Fashioned Candy Stores to Extreme Restaurants.

This book belongs on your coffee table to intrigue and entertain your guests, or in your hands as the ideal host gift.

Available from National Geographic or your local bookstore.

Warning: Do not read this book on an empty stomach. Possible side effects include a troublesome itch for international travel, and a rash of foreign food cooking. Consult your physician if a large meal and repeated doses of the book do not resolve your symptoms.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book.

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Gifts for Gardeners 2009: All wrapped up

2009-12-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

Dianne Benson's Garden Gift Bag

Uh oh. It's the third night of Hanukkah and only 11 more shopping days until Christmas. Time to get cracking.

Luckily for you I have culled through the new garden merchandise and books for 2009 and have a list of five sure-fire gift ideas, one coming each day this week.

Was your favorite gardener extra good this year?

The luxe gift is this wears-like-iron Yard Bag, chock full of items to make a gardener gasp with joy:

*Japanese clippers

*English twine

*Fabled plant markers and magic pencil

*And what she calls the ultimate trowel--all chosen and packed up for you by Dianne Benson, one of the most famous gardeners in America.

A holiday discount takes the price down to $95. That includes gift wrap and a hand-written card.

For more on Dianne Benson check out the intro to her online gardening store and her suggestions on the best dramatic plants for Sacramento and Sierra Nevada foothills gardeners.

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First birthday for Daffodil Planter blog

2009-12-08T10:25:00.000-08:00

I was running a fever. That's my excuse.

So I started a blog and the first post was based on an email exchange with flower photographer Catherine Stern.

The blog changed my life, bringing me a new name (all my gardening friends call me DP) and a new career as a freelance garden writer. Guess that fever wasn't such a bad break. A thousand thanks to you all for reading!

From the archives, here's the first post:

Compulsive Gardeners: Top Ten List

It all started one night with an email from a gardener friend:

On Yahoo there was a headline that I thought I read as Compulsive Gardening Threatens Savings for Older Americans. I can relate to that--however, it was Compulsive Gambling, which I can't relate to at all!

We see what we want to see....

Catherine

This led to a midnight flurry of emails between the two of us, resulting in:

Top Ten Signs That You Are A Compulsive Gardener

1) You know the specialties of nurseries and garden shops in a 50-mile radius, and when they have their sales.

2) You always have a gardening book on your night stand.

3) You buy plants just because you like their names (e.g., Society Garlic).

4) Dethatching the lawn seems like a better use of funds than insulating the house.

5) You resent having to travel out of town for the milestone birthday parties of beloved relatives because you really need to stay home and water during a heat wave.

6) Buying 50 bulbs of one variety of Narcissus is a thrifty choice (bulk discount!)--not an extravagance.

7) You sit in the movie theater, as everyone else is leaving, to catch the end of the credits and find out which garden was a film location.

8) You argue with trained horticulturists about Latin names (oops, Centranthus and Valeriana really are the same plant).

9) You wonder how a serious gardener could call her blog Daffodil when everyone knows that is not the correct...oh, never mind!

10) Your turn--what would you add to this list?

*Turns out that the Centranthus/Valeriana issue is the subject of a lively debate in the horticultural world.

The original post shows the witty comments of my first visitors--thank you all!

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The dangers of garden literature

2009-12-03T17:00:00.000-08:00

1911 edition, illustrated by Troy Howell

Frances Hodgson Burnett has a lot to answer for.

Her children's book, The Secret Garden, may be the best gardening story since Genesis, and it hypnotized me into a lifelong penchant for climbing ivy and a general yen for the overgrown look. Little did I know the price I would have to pay....

We have a tall, wooden gate in a little-visited corner of our garden. We built it ourselves 12 years ago, and you can imagine how my heart rejoiced when I saw ivy from the next-door neighbors staking a claim to our disconcertingly bare gate.

The years passed, and the ivy did what ivy does, and soon the gate was a solid mass of green leaves. It really did present the most charming appearance, provoking our plumber, on a recent circumnavigation of the house, to exclaim as he wrenched the gate open, "It's just like The Secret Garden!" Music to the ears of this Burnett-obsessed gardener.

Yesterday, though, verdant impressions notwithstanding, a visiting contractor pointed out the shakiness of the gate posts and offered to repair them.

