The Accidental Gardener

Hollyhocks spur childhood memories - Life & Style - TheState.com

2011-08-18T18:18:00.000-04:00

Hollyhocks spur childhood memories - Life & Style - TheState.com

Garden in Distress

2011-08-06T13:18:00.000-04:00

My garden is gasping for some cool air and a few drenching rains. It’s not unusual for us to have 90-95F (32-35C) summer temperatures, but a never-ending string of such days and only a scant shower every now and then – that is unusual!

Watering continues, a few times a week, but it’s not enough. It’s never enough. Serious thought now has to be given to a complete garden overhaul next spring, doing away with plants that cannot sustain themselves in summers like this year’s and bringing in others that manage to survive or even thrive. More Sedums and fewer Baptisias, Daisies and Daylilies. Stick to Angelonia and Zinnia for annual color and maybe Calibrachoa.

Joe-Pye Weed has always been a splendid part of my garden; this year, it is short and turning brown before it even has a chance to bloom.

The Butterfly Weed and Mexican Petunia are in distress. The Basil (in front, left of center) has given up and even the Lamb's Ear is not happy in this heat. The only thriving plant in this picture is a Switchgrass.

This Sage (center) is one of my favorite plants and I wonder if I'll see it again next year. Flanking Sedums are doing fine (although the one on the left had something, perhaps a rabbit, jump right in its center and does not look all that attractive any more) and the Gaura, no longer in bloom, tries to stay alive horizontally.

We need rain. And cooler temperatures.

Summer Plants & Flowers in Far Northeast Georgia

2011-07-17T15:25:00.001-04:00

Photographer Nada Powers Bunnell and I took a road trip into Rabun and Habersham counties yesterday. Lakemont Village was our specific destination, but we also drove through Tiger (another friend once co-owned an herb farm there), Batesville (stopped at The Mark of the Potter), and Clarkesville (where I bought a few pieces of yard art at the Clarkesville Corner Market). The flora along the way was too lovely to keep for myself, so here you can enjoy it also!

The dog was friendly, the chairs were uncomfortable, and the little blue birds were merrily chirping away!

Not everything bloomed . . . . .

. . . . . but a lot did, including a gorgeous Crape Myrtle:

And a bank of Cleome deserved a picture:

To my new “Where Bloggers Create” friends . . .

2011-07-14T10:02:00.001-04:00

My “creative studio” is a small piece of exurban Atlanta soil – yes, that notorious red stuff! (although, I am “lucky” with more sand than clay; easier to work, but just as much compost needed) – where I started gardening by accident a few years ago.

This beautiful little Moss Rose is an example of things that spontaneously pop up in my garden. It first emerged as what looked like a stonecrop next to a new Baptisia and it would logically have been removed to preserve the Baptisia’s image, but I left it alone and have now been rewarded with this pretty bloom.

Today, I am sharing it with you; enjoy!

Not everything in my garden is growing by accident; quite a lot of it in this eclectic mix of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals has actually been planned! More than a few plants have originated at the UGA trial gardens in Athens, and most of my herbs started with seeds from Renee’s Garden.

The Cuphea came from the UGA trial gardens (this year). I’ve had the Alternanthera ‘Gail’s Choice’ for four years already (taking cuttings every fall, rooting them indoors during the winter, and starting with a new crop the following spring) and the Coleus ‘Red Head’ (now in its third year in my garden; propagation ditto the Alternanthera).

Basil and tomatoes are ever-present in my summer garden; the mozzarella is kept in the fridge!

As a garden writer, I am sometimes offered the opportunity by growers to “trial” plants myself. This year, I have two grasses, a Coreopsis, a Rudbeckia and a Hen & Chicks from Santa Rosa Gardens. All are doing well, I’m happy to report, with the switch grass probably the star of the bunch. Who knew? Isn’t this the stuff that’s been touted as a renewable energy source? Seems to me it would take millions of acres of switch grass to produce not very much bio fuel. But, let me stick to my areas of expertise and leave the science to others . . . :-)

Switch grass, with Lamb's East and Mexican Petunia; grasses ought to be incorporated in many more landscapes.

It’s a delight to participate in this year’s “Where Bloggers Create” party; I look forward to checking out some of the blogs of the hundreds of others who are at this feast.

Memorial Garden - a sweet place to visit.

2011-07-09T19:26:00.000-04:00

Earlier today, after attending a lecture at NGCSU in Dahlonega, wandering around the square and surrounding streets, I happened across a Memorial Garden. It looked new, with lovely plantings, a serpentine gravel path, an energetic fountain and many benches.

I had never heard of Mary Lou Conner, but now know a little about her. I wish I could have known her.

Her son Glenn remains unknown to me, but if he was co-named in a garden that honors his mother, there must have been a reason for that. So, I salute him as well.

Trees

2011-07-07T08:07:00.003-04:00

OMG – I’m growing a tree! From seed! Make that ‘trees”.

In all the busyness of the spring planting season, I failed to mark some containers with freshly sown seeds (or marked them with the wrong ink . . .), which has caused a few surprises in the past several months, none more than a container with fairly rapidly growing seedlings that “I knew I know”, but could not name. A neighbor who is also a gardener did not know either. I split them up in three groups – one in a different container and two in the ground. Especially the plants in the first group kept growing rapidly (and I kept wondering “what is this?”) and it finally – duh! – came to me: Vitex, a/k/a/ chaste tree. I’m growing trees!

The original tree has been in my garden since October 2009 and I collected seed from it last year, not really knowing what to do with it. Evidently, these obscure seeds were among many I tried this year for the first time and to call the results the top success of my 2011 garden may not be overstating it. I had zero expectations, when I added these seeds to a container of soil a few months ago, and wow – look at these trees now!!

Five seedlings in a too-small pot; soon to be divided and made ready for friends' gardens.

A cluster of three . . . .

. . . . and one of two trees - all to be dug up and separated.

"The Momma Tree" - reaching to shoulder height after 21 months in my garden. A new crop of seeds much in evidence!

The color, a clear lavender, is especially nice in combination with these tall dill. A month of color, so fleeting.

July is for Zinnias

2011-07-03T15:00:00.000-04:00

Most of them have started to bloom by the Fourth of July and will continue producing until the first frost -- a summer garden without Zinnias? Unthinkable!

I’ve Got to Go and See Dr. Cool!

2011-06-26T13:06:00.000-04:00

Not because I am not well, but because I have a plant in my garden I’d like to know more about.

It was given to me by a local farmer friend, identified as “Bracilla rubra” or “Brasilla rubra”, but I cannot find information about it on the web. After the small plant started growing (and growing!), I learned that it had originally come from Dr. Cool and that’s why I need to go and see him.

I was told that this is “the ideal food” – and it may well be. It certainly grows rapidly and it is also an attractive plant, so gardeners may want to have it around even if they don’t eat it. I have tried it – not a particularly wonderful taste, but good enough to add to a salad, and it did not kill me. At least it has not so far. But until I learn more, I think I will stick with known lettuces, arugula and spinach.

It looks good enough to eat, doesn't it?

Leaf tips turn red-ish; hence, I suppose the "rubra" in its name.

It pretty much quadrupled in size in a month's time.

Before I find out more about it, I will keep it in a container on my patio,

accompanied by a variety of other pretty plants.

Daylilies Are Tough Plants

2011-06-24T14:17:00.001-04:00

Despite the hot and dry weather of the past two months, some daylilies manage to thrive.

This one, name unknown, grows under a Pyracantha, next to a Crape Myrtle and a Virginia Sweetshrub; it is a favorite haunt of a ruby-throated hummingbird (he never sits still to have his picture taken!).

This bloom is on 1/3 of the original Chicago Knockout in my garden; the other 2/3 section was spit into three pieces earlier this year and they are also blooming now, including this one:

Soft Summer Night was beautiful a few weeks ago, but all its blooms are now gone. A new edition to my garden since April (from Shumake Daylily Garden in Jefferson, Georgia), it performed brilliantly, holding out much promise for next year.

Russian Rhapsody has, I'm afraid, not been given an optimal place in my garden and I will certainly move it in the fall to a location in which it will thrive. Others, of undistinguished or long-forgotten names, are doing a bit better, including one that loves its place next to a dwarf Nandina.

