sturdy stepping-stone paths should be installed so the gardener doesn’t have to step into the bog. Cinder blocks topped with decorative flagstones are effective. The removed soil is enriched with organic matter to provide both nutrition and increased water retention. Then, it is shoveled back in the hole in a dry state, so you can step around and plant without getting mucky feet.
Plants should be placed in this new environment with their pots on, so you have plenty of chance to move things around until you find the arrangement you like. Once you’re satisfied, remove the pots, plant your specimens, and then flood the area with water. Since this is a great place for weeds to grow, the garden should be mulched heavily. A lovely smelling plant, sweet flag (
Acorus calamus
), makes a weed-deterring ground cover for a bog garden. It has bold cream-and-yellow spiky leaves.
Once established, this marshy space is easy to care for, and rewards us with all manner of robust plant growth. Just like a water garden, it will become a mecca for butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies, toads, and frogs.
There is a much more grandiose use for the bog garden: as a purifier of water for an adjacent larger water garden with fish. Certain bog plants perform the vital functions of settling sediment and encouraging positive bacterial growth. These include yellow flag iris (
Iris pseudacorus
), dwarf cattail (
Typha minima
); and, according to some studies, the umbrella palm, Cyperus alternifolius. A pump brings water from the big pool to the higher elevation bog garden, and a waterfall often is used to tumble it back into the fishpond below.
Ornamental bog gardens are moist, alive places to try new things. An example is the skunk cabbage, a unique member of the aroid family that has its own ecosystem. It provides centrally heated housing for small creatures seeking refuge from the cold. Its magnificent spathe, which is a leaflike bract that protects the flowers, is used by top flower arrangers in bouquets.
Skunk cabbage is discounted by many because when its leaves are crushed, a rotten smell results. However, this odor is interpreted differently by different people: some even like it, since it reminds them of their happy childhood days slogging through wet marshes. The experimental rewards of growing skunk cabbage from seed are great for children: in a few years, there will be a big, speckled-leaved plant that has its own temperature system and live-in pets. As it grows and produces its flower, the skunk cabbage generates enough heat to pop right out of the snow in springtime; amazingly, it keeps its temperature far above freezing—around seventy-two degrees—for weeks on end. This makes it a natural home for nearby little animals such as spiders and bees. One member of the aroid family houses 1 “arum” frogs, which find plenty of fellow resident insects on which to dine. Naturally, the attraction of insects to these plants increases their chances for effective pollination.
There is both an eastern (
Symplocarpus foetidus
) and a western (
Lysichitum americanum
) skunk cabbage, and they are quite different, the western variety growing much larger and reflecting the plant’s tropical origins. It gives forth gorgeous chartreuse and golden spathes. Theseprotect the spadix, a long array of tightly packed fleshy flowers. Flower arrangers cut the leaves of the plant and plunge them immediately into warm water: This removes the skunky odor.
While some are holding their noses as they read this, remember the solution to the odor problem is simple; as you would with any smelly object—for instance, an alcoholic uncle—just be sure to place it downwind of the patio on which you entertain guests.
Seven
T HE YOUNG MAN HAD ARRANGED his six-foot frame comfortably over her recliner chair in the recreation room. With the fingers of one hand, he raked the hair out of his eyes, a signal to Louise that he was about to tell her something. “So, did
Plants should be placed in this new environment with their pots on, so you have plenty of chance to move things around until you find the arrangement you like. Once you’re satisfied, remove the pots, plant your specimens, and then flood the area with water. Since this is a great place for weeds to grow, the garden should be mulched heavily. A lovely smelling plant, sweet flag (
Acorus calamus
), makes a weed-deterring ground cover for a bog garden. It has bold cream-and-yellow spiky leaves.
Once established, this marshy space is easy to care for, and rewards us with all manner of robust plant growth. Just like a water garden, it will become a mecca for butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies, toads, and frogs.
There is a much more grandiose use for the bog garden: as a purifier of water for an adjacent larger water garden with fish. Certain bog plants perform the vital functions of settling sediment and encouraging positive bacterial growth. These include yellow flag iris (
Iris pseudacorus
), dwarf cattail (
Typha minima
); and, according to some studies, the umbrella palm, Cyperus alternifolius. A pump brings water from the big pool to the higher elevation bog garden, and a waterfall often is used to tumble it back into the fishpond below.
Ornamental bog gardens are moist, alive places to try new things. An example is the skunk cabbage, a unique member of the aroid family that has its own ecosystem. It provides centrally heated housing for small creatures seeking refuge from the cold. Its magnificent spathe, which is a leaflike bract that protects the flowers, is used by top flower arrangers in bouquets.
Skunk cabbage is discounted by many because when its leaves are crushed, a rotten smell results. However, this odor is interpreted differently by different people: some even like it, since it reminds them of their happy childhood days slogging through wet marshes. The experimental rewards of growing skunk cabbage from seed are great for children: in a few years, there will be a big, speckled-leaved plant that has its own temperature system and live-in pets. As it grows and produces its flower, the skunk cabbage generates enough heat to pop right out of the snow in springtime; amazingly, it keeps its temperature far above freezing—around seventy-two degrees—for weeks on end. This makes it a natural home for nearby little animals such as spiders and bees. One member of the aroid family houses 1 “arum” frogs, which find plenty of fellow resident insects on which to dine. Naturally, the attraction of insects to these plants increases their chances for effective pollination.
There is both an eastern (
Symplocarpus foetidus
) and a western (
Lysichitum americanum
) skunk cabbage, and they are quite different, the western variety growing much larger and reflecting the plant’s tropical origins. It gives forth gorgeous chartreuse and golden spathes. Theseprotect the spadix, a long array of tightly packed fleshy flowers. Flower arrangers cut the leaves of the plant and plunge them immediately into warm water: This removes the skunky odor.
While some are holding their noses as they read this, remember the solution to the odor problem is simple; as you would with any smelly object—for instance, an alcoholic uncle—just be sure to place it downwind of the patio on which you entertain guests.
Seven
T HE YOUNG MAN HAD ARRANGED his six-foot frame comfortably over her recliner chair in the recreation room. With the fingers of one hand, he raked the hair out of his eyes, a signal to Louise that he was about to tell her something. “So, did
Similar Books
