Charlotte’s Kitchen

Archive for the ‘Gardening’ Category

I’ve often thought a sunroom would have been nice to have, especially when we lived in Northern Michigan where snow limited your outdoor activity in the winter, unless you were into snowmobiles or skiing.

I came across the following and wanted to share it with you.

“While the most popular reason people build sunrooms is for relaxation, we are noticing a shift in how homeowners are using their sunrooms,” says Ken Sekley, Chairman of Patio Enclosures, Inc. “Owners are making their homes more than just a place to live, they are changing their houses into gyms, spas and entertainment areas.”

1. Sunroom Playrooms – Many parents and grandparents elect to make their sunroom into a playroom because it helps keep the children’s toys in one area while allowing their children or grandchildren to enjoy the outdoors all season long.
2. Pet Sunrooms – Many homeowners build sunroom additions specifically to create an oasis for their dogs or cats. This is often done by owners who work during the day and are unable to let their pets outside as much as they would like.
3. Sunrooms for Exercise – Another reason why homeowners build sunrooms is to create an exercise room. This allows owners to enjoy the outdoors while working out in the comfort of their home.
4. Spa Sunrooms – Homeowners also like to have sunrooms specially designed and outfitted with all the amenities of a luxurious spa, including a hot tub, tanning bed and whirlpool foot spa.
5. Game Room – Lastly, homeowners like to create game rooms out of their sunrooms. These rooms include a pool table, bar, arcade quality pinball machines and anything else to make the game room experience complete.

And all this time I thought that sunrooms were for relaxing and enjoying the sun without going outdoors. Number 2 really gets me. I mean I like my dogs but building a sunroom for them. I don’t think so.

If you are like me and would much rather be outdoors than inside, you probably would enjoy a low-maintenance landscape. How about shrubs that flower over a long period of time? Here’s a few that I’ve come across.

Abelia will continue to delight gardeners with their fragrant flowers that continue until frost. Most hardy to Zone 9, the plants are evergreen in much of the country and semi-evergreen through Zone 6 adding lasting color.

Bluebeard Spirea or blue-mist shrub (Caryopteris x clandonensis) and cultivars are hardy as a shrub in much of the country and grown as perennials in colder areas. The rich blues of selected cultivars that maintain the color through fall are a garden addition well worth making since they only need to be planted initially and are quite low-maintenance afterward.

Butterfly-bush (Buddleja, Buddleia) flower throughout the summer into fall. Great for use near patios and decks where the sweet fragrance can be enjoyed, it is also wonderful to see the many butterflies that will visit the plants. Adding plants that also attract wildlife is one of the extras to consider when choosing what to grow.

Chastetree (Vitex agnus-castus) which flowers from June or July through September with fragrant pale violet blooms should be considered for every zone 6-9 garden.

Crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia) for Zones 6-9 are handsome shrubs or small trees that bloom from June until September or even October in some areas. Any description does not do the plant justice. Not many shrubs bloom all summer, covered in pink, red, white or lavender blooms.

Encore Azaleas are so different from other Azaleas that the name must be considered and not just think of it as a brand. Encore, meaning come back and give us more (especially for musicians and actors), is exactly what these brightly colored plants do. They flower nicely in spring, form new growth and repeat the blooming in late summer into fall when the added color is so appreciated.

Gardenia (G. jasminoides) or Cape Jasmine growing only up to 5′ in Zones 7-10 is tremendous in May, June and July with exceedingly fragrant blooms. With more outdoor living being enjoyed these days, Gardenia can be trained into a small patio tree too.

Hibiscus, both the more tropical types (H. rosa-sinensis) hardy in Zone 9-12 and grown as houseplants and potted plants on decks and patios in colder parts of the country; and the Rose of Sharon or Shrub Althea (H. syriacus) which is hardy in Zones 5-9 will flower summer into fall with large, vibrant blooms.

Hydrangea of several types but especially the Bigleaf Hydrangeas (H. macrophylla), flower from early summer into fall. Anyone lucky enough to go to Nantucket, MA, in the summer will never forget how the plants billow and brighten every garden. Mixed with roses, they are unforgettable.

Roses can’t be overlooked when considering flowering shrubs for their new projects or to re-invigorate an existing landscape. A huge movement in rose breeding has brought many new pest-free and disease-free landscape roses in a multitude of colors that will blend with any garden color decor. To get a flowering shrub that flowers spring through frost and is low maintenance is exactly what today’s busy homeowners are looking for. New roses can be a great answer.

Sweetspire, Virginia Sweetspire or Virginia-willow (Itea virginica), especially the new, dwarf selections like ‘Henry’s Garnet’ and ‘Little Henry’ bloom about four weeks in the summer when few shrubs or trees are blooming. With deep fragrance and spectacular fall foliage colors, they continue to give even when not in flower.

Weigela or Old-fashioned Weigela is having a resurgence with several new cultivars selected for their multi-season effect. ‘Wine and Roses’ and the even smaller-growing ‘Midnight Wine’ bloom bright pink for about 4 weeks. With dark burgundy foliage that blends well with Blue-spirea / Caryopteris (described above) and yellow flowering perennials like Coreopsis and Black Eyed Susan, these are plants that can be enjoyed all summer.

Your local garden center should continue to offer potted shrubs that are ready to plant and enjoy for instant impact. Visiting the nursery every several weeks during the summer will ensure that you can continue to add bright splashes of mid and late season color to the landscape and continue to enjoy the effect year after year.

You’ll notice that I’ve got a link to Garden Web in my sidebar. This is the best gardening website on the internet. They claim they are the largest gardening site on the web, and I believe it. There’s a bunch of different forums, tons of articles, directories and answers to just about anything you could want to know about gardening.

One of my favorite spots is the seed exchange forum. You can post lists of seeds you have extras of or lists of seeds you are looking for. Then you basically swap with other people, or in some cases you can get the seeds just for sending them a stamped envelope.

The other spot I spent a lot of time at last fall was the Winter Sowing exchange. I’d never heard of winter sowing before I’m trying it this year, because of the information I found here, and the seeds that I got through the exchange.

If you like gardening, you really need to do yourself a favor and check out Garden Web.

GardenWeb is the largest gardening site on the Web, with garden forums, articles on gardening, directories of nurseries, gardens and gardening organizations, a botanical glossary, an events calendar, a plant database, contests, and much more!