Give Yourself up to the Pleasure of Gardening!

Season 6, Episode 39, August 14, 2024

and

Aug 13, 2024

The title for this week’s episode comes from one of the quotes Dee and I used between topics. The particular author we quoted, Anna Bartlett Warner, actually wrote: “gives itself up to the pleasure of living.” The “it” was an old-fashioned annual, mignonette, which hardly anyone grows these days. But Dee is growing it this year, and I once bought seeds for it but didn’t sow them. I think I’ll grow it next year.

But enough about mignonette, which wasn’t really a topic this week. You’ll note if you scroll back up to see the title that I changed “living” to “gardening” ~~because it’s better for the search algorithm~~ because aren’t living and gardening the same thing to a gardener?

While you debate that in your own mind, I’m going to keep this newsletter moving along with information about what we talked about.

For our favorites, I talked about my Beacon Impatiens and my Solarscape Impatiens which are all doing great. No more downy mildew for this gardener! Dee’s favorite this week is her pass-along Phlox paniculata.

*Phlox paniculta* in Dee’s Garden last year.

For the flower topic, we discussed tender plants we’ll try to overwinter and how we’ll do it. For more information, Dee has a blog post about taking cuttings of favorite plants and also recommends Sarah Raven's podcast episode on pelargoniums.

Two plants I plan to bring in before fall. I’ll take cuttings of the *Tradescantia* on the right. I’ll bring in the *Hemizygia* ‘Candy Kisses’ for the winter. (It’s not a *Plecanthrus* after all!)

For the vegetable topic, we talked about nitrogen fertilizers. We found most of the information in the June/July 1999 issue of Taunton’s Kitchen Gardener magazine from an article: “Fertilizing: It’s Mainly About Nitrogen” by Warren Schultz. Even though the article was written 25 years ago, it’s still great information.

Table of information on nitrogen fertilizers from June/July 1999 issue of Taunton’s Kitchen Gardener magazine: “Fertilizing: It’s Mainly About Nitrogen” by Warren Schultz

On the bookshelf, we discussed a great new book, The Tree Collectors: Tales of Arboreal Obsession, by Amy Stewart (Amazon Link). Yes, it’s as interesting as it sounds! To see if Amy is coming to a city near you, check out events on her website or subscribe to her Substack newsletter where she often mentions events not on her website.

Dee found our dirt topic, the Girls’ Tomato Club movement. We had never heard of these clubs. Have you heard of them?

Down in our rabbit holes I talked briefly about another Lost Lady of Garden Writing, Anna Bartlett Warner, and Harry Potter books. Dee talked about a movie she watched, The Dead Don’t Hurt, which doesn’t sound like it relates to gardening, but Dee assured me it does.

Finally, as we were wrapping up, our thoughts turned to verbena, as they often do. My
Verbena 'Vanity' is attracting butterflies and bees, and Verbena 'Bampton' is growing well for both of us.

And that’s another week, another episode1!

We hope you are having a good week in your garden. Now, we’d love to hear from you! Do you have a favorite flower or plant in your garden this week? Are you reading a book you would like to share with us? What older books do you often re-read? What favorite plants do you bring indoors to overwinter?

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