A Chef in the Garden

Early Morning

2012-02-09T08:18:00.000-05:00

Formal doesn't have to be stuffy!

Along the creek in the wooded garden

A parasol of hellebores!

It's February.....Really, It's February!

2012-02-05T15:58:00.000-05:00

This is the Rationale for Crape Murder.....

2012-01-28T16:36:00.000-05:00

We started pruning the Crape Myrtles at the Big House early this morning. Since these photos reflect a full six-hour day, it might give non-Southerners a better understanding of why most landscaping companies go the "crape murder" route shown in an earlier post. When we were about two-thirds through today's process, the man who lives across the street pulled up in his car and said, "Dude, there is NO WAY I would be doing that! It terrifies me just to watch the process!"

The truth is that pruning the crape myrtles makes no real difference in the number or quality of bloom; you'll often see ancient crape myrtles when driving past old farmsteads around the South, blooming their hearts out in mid-summer, while nothing remains of the house except the firecplace and foundation. In this particular case, the trees at the driveway entrance have simply outgrown their space, and are no longer in scale to the surrounding landscape. The choice is to keep them in bounds through pruning, or replace them, which would be such a shame since they've just reached that point of having the truly magnificent exfoliating bark.

An appropriate caption for this one might be, "Really? You have fifteen of these to do? Really?" as the other Tim began tree number two today.

To put the size of these trees (Latin name, "Big honkin' Crape Myrtles") in perspective, Chuck (in red) is about 6 feet two inches tall. The pile of branches is part of what was taken off the first tree.

A particular difficulty with pruning Crape Myrtles is that their branches aren't especially strong, and are more brittle in the winter temperatures. Nick, the slightest of our group, gets the special job of climbing to the top of the extension ladder to do the finishing cleanup with pruners. Nick has vowed to become fatter before next year's assignments, so he can be at the base of the ladder.

Two almost done in this photo, only thirteen to go........(they really are the same height, just a bad camera angle....)

Crape Murder

2012-01-26T15:06:00.000-05:00

Just sayin'.......

A Gardening Program You Don't Want to Miss!

2012-01-19T18:35:00.000-05:00

Since I am President-Elect of the Georgia Perennial Plant Association, I'm using this post as a little plug for the upcoming Symposium that GPPA co-produces with the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Each year this is an incredible program, and gives a great blast of gardening energy to the attendees just as winter is coming to a close. If you're anywhere near Atlanta, this one is definitely worth attending! Make a weekend of it!

Here is some further information from the GPPA website, www.georgiaperennial.org (There is a link to register on the site, as well.)

THE INSPIRED GARDENER

Winter finds most gardeners starved for spring – the season of new beginnings, a fresh opportunity to get the most out of our landscapes. As springtime approaches, immerse yourself in this full day of exciting garden inspiration. Come away with fresh ideas for making the garden of your dreams!

This year’s featured speakers are Katy Moss Warner, Steve Brady, Shannon Pable, Norman Kent Johnson and Stephanie Cohen.

Beautiful Landscapes: The Key to Healthy Communities
For five years, Katy Moss Warner, dynamic presenter and President Emeritus of the American Horticultural Society, has been judging towns and cities for America in Bloom. She has witnessed first hand what happens when communities focus attention on their landscapes. The spirit of optimism and volunteerism reflect not only in the beauty of the community but also in its vitality. Communities with beautiful landscapes are the places where people want to live, work and play.

Easy-to-Grow Fruits
After 30 years of working for the University of Georgia as the Cobb County Extension Agent, Steve Brady has a wide range of personal and research experience in fruit and vegetable production. Almost anyone can grow a variety of fresh fruits in their yards with proper planning, establishment, and care. Imagine fresh fruit ready to pick April through October. This can truly be edible landscaping.

Cinderella Natives:
Transforming Wild “Weeds"Into Residential Ornamentals
Shannon Pable is a life-long artist and gardener with a love of wild edible and medicinal plants. She is a certified arborist and award-winning garden designer (owner of Shannon’s Garden Gallery), specializing in native plants, woodland designs and environmentally friendly landscape designs. Learn the tricks of how to incorporate native plants into the tidy residential landscape and some of the myths associated with natives. Shannon will also include a list of her favorite natives to use in sun and shade areas.

Other People’s Gardens
One of the hardest things about reworking an existing garden is the question, “Why?” Knowing how you will use your garden must play a role in defining the garden. Do you need to accommodate your dogs, children or more cars? Do you have horticultural challenges: too much shade, too much sun, or poor soil conditions? Or maybe the garden is simply tired and ready for a change. Whatever the case, the “why” must always precede the “what.” Renowned garden designer and author Norman Kent Johnson will guide you through thought processes for rethinking your garden to make it right for you.

The Nonstop Garden: Four-Season Design
Gardeners seem to fall into two broad categories: Those who are growing more mature want to garden but encounter physical drawbacks; newer gardeners with very busy schedules trying to incorporate gardening as a passion and pleasure into their lifestyles. We all want year-round beauty, but in order to attain it we must work smarter not harder. This means making the most of the space and time you have. Join Stephanie Cohen, the “Perennial Diva” herself, in an adventure to get the dirt on nonstop gardening!

Some Favorites for Winter Containers

2012-01-14T22:10:00.002-05:00

As a follow up to the last post, here are some favorite plants that we use in winter containers. All do well throughout the winter in north-Metro Atlanta, and many would probably do just fine (if not better) in colder climates.

This first is a basic red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora), which lives in what can only be described as HARSH environs. It is on the corner of the building, on the 42nd floor, with ridiculous winds almost all the time. (The cement container has been blown off the plinth at least twice and needed to be replaced, though the plant has survived each crash.)

The arrangement below was in front of the Big House during the winter of 2010-2011, when we had extremely cold weather (and lots of snow by Georgia standards). The variegated boxwood did just fine (again in a really windy spot where it gets hammered by Northwest winds), and we replaced the cut things every couple of weeks. For some of the broadleafed evergreens like the magnolia, we sometimes use an anti-dessecant spray to prevent windburn, which is actually easier to find in northern states. The variegated boxwood is a standard container plant for us, but I don't honestly know how far north it is hardy.

This is the front entrance at Christmas 2009. We have since replaced most of the evergreen hedges with a softer look, because the arborvitaes and all that holly was really becoming oppressive in the grand scheme of things. At the holidays, though, you can't get a better look for a traditional Christmas decor. The corkscrews are Carolina Sapphire (Arizona cypress), which gives a great blue contrast to the dark green of the arborvitaes. Further forward, the mondo grass is evergreen for us (but an absolute bear to maintain year round). And before you ask, the boxwood gift boxes are artificial boxwood......sorry.....

Here's a closer shot of the corkscrews, which also shows the hellebores at the base. We regularly dig hellebores out of the garden in late fall to use in winter containers that are protected from really harsh wind. In the early spring, they go back into the garden. Lots of people have told me that they can't be moved, but I would respectfully disagree. They are "tough as nails" plants in my mind.

Pinus flexilis "Vanderwolf's Pyramid" lived in a container for two full years (in full sun) before going into the landscape. Here we used it with Pieris "Cavatine", pansies, prostrate rosemary and ivies.

As always, click on the photos if you want to enlarge them, and don't hesitate to ask if you have questions about specific things. I'm happy to share whatever I can.

"Anyone can have a garden that looks good in May......

2012-01-13T18:52:00.003-05:00

“……..but it takes skill to have one that looks good in February.”

That simple statement is one of the best things I’ve learned over the years.

The service driveway at the Big House in winter

Perhaps the only good thing about snow is that it frosts the barren winter garden with a beautiful white blanket, covering up a multitude of sins. Here in the South, once the herbaceous things die back, the gardening mistakes we’ve all made stand out like beacons in a field of brown. That bad pruning job, the spot of paint peeling off the fencepost, the crack in the pavers in that one particular area, all scream for the gardeners attention.

In both of “my” gardens (the Big House where I work, and where there is a substantial budget, and the Stepchild Garden, where I live, and where there is definitely NOT a substantial budget), I find this is the perfect time of year to get out and really explore the property. It is also the perfect time to come up with my list of tasks for the coming months, whether that is Shovel Pruning some things at work that have outlived their usefulness and attractiveness, or planting that hedgerow at home that I’ve been meaning to plant for the past few years.

As I get older, I’m much less sentimental about things in my garden that I don’t like; if a particular plant is no longer bringing me pleasure, it is time for it to find a new home (one can always find another garden looking to adopt). Since the Stepchild Garden is less than one-half acre, I don’t keep things that I don’t love. As I write this I am reminded of the outrage created by Christopher Lloyd at Great Dixter when he had the audacity to remove his roses and replace them with tropicals.

Much like winter cleaning in the house, this is a great time of year to really look closely at some of the art in the garden for needed repair, repainting, or perhaps even removal. As someone who works primarily with container plantings, I am always surprised with just how crazy people will get at the notion of moving a container in their gardens. Maybe 2012 is the year for you to really “go wild” and rearrange a container or two in your garden.

Please consider this a personal invitation to take a walk alone through your garden and really look at it with a critical eye. If you have a close gardening friend who isn’t afraid to be honest with you, ask his opinion of your garden, as well. Remember that the real point of one’s garden is to bring pleasure; if your garden doesn’t bring your pleasure, make this the year to take action…..whether that’s with a shovel, an axe, or a martini in the perfect seating area you’ve created for yourself.

Some Favorite Photos from the Past Couple of Seasons

2012-01-09T22:58:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was reorganizing some photos from the past couple of seasons, and here are a few favorites. As always, click on them to enlarge.

This first is one of a pair of containers I purchased last year. They are concrete and new, but I love the finish on them. They are made to resemble rusting cast iron containers, and I really like the sense of age they bring to what is a relatively young garden (12 years old). I don't even know the cultivar on the pansies. I purchased the containers in late winter, and these pansies were what was available at Lowe's in a large-enough quanity to fill the two containers. I particularly like the contrast against the Spanish bluebells, which have naturalized in the bed on the upper level (these containers are on a ledge at the top of a small staircase).

The gazebo at the pool is mostly shade throughout the day, so it's the perfect place to put some of the houseplants for the summer months. We have these four containers on wheels, so they can be moved a few times during the course of the season to grow more evenly. This colocasia (elephant ear) is called "Elena," and is an awesome chartreuse that lights up every container combination.

The gate into the walled garden cuts through the center of the (mostly) white border. This is early spring, with variegated boxwood and violas in the urns, and white peonies just about to open. The sago palms on the pillars stay outside except in the coldest weather, as do the potted ivy topiaries. (I only know the date because we flip the containers to summer flowers April 15, which is generally the last frost in metro-Atlanta.)

The fig in August is literally dripping with nectar; we manage to pick whatever the birds and squirrels don't beat us to!

The front entrance explodes in July, and these Hydrangeas will stay until we cut the blooms off in October. We replaced a clipped holly hedge with the Limelight Hydrangea a couple of years ago, and cut it back to about 2 feet every spring to control its summer height. In the containers on the porch is Colocasia "Elena" again.

(Please feel free to borrow any ideas you'd like, but please don't "borrow" my photos and claim them as your own! Thanks!)

Winter Chores

2012-01-06T15:24:00.000-05:00

One of the best things about winter in Atlanta is that it is generally mild, and the cold snaps tend to be short lived. Earlier in the week we had overnight temperatures down into the twenties, and we didn't warm out of the thirties for a couple of days. Now that the sun has returned, the plants (and our old gardener bones) were loving today's 60 degree temperatures!

"Mr and Mrs" were away last week with their children, so we had the perfect opportunity to disassemble lots of the holiday decorations in and around the main house, and it was also the perfect time to do a good cleaning of the glass house. We started in the potting shed getting rid of things that had outlived their lives or simply hadn't been used in the past couple of years; in the glasshouse proper, it was time to do some hard pruning on some of the tropicals and start shaping them for their spring re-emergence at the pool and elsewhere in the garden. (The red hibiscus doesn't seem to realize it's winter, though, and continues to bloom its little heart out!)

