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| PETASITES JAPONICUS SSP. GIGANTEUS I am often asked about what the rest of the garden looks like, and if I could share some of the failures to balance out the successes. Well, to be honest, our garden is old, a hundred years old, with lot of tall, mature trees that need to be cut down, and an endless list of things to do, so the ugly parts far outweigh the pretty parts of the garden. With two and a half acres, only a quarter of that is worthy to show, but now, for the rest of the garden….eeek. |
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| JOE PLANTING PETASITES NEAR THE POULTRY YARD |
Joe wanted to transplant more Petasites, which as many of you know, spreads like, well, Petasites. At first I thought that he was crazy, but the more I think about it, it may be a brilliant thing to do. I do love it, but one can have too much of a good thing – especially when the ‘good thing’ has leaves that can be 4 feet in diameter.
Still, this major replant has begun – we have decided to try and fill in the trashiest spots of the yard with Petasites, giant hosta and most any herbaceus agressive plant, since we hate lawn and grass, and these require not fertilizer nor machinery to cut, so they are more sustainable. So every year we plant and fill in gaps, making the back garden look more like a forest meadow in China than anything else.
My future plants are to plant native trees and plants in an effort to rebuild a natural forest where there once was lawn, but for now, this will have to do. Today, we are working in the far right-hand corner of the garden, near the duck house and pigeon house. This is the worst part of the garden, with a rusty fence created with everything from old mops and brooms by my depression era father who won’t throw anything out. The Petasites transplant easily in April, and the soil here is rich and damp, so it will grow well. If I didn’t plant it, we would just have weeds like Poke Weed, Impatiens and thistles, so a visual field of lotus-like leaves, will be much nicer than a weedy mess.
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| IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS, WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEE THE GROUND, NOR THE FENCE. |
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| PLASTIC POTS THAT HAVE FADED IN THE SUN, OR THOSE STYROFOAM ONES THAT HAVE PEELED PAINT, ALL ARE RESTORED FOR ANOTHER YEAR WITH TERRA COTTA PAINT. IT SAVES US MONEY SINCE LARGE CONTAINERS ARE SO EXPENSIVE. |
JOE PEELS THE PAINT AND SANDS THE FOAM CONTAINERS BEFORE SPRAYING THEM.
WITH TWO COATS OF NEW PAINT, THIS CONTAINER LOOKS NEW AGAIN, AND IT IS ALL SET FOR AN AGAPANTHUS THAT HAS JUST BEEN DIVIDED. OLIVE TREES WILL GO INTO THE TWO SQUARE CONTAINERS.
Oooh, terra cotta paint! What an awesome idea!
I love vigorous plants, and big-leaved plants, so both features in a single plant is double-awesome!
How long does the paint last? Just a single season? Is it the kind formulated for plastics?
Ha…in a smaller garden, the Petasites can be a bit thuggish…but if you have area to fill, go for it…can't wait to see what it looks like by the end of the season!