past peak, prime, prepping

I've neglected the gardens during the hot summer. I always do.  But the last few weeks have been beautiful weather to get outdoors, so I've been digging in the dirt and assessing the membership of some plants. It seems as if the plants which have looked poor to mediocre for several years then thrive when others are faltering. I seldom get rid of a living plant. They're all welcome to try.

The Autumn Sedum has never looked more than meh here. It takes no care so I've kept it and now have three large clumps. This year however it shone. And I missed taking a picture of it in its prime.

The Beautyberry is just barely past prime. The berries on the lower branches haven't yet attracted the attention of birds like the ones on top. The branches which have fed the birds are stripped almost bare.

The second wave of fall color is approaching. I see subtle hints of color on the trees and the late bloomers are getting ready for their show. 

Here is the Obedient Plant. Buds start opening from the bottom and are only still developing. I'll have a sea of purple until Christmas.

Perhaps the chrysanthemums will come sooner. I'm hoping to have some purple/pink again, but the main location for them was totally wiped clean by last winter's cold. The yellow which were the primary color in this location are welcome, but will look better with company. We'll have to wait to see.

 I've dug up our whole mailbox area to replace the mailbox and redo the garden around it. There are piles of daylilies and iris buried in our compost right now. I intended to mark the date and color as the daylilies bloomed this summer, but few bloomed. They were very crowded which could explain it. I'll just put some in and see what I get. I'll sell the rest at a charity garden sale which is coming up.

I also potted up daisies. They don't look like much this time of year, so I don't know if they'll sell. A purchaser needs to have confidence and plant knowledge to buy spring and summer perennial at a garden sale in the fall.

endurance

This has been a really tough winter already. Right now, Atlanta is under a Severe Winter Storm Warning. But, if I look carefully, there are signs of life in my gardens. There may also be some significant deaths, but we'll have to wait and see.



















One morning last week, I came downstairs and peeked out the window into the front yard. This is what I love most about living in Georgia. (above, last week; below, this week)

Our groundhog (Beauregard Lee) expects us to see spring within six weeks. We always do. We see glimmers every February and I begin to breathe again.

I set out to look for more signs of optimism in my garden.

There are always the winter bloomers to count on down here. The hellebores didn't miss a beat. I will continue to spread them around until I can see them from every window.

And, Daphne. Wonderful, temperamental, fragile, fabulous Winter Daphne. If she can get just a few more days of sunshine, the whole neighborhood will smell her sweet scent.

Flowering Quince is another of my cold weather saviors. It will pop out first of all the spring bloomers. I'll know we're safe from the threat of an eternal winter if the Quince blooms.

So, while my grand plan to have fresh swiss chard has not come to pass, I'll cut some branches of Quince to bring inside to cheer me up and I'll try again next year.

swiss chard: not dead, but not happy

a little of this, a little of that

I feel like I need to catch up here.

• The kids are outgrowing clothes. Pook hasn't put away the shorts but has worn long pants all this week. If he hadn't, I think the school might have turned me in. We had lows in the 20's. I went to a nearby thrift shop and bought him six pairs of pants for about $20. Glad the kid doesn't care about brands. Or, for that matter, doesn't care what he wears.
• The garden has frozen. The leaves still look wonderful however. I'm looking around for things that need help next spring. I must get better at cutting back fall bloomers so they don't get too leggy.
• I cooked teriyaki chicken with fresh baby carrots the other day and it turned out great. Last night we had some fresh spinach and everyone moaned with joy. (It had butter and Parmesan cheese on it.) We had about twelve leaves of swiss chard from our own yard. While I feel grateful that I have a family who likes food and all my cooking, Pook did surprise me by saying that "what really matters to me is just that it has calories." See #1, above.
• I sort of stole a four foot basil plant from Bug's old school. The cold was already predicted and the plant looked so neglected that I couldn't help myself. I made enough pesto to fill two ice cube trays. I didn't have many pine nuts so I tried pumpkin seeds and it turned out great. Much cheaper. Stolen basil is already pretty cheap however.
• The Halloween candy is gone; banana Laffy Taffy was the final sweet in the bowl. Bug doesn't like them, but ate one because "well, it was candy." I, on the other hand, am a candy snob.
• The Paid Job is good. I don't have a well defined job description, no idea what sort of title best describes me, and I forget to pick up my little paychecks since I don't always work the day they get distributed. I come home exhausted, but I really like what I'm doing. I have a nice blend of shadowing a couple of kids who need support and doing observations in other classes when teachers request it. I think I'm useful.
• Someone told me that the holidays "were upon us." I went into Starbucks and then Kroger one evening last week and discovered that Christmas had thrown up all over them both. Poor Thanksgiving.