Plan for the fall . . .

Have another border dug, specifically for daylilies. My post-Labor Day shopping list includes Cosmic Caper, Joylene Nichole, Pewter Lake and Touch The Future.

"Touch The Future" -- who would not want to have this one in the garden?

After The Storm

2011-06-19T11:39:00.000-04:00

We had another fierce storm yesterday. It did not last very long (less than 15 minutes), but it dumped a great deal of rain and that has been good for my garden.

The prettiest flower this morning is the Cosmos ‘Rose Bon Bon’, which I am growing from seed from my favorite seed purveyor – you guessed it! – Renee’s Garden.

Pretty pink, don’t you think?

Georgia Gardens in Spring

2011-06-18T17:51:00.000-04:00

I don't know if there is anything lovelier in spring Georgia gardens than an old-fashioned gardenia. Mine comes from a cutting I received from my friend Dorila Vinas in Decatur. Its scent starts every morning with wonder and determination. For now it's in this blog's masthead. Summer will bring a different image.

Plant Pairings

2011-06-03T14:45:00.000-04:00

I once planted a section of my garden with Shasta daisies and Rudbeckia, believing that the white flowers with the golden centers and the yellow flowers with the dark brown centers would make a lovely combination. Problem is . . . the daisy blooms in May and the black-eyed Susan in September!

Another time, I did better with the Obedient Plant and some Salvias; they were a lovely combination.

When walking through part of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia this morning, a glimpse of clumps of Russian sage next to a generous planting of yellow Yarrow made the think of plant pairings again.

I went looking for more. And discovered Feverfew with Purple Coneflower.

And then Germander with both Santolina virens and Santolina chamaecyparissus.

Taken for Granted - Almost.

2011-05-30T10:36:00.000-04:00

As gardeners, we are so busy in April and May – acquiring new annuals, getting them in the ground or in containers, maybe adding a perennial or two, cutting dead branches out of shrubs, cleaning up the last of the winter debris – that we pay scant attention to the plants that are “just there”. The shrubs and perennial flowering plants that we, well, take for granted. They cause us no problems, they require little or no attention, and while we spend our outdoors’ time with new Daisies or Daylilies, transplant Basil, Tomatoes, Cosmos and Impatiens we have started from seed into our gardens, and figure out if it’s time for the Pansies and Violas to go, they keep our landscape beautiful without any participation from us.

This morning, I decided to photograph a few of them. My garden is richer because of their presence.

This Germander has not looked this good in years. Some years it's stalky and woody, with more brown than green in evidence. I've owned this plant for eight years already -- since before I had my current garden.

Acquired as a small shrub in a one-gallon pot, this Viburnum is now huge. It took several years for it to bloom, but for the past two years it has been spectacular, covered in white blossoms early in the year. It is now showing an inclination towards berries in a few months. The birds will be delighted.

Last winter's red berries on this Nandina cheered up my garden on even the dreariest days; the coming crop looks equally promising.

If you planted a Zinnia seed . . .

2011-05-25T12:48:00.001-04:00

. . . and this popped up, would you be surprised?

I was! Here I was, watering trays with Zinnia, Butterfly Weed, Ageratum and Nicotiana and when I came to this 9-cell black-plastic one and saw something move, I knew it was not a Zinnia seed that had germinated!

Not the first toad of the year to make its appearance in my garden, but this is probably the last place I would have expected one.

More Herbs!

2011-05-22T10:59:00.000-04:00

An "antique" tin container, freshly planted with (from lower left) Lavender, Tarragon, Chives and Thyme, is my newest adventure with herbs. They, and many others in my garden, come from Cheryle and Ray Maddox's farm.

A huge bed of Lamb's Ear in full bloom at the farm.

It Feels Like Christmas!

2011-05-03T14:49:00.000-04:00

The day a shipment of trial plants arrives is as exciting at my house as Christmas morning to a 6-year old! Today is such a day. Santa Rose Gardens in Gulf Breeze, Florida, sent me two grasses (Panicum ‘Northwind’ and Pennisetum alopecuroides), two popular perennials (new varieties: Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ and Coreopsis ‘Jethro Tull’) and a true-and-trusted hen-and-chicks (Sempervivum Hardy Mix).

Here they are:

They arrived in great shape.

Looked better, upon unwrapping, than many others I have received from other sources.

And here they are, refreshed and happy, in the company of two Sedums and an Astilbe.

Today they are resting in the shade. I will plant them tomorrow or Thursday (depending on the weather) and I will let you know from time to time how they are doing.

Grow What You Eat

2011-05-03T08:26:00.001-04:00

When I attended a presentation by Barbara Barker earlier this year, and learned about her “dirty dozen” list (the top 12 most contaminated, by pesticide residue, fruits and vegetables), I determined that I should plant a cherry tree in my garden. Well, you know how it sometimes goes with good intentions . . . I did not do it!

Then I got an e-mail just now from Keith Howard, alerting me to a list of ten easy to grow fruit trees. Cherry is on that list. So, my determination has been reinforced. A cherry tree is not at the top of my “to buy” list for the fall.

In the meantime, I will enjoy the blackberries and blueberries I am already growing.

More Poppies

2011-04-27T11:38:00.001-04:00

Odd phenomenon: One plant - many red blooms, one white one.

My Iceland Poppies continue to brighten the landscape and the California Poppies are just beginning to send up their first blooms. Good site for information on how to grow the Icelanders. Mine began as plants from a local grower last fall.

The Californians were started from seed, from . . . you guessed it: Renee's Garden!

Garden Blues

2011-04-27T11:07:00.001-04:00

Inspired by 'Orchid Lady' Peggy Herrman, who posted another memorable picture on her Facebook profile this morning, I decided to go walking around my garden to photograph my "blues" (and related colors). Here they are:

This Baptisia's origins lie in the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. Purchased three years ago, it's never the first perennial to emerge in spring, but once it pops out of the ground its growth is very rapid. Last year, I collected many seeds. Most have been given away, but I saved some that have now become a dozen new plants that will grace my garden for, I hope, many years to come.

Cerinthe 'Pride of Gibraltar' - not precisely "blue", but gorgeous nevertheless. Grown from seeds from Renee's Garden.

This Columbine ('alpine blue') has been in my garden for just two and a half weeks and is already a favorite! It came from the sale, in Athens, of the UGA horticulture students.

In my garden, the pansies and violas continue to hang on, but for how much longer? The thyme is clearly here to stay!

The catmint, in a pot near my backdoor, is a mess every morning. Something clearly sleeps in it at night (what, I have no idea, but the indentation is always there); the chives are growing in a discarded tea kettle :-)

A Welcome Visitor

2011-04-24T16:08:00.002-04:00

Ladybugs are among my garden's most welcome visitors. I've seen lots of them already this Spring. This particular one was making its home on a Mint, with Yarrow and an Iris nearby.

After spending an hour or so in my garden first thing this morning, I spent part of the afternoon in a nearby cemetery. Such a difference!

Clematis - had to have it . . .

2011-04-16T11:01:00.003-04:00

For a long time I've thought I should have at least one Clematis in my garden and I finally bought one yesterday. Nelly Moser. I've given it a spot where it will get morning sun and be shaded during the afternoons.

Plantapalooza in Athens

2011-04-09T15:43:00.000-04:00

Except for the State Botanical Garden, which had belatedly attached a .pdf to its web site, it was unknown what would be available where. But, remembering the horticulture club’s excellent buys last year, I decided to make that my first stop.

Of the plants on my list, the only one offered was a Yarrow (not the pomegranate I’ve been looking for, but a pink one: Dwarf Yarrow – Achilea millefolium ‘Cerlet’s Rose’). Paying $8 for a Yarrow seems a lot to me, but I did it anyway. Also bought a Columbine – Aquilegia ‘alpine blue’, since Columbines had been a recent Facebook discussion topic. The price, $5, seemed reasonable. Then I spotted a table with annuals, with 6-packs for $2 each and I bought 2 packs of Angelonia.

$17 so far, not bad.