The ivy had both hidden and exacerbated the weakness of the gate and the adjacent, wooden fence.

Bitterness coursed through me as I wrested the tangled mat of ivy from the gate and fence.

What a fool I was, I thought, as my Felco pruners flashed through the vines, to be taken in by such a book. It's one thing to fall for that stuff when you live in a land of 19th-century, brick-walled gardens, and quite another when you live in California. Look where my repeated readings of Burnett have got me. Now I'll have to pay good, garden-writing-earned money to repair the damage wrought by English ivy.

Ironic? Certainly. But do I really have to abandon the gardening tastes of a lifetime, go all Modernist and start planting spiky phormiums?

It remains to be seen. In the meantime, there is one vow I can make.

I renounce Frances Hodgson Burnett and all her works.

For at least a month.

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Thanksgiving camellias

2009-11-24T14:00:00.000-08:00

Camellia sasanqua Photo: Kenpei

White and red varieties of Camellia sasanqua are flinging themselves around Nevada County gardens right now. The small flowers on bending branches are the first course in the camellia feast we'll enjoy all winter.

Wishing you a Thanksgiving table full of food and flowers!

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Do my incense-cedars work for Goldman Sachs?

2009-11-05T22:30:00.000-08:00

Calocedrus decurrens (California incense-cedar) Photo: Walter Siegmund/Wikimedia

The vigorous determination. The fervent desire to tower over and control all within reach. As far as I know my incense-cedars didn't get any TARP money, but when it comes to the quest for world domination they're in the same league with Goldman Sachs.

Sure, the cedars always drop some tiny cones, but this year they're inundating the garden. The carpet of cones is so thick the ground is invisible. The dog can't step outside without getting cones wedged in her paws.

Rake them up? Tried that. They came back.

Cones cover the area formerly known as The Lawn, as if we went in for xeriscaping with colored rock. That's a look.

To be fair, the cedars are more generous than Goldman Sachs. They didn't muscle ahead of me in line for a Swine Flu shot.

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Which Halloween gardener are you?

2009-10-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

Photo: Mansour de Toth (Laszloen)/Wikimedia

To wicked and good gardeners alike--wishing you a Happy Halloween!

Autumn evening

2009-10-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

The Lovers (Autumn Evening), c.1888, Emile Friant (1863-1932)*

A reminder for all of us to stop with the raking of the leaves, the pruning of the wisteria, the dividing of the daffodils--and enjoy the quiet times of the season.

(Click on the painting for a larger image)

*Emile Friant was a French artist. This painting hangs in the Musee des Beaux-Arts de Nancy in France.

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That's why they call it yard work

2009-10-07T23:00:00.000-07:00

Kneeling in my gravel driveway, digging up dandelions with a dandelion fork.

That's yard work.

Raking up needles dropped by the 60-foot Ponderosa pine.

Yard work.

Gardening is different! I happily snap my secateurs like castanets as I march out for a spot of dead-heading and pruning. All things seem possible, now that the weather is no longer scorch-your-skin-off hot.

But yard work makes me tired just thinking about it.

What's your garden task that is never fun and always yard work?

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Capitol Bees

2009-09-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

Bee hives in the White House kitchen garden. Photo: White House

WASHINGTON (DP) The bee hives in the famed White House kitchen garden received international attention this week at the G20 Pittsburgh Summit.

White House beekeeper collecting honey. Photo: White House

White House beekeeper Charlie Brandts has collected honey from the hives and saved it for special occasions.

The First Lady's gift. Photo: White House

While world leaders gathered for economic discussions at the G20 Pittsburgh Summit, First Lady Michelle Obama acted as hostess to their wives. Her official gift to each wife was a tea set featuring White House honey.

The White House found itself in a sticky situation when the Internet began to buzz with criticism of the gifts. Advocates for bees maintained that the bees had been robbed of their honey.

Photo: Infrogmation

During the G20 Summit meeting insect-rights protesters swarmed the streets of downtown Pittsburgh singing, "All we are saying is give bees a chance", and breaking the windows of florist's shops. Special security units clad in white mesh hoods and white coveralls advanced on them, throwing smoke bombs. The protesters formed one large group and disappeared down a side street.

