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Between Memorial Day and Father’s Day, I often think about my dad. He was not a gardener, but he enjoyed his yard. He liked to sit on the patio in the evening and usually took a stroll around the garden to see what was new. I remember my Mom, watching him from the window, commenting, “There goes the master, surveying his estate.”
She would laugh, because our yard was always a small, modest affair. Actually, I should say “yards,” because Dad was a pilot in the Air Force and we moved every two years like clockwork. As I grew, I got the chance to experience gardens in many diverse spots around the U.S.
When I was little, I made a playhouse, complete with a springy doll bed of bracken fern, under Douglas firs on Mercer Island. Not much later, I was making my doll a bed of sagebrush in the shade of a Joshua tree in the Mojave Desert. I remember a house set among long-needled, southern pines, one featuring mulberry and oleander bushes, and one with an orange tree in the backyard.
In Virginia my Mom called me “Swamp Lady,” because I loved to tramp around in the woods and wetlands near our house. They were full of fascinating plants and animals. Among my favorites were the mayapples that carpeted the forest floor in the spring. [Someday, I’ll see whether I can get a clump started in my garden here.]
Wherever we lived, Mom and I planted flowers. The garden was our job, except for the lawn. My brother got that job, until he left for college; then Dad took over.
Dad would also haul off the garden refuse. I would do a bit of pruning or weeding and leave little piles of brush or weeds. By the next day, they were cleaned up and in the trash. (Unfortunately, not many people composted in those days.) It was sure nice having someone pick up after me!
When it came to flowers, Dad always seemed to like the bright reds, yellows and oranges, as does my husband, - deep red roses, orange marigolds, school-bus yellow dahlias and scarlet zinnias. Maybe it’s a guy thing. I’ve always preferred the cool colors and pastels.
Like many men, Dad also liked barbecuing. Whether it was just the family or lots of friends the patio barbecue was often the focus of summer evening dinners. He would grill hot dogs and hamburgers, chicken or steak and foil-covered potatoes and corn on the cob. For company, he sometimes did marinated lamb kebobs.
As dusk fell and everyone sat on the patio too lazy to go inside or to go home, it was the white flowers and the pastel ones that shone brightly. The deep reds and oranges were lost in the gloom.
The fragrance of the flowers also became more noticeable in the evening. The carnations and pinks spiced up the air. Honeysuckle, summersweet (Clethra alnifolia), and roses sweetened the breeze.
Do you have a deck or patio where you like to relax in the evening with your beverage of choice? Think about planting some containers of white and pastel flowers there. Include some fragrant flowers like nicotiana (flowering tobacco), heliotrope or lilies.
Herbs are other fragrant plants that do well in patio pots. They are best planted handy to the kitchen (or barbecue) for frequent snipping. My favorites are various mints, sage, rosemary, thyme, chives, oregano, parsley and basil. The sage and rosemary may eventually outgrow their container as they become shrubs, but both tolerate severe pruning.
A friend recently mentioned that she liked to strip the leaves of the rosemary
twigs when she pruned. The next time she barbecued, she used the twigs as skewers.
I’m sure sage would be equally flavorful. (Soaking the sticks before grilling
makes them work better.) Dad would have enjoyed trying that.
Hortsense: Managing plant problems with Integrated Pest Management