Next stop: the UGA trial gardens. This was a situation of “well, I got here, so I might as well buy something”: an Ajuga (‘toffee chip’) and a Cuphea cyanea (‘candy corn’) - $5 each, which I thought was expensive, but there was nothing available for less than $5. Most plants were $10, $15 and $20 each. Dr. A was everywhere, with his bullhorn, recommending this plant and pointing out another. He said not to pay any attention to him, he often just talks to himself anyway, so I didn’t.

I had saved the botanical garden for last on purpose, thinking its plants were going to be more expensive than those sold at the other two locations (not true, it turned out), and this was a big mistake! Even though I got there shortly after 9 AM (the sales had all started at 8 AM), the one plant on my list that I really, really wanted (Carolina Jessamine) was all sold out! So, from a table staffed by Director Wilf Nicholls, I bought three tiny Amsonia hubrecthtii: $4 each.

By then, with barely a dent in my wish-list, I realized I should have bought all of the horticulture club’s Angelonia 6-packs, Angelonia having been my favorite annual for the past two years and once having paid as much as $5 for one plant at a neighborhood sale, so I went back to that location and was lucky enough to find two packs still on the table. Had they been in bloom, I think they would have been snapped up well before I returned, but an Angelonia before it blooms is nothing much to look at and shoppers in between my two visits probably had no idea what these plants were – or would become in summer.

So, now I had 31 plants for which I had paid a grand total of $39 – a good investment in my 2011 garden.

On the way home, I stopped at Shumake’s Daylily Garden and bought a few ‘Soft Summer Night’ – maybe the best purchase of the day, but it all depends, as is the case with everything a gardener does.

Colorful Poppies

2011-04-07T12:00:00.000-04:00

Monday night's huge storm left my Poppies unscathed and even though I am still not convinced that they are perfect for North Georgia gardens, I must admit that the colors are irresistible.

Poppies - not a good choice for North Georgia gardens?

2011-03-24T17:24:00.000-04:00

Perhaps your Poppies are doing well and I suppose that could be because they are in a sheltered sunny place. Mine are getting ample sun, but "sheltered" is almost impossible to achieve in my garden. So, for that reason I wonder if they are, in general, a good choice for North Georgia gardens. It's windy in March in this place and sturdier plants may be a better option. It's hard to beat these colors, though!

So far only two are in bloom; when I bought a flat last fall, the grower told me they were "mixed colors". Now we'll soon see what the others look like!

Daffodils

2011-03-07T11:45:00.001-05:00

The photograph representing the title was taken March 6, 2011 at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens, where fields of daffodils welcome visitors in late winter.

Now blooming inside the SBG conservatory.

Barbara Barker & The Dirty Dozen

2011-03-07T11:35:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I attended a workshop by Barbara Baker, author of Container Gardening for Health. The workshop was about growing herbs in containers, and it was good, but it was the book that clinched the value of the workshop for me.

I had heard about and paid attention to The Dirty Dozen list before, but, as is so often the case in our busy lives, pretty much forgotten all about it. If you need the same reminder I got from Barbara yesterday, here it is:

Peaches
Apples
Sweet Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Lettuce
Grapes (imported)
Pears
Spinach
Potatoes

These are the fruits and vegetables that have been identified to have the greatest pesticide residues (after washing!).

I don’t know about you, but I am going to investigate how I can organically grow a cherry tree and some peppers in containers. We’ve all got to start somewhere!

White Helleborus

2011-03-01T16:35:00.000-05:00

I didn't know I had white Hellebores in my garden until the other day; I thought I only had pink ones. Delightful enough, but finding a white one (one, so far!) makes me treasure this plant even more.

This is what it looked like on Saturday.

And yesterday . . .

. . . and today! Isn't it a gorgeous flower?

Last night's storm has really cleared the air. The sky is as blue as can be today. The temperature about ten degrees below yesterday's, but still very pleasant for the first of March.

As Spring Approaches . . .

2011-02-26T10:37:00.000-05:00

It's an almost unbelievable phenomenon -- here we had a brutal winter (even snowed in for a week in January - that had never happened before in all my decades in Georgia) and now we are ending February with spring-like weather. What will March bring us?

The Hellebores are continuing a great presence in my garden. I read somewhere that they are an old, tough species of plant, having been known to grow, virtually undisturbed, in the same location for 40 or 50 years.

You will have noticed in plant nursery catalog that a Hellebore's flower is frequently photographed with the fingers of someone's hand underneath it. Logical! They grow low to the ground, with their faces turned down. So, other than cutting them, this is the only solution.

Last year, having received this bounty in 2009 from a gardening friend 50 miles away, only one plant bloomed (one bloom!); this year, that plant has several stems with multiple flowers. And a second plant has now gotten into the blooming act as well. I'm delighted!

Hello, Hellebores!

2011-01-29T15:57:00.000-05:00

Today is the first day of the year that, with 67F, we can be outside without coats, hats and gloves, so it was time to go exploring in my garden. And sure enough . . ., covered in 6 or more inches of show less than two weeks ago, I found three Hellebores reaching for the sun today!

Needless to say, there are better Hellebore picture galleries to look at, but at least I'll have a few blooms of my own to photograph soon.

In some parts of my garden, the Daffodils are also beginning to pop out of the ground. Can Spring be far behind? Well, yes, actually, it can. But there are hopeful signs in my garden this 29th of January, 2011!

Catalogs

2011-01-29T13:36:00.000-05:00

Pity the companies whose catalogs land in my mailbox the same day Renee’s Garden’s arrives; they will be lucky to get a quick glance.

What makes Renee’s Garden’s so outstanding? Well, first of all, it is pleasing to the eye. It is also well-organized. And . . ., I guess it does not hurt that a seed packet is bound to accompany it. Great marketing tactic!

From last year, one of the garden flower seeds I liked best was Cerinthe ‘Pride of Gibraltar’. Not having heard of Cerinthe before (remember, I am still a relatively new gardener . . .), I had no idea what to expect. Well, this plant made itself at home in my garden and persevered as others wilted in our hot summer of 2010.

In the vegetable category, the lettuces were my masterpieces and made welcome appearances at my table – both in Spring and in Autumn.

So, what am I ordering this year? More lettuces, of course, also an arugula, and a white lavender I have not tried before. There is an Alyssum mix I’ve got to have: ‘Summer Romance’, and I am confident that the Zinnia ‘Bling Bling’ will be an asset to my garden this year – keeping my fingers crossed that the humidity keeps itself in check! And, I am going to test Renee’s Garden’s ‘Easy to Grow Container Herb Garden’. Many of my neighbors complain of having been born without a green thumb and I hope my trial of this combination of cilantro, basil, chives, dill and parsley will set them straight; I can’t wait to take my containers to them as a welcome to our local garden club.

Gardens and Social Media

2011-01-29T10:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I spent a few hours at WinterGreen 2011, the annual conference and trade show of the Georgia Green Industry Association and learned a lot in a short period of time.

I had pleasant conversations with Patricia deVroomen of Marlboro Bulb Company and Rose Duncan of Callaway Gardens, said hello to Mary Kay Woodworth of the Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association, who introduced me to her assistant, Kathy Johnson, caught a glimpse of Connie Cottingham of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, received a collapsible plastic vase (who knew?) and plant virus testing kits from the Agdia rep on the exhibit floor, picked up a paper (“Progress Report”) about ornamental blueberry varieties, and listened to Geri Lauffer as she gave a presentation on Social Media.

She did a good job, talking about Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn, gave tips for getting started and reminded her audience to “stop pushing out advertising; invite people in and engage with them” – the heart of effective Social media practices.

This is, as I have experienced over the past five years, not an industry that gladly embraces change. There are still many growers, plantsmen and landscapers whose businesses do not have adequate web sites (or any at all!), they still use generic e-mail addresses, instead of proprietary ones, and they profess not to have time for Social Media, or are convinced it’s anything more than an amusing way to spend some time they already don’t have to spare. That Social Media can drive sales is unexplored territory for them. Too bad! I have suggested “The New Handshake: Sales Meets Social Media” to one of the conference’s organizers, and some training sessions with Barb Giamanco.