They were later found milling around in the lobby of the Colony Hotel and were arrested for failing to disperse. Further trouble ensued at the City Jail when the protesters insisted on occupying one holding cell with their female leader.

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Thanks to the gardeners at Blotanical

2009-09-24T17:50:00.000-07:00

Palm House on the Pfaueninsel near Potsdam, c.1832-1834

Karl Blechen (1798-1840)*

When I go to the Blotanical website I feel like I'm walking into a huge conservatory. It's a protected space, full of varied plants, with all the world climates represented.

And the company can't be beat! I've met many kindly, expert gardeners there in my first year of blogging, and feel fortunate to be part of a generous community.

Now we're in the annual award season at Blotanical and I want to thank the thoughtful friends who nominated my blog for special mention. It's a thrill for me each time one of you reads my blog, and I'm gratified to think you've enjoyed it.

It's especially nice to be in the Best California Blog category with my neighbor and delightful friend, Pomona Belvedere of Tulips in the Woods; charming Alice of Bay Area Tendrils; the fun native plant missionaries Town Mouse and Country Mouse; and (new to me) Cindee of Cindee's Garden. A wonderful bunch of gals, each with a distinctive voice.

Apparently there was a miscount in the votes because I also ended up in the Garden Blog of the Year category. It's flattering in the extreme to be in the same row with Frances of Faire Garden, Gail from Clay and Limestone, James of Blogging from Blackpitts, and Catherine from A Gardener in Progress. Golly. Made my week.

So deepest thanks for giving the old Daff a boost, and huzzahs to Stuart for constructing this online building where we can all meet. My life, in and out of the garden, is richer because of you.

(If you'd like to know more about the wonders of Blotanical, here's a post I wrote about it last winter.)

*Karl Blechen was a leading landscape painter in 19th century Germany. He came late to art, abandoning his job as a bank clerk, and quickly rose to prominence and a professorship at the Berlin Academy. His style evolved from Romantic to Naturalistic before his early death. This painting is in the collection at the Kunsthalle in Hamburg, Germany.

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Autumnal Equinox 2009

2009-09-22T00:05:00.000-07:00

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Royal tiptoe through the tulips

2009-09-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

Tulipa 'Henry Hudson' Photo: Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center

Prince and Princess of the Netherlands at the White House

WASHINGTON (DP) There are budding rumors about the Dutch royals' recent visit to the White House.

Although the meeting was ostensibly a social call, informed sources report that Prince Willem-Alexander offered economic advice to President Obama, drawing parallels between the recession in the U.S. and the problems suffered in 17th century Holland after the collapse of Tulipomania.

Oddly, the Prince may have proposed a modified version of Tulipomania as a financial cure--suggesting a U.S. stimulus package that would encourage American gardeners to invest in tulip bulbs.

The rumored stimulus package would offer tax credits for households buying over 1,000 tulip bulbs in 2009 and 2010. The Netherlands is the premium wholesale source for tulip bulbs and would benefit from increased sales here.

Agitation is growing in garden centers across the United States, with anxious gardeners demanding to know if there will be a tulip tax credit. American bulb catalogs could not be reached for comment, as their telephone lines are swamped with calls from buyers. Garden tool companies are digging into their lobbying budgets and asking that trowels and dibbers be included in the stimulus package.

Last week in New York the Dutch Princess christened a new tulip 'Henry Hudson'. The orange species tulip, with its ruffled foliage, is a popular arrival on the garden scene, fueling speculation that the Dutch are using 'Henry Hudson' to stir up American consumer support for the tulip stimulus package.

Pressure is on the White House to confirm or deny the stimulus package during this prime time for ordering tulip bulbs. If the question is not resolved promptly the Oval Office faces a near riot when the Garden Writers Association meets for its annual conference next week.

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Michelle Obama: Arms of a gardener

2009-09-08T14:15:00.000-07:00

The official portrait shows her famously toned arms

WASHINGTON (DP) The First Lady's arm exercises were made public today, in an interview to be published in the October issue of Women's Health magazine. In the video below, the Editor-in-Chief and Fitness Editor from Women's Health appear on the Today Show to discuss what they call "the fitness scoop of the century" and demonstrate the exercises:

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What is not revealed is that the First Lady's 5:30 a.m. workout often takes place in the White House vegetable garden--and that she is in fact gardening energetically, not doing rote calisthenics.

