Oooh, climbing roses!

Climbing Roses

By Amy McDowell

You can grow spectacular climbing roses in central Iowa. Look for those labeled hardy for zones 4 or 5. Zone 3 would be even better, but climbing roses that hardy are rare. I’ll share a few of my successes and failures.

Blaze – My first climbing rose. The cane winterkill was aggravating, and I wasn’t willing to wrap them in burlap or bury them to protect them. One glorious bloom season in seven years wasn’t enough for me, so I dug it up and gave it away. Soil and mulch around the base of climbing roses just protects the lower part of the plant, so most years I’d get blooms no higher than my knees. Blaze is a red rose that grows to 10 feet with protection.

Zephirine Drouhin – My first successful climber. Three years after planting, this rose rewarded me with large deep pink blooms. When the blooms first open, the fragrance is intoxicating. This rose was on the south side of my home. I mulched the base but never protected the canes in winter. The tips of the canes would sometimes die back, and one harsh winter they died back several feet. It still came through winters much better than Blaze ever had, and I was hooked on climbing roses from then on. Zephirine Drouhin is a rampant grower to 12 feet. The canes are thornless, and it will bloom beautifully in light shade, although full sun is best.

Paul’s Himalayan Musk Rambler – I put a simple metal arbor over the walkway to my front door, and dreamed of my guests floating to the door wide-eyed with wonder at the lovely climbing rose. After poring over the catalogs, I ordered two “Pauls” for the arbor. Pleased with my decision, I curled up with a brand new catalog that had just arrived in the mail. Panic flooded through me when I read their description of Paul—it said this rose has “sharp, grabby thorns.” The visions of my guests turned gruesome and tragic. Scrambling, I decided to plant the two Pauls along the split rail fence away from any paths. They have grown 30 feet wide along the fence, with long arching canes that rarely suffer winterkill. The blooms are such a pale pink that they look white from a distance.

Jeanne LaJoie – This is the pink climber I chose for the walkway arbor, and it consistently rewards me with small perfect blooms and minimal winterkill. Jeanne is much smaller in stature than Paul, barely reaching six feet. Clematis planted on the arbor fills in where little Jeanne leaves off.

Arbor Day

Plant a tree for Arbor Day

By Amy McDowell

Each spring, Arbor Day slips by quietly without a lot of fanfare—getting none of the publicity that a holiday like Groundhog Day receives. Part of the problem is that Arbor Day varies by region; it’s scheduled to coordinate with different planting seasons in each area. In Iowa, Arbor Day is officially the last Friday in April. That’s April 27 this year. However, to further complicate things, many Iowa communities designate their own Arbor Day to coordinate with local tree planting activities. If we had a set Arbor Day printed on our calendars each year, it would be much easier to keep track and make plans to buy a tree.

If you are planning to plant a tree this year, here are three terrific trees to consider for your landscape.

American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) is sometimes called “muscle wood” because the smooth blue-gray bark resembles rippling muscles. They’ve also garnered the nickname “ironwood” because the hard wood is extremely strong. Hornbeams have dark green leaves and terrific red, orange or yellow fall color. They are adaptable to the heavy clay soil here in central Iowa, and they’ll even tolerate wet sites. Hornbeams produce tiny nutlets that birds enjoy. They grow well in full sun or heavy shade, and they have an upright rounded canopy. Hornbeams are a small shade tree, topping out at about 25 feet high and wide when full grown.

Silver Linden (Tilia tomentosa) are stunning shade trees that are even more spectacular when the wind blows. The glossy dark green leaves are silvery underneath, and the trees twinkle in the breeze. The silver in their name is both for the silver undersides of the leaves and the smooth light gray bark, which makes them beautiful year round. Silver Lindens have good yellow fall color, and are tolerant of air and salt pollution. When mature, their broad canopy can reach 60-70 feet high and 30-40 feet wide.

Kentucky Coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus) are gorgeous large trees that sometimes suffer a stigma because of the 8-inch-long bean pods they produce. Kentucky Coffeetrees are immense and stately when mature at 60 feet high and 40 feet wide, and raking the bean pods is no more arduous than raking leaves. The foliage is dark bluish green during the summer and yellowish in the fall. Kentucky Coffeetrees have attractive rough bark and are free of disease or insect problems.