I wouldn’t care (this, after all, is not the only industry that is root bound . . .) if it were not for the fact that I love gardening and everything related to it.

Snow - Day 5: Shoveling

2011-01-15T12:06:00.000-05:00

The City of Atlanta is not prepared for a snow storm like the one that began last Sunday night and continued all day on Monday - and neither am !

Clearing the driveway -- or at least attempting to -- started with a rake, hacking through the ice layer on top of the snow. Then a broom and a shovel. Then pails of hot water. Ice chunks loosened on top "floated" down the ice sheet to the bottom of the driveway, into the gutter, where they eventually melted. I got the job done 2/3 of the way. Today's 40F should make clearing the rest easier. I want salmon and potatoes with dill for dinner tonight. The supermarket is two miles away . . . :-)

The Frozen South

2011-01-15T11:54:00.000-05:00

On the fourth day after the snow and ice storm, almost everything remains covered in snow with a glistening layer of ice on top. On Wednesday, the temperature got above freezing (for about an hour) for the first time since Sunday. The dry, cold air has shrunk the snow cover somewhat, but what looked exciting on Monday is now little more than a nuisance.

Birds in Snow

2011-01-10T11:03:00.000-05:00

This Viburnum has never been more popular.

Mourning Doves in a Pine Tree . . . .

Ornamental grasses make a good perch and feeding opportunity.

I'm glad I stocked up on bird seed, but twenty-five pounds may not have been enough! The fat Cardinals intimidate the smaller birds.

Do they want to come inside?

Snow, again!

2011-01-10T08:11:00.005-05:00

Where's my driveway . . .?

All covered up!

Birds in Butterfly Bush.

Tea this afternoon?

Where are the Pansies and the Violas?

Great Start to the New Year for North Georgia Gardeners

2011-01-07T16:12:00.002-05:00

Wilf Nicholls, Ph.D., the garden's new director, talked about Newfoundland (his former home) at a "Friends of the Garden" breakfast this morning at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens.

Awaiting the speaker . . ., and breakfast!

Not only is he extraordinarily knowledgeable, but he is also a fabulous story-teller and since we Southerners often are oblivious of the world "out there", a story with interesting points is bound to draw us in.

Who knew that Newfoundland has 48 native species of orchid? I certainly did not! Or that St. John's is located at the same latitude as Seattle (such a different climate, though!), or that the island has no soil. The Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) Botanical Garden, where Dr. Nicholls worked (since 1997) before coming to Georgia, makes its own soil, composting 40 to 50 truck loads of leaves that are brought in every autumn.

He also talked about the history of the province of Newfoundland & Labrador, including the death, in 1829, of the last living member of the Beothuk tribe, the early industry (cod fishing) and the current one: oil.

Future "Tales of the North" have been promised; I, for one, am eagerly looking forward to them.

Seed Catalogs

2010-12-29T19:06:00.005-05:00

Seed catalogs keep arriving in my mailbox. The newest one, today, came from a company from which I had bought tomato seeds last year and - on a whim - a package of pepper seeds: Medusa. At the end of the season, just as freezing weather was threatening, I had one tiny pot of 3 (tiny) Medusas left, so I brought it indoors. They're still alive, still doing well. In fact, I have already harvested quite a crop of seeds from these small plants and am eager to see, next spring, what they will produce.

Winter Weather Calls for Soup

2010-12-29T09:28:00.000-05:00

A simmering pot of soup on the kitchen stove can make a nippy winter day bearable. This is a time-consuming recipe (about one hour prep and two hours cooking), but it is oh, so worth it!

This is what you need:
1/3 cup olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, diced
(the regular kind, not the sweet ones)
6 to 10 cloves of garlic
(depending on the size of the cloves)
4 stalks celery, cleaned and diced
3 or 4 carrots, peeled and diced
3 cups shredded green cabbage
2 large, firm potatoes (red or Yukon gold)
2 medium turnips, peeled and diced
3 parsnips, peeled and diced
1 14.5 oz. can of whole tomatoes
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
(oh, what the *%@! - make it a whole cup!)
8 cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

This is what you do:
Stage 1 of 4:
Heat the oil in a large soup kettle.
Sautee chopped onions until golden.
Add garlic; stir for a minute or two.
Stir in celery and carrots.
Add cabbage; stir and cook till wilted.

Stage 2 of 4:
Add potatoes, turnips and parsnips.
Stir and cook for a minute or two.

Stage 3 of 4:

Add tomatoes, with liquid.
(chop tomatoes a little)
Add parsley and stock; stir gently.
Partially cover the pot and bring to a boil.
(gently!)
Cover completely, turn heat down and simmer for 2 hours.
Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.

Stage 4 of 4 – the best!
Eat!
Serving suggestion: to each soup bowl, add a few drops of Tabasco and/or sprinkle with some grated Parmesan or Gruyere. But it is good without the additions also!

Snow on Christmas

2010-12-26T12:32:00.006-05:00

I am so glad I left lots of plants "a mess" this fall, including this Solidago that has made friends with a Rosemary and contributed to excellent shelter for small birds that visit the feeders in my garden and then find a place to hide for a while.

The Holly looks as lovely in the snow today as it did two days ago in sunshine.

The Nandina was sheltered from the snow by shrubs and a pine tree.

The Pyracantha, by contrast, bore the full brunt of the storm.

Ho, Ho - Jolly Holly!

2010-12-24T14:15:00.000-05:00

The Holly, Nandina and Pyracantha berries are all shining enticingly in this afternoon's sunshine. If the weather forecast is correct, they'll be covered in ice and/or snow by this time tomorrow.

Merry Christmas to my readers!

Who Needs Dried Rosemary?

2010-12-04T16:25:00.001-05:00

The other evening, making a vegetable soup with beans, carrots and kale, I realized I had no dried Rosemary. Who needs dried Rosemary? It grows 4 or 5 feet tall in several places in my garden. So, with a flashlight and a pair of scissors, the mission was accomplished. The soup was divine. The recipe is on Feed Your Good Dog.

Winter Gardens - Brilliant!

2010-12-04T15:57:00.000-05:00

My neighborhood, like many others in the Atlanta area – and indeed the country – has experienced “the housing crisis” in full. Developers and builders have gone out of business. One Home Owners Association Management Company after another has come in and made matters better or worse (the current one, number four, is a good one!). There are too many renters. But that may be better than abandoned houses. There are foreclosures. There are “home for sale” signs, by owner or listed with a real estate company, everywhere and the properties are lingering on the market, some for two years or longer.

Sounds like your neighborhood? We’re all in the same boat!

This year, about six months ago, we finally had an HOA Board and a management company that saw merit in having a garden club, so I started one and, by default, became its President. With an initial membership of four (Catherine, Sally and Helen in addition to myself), we started meeting once a month, quickly added three more members (Denelle, Pat and Sandy) and then another (Debbie). Eight strong, we began planning programs. Helen took responsibility for a September workshop on soil, lawns and trees. The program was excellent, but the turn-out meager. Catherine proposed a “progressive winter garden tour”, much as neighborhoods have for decades held progressive dinners. We all supported the idea and the event was held today.

Congratulations, Catherine! It was splendid! Turn-out was 30+, at last count, most of them from outside our neighborhood (the local newspapers did a great job announcing the event), and we’ve put our sub-division on the map and made some new friends.

Morale of the story? The glass is not just half full, it’s almost overflowing! If your neighborhood is suffering from the real estate blues, do something! We are making a start in our neighborhood, and today’s event surpassed all expectations. Now enjoy images from the gardens that were on the tour:

This garden has a fresh yet polished look to it, with nicely pruned shrubs and plantings of pansies and snapdragons.

Santa Claus cannot possible skip this family! With a 'natural' look to its garden, the season is being celebrated with reindeer, candy canes, wreaths and more.

This garden always attracts attention, no matter the season. With conifers, small trees and seasonal color, it's no wonder cars slow down when they pass. The rear garden is equally stunning, even including grape vines.

Along with strategically-placed pots of Viola, this basket of Cyclamen is an immediate attention-getter.

The photograph does not do the garden justice; these homeowners have made their front door the main focal point, with both downstairs and upstairs holiday decorations visible through the window.

