Georgene A. Bramlage's Blog

Posted by Georgene A. Bramlage

Information about Cornell (University) Lab of Ornithology (Ithaca, NY) Project FeederWatch is well worth passing on here because most gardeners maintain at least one bird feeder. In addition, more commercial sites such as schools, libraries and office buildings have cared for feeders.

According to information provided by project leader David Bonte, FeederWatch, which began in 1987, helps to generate the world’s largest database on feeder-bird populations. This includes movements of common backyard birds or unusual sightings of rarely seen species. Since the beginnings of Project FeederWatch more than 40,000 people have submitted observations.

The 2008-09 season ofProject FeederWatch began November 8 and ends April 3. This project is a worthwhile investment of time if you have a desire to be a citizen scientist. You also need to be able to schedule two consecutive days and time to observe and tally birds coming to your feeder area, and send the information to the Cornell Lab.

The Project FeederWatch web site has clear instructions on how to:

• join the project,
• display feeders and determine your feeder area, and
• send your data to the Cornell scientists.

Unfortunately, my husband and I do not, have the time, at this point, to maintain tally logs of birds visiting our little garden landscape. I kept up with almost one dozen various feeders for winter birds in our western MA landscape garden. Here in our new southwest VA location we are just getting started and learning new birds. So far, we have one tube feeder and a heated pedestal birdbath set up right outside my office window.

But there is always next year in which to expand our birding horizons!

©Text by Georgene A. Bramlage. 2008. Reproduction without permission prohibited.

Posted by Georgene A. Bramlage

Because things always change in the world of landscape gardening, I have been contacting professionals at some of my favorite Japanese-style gardens to verify facts. Most have also been very gracious about permission to use photos from their gardens. Unfortunately, my photos of Japanese gardens are still in MA.

Two excellent sources of up-to-date information about Japanese-style Gardens outside of Japan have been the Japanese Garden Database and the Journal of Japanese Gardening.

The Japanese Garden Database has lists of links & other resources such as tools, and a searchable garden index. The Journal of Japanese Gardening (JoGJ) publishes a bi-monthly English-language magazine dedicated to the special world of Japanese gardens and Japanese architecture.

I earnestly hope that by studying my articles and sites such as the Japanese Garden Database and that of the JOJG, landscape gardeners will be inspired to visit and carefully look at various Japanese garden styles before beginning their own. Making a Japanese-style garden is much more than just following book instruction.

Current articles in my series about Japanese-style gardens are:

• Japanese Karesansui-style Gardens. The Japanese karesansui-style contemplative viewing garden at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) Boston, MA combines Japanese, New England and MFA elements and traditions.
• Morikami Japanese Gardens. The Morikami Gardens in Del Ray Beach, FL are a living textbook They demonstrate periods of Japanese garden history and design from the 8th to the 20th century.
• Japanese-style Landscape Gardens. A Japanese-style garden may be appropriate for small spaces. Consider how water, rocks and gravel, and plants influence and contribute to a Japanese-inspired landscape.

Posted by Georgene A. Bramlage

Here it is, November 1, 2008, and autumn leaf colors continue to creep over the surrounding ridges. Even in the valleys, colors have not peaked. I am watching a kaleidoscope of changing landscape garden patterns, shapes and colors. This is quite a difference from my previous autumns in zone 4 – 5 where leaf color usually peaked around October 15.

My first autumn here in zone 7 has been a great time for me to observe various microclimates in my new garden landscape environment. I have also been able to observe how important plant selection becomes in landscape microclimates. Autumn is the perfect time to notice how recognizing environmental factors helps to avoid expensive landscape design mistakes.

I have noticed for the first time the spectacular burgundy leaf colors of flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) and Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa). They are close to their natural environments here in southwest VA and have the time to "color up." Leaves have also completely dropped from various crabapples (Malus spp.) and hawthorns (Crataegus spp.) but the magnificent fruit persists.

This has also been a good flowering season for various hollies, both the evergreen and deciduous species. As a result, their bright red berries stand out like miniature traffic lights. The red and blue-black fruit of various viburnums (Viburnum spp.) persist because the birds have not yet devoured them.

Leaf color of oak (Quercus spp.) and cultivars of the 'Callery pear' (Pyrus calleryana), including the 'Bradford pear,' change to scarlet, red and purple-red where the sun touches them. With the sun sinking lower in the sky as autumn progresses, changing leaf color in these trees also progresses downward.

©Text by Georgene A. Bramlage. 2008. Reproduction without permission prohibited

Posted by Georgene A. Bramlage

The Dog Days of Summer - July 3 to Aug. 11 - are past, but my lists of garden chores continue to grow. I am hampered by arthritis in my right hip and so move slower and slower. As the lists grow, so does my frustration. Delightfully, my love of growing new plants and excitement about design have not slowed.

Landscape garden inspection and the resulting lists of garden chores are essential. They :

• are part of the répertoire of any good plantsperson;
• keep us focused;
• allow us to intimately know our garden landscapes;
• allow an organized approach to detecting plant problems and solutions;
• help us learn and quickly apply correct solutions to plant problems; and
• allow minor garden maintenance to reduce major landscape renovations.

Late summer days are:

• good for planning what we need to fill in less colorful spaces in our landscapes;
• perfect for seeing how spring-blooming flower beds fit into existing perennial beds;
• times for planning and designing spring-blooming bulb beds.

August and September are:

• usually hot and may not have much rain;
• times to survey garden centers and nurseries for what's blooming now; and
• periods to do book and online research about late-season plants.

A tape measure properly used identifies physical garden space for plans and new designs. When you have a plan, end-of-season sales are perfect for buying and planting woody ornamentals. Plans, well-thought-out in August and September, also allow taking advantage of early spring sales. Plants are ready for planting as soon as the ground thaws and warms.

These days are perfect times for seeing new plants and designs while visiting other gardens. A camera and notebook for recording these visits allows for dreaming and planning on into the winter months. Recording ideas is a great way to say a slow good-bye to summer.

Posted by Georgene A. Bramlage

I found these screen savers while looking for references for my articles about spring-blooming bulbs.

• Van Engelen and John Scheepers are sister companies owned by Jan S. Ohms. Their screen saver for 2008 includes 40 of their photographs of spring-blooming bulbs. In the 2008 screen saver, they share panoramas of Dutch flower bulb fields, landscape designs found at Keukenhof bulb display garden, Lisse (NL), and characteristics of individual varieties. This screensaver takes just 2 to 3 minutes to download and install via high-speed internet. Ohms also says he is happy to help speakers with digital photography for presentations and other speaking engagements.

• Tulip World presents 'Tango with Tulips', which according to website information is suitable for all Windows releases and installs automatically. According to site information, pictures for 'Tango with Tulips', as well as others on their site, are work of the photographers of Visions, a Dutch group located in the NL bollenstreek (bulb-district). The Tulip World site is large, so to prevent confusion use the link provided here to download the screensaver.

• Perry's Perennial Pages written by Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor - Greenhouse and Nursery Specialist, Dept. Plant and Soil Science, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, offers four different garden and landscape screensavers. These are zip files about 600KB with various fade effects.

1. Perennial Combinations -- 7 combinations from gardens of England;
2. English Flowers and Gardens -- photos of English gardens and flowers'
3. Blooms of Bressingham and Foggy Bottom-- famous gardens of Alan and Adrian Bloom, Norfolk, England; and
4. Perennials 2000 -- featured perennials, new or underutilized, seen as plants of the month.

©Text by Georgene A. Bramlage. 2008. Reproduction without permission prohibited.