Are You An Extreme Gardener?

My eyes are riveted to the television as a snowboarder speeds through a half pipe or launches from a ramp to perform gnarly, gravity-defying tricks. Or a person hurls himself off a cliff and soars into the beyond with arms and legs spread inside a wingsuit, personifying Batman. How in the world do you learn to do such extreme sports without killing yourself first?

Extreme gardening is much safer. In fact, one can argue that extreme gardening has many physical and emotional benefits. Nevertheless, some people may shake their heads and think that an extreme gardener is a bit strange, if not outright nuts. The jasmine arch by the patio is blooming.

How do you know you are an extreme gardener? I have compiled a list of ten traits that, while completely unverified and unscientific, may indicate you are an extreme gardener:

1.You garden, no matter what your environmental conditions or living arrangements. You find a way to garden, year round, in one form or another.My arbor garden swing is a good place to relax and enjoy the garden.

2. When people visit, they ask to see your garden. If they don't ask, you show them anyway.Here is a view inside my perennial/pollinator garden, planted since last August.

3. People you don't know have come up to you and asked for gardening advice.

4. You own at least 50 gardening books, not counting garden magazines. No way you can count all those.

5. You have gardened at night under the floodlights around your house. 

6. You arrange vacation time around gardening activities. 

7. You know the botanical names for most of your plants. Amaryllis 'Apple Blossom' (Hippeastrum) has 16 blooms on it this year!

Planted earlier this year, Acanthus 'Whitewater' has its first bloom.

Fatsia japonica 'Spiderweb' is a shade-lover with beautiful leaves.

8. You have attended a demonstration or lecture about hydroponics.

9. You publish a garden blog.Views of my little blue bridge in the woodland garden have appeared many times on my blog. I recently moved a blue bottle tree to its side.

This large urn was one of the first features I put in the arbor garden when I began developing the space a decade ago. 

This green rabbit is one of a collection of rabbits that appear throughout my garden, in addition to the real ones!

10. Gardening is your favorite form of physical therapy for such things as hip replacement, torn meniscus, and recovery from debilitating infection.

If you are positive for any of the above, chances are you are a real gardener. The more traits you have, the more serious you are about gardening. If you own up to six or more, you may indeed be an extreme gardener. I confess I am guilty of all ten. But at least I am not putting on a wingsuit and jumping off cliffs.

So, how extreme are you?

Wishing all you gardeners the very best!  Deb

Apple Blossom Amaryllis Update

Two years ago I published a post, Plans to Grow My Apple Blossom Amaryllis in the Ground, regarding a beautiful amaryllis I had received as a Mother's Day gift. Amaryllis plants are hardy in my area, so later that year in the fall I planted it in a sunny spot next to the patio. Last year I was disappointed when it produced lovely foliage but no blooms. 

Why no blooms? Too much nitrogen fertilizer or soil that is too rich could be a culprit. Poor drainage is another possibility. I did not think any of these factors applied to my amaryllis. Too much shade? I eyed an overhanging dogwood branch and considered the possibility. Sun floods the area by the patio most of the day, but in that particular corner there was some shade part of the day. I trimmed back the tree branch and waited to see if the amaryllis would bloom this year.

Success! This year my Apple Blossom Amaryllis put on a show. Here the Apple Blossom Amaryllis had just begun blooming. Other plants are Coral Drift roses, Bacopa, and a silvery Artemesia. I used two unobtrusive green plastic stakes to hold the stalks upright.It grew to 34" tall and put out a total of eight blooms on two stalks. Each bloom was over 9" across.

My beautiful amaryllis has finished blooming now. I have cut off the tall stalks, but the strappy foliage remains, hopefully storing energy for additional blooms next year.