One of Those Magical Mornings

This was one of those days I thought would be "rained out" in the garden, but it turned out to be pretty productive. The rain held off long enough to get in some of the last winter pruning, we got a bunch of pansies transplanted from the nursery beds up to the front of the house for their spring show, and got a lot of things cleaned up that are starting to flush out for spring.

Everywhere one looks, the plants are "at the starting gate," with tiny flushes of green showing around their bases. Many of those special winter bloomers are blazing with color against the grey and brown landscape, and what seems like hundreds of birds are at the feeders.

Between the heavy downpours this morning, Chuck was roaming around with his camera. Here are a few shots to bring a little bit of warmth to this rainy weekend.

To Hedge or Not? Sort of like Vanilla & Chocolate

We were having a conversation yesterday about the merits of lorapetalum in its natural form, just growing all over the place, with those great fuschia blossoms (and now in whites, reds, and some other shades). This is the look I have in my own garden, mostly because I have it planted as "exclamation points" around the garden, and it would look a little too fussy if it were sheared.

(I have a picture elsewhere on this blog of "Little Rose Dawn," with its particularly loose form, billowing fuschia blooms all over the place.

All that said, there is definitely beauty in lorapetalum that is kept sheared. I first saw this at Smith Gilbert Gardens in Kennesaw, GA, where Dr. Bob Gilbert kept his lorapetalum sheared into a beautiful, formal hedge around a parking area. Part of why this is surprising is that Dr. Bob is definitely not a sheared hedge kinda guy. If anything, he is just the opposite, aiming for plants that grow undisturbed to their full natural size and form.

In my weekday garden, there are many lorapetalum hedges, in different sizes and cultivars. As much as my gardener side says, "Let it be!" I can't deny how much I like the crisp clean look of the hedge with its distinctive burgundy foliage. This garden is decidedly more formal than my own, and it's really the perfect look.

I think I'm going to stop apologizing to the natural-style gardeners about how severely sheared the lorapetalum is, and just enjoy its beauty in both forms....vanilla AND chocolate!

The New Climbing Roses

The garden where I spend most of my days is incredibly beautiful, and was well designed when it was newly installed ten years ago. As a result, my job is made somewhat easier, because I'm really nurturing beautiful things and "tweaking" as plants age and grow. I'm fortunate that the owners of the garden also appreciate that I do as much as I can organically, so it is a garden that actually benefits the surrounding area.

If there is a flaw in the original design, it is the placement of five espaliered camellias on a brick wall in full sun that must reach 110 degrees most afternoons in the summer. At this moment in February, these poor plants are gasping for breath, doing their best to push out some pretty amazing blooms, from their parched and fried trunks.... they are underplanted with vinca, which also struggles and has never looked all that good. (If vinca is struggling, it will give you an idea of how bad this particular spot is for plants).

Anyway, the plan for this summer is to replace the camellias with climbing roses, underplanted with creeping rosemary. For the roses, I'm installing Blush Noisette, which was originally developed in Charleston, SC, in the 1700's. It's a beautiful fragrant rose specifically bred for the heat and humidity of the southeast. Between the Noisettes, I'm planting Snowgoose, which is an amazing white rambler from David Austen.

Finally, we're adding in Clematis Princess Diana, and Clematis Roguchi, which should scramble through the two different roses! Not that I'm a competitive gardener or anything, but I can't wait to see this in summer! Even Patti (the rose hater) has got to like this combo!

The Final Version of the Select Seeds Order

Okay, so I finally sat down and actually ordered the things I "need" from Select Seeds. Go figure, the list is a little longer than originally planned. (Just a note that there is a 5% discount on orders placed by February 28).

I ordered all the things in my last entry about Select Seeds, but here's what I added: "Ballerina Yellow" Datura, to go under the "Betty Marshall" Brugmansia.....I think it's very cool to do the combination of Angel's Trumpet above Devil's Trumpet in one container!