The glass house still looks somewhat empty, though this is the time of year when it's a favorite reading spot for "Mrs" when we leave at the end of the day. (It is positively glorious in a snowstorm!) The first of the seeds are starting to sprout; this one I like mostly for the story it brings. A parrot seems to have dropped it at a friend's garden in Coral Gables last year, and the seeds were collected and brought back when I was there in November. I think it's an iris or something similar, but we'll see soon!

Outside, we've been topdressing the vegetable beds, giving the earthworms a couple of months to work their magic before we start planting summer crops. The winter brassicas and such are continuing to provide kale, chards, and other greens. We pull the snapdragons from the patio containers for the coldest part of the winter when they aren't blooming. After a brief respite here, they'll bud out again and go back to the area around the house.

Carmen, the weeding machine, preps everything prior to the topdressing, and also takes great delight in clipping the Creeping Fig that grows on the garden wall. She is also the one who does such perfect squirrel-proof packaging for the potted tulips that will go up nearer the house when they start to sprout.

A Camellia Follow Up

2012-01-03T22:47:00.000-05:00

I got several comments about the camellia photo in the last set, and a few emails, as well, so here are my comments/responses to all (I think.)

I have to say I don't know the particular cultivar for the white camellia in the photo. It predates me in the garden at "The Big House," but I would venture to say is fairly common, since there is a huge swath of them (perhaps 50 shrubs). This particular bloom is in complete shade, at the base of a yoshino cherry. What I find interesting with this particular camellia is that it does so well under the cherries. Because the cherries are "Mr Big House's" favorite tree in the garden (and they put on an incredible show in early spring), we tend to add a little extra lime to our naturally acidic soil. The conflict exists in that the camellias really prefer an acidic soil, so in this particular area they don't always do so well. I will try to dig around at the base of these plants and see if I can locate an old tag from when they were planted, but it's 26 degrees at the moment in north-metro Atlanta, so that isn't probably going to happen in the next day or so!

A bright white camellia that I personally love is Nuccio's Gem. It is as pure white as a gardenia, and is incredible against its dark green glossy foliage. We have it growing on a north-facing wall, but it is up against the brick wall of the house, so it tends to stay a little warmer. (Do a search of "Nuccio's Gem" on this blog for a photo of it blooming last year).

For those readers who live in the northern part of the US, I can't honestly offer advice about which are the cold-hardiest. I would defer to Michael, who pointed out in a comment to the last post that the New York Botanical Garden has several that tolerate NY winters. I never grew them prior to my move south. I will say that I have a hedge of "Winter's Star" at the Big House that is very cold hardy (down to about 20 degrees, at least), and "Winter's Snowman" in the Stepchild Garden. Both are hybrids that are also growing in full sun, so they are definitely heat and humidity tolerant, as well!

Lastly, if you are new to camellia-growing, it's important to point out that they are like hydrangeas, in that there are several different forms with completely different growing patterns, likes and dislikes. Do some research before choosing one, since there are literally dozens if not hundreds. My personal opinion is that if you are looking for a classic elegant Camellia with the dark glossy leaves and big blooms, you're probably looking for C. japonica. That being said, I will tell you that I have japonicas, Sasanquas and hybrids in the Stepchild garden, and love them all for different reasons. Again like hydrangeas, planting the different varieties give a much longer bloom season.

And for those who have "zone envy" for the South, just know that I would kill to have my parents' 100-foot-long hedge of lilacs that grow like weeds in their New Hampshire garden. And don't even get me started about yew hedges......

And The Cycle Starts Anew

2012-01-02T13:25:00.000-05:00

The forecast is for Atlanta to get a couple of days of crazy cold weather, so I was at the Big House this morning making sure containers are wet and things that are borderline hardy were pulled into the glass house for the next couple of days. While I was there, some of the very early blooming plants caught my eye. These are some of the colorful things that make January in the south so much more bearable that winter in the north. (Fortunately I am one of the few who delight in the summer heat, as well!)

Prunus mume "Peggy Clark" (flowering apricot) is one of the first trees to bloom in winter, and the blossoms are just incredible! This particular cultivar has a dark rose flower before it leafs out in the early spring.

A closer shot of the blooms, which look like miniature roses against the winter sky.

Rhodea japonica (Nippon Lily) is really nothing special in summer, but the color just pops in the winter!

A perfect white camellia blossom was wedged up against the base of a tree in the shadows.

Hellebores are rather promiscuous plants, so one never knows what the blooms will look like. This shade is just beautiful peeking out from under the now-bare hydrangeas!

Even the naturalized daffodils at the creek are braving the cold, seeming to say, "Bring it on, Mother Nature! We're ready!"

As always, click on the photos to make them larger, if you'd like. I hope you're somewhere warm for these next couple of days.

Some Favorite Photos

2011-12-29T16:33:00.000-05:00

Like many gardeners, I've become overwhelmed with the number of photos I have accumulated from the past few years. Since I need to review the plans for the spring containers with "Mrs" soon, I am collecting some favorite container photos in an album on my Facebook page for her to look at. Here's one I just came across, which I had completely forgotten about....I just LOVE this photo of a dahlia just coming into bloom in August! It has nothing to do with container plantings, but it makes me happy!

Hopefully this will add some warmth to wherever you are at the moment, in the darkest and coldest time of year!

An Awesome (and Easy) Holiday Hors d'oeuvre

2011-12-27T18:01:00.000-05:00

I made this for Christmas and might do again for New Year’s Eve. Fortunately it’s two different groups of people! Everyone loved the toasts, and it’s super easy!

I got this recipe from Splendid Table, which is a show on Public Radio. They, in turn, excerpted it from Laura Werlin’s Cheese Essentials: An Insider’s Guide to Buying and Serving Cheeses. I’ve restructured it a little, showing which parts I did in advance to make it easy once guests arrived.

In my opinion (as someone who earned his living in the high-end food world for thirty years), this recipe is really brilliant. It takes into consideration those classic qualities of Chardonnay (vanilla, butter, and “toast”) and enhances them to magnify the flavors even more.

Brie Toasts with Chardonnay-Soaked Golden Raisins

1-1/2 cups water

1 cup Chardonnay
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla bean, split in half vertically (I have also done this with 1 t. pure vanilla extract)
1 c. golden raisins
12 oz. double-crème Brie
24 slices of baguette, ¼ inch thick
4 tablespoons melted butter

The day before serving:

In a medium saucepan, combine the water, wine, and sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat until the sugar is dissolved. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for five minutes. Turn off the heat. Scrape the insides of the vanilla bean into the liquid, and add the remaining bean (or add the extract). Add the raisins, allow them to steep for 1 hour uncovered at room temperature, then cover and refrigerate. (This mixture will hold for up to two weeks, refrigerated).

A few hours before guests arrive:

Drain the raisins, reserving the liquid. Remove and discard the vanilla bean. Put the liquid back on the stove and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and allow to reduce to 1/3 cup, about 10 to 15 minutes. Once it begins to turn a golden brown, remove from the heat so it doesn’t burn. It will thicken as it cools, and have a texture like maple syrup.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush each side of the baguette slices with melted butter, and toast in the oven about 10 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Slice the cheese while it is still cold into 24 pieces. (I spread them out on a cold plate and put back in the refrigerator (covered), since Brie can be a nightmare to work with when it’s warm.)

A little while before guests arrive:

Put a slice of cheese on each toast. Spoon a few raisins over the cheese, and drizzle the syrup over the top. (This is where the original recipe ends, serving the toasts at room temperature. I put them back in the oven for about 10 minutes, and it was INCREDIBLE!)

The Visit to Vizcaya

2011-12-21T20:12:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to visit Vizcaya, which is an extraordinary property in the Coconut Grove section of Miami. Built in 1916 for James Deering (of International Harvester), it is really beyond description, and definitely worth visiting.

Most of these photos came from the Vizcaya website (my photos from that day were just not good), and even these don’t do justice to how beautiful this place is.

What makes Vizcaya special (in my humble opinion) is that, unlike lots of the grand house museums from the turn of the last century, the designers of Vizcaya paid as much attention to the gardens as they did to the house.

When we were in England last year, one of the gardens we visited was Hestercombe, where there are still large elements that exist as they were designed by Jekyll and Lutyens. In those gardens, there is a definite calming feeling that comes as a result of brilliantly designed spaces; strolling the gardens at Vizcaya gave me that same restful feeling, while astounding me with the sheer size and brilliant design.

This is definitely a garden to visit if you find yourself in South Florida!

Just Getting This Recipe In Under the Wire for Christmas!

2011-12-20T14:42:00.000-05:00

Double Decker Sweet Potato Pecan Pie

I haven't made this one yet. In fact, it arrived with a Christmas card from Project Open Hand just today, and sounds amazing. It's on my list of things "to do" in the next few days. In the meantime, if you're of the mindset to get in some more holiday baking, let me know how you fare with this! It sounds to be as Southern as a recipe can get.

As always, click on the recipe to enlarge and/or print. Bon Appetit, y'all!

Thanks to All for Your Concern!

2011-12-20T14:37:00.001-05:00

Thanks for all of you who expressed concern that there was something wrong and that I had disappeared or fallen off the face of the Earth. Nothing is wrong, I've just been a slacker when it comes to the blog. I'm trying to be better as we enter the New Year. I'll still never understand how it is that so many people are interested in my babbling, but it's definitely good for the ego!

On a similar note, my computer's security settings don't seem to be playing nicely with those at Google, so I'm often not able to post on the blogs of others. Please know that I love reading them, and would love to let you know that, but the great Google in the sky seems to prefer otherwise!

Winter Containers

2011-12-17T22:01:00.000-05:00

It's Put Up or Shut Up Season

2011-08-17T21:43:00.000-04:00

This is the time of year when the summer containers typically are looking their best. In the heat of the South, some things are stressed, but in the northern states, the containers should really be at their best. It's the time of year when it's time for containers to either produce or get stuck behind the garage until it's time for autumn planting.

Here are a few containers that have done well this summer, with some "notes from the gardener".

In the breezeway, we used the darkest-leafed cannas we could find for structure. "Missus" isn't a big fan of red flowers, so we have cut most of the blooms off as they come up. Kimberly Queen Fern is also a favorite plant for shade containers. It goes forever in the summer heat and humidity, overwinters beautifully if you are so inclined, and is very inexpensive in most cases. (I buy the giant hanging ones that are a "loss leader" at one of the big box stores every spring, and cut each hanging plant in four pieces to use in containers---this container here is using one quarter of one hanging basket that we bought for $9.99)

The front entrance pots are doing really well this season, with a "Fox Tail Palm" in the middle, with the elephant ear "Elena" that was mentioned in the previous post.

The containers in the gazebo are virtually all shade, and a great place to utilize house plants during the summer.

Ginger is a container standby for us, and this one has a great peach bloom that will start soon. Ruellia also performs really well for us in containers, as do hibiscus. We have a really difficult time overwintering tropical hibiscus in the greenhouse (scale magnets!). This one is cold hardy, so we'll see what happens. Oleander really pops in late summer, and this year we've used a good amount of "bat face" cuphea, which has just exploded with color all summer!

This container grouping repeats lots of the same plants that are on the other side of the pool (above), and tends to get only morning sun. For many of the filler plants (coleus, etc.), we pointedly buy full flats of 4 inch pots, and then split them up between the different containers for consistency throughout the property.

This semi-shaded pot also is using canna for structure this season, which I'm really happy with.

Hot, hot hot! These terra cotta pots bake in the sun for at least 8 hours every day, and are still blooming like mad! Angelonia, convulvulus, and callibrachoa all seem to be loving life!