Those in the horticultural community understood immediately that her publicly-acknowledged "exercises" were code for specific activities in the garden, and that "reps" referred to the number of plants, or bags of soil amendment, she used.

Here is the First Lady's official workout translated into what she probably does when she is alone in the garden:

1. One minute of hammer curls, in which she lifts dumbells toward the body in alternating motions and which should leave her "fatigued".

Clearly the First Lady is holding a one-gallon plant from the nursery in each hand, and lifting her hands alternately, trying to determine which plant should go in which new spot. No gardener needs to be told how mentally and physically fatiguing such a process can be.

2. Triceps pushdown with an overhand grip, pushing down on the t-handle of a 15 pound weighted pulley, for 15-20 reps.

Again, it is easily understood that she is digging a hole with a shovel, pushing down into the soil 15-20 times.

3. Triceps pushdown with a flip grip. The same movement as Number Two, but with the hands turned up.

This "exercise" is familiar to all gardeners: the lifting of heavy bags of soil amendment from ground to waist level, an obvious accompaniment to digging holes.

4. An aerobic finish to her workout is a floor exercise called mountain climbing. The hands are placed on the ground and the feet come forward quickly in an alternating motion. It was noted that this exercise is "not for the faint of heart".

Any gardener would agree--crawling forward in search of weeds is among the most tiring of garden tasks.

A mystery remains. Why don't all gardeners have arms that look like the First Lady's?

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Correcting color mistakes in the garden

2009-09-06T22:35:00.000-07:00

Illustration by Sir John Tenniel

"Would you tell me," said Alice, a little timidly, "why you are painting those roses?"

Five and Seven said nothing, but looked at Two. Two began in a low voice, "Why the fact is, you see, Miss, this here ought to have been a red rose-tree, and we put a white one in by mistake."

--Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Me too. I ought to have planted a pink Buddleia in my pink border and I put a white one in by mistake. Buddleia davidii 'White Profusion' is going into witness relocation on the other side of the house (as part of the federal Crimes Against Aesthetics Program).

I'm searching for a splendid pink replacement. Any suggestions on varieties?

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Seven favorite gardens

2009-09-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

Here are seven gardens I love:

Photo by Andrew Dunn

The garden of the Generalife at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. First, last and always, it is my ultimate garden. In a college art history class the slide of this garden enchanted me. Two decades later I finally made the trip and on a day in May I stood at this spot, alone and transfixed. As soon as you finish reading this post, buy a ticket to Spain!

Photo by Uris

The eight tiny Pavilion Gardens at the University of Virginia are enclosed by brick serpentine walls and flank the main quadrangle. Yes, Thomas Jefferson designed them, along with the rest of the place. In 1976 the American Institute of Architects, in a bicentennial mood, named the University of Virginia "the proudest achievement in American architecture in the past 200 years". Nice going, TJ. I have happy memories of hosting a birthday/croquet party in this Pavilion Garden.

Photo by Luu

I fell for Keukenhof Park in the Netherlands one spring when I was a teenager. So don't make fun of me!

Photo by Daderot

The Arboretum at Stanford University in California. Take a deep breath--can you smell the eucalyptus? The Stanfords planted exotic trees along with the native live oaks here, and it's a wild area that's a buffer between the campus and the town of Palo Alto.

Photo by Daderot

The University of California at Davis is near Sacramento, in the Central Valley. The Arboretum has walking paths on either side of a long creek, punctuated by foot bridges in a variety of styles. This particular bridge is a bit humdrum, but the stroll is delightful in all seasons, for humans and dogs.

Photo by Epibase

Moving on to gardens I have visited only in my imagination, we find ourselves in an herbaceous border at Mottisfont Abbey, Hampshire, England. The rose section is said to be superb. Someday I'll find out.

Photo by Epibase

Sissinghurst Castle, Kent, England. Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson created these gardens, and Vita wrote her garden columns in that big tower. If you've read Orlando by Virginia Woolf you've met Vita as the inspiration for the title character.

How did you get dragged by the hair on this garden tour? Blame Susan at Blue Planet Gardening, who tagged me. Her blog and site are Action Central for low-water gardening info; no additional charge for her quick wit.

