Monthly Bulb Log 2023

[Robert]

Hi Ian,

Jasmin and I just enjoyed watching your latest Bulb Log Video Diary. You bring up so many good perspectives to consider. I would definitely create a totally different garden if I were starting over with a “blank slate”. The plants selected for this new garden would reflect the dramatic climatic changes that have taken place over the passing decades, as well as incorporate new and innovative gardening techniques to help ameliorate the persistent drought and extreme temperatures (both summer and winter) that now seem to be the new “normal” for us here in interior Northern California. It seems impossible now that 40 years ago I once successfully grew and maintained many Candelabra type Primula species and a few of the tougher Meconopsis hybrids. Oh, how things have changed!  ([Jasmin]:  Nevermind all the Japanese maples, Rhododendrons, Fuschias, --oh my, the list of plants in the garden!)

However, I too have changed as a gardener, especially in the last two years. Aspects of gardening that I once thought were so very important have little or no meaning for me now. Creating a beautiful garden, creating a vibrant and resilient nature-based garden ecosystem, and continually striving for a deeper understanding of our garden ecosystem and the plants we grow are now top priorities.

These changes have certainly set the stage for my new approach and participation in the SRGC Forum. I feel compelled to write about the changes taking place and our attempts, both successful and not so successful, to ameliorate the impacts these changes bring to our Sacramento garden. I certainly do not have the answers to the extremely complex and difficult gardening dilemmas we all may face into the future, however the Forum seems like a great place to begin a dialog where information and ideas can be pooled together to stimulate creative gardening solutions for the gardening challenges we collectively face. As an analogy this would be like progressing from Newtonian Physics to Special and General Relativity. The “Newtonian world of gardening” will still be widely applicable; however a much grander perspective of “Relativity” will give us the understanding and perspective to bring gardening to a new level of excellence despite a strong headwind of environmental challenges we all face.

[Jasmin]:  Although I have endeavored to make my way through past Bulb Logs, I am deeply grateful for the link connection and reference to the 2017 Log.  Reading that, and absorbing the images of both “art” and “nature” was absolutely delightful. 
     Your Found Fish is superb!  My first thought was of George, a dear friend and fishing companion of Robert.  George is either that fish now, or he is fishing that fish in the great waters of Heaven.  My other thought was of the movie BIG FISH, whose main character is very much like George, a “Tall Tale” character whose escapades were only believable because Robert was witness.  Fact is stranger than fiction.  Life truly lived always seems to include characters and interludes that embody and materialize what others may only dream or imagine, or the unbelievable.
     Currently it is 27 C, and it is heating up fast.  [Robert – the last two days have broken the daily high temperature records, 107 F (41.7 C) yesterday. Soon I will post some histograms of what is going on here in California. It is extremely alarming and very, very few are prepared for the consequences. Rapidly declining food quality and higher prices are accelerating. Agricultural soil fertility is being lost rapidly.] The humidity has been thick enough to cut with a knife so to speak.  While hotter and more humid than our past, I do feel a bit more acclimated to these temperatures, and shocked at what is occurring in Europe.  Perhaps in that way, maybe our experiences here so far away can be a guide for others, something to experiment with and we all learn from each other, becoming more creative, better gardeners in the process.
     I must tell you how much our birds enjoy your videos; however, during this particular episode Raphael was so excited and jabbering away so loudly there were moments when I couldn’t understand from inability to hear over him.  I need to set my own time aside if I want to hear clearly!

[Ian Y]

This months Bulb Log sees this weedy gardener returning to his roots.


https://www.srgc.net/documents/bulb%20logs/230816103249BULB%20LOG%200823.pdf

[Tomte]

Hi Ian, I noted that you discussed Tanacetum vulgare in this month‘s bulb log. However, what you showed is actually Senecio jacobaea, which is said to be quite toxic and shouldn’t be touched. Apart from that I agree that it’s a lovely plant..

[Maggi Young]

Hi Ian, I noted that you discussed Tanacetum vulgare in this month‘s bulb log. However, what you showed is actually Senecio jacobaea, which is said to be quite toxic and shouldn’t be touched. Apart from that I agree that it’s a lovely plant..

Thanks, Tomte- I did tell him..... but ...... his mind was full of Tanacetum!! 

[Yann]

Once again a great log.Campanula persicifolia can indeed become a real weed in small gardens.