A tip that I learned from Rita Randolph (the container queen) involves topdressing. Once the container is completely pot-bound (not before), topdress the container with a couple of inches of play sand. That very fine sand from Home Depot or Lowe's that one uses in kids' sandboxes, or to underlay pavers. When watering, that sand will hold water like nobody's business, and will bring you another few weeks of great looking containers. A bit messy to disassemble at the end of the season, but it's worth the extra step!

August Garden Photos

2011-08-14T22:12:00.000-04:00

The Chinese Snowball Viburnum (Viburnum macrocephalem) doesn't seem to know that it is a spring bloomer, and seems to produce a new giant flower head every day.

Confederate Rose (Hibiscus mutabilis) dies back to the ground every year, and then grows at a maniacal rate to reach at least 8 feet, and will soon be covered with frilly pink and white blooms. It's one of those old-fashioned plants that you'll see driving through the countryside near old home sites.

Aren't figs just the most seductive of fruits? I really believe it was a fig that Adam and Eve couldn't resist..... look at that nectar just dripping out of the fruit!

One can barely see the front entrance of the Big House through the Limelight Hydrangeas and Begonias! (For those who are interested, this is "Babywing," which puts up with crazy hot Western sun, and the foliage doesn't go red.) The Elephant Ear in the containers took off this year (after two years of being really whimpy). It is Colocasia esculenta "Elena," and Tony Avent says it's winter hardy as far north as Zone 7B. I'm going to plant one in the ground at the end of the season, and will let you know in the spring.

Begonia grandis "Heron's Pirouette" is a real winner in the shade garden. In it's first year, six plants are now covering an area 4 feet by 6 feet.

The koi ponds look especially good once the tropical foliage plants start to fill in around them.

Sally & Jim Gibbs' Garden

2011-07-27T20:39:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned in the previous post, I volunteered last week to serve as a "bus captain" on one of the day tours associated with the national Perennial Plant Association's Symposium in Atlanta. Here are some photos of the Gibbs garden, visited later that same afternoon.

To give you some background, this property is 292 acres, and is about an hour north of Atlanta, just at the base of the mountains. Mr. Gibbs owns one of Atlanta's leading landscape design, build and maintenance companies, and this is his personal home. The long term plan is to open the garden up as a public space. It took Mr. & Mrs. Gibbs several years just to locate and choose the property, based upon its natural topography, and abundance of spring-fed water features.

What a fantasy to have the resources, the technical skill, and (most of all) the forty years of experience under your belt before taking on your "new" garden. This one is now in its second decade, and things are starting to flesh out beautifully.

Because our buses wouldn't fit all the way up the driveway to the main house, we went in via the lily pond, which contains the largest private collection of waterlilies in a natural setting in the US.

One of the Gibbs' large collection of bronzes is mounted in the middle of one of the lily ponds, which also features a full-sized copy of Monet's famous bridge over the lily pond at Giverny.

Close up detail of a very cool little maple in the Japanese garden. Have I mentioned that the Japanese garden covers FORTY acres?

One of the spring-fed ponds in the Japanese garden.

Another of the ponds in the Japanese garden.......they seem to never end......

As one walks up the path through the woods to the main house, the first view is of the enormous rose arbor which separates the lawn in this area from the flower garden. It must be incredible earlier in the season!

A little further up the driveway, I found this urn, which I think is just exquisite in its simplicity.

One view of the flower garden. It's important to note that there are lots of perennials here, but also an enormous number of annuals. As a company, Gibbs does a great job with annual color displays, and this garden gives that classic look while using mostly annuals.

I happen to love this combinaton of Perovskia (Russian Sage) and Lythrum virgatum "Morden's Pink" lythrum, which I may replicate at the Big House, in a bed that is almost entirely daylilies, and fries out by early July. My home is that this duo will come up and explode in color just as the yellow daylilies are going to sleep for the season. "Morden's Pink" is a sterile variety; having said that, I know there have been some issues of it spreading in other parts of the country. I've had it in another area at the Big House and in my home garden for three years now with no sign of casually sending off seeds. This is one of those "do what you are comfortable with" plants.

Looking down from the main house over the flower beds.

Another angle showing effective use of annuals that do well in Georgia's crazy summer heat.

As always, click on the photos to see them in more detail. As for me, I'm off to pull some weeds.......

Bernadine Richard's Garden

2011-07-24T10:34:00.000-04:00

Earlier in the week I had the pleasure of volunteering as a "bus captain" for a group visiting Atlanta as part of the Perennial Plant Association's national meeting. Whenever I'm with groups like this, I'm always pleasantly surprised by how humble and delightful gardeners can be, particularly those who are on national (and international) speaking circuits, etc. I get such enjoyment from spending the day with all of those creative people!

One of the gardens we visited was the home of Bernadine and Jena-Paul Richard, where I had been a couple of times before, and always love visiting. This time was different, as well, in that it was a group of about 75 of us (between two buses) rather than the hundreds that are often present on some tours.

The Richard home was built in 1929, from stone quarried on the site, and has beautiful oak doors and trim that were also created from trees growing on the site at the time. It is a big property (about 9 acres), with an enormous art collection, yet no pretense, which says a lot for the Richards' warmth and demeanor.

Mr. Richard is French, which explains the hybrid mix of European styling and Southern hospitality that this house and garden exudes.

The large house is beautifully nestled into the plantings, and the stone color adds a real element of warmth.

There are several art installations around the property. This is one that I particularly love, since it adds a whimsical note to an otherwise very formal building. I would love to go back when this wisteria is blooming!

This waterfall is truly massive, extending the length of the pool deck, above. The water slowly pours down the wall and adds that necessary cooling element needed in Atlanta in summer.

Another whimsical touch in the garden off the kitchen.

At first glance this front door seems a little "staged," until you realize that those incredible blooms were all picked that morning from existing plantings in the garden. No silk here!

As always, click to see them bigger! More gardens from this tour later.

The White Bridge Dilemna

2011-07-08T18:49:00.000-04:00

The garden at the Big House is divided in half by a natural creek which runs through it, from front to back. It is a fabulous feature to have in the garden, and the original landscape installation incorporated two bridges crossing the creek, essentially one at each end of the property. We have named them brilliantly in my mind, to differentiate one from the other....."The Brown Bridge" is in the wooded garden, and "The White Bridge" is nearer the house, and crosses from the rose garden to the koi ponds. Since that part of the garden is much more formal, the white bridge is also more "done up" than the brown one.

The brown bridge was having some real structural issues, so was rebuilt last week, with the new version being virtually identical to the original. Since this bridge is in shade and only a few feet above the surface of the water, nature takes its toll on even cedar. Since both bridges are similar in overall design, I've put a photo of the new not yet brown bridge.

The White Bridge is also having some issues, and needs some attention from Tony the fabulous contractor. Before he begins work, I'm looking for some input from the brilliant individuals who follow this blog.

As you can see from the other two photos, there are hanging baskets which are suspended from the sides of the bridge, which are used for annual color. They are changed out twice a year, and are equipped with misters from the irrigation system. They are the "hayrack" type of basket, each 56 inches long, and are lined with moss/cocofiber liners.

Here are the issues I'm trying to correct:
1. In order to replace the plants, at least one person is standing on a 12-foot stepladder in the creek to work. This doesn't sound so bad, until you are faced with having to replace the potting medium with giant bags that are being balanced on a non-too-sturdy ladder (on the rocks in the water). Another person has to lower the plants from above to the planter, since building codes only allow a 4 inch space between balusters.
2. Because of the constant moisture in the baskets, we've replaced the sideboards once already (the bridge is only ten years old). We line the back of the baskets with heavy black plastic, but I'm thinking about a new type of container and/or taking the baskets to a metal fabricator to have a new solid back panel installed.

Has anybody out there seen any brilliant designs that would allow for annual color in this situation, without ruining the bridge (and almost killing the gardener)? I think I've figured out the access issue by exploring the idea of a railing section that can be removed, but I'm not married to that idea. With reference to the baskets, they can certainly be replaced with something else, but I'm out of ideas. (The window box type that are sold to hang off deck railings are simply not "high end" enough in appearance, and aren't really in scale with the bridge.

Any ideas, guys?

Sunflower Farm Festival

2011-07-04T14:45:00.000-04:00

We spent the morning with Tony & Nina at the Sunflower Farm Festival in Rutledge, Georgia. It is always a great, simple way to start the July 4th festivities, and an excuse to eat peach ice cream at 10 AM. This first photo is a pretty substantial "container arrangement" near the entrance to the artists market.

The fence around the sunflower fields becomes a little more "artsy" every year, as different treasures are added to the old fence.

Another great container arrangment, next to one of those "necessary" outbuildings. The ones that are actually in use aren't a lot more sophisticated than this one, though.

This little boy was having a grand time having his own parade in a mixed cottage garden on the property.

The farm produces sunflower seeds for planting, eating, and bird seed mixes, and the family is incredibly generous with their property, sharing all gate proceeds with various charities. The artists market and food vendors all set up tents in a shady grove in the midst of 15 acres of blooming sunflowers.

As always, click them to see more detail.

Enjoy the Fourth!

2011-07-04T06:51:00.000-04:00

Celebrate what makes you happiest about being an American!

Summer Whites

2011-07-01T17:22:00.000-04:00

July came into Atlanta with a roar of heat, and it was still in the high 70's when I left for work this morning before the sun was up. Here are a few photos from the garden at the Big House, taken around 7:30 this morning before the furnace heated up for the day.

This is a good example of why, in my humble opinion, there are few plants that can rival the Natchez Crape Myrtle for tough-as-nails beauty in a Southern garden. They're just starting to bloom, and will continue this way for many weeks.

Two types of hydrangea, below. In the distance, the paniculata "Pinky Winky" is just starting to flush out. In the forground (under the crape myrtle) is macrophylla "Mme. Emile Mouillere," an incredible white mophead with a tiny blue eye that gradually bleeds the faintest blue color throughout the blooms. The macrophylla has been blooming for several weeks now.

Hydrangea arborescens "Annabelle," will keep that form until the blooms ultimately dry looking almost exactly as they do now.

The front of the house faces Northwest, so it's a challenge to get some things to grow well there. These guys all look pretty light and fluffy, but they're all extremely tough, and hold up beautifully to the Atlanta heat. For the plant geeks, this begonia is called "Baby Wing," and will take full Atlanta sun and heat without the leaves bronzing.

The gazebo near the pool offers some respite from the crazy heat, and it's where many of the ferns and houseplants spend the summer months.

A Single Errant Sunflower Glowing Just Before Dawn

2011-07-01T17:08:00.000-04:00

This baby self-seeded right next to where I park at home. I've been watching it for days, and this is what greeted me this morning as I left for work!

Dwarf Morning Glory "Royal Ensign"

2011-06-22T18:29:00.000-04:00

I bought this plant just as a trial when I was placing my order with Select Seeds, and so far it is a real winner in the garden at the Big House. It is actually "Convolvulus tricolor," which bears very little resemblance to a morning glory under than the shape (and perhaps the color) of the blooms.

In any case, it has stood up (and even thrived) in the crazy Atlanta heat, and is dancing in and out amongst some of the other things in the perennial bed. It is fairly compact, and is a great stand in for the blue geraniums that fill that role during spring and fall.

I started some inside and some directly outside in the beds, and both are doing beautifully. This is definitely going to be on next year's shopping list, as well.

Taking Advantage of a Cool, Drizzly Morning

2011-06-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

Now that the summer flowers are holding their own for a little while, it's time to get down to some serious garden work. It seems there is no end to the pruning and fluffing, just following behind the latest things to bloom in various parts of the garden.

Carmen has begun the summer trek from one end of the creek to the other, pulling weeds, moving some babies that have self-sown themselves over the past few months, getting that close up look for diseases, bugs, and such.

