High Times in New York City

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High Times In New York City

Another Must-Have for Your Bookshelf (and iPhone)

Recently, I proclaimed my adoration for The Well-Tended Perennial Garden by Tracy DiSabato-Aust.  Today, I'd like to share with you my go-to book for trees and shrubs.  Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs: An Illustrated Encyclopediaby Michael Dirr was one of the most useful birthday gifts that I've ever received.

When I was given this tome, I was just beginning my garden (click here for a look back at my blank canvas).  I desired trees and shrubs that looked natural but also added some drama.  Of course, I also needed them to be suitable for my specific climate and growing conditions.

Each Saturday morning at the breakfast table, I would start flipping through this book filled with hundreds of landscape and close-up shots of woody plants.  When a tree or shrub caught my eye,  I would stop and read Dirr's personal comments about the candidate, allowing me to judge its suitability.  Along with his personal experiences, Dirr shares the plant's potential size, appropriate growth zones and origins (very helpful when trying to choose native plants).  He also lists well-known cultivars and varieties.  After shopping through this book, I would then visit local nurseries trying to find my chosen specimen—often with book in hand.

Dirr also wrote a companion book, Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.  This was included with my initial gift.  This manual gives much more detailed information on each plant's growing requirements, complete descriptions of leaf/flower shapes and colors, line drawings to help identify leaves and buds, and thorough descriptions of cultivars. I've learned that both of these earlier books are now merged in a revised edition, Dirr's Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs.


Sometimes, I can be a bit old-fashioned.  I still like printed books.  However, Dirr's Tree & Shrub Finder app for the iPhone is truly amazing! (At $14.99 it's the most expensive app I've purchased thus far, but I know it will get a lot of use.)

You can search for plants by common name or scientific name.

Don't know the exact plant you want or need?  You can search by light demands, moisture requirements, hardiness zones, plant size, growth rate, foliage type, flower color, blooming season, etc.

It's filled with photos so you can hold it up to your garden and see how a plant might look there.  You can also leave the big books at home. Take the app to the nursery.  How convenient!

Whether you're a print book person or a digital person (or both like me), Michael Dirr makes it easy and fun to choose the best trees and shrubs for your garden.  However, you're still stuck with the hard work of planting.

My Favorite Book on Perennials

Over the years, I've collected many gardening books in an effort to teach myself the fundamentals of horticulture and to provide inspiration.  But one book on perennials stands out among the others: The Well-Tended Perennial Garden by Tracy DiSabato-Aust.

I bought my first copy in 2004.  Just as this lifesaver was getting pretty dog-eared, Tracy released a new and expanded edition in 2006 with more advice and pictures.  So I had to buy that one too! It's as well-worn as the first edition now.

Because of her many years as a garden designer, Tracy can share hands-on experience.  Her counsel on planting and tending to perennials is thorough, yet easy to understand.  It's a great gift for new gardeners starting their first perennial bed.

Her book starts out with soil preparation.  If you haven't discovered this yet, perennials are far more finicky than most woody plants when it comes to soil conditions.  She also provides valuable sections on pruning, dividing and deadheading.

One of the most lasting lessons I learned from Tracy was that with pruning you can control perennial height.  If you have a plant that tends to get tall and fall over, this technique is great.  My Cut-leaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata) now stands strong at five feet instead of falling over at its naturally taller height.

She also suggests pruning to extend or delay blooms.  Each year, I prune my native Asters, Wild Bergamot and Culver's Root in May to delay blooming by a week or so.  With the milder winter this year,  our growing season could come early.  Delaying the bloom period for a few perennials this year may ensure that my summer blooms aren't all gone before August.

This book also has an encyclopedia of perennials in the back.  This illustrated guide clearly describes many popular perennials that Tracy has grown, sharing the maintenance needed to make sure they perform well.   I find myself checking with this guide often when considering a new plant.

If you have this book, I don't have to say much more.  If you don't, I know it will make a great edition to your gardening library.  Happy reading!

Rudbeckia laciniata standing upright at a reduced height

Early Riser

Breaking ground in late January

My daffodils seem to be popping up a little too early this year. Already about three inches high with flower buds forming.  I suspect that the mild winter is spurring their early development.  The high temp tomorrow, the first day of February, is expected to reach 52℉ in East Hampton.  

The Farmers' Almanac 2012 did predict above normal temperatures in the Northeast this winter.  This almanac was right on the mark last winter, accurately forecasting our heavy snowfall. So I guess we might as well get ready for an earlier gardening season this year.

I'll admit I'm ready for a little spring color even if spring is two months away.  In fact, I plant mostly early-blooming daffodils to help liven things up before everything else greens up in the spring.  However,  I never expected the cheerful trumpets this early.

I also like the early bloomers because they can be cleaned up before the summer garden gets under way.  Since photosynthesis still occurs in the daffodil leaves and spent stems after blooming (feeding the bulbs for next year),  you're not supposed to deadhead the declining foliage until it turns brown.  This year, they should be long gone before the rest of my garden wakes up.

Maybe I have the proper timing all wrong for these Narcissus.  The most conspicuous daffodils right now in the Hamptons Garden are named 'February Gold'.  And February does begin tomorrow.  It's probable that they were actually tardy in the past, stunted by cold and heavy snow.  Oh well, ready or not, here they come.

'February Gold' Narcissus blooming last April

Who You Callin' a Weed?

Late summer lunch

Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum) created a spectacular show in my late summer garden this year.  This native perennial rises from the ground in late Spring and grows to six feet or taller by midsummer.  Starting in late July,  sizable pink blooms open on tall stalks creating a colorful wall of color behind the pool.  Although I originally planted Joe-Pye Weed for its blooms,  the privacy it provides around the pool (in and out of bloom) has become its most important attribute.

The plant's common name comes from the American Indian, Joe Pye, who used Eupatorium purpureum as an herbal remedy for typhus.

Ironically,  I learned about this native American perennial from European landscape designers Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury in their fantastic design book,  Designing with Plants.  Luckily,  I found my initial plants at a local Hamptons nursery.

I have three cultivars planted around the garden.  'Gateway' is my favorite with rich, rose-pink blossoms.   One season I added to these a lighter, but equally tall, cultivar mistakenly labeled 'Gateway'.   It now mingles well among its darker cousins by the pool.  I also have a shorter variety called 'Little Joe' planted near the car park.

Occasionally, I will find a stray Joe-Pye plant that has self-seeded in another garden bed.  If the color works, I'll leave it but prune it by nearly half in early June to reduce its height.  It will mature shorter and bloom about a week later.  I also use this pruning technique on the original groupings.  By pinching back the outer stalks, you get lower blooms in front of the taller stalks.

Joe-Pye Weed is easy to grow.  It likes moisture, especially when newly planted.  It will bloom in partial shade, but full sun ensures the tallest plants, fullest blooms and most erect stalks.  Those behind the pool are still standing tall after Hurricane Irene, providing tasty seeds for the finches.

While this perennial dies down to the ground each winter, I don't cut the stalks down until the Spring cleanup.   I read that since their stalks are hollow, cutting them too soon will allow too much water from winter rains and snow to accumulate in the stems, causing rot.

I'm thankful the Europeans saw past this plant's "weedy" American heritage.  I'm not sure what other native or imported perennial could have provided me with such a colorful show and screen.

Joe-Pye Weed makes a wonderful backdrop for tall grasses