THE DIVINE VINE

Sweet Autumn Clematis

This is what the vine I wrote of in yesterday's post looks like when stretched over an arbor.
If you have a fence or an arbor and need a quick grower to cover it, I recommend Clematis Paniculata , commonly called Sweet Autumn. This vine can grow thirty feet in one season and produces a fragrance ( thus the name ) that is incredible. The vine is smothered with thousands of tiny white flowers from early Autumn and can stay in bloom for a month or more.

I know that it is considered invasive in some areas due to self-sowing but I've never had a problem in my garden . To prevent self-sowing, the vine can be trimmed before it sets seeds.

My vine has never self-sown but my neighbor down the street hates it and says that it scatters itself all over her yard. Even so, I find that it is fairly easy to pull up the seedling, and even give them to friends who would like to have this spectacular vine. To me the beauty and fragrance of Sweet Autumn is worth the effort.

ASK CAROLYN : READER QUESTION

The Fairy Rose

Reader Nick writes : I read somewhere that it's okay to prune my Fairy Roses with shears and without regard of where the cut is to be made. Is this true ? I removed the mulch from them
( March 25 ) and now I'm wondering if I did it too early ?

Carolyn replies : Groundcover roses such as the Fairy require very little pruning and when you do it is to cut some of the old flowering wood from last year to promote fresh new shoots to grow and flower , or to control their spread.

After taking out any dead or weak shoots, cut back about 6 inches, or 25 percent, of the remaining shoots, choosing the older ones. ALWAYS try to cut just above an outward pointing bud. This is not to say that your pruning with shears will ruin your roses because they are very hardy, this procedure will just cause the roses to take longer to bud and bloom.

It's okay to remove any mulch that you might have added for winter protection, however, leave a 2-3 inch layer for preserving moisture in Spring and Summer. Also leave a one inch clearance around the crown, or base of the rose. Roses have shallow feeder roots and it's important not to let them dry out.

After pruning be sure to feed your roses and feed again in June.

REMINDER - SAVE THE DATE FOR SPRING OPEN HOUSE

Gethsemane is all decked out for the Spring
Open House

TUBU OR NOT TO TUBU?

Some Like it Hot : TUBU CHIGAE

Since becoming a vegetarian recently I have been eating a lot of tubu ( Korean for tofu ). Illustrated above is one of my favorite concoctions, Tubu Chigae, or Tofu Stew. The red pepper paste ( kochujang ) is to say the least pretty hot, but it is delicious. Korean food is rather convenient for vegetarians as it ordinarily used meat as a condiment and can be rather easily substituted with tubu or omitted altogether.

My one fear in turning vegetarian was that I would be hungry all the time, but I actually wasn't because the plant foods are high in fiber and I can eat as much as I want.

Some of my friends want to eat more tofu but are at a loss on how to cook it. For a healthy, delicious and easy to make soup the entire family can eat ( it's not spicy ), try the following recipe for Spinach-Tubu soup , which serves 4 :

2 bundles fresh spinach
1 package of soft Tubu
Miso, or bean paste ( season to taste ), or
chicken broth
3 cups water
2 Green Onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
Black pepper

Wash spinach 5-6 times. In large pot, slowly mix Miso with water to form a paste. Start with 3 tablespoons miso and if not salty enough, add more. Add water, bring to a boil and add spinach, garlic, tubu, and green onions. Simmer until spinach is tender. I eat it with brown rice but my hubby wouldn't even dream of anything but white rice. Anyhoo, he's skinny so he doesn't have to worry about calories. It's still a mystery to me how Asians can consume all that white rice and not pack on the pounds.

So I'm just stuffing myself with all kinds of veggies, beans, brown rice, fruit, and occasionally, eggs and whole grain pasta. I drink Soymilk, which doesn't taste as bad as I had imagined it would. I feel SO healthy. I'm just waiting for a " melt-down " of the pounds I put on while suffering through the long Chicago winter and not being physically active due to my foot condition and surgery.

I haven't had meat in 3 weeks and I'm surprised to say that I don't miss it that much. I think summer will be even easier with all the fresh vegetables and salads. More on my adventures in veggieland later.

THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING !

Triptych : May Day I, II and III

I stopped my moaning about the lousy March weather when I heard that it was 53 degrees below zero, and has been for the past several weeks, in Barrows, Alaska. We thought we had it bad, but they don't thaw out until June.

The colors in my painting above always cheer me up and make me long for Spring. I can't believe it's finally here.

I've penned a poem in honor of one of my favorite seasons ( the other being Summer ) :

Spring

Winter's canvas bleak and barren
brown and gray on the land.

At last I feel a stirring
I lift my hand
dip my brush in color
dancing snowdrops appear
a daffodil nods her warm yellow head
tulips with red bonnets sway in the wind
a dab of golden sunshine,
a stroke of azure in the sky
There ! My masterpiece is done.

Earth is now a golden green canvas
painted by the artist Spring.

SPRING TRAINING FOR GARDENERS

SPRING CHICKENS

It seems that in our enthusiasm, we gardeners often don't know our own limits until it is too late. I know I'm not a Spring chicken but you'd think I would know better than to lift things that are too heavy and pull the muscles in my shoulders. Wrong. Or that the many miles I put on my old feet would sooner or later catch up with me in the form of Plantar Faciitis, or heel spurs. We never miss the water until the well runs dry as my old Grandpappy used to say. I've been sidelined for two seasons due to injury and now I respect my body more by taking preventive measures.

Gardeners do a lot of twisting, bending, turning and reaching that can lead to injury or soreness especially if they don't do warm-ups and stretches. Stretching for 15 minutes will get you off to a good start.

Better Homes and Gardens March issue has a feature on SPRING TRAINING FOR GARDENERS ( bhg.comfitness ) that cautions to " Pull weeds, not muscles . " Veronica D'Orazio, gardener and author of Gardener's Yoga, draws on five simple stretches that target the muscles most affected by routine gardening chores -back, shoulders, neck and hips.

Making exercise a part of my year-round routine has made all the difference. Even us old birds when properly prepared for the hard work that gardening entails, can put in a lot of hours. I hope that I've also inherited my Aunt Nell's genes. She was well into her nineties and still tended her home and garden.

ZONE 5 GARDENING QUESTIONS ? ASK CAROLYN !

My good friend and neighbor Ceci asks me for gardening advice from time to time. as well as other neighbors, and suggested that I have a question and answer feature on my blog. Thanks, Ceci . I'm taking your advice and using your inquiry as the very first.

Here is her question : I received potted bulbs as gifts in December which were beautiful in bloom, but now that they're gone can I plant them outside ?

My answer : Some expert will tell you to put them in a mesh bag and store them until Fall and then plant them. But I beg to differ. I think that the bulbs like to be in the ground where they belong. Of course, all their energy went into producing their beautiful blooms , so I put a little bone meal or bulb food in the hole when I plant. Leave any foilage remaining intact. I've experimented with planting them as soon as the ground is tillable. Sometimes they bloom the following season and sometimes it takes two .

When Chicago Tribune Garden writer Beth Botts started her garden blog last week she was inundated with questions from readers and couldn't possible work it in with her hectic schedule so she reached out to the Chicago gardening community for help. I've contributed to some of the questions and now I'll be doing my own. I look forward to hearing from fellow Chicago gardeners.

Just click on the "Ask Carolyn " icon above this post to leave a question.