In a heavily shaded part of the garden, there is a group of Gumpo pink azaleas (also known as "they're only two feet tall and the flowers are hidden under the leaves, so what's the point?"). In any case, they've spread sideways to the point of obscuring the path ("and the flowers are still hidden under the leaves so what's the point?"). In any case, Chuck gets to trim them back pretty seriously and move the landscape lighting that is now in the middle of the path............how do I really feel about Gumpo azaleas?

Nothing Succeeds Like Wretched Excess!

2011-06-19T16:47:00.002-04:00

There are certain plants (most flowers, in my opinion) that simply have more punch when grown in large masses. I'm not a big fan of "onesie-twosie" plantings, even with annuals. If I'm going to buy a flat of annual salvia to beef up the perennial bed, it's all going to go into one large drift. These few photos show how great a single simple flower can look when installed in quanity. As always, click to make them bigger if you want.

"Annabelle" Hydrangea arborescens, one of my favorites, which consistently puts on a great show at this time of year, and isn't as fussy about water as some of the macrophyllas. These are fairly shaded at the Big House, but I have them at home in pretty intense sun, and they do just fine there, as well.

Plain old purple coneflowers. It seems the more they get ignored, the happier they are. I've not had great luck with all of the new fancy cultivars, but these guys just go on blooming for weeks!

Daylilies near the pool at the Big House. This one might be "Bumble Bee," but then again it could be any number of hundreds of different cultivars. They are so incestuous, I'm not sure that anyone really ever knows which daylily they truly are growing!

Annabelles again, below. This is a grouping that I really like, in a somewhat shady area. From November until January, we have camellia blossoms, then the Blue Star Creeper carpets the ground for a few weeks. After that, an ornamental crabapple puts on its show (it gets enough sun before the upper story trees leaf out), and then the Annabelles.

A Few Containers and a Great Annual

2011-06-18T13:00:00.000-04:00

All of this heat combined with the downpours of a couple of nights ago seems to have given the containers a little added "boost." The tropicals are certainly loving the combination!

I used the "Bengal Tiger" canna mostly for the foliage, since this container really only gets about an hour of sun each day. The blooms were an added bonus!

The nesting birds have finally left this container in front of the house, so it was safe to water and "fluff" a little. As invasive as it can be, the Jewels of Opar adds a great ethereal feel to the arrangment.

At the pool, the "Spanish Flag" vine is beginning to take over the palms. Fortunately it's a really delicate vine, so they coexist quite happily for the summer.

This one below is Proven Winners' "Supertunia Sangria Charm," which is holding up to the Atlanta heat and humidity much better than most petunias. This is what they look like after a full two weeks of temperatures in the 90's. I might be tempting fate, but this is the look with absolute ZERO deadheading or trimming since they were planted in late April!

As always, click to make bigger if you want!

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

2011-06-18T09:14:00.000-04:00

We spent the weekend with the family in New Hampshire, and I came across this window box in front of a store on Market Square in Portsmouth. I think it's just beautiful. Very simple, to the point, and perfectly adds a contemporary touch to this 400 year old city on the sea, while not losing that "sense of place".

This Weekend's Garden Tour

2011-06-02T14:38:00.000-04:00

This Saturday and Sunday are the days for the second of two tours I've been deeply involved with this spring. Specifically this is the weekend of the GPPA (Georgia Perennial Plant Association) Tour, and it's a wonderful collection of nine gardens in different parts of Atlanta. There is everything from the manicured giant Buckhead gardens to a topiary-filled tiny jewel box garden that is a mere 15 by 50 feet, to an "urban garden" in Grant Park with chickens, rabbits, and a huge collection of orchids! More information at www.georgiaperennial.org

Perhaps I can start weeding in the Stepchild Garden next week after these tours are finished?

OK.....I Know I've Been Slacking!

2011-05-31T06:27:00.000-04:00

I really haven't fallen off the face of the Earth, just been crazy busy! The last of the garden tours that I'm involved with is this weekend, the plants are in at the Big House, the Stepchild Garden is still a bit of a wreck (but the new deck is mostly done!), and life is starting to slow down ever so slightly!

Thanks to all of you who are continuing to post on your blogs! It is keeping me motivated for the season!

Spring Blossoms

2011-05-02T17:20:00.000-04:00

A small "Amethyst Falls" wisteria that got planted last fall is starting to peek out over the boxwood,

on its way to climbing up the pergola.

The perennial cutting beds are starting to wake up for the season.

The ponds have been cleaned, annuals installed, just waiting for things to flush out a little more.

Veggies are planted in the walled garden, as well.

The first shot of yellow peeks out (in a pretty bold way) from under a weeping Japanese maple.

As always, click on them to see larger images with more detail.

Have a great day in the garden!

Early Morning Photos

2011-04-13T23:14:00.001-04:00

Here are some early morning photos that give an idea of why we moved South from New England. These sorts of scenes are definitely not happening north of Boston this early in the season. (As always, click on the photos to make them bigger).

In the Stepchild Garden, this is the "Stonewall Jackson" azalea, which is often sold as a native. In fact it is a hybrid cross, based upon the Florida Flame Azalea, Rhodendron austrinum. Regardless of its lineage, it is an incredible color, particularly while lots of things are still brown from winter, and one of my favorites. I love how the Reeve's Spirea forms a solid blanket of white behind the orange.

One of my favorite shrubs, this Doublefile Viburnum gets almost no attention and still keeps this great shape. It was trained as a standard for its first couple of years, and now will occasionally send out a sucker, but for the most part just grows in this awesome form on its own. The Doublefile Viburnum is probably most noticeable for the exquisite flowers and its natural "pagoda" shape. (Try to ignore how sad the perennial bed looks at the moment....the Stepchild Garden is something like the proverbial shoemaker whose children are barefooted.)

At the Big House, this weeping Japanese maple looks just beautiful now as it drapes over the stream leading into the larger of the koi ponds.

Pansies and Bluebells on the stairs leading from the koi pond up to the patio. There are climbing roses and clematis planted on the white trellis on the mid level. This area bakes in the summer sun, and has been very effectively underplanted with prostrate rosemary. The fragrance is pretty fabulous when cutting the roses requires stepping on a little of the rosemary.

This view across the big lawn shows the magic that happens in Atlanta in spring. Lots of the trees that are standing out in this photo are actually from a wooded lot next door (the dogwoods, some of the redbuds, etc.)

The pot got thrown away, but these leftover pieces of broken terra cotta will find their homes in and around some of the plants in the wooded garden. Like most garden benches, nobody actually ever sits on this one......

Inside the walled gardens, lots of things are waiting to go into the ground and various containers in the next several days. In this garden, as well, the Reeves Spirea is a beautiful accent at this time of year.

The White Border, most of which has still not popped for the season. Calla lily, white iris, ammi majus, white pentas, white foxtail lilies, and white allysum will all start showing up soon.

Hold The Date!

2011-04-13T06:41:00.000-04:00

Definitely worth showing up early for this one!

Frank's New Roses

2011-04-08T18:06:00.001-04:00

After years of listening to me justify my plant purchases, ruined carpets from Georgia red clay, and crazy water bills during Georgia's drought years, Frank has finally caught that plant bug. Sometimes he's a little hesitant in expressing his illness, but it's definitely there.

The symptoms: (1) It was Frank's idea, not mine, to take a tour of English gardens last fall; (2) There have been many more questions than in the past about the particulars of a plant, it's likes and dislikes, etc.; (3) He made an observation that he didn't know where to buy rose gloves.

In any case, Frank officially has his own rose collection in the midst of the Stepchild Garden, and I'm delighted! In the middle of clearing away the sod and cutting into the Georgia red clay, he observed that perhaps it's time we found a younger helper to work in the garden now and then........

The circular bed is starting with five English roses, since I've had good luck with them in the ridiculous Southern heat and humidity, and I'm hoping Frank has the same (or better results).

In the center, he has "Claire Austin," a white climber named for David Austin's daughter. Choosing this color was a little challenging, because it's going to climb a blue pillar that matches the "Hummingbird Blue" door of the "Not Shed." This particular rose is an incredibly beautiful white, and I can't wait to see it start to climb!

James Galway, a classic pink rose with an old-fashioned rose fragrance.

Mardi Gras, a 2008 All American Rose winner with a somewhat "peppery" fragrance.

Othello, a deep beautiful burgundy.

"The Pilgrim," a beautiful multi-toned yellow, because Frank absolutely adores yellow roses.

Photos of the bed to follow as soon as things start to flush out a little in the next couple of months! (These photos are David Austin's, not mine)

The Rest of the Nurseries Caroliniana List

2011-04-07T17:12:00.000-04:00

Here's the rest of what I got last week on the roadtrip to Nurseries Caroliniana.

Quince "Toya Nishiki," for the garden at the Big House. I've had this one for a few years in the Stepchild Garden, and it always blows me away with its color in late winter. So many quinces are garish reds (or boring whites). This one is a true shell pink, with strong apricot overtones. Grows like a weed in Georgia!

Gold Locust "Frisia." This locust is absolutely beautiful in the landscape, and keeps this great chartreuse color all season, even in Georgia heat! I planted it at the Big House, against a row of magnolias and arborvitae that are dark green all year. This baby just glows!

Confederate Rose "Plena Flora." This is almost a requirement in Southern gardens. It goes completely dormant in winter, then shoots up to 10 feet like a rocket! Covered with these huge fluffy flowers from September until hard frost.

Cornus florida "Kay's Appalachian Mist." This was to replace some of the native dogwoods at the Big House, which don't tend to live a long time. This particular cultivar is noted for being resistant to mildew, so I'm hoping that's true. The blooms are just exquisite at the moment.

Poncirus "Flying Tiger." I love this plant, though it is positively evil. Twisted branches covered with twisted thorns that grab you when you walk by! Beautiful white flowers in spring followed by inedible oranges in the fall, the look is great attached to an arbor (just make sure it's big enough to walk under without getting grabbed!) I first fell in love with it on an arbor at Historic Oakland Cemetery.

Cornus rutgans "Stellar Pink." Another relatively new cultivar that is mildew resistant. I fell in love with the color! Blooms after C. florida and before C. kousa.

So Here's What I Got from Nurseries Caroliniana

2011-04-06T16:01:00.000-04:00

Here's the start of the list of what I purchased last week, and my rationale for the purchases. Since some of you live in different temperature zones from me, I'm listing just the names of many, thinking you'll want to research whether or not these choices will work for you. (Some may seem boring to you, but there really was a method to the madness.....their wholesale product list is 82 pages long, single spaced!)

1. Miscanthus sinensis "Strictus," AKA Porcupine Grass. This one is very similar to the "ribbon grass" that has been around for a long time, but doesn't flop around as much. Along one side of the Stepchild Garden, I've been actively working to establish a visual barrier between the street and our backyard (we live on a corner). I have lots of hollies and evergreens that are filling in nicely, so I was looking for a distinctly different texture. This is a "no muss, no fuss" plant that I'm hoping will look good for most of the year.

2. Muhlenbergia capilarris (Pink Muhly Grass). This is one of the favorites of "Mrs" at the Big House, and for good reason. There is almost nothing that looks this fabulous in autumn sun. It's like a huge cloud of soft pink fog just floating in the garden. I ordered twelve, to plant in a big mass, since it's seen from some distance across the lawn.

3. Begonia grandis "Heron's Pirouette." This is one from Heronswood Nursery, and is just a beautiful cultivar. This begonia is winter hardy here in Atlanta (though it disappears for the winter), and fills in beautifully in shaded areas. I've planted it under a stand of Redwoods, where there is an existing large patch of Strawberry Begonia. Later in the season when the Strawberry Begonia disappears, the "Heron's Pirouette" should fill in the spaces nicely.