I raise my muddy dandelion fork and tap seven more bloggers, bidding them to:

• Link back to the person who gave you the award.
• Reveal seven things about yourself.
• Choose seven other blogs to nominate, and post a link to them.
• Let each of your choices know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.
• Notify your tagger that the post is up.

Take your own international garden tour and meet these seven outstanding bloggers:

Shirl at Shirl's Gardenwatch in Scotland. Notes on her own and other Scottish gardens, and backyard hedgehog videos too.

Emily at Emily's Garden in southern England for photos and reports on her extensive, beautiful garden.

Fern at Life on the Balcony in southern California. She knows all about container gardening, and designs for both commercial and residential spaces. Big on Twitter, if you want to see how that's done.

Gen at North Coast Gardening in California near the Oregon border. She's a gardening pro, with an especially well-designed blog. Makes her own how-to videos and is a rising national star.

Maranta at Callus and Chlorophyll in Seattle is another gardening pro, who ruminates all day as he digs and prunes, and types out the goods on his clients at night. I call him the Thomas Pynchon of garden bloggers. No post of mine is complete without his clever comment.

David in Missoula, at Montana Wildlife Gardener, is a biologist who has created an exceptional garden in town, while making few demands on the environment. He's a gold mine of information and is always a pleasure to read.

Back on the East Coast, head for the Pittsburgh suburbs to read Burbs and the Bees by Beegirl. A fun, new blog about being as country as possible on the edge of the city.

As with all lists, it's hard to have to choose. See my blogroll for other excellent blogs, sorted by geography.

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My garden reminds me of a Bergman film

2009-08-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Death in The Seventh Seal (1956), directed by Ingmar Bergman

This afternoon I noticed cobwebs on the edges of the incense cedar. Then I saw the weeping cherry had strangely yellow leaves on three branches. As I raked up the dead grass on the back lawn it all seemed too symbolic, and I felt like I was in a Bergman movie full of ominous portent.

Meanwhile, the rest of Nevada County was bursting with ripe peaches and brilliant sunflowers.

I may be half-Scandinavian, but I want to ditch gloomy Bergman and find a new director. My garden could use a lively musical number by Busby Berkeley.

What's the opening scene in your garden right now? Who would direct your garden film this summer?

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Lammas 2009

2009-07-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

Haystacks in Late Summer c.1891, Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Lammas marks the midpoint between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox. A festival of the summer harvest, it is often celebrated on August 1st.

We're observing Lammas by eating white corn from our friend Astrid's vegetable garden.

Wishing you a happy harvest time!

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The back lawn is gone

2009-07-22T17:21:00.001-07:00

The dog and I spent many a happy summer morning sitting under the walnut tree, watching the sprinklers run on the back lawn.

Watching sprinklers makes people feel good.

The previous owners of our house dug in that sprinkler system themselves. When they came to visit, a year after we bought the house, the four of us had dinner on the back deck. My husband ran the sprinkler system to demo that it was still working well. “Oh, that’s nice,” she sighed. We all sat smiling at the lawn.

That was 13 years ago. The lawn grew tired.

Mr. Daffodil Planter and I learned about dethatching lawns (fun!) and toiled in various ways on each inch of turf: kneeling with dandelion forks, spreading compost, pacing back and forth cranking handles of seed broadcasters, hoping each time that the gods of gardening would reward our efforts.

Last month we took a long look at the tussocky, patchy quarter-acre of turf. The only one really enjoying it was our galloping dog. And she didn’t have to mow.

Fate intervened. One sprinkler head refused to cooperate. “Let’s stop watering the lawn!” we said in unison.

And we have lived happily ever after.

We don’t know what we’re going to plant instead. Henry Mitchell would tell us that an open central area in full sun is perfect for a lily pool.

He’d be right, and then we could invite Animal Planet over to film all the mule deer, mountain lions, raccoons, and probably black bears who would stop by for a sip. So, short of opening our house as a nature-watchers' bed-and-breakfast, that idea is out.

We’re counting on the "no lawn" before-and-after photos at Blue Planet Gardening to inspire us.

In the meantime, the dog and I sit under the walnut tree in the morning and watch the Steller’s Jays.

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