An excellent example of how a sloping lot can be used for seasonal color. Here, pansies flow off to the left, to come to a halt neat the Crape Myrtle on the corner. Between the stairs to the front door and the driveway, a specimen conifer attracts attention.

The final home on today's tour, our project manager and her husband's, welcomed visitors with beautiful indoor decorations, many of them generations-old, live entertainment and a warm holiday drink. Many of the plants in this garden, not in this photograph and only becoming visible again in spring, come from a decades-old family garden in Pennsylvania and have accompanied the couple on their journey south.

We did it, in our neighborhood -- celebrate the season, forget for a moment the real estate mess and the Great Recession -- and you can do it, too!

'Winter Interest' and Season Confusion

2010-11-26T12:04:00.002-05:00

Recent magazine articles and blog posts have made much of "winter interest" in our gardens, including the advice to leave spent flowers on the plants until next year's spring weather announces a new season. Suits me! I've generally done that for years, certainly with my pretty Sedums. This year, the Iceplant has been allowed to keep the remains of its flowers also (less work for me'!); it's nicely tucked in under the leaves of the Maple above it. Grown from a seedling in a 4-inch pot, it is now several feet across - and still growing.

This Daisy missed the memo that it is November; it's blooming either 6 months late or 6 months too soon (among some of that mint I've got to remove; yes, I was warned not to plant mint directly in the garden - keep it in pots instead - but I love mint iced tea in the summer!), and it's a cheery sight on a cloudy day with falling temperatures.

Poppies!

2010-11-24T09:46:00.000-05:00

The other week, going to a local plant nursery, I wanted to buy a few snapdragons. "Do you like poppies?", the owner asked, saying she would be happy to sell me some snapdragons, but she and her husband had just brought in several trays of big, healthy poppies and maybe I wanted to try them? It was an easy sale for her!

Today, the first bloom is cheering up my late November landscape. Since I bought "mixed colors", I have no idea what any of them will look like when the buds open, but there are plenty of them waiting to show me their colors. More photographs to come . . .

A gloomy pre-holiday afternoon

2010-11-23T16:45:00.000-05:00

Intermittent sunshine and a slight drizzle marked the morning; now, an hour before sunset, it is raining - a mild, almost spring-like rain. Not very cold, but gloomy nevertheless.

A three-week old photograph brings back memories of warmer, sunnier days.

The Penisetum is dead now, as are the Basil, the Coleus, the Calibrachoa and the Blue Star. The Walking Irises are now inside, the Blanket Flower, the Plumbago and the Nicotiana remain outdoors, but they are not quite the same on a gloomy late November day as they were on a sunny early November day.

Making plans for next spring . . .

Fall Colors Linger

2010-11-22T15:29:00.001-05:00

I started cutting down some Solidago this morning and then thought the better of it; birds and other wildlife may want to make use of it in the coming months.

More vibrant colors in my landscape as we are getting closer to winter are provided by a Nandina, a Sweetshrub (never looked better in November!) and a Viburnum carlesii (Korean spice Viburnum - always attractive, no matter what season it is).

Mistletoe in Maple

2010-11-22T15:11:00.000-05:00

This was an odd sight the other day. I recognized it immediately as a Mistletoe, and assumed it was a plastic variety someone walking or driving by had tossed up in the air, to land in the Maple in my front yard. Upon closer inspection, however, I found out that it is an actual Mistletoe plant, growing out of one of the Maple's branches. I still find it odd, but I like it! Just what an eclectic garden needs.

For My Northern Friends . . .

2010-10-28T19:39:00.001-04:00

. . . in England and Upstate New York.

Just after we ended our conversation about gardeners and Social Media, Silvia and Karen, I went outside to cut some lettuce and pull tomatoes off the vine for this evening's salad. Aaah - the joys of fresh produce in late October!

The lettuce is a mix of 'Garden Babies' and 'Monet's Garden Mesclun', both from Renee's Garden. The tomatoes are 'Red Currant', off a give-away plant from the State Botanical Garden in Athens.

The lettuce is just about finished, but there are still hundreds of little green tomatoes on the vine; I don't think they'll ripen before the first frost. This is the tomato to try again next year!

Oh, I did dress it before I ate it! Added salt, pepper, half an avocado and a few croutons and then two teaspoons of a dressing made of a mix of 2 T. EVOO, 1 T. balsamic vinegar and 1 t. Dijon mustard - yummy!

Fall Flowers

2010-10-28T17:11:00.002-04:00

Empty jars make great vases! This one contains a Fanny's Aster (the one with the yellow heart), a Georgia Aster (the other blue one), a Japanese Aster (lovely white flowers) and (top right) a Walking Verbena.

Late October, no frost yet, so there are still many plants in bloom.

Along with a deep purple Verbena, this hanging basket is filled with Diascia, Lysimachia and a few Pansies that were between blooms when this picture was taken.

A Perfect Day - but still no rain . . .

2010-10-18T12:51:00.000-04:00

Yesterday may well have been the most perfect day since I left the city behind and bought “a cute little house in the country”.

After a few e-mails and communications with two clients right after daybreak, I went outside with the 3-cup “Buongiorno” coffee mug an employee left behind in my office more than two decades ago, I made an inspection tour of my garden and came up with a plan for the morning.

Then I head this persistent, intermittent hissing . . . . from the sky above?

A balloon!

I had noticed several of them overhead Saturday morning, on my way to co-hosting a “plant clinic” at a Big Box store, so I was not entirely surprised. Instead, it was very nice: a balloon race two days in a row! That first balloon was followed by three more and I saw two additional ones at tree-top level in the distance, but their launch did not seem to happen today.

Saturday, I bought the first supply of Violas for my winter garden. Yesterday morning, it became quickly clear that planting them would be a challenge. Unless memory fails me, last Friday marked 3 weeks without rain. The soil is so dry! Even with watering once a week (more frequently for my patio and porch plants), there is not a speck of moisture to be found in the soil.

Nevertheless, I pulled up three Angelonias (huge, still green, but with few flowers) and replaced them with some of the Violas. I also dug up three Daisy “babies” from a backyard clump that had become too large and put them in the same border. Keeping my fingers crossed for next spring!

For Wednesday, we have a “20% chance” for rain – fingers crossed again, trying toes as well! – so further planting will wait. But clean-up work is ongoing, with old stems from perennial Salvias removed, invading Bermuda tendrils dug up, “Farmer’s Organic” mulch added, pine straw added, and watering here and there.

The afternoon ended with a glass of wine, a pear and a handful of pecans in my garden. It’s taken six years, but I can now boast of having a shade garden – sort of. Small though it may still be, I sat in the shade of one of my maples, with birds singing around me, pale yellow butterflies (and an occasional orange one) flitting about, the buzz of bees in the mums and swamp sunflowers behind me, and it was a good afternoon.

Maybe the best day since leaving the city in the distance, certainly for a gardener who is still a novice at the craft.

Balloons over my Garden!

2010-10-17T15:49:00.001-04:00

What a delightful suprise, early this morning!

Growing Lettuce in October

2010-10-15T08:12:00.000-04:00

My spring crop of lettuce did not work out; the weather became too hot, too soon. But I had some left-over seeds, so decided to try again now that fall has brought us cooler temperatures.

Next week's salads are growing nicely.

Warmer than normal winter?

2010-10-11T14:30:00.000-04:00

One of my neighbors told me the other day he expects the coming winter will be colder than normal.

Today I read: " . . .and warmer than normal conditions during December-February along the Gulf coast of the United States." in a press release from the World Metereological Organization. We are not exactly at the Gulf coast (300+ miles away), but it's as close as I can get to a land area identified in the press release.

Given a choice . . ., warmer is better than colder!

Moveable Garden

2010-10-09T07:01:00.000-04:00

Received from one of my Vietnamese friends.

The woman is probably transporting these plants from her home, where she has grown them, to a market. Or perhaps she bought them at a market and is taking them home, where they will adorn a courtyard.

Whatever the situation, I thought you might enjoy the picture as much as I did when I found it in my in-box.

