It's been in the high 60's and mid 70's for the past several days, and as much as I know that we'll get zapped with at least one more good cold blast, I can't help but be in the garden as much as possible. Everything is budding, I'm popping Claritin, and I can finally see the warmth on the horizon.
Yesterday I was at the big house cutting back the Jurrasic Park-sized Fatsia japonica, and walked on a path that goes between the house and the garage. As a result of the warm weather, there are just dozens of white Dutch hyacinths blooming there. We planted them last fall in three rows in front of the gardenias which will bloom later; in fact I mixed the white (L'Innocence) with a butter yellow (City of Haarlem), but only the white are blooming so far. In any case, the fragrance is so awesome I kept making excuses to take that path again.
When I got home, I had to pass the Daphne Odora which is planted at the base of the front steps. It is my favorite miserable plant (I'm sure it will up and die any day now), but while it's in bloom, there is nothing better! The fresh, almost citrusy fragrance is such a welcome note in the early spring.
Once in the house I opened the kitchen window, and was met with the most wonderful fragrance from the Burkwood Viburnum that is planted outside that window. It's really nothing to look at, and I honestly planted it because it was inexpensive and would form a hedge between me and a neighbor's yard; the early spring fragrance is another one that is pretty amazing! This is one that you need to have in your garden, and keep it somewhere fairly close to the house where you can enjoy the fragrance before real gardening season starts.
Back out to the garden again, still working to clean up some of the mountain of leaves that have fallen over the winter.......and to see what else is blooming!
Showing posts with label Daphne Odora. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daphne Odora. Show all posts
Monday, March 9, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Support Your Local Garden Center!
Many of you know that I maintain the plants at a penthouse residence in B'head, which is, in and of itself, a pretty awesome gardening experience. Do you have any idea what it's like to maintain an Italian cypress in the sun and wind of the 42nd floor? Needless to say, lots of stuff froze solid during last week's cold snap, so I'm hoping things will revive a little bit with this week's thaw.
I was driving around that area today on a quest for one perfect large rosemary plant, and ended up in several different nurseries that I haven't visited in a little while. Between the combination of last week's weather, the season, the drought and the economy, the visits were depressing on one hand, inspirational on the other.
The big orange box store had virtually nothing in stock, short of some shell-shocked pansies and the promise of lots of deliveries coming in daily.
Hastings' in Brookhaven was a little better, but virtually everything there was an indoor plant. Since I readily kill orchids (not on purpose), I didn't spend a dime. It was a good visit, though, since the sun was shining, it was in the mid 60's and there were tons of worker bees running around getting ready for spring shipments. They did have some cool "pot feet" for only $3 each....those of you who shop at Hastings know that $3 usually buys a bottle of water there!...though their plants are pretty fabulous usually.
Over at Ashe-Simpson Garden Center, it was pretty depressing from the street with the plastic shrouding the plant area, but inside was as cool as ever. The ladies had moved all of the camellias, daphnes, etc., into the cold greenhouse, so it was just bursting with color and fragrance! If you aren't familiar with Ashe-Simpson, you need to go there. Carole, Rosemary and crew are extremely knowledgeable, and just plain "good people."
So my point, four paragraphs later, is SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GARDEN CENTER! There were lots of comments at last week's flower show that things were smaller this year. The truth is that some of the boutique companies are having a hard time making ends meet, much less spending thousands on these shows.
In times like these, with weather like we've had the past couple of years, many of these smaller companies are having a tough time holding on; others, like Perennial Grace, just couldn't keep going for another season, and will be sadly missed in Atlanta. We count on them to introduce new cultivars, give us endless amounts of free advice, listen to our whining, and save the best plants for us personally, so we need to spend some money with them! Consider it your local version of the economic recovery plan! Who couldn't use just one more (fill in the blank) in the garden this year?
I was driving around that area today on a quest for one perfect large rosemary plant, and ended up in several different nurseries that I haven't visited in a little while. Between the combination of last week's weather, the season, the drought and the economy, the visits were depressing on one hand, inspirational on the other.
The big orange box store had virtually nothing in stock, short of some shell-shocked pansies and the promise of lots of deliveries coming in daily.
Hastings' in Brookhaven was a little better, but virtually everything there was an indoor plant. Since I readily kill orchids (not on purpose), I didn't spend a dime. It was a good visit, though, since the sun was shining, it was in the mid 60's and there were tons of worker bees running around getting ready for spring shipments. They did have some cool "pot feet" for only $3 each....those of you who shop at Hastings know that $3 usually buys a bottle of water there!...though their plants are pretty fabulous usually.
Over at Ashe-Simpson Garden Center, it was pretty depressing from the street with the plastic shrouding the plant area, but inside was as cool as ever. The ladies had moved all of the camellias, daphnes, etc., into the cold greenhouse, so it was just bursting with color and fragrance! If you aren't familiar with Ashe-Simpson, you need to go there. Carole, Rosemary and crew are extremely knowledgeable, and just plain "good people."
