High Times in New York City

All aboard.  This post has departed to my new website.  Clink on the link below to see the original post about the NY High Line:

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

Just Call Me Minnie Pearl

"How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E!"

I've been called worse.  While growing up down South, if you wore new clothes neglecting to remove the price tag, you might be called "Minnie Pearl". Minnie was the popular Southern comedienne, starring on the long-running television show Hee Haw,  who was famous for wearing a new hat with the price tag proudly visible.

My "Minnie" moment occurred recently as I inspected my Hamptons garden.  I observed quite a few new shrubs that I planted in 2011 with their price/ID tags now prominently visible among the leafless branches.  For me, it doesn't reflect boasting, but my usual eagerness to get everything planted. Stopping to take off the tags before planting might actually slow me down a few seconds.

The plastic tags are pretty harmless, but the metal wired tags can eventually bind into a shrub's bark as it grows.  So it's a good practice to remove them all before the shrubs really start growing.

$22.99 for a healthy Rosa 'Blanc Double De Coubert'

The leafless months are a perfect time to find and remove those forgotten tags.  But don't throw them away.  I save all my plant tags that list plant names and/or growing information.  I just drop them in a folder for future reference. They come in handy when I'm confused over the exact cultivar planted years before. In addition, the listed growing info may give me some idea why a plant doesn't perform as expected.  It's also interesting to see how prices have risen over the years.  The price of a Rudbeckia a few years ago was $9.99 compared to $11.99 last year. (20% increases add up!)

My folder of tags is quite full these days so I need to come up with a more organized way to save these.  If you have an idea, PLEASE share.

And if you're curious, the price tag on that beautiful hat above with its everlasting flowers was just $1.98.   Less than the cost of a four-pack of annuals today.