Saturday Garden Adventures

2010-09-25T19:15:00.000-04:00

This has been a brilliant day. First a garden club meeting with an excellent program about soil, lawns and trees (need to talk with presenter; she should do some videos), then the Agri-Fest in Cleveland (bought some tomatoes from LoganBerry Farm and a Sedum from Full Bloom Nursery), then to Lula (bought planters at Wayne Wilson's), a stop at the Hall County Master Gardeners' Garden Expo (OMG - I got this gorgeous, gorgeous,almost 3-feet tall Hinoki cypress from Bannister Creek Nursery for $5; try finding it on-line, anywhere, for less than $25). Finally, I stopped at a local nursery for a bag of organic soil amendment stuff (peanut shells, chicken poop and cotton stalks, I have been told . . .) and a few bales of pine straw. Guess what I will be doing in the morning - until the rain arrives. And do we ever need that rain!

2010: A Good Year for Tobacco?

2010-09-24T13:20:00.002-04:00

As in “Scented Nicotiana” that is. This is Jasmine Alata, grown from seed; I followed the packet’s instructions precisely, more or less, and nothing happened. The plants, tiny, just sat there all summer long. I watered and fertilized, moved the containers from one spot to another – nothing helped.

Now they are growing so rapidly that I can almost see them getting bigger as I spend a few hours in my garden. I think it’s because our summer has been brutally hot, which affected the growth of many plants. The days now are still very hot (91F today, expected to go down to 79F by Sunday), but the nights are much cooler. The question now is: will it bloom before the first frost of the season, which could come as early as four weeks from now, kills it. I hope so!

The Gaillardia did not like the hot summer either, but is now coming back nicely, and the Calibrachoa from Hort Couture is getting a new lease on life as well. Other plants in the picture: Coleus, Alternanthera, Basil, Yarrow, Blue Daze and a Dill that is determined to stick around till it can produce some seeds for next year. I love an eclectic garden - even on a patio corner!

Euonymus americanus or Strawberry Bush

2010-09-24T12:13:00.001-04:00

I first saw this shrub on another Master Gardener's property and liked it so much that I went looking for one. As luck would have it, Elaine Kelley's Potting Shed that some for sale that autumn, so I bought one and took it home. Then I found out that it likes a shady spot in the landscape, of which I have very few. Nevertheless, I had a growing Maple and thought its canopy would provide adequate shade for my new Euonymous americanus, and it did! It has grown to 4 or 5 times its original size and even though I don't see much of it (my neighbors do!), it looked so beautiful this morning, after I had stepped over a Yarrow bed and moved a Maple branch out of the way, that I had to take its picture.

Since I planted it [in 2007, I think -- yes, I know, I ought to keep better records! :-(], it has not been watered, fertilized or otherwise cared for. Maybe that's the secret for a successful garden: plant it and forget it. Well, not really.

Jerry Hall a Gardener?

2010-09-17T19:03:00.000-04:00

Why not? She's a Texas girl and Texans are famous gardeners.

She's also into cooking and on her way to become a chicken farmer.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/0796c384-c1ea-11df-9d90-00144feab49a.html

It all sounds wonderful to me!

Plumbago

2010-09-11T17:49:00.002-04:00

Had I been in a doctor’s office this afternoon and been told I had “plumbago”, I would have thought I’d caught some dreadful disease – tropical maybe, perhaps infectious. Instead, I was in a garden, admiring a plant with blue flowers that surely had to be a Phlox. “No”, everyone else there said, “it’s a Plumbago”. It’s these kinds of experiences that can cut a Master Gardener down to size very quickly. I had never heard of “Plumbago”. But, sure enough, I did some research when I got home and discovered that this plant is a shrub, originally from South Africa, that can grow into a nice hedge, and that in the U.S. it’s suitable for zones 8 to 11. Well, last time I looked, I lived in zone 7B, so the three small specimens the garden’s owner gave me will need some special care if they are to make it into 2011.

“Plumbago” – odd name, but a beautiful flower. I hope the plants will survive the coming winter.

Sedum in September

2010-09-10T16:29:00.002-04:00

Despite the fact (or maybe because of it) that we have now not had rain for two weeks, the Sedum 'Autumn Joy' looks very good; the variation of color, from the palest pink to the deepest rose, makes this a wonderful garden plant this time of year.

Early Morning in the Garden

2010-09-03T15:55:00.000-04:00

An hour after sunrise, the gigantic banana trees in the State Botanical Garden of Georgia (Athens, Georgia, USA) look spectacular.

Moon Vine

2010-08-28T17:12:00.000-04:00

Last year, I had a moon vine and a pink morning glory sharing a trellis. At the end of the season, I found seven seeds on the ground, which I collected, kept indoors over the winter and put in pots last May, not knowing which they were. Now I know: they are moon vine! At least the 3 I kept. This is a fabulous flower, 5 inches (12 cm.) across and splendid even in front of a white fence.

August = Bugs

2010-08-28T17:03:00.001-04:00

Whether it's a Monarch in the Rosemary, a bumblebee getting covered in pollen in a Canna, or a spider trying to hide in the Nicotiana, "bugs" are everywhere. And, I hasten to add, they are very welcome in my garden. Even the grasshoppers that eat as if there were no tomorrow. Well, I guess their "tomorrows" are pretty limited as we approach the end of summer.

The season is not yet ending.

2010-08-14T16:29:00.000-04:00

Both the "old" Rose of Sharon (top) and the newer one (below it) are still producing new blooms. The gorgeous Canna, which I bought for $2 last May and expected to produce red flowers, surprised me with a final bloom this week when I went to cut off the parts with the leaf rollers. At least, I think it is the final one of the season, but who knows?

Not a Hummingbird

2010-08-14T15:36:00.003-04:00

Do you see it? Just below the far right bloom, between the soft green leaf in the foreground and the darker green of the Viburnum? I wondered if this was some sort of miniature hummingbird, but research tells me it's a Hemaris thysbe, a Sphinx Moth. Never heard of it before, never seen it before and apparently not all that common in Georgia. It certainly liked my Phlox this afternoon and also visited the Angelonia and a Mexican Petunia. I wish it had "sat still" for a minute, so that I could have taken a better picture (or that I were a better photographer with better equipment :-)).

Baptisia, anyone?

2010-08-09T18:08:00.002-04:00

This morning, I collected a huge bag of Baptisia seeds, from just one plant. I still have a collection of plants in pots from 2009 seeds, to be planted in a border when the weather gets cooler (will it ever?). Baptisia is a beautiful plant, with gorgeous flowers; its only drawback is that, in typical perennial fashion, it does not bloom long enough. Well, small price to pay for the few weeks' enjoyment -- and all those babies coming along for the future.

Plant "Marriages"

2010-08-08T10:37:00.001-04:00

"What's your favorite plant marriage this year?" is a question recently posed by Alice Joyce of San Francisco in a discussion by garden writers.

Hers is a blue and gold combination of Trachelium caeruleum & Crocosmia 'Solfatare'.

From Seattle, Christina Salwitz responded with: "The Santolina 'Lemon Fizz' with Blue trailing Verbena and Cocosmia 'Lucifer'".

In my case, I have long loved the combination of Coleus and Alternanthera 'Gail's Choice'. This year, I have a collection of Coleuses with the Alternanthera and added a Creeping Jenny and Hosta for effect. They have grown so well (north-facing porch), despite Georgia's brutally hot and humid summer, that one of my sons, taking a look at the collection the other day, wondered out loud if I had gone and "robbed the local nursery". No robbing required -- they've all grown from small cuttings, a practice I will continue to follow.

Liriope - so much more than an edger.

2010-08-08T08:38:00.002-04:00

When my family first moved to Georgia and began making friends with other families in our new neighborhood, it seemed that every garden had a border or pine island edged in Liriope. Nice, but nothing to brag about. When I, much later, became a gardener, Liriope was not on my list of desired plants - or even a "maybe" list.

Then, a few years ago, I received a Daylily clump that had Liriope so much intertwined with it that it was impossible to separate every tiny root. This caused me to have a few Liriopes that I happily planted in different places in my garden. This clump (above) grows under a Loropetalum, where it attracts all the attention while the shrub above it is, in the middle of the summer, rather ho-hum.

So, welcome to my garden, Liriope!

