Gertrude's Flower Garden Weekly Diary
9/17/99 - Although the rains that we have had and are still having won't officially end our drought in South Jersey, the drought in "Gertrude's Flower Garden" is over, and I welcomed a few days of dry weather to get the garden back into shape. For one thing, the lawns needed cutting, and I also have the opportunity to over-seed. Every September, when we begin to get nights that leave a heavy dew, I buy five or ten pounds of grass seed to scatter lightly on front and back lawns. I use a leaf-rake to loosen the soil slightly where patches of grass have burned out; otherwise, I let the seeds trickle down to the ground among the grass. Don't worry about grass seed coming up--you can scatter it on snow in the winter and it will come up when it is ready--but when grass seed decides to come up, you must keep the tiny new blades moist or you will lose them. This is why I wait for those late summer/early autumn days when the grass doesn't dry out until afternoon. The variety of lawn seed you use is best determined by trial-and-error experimentation: soil, sun-shade, and where you live will all influence grass growth. Not to worry: keep your flowers beautiful and folks won't notice a few weeds in the lawn.
Our picture this week is of an annual that will look lovely in your garden if you don't already have it growing there. Spider Flowers or Spider Plants (Cleome Hasslerana) grow in sun or partial shade and will tolerate dry conditions. These interesting annuals come in white and many shades of pink and lavender, ranging from a deep almost red or purple to shades that are nearly white. The individual flowers seem to change color as they grow--the hot sun makes them droop a bit, but they soon recover. The flowers "ride" up the sturdy stem and are followed by rows of slender, bean-like seed pods which help to give Spider Flowers a lacy, dainty look. Years ago, Gertrude found some of these traditional flowers growing by the sidewalk downtown, and brought home some seeds. At first, I carefully grew plants under lights during the winter, but I soon found that Cleome does very well by itself in the garden. Now I let our Spider Plants seed themselves, and simply move the plants to wherever I want them--the plants in the picture were moved there from our back garden, but next year I am sure that here will be lots of "babies" in this spot. Try to keep Spider Flowers in the back of your beds, since they will, if they like the spot you choose for them, grow to as high as four or five feet.
9/24/99 - Gertrude's Flower Garden Weekly Diary
9/10/99 - Gertrude's Flower Garden Weekly Diary
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