Coming through a Drought: the loses, the surprises, and the things I learned

Here we are in early September. It is 30+ degrees today and it hasn't rained in over a week. Normally the heat and the lack of rainfall might not be so bad, but most of the spring and pretty much all of the summer has been hot and dry, dry, dry!

Usually I have to do some watering each August, which tends to be dry month, but this summer I have had to water for most of the late spring and summer.

The front garden minus the picket fence which is still patiently waiting to be painted. To tell the truth, the garden looks a bit messy without the fence to provide a backdrop.

Standing tall, with pale pink flowers and a red eye, is a Rose of Sharon. The warm blue spires are an Agastache 'Blue Fortune'. Below it, with tiny blue flowers, is a Calamintha.

Rose of Sharon with Calamintha below it.

 In the middle distance is a white Potentilla (read more about this shrub here). In the far distance is Switch Grass, Panicum virgatum 'Northwind'.

 

The window box just inside the back gate needs watering daily.

A hazy view of the back garden.

One of my favourite containers and a snail I got at the Dollar Store.

Another hazy view of my four raised beds (hidden under foliage) and two of the dogs.

Scrap with Piper in behind.

This watering can which I planted up in this post has held up fairly well.

Phlox paniculata 'Pixie Miracle Grace' is a nice dwarf variety of Phlox.

The circular garden at the back of the yard.

Sedum lining the walkway into the centre of the circle garden.

Sedum Matrona and Rudbeckia

I try to water deeply rather than frequently. I reason that nature doesn't provide rainwater everyday, so why should I?

Usually I start early in the morning at the very back of the yard and shift the sprinkler around the garden over a period of several hours. This means dragging a hose out a little over 100 ft to reach the very back of the yard. Thank goodness the front garden is fairly small in comparison!

But despite my efforts to keep the garden green, there has been losses. Just look at my poor Ostrich Ferns! Generally speaking, ferns throughout the garden have suffered.

 But despite appearances, there is still some hope for effected plants...

Phlox paniculata 'David's Lavender'

The hose doesn't easily reach this particular Phlox. This is how it looked in better days and here is what it looked like at the beginning of August:

Phlox paniculata 'David's Lavender'

I was worried I had lost it. Amazingly enough, the roots held on to wait until we had a little rain mid-August.

Phlox paniculata 'David's Lavender' on the left and Phlox paniculata 'David'

And now there is fresh growth (see picture on the left). It seems the growth above ground was sacrificed to keep the roots below ground alive.

One odd thing: the white phlox that you see pictured on the right is adjacent to the one that nearly died. The white phlox is doing well and is even blooming. Adding to the mystery is the fact that the two phlox are cousins: Phlox 'David's Lavender' and Phlox 'David'.

There have been a few surprises as well. A trio of slow-to-establish, early spring bloomers: Gas Plant (Dictamnus fraxinella), False Indigo (Baptisia) and Blue Star (Amsonia) haven't had a bit of extra water and they have come through the drought like real troopers.

Astilbe

Another surprise is that some varieties of a plant have faired far better than others. All Astilbe like soil conditions to be on the most side, but some cultivars appear to fair better in a drought than others.

Usually I struggle to get any of my Astilbes through the driest part of a summer. I was thinking of giving up on Astilbe altogether, but recently I added several cultivars with larger, lighter green leaves and they are surprisingly okay.

A more healthy Ligularia 'Britt Marie Crawford' (on the middle-right) 

in Chen's garden in Milton, Ontario

This discrepancy is also true of my two Ligularia. Again, all Ligularia like moist soil, but one variety is doing okay while the other has all but disappeared. The darker Ligularia 'Britt Marie Crawford' is still rather sad, but it has faired much better.

The lesson I take away is that not all cultivars are created equal when it comes to drought. Don't write-off growing a certain type of plant until you have tried a few different varieties.

Here is a list of perennials that have really suffered:

• Astilbe (all the darker-leafed varieties have all but disappeared)  
• Betony (has looked woeful unless watered regularly)
• Japanese Ferns (have all died back, but are recovering)
• Ostrich Ferns
• Peonies (often look wilted)                                
• Daylily ( are more sparse than usual)
• Primrose (looked sad most of the summer)
• Phlox (wilted or dead looking unless watered)
• Joe Pye Weed (half its normal height)
• Parsley (very poor harvest)
• Japanese Forest Grass (sad)
• Sweet Cicely
• Hellebores
• Primroses
• Hostas in too much sun

Here is a list of plants that have done fine:

• Euphorbia
• Baptisia
• Dainthus
• Monarda
• Agastache
• Gas Plant
• Blue Star
• Ornamental grasses
• Turtle Head
• Goat's Beard
• Meadow Rue
• Iron weed
• Yarrow
• Sedum

You may remember how I planted up this strawberry hanging basket. Despite regular waterings it couldn't take the dry weather. So moved it to a new spot were it gets morning sun and light afternoon shade. It's recovered beautifully.

