Muddy Boots Plant Tags

I tread a fine line between love and hate when it comes to roses.  One of the first “big” garden projects I did as a new gardener was to plant a rose garden.  I’ll never forget when about 30 bare root roses arrived in the mail.  They had to have their roots soaked in water overnight (didn’t know that until they arrived) and so we had roses sticking out of two bath tubs and four sinks, plus lots of buckets.  Trial by fire for sure, but I managed to get them all properly planted and had some lovely flower arrangements that year.

That was about 20 years and three houses ago.  At Acorn Hill, our current property, I planted only a dozen or so roses; the old fashioned shrub type with rangy habits, a single early flowering, and heady fragrance, plus a couple climbers.  I planted them in a sunny space with good air circulation and lots of compost.  I occasionally sprayed them with a baking soda and dish soap solution in an attempt to fend off the tiresome black spot.  I had some success, but it’s a preventative and often I didn’t get to it in time.  The first few years I slopped around a bucket of soapy water hand-picking Japanese Beetles, but eventually gave up on that for the gross factor.

This last planting of roses bloomed reliably every year in late May, early June.  I enjoyed the floral display and when it was over and the foliage started to look ratty … well I just looked away.  That was until the onset of Rose Rosette Disease.  This starts as really red, congested foliage (think witches broom).  There is no cure for it, so an infected rose should be removed  IMMEDIATELY.  Read more about it here.

I dug out the first Rose Rosette victim, probably too late as others soon followed.  The virus is spread by a mite that floats along on the wind, so roses planted in groups are in particular jeopardy.  I replanted this garden bed with a nice low-maintenance combo of switch grass and prairie perennials, and thought that was THE END of my affair with roses.

Never say never again.  For the last few years when the rose catalogs arrived, they went straight to recycling.  This year, the David Austin Rose catalog caught me unawares.  Sitting at the kitchen table, casually flipping pages while chatting on the phone, I saw A Rose in a Pot!  This may not be news to you, but I had really never considered growing roses in containers.  Well now, I thought.  This IS interesting.

With a rose in a pot, I theorize that I’ll be better able to control environmental conditions, including soil, fertilization, water and hopefully disease.  And when the thing starts to look ratty, no doubt because of my inevitable neglect, I will simply move the unfortunate article to an inconspicuous place.  Viola!  (I remember hearing Helen Dillon describe this technique with bulbs in pots and thought it was so simple and smart.)

Soooo, I have a list of ten roses I’d like to try in pots.  I will pare this down to six due to my new personal policy of using a modicum of restraint when purchasing plants.  Most will be English Roses with repeat flowering and excellent fragrance.  I’ll put them in terracotta pots so they’ll look good in any garden spot.  I plan to spray or paint the inside of the pot with sealer to prevent water evaporation through the pot walls.  There are several terracotta sealers available.

Follow this link to see the ten roses that I will choose from.  Rosa ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ is a must have because the rose is lovely and she’s my hero.

I love roses!  Stay tuned …

I can’t believe how warm it’s been for the last week.  In Western North Carolina, we’ve had temperatures in the 60’s.  Last weekend I decided to tackle some leaf cleanup.  I don’t usually start this until mid-Feb, but heck … why not?  I worked through the Terrace Garden last Sunday, raking, cutting back, pulling out one or two dead things.  I’m disappointed that the Hebe looks as rough as it does.  It’s not really hardy here, but it sailed through last winter.  It’s probably a goner this year.  After five hours, the Terrace Garden looks quite tidy.  I may add some rotted leaf mold as a mulch.

I have a lot of specimen Dwarf Conifers in this area of the garden.  This is my next garden area that I will add to my Muddy Boots Plant Tag records.  I have at least 3 special little Picea’s and 2 Pinus densiflora cultivars that I don’t always remember the names of.  These will definitely get Plant Tags.

After a couple really blustery cold days, we stepped outside to a still, damp, balmy morning; it must have been 60 degrees.  In all but the worst weather Gidget, our German Shepherd Dog, and I take an early pass around the garden.  We’ve missed a few days lately, but today we made the full circuit.  On this morning walk I take note of blooms, tasks that need doing, scout for problems and so on.  With her hungry nose, Gidget takes note of squirrels, burrowing animal tunnels, and a thousand other things I’ll never know.

Today I noticed how much I haven’t done.  Over the years I’ve learned to enjoy more and stress less about the garden.  But really, I was looking at some serious neglect.  Leaves still unraked everywhere, the fish pond also full of leaves, Hostas looking like mush, and Heath, starting to bloom, also full of leaves … ugh.