And, oh, as a sheep in the flock, I always called this plant "LEE-ree-ope", just like everyone else did. It took a course in watersmart gardening for me to discover that its name is pronounced 'luh-RYE-opee". Education is fabulous!

Favorite Plants and Insects

2010-08-03T08:04:00.003-04:00

The bumblebees and the butterflies love Joe Pye. A spider has made a home between an Alternanthera and a Coleus. It is fascinating to observe their behavior.

Butterflies

2010-07-31T17:10:00.005-04:00

Enjoying a Phlox

Take-off from a Hydrangea

High up in a Butterfly Bush

As there is little joy in photographing plants these days, I am in pursuit of the butterflies. The yellow Swallowtail is everywhere, every day; the black one is less conspicuous, but visits too, from time to time. I did not see any today. Or, I did not stay out in this heat long enough to see one!

When does a garden get listed as 'critical'?

2010-07-31T16:58:00.005-04:00

Mine may be approaching that point. I'm throwing out the last of the tomatoes. Those pretty Cerinthes? Not so pretty any more. The stately Butterfly Weed? Seriously drooping. The Salvias? Gasping for air. Aye, aye, aye!

I still water, but with less enthusiasm. Especially since receiving a water bill more than twice the usual amount. Rain chances today range from 10% this morning (not a drop!) to 40% this evening (here's hoping!) and less tomorrow. It's tough to be a gardener in North Georgia these days.

Baptisia

2010-07-25T10:04:00.002-04:00

Grown from last year's seeds, these new plants, of which I have about two dozen, will be ready for the garden in the fall.

One of the many seed pods on this year's plant.

Lots of seeds to share with friends and colleagues!

This could become my favorite plant! Three years ago, Salvia was my favorite plant. Then I switched to Yarrow. Now, with the success of the seedlings, my prime attention may just switch to Baptisia. It does not bloom very long, but when it does . . ., oh, my, spectacular!

Butterfly Weed

2010-07-25T09:58:00.001-04:00

This is my first experience with Butterfly Weed - wonderful plant and the swallowtails are crazy about it, but I wonder if this is not awfully early for its seed pods to begin bursting. I had not expected to see this for another month or two. Normal? Or is the hot weather of this summer speeding the process up?

Verbena 'Princess Dark Lavender'

2010-07-25T09:44:00.004-04:00

This Verbena, which I have kept in a container since I received it two months ago, made a slow start, but it is now coming along nicely and the color of the flowers is very pretty.

I thought of taking its picture this morning not only because it is now a pretty plant, but also because Karen Platt's book about Lavender is coming out soon -- nothing to do with Verbena, but there was that memory connection . . . :-)

Gardening! - not food, not cooking.

2010-07-24T13:59:00.008-04:00

This is a gardening blog. Not a food blog. Not a cooking blog. However . . . When one is offered a splendid bag of greens for purchase, as I was this morning at the local farmers' market . . . Well, you understand we've got to talk about food and cooking.

First thoroughly wash and then roughly chop or tear the greens.

Cook a some garlic and red pepper flakes (or, in this case, Sambal Oelek) in a little olive oil for a minute or two.

Add the greens, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove cover, stir the greens, cover again and cook for another 5 minutes.

Ready!

A fabulous lunch, with a chunk of your favorite bread, spread with pesto. And, of course, a glass of your favorite wine (a California Chardonnay in my case). If there is a better lunch to be had, more easily prepared, on a hot Saturday in July, tell me about it!

Greens for Lunch

2010-07-24T13:53:00.002-04:00

I wish I could say that these greens are from my own garden. No such good fortune. Rather, they are from Paradise Found Farm. I bought them this morning and turned them into a fabulous lunch.

Cerinthe 'Pride of Gibraltar'

2010-07-24T11:28:00.002-04:00

This Cerinthe came up well in my garden and has been producing pink flowers; according to what I read in other blogs and in seed catalogs, the flowers should be blue. Oh, well . . .

Garden Writers Conferences

2010-07-16T14:24:00.004-04:00

I’ve ignored the Garden Writers Association symposium calls so far, but the promo stuff landed in my mailbox yesterday, compelling attention.

In my third year of GWA membership and I’ve not attended an annual symposium yet. So, this year . . . to go or not to go?

Keynoter Kierstin De West intrigues, Felder Rushing is a draw anywhere, anytime, but is a 4-day conference with 24 break-out sessions still a viable model? The garden tours have no appeal for me (what grows in East Texas does not necessarily grow in North Georgia) and what can we learn in person that we cannot learn online? I recently spent half a day attending a virtual summit (fee: $99) with speakers that included Arianna Huffington, David Meerman Scott and Edie Weiner. For three months afterwards, a few mouse clicks will take me back there and I can make sure I caught all the salient bits.

How do accidental gardeners and business writers like me justify a $1,500 (conference fee, airfare, hotel) adventure? I’m not interested in “winning” a camera or iPad, I don’t care who sponsors the name badge holders and attendance assures me that I’ve got a two in three chance of picking the wrong break-out session – eight times!

What if, instead, I followed Kiersten De West’s vision of sustainability and innovation more closely on-line for the next year or so? What if I attended Felder Rushing’s next event in North Georgia (you’ve got to see his truck-bed garden, y’all!)? What if I spent $500 on more books? I could sit in my garden, read books, add $1,000 to my cash flow, and would not have to take off my shoes at any time - unless I just wanted to and make a toe connection with the turf . . . 

Now that’s appealing!

Daylilies in The Deep South - are they Doomed?

2010-07-02T15:55:00.007-04:00

For as long as I can remember, and for generations before me, Daylilies have adorned Georgia gardens in June. This year . . ., not so much! The heat in May turned their foliage brown prematurely, and the three weeks of 90F+ temperatures began just about when the blooms started to open. As a result, Daylilies did not shine this year and for the most part they are done. But . . ., there’s always next year!

To-may-to, To-mah-to . . .?

2010-07-02T15:25:00.003-04:00

Every autumn since 2006 I have said to myself: "Next year, I am not going to grow tomatoes". Then the winter catalogs arrive and I am once again seduced. This year, though, I've got it figured out. I will continue to grow tomatoes, but only small ones!

Top: Red Currant. I pick a handful every day now and toss them in a salad. Delicious flavor; this tomato deserves its name.

Center: Micro Tom. Only three harvested so far; I have not yet tasted them.

Bottom: Red Robin. None picked yet.

I also have "Early Wonder" in my garden (nothing early about it, in comparison to the three noted small ones), "Black from Tula", which has developed blossom rot, and "Black Krim", which has so far produced, in addition to some "green golf balls", one fist-size fruit that is still green (and creased) on top and already dark red at the bottom. For the past few days I have wondered: "Should I pick it or leave it on the vine longer". It's still on the vine.

Cerinthe

2010-07-02T13:45:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday, during a garden tour, one homeowner (with a very nice garden -- actually a 'garden within a garden') told me she had been at it for 13 years and was still far from finished. That gives me, as a 6-year gardener, all sorts of excuses, doesn't it?

That includes not knowing much about many plants. Cerinthe is one of them. Never heard of it, but when Renee's catalog (see blogroll, on right) arrived in my mailbox last winter, I thought I should give it a try. I don't even remember what appealed to me. But I'm glad I added it to the list. It now grows (from seed) in two areas of my garden, and here is a picture of the first-blooming plants.

Watering Not Required

2010-07-02T13:32:00.002-04:00

This lovely sculpture is by Dennis Primm, who has a studio at Tannery Row in Buford.

Sunflower

2010-06-27T09:00:00.001-04:00

When you think "sunflower", this is not necessarily the image that pops up in your mind, but it's the best I can do. This one grows almost directly underneath one of my bird feeders, so we know its origin. And, you know the story of the horse and the gift, right?

This plant has four more buds on it, so it is likely that it will adorn my garden for several more weeks. Thanks to the birds!

Oh, no -- not another Koi Pond!

2010-06-26T16:57:00.002-04:00

I am sick of koi ponds! At least four of the six gardens on today's Gwinnett County Master Gardener garden tour had them (the other two may also -- I did not go there; too far!).

