The Untucked Shirt Question

Someone asked me the other day why my "uniform" tends to be an oversized untucked shirt; since someone bothered to ask, I thought I'd respond.

First, since I'm fat, it's a shirt style that I like, even though it tends to make me look even fatter. Pretty consistently I buy lots of cotton oxford shirts, and wear them in the garden until they fall apart. Anyone who gardens knows they take incredible abuse, so once they are beyond bleaching and scrubbing, they become very effective rags. I have been known to shop for gardening shirts at thrift stores and Goodwill, much to Frank's horror! ("Are you really wearing that outside where people can see you?")

These shirts work beautifully (at least I think so!) with my LLBean slip on black shoes. At any given moment, I have three pairs of the same LLBean shoes. They are my "nice LLBean shoes," "my gardening LLBean shoes," and my "climb in the creek LLBean shoes." Once they have been used a time or two for climbing in the creek, they finally become trash, and I buy a new pair of the same shoes, which become the "nice" ones, and the cycle continues.......does that make sense?

The other factor with the shirts is the bug issue. A couple of years ago, I was walking from the greenhouse into the potting shed, and was wearing a TUCKED IN shirt. From somewhere above the doorframe, a giant "palmetto bug" (that's their nice name in the south) fell into the collar of my shirt. If you ever get a live palmetto bug stuck inside your tucked in shirt at 7 AM, you'll start letting the tails of your shirt hang when you're gardening, as well.....

Putting the Garden to Bed for the Winter

In a peculiar way, this is one of my favorite seasons in the garden, because things slow down and stop growing for a few weeks (or at least it seems so). Every year I feel a little guilty about liking this season of cleaning, but then I realize it's all just part of the cycle.

The top photo is one section of the perennial bed in early October, at is overwhelming autumn peak. The Helianthus angustifolia is tied to the wall, threatening to crush anyone who happens to walk by when it starts to topple. The asters, phlox, and zinnias are all crying out, "I'm not done blooming yet! Don't cut me back!"

The second photo is virtually the same spot five weeks later. We've reached a point of imminent (temporary) death for the blooms, and they've gone to bed for the winter. This is when I find I'm able to enjoy just how beautiful the garden at the Big House is. I suddenly develop a new appreciation for the beautiful hardscaping, which is just starting to develop some of that "softness" that comes as a garden ages. It seems that our days are filled with removal of spent blooms and foliage, hauling it off to the green waste site for composting. We are finally getting rid of the packaging involved with the winter annuals, and getting the opportunity to take brushes and hoses to things.

On one hand it's a little sad, but on the other, very refreshing! Go outside today and enjoy what's left of autumn!

A Beautiful Day to Be in the Cemetery!

Saturday was "the big planting day"at Oakland Cemetery, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect for it! It's been much warmer than normal this month in Atlanta, so it ended up being sunny and in the low 70's. In the morning there were about 100 volunteers from different groups around the city, and then in the afternoon there were another 100 who came from Emory University to assist.

We got tons done, and the eclectic mix of people to garden with was great! All of the fastidious pre-med students have much more patience with extracting little weeds than I, so by the end of the day things looked pretty awesome.

Each time I visit Oakland, I discover something new. I had never noticed the bronze plaque on the fountain shown above. On Saturday, I saw that it came from the JL Mott Iron Works in the early 1900's, which is sorta cool, since my family was one of the principals in that company around the turn of the century.....interestingly, none of the old relatives can tell me where the family money went!

I can't take credit for these photos, they are from my friend, Sara. Check out those gingko leaves!

Chuck's Latest Purchases

I learned a long time ago not to mention any idea to Chuck unless I was prepared to IMMEDIATELY move forward with it. Chuck is my friend from across the street, who also works with me regularly at the big house, and has built most of the wooden arbors, trellises, etc., around my house.

Chuck has been “tweaking” the landscape around his own house for a couple of years, and it’s coming together beautifully. The added benefit to me is that the view out my windows is constantly improving!

Chuck has more stamina than anyone I know, and I have become accustomed to “Hey, I just got a good deal….can you help me move a tree with your truck?” This inncocent request will then be followed by, “It’s only a 17-foot tall b&b Deodor Cedar……” which needs to be moved in the next twenty minutes, and installed NOW.

Exactly two days ago, I mentioned to Chuck that I have a big order coming in, and the company has a couple of things he might be interested in….most notably, 25 gallon Bald Cypress and a 25 gallon Natchez Crape Myrtle. This statement was followed by, “There’s no urgency, look at this list at your convenience. I can order whenever.”

I just looked out the window to see Chuck in the Wrangler, chain around the bases of his existing GIANT privet hedge, yanking them out of the ground to make room for the new babies….and all of this is happening in the dark! (We neighbors are accustomed to seeing Chuck outside with a chainsaw and spotlights at 11 PM). In Chuck’s usual energetic way, he’s ready to have this Bald Cypress and Crape Myrtle in the ground…….are you sure they can’t deliver NOW?????

I have great admiration for his energy levels……..I think I’ll take a nap……..

Some Slightly Belated Photos

Here is a photo of the "pansy train," as we called it, before we had started to install the 6,120 pansies at the big house. Each of the crates holds a flat (18), which we were staging in different areas of the property by color.

The second photo is the combination used in some of the beds. It shows "Ultima Morpho," and "Delta Pure Yellow." We used equal parts of these two and Delta Pure Blue.

The last photo is a snapdragon we used for the first time this year. It's "Liberty Bronze," and I think the color is pretty amazing! We used it with the Delta "Apple Cider Mix" and "Premium Persian Medley." The house is a terra cotta stained brick, so color choices can sometimes be a challenge.

Some Updates from the Stepchild Garden

I seem to have gone from one extreme to another...no posts for a couple of weeks, and now multiples in one day!

In any case, here are some updates from the stepchild garden at home. I'm on a mission to get some of the structural things done soon, so I can plant some more things prior to the tour in May.

Here are the trellis/tuteurs that came from Sean Conway's book Cultivating Life. We've never really an "entrance" to the back garden, so these guys are now marking the implied gate. I planted them with Jasmine "Madison," which should put on a great show in May.

The next photo is the ajuga bed, that's been planted with "Dixie Chip" ajuga. Once it fills in, it should form a pretty solid blanket. My friend Carolyn is assembling a creeping fig-covered topiary form of a teddy bear, and I think I'll use an actual pillow on the bed.

The last photo is a closeup of Ilex meserva "Blue Princess," which is a favorite of mine, though it doesn't seem to be used that much here in the south. I love the super bright berries against the almost black foliage!

The English Gardener and His Wife

One morning last summer, I was working in a flower bed near the street at the big house, but a hedge blocked my view of the road. The couple walking by couldn't see me working on the ground, but I could hear them commenting about how beautiful the grounds looked (which made me love these strangers instantly!). The woman is a regular walker with her friends, and I assumed this must be her husband.

For those of you who don't know me personally, I have a rather distinctive voice (which means I could never make an anonymous phone call), sort of a hybrid between northern New England, Charleston, and Atlanta. This is only important because the woman said to her husband, "That garden always looks so beautiful! Now they have an English gardener who is out here working all the time with his wife!" Needless to say, that comment would delight Frank (my partner), and Simon (Patti's husband). Since Patti and I spar like an old married couple on a daily basis (mostly to entertain ourselves), I loved this perception by the walkers.

As a result, we've decided on new work attire, so there is no confusion any more amongst the walkers in the neighborhood. What do you think?