So my point, four paragraphs later, is SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GARDEN CENTER! There were lots of comments at last week's flower show that things were smaller this year. The truth is that some of the boutique companies are having a hard time making ends meet, much less spending thousands on these shows.
In times like these, with weather like we've had the past couple of years, many of these smaller companies are having a tough time holding on; others, like Perennial Grace, just couldn't keep going for another season, and will be sadly missed in Atlanta. We count on them to introduce new cultivars, give us endless amounts of free advice, listen to our whining, and save the best plants for us personally, so we need to spend some money with them! Consider it your local version of the economic recovery plan! Who couldn't use just one more (fill in the blank) in the garden this year?
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Any Big Plans for 2009?
One of the bloggers that I follow has a list of winter projects that she reviews in the winter. Since she's in the great frozen north, that winter is much longer than ours (thank goodness!). The premise is the same, however, and one I thought was worth pursuing more.
Do you have any major plan for your garden this season? Anything you've identified as "missing" in your garden world?
Mine is STRUCTURE, STRUCTURE, STRUCTURE!!!!
As much as I would like to be organized in my plant purchases, I am inevitably drawn to those "I really need one of those" purchases, that manage to stay in pots behind the house for weeks or months until I discover the PERFECT spot for them. Mike Francis (the Japanese maple guru) accused me (unfairly, of course) at this year's Southeastern Flower Show of redefining "competitive gardening" with my purchase of the Aurea pine, and my delight when he ran out of them shortly after my purchase!
In any case, over the past few years, the perennial bed has gone from a specific color driven design to a "mixed border," to a somewhat hodgepodge collection of things that all happen to like sun. A few "must have" hellebores, a daphne odora and some sweet woodruff plants have found their ways into the "only ferns" bed by the front door. The Japanese maple island seems to have discovered a couple of exotic hydrangeas and a dogwood or two......you get the picture.
All that said, my commitment this year is to add some STRUCTURE to my garden, which is affectionately called the step child. I'm sure by September it will look like Versailles......maybe with a couple of quirks.......(Check out the photo of a "redneck Stonehenge".....that's my fantasy!)
So what are your major plans this year?
Forsythia Mornings
Every year at about this time, I'm certain that we're breaking records for "ridiculous cold" in Georgia, and question if it's warmer here than in New England. Fortunately I'll come to my senses soon (about the time it reaches 65 degrees this weekend), but that doesn't change the fact that I'm chilled to the bone right now. This is definitely one of those mornings to climb back under the covers with that first cup of coffee.
What a treat to look out the window this morning (while waiting for the coffee), to see the first blooms on the forsythia outside the breakfast room! It's one of my favorite shrubs, probably because my parents have a giant old forsythia next to the ancient swings. It seems that no matter how miserable the weather, the forsythia is going to bloom its heart out in the midst of winter. Everything is gray and brown, and in the midst of it all, there is a blast of lemon yellow blossoms!
It isn't elegant like the redbuds and daffodils, and it doesn't have that amazing fragrance like Daphne Odoroa; it's just there in its big old unpruned glory! Just when it seems like winter can't get any more gray, the forsythia reminds me that spring is definitely on its way!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The Morning After
At this moment it's still just 19 degrees in suburban Atlanta, which is crazy cold for this part of the world; the forecast of temperatures reaching into the low 40's today has me optimistic that there is hope on the horizon, though.
The good part of the cold weather is that I'm not working in the garden until around noon, so I have an unexpected relaxed morning. Sadie the dog and I took a long leisurely stroll around the neighborhood, for her the opportunity to sniff every new aroma that might have landed on the ground in the past 48 hours -- for me a chance to enjoy the sun and check out how things fared during this cold blast.
The Fatsia outside my dining room window is completely bowing down in the cold, almost as though it is huddled there in a coat of its own giant leaves; whenever it goes down into the 20's this particular shrub behaves that way, and it's always cool to watch it start to open up and stretch again when the sun comes out. By this afternoon it will be right back to its usual pseudo-tropical look. The Daphne Odora near the front steps looks just fine, but I'm sure this cold is going to delay the exposion of color and fragrance that I expected by this weekend.....based upon the nature of Daphne, I'm always pleased to see it still alive!
The Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles speciosa "Toyo Nishiki," pictured above) is completely covered with buds, making me happy it's planted in a place that keeps it a couple of weeks behind those of some friends. Their's were in full bloom this past week, and probably now zapped by the freeze. Every summer as it tears the skin on my legs with its vicious thorns, this quince is referred to as "that horrible bush," but in winter it's the star of the mixed border. Perhaps it will stay for another year....
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