Back to the 90s in the Garden
Season 4, Episode 32, June 15, 2022
This week, serendipitously, Carol took the perfect photo in her garden to go along with the book we featured, Wild About Weeds by Jack Wallington (Amazon link).
Yes, that’s fleabane in her perennial border and lots of it. Even though fleabane is a weed, it sure looks pretty, doesn’t it? Thankfully, Carol had the good sense, this time, to pull it all out before it set seed.
Our advice if you are incorporating weeds into your garden on purpose is to check your state’s list of invasive plants to avoid. Don’t grow those. Carol found Indiana’s list.
Dee wrote an article, Identifying Invasive Oklahoma Plants for Oklahoma Living. She lists all of the Oklahoma websites in the article.
We both say to make sure your weeds are part of a plan and not a testament to your laziness. Amen.
Intrigued?
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Why did we call this episode “Back to the 90s?” Because temperatures are rising and we are both paying the price or reaping the rewards of things we planted back in the 90s, like Artemisia, which we featured as our flower this week, even though you mostly grow this plant for its foliage.
A quick run down of some of the artemisias we mentioned.
Artemisia gmelinii SunFern™ Olympia from Darwin Perennials. Carol has three trial plants. This one is supposed to get to a little over one foot tall and won’t become invasive like many other Artemisias.
Artemisia annua, which is an annual sometimes called Sweet Annie or wormwood. Watch out on this one because it spreads easily via self-sowing.
Artemisia dracunculus. This is the herb, tarragon. It’s also an annual native to Europe but has naturalized itself in North America.
Artemisia vulgaris ‘Variegata’. Do not plant this one! So says Dee. So says Carol. And so says the Missouri Botanical Garden which describes it as a noxious weed. But it’s variegated and pretty. Nope. Don’t fall for it. It can easily become a nightmare in your garden.
Artemisia schmidtiana 'Silver Mound'. We ended our discussion with this one which is another perennial, well-behaved, gets to about a foot tall and is a nice addition to the garden if you like silvery foliage.
In the vegetable aisle, Dee has fallen in love with Japanese turnips. Of course, they are mentioned in The Chef’s Garden by Farmer Lee Jones (also Amazon link). And here’s a link to 18 Different Types Of Turnips. Dee will be planting some this fall. Who has seeds? We recommend you check Botanical Interests! They have a Japanese turnip called Market Express that looks good. (Links to B.I. are affiliate links.)
But wait, there’s more. Dee found out that Durant, Oklahoma has a big magnolia festival and also claims to have the World’s Largest Peanut Monument.
And more. Carol had to pause reading the Aunt Dimity series of books (waiting on book #13 from the library!) so turned her attention to another Lost Lady of Garden Writing, Dorothy Giles, and found a recipe for something to put on your eyelids so you can see the little folk. No kidding!
And Dee is still talking about last week’s book, The Language of Butterflies: How Thieves, Hoarders, Scientists, and Other Obsessives Unlocked the Secrets of the World's Favorite Insect, by Wendy Williams (Amazon link).
Whew. Summertime is underway. Gotta get out into the garden early before we hit those 90s and take care of problems we created for ourselves when we planted stuff we shouldn’t have in the 1990s!
Have some feedback for us? Leave a comment or email us anytime at TheGardenangelists@gmail.com
And…
For more info on Carol and her books, visit her website. Visit her blog May Dreams Gardens.
For more info on Dee and her book, visit her website. Visit her blog Red Dirt Ramblings.
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