The topper is the Viburnum Hedge.  Burkwood Viburnum is a terrific shrub (click here to see the Plant View).  April flowers purfume the garden, twiggy branches provide habitat for birds, and the fall show is a wonder of garnet leaves.  Being a spring bloomer, its bud set is on old wood.  Correct pruning is just after flowering.  I’ve never gotten this pruning task done on time; the latest having been October.  And still I got a hedge full of flowers the following spring.

But not this year.  The orchard ladder is standing in the Courtyard as if I’m actually going to get to this.  This morning I stared at the ladder and then at the hedge and had to admit to myself that I just didn’t want to do the job.  I could give myself a dozen good reasons why, but what I did instead is forgive myself for not getting to it.  After all, it’s a hedge.  It will need pruning again next year and no doubt next year I’ll get after it in better time.  I think I’ll put the ladder away and have a cup of tea.

“Arguably my garden has always been

the most important room of my house.”

I want to be out there every day, and fortunately, the Asheville, NC climate is amenable to that desire. In 2013, I built what I hope will be my last home, with the “aging in place” concept firmly directing design decisions. A major part of that project was knowing that I wanted (and needed!) an instant garden, professionally designed. Time is of the essence, as they say.

Nancy Duffy, founder and owner of Muddy Boots Garden Design, was hired. A plantsman with an artist’s eye, she has created garden rooms and spaces that bring such delight. But I am a detail geek, with a bent to documentation, photography, and maintaining folders of plant tags and sales receipts. Quickly I realized that I had more data and information than I was able to easily keep on my computer.

“I am a detail geek, with a bent to documentation, photography,

and maintaining folders of plant tags and sales receipts.”

Once again, Nancy and her husband Dennis, have created the perfect solution. Muddy Boots Plant Tags! A simple, complete system for logging plants, garden activities, observations, photographs, and garden projects, all in one easy-to-access location. No more sifting through folders, word files, or xcel spreadsheets!! No more unsightly plant tags getting lost in the mulch or fading from sunlight!!

“The perfect solution: Muddy Boots Plant Tags!”

Muddy Boots Plant Tags now has all my plant and garden history (three years of information now available on my iPad, iPhone, or laptop). Furthermore, any plants with a QR coded plant tag can be scanned on an iPhone while out in the garden for access to its entire record.

“In less than a week’s time, I was able to enter 373 plants,

60 of which have plant tags, and 330 photos,

representing three years of data.”

The process was a joy because it became a walk down memory lane. Seeing the barren landscape at the beginning and then seeing the results over time while uploading my photographs, gave me such a sense of pride and accomplishment. It was a cold and rainy December week, so my Muddy Boots Plant Tags project brought the outdoors inside for this garden nut.

“The process was a joy because it became

a walk down memory lane.”

To see Mignon’s Garden, Devotion, click here.

Mignon Durham
December 6, 2016

The instinct to document your garden is a good one.  If well done, it becomes a wonderful reference and a pleasant stroll down the gardening years.  I’ve started many a journal.  A really sweet notebook usually kicks it off.  I make notes, scribble plant lists, and sketch ideas.  What I don’t do with these journals is actually refer back to them.  My notes are disorganized and scattered in all these delightful little books.  Muddy Boots Plant Tags has given me a way to bring together notes, plant info, and garden photos.  It is easy to sort through and search.  Like most things worth doing, it takes a little time and effort, but for me it’s pleasant work and the outcome is a very useful record of my garden Acorn Hill.

Below is an excerpt from an article on documenting your garden published at the Chicago Botanic Garden’s website.

The Secret to a Successful Garden Next Year? Document It This Year!

This month’s Smart Gardener addresses a key part of gardening that green thumbs often overlook: documentation. Rather than giving a “thumbs down” to the idea, think of documentation as an opportunity to steadily improve your garden year after year—by increasing productivity in your vegetable beds, by reducing costly mistakes in landscaping, or simply by making less work for yourself. The trick is to document in a way that’s both practical and fun for you, the gardener who’ll be referring to it.

Click here to see the entire article at the website for Chicago Botanic Garden.

It is finally raining in Western North Carolina after weeks and weeks of drought. Every gardener I know is surely doing a happy dance with me. Glancing out the window, I notice the fall color that is still in evidence is strikingly saturated on this gray day. It drew me out to snap a few pictures. Some of the color that caught my eye isn’t the typical fall color fare. Click on the picture to see my Muddy Boots Plant Tags page for each plant.