We always wanted to instill the love of “digging in the dirt” in our five grandchildren.  When they were very young, we got the idea from Fairytale Town in Sacramento to help them create an “Alphabet Garden”.  If you've ever seen that wonderful garden—especially through the eyes of children—you know what an enchanting place it is.  And so, we decided to recreate such a place on our own property in Grass Valley.

We had just dedicated a large space of fenced land to 16—(yes, 16!)—raised beds.  That would be the perfect place to establish the Alphabet Garden.  We selected two of those raised beds for the kids.  After we installed a drip system and filled the beds with the yummiest of soils—it was time for the grandkids to get to work racking, hoeing and preparing the soil.  That part of the process could have gone on for summers on end!

But—it was time to plan our garden!  The first task was for the kids to select the alphabet letters that would be the basis of their plant choices.  Since we have the five grandkids, ( three were four years & two were six years old), and luckily they each have a name starting with a different letter, that letter became the first of five letters that they would each be in charge of.  Their other letters were “pulled out of a hat” so that each child had five letters—leaving me, the happy grandma gardener, with the last letter.  Thus, we had our 26 letters for the garden.

Over the winter, we sent a few suggestions with pictures of plants to each child coinciding with all of their “letters”.   We made sure our suggestions were a good variety of veggies and flowering plants, annuals and perennials for each.  At that point, it was time for them to make their plant choices.  In the spring, we provided them with wooden letters from the local craft store.  And then, the painting began!  We had wooden stakes ready to be painted white on which the letters were hot-glued.  After all the preparations, we had a grand parade out to the garden where each wooden lettered stake was “planted” alphabetically in rows in the two raised beds.  Of course, we all made the not-so-scary scarecrow to keep our garden safe.  Once completed, the time had come for a trip to the nursery for seeds and starter plants.  Back home in the garden, each was lovingly planted by the kids next to the appropriate letter.  And then, the magic began—they grew right along with the children!

By the end of the first summer, we had our fully blooming Alphabet Garden.  Each time one or more child came to visit, the first place they checked out was their garden and their very own plants.  Each spring they refreshed and replanted as needed.  By the time we moved from that little piece of paradise after six years, three of the kids were 10 and two were 12.  The garden continued to thrive and so did their interest in it and their love for the beautiful fruits of their labors over the years.  They had truly created a magical place which still lives on in their memories as they head off to freshman & junior year in years in college!  And since gardeners are always kids at heart, this is the perfect time to create your own Alphabet Garden Magic.

Over the winter, this hebe got just plain ugly.  It was leggy and there were dead areas that I cut away with a vengeance.  I was trying to keep it from following its buddy into the green waste container.  Its buddy was totally dead by the beginning of last winter, so away it went.

True to my nature, I did nothing until I noticed how nice the hebe shrub was when I walked past it the last time I was in Walnut Creek.  Then, I went into research mode because that's the best way to figure things out.  I could have been observant and noticed that the lush plants were in full sun and mine has been subjected to ever increasing shade over the years, but no, never bothered to look up at the trees that need to be pruned.  (Looking up would require doing something about that!). When I was researching, I learned that they tend to get leggy if they are not getting enough sun.  Guess it's time to move this plant to the sunny side of the house.  Now I have to find a place and it will probably be on the side that gets the morning sun because it gets righteously hot on the side that gets the afternoon sun.  The research said that they like climates with cool summers and mild winters.  They are native to New Zealand after all.

Hebes have very unique, spiked blooms that vary in color from white, to pink and crimson and on to blue and purple. Mine bloom a light purple color.  Purple seems like the color I have seen the most in the nurseries that I frequent.  The leaves vary in color also-bronze, which I would love to see up close and in person, to burgundy or variegated.  The leaves also vary in size from small to large.  The plants range in size from 3 to 6 feet tall, depending on the variety.  They bloom from summer through the fall, and there are some that bloom in winter too!  No matter when they bloom, deadheading will keep them blooming consistently.

Plant in loose, well-draining soil and add organic compost.  Hebes will adapt to most soil types and do well in containers and rock gardens.  They only need to be fertilized once a year in the late winter to early spring.  They require consistent watering, but once the roots are established, they are pretty drought tolerant.  However, if in a pot, they will need more watering and also protection if we have frozen during the winter.

Pruning should be done in late summer.  When pruning it is a good time to propagate from the semi-hardwood.  Make the cuttings about 3 inches long and put into a gritty compost or coarse horticultural sand.  You can propagate from seed, but cuttings are the preferred method.
I think that I will give it a try this summer as I found that hebes are a short-lived plant, from 5 to 10 years.  Or, I can just go out and buy another...

 

 

 

May Brings

 

Sunshine, Flowers and a New MG Graduating Class

 

Welcome to All

Two weeks ago, I was thrilled to discover my Bottle Brush plant, Callistemon citrinus, had finally flowered.  There was one full blossom and a few small wispy ones.  Now, I know what you are thinking at this point, why are you getting so excited about a bottlebrush? It's pretty common and your specimen is on the spindly side.  You would be correct and I'd have to explain that this plant and I go way, way back.

In 2001 my husband and I went to Australia. We fell in love with interesting plants and animals there.  We had been inspired by the incredible Royal Botanical Gardens at Sydney and Melbourne.  While there I picked up a seed sampler of iconic Australian plants.  I can't remember all of them, but I do remember Paperbark Tree, Melaleuca quinquenervia; Heath Banksia, Banksia ericifolia; Kangaroo Paw, Anigozanthas; Grevillea; Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha; Waratah, Telopea speciosissima; and Bottle Brush, Callistemon citrinus.

When we were returning to the United States, I dutifully presented myself to the US Agricultural Station at the airport with my hermetically sealed seed sampler.  The inspector slowly looked them over and then condescendingly asked me if I really thought I'd be able to grow anything from the sampler?

I carefully thought over possible responses. Not a chance in hell but I'm eager for an exercise in futility or I am secretly a masochist and failure will give me great pleasure sprang to mind.  But, given that this man could throw my seeds away I decided on a cheery, “Well, I certainly hope so.”

Once home I carefully sowed representatives from the seed sampler.  Some germinated and a few Kangaroo Paw even made it to the four-inch pot stage before dying.  My Bottle Brush survived.  It never quite thrived though and I moved its container from place to place in my yard over the years.  I finally put it in a half wine barrel and it even made it through the drought years.  I had read that it needed full sun and should bloom “freely”.  I brooded.

Finally, after eighteen years, it has bloomed.  I don't know if it had to age into blooming (I kind of doubt it) or if all the winter and spring rain helped; who knows?  I am just glad I hadn't given up and thrown the plant away.  Was it patience I had exhibited or stubbornness?  I suspect the latter.  Meanwhile, I am hoping for more blossoms.