4. Iris ensata "Laughing Lion." An incredible color, deer proof, rabbit proof, incredibly neat growing pattern, grows in clay. Need I say any more?

5. Polygonatum biflorum (Solomon's Seal). This is native to the Southeastern US, and something I think every wooded garden needs to soften the overall look and add a more "established" feel to the garden. It's going into the shade garden at the Big House, where I'm hoping it will naturalize and spread around at its leisure.

6. Hedychium "Luna Moth." If you can possibly grow ginger where you live, you simply need to grow ginger! There is very little so intoxicating on a hot summer night as this beauty! There are some beautiful cultivars out there, and we have a few at the Big House. This one is for the White Border, hence this specific choice.

7. Zanthedeschia "White Giant" This one originally came through Plant Delights, and is a stunner! The speckled foliage reaches waist height, with flower spikes that are expected to top out around 7 feet! Also for the white border at the Big House. I can't wait to see this baby grow up! (I bought it in a 3 gallon size, so it's already very respectable).

Nurseries Caroliniana

2011-03-30T21:58:00.000-04:00

OMG! Spent the day doing a roadtrip to Nurseries Caroliniana in North Augusta, South Carolina, with my friend Carole Simpson (of Ashe-Simpson fame). Picked up all sorts of very cool plants for the Big House, as well as a couple of things for the garden at home. More details to follow, but one of the more "regular" things I picked up was a pair of calla lilies which reach 7 feet in height (with 5 foot tall leaves), and are winter hardy! For the time being, I'm a little zonked from spending so many hours in the car, but it was definitely worth the trip! Can't wait to go back.

Spring in the Stepchild Garden

2011-03-27T14:54:00.001-04:00

The garden at home (AKA The Stepchild) is decidely less formal than that at the Big House or the terraces at the penthouse. This is where I am free to break the rules and let things run slightly amok. The native azalea "Frederick O. Douglas" is the most beautiful shell pink and white when it opens amongst the ferns.

Kerria japonica is one of those plants that everyone in greater Atlanta just seems to have, but nobody actually buys. I just learned that this form is "Plenaflora." There is also a single form that is beautiful. The best part is that it thrives in woodsy shade, so it's a great burst of spring happiness when the forsythia stops blooming.

"Jenny Brook" wallflower must just like being neglected. At the Big House we dote on it, and it doesn't do all that well. In my own garden I honestly forgot about it, and look what has happened!

Creeping Jenny and Obedient plant. Two things that will eventually eat the South (if anything is left when the kudzu and wisteria are done.)

As always, click 'em to make 'em bigger if you want.

More Signs of Spring

2011-03-26T09:47:00.000-04:00

When the days start hitting the 70's, the glass house regularly pushes the 90's, and the tropical plants are loving life! Only a few more weeks until they're able to be outside for the summer, and they're definitely wanting to get a head start.

Canna "Bengal Tiger" is creeping up through the other plants and catching a few rays.

Clerodendron is now climbing across the ceiling on wires, reaching for the sun.

Orchids are strutting their stuff.

Outside, the Maple "Sango kaku" is getting ready for spring, as well, still with its bright red winter bark color.

More Spring Splendor

2011-03-24T22:55:00.000-04:00

Every time I arrive at the Big House, I am reminded again of what an incredibly beautiful garden I get to spend my days in. That impression is never stronger than in spring. Here, ajuga creeps out of its bed and onto a stone staircase.

The bald cypresses are starting to show their spring color. They are, in my mind, one of the most beautiful of trees, incredibly simple and breathtakingly simple in all seasons.

There is the promise of a great blueberry crop in a couple of months.

Arborvitae "Berkman's Gold" in bloom.

Frittilaria in the morning sun.

Even the most generic of hostas looks beautiful at the end of winter.

In front of the house, we allow the kale to bolt, those delicate yellow blooms enhancing the pansy beds.

Creeping phlox at the small pond.

Redbud, apple, and Yoshino cherry blossoms all fight for attention.

A stray tulip that comes back each year under one of the maples. Clearly this bulb didn't read the book that said it shouldn't survive for so many years in Atlanta's heat.

As always, click on any of the photos if you want to see them in more detail (but please don't lift my photos and call them your own).

I hope you're enjoying spring in whatever form it takes where you are.

Spring Has Sprung!

2011-03-16T21:21:00.000-04:00

Blooms on the Patio Peach called "Bonfire" are followed by dark burgundy foliage

In the walled garden, the cabbages and violas make a pretty combination

Unnamed daffodils near the driveway

"Nuccio's Gem," one of my favorite Camellia japonicas

The spirea "Ogon" is putting on quite a show this week!

Blooms from a weeping (Okame?) cherry

The buds on a "Texas White" redbud are ready to pop, though they're a few days behind the native redbud.

The Yoshino Cherry blooms are almost at that point of starting to float down through the air

Another angle looking out through the Yoshinos

Happy Birthday, Vita!

2011-03-09T09:06:00.000-05:00

Oh, what a standard she set for future gardeners to uphold!

Spring Comes Early to the Glass House

2011-03-07T17:29:00.000-05:00

These guys clearly don't know that it's only in the 50's outside, and is dropping down into the 30's at night...Just give them a little extra daylight and the warmth of the glass house, and they are confident they are back in the tropics!

Early Spring Blooms

2011-03-02T19:13:00.002-05:00

This Autumn Cherry was in pretty bad shape, and has been "babied" for the past couple of years. It is responding beautifully to a little TLC.

Another angle of the same tree, below.

The Okami cherries are the real "show stoppers" at the moment from the street.

A container at the pool

There are hundreds of these daffodils at the Big House, the most notable of which line a long fence at the front of the property.

Edgeworthia is perfuming the screened porch

I came upon this hellebore in the wooded garden.

The pansies are loving the sun!

"Tete-a-tete" along the creek

As usual, these are pretty huge files, so click for a better look.

The Flower Show exhibit

2011-02-28T21:15:00.000-05:00

Back to the Big House tomorrow morning, to work in a real garden again. Because it's been so warm and sunny for the past couple of weeks, things are literally exploding in the Stepchild Garden, so I can't wait to see the thousands of daffodils at the Big House. Here are some last photos of the process of building an exhibit for the Southeastern Flower Show. My friends worked like dogs on assembling this, but I think it served its purpose perfectly.

This one could be called, "No, that chair is a tree! The plant stands are lights! Chuck, please just keep drawing and trust me on this!"

Once we were unloaded, things started to slowly come together.....

The door and windows of the fake house added another whole dimension.....

This is Patti's "What was he thinking?" look..........

A sample of the educational messages scattered throughout the "garden," next to the beehive from the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association.

The very cool "Night Orb" from The Outdoor Lights.

Another of those little signs......

One of the educational "windows," outlining beneficial insects....

The fountain (to attract birds) from the fabulously-talented Carlos Montano.

Some Miscellaneous Flower Show Photos

2011-02-26T06:59:00.001-05:00

Let me apologize from the beginning of this post by saying that I'm probably somewhat "jaded" when it comes to flower shows, so I don't always get great photos. I tend to focus on details that I think are cool or inspirational rather than what is showiest, biggest, or most flowery. I'm working in our exhibit garden (GPPA) again most of the day, so I'll try to get some other shots from around the Show.

This is a pretty cool ceiling treatment for a wedding, I thought. It was done by one of the event companies in Atlanta, A Legendary Event. Hundreds of pieces of wide ribbon weighted down with crystals and a few butterflies here and there.

This entry display was not the biggest award winner in its division, but I thought it was just beautiful, and a nice relief from the "two boxwoods in black iron urns with annual color" that marks most Atlanta doors.

A couple of window box exhibits that I thought were very effective, mostly because of the sheer volume and opulence the designers put into them.

I really loved this effect, below. The exhibit was still under construction, but I thought the uplit Coral Bark Maples against that stucco wall was just incredible!

A tulip I found appealing in one of the retail exhibits. Don't even know its name......

Have I gloated about the awards we won in our exhibit yet? Have I mentioned this is the first time I had done an exhibit of this size? Or that most of my team had never done a flower show exhibit before?

Here's one shot of our exhibit, depicting a mid-century Modern, in-town Atlanta house. We are in the educational division, so the goal was to show a realistic garden that can exist with very low maintenance and no chemicals. These are the floor panels that Chuck built......more about that later!

The Southeastern Flower Show

2011-02-21T07:12:00.000-05:00

We're working at the Big House all day today, then tomorrow morning starts the big push for setup at the Southeastern Flower Show. In typical fashion, my "helium hand" got me in trouble, and I'm managing the installation of a 20x20 garden for the Georgia Perennial Plant Association. I use the term "managing" very loosely, since that also means loading, building, hammering, cutting, running around, printing, etc.

"How bad could it be?" I thought, just before the 38-page book of rules arrived......(these flower show people are really a specialized cult, you know......)This year's overall theme is "In Tune with Blooms," so we're using a theme of "Rondo" in our display garden.

“Like the musical form of Rondo, gardening always returns to the central theme of healthy gardening practices that support the populations of insects, birds, bees and soil creatures.”

Pictures to follow in a day or two.......if you're in this part of the world, I hope to see you there!

In the Greenhouse

2011-02-20T08:03:00.000-05:00

One of the real "luxuries" of life at the Big House (from the gardener's perspective, anyway) is the greenhouse. And it's never more evident in day-to-day gardening than at this time of year.

The orchids go into the house when they're in bloom, and then come back to rest in the greenhouse when they're "not so purdy". (The tree fern is looking a little naked at the moment, just starting to put out its spring growth).

Cannas and brugmansia getting an early start, so they can go into summer containers with a good amount of foliage and structure to them.

The clerodendrum thomsoniae spent last summer in a hanging basket in a shady spot, and now is in the greenhouse permanently. This is one of those vines that literally grows several inches a day when it's warm and getting enough light. Other than a dormant period from Thanksgiving into January, it will be this showy all the time.

The weather was so bad during December and January, we started lettuces indoors.

Oh, what would we do without tweezers for the fennel?

Then there is the infirmary area........these guys will go back to the house when they're feeling a little better.....

Mild February Weather

2011-02-20T07:10:00.000-05:00

Every year at least one hard-core gardener says, "You can't move hellebores like that....it will kill them!" And every year we lift them out of the ground and use them in containers near the house. The added bonus is that, since many of them have seeded themselves in the woodlands, we can move them to other areas when we take them out of the containers.

A wall-hung planter in a little courtyard between the house and the garage is the perfect spot for this great purple specimen!

Behind the pool, the yellow crocus are always the first to burst in the spring!

Mini daffodils coming up in the wooded garden.

Prunus mume, "Peggy Clark", just startign to put on her annual show.

Clematizing the Garden

2011-02-18T18:31:00.000-05:00

Clematis "Duchess of Albany" (texensis)

Clematis "Rooguchi," (viticella)

Princess Diana (texensis)

I went to a great program on Tuesday presented by the Georgia Perennial Plant Association (GPPA), with Lyndy Broder speaking about clematis. I can see them becoming a new addiction for me! The last one was salvias, which have taken over the perennial bed at the Stepchild Garden, and then it was achilleas.....

Lyndy is on the Board of the International Clematis Society, grows hundreds of them, and clearly knows her stuff. For those who want to give them a try (or try some new cultivars), these are the ten she recommends most highly for Georgia (and I'm assuming other Southeastern) gardens (the bloom time listed in for Atlanta):

Arabella (integrifolia) blue-mauve, blooming April to Sept; trails on the ground
Betty Corning (viticella), pale blue, blooms May-August, a climber;
Duchess of Albany (texensis), bright pink, blooms April to October, climber;
Etoile Violette (viticella), dark purple, blooms April to October, climber
Henryii (early large), white, blooms April to July, climber;
Josephine (early large), double pink, blooms April to September, climber;
Madame Julia Correvon (viticella), wine red, blooms April to September, climber;
Princess Diana (texensis), luminous pink, blooms May to September, climber
Rooguchi (viticella), purple, blooms April to September, 3 feet tall
Venosa Violacea (viticella), white with purple veining, blooms May to October, climber.