[Ian Y]

Hi Ian, I noted that you discussed Tanacetum vulgare in this month‘s bulb log. However, what you showed is actually Senecio jacobaea, which is said to be quite toxic and shouldn’t be touched. Apart from that I agree that it’s a lovely plant..

Tomte thanks for pointing my mistake out.

Although I know the different plants I have always muddled their names in my head and that came out wrong this time.

Thanks again to you I have corrected it.

[Ian Y]

Once again a great log.Campanula persicifolia can indeed become a real weed in small gardens.

Thank you Yann many plants can become a problem in small spaces and everyone should select what plants are appropriate for their own garden and needs.

Those that run about underground, such as Campanula persicifolia are not always so easy to control.

[Ian Y]

Decisions to make, late summer blues and autumn flowering bulbs are some of the topics in this months Bulb Log- just a click away.


https://www.srgc.net/documents/bulb%20logs/230913105604BULB%20LOG%200923.pdf

[partisangardener]

Thank you Yann many plants can become a problem in small spaces and everyone should select what plants are appropriate for their own garden and needs.

Those that run about underground, such as Campanula persicifolia are not always so easy to control.

We have Campanula persicifolia indigenous here. I have never observed running around underground like some other Campanulas.
It grows in small clumps but seeds around a lot. Especially in crevices.

[Robert]

Hi Ian,

Thank you for sharing your garden through the pages of your Bulb Log. I like the concept of mutual fulfillment; once a month you share your garden through the Bulb Log, I express my sincere appreciation for your efforts and willingness to share your garden each month. I have expressed this thought in the past, however it is worth repeating, our Sacramento garden is very different from yours, yet your Bulb Logs have influenced and enriched our garden over the years. For this we have immense gratitude.

[Jasmin]:  I once again enjoyed this month’s Bulb Log.  For some time I have been mulling an autumn submission, as I contemplate the dynamics of a changing environment as it intersects with our own personal changes.  I have to take some pictures, and show them in comparison to spring, and past years for the full impact of the changes to be seen. 
     Your garden may include “messes” and “wilderness”; yet always looks inviting and lovely.  Most people’s submissions are of plants usually in their prime.   
     Unfortunately, the truth here is sad, not pretty.  Yes, there are lovely things:  Cyclamen, and Colchicum are looking well, but some of our most beloved plants are faltering after decades, and I think this is also important to include in the Forum.  It isn’t always something we have done, or aren’t doing that makes the plants unhappy.  These other factors play their role.  Our area just happens to be perhaps more extreme; yet from Mr. Herman Myleman’s comment about 30 C in Belgium a bit ago (8 September 2023, September in the Southern Hemisphere), extremes are showing up everywhere and impacting all our gardening endeavors.

[Ian Y]

We have Campanula persicifolia indigenous here. I have never observed running around underground like some other Campanulas.
It grows in small clumps but seeds around a lot. Especially in crevices.

We have it seeding around but in some places it sends out multiple short stolons that give rise to a mass of leaf but not much flowers. The seems to happen most in gravel or rocky substrates.

[Ian Y]

Robert and Jasmin I send greetings and thanks  for your comments which are always welcome and thoughtful.
It occurred to me very early on in our garden journey that in talks and articles all the plants we were shown were the best and perfect. I decided then that it would have been more encouraging if we were shown the real side of gardening rather than the selected highlights and that is why I will share our successes and failures.

[MarcR]

Robert and Jasmin I send greetings and thanks  for your comments which are always welcome and thoughtful.
It occurred to me very early on in our garden journey that in talks and articles all the plants we were shown were the best and perfect. I decided then that it would have been more encouraging if we were shown the real side of gardening rather than the selected highlights and that is why I will share our successes and failures.

Ian,

I like that! I think it's called honesty!

[Ian Y]

Click the link to open this months Bulb Log featuring the Autumn flowering Crocus, Colchicum and Cyclamen along with my thoughts on perfection.


https://www.srgc.net/documents/bulb%20logs/231018110519BULB%20LOG%201023.pdf

[Ian Y]

Click on the link to read this months Bulb Log which considers how the recent storms have affected plants and reflects on what goes on underground.


https://www.srgc.net/documents/bulb%20logs/231115095656231115095438BULB%20LOG%201123.pdf