You don’t want to
know the torture I went through to get started digitally back in 2000, and I don’t want to remember it all that vividly myself. So suffice it to say it was HELL, I tell you, so I know how frustrating it can be to make that great leap. SO much to learn, most of it totally alien. I’ve even been stressed-out like crazy about switching to a better camera and better software, so much so that it’s taken me months to actually start using my new camera and buy a new editing program. But Ta-Da: here are my first real photos with my new Canon PowerShot SD550, recommended by the excellent photographer Judith at Knitagarden.
And for anyone starting out, here’s what I recom
mend for putting together the right camera, programs and connecting hardware and getting it all started: Buy from a Real Camera Store, one with a staff member who knows all about digital photography, then call or stop by with questions. Yes, I know it means paying a little more than you’d pay on line, but it’s totally worth it. You don’t want to be one of the millions with new digital cameras sitting unused in their closets, do you? And we all like supporting independent camera retailers, anyway, don’t we? I thought so.
I had the good fortune to buy my new Canon from Penn Camera on E Street in N.W. Washington, which enjoys the sales services of the truly terrific Melanie Otto a day or two a week. Most of the time she’s doing her own photography and teaching digital photography, both in groups and privately. God, I wish she’d been around in 2000 when I first jumped into the deep end witn no adult supervision. Even the Ritz Camera where I bought my old Olympus knew nothing; it was probably too new for them, too. In every way, I went digial too early. More evidence? The camera had only 2.1 megapixels – gasp – and cost $
750 – go ahead and gasp again. How far they’ve come in a mere 6 years is awesome.
[Photos: First is a follow-up to a recent post where I asked what the heck a garden fork is and thanks to Alice in Canberra, I realized it's this very helpful tool planted in my tulip garden. Next are the China Pink lily-shaped tulips that returned from last year - I'm liking them more than ever and may even buy more next fall. They're against a background of Euphorbia x Martinii in bloom. And finally, a lovely spring scene from my neighbors' garden.]
It’s 7:45 Easter morning and the tourists are lined up for blocks for their busses, or to go up the Washington Monument. Parking near the Lincoln Memorial is already packed. But for the Tulip Library, which brightens the landscape between the Tidal Basin and the Washington Monument, there were no takers, so I was alone. Which was a good thing because taking shots like these requires the assumption of the prone position, you know.
Let me be the first to thank Andrea at Heavy Petal for the prize that arrived in today’s mail – a CobraH
ead "precision weeder and cultivator," which I won because my little essay on how I got started gardening was chosen as the best of the bunch. Well, actually the four winners were chosen at random but who’s to know? Having recently read some raves about this little tool on a garden forum I’d been perusing, I knew a good thing was coming my way.
And while I confess I haven’t tried it yet, I’m already convinced by the enthusiastic testimonials, one of which called it addicting. Well, all I need is to become even more addicted to gardening, so I’ll take that as a precautionary note.
A quick question for my ever-astute readers, and a short comment. First, the enclosed information tells me that "Working in conjunction with a good garden fork, there is no bed too tough to be quickly weeded." Okay, what the hell is a garden fork? My first guess was a cultivator but this tool is intended to be used to cultivate, so it can’t be that. Guesses? Could it be what we Easterners call a garden rake?
And there’s a testimonial that caught my eye. A gardener in Wisconsin wrote that she was amazed – exclamation point – because "I have always employed more of a soak it and pull by hand weeding style, rather than using a tool for the job. Battling weeds this way is just that, a battle." No offense, but humans have been using tools now for, I don’t know, ages, and I wonder why she’d never given it a try until recently being given this one. M. Sinclair Stevens in Texas, do you suppose the term "Luddite" would apply here, too? (I was corrected when I referred to a computer-deprived tree-grower as a "Neanderthal" because apparently Neanderthals were enamored with technology, unlike the clueless Luddites of the world. Now I’m using "Luddite" every chance I can. Previously my favorite word was troglodyte, someone who lives in a cave. Very handy word, too, and it’s nice to know the subtle differences, as I know Sinclair would agree.)
And Andrea, have you guys set a date? Don’t keep us in the dark.
Remember, loyal readers, how excited I was about my latest tulip design when I planted the bulbs last fall? I believe I said it would be PERFECT, so maybe I should learn something about hubris from this sad story, but gardeners are an excitable bunch and I know you all understand.
The Design: In between perennials in the front of a sunny border I planted three Single Late tulips, chosen because they bloom after most of my daffs but with the dogwoods and azaleas and because they’re all the same type and presumably would bloom at the same time, a very important factor in tulip design, believe you me. So from the fine bulb supplier John Scheepers (no cheap pot-luck bulbs from Home Depot, nosiree) I ordered the purple Cum Laude, the "pink" Esther and the "pale yellow" Francoise, for a total of 50.
Anyway, here’s the border and here’s what popped up. We’re supposed to see yellow at the bottom, then purple, and pink on top. First, do you see any purple? Neither do I. Or, for that matter, do you see any pink or yellow? Those Esthers look orangey-red to my eyes and the "pale yellow" sure looks like white. I know color’s a subjective thing and I may be picking nits, but remember, this was gonna be PERFECT.
But back to the missing purple Cum Laudes, a clear case of trouble in tulipland. First a photo of Cum Laudes in their tall glory in someone else’s garden, and here’s a shot of what came up instead. They’re really short rose-colored lily-shaped tulips, probably China Pink.