I only bought three (from Dan Long of Brushwood Nursery, http://www.gardenvines.com/):
Duchess of Albany, Rooguchi, and Princess Diana (all of the photos are from their website). Will keep you posted on how they do.....

Ancient History

2011-02-14T16:00:00.003-05:00

Our big snows in Atlanta from a few weeks ago seem like ancient history at the moment, so we're lucky to have digital photography.

This is my friend Jane's garden in the snow. Jane's garden happens to be exquisite at any time of the year, but the snow was really "the icing on the cake" in this case. (If it looks this good in January, imagine it in June!)

Jane has really mastered the art of repeating the same color in various parts of the garden to make things come together. My favorite things are the red-painted Annabelle hydrangeas to coordinate with the bench!

Slacking Just a Little, I Guess

2011-02-14T07:37:00.000-05:00

Chuck told me the other day that I'm slacking in the post department, so I'm going to try to get myself back into a better routine. I sometimes tend to have "helium hand," so that whenever a volunteer organization asks for help, my hand just automatically goes up into the air.

Everything is going beautifully (though Frank can't park in the garage for the next several days). At the moment, I'm chairing the display garden for GPPA at the Southeastern Flower Show (Feb 25-27), and then the garden tour for the Master Gardeners in Cobb County in May.....and then there is that whole thing called a job......having to tip toe through the lumber piles to get to the washer and dryer for a few days is a small price to pay.

I promise to take the camera with me tomorrow to get some pretty things to post. It's going to be in the 60's again this entire week, with sun, sun, sun, so life is good!

44-46-52-57-55-61-60-63-59-64

2011-02-10T14:44:00.000-05:00

Those numbers are the forecasted high temps for the next ten days in Atlanta. We're already more than halfway through the first one (44 is today's high), so it only gets better. To make life even sweeter, the worst of the days is expected to be "mostly sunny".

And THAT, people, is a beautiful thing!

Ice Cream Freaks!

2011-02-08T07:02:00.000-05:00

"Ice Cream Freaks" could probably be the caption under a photo of my family, particularly on Dad's side of the family tree. I grew up in a house where ice cream is one of the basic food groups, and even in a blizzard, ice cream is a daily necessity.

Since I'm really trying to consume a healthier diet, I've gradually switched over to Greek-style yogurt, and at this point rarely eat ice cream at all. It never occurs to me that there are lots of people who do not eat Greek-style yogurt, and I'm always surprised when people say, "This is really good! And healthy! What is it again?"

I'm really not a born-again health nut type, but this is my sweet snack/dessert of choice: About 1/4 cup of Greek-style yogurt (I use Fage 0% fat), a tablespoon or so of Wheat Germ (it adds crunch and apparently folic acid), some blueberries (I don't remember why, but men are supposed to eat blueberries), and a squish of honey. Stir it, don't stir it, whatever works. Put it in a pretty glass or bowl if it's for guests, put it in a paper cup if you're driving.

"The Pleasure Garden" Symposium at Atlanta Botanical Garden

2011-02-07T21:06:00.000-05:00

Saturday I spent the day at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, attending the annual symposium that is orchestrated by the Georgia Perennial Plant Association. Since I'm the current Vice President of GPPA, I'm perhaps biased, but this year's program was one of the best in the past few years. One of the perks of being on the Board of the hosting organization is the opportunity to attend a casual dinner with the speakers the evening before the symposium, and the opportunity to chat with them in a very relaxed setting.

I'll try to be brief, but there are points that I thought were particularly good from each of the five presentations on Saturday. As a result, this post is going to be divided into at least a few parts, perhaps five.

This year's theme was "The Pleasure Garden," so it was perfectly appropriate that the opening speaker was Dan Benarcik from Chanticleer, which is perhaps America's best garden designed solely for pleasure. Dan likes to remind listeners that the mission of Chanticleer is not to be a botanical garden or a teaching space as much as it is just for sheer pleasure.

One of Dan's key points (at least to my listening) was that the point of gardening is really to please the gardener. So often we get caught up in making sure that our garden appeals to visitors, neighbors, and passers-by, when the real point of creating a garden is to please one's self. Dan went on to elaborate about making sure that the garden's style is YOUR style as the gardener. If your style is not formal, why have a formal garden? If you are a little messy and eccentric by nature, shouldn't your garden express your quirks?

Because Dan Benarcik works in an incredibly beautiful place, he had a ton of great photos from "work," each more impressive than its predecessor. A few that I found particularly striking (and ideas that I'm definitely stealing): A giant stone face (actually a fairly common sculpture) almost buried in a sea of Mexican Feather Grass, which really looks as though the person is sleeping. Other things that Dan showed photos of are so simple, but really striking in their simplicity: a bowl of water sitting on the table in the sunroom, which gets filled with a few floating blossoms every morning (anyone can do this for a little bit of luxury at home), and then a beautiful photo showing hanging baskets planted with seasonal flowers hanging from the branches of a tree (an idea straight from Grandma's house, but one which makes an "estate" a "home".

I definitely am not doing justice to the photos from my descriptions, so Google "images" from Chanticleer Gardens and you'll see what I mean. Frank and I are taking a short roadtrip to the Brandywine Valley in July, and Chanticleer will definitely be the highlight!

Some Tough Characters

2011-02-02T06:37:00.001-05:00

It's been a tough year for containers, but they're hanging in there! Pansies and violas are especially cold TOLERANT, but not necessarily snow lovers.... (this Euonymus only looks good in the winter when the scale is dormant.....it goes in the trash in spring!)

One of the most pedestrian cultivars of Pansy (Delta True Orange) is also one of the best in this sort of weather!

The Euphorbias showing off winter color

Each time there is a snow casualty in this hanging basket, another piece of cut greenery goes in. By March it will look like an FTD arrangement!

Aaahhhhh.......in the greenhouse the clerodendron is blooming!

Lettuces, mesclun and spinach are all showing up for late winter salads!

I tend to use pretty huge photos, so if you click on them they look a whole lot better usually...

Happy 75th, Dad!

2011-02-01T06:42:00.000-05:00

.................and people wonder where I get my fashion sense.........(the suspenders, shirt, and high tech watch are quite the ensemble, don'tcha think?)

In the Garden on Sunday

2011-01-31T08:44:00.000-05:00

The Autumn Cherry never knows what season it is, but it certainly knows that there is warm sunshine today!

One of the few camellias that didn't get zapped by the Christmas snows.

Crocus & Leucojem are getting restless

The pansies jump right back to life after a couple of days of sun

Edgeworthia ready to burst into bloom near the screened porch. How can such a homely plant have such incredible fragrance?

Rhododendrons absolutely love this cold winter weather!

It's raining now and getting cooler, but it still beats the snow and ice of New England!

Pork Tenderloin with Red & Yellow Peppers

2011-01-27T16:44:00.000-05:00

This is a great recipe from this month's issue (January/February 2011) of Cooking Light magazine. Followed it almost "to the letter," with the exception of using anchovy paste rather than the actual anchovies. Really fast, really good, and really healthy!

http://www.cookinglight.com/food/quick-healthy/quick-easy-pork-recipes-00400000055551/page6.html

Seeds, Glorious Seeds!

2011-01-24T09:43:00.000-05:00

I get so excited when the seeds start arriving in the mail, like a six-year-old in the days leading up to Christmas. All of those packages waiting to be opened, knowing that it's just not time yet! As something of a "temporary fix," Patti planted spinach and a couple of different lettuces in the cool corner of the greenhouse the other day, so we'll be seeing signs of green any day now.

The package that arrived this morning is from Select Seeds, one of my favorite companies for annual flowers. Here's the list, which will start to get planted soon in the greenhouse:

"Royal Ensign" Dwarf Morning Glory. It only grows to 12 inches tall, so we're going to use it to border the cutting beds at the Big House. I adore all of the geraniums as they wander through the other plants, but they fry in the summer heat here, so I'm hoping this flower will fill in some gaps in July and August.

Garden Heliotope (Valeriana officinalis). This is not the little purple plant, but a huge towering plant that looks a little like Queen Anne's lace. Doesn't do particularly well in Atlanta heat, but at the beginning of the season, nothing beats that vanilla scent.

Lavatera "Pink Blush". Another one that might not do so well in Atlanta heat and humidity, but we'll see. A close look to Hollyhocks, which start to melt from rust the moment they break ground here.

Amaranth "Oeschberg." Amaranth is another of those that will one day take over the South, but such a fabulous and dramatic plant in the back of the beds!

Mina lobata ("Spanish Flag"). An awesome vine that we'll put into a couple of containers, let climb up and over some other vines that don't flower in summer, and some on trellises. This is one that Christopher Lloyd had climbing over Eucalyptus at Great Dixter

Nicotiana "Woodland." This is one of my favorite plants, that does really well in the southeast. Very tall (about 5 feet here), with that overwhelming night time fragrance.

Cleome "White Queen." Cleome is like a weed here, but I love the white, and want to add it to the White Border. It's such a distinctive plant when it sprouts, it's easy to pull up all of the volunteers one inevitably finds in the beds.

The box from Johnny's Seeds is waiting for me at the Big House! Can't wait to see what's in that box!

This Week in the Garden - Pruning, Seeding, and Cottonseed Mealing

2011-01-20T10:26:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been a full week since I've logged on here...guess I have some catching up to do! I'm also a little embarassed that I said I would publish a list of "this week in the garden" every week and it's been two weeks since my one and only post! I'm sticking with my story that it's just because the snow threw us all for a bit of a loop. "Shoveling snow and breaking up ice for days on end" is not a regular part of my Atlanta gardening calendar. (Be gentle, dear Yankees.....Atlanta only owns 11 snow plows).

For starters, we're continuing with that same list of pruning that I listed on January 6. We're about half way through the garden at the Big House with that winter pruning, and three of us will spend a full day doing nothing else tomorrow. I'm usually somewhat flexible with cutting back all of the grasses (I love their look in the winter sun), but this snow and ice has turned them all into big messes, so "off with their heads" tomorrow!

In addition to the pruning, I'll be doing the annual cottonseed meal dance in the next couple of weeks. This is a distinctly Southern thing, I think, that makes a HUGE difference in azaleas; I don't remember ever having a surplus of cottonseed meal growing up in New Hampshire. We use about 2 cups of cottonseed meal per bush for azaleas, radican gardenias, and boxwood. Sprinkle it on the soil over the roots, scratch it in with your foot, on to the next one. Cottonseed meal is one of those things to buy at an old-timey grain and feed store. In the fancy garden centers, it's $15 for a one pound box; in the feed and grain stores, about $12 for 50 pounds!

Some More Photos of Snow and Ice

2011-01-13T12:32:00.001-05:00

I needed to go to the Big House yesterday to water things in the greenhouse and knock the accumulated snow and ice off the boxwoods. I was feeling a little like Christopher Lloyd gingerly making my way over the icy steps! As difficult as it was to get around the garden, "Missus" had managed to get birdseed to all of the feeders while the gardener (me) took a couple of snow days off. Even in floods and snowstorms, nature's creatures still eat well at the Big House!

This variegated boxwood looks like it has become the perfect little whipped cream conehead!

The view across the woodland garden hardly looks like Atlanta

Crataegus "Winther King" has been the star of the photo show with all of this winter's snow.

I always think of Nandina as a Southern plant. It certainly doesn't look that way in this shot.

It's hard to imagine that the pond will be filled with tropicals in a couple of months!

Thuja "Rheingold" is not looking happy! Something tells me she's going to need some clever corseting with some discrete wires for the spring.

In the greenhouse, this ancient Rex begonia doesn't care about the snow outside!