Senecio (Mexican Flame Vine, shown above), which will climb a little iron tuteur in a container

Heliotrope "Frangrant Delight"....pain-in-the-butt plant, but the vanilla fragrance is awesome!

Night Blooming Jasmine.....a magnet for mealy bugs, but a night time fragrance that will knock you over! ( I will be cursing this plant by July, if history is any indicator.....)

Plus some seeds for a really simple new cutting garden we're doing by the house: Cosmas "Rose Bonbon," Zinnia "Benary's Giant Salmon Rose," Zinnia "Oklahoma Mix," and Zinnia "Peppermint Stick.

Lastly, another antique geranium called "Mr. Wren," with has single scarlet flowers edged in white. That's going in a container with a purple trailing geranium I already have called "Taj Mahal".....photos coming in summer!

Now it's off to the Brent & Becky's Catalog, right after I make the credit card payment!

A Bad Gardening Day or a Good Day in the Garden?

This has been one of those weekends with "fence sitting weather," which I usually find very frustrating. Yesterday was in the high 50's with tons of sun, and it was one of those days when we gardeners are just chomping at the bit to get a jump start on the season. I kept starting to work in the garden, then would stop and tell myself it was too early to do this or that, since it is going to fall below freezing for the next few nights. I raked the fallen pine needles off the Creeping Jenny, then raked it back over the tender new leaves; I pulled some old leaves out of the crowns of the hydrangeas, saw the bright green new growth, and put the leaves back. After a couple of hours of this dance, I satisfied myself by raking the lawn and making things look at least a little better....I'm much more casual about where Sadie visits during the winter months, so it was definitely time to rake.

Today I was equally frustrated by having to wait for spring to arrive, though far less inclined to be outside working in the garden with the cold winds that arrived overnight. Not wanting to waste the beautiful sunshine, I decided it was the perfect day to just enjoy the garden. I had to stop at the big house to water the greenhouse, and got this photo of the creek bank. These are the most adorable little daffodils (whose name I don't know), which are amongst the first harbingers of spring.

In my own garden, this morning was a great time to see how things have done over the winter, and I was reminded of how many people have contributed. Alice's yarrow is slowing spreading and filling in lots of empty spaces, the irises I dug with Dad last September are coming up in their new Southern home, Phyllis' gloxinia is showing signs of life, the New Dawn Rose that Frank so nervously selected is bigger and stronger than ever.......

My morning stroll was pleasantly interrupted by Alice calling to say, "I've got bags of Japanese Blood Grass here.....any interest?"

I think I'm rather happy that it's too cold to work outside today!

A Couple of Great Ideas to Borrow

The March issue of Garden Design magazine arrived in my mailbox today, which means the latter half of the afternoon was a complete "wash." Sadie the Dog agreed that this was the perfect afternoon for a long walk, after which she could sleep on the sofa while I read the new magazine.

There were a couple of new ideas that jumped out at me. First, on page 18, there is a profile of Jasper Van der Zon, the young head designer for the Keukenhof bulb display garden in Holland. He is encouraging a break with traditional bulb planting in favor of a "mixed border" look, which I think is really cool! When I was in the garden early this morning, I was particularly impressed with how beautiful one of the naturalized areas looks, with its mix of hellebores, narcissus, crocus, scilla, and snowdrops. Van der Zon shows a mixture of Fritillaria, Allium, and other summer blooming bulbs, many of which I've added to the garden this year. If my display looks anything like his, I'll be delighted!

In the same magazine, page 56, there is an article about using grasses and sedges in container arrangements. First, it was photographed at Cheekwood, a really beautiful old estate in Nashville (the Maxwell House Coffee family home); if you haven't been there, it's worth the drive. Throughout the article, there are a number of really great arrangements, suitable for a number of different light exposures. I loved the way in which the designers have mixed very contemporary containers and an aging garden, and the way in which the containers replicate plants that are in beds around them. (Notice on page 56, the lambs' ears in the container, as well as in the border.)

If you don't subscribe to Garden Design, you should. But in the meantime, run out and buy the March issue!

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"