Juniper: misused and almost universally hated.

I’m feeling kind of bitchy today, so I happily succumbed to the three pages of ranting on the You Grow Girl “Plants you hate” forum. Heh heh.

YGG top offenders include:

Cilantro (more for the taste than appearance, it seems)
Impatiens, begonias, petunias and other bedding plants
Spider plants
Shrub junipers
Pampas grass

Gotta agree with the above – except cilantro! I have never successfully grown it, but I love the flavour. Mmm… homemade salsa.

An excerpt from the forum that made me giggle:

“I wish I could hybridize a plant that was as bland, unattractive and redundant as the Stella de Oro daylily. I would then become filthy rich because everyone and their mother has these plants by the dozens. I also think the foliage is dreadful, and the plant pisses me off with its lack of originality.”

As for me, I resent the tyranny of cedar hedging. I strongly dislike rhododendrons and azaleas, probably because they’re often overused and abused in Vancouver. And finally, I don’t really understand the way “bedding plants” are normally used – all stiffly lined up like soldiers, only to be yanked out come fall. But that’s just me.

Which plants do you hate, besides so-called weeds or other invasives? Stuart at Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas has already weighed in, as have the folks at Garden Rant (at least once or twice), and there’s another discussion going on at GardenWeb.

What I really find interesting is the basis of our dislikes. It seems that the ubiquitous, the misused or abused, and the out-of-place tend to be the most hated plants. And what is coveted in one corner of the world is the bain of someone else’s existance.

City Farmer recently announced Sharing Backyards in Greater Vancouver, a website that aims to bring together people looking for a space to garden with those who have under-used backyards and are willing to share.

Check it out.

Saw this upholstered tree stump on Boing Boing today and thought it would be a great public art project for my friends at the Vancouver Public Space Network to take up.

Artist Madelon Galland started the STUMP Project in New York City to “activate spaces that have been under neglect” and “participate with what is signified in a tree stump, a beloved life form that has been diminished.” Upholstering stumps, she says, ” is a gesture of caring and a posture of respect toward what is beneath our feet.” Sweet.

The project was inspired by the story The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, in which a tree has given of herself to the point of being diminished to a stump, but selflessly perks herself up to give to the last, by providing a seat for the beloved boy who is now an aged man.

From Madelon’s How To at SuperNaturale:

This really began as unauthorized public art, and is not intended as something to have, but rather as a gesture to give. The street stumps are anchored and framed with firm roots and city masonry as they are, and what we do is contribute, care, and dignify that which has been diminished thus giving vitality again to spaces usually below the pedestrian radar.

I’d love to do this. Maybe in the vein of Knitta Please, though, since I’m a better knitter than upholsterer.

The annual BC Home and Garden Show is on now through this weekend at BC Place Stadium. I’m often torn about whether to go to these things or not. More often than not they’re pretty lame, and the most riveting thing to do is watch the magic mop buying frenzy and marvel at some of the truly hideous things for sale.

But that said, I’m afraid that if I don’t go, I’ll miss something that will somehow change my life. I know it’s ridiculous, but I always think there will be some show garden or new product that will be just the thing. And, there are a number of interesting-sounding speakers in the gardening vein (schedule after the jump), plus the How Not to Decorate guys and the Portobello West market are going to be there. Sounds like I’m talking myself into it. See you there?

Maybe it’s because I live in the land of BC Bud (also known affectionately as BC Hydro) but the idea of hydroponic growing has too many dodgy connotations to appeal to me. However, VEGE, the kitchen appliance-like hydroponic unit from the Electrolux Design Lab, is pretty nifty. Holding up to 40 plants, this would be great for those with large kitchens and little garden space.

Via Popgadget.

Love it. Want it. Need it.

It being the Forest Roll from the ever-playful Aguiniga Design.

Via NotCot.

I got the most wonderful e-mail from a reader in Victoria the other day. (Victoria is southeast of Vancouver, across the Straight of Georgia. I think that when gardeners die they go to Victoria; it’s a very mild Zone 9, and a lovely city to garden and live in.)

Anyway. Pat wrote in response to my post asking for planting suggestions for what is becoming known as “that wall” to suggest Cotoneaster bullatus (shown above). Not only did Pat have a great foundation-planting suggestion; she even provided photos and companion planting ideas. What could be better? Pat’s written such detailed descriptions and suggestions that I’m just going to paste her advice in here to share with you all. She writes:

I think what you need for your wall is not a vine but two Cotoneaster bullatus. C. bullatus is a marvelous deciduous cotoneaster, quite elegant and structured compared with its evergreen relatives. I think it would be fabulous on your wall — very architectural, especially if you use a trellis and do some annual shaping and tying to restrain its outward growth so it’s more like an espalier but not as formal or spare. That’s what I’ve done with mine and it is one of my favourite shrubs in the garden.

It offers four seasons of interest, with tender coppery-green leaves and white flowers in mid-spring, darker green leaves (with a slight bluish tone) in the summer, and red berries for about three months in the fall. In the fall, the leaves turn into lovely mottled colours ranging from yellow and pale green to scarlet and glaucus blue-green.