Fresh Thai chili peppers, anyone?

A little cycad and some "Toe Tickler" grass in pots seems the quintessential greenhouse photo!

Great Article from The Garden Faerie

2011-01-13T08:06:00.000-05:00

Monica from The Garden Faerie has a great article in the Ann Arbor newspaper about global warming. Definitely worth reading, no matter where you might garden!

http://www.annarbor.com/home-garden/global-warming-effects-on-gardening/index.php

A Southern Garden with Extra Frosting

2011-01-11T11:16:00.000-05:00

My little Pinus flexilis "Aurea"

Not the word I'm thinking about this weather!

There will be bright color in this urn soon!

Hinoki Cypress and "Teddy Bear" Magnolia

Parrotia "Vanessa" is the star of the snowy show!

Anyone know what time it is?

Super Easy, Lentil Soup, Good and Good for You!

2011-01-11T09:21:00.001-05:00

A photo above from the Associated Press yesterday

Atlanta is completely snowed (iced) in, so there's little to do but clean the house, cook, and join those who find it necessary to update their respective Facebook pages every three minutes. I've cleaned the house, cooked, and yes, I must admit that I've done a little updating to my own account in the past couple of days, but hopefullly won't reach the point at which I "check in" at Starbucks, Publix, the library, Burger King, etc., etc. When I start posting that I'm "on the way to the gym, at the gym, sweating at the gym, leaving the gym, home from the gym, (in five separate posts)" please slap me.

Can you tell that I'm a little crazy with this weather??? This is NOT why I moved south from New England! If the sun doesn't come out again today, I'm going to start putting those big airport runway lights in the Stepchild Garden.

In any case, here's one of the soups I made yesterday to stock the freezer. It's from an old Mayo Clinic-Williams Sonoma cookbook, so it's even good for you!

Lentil Soup

16 oz. dried lentils

7 cups water

4 c. vegetable broth

4 carrots, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

4 celery stalks, chopped

1 cup salsa

Fat Free Sour Cream

Pick over the lentils, rinse under cold water, and drain.

In a large pot, bring the lentils, water, broth, veggies and salsa to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and continue to cook for 45 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. If the soup is too thick, add a little more water.

Garnish with the Sour Cream, if you want.

A Note About the Salsa: The cookbook suggests making your own fresh salsa, which you certainly can do. Since this is really not the season for great tomatoes, I rely upon Herdez Salsa Casera, which my friend Rafael uses often as a cooking base for soups and sauces. He is an incredible cook, and is originally from Merida (the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico). The Herdez products are actually from Stockton, California, and this salsa is usually in small cans in the Hispanic foods section of the supermarket. It has a depth of flavor without being "burn your face off hot," like many commercial salsas.

I'm Afraid Chuck Might Move Out of the Neighborhood

2011-01-09T16:29:00.000-05:00

The Georgia Perennial Plant Association hosts its annual symposium at the Atlanta Botanical Garden this year on Saturday, February 5. If you're within a couple of hours of Atlanta, it's definitely worth the drive. This year's theme is "The Pleasure Garden." http://www.georgiaperennial.org/

I have attended the symposium for the past few years, and always come away with some great ideas for both the stepchild garden and the garden at The Big House. Great new plants, cool combinations that I hadn't considered before, etc.,etc. All good things.

Here's the problem........
Dan Benarcik from Chanticleer is the first speaker that morning. Anyone who follows this blog knows that I'm a bit of a Dan Benarcik groupie, and have absolutely no problem telling people that my goal is to have a garden that looks like Chanticleer.

The last time I became obsessed with something from Chanticleer was the Adirondack chairs that Chuck foolishly agreed to make for me as a birthday present. (That story is in a post here from late July of last year). By the time they were finally finished, Chuck almost threw them across the street to my house, and I had to do the painting!

I think I need to start reminding Chuck that his chairs are one of my favorite things in the garden, and remind him that they really weren't all that difficult to make..........if Dan Benarcik has any cool new things in his presentation for me to obsess about (and he will), I'm screwed.

The Calendar, continued

2011-01-07T17:23:00.000-05:00

Two things I left out of the last post:
1. I keep this document on my computer as a regular Excel document. By doing that, I can keep editing and saving, I can cut and paste for things that happen every month, can remove items that die or get "shovel pruned," and add things that are added into the garden. I'd love to tell you it's a fancy process, but it's not.
2. The other thing we do during the first week of each month is fertilize everything in the greenhouse (except those few exceptions which go dormant for the winter or have more specific needs) with a weak liquid fertilizer (something suitable for houseplants). Organic liquid (fish based) fertilizers are great for this, but will often leave a "funky" odor for a few days.

This Week in the Garden

2011-01-06T16:53:00.000-05:00

One of the practices I've developed over the years is the continual use of a "garden calendar" that I've developed over time, which includes the plants in the gardens at the Big House, as well as those in the Stepchild Garden. Whenever I purchase or install a new plant, I take the time to Google its recommended maintenance schedule for this particular zone, and add those notes into the schedule. This information is merged with thoughts from local gardeners, experts about particular plant species, etc. I've found that it's the only way I'm able to keep up with some things that need doing, and over the past few years, it has made a marked difference in the success I've had with particular plants.

As a result, I'm going to start posting "This Week in the Garden" on a weekly basis. If you're in this same zone (7B to 8, depending upon who you ask), feel free to take any of these things for your own calendar. If not, take what's helpful, and use it to help yourself develop your own schedule. The other added bonus is that this list prompts me to visit some out of the way spots in the garden that I don't always pay enough attention to, catching bugs and such before they become a problem.

January Pruning: Abelia, Bottlebrush Buckeye, Vitex, Clethra, Confederate Rose, arborescens Hydrangeas, Hypericum, Oakleaf Hydrangeas, Gardenia, Osmanthus, Pyracantha*, Agarista, Arborvitae, Boxwoods, Evergreen Hollies, Crape Myrtles, Figs can be pruned hard in January
Fertilize: Pansies every two weeks (temps must be below 60 degrees F) with pansy fertilizer, Liquid 10-10-10 on bulbs once two inches of foliage is visible
Miscellaneous: Spray Dormant Oil on Branches of Fruit Trees to Suffocate Dormant Insects

Now, before you get all worked up about this (as only gardeners can), please remember that this is what I do, and it may not be applicable to your particular garden. A couple of notes, as well....if the pyracantha looks really good and is still covered with berries, I won't prune it until February.Similarly, most of these things listed are fine getting pruned in January or February; with the number of plants I need to prune by hand, and the number of daylight hours in the winter, I need to start now or I'd never get done!

The Greenhouse, Continued

2011-01-06T12:11:00.000-05:00

I got several comments via this blog and email about the post I did about the greenhouse, so I thought I would add a couple of other things.

Temperature is a big deal. We have three thermostats in the greenhouse, which I think is fairly common. One controls the gas blower heating system (which looks like something you'd see in a warehouse or an old gas station!); the second opens the louvers to allow hot air out when it gets too hot; the third takes that process (cooling) one step further, with a huge exhaust fan. Everyone thinks about needing to heat the greenhouse in winter, but very few people consider how hot these buildings can get, particularly in warmer months. We maintain a temperature of around 60 degrees in winter, and tweak that occasionally. As spring approaches, we gardually open all of the doors and allow the plants to start hardening off in what basically becomes a giant cold frame.

In a similar vein, we do a lot of moving of pots to keep them in their optimal light conditions. Not as big a deal in winter, but in summer, many things will simply fry if they're not shaded. Before summer comes, we'll be installing some shade cloth panels in various parts of the ceiling to control light more.

The television show is called "Growing a Greener World," and is produced by Blue Ridge Public Television, out of Roanoke, VA. It's on lots of PBS stations, but (of course) not in Atlanta, so once the episode is edited and ready, it will be available on their website. I'm guessing that is months away.

The Greenhouse

2011-01-01T18:09:00.000-05:00

Recently I was interviewed by the producers of a public television gardening show, for an upcoming episode about greenhouses. All in all it was a fun experience, I discovered that it takes as long to film five minutes of finished programming as it does to grow a zinnia from seed to bloom!

In any case, there were several things we discussed that day that the interviewer felt were worth sharing. I would guess that many readers of this blog have experience with indoor growing, so it's probably repetitive information; if not, however, feel free to use whatever you might find interesting and helpful in your own gardening adventures!

Many people assume that “a greenhouse is a greenhouse is a greenhouse.” In the same way that plants have different requirements during the outdoor growing season, their needs during the winter vary widely. One of the greatest challenges with the greenhouse is maintenance of differences in light, moisture levels and temperature.

With the possible exception of real tropicals, most plants need a winter dormant period. In the greenhouse, we try to duplicate the winter conditions of the particular plant’s native habitat. One of my first projects upon buying a non-hardy plant is researching the conditions of that plant’s native habitat, so that we can duplicate that as closely as possible.

We do our best to water the greenhouse plants with room-temperature water, though that isn’t always easy. We use a well for irrigation at the Big House, so in winter (even in Georgia), what comes out of the tap is icy cold. That can be a “death sentence” for a tropical plant!

Pests are a real issue in any greenhouse, and need to be handled quickly. If there is any one job that takes the most time in the greenhouse, it is the treatment of pests, with the most gentle (but effective) methods we can employ. We generally start with mild dish soap, then will progress to alcohol, fly paper traps, etc.

Whatever the size of the greenhouse, we always need to look at the cost-effectiveness of overwintering plants. Certain jasmines, for example, are (in my experience) “scale magnets” and something that we just don’t overwinter; some of the tropical hibiscus plants are also just not cost effective to overwinter in many cases. For the amount of space that they require (and their inconsistency in staying attractive), it is often less expensive to buy a great new plant in the spring.

A greenhouse of any size is both fun and challenging for a gardener, and one that I would encourage anyone to try if given the opportunity!

Have Yourselves an Incredible 2011

2010-12-31T19:12:00.000-05:00

"A garden is never so good as it will be next year."
Thomas Cooper, Horticulture magazine, 1993

The Big House Garden in the Christmas Snow

2010-12-27T07:57:00.000-05:00

More of Atlanta's White Christmas

2010-12-26T12:48:00.001-05:00

Yesterday's snow really was the ultimate Christmas surprise, and (if possible) it made a great day that much better. As it happened, the snow began coming down with gusto about an hour before people started to arrive at our house, so it provided that perfect romantic holiday backdrop. There was a dusting of snow on the lawn and trees and just enough big fluffy flakes coming down to make people feel "Christmas-y" as they arrived with their respective contributions to the feast.

By late last evening, there was a magical silence in the air that comes with snow. Because of the holiday, there was very little traffic, so even in the street there were only a couple of sets of boot tracks and those of a wandering neighbor dog.

While Visions of Sugarplums Danced in Their Heads....

2010-12-24T22:17:00.000-05:00

Frank and Sadie the Dog have each had an exhausting day of pre-holiday carbs......I hope you get what you're dreaming of........

"Away Ina Manger"

2010-12-23T19:03:00.000-05:00

I would love to say I'm clever enough to come up with a phrase like that, but I'm not. It was the caption under a photo of Ina Garten's face (The Barefoot Contessa) nestled in swaddling cloth in the manger on a brilliant website called Food Network Humor. (Something tells me my mother wouldn't find that photo "brilliant" and would ask where I'm going to church tomorrow night).