photography 101

This past weekend CD and I took off for Asheville, North Carolina, for a weekend away to celebrate our 15th anniversary. One of the items on our agenda was a visit to the Arboretum.  The color of trees in Atlanta isn't notable yet, but Asheville was already putting on a show.  Friday night they had their first heavy frost and we visited the next morning before the day had warmed up. It was crisp and beautiful (and warm in the sun!)  We took the good camera to play with it. Here are some of my favorite pictures.

The Arboretum was having a Lego exhibit on display. We took photos and knew the boys would love them. My favorites:

better luck next year

The goal is one eighth teaspoon of saffron threads.  One eighth teaspoon! I thought that would be easy, having planted 20 of the precious crocus bulbs.

After a long time worrying that my bulbs had rotted or been eaten since they hadn't shown their faces, I finally found one crocus thinking about blooming.  Then it rained, hard. I found two little red threads on the ground under the shriveled flower. I kept those darn threads though. I don't know if they'll still have flavor, but I've got them.

A week later, bloom number two showed up. There are four more sprouting, so I'll keep checking. I harvested three threads and added them to the paper towel "pile."  The next day I could barely see them. The little suckers had shrunk! If I have to keep them around for a year or two until I have enough saffron to use to cook, so be it.  Giving vials of saffron as gifts however, ain't gonna happen.

mental status

I told CD the other day that I was two bricks shy of a retaining wall. Then I realized just how apt that phrase was as a description!

I started building this dang wall just about the time the work started on our kitchen. Since then either it has rained and made the steep slope inaccessible, or I've had plans requiring a morning shower, and then been unwilling to get hot and muddy later in the day. I've gone to the store for additional bricks already, but still find myself two bricks short.  It may never be done.


Paralleling this wall project is the kitchen project. We've been "almost done" for two weeks now. At least. I keep postponing photos because I'd rather wait until all the cabinetry is complete. And it.will.never.happen. There is still a hole in the wall where an outlet is not going in after all. There is molding missing from the ceiling here, the floor there, the cabinetry somewhere else. A few cabinet doors were the wrong size and got reordered. All little stuff. I swear, if they'd just put in an eight hour day once or twice, they could be done!

Thinking positively, the ugly tree roots exposed after the last ivy removal are no longer visible from the house. The wall is doing its job, finished or not. I can't fill it in with dirt because I've learned that roots rot when uncovered roots become covered. It was suggested that I put a larger brick row on top to make seating.  Possible.

The kitchen is usable. It has a stove, oven, sink, garbage disposal, dishwasher... all the good stuff. It has a counter, some cabinets and most of a floor. Nothing to complain about. Just two bricks shy.

late bloomers

This morning I asked Bug to go water the tomatoes and cucumbers, telling him he could also use the new fancy camera to take some pictures of things in bloom.  He "didn't wanna" so I asked Pook to do it, while also pointing out to Bug that the next chore coming up was laundry assistance and he wouldn't be able to take a pass on it. Suddenly he wanted to do the plants.  Oh well. Too late.

Here are some pictures of our late bloomers as taken by Pook. A few azaleas are still finishing with late blooms, and the day lilies will follow close behind the iris this year.  I seem to have not taken any pictures of the iris, which is a shame because they looked really good. Unfortunately they looked really good just as school was about to end and life was too busy for photos of flowers. I believe the same thing happened to the columbine, although it didn't give a spectacular show this year.

The roses by my front door have bloomed in time for Mother's Day for more than a decade. They're just opening, here at the end of May. There is also a baby pink which isn't quite ready for the camera.

The Knock Out roses opened on schedule and look nice. I love those back-of-store bargains! Maybe I can find a third this summer. These are enjoying a visitor, showing just at the bottom of the photo.

Spiderwort may be a thug for some, but it has barely spread here. I like its angularity against all the gentle curves in a garden. Plus, I'm a sucker for bold purples.

My daisies are amazing. I tried to establish them for several summers without success-- against my general policy of not inviting plants back if they can't care for themselves. Finally I found the right bloom and they've spread into a thicket I can only cut apart with the hatchet. I've spread them around the yard and have begun giving them away to anyone interested. They will bloom all summer without fail. I even had one blooming in December.