Most people agree it’s important to help one another; to touch other people’s lives in some positive way. Planting trees is a way to help everyone and to touch the earth in a positive way.

I Love Lilies

Love those lilies

By Amy McDowell

In my new garden, I inherited a big clump of crimson Asiatic lilies. My first reaction when I saw them bloom was revulsion. I’ve always had a passion for pastels—especially pink—and the bold red annoyed me. The lilies were one of the many apparent flaws in my new garden. Now, three years later, after once offering to dig them up and give them away, I find myself looking forward to their blooms this year. In fact, I’m thinking about planting more.

The pale pastels that created a sweet and delicate woodland wonderland in my old garden just don’t cut it in this sprawling acre-and-a-half, full sun garden. I need big, bold blooms that can be seen from a great distance, and those once-rejected lilies are spectacular for that purpose.

Asiatic lilies are the earliest bloomers, making their show in late May or early June. They range from two to five feet tall, and they come in red, orange, yellow, white and every shade of pink. Asiatic lilies multiply well, forming an attractive clump.

Oriental lilies pick up when the Asiatics leave off, blooming from June through August. They range from three to six feet tall, and they come in pink, white, yellow and bicolor. The well-known ‘Stargazer’ often used in floral arrangements is an Oriental lily.

Both Asiatic and Oriental lilies make great cut flowers, but you’ve got to leave at least half of the stem and foliage standing in the garden to feed the bulb for next year’s bloom. Asiatic lilies are not fragrant, but Oriental lilies often have a spicy scent.

I plan to add both Asiatic and Oriental lilies to my garden this year, in every vibrant red and yellow I can get my hands on. There are always trumpet, Turk’s cap and orienpets to try next year. Trumpet and Turk’s cap lilies range from four to eight feet tall, and may need stakes or shelter from the wind. Orienpets are the newer crosses between Oriental and trumpet lilies, bred for more durability and a broader range of colors.

Lilies need well-drained soil and are happiest in full sun or light shade. I’ll plant mine with a little bone meal mixed into the planting hole and a little blood meal sprinkled on the surface of the soil. A decade ago, I learned the hard way that lilies are a tasty treat for critters. The day after I planted a couple of Oriental lilies in my garden, I found some little bugger had dug them up and eaten them. They are not cheap, and I was so frustrated that I’ve never planted them since. Just as it has taken several years to recognize the glorious value of red lilies in my garden, it has also taken years to let go of that initial failure and try again.

The soil -- It's ALIVE!

Small plants + live soil = big rewards

By Amy McDowell

A trend has hit the perennial garden scene with a lot of force in recent years. The idea is to focus your money and energy on amending the soil and spend less money and energy on the plants.

After two decades of installing perennial gardens, author Tracy DiSabato-Aust has shown that perennials can double or triple in size during their first season—if the soil has been amended with organic matter. She convinces clients of her Ohio design and installation firm that investing in the soil is the top priority. To offset the expense of soil amendments and site preparation, she plants 4-inch (and sometimes even bare-root) perennials. Believe it or not, her tiny perennials outperform gallon-size perennials within a single season. In following years, the plants are naturally healthier and more robust because of the live soil. Photos documenting the amazing growth are included in her book, “The Well-Tended Perennial Garden”. (Timber Press, 1998)

Live soil isn’t some mushy black matter you can buy in a bag for 99 cents. Live soil has billions of bacteria, millions of fungi, plus protozoa, paramesei and nematodes—all in a single spoonful. Organic matter is the key to live soil, because it provides food for the bacteria, fungi and microbes.

Landscape Architect Terry Guen, who coordinated the design and construction of the 25-acre Millennium Park in downtown Chicago, said they purchased live soil for the park from a site in Indiana. With guidelines for soil handling and storage, they kept it healthy and alive throughout construction. They were careful not to smother or compact it by piling it too deep or driving over it with heavy equipment. As the world’s largest millennium project, planners insisted on large plants for the site, but the care they took on buying and maintaining healthy, live soil is noteworthy.

When building a new bed in your garden, add life to your soil with organic matter. Sprinkle two pounds of bone meal per 100 square feet, then add a 4-inch layer of organic matter such as compost, sphagnum peat moss or leaf humus. Till it in as deeply as the tiller will go, rake it smooth, and you are ready to plant your little ones. Then step back and watch them leap.