The lesson I take away here is to move (if possible) a plant struggling in drought to a spot that offers some relief from the sun's hottest and most drying rays.

Freshly watered birdbath planter (how to here).

Overall this summer has been a bit of a harsh reality check. Sadly, global warming is upon us! I am now thinking that there are some plants that I am not going to be able to grow.

This breaks my heart a little bit because, I have always loved interesting and unusual plants. If I plant likes more moisture than my small part of Southern Ontario affords, I have always been willing to do a little coddling just for pleasure of having a few special things in my garden. With the garden as a whole now requiring regular watering, I am questioning how practical it is to continue to have plants that don't fit with the new reality.

Who wants to be faced with an unhappy looking plant? Surely it is better to work with the existing environmental conditions than to fight them.

I just hope we all get smarter, so global warming doesn't get any worse!



More Information and Links:

A Few Water Wise Tips:

• Water in the early morning when temperatures are cooler and the sun is lower in the sky for less water evaporation.

• If you improve your soil with compost, the organic matter will slow down the movement of rainwater through the soil allowing plants to get what they need.

• Mulch also helps to slow moisture loss from the surface of the soil.

• Keep weeds at bay. You don't want your garden plants competing with weeds for moisture!

• If you can afford it, a drip irrigation systems will deliver water right to the soil. Much of the water from a traditional sprinkler system evaporates into the air.

• Think about collecting rainwater in a water barrel.

• Group plants that like moist conditions together to make watering faster and easier.

• Healthy plants require less waster! Feed the soil with compost, well-rotted manure or leaf mould for happier, healthier plants.

• It is making more and more sense to choose drought tolerant perennials and shrubs. Plants that are native to your area are also a good option as they are adapted to your region's climate conditions and soil.

Fall Container Update on a Budget

Most of my container plantings have gone the distance and are still looking good as we head into fall, but the concrete urn at the entrance to the back garden is in desperate need of an update. Back in June, the urn looked rather pretty. 

Filled with sweet potato vine, pansies and sky-blue lobelia it continued to look good well into July. Then the scorching heat and dry conditions began to take its toll. The pansies got leggy and thin despite regular deadheading and watering.

The lobelia however, managed to tough it out, and the sweet potato vine began to spill nicely over the edge of the urn. So here we are at the end of August: the front of the container still looks good, but the pansies definitely need to be replaced.

Though this part of southern Ontario has felt downright tropical this summer, the fact that this is Canada is foremost among my considerations. There are maybe four or six weeks before we get the first fall frost. Any annuals I may plant are bound to parish in the first real cold snap sometime in October. I refuse to spend a fortune to see me through a matter of a few weeks. A short season determines that this is going to be an container update on a limited budget!

Adding to this makeover challenge is the fact that the plants in the urn that survived are sky blue and lime green. Hardly the beginnings of a traditional fall color scheme! 

So I went looking for a little inspiration at a local nursery.

Who says a fall color scheme has to be orange, red and yellow anyway? This mauve and purple color scheme is really rather nice. 

The mums are familiar plant choice, but the ornamental peppers and the Celosia are a bit more novel. Celosia is a fairly versatile choice as it comes in a variety of red shades- everything from hot pink to lipstick red.

Celosia 'Dark Purple'

Celosia Intenz 'Lipstick' (on the left) and Celosia Intenz 'Classic' (on the right)

Even the ornamental peppers that come in an array of colors.

Sedum 'Neon'

Investing Longterm:

If you are tired of using Mums to make up your fall container plantings, Sedum might be a nice alternative. It is a bigger investment in the short term, but you can always lift the sedum from the container after the first frost, and plant it out in the garden, making it a good longterm investment.

As well as Sedum, there are a few other types of perennials that you can plant out in the garden once your fall container has done its job. For instance, Heuchera offers a wide selection cultivars that come in terrific fall colors.

Heuchera 'Marmalade' on the left and Heuchera 'Crimson Curls'

Heuchera even work in a less traditional mauve combination. 

