A Glorious Day to be in the Garden

It's been much colder than normal here lately (as it has been in lots of areas of the country, it seems), and definitely much wetter. We had what has now been categorized as a "500 year flood" about four weeks ago, and it seems as though it's been raining or drizzling ever since. Since I moved South from New England largely because of the dreary weather, this has not been a happy month for me.....I've been grumbling daily that "I just want to be dry......" It happened today!

It is still pretty cold (about ten degrees cooler than average, and the nights almost twenty degrees colder than average), but the sun was out in all its glory today! I spent the morning at the penthouse garden, which I really think was designed for days like this. Everything operates by remote control there, so when I pushed the button to open the drapes, it was nothing short of a stage production! Most of the apartment is floor-to-ceiling glass, and it's one of the highest residences in Atlanta. It was just amazing to see the buildings on the skyline glistening and shining again! It feels as though it has been years! Everyone's mood was noticeably improved over the past few weeks.

I got to spend the afternoon working in the stepchild garden at home with Cricket, starting the end of summer cleanup. In a few hours we managed to fill the back of the truck to overflowing with the remains of the cannas, angelonia, lantana, and other things that are finsihed for this season. We had to wear sweatshirts while working, but there was no fog, there were no clouds, there was no rain, there was no bitter wind......just fabulous sunshine!

It's supposed to warm up again starting tomorrow, and then probably we'll have rain for the weekend, but I'm trying not to think about that....for now, I am a happy camper working on my farmer's tan in a parka!!

(You might have noticed I changed the photo.....that smiley face was scaring me early in the morning!)

Wretched Excess and Bramble Ferns

An acquaintance of mine from college days (about 200 years ago), always subscribed to Queen Victoria's idea that "nothing succeeds like wretched excess" In fact, Travis believed this so much that he later developed a very successful party business from that notion. I think the older I get, the more I'm agreeing with him, particularly with reference to the wooded garden area behind my house. This is the same area that Frank regularly looks at and remarks, "What a great place for a swimming pool!"

Since I'm never going to clean a swimming pool, and only mow our little section of lawn because it was already there when we bought the place, the area behind the house is slowly becoming known as the wooded garden. I've cleared out many of the really nasty trees that were threatening to fall down anyway, and I've slowly been adding more things in. Most casual observers would probably call that part of my garden messy, but that's because I'm the only one who knows where the baby treasures are lurking!

At this moment it is raining and gray, but the forsythia is blooming its heart out at the base of the ancient sweetgum tree. Across the yard, the native azalea is getting ready to open soon, the witchhazel is covered with lemon yellow fringe, and the yellow twig dogwoods are positively glowing. I discovered the other day that one of them is the cultivar "Winter Flame (Cornus sanguinea 'Winter Flame'), but I can't tell Cricket, since she is wanting one!

So the point of all of this is that there are lots of great things in my back garden, and their ambundance is adding to my need for STRUCTURE this year. I've had some success controlling myself in the front garden, so now I'm trying to do the same in the back. That's where the Bramble Ferns (Hypolepsis grandulifera) come in! Last night at the GPPA meeting, I picked up twelve of these babies, and can't wait to put them into the ground and watch them take off!

If you're not familiar with Bramble Ferns, go to the website, http://www.fernridgefarms.com/, and check them out! They'll grow up to five feet tall, spread themselves out, and just fill huge spaces with their fluffy green fronds. I'm hoping that it's going to create a consistent backdrop for some of the specimens in the wooded area....if not, it's going to be my own little version of invasive bamboo!

I'm already excited to discover that they prefer ditches and slopes....now I don't have to fill in that old ditch in the back! I'm going to call it my "ravine garden"