A little while longer………….. PULLLEASE??

KCB is a professional gardener and friend who does wonderful work in the Greater Portland area. KCB is also an accredited Master Gardener by the Cooperative Extension Service and we are proud to tell you that KCB was recently honored as the 2008 Master Gardener of the Year. And we are honored to have KCB as part of our Skillin's Garden Log family. Now on with the show...



Remember when you whined this phrase to your parents as they called ‘time for bed’?

Those with children or even grand children may find it more familiar still. Then, perhaps not, with some of the conveniences that are in the children’s bedrooms of today being sent to bed may be a welcomed treat.

Still we have all heard the pleading of someone not wanting to leave a place or a task that was deemed fun. One more swing, one more bike ride, story. We’ve all heard or asked the question. As did one of my gardens this week.

As I approached the property, I was in awe at the sight of the rich indigo supertunias along with Johnny Jump-ups and the marled blue and white pansies that seemed to dance around a small bed at around the base of the lamppost. Once in the driveway the trio of containers at the front doorway was overflowing with varying hues and shades of purple to lavender whether it be from the Royal Velvet supertunias, the Osteospermum, trailing superbells punctuated with flowering kale. The melding of summer and fall annuals were doing nicely. Not at all bad for the week before Halloween.

The hypnotic spice of sweet alyssum carried me to Zanzibar while the white blossoms powered my nose as I stooped to clean fallen leaves from the still thriving annual bed. The puffs of white were the perfect foil for the magenta tinged purple heads of ornamental cabbage. Rusty shards of oak leaves could not hinder the pugnacious efforts of the blooms.

The beds at the rear of the house were once a sweeping array of the client’s favorite palette where not a yellow, orange, or red bloom does dwell. Indigo, burgundy, purple, and pink with pockets of white are all but gone. In their wake, the once vibrant have morphed to muted mauves, smoky plums and gray greens. Joe Pye towers with a now silvery glow in the fading sun. A rogue bloom emerges from the clumps that remained from the Shasta Daisies cut back two weeks ago. A self-sowed Cosmos emerged like the Phoenix from the stalks I pulled from the ground earlier this month. Roses continue to bloom from buds to numerous to count. Endless Summer Hydrangeas have matured to regal blooms that appear tea stained from time. Foliage is mottled maroon. The hues are gentler, softer offering the perfect back drop for the vibrant deep pink of Summerwine Yarrow that refuses to go by the way the season that bares it’s name.

The air chills while the sight of such perseverance warms my soul. Time is not on my side as I have many gardens to send to bed for their long winter’s nap. Some are ready having given their all for man and nature. Not this one. This one is surely pleading …
A little while longer………….. PULLLEASE??

KCB for Skillin's Greenhouses
October 27, 2008