Heuchera Dolce 'Blackcurrant' and Heuchera 'Berry Marmalade' 

Bring the Indoors Out:

As with the summer containers I featured recently, you can use houseplants outdoors to great effect in a fall scheme. This Croton (seen above) looks great paired with mums, tangerine colored pansies and a tall Cordyline.

Just remember that this is a "tropical" plant. If you plan to bring it inside for the winter, you need to keep an eye out for frost warnings and bring it indoors before it gets damaged by cold.

Fall containers for Shade:

There's no reason why you can't have a nice fall container planting even in the shade. Try a hosta (that you can plant out in the garden at the end of the gardening season) along with some cold tolerant pansies and a perennial Sedge (that you can also plant in the garden).

Not sure what the grass used here is. See the sedge reference below.

I have a number of Sedge Grasses in the shady areas of the garden. Some are even evergreen or semi-evergreen.  I picked this one up on clearance:

Carex morrowii, Laiche japonaise 'Ice Dance'

It is not as tall as a Fountain Grass might be, but this Variegated Japanese Sedge could easily work in a fall container. And it is happy in shade (unlike most ornamental grasses).

Variegated Japanese Sedge, Carex morrowii, Laiche japonaise 'Ice Dance' is a grass-like perennial that forms a low mound of tufted green leaves edged in white. It likes moist, rich soil, but most of the Sedges in my garden seem to do fine in somewhat drier conditions. It's evergreen in habit (in colder areas it may need to have any foliage scorched by cold trimmed off in the spring).  Height: 20-30 cm (8-12 inches), Spread: 30-45 cm (12-18 inches). USDA Zones: 5-9.

A few containers in my backyard.

If you have part-shade a mix of Coleus combined with Sweet Potato Vine might be another great option.

But I digress, back to my container in need of an update...

I am not always a great one for planning ahead, but this year I was smart. I bought a few small Coleus plants in the spring and have been nurturing them backstage, so they could step into a bigger role this fall.

So for a bit of fun, I cleaned away what was left of the pansies and placed two of my Coleus plants into the large urn just to see how they might look:

Option 1. Not bad!

I rather like the way the lime-green edge of this Coleus looks with the Sweet Potato Vine.

Option 2. Next, I tried out a pinker Coleus. It wasn't as big as the last Coleus, so I tucked a little Celosia down into the front of the urn. 

Again, not too shabby.

But what if you hadn't grow any Coleus this summer like I did? I really wanted to come up with a last minute budget option that anyone could use to makeover a summer container. 

So I bought 4 plants.

These were 3 for $10.

I also splurged on a Red Fountain Grass (annual here) that was $6.99. Here is how they all fit in to my urn:

Once I had my placement done, I removed everything from its pot and planted them into the urn. 

I placed the fountain grass just slightly off-centre. I squeezed one of the cabbages down into the front and fit the other into a gap toward the back. The Celosia fit nicely in between the two cabbages.

I felt my rusty robin didn't fit in with the Coleus, but I think he works well with the softer Fountain Grass.

(You can find these rusty birds here in the GTA at Terra Nursery or at the Toronto Botanical Garden's shop. Here is an online source: Rusty Birds)

So which was your favourite version of my fall urn update? 

Should I have stuck with one of the Coleus?

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And thanks for sharing!

Beauty is Pain

In her latest post, Jean Godawa helps us to identify the caterpillars that will 

mature into beautiful butterflies. 

I've often heard the expression that beauty is pain. It's usually in relation to some cruel female fashion choices like waist-cinching corsets or high heels. But it is an accurate and helpful mantra for those of us who want to welcome some flittering wildlife into our gardens.

Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

Of all the garden insect fauna, butterflies are most synonymous with beauty. Their delicate, colourful wings with striking patterns and their gentle flight as they move among garden plants make it hard to believe that these lovely beauties are in the same class as dung beetles or cockroaches.

In order for us to see the beauty of butterflies in our gardens, we must also put up with the pain of their immature forms. Caterpillars, the larval form of butterflies, are vilified as plant slayers, often for good reason. Their voracious appetite can severely damage garden plants. Large groups of them can defoliate a forest.

Defoliation in a Colorado aspen/poplar forest by western tent caterpillars (Malacosoma californicum)

In our enthusiasm to protect our plants from any leaf-munching critter, we pick caterpillars off plants, or worse, spray them with insecticide. In doing this, we might inadvertently destroy a beloved creature that would have otherwise been flitting about our garden a few weeks later, pollinating our flowers and adding to the beauty of the space.