This last picture shows daisies in the foreground (barely) with spirea in full bloom and spiderwort showing in the back.  Pook was very proud of this shot. He experimented with the focus while helping me out and came up with variations on many of the photos.

underwhelming

Underwhelming. That is the word of the spring. Here it is, almost May, and we haven't opened windows yet!  It was 42 this morning when I got up.  Yes, it gets nice later, and yes, this is good gardening weather, but still.... I want to hear the birds outside. Usually it gets warm enough to open windows just as the awful yellow pollen starts to accumulate. This year the pollen is finished and the temperatures are still cool.

Nothing has bloomed as well as normal. The daffodils gave a paltry showing, as did the crocus. Only one branch of the dogwood tree bloomed at all. The Lady Banks Rose has bloomed pleasantly, but not exuberantly. I want exuberant. I want overwhelming. I'm looking for something more than adequate. Not just pretty, but beautiful. Not just nice, but incredible.  I'm not asking too much, am I?

Here are some up to date-ish pictures of the front gardens.

See? Color and lush growth, but nothing to write home about. I'm looking for excitement!

I have a guy

"I have a guy."

Haven't you ever found yourself jealous when your friend or neighbor says this?

I actually have three guys.  I know! Two are brothers. They can do just about anything for you and they're thorough and licensed.  The other guy is strong as an ox and asks for so little money it feels wrong.

It was the later guy who was over yesterday while CD and the boys were out of town, camping. I've already had two friends ask for his number.  I'm not really eager to share. He'll just have less time for me.


In five hours he ripped out as much English Ivy as I could have cleared in two full spring seasons. Amazing really. The backyard is back on schedule for the Great Ivy Removal Project. The two thirds of the backyard that we're working on are almost clear. There is ivy returning which needs attention, but I think its easier to pull it the second time. I asked my new guy if he could come back and he said he'd come over next week.

Despite having a guy, I have work ahead of me now because  I like to do the planting myself. I've got five small azaleas to put in the ground asap. Maybe I'll go get a dozen more while they're still so cheap. This is the part of the backyard that shows from the street above the driveway. Since I'm going to have to water up there this summer regardless, I might as well fill the area right away and make it look nice.

year-round gardening

Another meaning to "year-round gardening" is happening here at the home of Pook and Bug. I shared this photo of a late blooming daisy as a welcome to the New Year. Although usually a late summer bloomer, daisy folliage hangs on until the first hard frost. The plant is close to the house and so it avoided the first few gentle frosts and the one little flower showed up. Now the rest of the plant is black and soggy, but the one bloom is still hanging on.

The usual winter blooming plants look fine. My new red camellias opened in very early winter and are mostly finished, but my ancient white camellia keeps putting them out.

 When I trimmed the hellebores I found lots of blooms hiding under scrappy old leaves. They try so hard to avoid the camera, but I've snuck it underneath for a peek at the speckled petals.

My new winter daphne plants by the front door are happy and covered with white fragrant blossoms. The old daphne had pink tinted blooms and smelled so sweet I could identify it from the other side of the house. These two are more modest unfortunately, although they still smell good.

 To complete the picture, spring has begun to spring here, however premature and at risk of freezing. The quince is in bloom, one of my favorites.

 

The bulbs are all sprouting and I expect to see daffodils and hyacinth open any sunny day now. This one already shows yellow. Not sure where my crocus are hiding. I see plenty of leaves. The vinca, too, is showing a few early purple blooms.

Summer, winter and spring flowers all in January. Such is winter in Atlanta!

welcome in the new

Look what I found, hiding in my front yard. I will admire it as I say goodbye to the past year and welcome in the new.  May you all dream of daisies, whether you gaze upon snow, sand or dead leaves, as we do here in Georgia.  Happy New Year.

from my window

Every fall I have a wonderful slow motion movie seen out my bathroom window throughout the month of November. I have tried to share it this year with a Photo-A-Day, made into a movie.

I wanted to join in the Fall Color Project, but barely made it. The leaves here turn very late and this tree is just finishing up its display.  For a look at other fall gardens around the country, check out the other participants.

These are my favorite photos from the window which didn't make it into the slide show:

 We have just bought a new SLR camera, so perhaps my pictures here will improve. So far I've been leaning out the window into the cold with my simple point-and-shoot camera, with no tripod.