What Went Wrong? At first I thought the good folks at Scheepers had sent me the wrong bulbs, but in writing this post I realize I planted China Pinks a few years back and while they’re much shorter this time around, they’re back. So the mystery is: Where the hell are the tall purple Cum Laudes? Did they all fail? Did I just imagine planting them? And why am I having to deal with yet another failed tulip design when it seemed like I was doing everything right and this just isn’t fair?
You know how writers are always telling us to design our new borders using garden hoses to create the shape? Ever actually tried it? The straight-talking reality is that even on the hottest of days, my hose isn’t supple enough for the job, which makes me wonder: Have these writers ever actually tried it? But le
t’s move on.
So what does work? Because I’m continually tweaking my own borders and creating them for my clients, too, I really needed to know, so I perused the paint department at my local Home Depot and selected the fine Rust-Oleum product on the left, which label declares it to be a "Professional Inverted Marking Paint – Use to highlight…athletic fields and more." I’d found something like this once before and it worked great – you just walk along like a professional who knows what she’s doing and create a lovely curved line to impress any client. So I bought up every can on the shelf – 5 of ‘em – because they’re hard to find.
So my neighbor and I were having a great time the other day creating her side of our Amazing Combined Border (photos coming soon to this very blog) and I took out the trusty Rust-Oleum and tried can after can but couldn’t get the damn things to work. Some kind of goo came out but no actual paint, and no color. Perplexed and always intimidated by products from the hardware store, I consulted a male, hardware-going friend, who closely examined the can and found a vital piece of fine, fine print at the very bottom, back side of the can. First a bunch of numbers, naturally, then the word "Clear."
Now you know I was raised right and watch my language, but what the !#@*??? Please tell me how something that’s CLEAR can MARK ANYTHING! Seriously, Rust-Oleum people, just give me a clue. In the meanwhile, I’m sticking with your competitor, Krylon’s inverted marking paint "Mark-It" in "bright, bold colors" – yes, that’s the idea! I found it at a funky little Ace Hardware on Capitol Hill. Go independents!
In the spirit of full disclosure, this isn’t the first time I’ve had a fiasco involving a bunch of numbers and words in fine print, so you’d think I’d learn. Okay, I’m learning that Boomer gardeners should have their reading glasses with them at all times, I guess. And certain paint companies should figure out what the hell they’re producing.
According to the Washington Post’s Scott Vogel and his well-chosen local sources, here’s what’s IN in 2006:
–Dwarf and unusual evergreens
–Container gardening
–Foliage color – think caladiums, coleus and for the adventurous, alternanthera
–New varieties of petunias and hydrangeas for "all-season color"
–And the mo
st interesting trend of all: MEN in the garden. We’re told that "more and more men are finding a kind of tranquility" in the garden and "the trend threatens to become a full-fledged movement."
My comment: Let’s see if enough men stop obsessing over and dumping toxins onto their lawns and become real gardeners to make a difference, environmentally speaking.
Now here’s what’s OUT in 2006:
–Rectangular and square gardens, in favor of "smooth, scalloped beds"
–Large shade trees, sadly, as fewer lots have room for them
–Ornamental grasses, which are "becoming passe, although if you went around Washington you’d be hard-pressed to say it’s over"
–English ivy
–Lawns
My comments: See, guys, lawns aren’t cool anymore, so get over it. More good news are English ivy’s decline in popularity, and the growing preference for naturalistic design. The loss of large shade trees is a hot topic in my area and the conversation always ends with lots of head-shaking and no answers. The reference to ornamental grasses is a tad confusing and probably reflects designers being sick of them, although they’re still loved by their clients and thus, they’re all over town.
The article also offers some sound advice from Mark Viette of Andre Viette Nursery in Virginia, who’s pretty philosophical about gardening failures and successes. "If it lives, it lives, and if it dies, it dies," and we shouldn’t blame ourselves over it. "In the end, you must dig it up and throw it out, and do so without the slightest thought of beating yourself up." Excellent, but I’d go even farther in the spirit of Tough Love Gardening – possibly my theme for 2006 – to suggest ripping out plants that haven’t actually died but have been on life support for longer than you’d like to remember.
[The photo is just in from family therapist-avid gardener Rebecca Weinberg in Tucson, Arizona.]
know the torture I went through to get started digitally back in 2000, and I don’t want to remember it all that vividly myself. So suffice it to say it was HELL, I tell you, so I know how frustrating it can be to make that great leap. SO much to learn, most of it totally alien. I’ve even been stressed-out like crazy about switching to a better camera and better software, so much so that it’s taken me months to actually start using my new camera and buy a new editing program. But Ta-Da: here are my first real photos with my new Canon PowerShot SD550, recommended by the excellent photographer Judith at Knitagarden. 
mend for putting together the right camera, programs and connecting hardware and getting it all started: Buy from a Real Camera Store, one with a staff member who knows all about digital photography, then call or stop by with questions. Yes, I know it means paying a little more than you’d pay on line, but it’s totally worth it. You don’t want to be one of the millions with new digital cameras sitting unused in their closets, do you? And we all like supporting independent camera retailers, anyway, don’t we? I thought so. 
750 – go ahead and gasp again. How far they’ve come in a mere 6 years is awesome.