There was a boring sameness about all four gardens. Not just the ponds, but also the plantings - Hellebores, Hydrangeas, Ferns, Japanese Maples. The only one deserving to be on a garden tour, for which people pay money to visit, was Shannon Pable's (small wonder - she is a professional garden designer). The Jones garden, next door, was nice, but in essence a small copy of the Pable garden (and unfinished) and the two on Lake Lanier had the lake as their best feature. There was nothing original or outstanding about them. In one of them the obligatory koi pond had these monsters in them -- three times the size of any koi I had seen before today.

Bug Season

2010-06-19T11:39:00.002-04:00

This is a . . . moth? Frankly, I'm still trying to learn about plants. Bugs will have to wait. In my garden, I have seen grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, ladybugs, ants (of course!), flies, mosquitoes (every morning, every evening) and other assorted flying insects. For the most part, I leave them alone, although I did spray a Coleus this morning, when I saw a sticky white residue (white fly eggs?) on it, and also a Lemon Verbena that all of a sudden has some of its leaves turning brown (I saw some things crawling on the plant; the browning was not the result of the heat, although we do have plenty of that!). My garden is visited by numerous birds and I am going to count on them to deal for the most part with the flying insects, such as this one. If you happen to know what it is, please tell me.

The Harvest Is In!

2010-06-19T11:28:00.002-04:00

This is already my second "harvest" of blackberries (yesterday I picked four), but it is my first "crop" of tomatoes. These are Red Currant and the plant has lots of clusters of green tomatoes and blossoms - so, lots more tomatoes to come!

When you live in the country . . .

2010-06-13T12:18:00.003-04:00

. . .wildlife is everywhere! The other week, I saw a fox crossing the road (had it been a second slower or I a second faster, there would have been a collision!), a neighbor recently had a large opossum as roadkill in front of her driveway, last year one of my photographs of a Black Widow spider won an award in a photography contest. And yesterday, there was this hare in my garden! Plant damage and droppings had indicated the presence of rabbits for a long time, but a hare? In broad daylight? It ate for a while from the seed birds had dropped on the ground from one of the feeders, then hopped around, disappeared, came back and left.

June Blooms

2010-06-09T08:38:00.009-04:00

These are some of the blooms in my gardent this morning. From top to bottom -- the Monarda never disappoints and I have so many of them now that I have been able to share new plants with friends this year; the Rose Campion is new in my garden - a gift from a friend and neighbor; the Prunella 'Summer Daze' has settled in nicely, after a fairly poor start last year; the Hollyhock has been there 'forever' -- it's a biennial, but don't tell this plant that - this is its fourth year; the Butterfly Weed is another new plant for me - I have about two dezen of them, in 3 different locations and they all look good; last but not least, this Echinacea is from the 'Big Sky' series -- third year in my garden and it is finally coming into its own, with lots of blooms. I may have to move it again, though, as the Sweetshrub behind it has doubled in size since last year and the Japanese Aster next to it is growing rapidly as well. Oh, well - that's gardening, isn't it?

Athens Select

2010-05-31T16:05:00.002-04:00

As was the case last year, I am evaluating a few Athens Select plants this year. I was sent four and of these the Verbena ('Princess Dark Lavender') is wonderful. The two Pennisetums I received ('Princess Molly' and 'Princess Caroline') are doing O.K., and the fourth plant, a Pentas ('Stars and Stripes'), did not make it through even the first week. It arrived in very poor condition and could not be saved. Too bad for the Pentas, but I love the Verbena!

My Garden - a View

2010-05-30T13:21:00.004-04:00

One of the favorite places in my garden is "the point", the 45-degree angle of my quarter-pie shaped property, where my SE border and my SW border come together. A Maple tree marks the spot, with a huge Rosemary on one side, a field of Yarrow underneath and a Rose of Sharon and several perennials on the other side. Both the bird feeder and the bird bath are very popular with avian visitors.

"I Know I'm Supposed to Know . . "

2010-05-23T10:02:00.006-04:00

Every gardener, I am certain, has these plant encounters -- in a nursery, a friend's garden or a public garden: "I know I am supposed to know what this is, but what is it?"

I had such a moment yesterday, in one of my favorite nurseries, where I had gone to buy a few more Blue Sages for one of my borders. I saw this small group of black plants, with tiny purple flowers and even though I knew I had seen it before and knew what it was . . ., I could not come up with a name!

This morning, taking them out of their 4" pots and placing them in bigger ones, I knew: Capsicum, pepper! But is it 'black pearl'? Probably. Regardless, it's a beautiful plant and I'm glad I bought 3 of them. Together with the Blue Sages and a few other plants, a flat of 18 was $14. Well worth it, wouldn't you say?

Hemigraphis 'Blackberry Waffle'

2010-05-20T16:16:00.002-04:00

This is a cute plant, sent to me by Hort Couture, but perhaps not very useful in North Georgia, as it is a tropical groundcover. Still, it may be useful as a houseplant. We'll f ind out . . .! I was sent three of them and this morning I noticed that one had little white buds in it. The foliage is the plant's most noticeable characteristic - attractive, rather glossy leaves.

Ice Plant (Lampranthus)

2010-05-15T11:58:00.001-04:00

I love my Ice Plant! I know it's "an acquired taste", and I wouldn't have bunches of them in my garden, but one . . .? Yes, it belongs in my landscape.

Plants from Seeds

2010-05-11T09:58:00.003-04:00

Growing plants from seeds is a relatively new experience for me. Until this year, I have mainly purchased what I wanted in my garden - at plant sales or at local nurseries - or been generously given by relatives, friends and colleagues.

From top to bottom, the California Poppy and Cat Mint seeds came from Renee's Garden, the Butterfly Weed seeds were purchased at a garden conference last January, from a local grower, and the Cilantro's seeds were collected in my garden last year.

A New Yarrow

2010-05-08T12:55:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, when I was in Athens for a "Friends of the Garden" (State Botanical Garden of Georgia) event, I decided to make a quick stop at the UGA trial gardens, where I found this lovely new Yarrow - 'pomegranate'. I've already got the regular white Yarrow in my garden, and 'paprika', as well as a pink and a yellow, whose names I do not know, and at some point when it becomes available at one of my favorite nurseries, this one will join the party!

Rose Campion

2010-05-08T12:34:00.001-04:00

Catherine, this one is for you! The first bloom of the Rose Campion you gave me last month (from your sister's garden); isn't this a fabulous color, on a terrific plant?

From Pennsylvania to Georgia

2010-05-06T19:03:00.002-04:00

My friend and neighbor Catherine grew up in Pennsylvania, where her mother's green thumb was much in evidence. Now a Southerner, Catherine has planted gardens at all the houses where she and her husband have lived over the past 20+ years - often with cuttings, seeds or fully grown plants from her mother's garden. Her collection of Bearded Irises, many of which have their origins in Pennsylvania, including this one, is stunning and without equal in our neighborhood of some 700 homes.

Kitty needs a family . . .

2010-05-03T17:36:00.002-04:00

This beautiful, lovely cat (1-2 years old, female, spayed) needs a new family. She was given to me last week - and I happily accepted her - before it was known that she has no clue as to the purpose of a litter box. My house cannot accommodate a cat that is not used to a litter box, and my county ordinances do not permit off-leash pets outdoors. How this sweet thing was ever an outdoor cat I cannot imagine, but obviously she was. So, if there's anybody out there, who can give Kitty a home, let me know. P.S. -- she is very affectionate, but also appears depressed, most of the time looking down, as she does in this picture.

If you are not already growing your own blueberries . . .

2010-04-30T13:16:00.002-04:00

. . . . this report should be an incentive!

Not a pretty picture, is it? I do have blueberry bushes in my garden (and one lone blackberry) and would plant more, if I had more space.

The Irises Are Here!

2010-04-24T09:00:00.005-04:00

The white and yellow Dutch Irises are beginning to bloom (the blue ones have buds, not yet open), the Bearded Irises are also beginning to make an appearance, and then there is the Walking Iris . . . . gorgeous bloom, but an odd plant! Each bloom lasts just a day (a few hours, really), so if you want to see it . . . ., keep a careful eye on the plant several times a day.