heaven – BOOKS AND LOST STORIES

Meanwhile we surround a huge black Chinese jar with the blue Oxypetalum and the blue plumbago all through the summer, and drop a pot full of morning glory, Heavenly Blue, into the Chinese jar, to pour downwards into a symphony of different blues.

-Vita Sackville-West
A Joy of Gardening; 1958

I missed writing a post last week because I was tirelessly working on my second book. It’s almost finished but I just need to “paint” a few more layers to make it solid. Sometimes I think I should start a writing process blog so I can vent my troubles to the world instead of my incredibly patient husband. I ask him, “Did I run into this kind of trouble on my last book? Did I want to give up and throw it in the garbage?” “Yes,” he replies. “Keep at it, you’ll eventually find what you’re looking for.” Like some magical oracle he says this and I believe him because he seems to be always right. So for a week I toiled and mulled over the hole I was almost falling in until I found a little bridge to take me across. The story is so much better now. All I needed to do was spend a little more time with the characters (I’m going on a year with this one) and they eventually showed me the way.

Much like the garden and the flowers we have planted. The more time you spend with them the more you get to know them. Take for instance the morning glory as it is our subject this week. How excited I was to buy these seeds, the seeds of the Heavenly Blue which Vita talks about endlessly. I believe she called it the perfect shade of blue. I have written a post on morning glory called From Muddy Waters to Finding the Perfect Shade of Blue, but I wrote that post before I spent any time with the flower. I will say now that I would have planted them elsewhere.

What I didn’t realize was these vines, once they get going, won’t stop. Surely they will take over your other plants if not put in a place all their own where they can’t reap havoc. Their little arms reach out grabbing for whatever they can and they pull, twist and coax everything into their leafy embrace. They uprooted one of my large zinnias and shielded my beloved rose bushes from the sun. They are wild. As a result, I am currently treating all my roses for black spot.

So the other day on a surprisingly warm October afternoon, I looked at my garden and I got angry. Once coveted and prized for their beautiful blue flowers I now gazed at them with loathing. They had turned out to be completely impolite and gluttonous with the space they were given. I realized I had made a grave mistake. Planting the morning glory in my garden was like bringing a wild animal into my house. Once it grew to four inches it went wild all over the place, too quickly for me to stop it. I was finished with this little shop of horrors menace so I got a little rough and I pushed all the vines to one side of the fence and I took my shears and freed my rose bushes and zinnias from their grasp.

They are beautiful, yes, and I would highly recommend them if you have the room. But choose a space that will be entirely theirs, keep them away from all other plants. If you do you’ll be happy and you’ll enjoy them thoroughly. They are very beautiful and deserve full attention away from the garden where the “domestic” plants live.

My liking for gardens to be lavish is an inherent part of my garden philosophy. I like generosity wherever I find it, whether in gardens or elsewhere.

-Vita Sackville-West
March 26, 1950

In the quote above she speaks of pruning. From her books I gather that Vita thought pruning in the Spring a foolish way to go about the garden. She referenced the Victorian gardens of abundance and the wild gayety of the flowers, able to stretch themselves to the sky.

The gardens of the turn of the century up through mid-century established a habit of cutting their roses right down to the ground in order to achieve abundant blooms. But in doing so they only stifled growth. Vita argues that roses ought to be left alone in the Spring, and if you didn’t believe her she simple advised: “the only thing is to be bold; try the experiment; and find out.”

I do not prune my roses. Instead, the only thing I do is deadhead them throughout their bloom season and in the spring to make the greens look more attractive.

Deadheading is my favorite thing. It’s therapeutic and it’s grounding. I’ve heard when monks are upset or a little melancholy they are told to work in the garden until they feel better. Deadheading is the perfect way to fidget while thinking out one’s problem. But why should we cut off the spent flowers like I will do soon to my Floribunda Tuscan Sun above?

The rosarians whose books I’ve read fail greatly at one simple task. They order us: “deadhead at an angle facing away from the leaf a quarter inch above the leaf”. They show pictures: “too much”, “not enough”. But why? They never explain this. Perhaps if they did we would be more apt to follow orders? Knowing what treachery might befall upon our precious blooms we might do as they say.

Let’s examine this:

WHY DEADHEAD?

Do you want your roses to grow rapidly? Would you like more blooms? How about continual bright red baby leaves sprouting all summer long? Deadheading is your answer.

HOW TO DEADHEAD:
The best thing I can tell you is to cut down to the fifth leaf set. Spot the spent bloom, follow its stem downward until you see the first five leaf stem. Cut it there at an angle, opening away from the leaf set. Why? Because this technique gives the new stem room to spike out and from what I’ve read it can also produce stronger stems if this is done one-quarter inch above the leaf set. Like this,

As you can see I’ve had some thrip and beetle damage. This is the first year I’ve had problems with pests of this nature and they caught me a little offguard-please ignore.

Anyway, a week later you should have young leaves shooting out all over, making a pretty show of purple and bright green-almost as striking as the flowers themselves.

Young life, a reminder of our excitement and the hope we carried into spring. I can feel that again when I look at these new leaves of tender delicacy. Do this and you will see. You needn’t worry. Soon you will have an abundance of blooms again, bringing a sense of accomplishment to you and the beauty of youth and hope to your garden once again.

Tag: heaven

Morning Glory: A Warning

Life After Deadheading