It has lovely vase-shaped branching structure but can be pruned and tied to spread against a wall — something more informal than espalier, but the idea is the same . It will get quite high too, which is good; or you can restrain its height. Mine is thriving in afternoon shade with even moisture, and looks superb year round with some companion plantings at its feet.

In the above photo, C. bullatus is the tall bare-branched bush against the fence to the right of the cherry tree.

In front of C. bullatus, I would plant a medium sized blue-leaved hosta such as “Blue Umbrellas” (or “Halcyon”), along with some painted Japanese ferns and two or three Hemerocallis “Flasher.” Also some Helleborus orientalis “purpurea” for early season interest.

A word about Hemerocallis ‘Flasher’: it’s a spectacular dark orange daylily that is a real prima donna — and the “heavy metal” of the hemerocallis family. It needs to be away from other daylilies because its height, colour and abundance makes other daylilies look sick and weedy. Within a couple of years, one Flasher will yield over 100 mildly fragrant blooms over a five-week period. It blooms when C. bullatus is at its quietest, and the dark green leaves of C. bullatus are a good foil for the orange blossoms. Flasher also looks fabulous with sword fern and purple heuchera thrown into the mix, too.

Pat Weldon
Victoria

Thanks so much for the advice, and for sharing your gorgeous garden with Heavy Petal readers, Pat.

(Top photo from Le Blogue Jardin.)

Happy Chinese New Year! It’s the year of the Golden Boar (or Fire Pig, which just doesn’t sound as catchy). It’s supposed to be an extra lucky year.

Chinese New Year in Vancouver is huge. Because of our large Asian population, there are events and celebrations everywhere you go – even the Safeway had a dragon dance in progress when I stopped to pick up some groceries. The Year of the Pig is supposed to be a good time to have babies and make money. Unlike the Western perspective of pigs, the Pig is one of the most generous and honorable Sign of the Zodiac. (I’m a dragon. What are you? Find your Chinese astrological sign here.)

From a gardener’s perspective, I’m interested in the symbolic values attributed to plants by the Chinese. Some of the meanings are quite amusing to me (the maple tree, for instance). For example:

* Chrysanthemum flowers symbolize a strong life. It is good to give old people chrysanthemum flowers because it means strong life. However, only red ones would be good because white and light yellow ones are used only at funerals. Lovers do not give chrysanthemum to their loved ones.

* Narcissus, lotus flowers and orchid are flowers which represent high virtues and elegance.

* Orchid blossoms in spring and it brings an air of high class respectfulness.

* Narcissus blossoms in winter. White flowers of five pedals and yellow stamen grow in pure water. It represents a sense of purity.

* Lotus flowers grow in pond water. Its roots are edible. Its flowers blossom in summer and are either red or white. The seeds are also edible and are often used as medicine. Almost every part of a lotus plant is useful though it grows in muddy pond water. That is also why it is compared to people who manage to achieve success in life though they come from a less prestigious background.

* Azalea flowers represent elegance and wealth. You can find azaleas on the Chinese one cent coin.

* Peach flowers represent beautiful girls. In Chinese tradition at Chinese New Year, people who want to find love will usually buy a whole plant and put it home because this will bring them luck in finding love in the coming year.

* Pomegranates gives very beautiful flowers. Its fruit is sour but contains a lot of seeds inside. In Chinese tradition, people put this fruit on the beds of newlyweds so as to help the newlyweds to make many babies.

* Maple trees in China represents old people who don’t admit that they are old because these trees blossoms in autumn which is near the end of a year.

* Lilacs in China represents modesty, which is one of the virtues that Chinese people value.

Via Chinatown Connection. Photo stolen from the Delaware State flower page.

So I just crawled out from under my rock and discovered Eva Solo, launched in 1997 as an offshoot of a 60-year old Danish company. Driven by design duo Claus and Henrik, Eva Solo makes sweet product magic. I am pretty much in love with each of their products – and there are many in the outdoor living vein. There are no garden tools as such, but let this be my official declaration that should they design some, I’m buying ‘em.

Birds have been the recipient of their magic touch, with the bird box (above) and bird table (below). They also make lovely oil lamps and flower pots.

But it’s their grill I’m really coveting. Right now, my husband is dreaming of something like this but has had to be content with this for the last year. I’ve promised him space for a barbecue in the new design I’m doing for the backyard, but I’ve been struggling with the unsightliness of most barbecues. Enter the Eva Solo grill.

Have you ever seen a sexier barbecue? The stainless steel grill comes in gas or charcoal, and when not in use, you can replace its flat top and use as a serving table. The gas version hides the propane tank away, but I do wish they made a natural gas version. Ah well, I guess it can’t be too perfect.

Buy Eva Solo here.

Even if you’re not into Valentine’s Day, as a gardener, you gotta love it. Sure, it’s still cold and rainy, but the days are getting longer (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). For me, Valentine’s Day marks a turning point: I can stick stuff in the ground.

In my USDA Zone 8b garden, I’m planting hardy spring vegetables, like green onions, beets and radishes. I’m also planting spinach, chard, arugula and mizuna.

Hardy spring-blooming annuals like poppies, cornflowers, larkspur and agrostemma can also be planted now. Want to find out what you can do in the garden now? There’s something for every zone.

Photo Lathyrus sativus azureus (Container “Electric Blue” Sweet Pea) from Renee’s Garden Seeds.