Recognizing and identifying the larval forms of butterflies can help prevent this and ensure that these beautiful creatures continue to visit our gardens.

The easily recognizable monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is common throughout North America and is known for its ability to migrate thousands of kilometers to wintering sites in Mexico and California. This discovery and the subsequent work on monarch migration has alerted us to issues such as climate change, the overuse of pesticides and the destruction of sensitive habitats.

If you have any milkweed in your garden you may have seen the larva of the monarch butterfly munching away. It feeds on milkweed exclusively while the adult form feeds on nectar from a variety of flowers. Butterfly larvae have strong mandibles for chewing leaves while adult butterflies eat through a straw-like, nectar-sucking proboscis.

A similar butterfly, the viceroy (Limenitis archippus), is easily mistaken for a monarch. A black band across the hind wings of the viceroy distinguishes it from the monarch. The colour of these butterflies gives them a protective advantage. Monarchs are toxic to birds that eat them. While viceroys are not toxic, their colouring scares away potential predators.

Despite the viceroy butterfly's resemblance to the monarch, its larva is quite different. Viceroy larvae feed on fruit trees as well as birch and poplar.

The eastern black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes asterius) is found throughout southern Canada, the eastern and mid U.S. and into the southwest and Mexico. The extensions on the hind wings give swallowtail butterflies their names. This species is only one of over 500 swallowtail species worldwide.

The young larva is black with a white "saddle" in the middle. As the larva matures, it becomes smoother in texture and its colouring becomes light green with black and white stripes while maintaining the orange spots. You may find these caterpillars in your dill, parsley or carrot plants. Healthy, mature plants can usually tolerate some caterpillar feeding. Keep an eye on your plants if you've seen one of these larvae on it. Chances are it will pupate before it causes any serious damage.

The spicebush swallowtail butterfly (Papilio troilus), which closely resembles the eastern swallowtail as an adult, has a very different larval form. The young larva looks a bit like bird droppings, making it unappetizing to predators.

As the larva eats and grows, it has a much different and striking appearance, with bright colouring and large eyespots. This creature typically feeds on trees in the Lauraceae family including sassafras and spicebush.

The question mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis) can be found east of the Rocky Mountains and it typically feeds on elm and basswood. It is named for the small, white question mark on the underside of each of its hind wings, visible when the butterfly's wings are upright.

Question mark larvae can look very intimidating with their spiny clubs. While some caterpillars with hairs or spikes release a venom when touched, the question mark caterpillar is harmless.

One of the  more common garden butterflies are the cabbage whites (Pieris rapae). As their name suggests, the larvae feed on cabbage plants as well as broccoli, cauliflower and other related vegetables. With their delicate, hairy wings, these butterflies are often mistaken for moths.

Both moths and butterflies belong to the same group - Lepidoptera, but there are a few ways to tell the difference between the two.

• Butterflies generally have thin or wire-like antennae with knobs on the end while moth antennae are often feathery or hairy
• Butterflies rest with their wings outstretched or folded up over their back so that the underside is visible; moths rest with their wings flat or tented over their body
• Moths are typically nocturnal while butterflies are active through the day (diurnal)

Cabbage white larvae are serious pests to their host plants. This might be one of the "pains" that your garden should not endure. Hand remove these caterpillars from your veggies and drop them in a bucket of soapy water.

Buckeye Butterfly (Junonia coenia)

With well over 10,000 Lepidoptera species in North America alone, it can be challenging to identify the adult or larva in your garden. Before destroying a caterpillar, try to identify it. You may decide to put up with the little "pain" to have the "beauty" a few weeks later.

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About Jean Godawa: Jean is a science teacher and writer. She has been writing science-related articles for print and online publications for more than ten years. Jean holds a degree in biology and environmental science with a focus on entomology from the University of Toronto. She had conducted field research in the tropical rainforests of Asia and South America.

More information and Links:

There are some wonderful field guides available to help identify caterpillars. I have some well-worn books that I frequently use for insect identification. My favorite though is a very simple field guide for novice entomophiles: Peterson First Guides Caterpillars by Amy Bartlett Wright and Roger Tory Peterson. (Not an endorsement, just a personal preference. Jean).

Many thanks to the photographers who contributed photos to this post: Ken Sproule, Dan Flynn, Ansel Oommen, and William M. Ciesla of Forest Health Management International.