only slightly disappointed in Gardens West

As I said in my reply to Paula's comment on my last post, I do like Gardens West magazine and I have recommended it on this blog before.

One of my pet peeves is when I see a magazine picture of a very large, healthy specimen of a plant in someone's garden and I know it is a plant that happens to be very high maintenance - for example needs lots of water - with no mention in the accompanying article of what the gardener does to take care of it.  For example, I have seen pictures of large ligularia plants in prairie gardens - they look beautiful but are definitely not your low maintenance or low energy footprint plant!  To show such a picture without mention of how much water that plant requires, feels almost like false advertising to me.

I have noticed lately that Gardens West seems to be doing very well in this area - the January/February 2010 issue featured a Saskatoon garden that has a very large ligularia plant.

The article does mention that ligularia requires "tons of water and partial shade".  Exactly how much water it doesn't say, but "tons" gives you a pretty good idea. And the gardener also does say she "waters nearly every day".  (Crazy! read my previous post on this)

My complaint about the article is that it only identifies that purple bellflower plant in front as "The Blue Devil".  Yes, the tongue-in-cheek name is appropriate, because this is a very invasive weed.  But the article doesn't specifically point that out.  Nor does it give the proper name (campanula rapunculoides) so at least if a reader was interested, they could Google the name and find out more information - such as the fact that it is classified as invasive in Alberta and most other places in Canada!  I have written about this plant on my blog before.  Five years I've spent trying to get rid of it in my garden and counting...

One other small problem I had was that the gardener is also quoted as saying she fertilizes the whole garden with 15-30-15 once a week.  Yikes!  That's a lot of synthetic fertilizer to use!  Yes, it makes the plants grow but what about this "newfangled notion" of feeding the soil with natural amendments such as compost and letting the soil feed the plants?  Much more environmentally friendly - better for the soil and just as good for the plants.  No mention of this.

But... I guess if you want magazine articles to include information about how a gardener maintains their garden, then you can't really complain when they include information about how a gardener maintains their garden, right?  Maybe they should just add a small disclaimer somewhere to make us more environmentally conscious gardeners happy...

PS  For comparison, here's a photo of my 2 ft tall, pathetic little ligularia that I don't water very often...  I should probably just get rid of it.

 

Comments

[Paula H]

Don't get rid of your little ligularia! I have a puny specimen as well. It is in very dry shade-that I sometimes remember to water (the year my eaves were backed up-boy did that plant grow!). While it is not as impressive as a grossly watered ligularia, I do appreciate the uniqueness of its leaves and flowers. This year I am going to try some water retention crystals around it to see how that helps. I have heard that for thirsty plants you can "plant" them in a black garbage bag to help keep moisture at the roots. Maybe I should get another plant for comparison!

In response to how some featured gardeners care for their plots, I take from the article only what I think is useful. Extra water and fertilizer? No, thanks. Plant combinations and garden design ideas are usually what I am looking for. I think that some of the gardeners are older and have different thoughts toward garden maintenance than we do. In my older neighbourhood I see sprinklers on all day, lots of weed killer, and old gas mowers. I hope that the way that I approach gardening gives my neighbours ideas about what is possible without extra water or chemicals, and a person-powered mower.

[Janice Miller-Young]

Well said, Paula!  I agree with you about the older gardeners and also about the hope that our neighbours will learn from our own practices; my concern was more about the newer gardener who picks up a magazine and thinks that this is what they have to do in order to have a nice garden! 

Maybe we should start a little liguaria club!  I do like the yellow flowers in front of my blue garage, which is why Ive kept it this long!  Let me know how the garbage bag and crystals work.

Janice

[Tatiana]

I like the liguaria (sounds like iguana in my head) too, even though I've never heard of it until today... wouldn't a reasonable compromise be to water it from the rain barrels? That way it can drink all it wants.

[Janice Miller-Young]

Good point, Tatiana.  But you overestimate the amount of time I like to spend on garden maintenance!  Most plants in my garden have to fend for themselves with very little intervention from me, and I know I will never be motivated enough to hand water the ligularia as much as it needs to become such an impressive specimen!  Basically, Im lazy.  There, I said it!
Cheers,
Janice

[philippines flower]

Liguaria flowers is one of my favorite floral too ,coz if you notice it looks so elegant and fabulous,love it.

zaijan

[Larry]

The fact your ligularia is so small might have more to do with its variety than with the amount of water you give it. "The Rocket' gets HUGE but other types not so much.

Also, gardening is all a matter of context and microclimates and specific situations. I have a 'The Rocket" variety in a low low low point in my garden that's in full shade. I think I watered it once last summer. Maybe twice. So, just as you wouldn't plant a hosta in the sun, don't plant one of these in a dry location! And I do nothing to maintain it during the summer.

[Calgary Garden Coach]

That's true Larry. It's supposed to be the Rocket, but perhaps it was mislabelled and it's a smaller variety. In any case, I don't have any moist shade areas, so this spring it's getting ripped out.
Janice