In any case, I've started the Christmas cooking (a favorite activity now that I'm not a caterer anymore!), and just finished Ina's stuffing that she used for a Roasted Turkey Roulade. It's pretty incredible, and definitely worth trying. I followed her recipe to the letter, and wouldn't change a thing. (Don't you hate when people completely change the recipe, then give the recipe a "poor" rating on those websites???) It's from her Back to Basics cookbook from 2008. I'm doing the whole recipe as written with a boneless turkey breast.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup large-diced dried figs, stems removed

• 3/4 cup dried cranberries

• 1/2 cup Calvados or brandy

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

• 1 1/2 cups diced onions (2 onions)

• 1 cup (1/2-inch-diced) celery (3 stalks)

• 3/4 pound pork sausage, casings removed (sweet and hot mixed)

• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves

• 3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

• 3 cups herb-seasoned stuffing mix (recommended: Pepperidge Farm)

• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

• 1 extra-large egg, beaten

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 whole (2 halves) turkey breast, boned and butterflied (5 pounds)

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions

Place the dried figs and cranberries in a small saucepan and pour in the Calvados and 1/2 cup water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and celery and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage, crumbling it into small bits with a fork, and saute, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, until cooked and browned. Add the figs and cranberries with the liquid, the chopped rosemary, and pine nuts, and cook for 2 more minutes. Scrape up the brown bits with a wooden spoon.

Place the stuffing mix in a large bowl. Add the sausage mixture, chicken stock, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and stir well. (The stuffing may be prepared ahead and stored in the refrigerator overnight.)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place a baking rack on a sheet pan.

Lay the butterflied turkey breast skin side down on a cutting board. Sprinkle the meat with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Spread the stuffing in a 1/2-inch-thick layer over the meat, leaving a half-inch border on all sides. Don't mound the stuffing or the turkey will be difficult to roll. (Place the leftover stuffing in a buttered gratin dish and bake for the last 45 minutes of roasting alongside the turkey.) Starting at 1 end, roll the turkey like a jelly roll and tuck in any stuffing that tries to escape on the sides. Tie the roast firmly with kitchen twine every 2 inches to make a compact cylinder.

Place the stuffed turkey breast seam side down on the rack on the sheet pan. Brush with the melted butter, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, and roast for 1 3/4 to 2 hours, until an instant-read thermometer registers 150 degrees F in the center. (I test in a few places.) Cover the turkey with aluminum foil and allow it to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes. Carve 1/2-inch-thick slices and serve warm with the extra stuffing.

The New Header

2010-12-19T07:57:00.000-05:00

I opened my computer this morning, coffee cup in hand, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a very lengthy rant from a reader, going on and on about my "ecologically irresponsible promotion of golf courses over nature," asking how I could possibly encourage readers to cut the prairie so short. This was presented in a mix of capital letters, italics and bold fonts.

The only thing I can assume from the comment is that he is referring to the new header photo, which I put up to give myself something green to look at. In this grayest of gardening seasons, I start to get a little crazy from lack of chlorophyll and sunshine.

Just to clarify, the photo is of the Queen's Estate at Sandringham, which we visited a few months ago. I found the entire property to be exquisite (in my opinion). An elderly docent told me that "this is where Her Majesty is just Granny," and the estate conveyed that message over and over. It's a beautiful old rambling house with incredible grounds. It could not be further from my Stepchild Garden, with its "Southern Vernacular Lawn" of crabgrass, ground ivy, poke and henbit. In fact, I don't even own a lawnmower, and the urns in that photo probably cost more than my truck with its cracked windshield.

I certainly am not in a position to defend Her Majesty, but I will point out that (1) I didn't see a golf course, or even a putting green, on the property; (2) The turf areas are kept very tall on most of the estate; and (3) I was impressed when the gardener told me that the property is not kept in a manicured stage all the time, and that Her Majesty prefers to allow the plants to progress through their natural seasonal stages.

I was tempted to release my flying monkeys on the person who commented (who, by the way, isn't even a regular follower of this blog), then I decided I should just send him over to Jim at "Grouchy." At the end of the day, though, I think he just needs to chill a little, grab a glass of wine, and spend some time gardening.....dude, you are way too tightly wrapped to be a gardener....

The Promise of Spring

2010-12-18T17:53:00.000-05:00

Even after a week of freezing weather, a walk through the garden reminded me of why I moved to the South in the first place. It seems as soon as there is an inkling of warmth and sunshine, the spring bloomers are showing signs of life.

In the vegetable garden, the broccoli made it through the freeze just fine, and is continue to grow under the shelter of those big leaves.

The rhododendrons are promising a wonderful spring show, just covered with giant swelling buds. This particular shrub is well over my head, so I needed to take this shot from underneath the leaves. That's a rare occurence in the south, where they typically don't handle the summer heat well.

Outside the screened porch, the Edgeworthia buds are about to pop, releasing that incredible fragrance.

Hypericum "Brigadoon" is cautiously sending out new growth, which will go blue later in the season. There is no better show than this little plant when the "Peacock Blue" selaginella comes out all around it.

I'm feeling warmer already.......

Bartlett Pear and Dried Cherry Rustic Tart

2010-12-14T01:00:00.001-05:00

This is a Martha Stewart recipe from five or six years, that I've modified only slightly. The Chinese Five Spice Powder provides a really interesting twist on the traditional flavors one would expect for the holidays. (Please resist the temptation to substitute dried cranberries for the cherries......the cherries really make a world of difference!)

All-purpose flour, for work surface
1 lb. package frozen puff pastry, fully defrosted
3 small or 2 medium Bartlett pears (about 1 pound 2 ounces),
cored, and cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 ounces dried sour cherries
1/3 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
½ tsp each Salt and freshly ground pepper
½ tsp. Chinese Five-spice powder
1 large egg, lightly beaten

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• On a lightly floured surface, unfold the puff pastry. Cut into two 10-by-7 1/2-inch rectangles. Refrigerate until ready to use. (Puff pastry needs to be cold when it goes into the oven.)
• Stir pears, cherries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and spices together in a bowl.
• Transfer 1 rectangle of dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Spoon fruit mixture onto dough, leaving a 1-inch border all around the edge. Brush the
border with beaten egg. Lay remaining dough over filling; crimp the edges together.
• Trim edges, and brush top with beaten egg. Cut slits in the top crust for ventilation
during baking.
• Sprinkle with sugar. Bake, rotating once, until crust is golden and filling is bubbling,
bubbling, about 35 minutes. Transfer pie to a wire rack to cool.

Caramelized Onion Dip Recipe

2010-12-12T17:55:00.001-05:00

This is something that I make with regularity in the winter, because it goes together very quickly, and is consistently well-received, even by non-onion lovers. In this season of impromptu socializing, it's an easy item to take to a cocktail party.

2 T. butter
3 large Vidalia (or other sweet) onions, coarsely chopped
2 c. shredded Swiss cheese
2 c. mayonnaise
1 (8 oz) can diced water chestnuts, rinsed and drained
1/4 c. dry white wine, plus one glass for the cook
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
Crackers or Tortilla Chips for Dipping

In a heavy skillet, heat the butter over medium-high heat; add the onions and cook about 10 minutes, until they've started to really brown. (The more you stir, the longer this will take, so stop stirring and drink some wine.)

Remove from the heat, let cool for five minutes, then add everything else, except the crackers.

Pour into a 2 quart casserole, and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.

NOTE: This is not a recipe that adapts well for low-fat, low-carb, low-calorie. It's the holiday season, so use the regular mayo and regular cheese, and pop an extra Lipitor! (It's also a dish that works for kosher guests and vegetarians, if they are part of the mix.)

Garden Tour?

2010-12-12T09:12:00.000-05:00

It's 42 degrees at the moment (9 AM), and this is the high temp for the next three days! Mark your calendars for the 2011 Cobb Master Gardeners Tour, May 7....spring is coming back, really it is!

The Computer Hates this Weather, too!

2010-12-09T08:19:00.002-05:00

I think my computer is boycotting this crazy cold weather, as well, so no posts for the next few days.....have a great weekend!

But it's Not Even Winter Yet!

2010-12-06T16:54:00.000-05:00

It is absolutely freezing in Atlanta today. It's currently 38 degrees (our high today), and not supposed to get out of the 40's until Friday.....not the sort of weather that makes for a happy gardener!

The tetrapanax has gone from its lush tropical look to that of wet tissues. At least it's opening up the view of the native azalea, which will be one of spring's first bloomers.

The fatsia japonica is bowing down in the cold temps, as well. It's funky blossoms are reaching for the ground rather than for the sun! Fortunately it's much tougher than it looks, and will perk right back up when it warms up a bit.

The aucuba looks like it's trying to get into a fetal position!

Oh, well, seems like the perfect day to go and get my annual flu vaccination! Stay warm wherever you are!

A Special Day

2010-12-03T06:00:00.006-05:00

Today marks 25 years for Frank and me as a couple. I know that it sounds cliche, but in hindsight, it seems to have passed so very quickly. It feels like just a few years since we met.

I don't express it often enough, but I really do wake up every day thinking about how lucky I am to be in such a relationship, and that this many years later we are still actively challenging and supporting one another to be all that each of us can be in life.

I really feel blessed that there isn't anyone I'd rather spend the next 25 years with.

The Bathroom Re-Do is Mostly Done

2010-12-01T08:00:00.001-05:00

Still needs some accessorizing, but the bathroom reno is almost finished. Tony the amazing contractor is finished with his part, and now it's just waiting for the Pottery Barn boxes to arrive. These are two different angles, but hopefully this will show just how incredible Tony is....how often do you meet a contractor who leaves you anxious to start the next project!?

If anyone needs a "Merman" shower curtain, I know where one can be found at a great bargain! And if you are in metro-Atlanta and need a great contractor, I'm happy to recommend Tony to you!

Winter has Arrived

2010-12-01T06:45:00.000-05:00

It's 34 degrees at the moment in Atlanta, colder where we are in the 'burbs. It's going to hit 47 degrees as the high today.....it's only December 1. HOT-lanta?

I need to check with Tom at Seventh Street and see how many days until spring.........

Winter Projects at the Big House

2010-11-30T17:48:00.000-05:00

The weather has been very odd today; waking up and going outside, I was prepared for the usual chill, but it was eerily warm. Later in the day the sky looked like a giant bucket of gray paint being slowly stirred. One could literally see the clouds churning as it prepared for the crazy rains we got later today.

It was the perfect day for Patti and I to get some holiday things done for the house, as well as catch up on the progress of plants we're overwintering in the greenhouse. Wiring tuteurs with lights to put into the containers around the pool, a boxwood wreath for the gate to the wall garden.....

In the greenhouse, this is the time of year when things look rather sad; many are still adjusting to being yanked out of their pots a few weeks ago for the winter season indoors. The bougainvillea is getting too big to keep moving back and forth, so once it finishes adjusting, it will start getting trained up and across the glass roof of the greenhouse. Since only the lateral branches really bloom well, that's a great way of making shade.

The "Betty Marshall" brugmansia got cut down in late October, and the pieces are starting to root in the bucket of water. Once they're rooted better, we'll put them into pots to start growing out for next summer. By going through the process now, we keep the plants "young" for next year, and will usually have blooms by June 1 at the pool.

The cannas were taken out of the koi ponds this year, broken apart, and repotted. Hopefully we'll be able to put them out already with some good foliage in late April, giving them a head start on the blooming season. (Something tells me Patti has hidden a "mystery plant" in that front pot.....)

Dichondra totally fried late this summer, so it's been chopped back and is just starting to peer over the edge of the hanging baskets again. This one, "Emerald Falls," really earns its name!

The shade lovers below are jammed into that trough for the winter months. We'll separate them out into lots of different containers in spring again.

Leaves, Leaves, and More Leaves

2010-11-27T20:08:00.000-05:00

The Stepchild Garden is actually quite small, being about a half acre, though I guess that might be considered big by some subdivision standards. In any case, it is as casual in design as the Big House garden is formal. One of my favorite features of the Stepchild is that fully half of it is shaded, which is a treat in the midst of an Atlanta summer; when the leaves start to fall, however, it's quite a different story.

Even with some help from Chuck and his leaf blower, I spent six hours in the Stepchild Garden today, and have only made it through about 75 percent of what needs to be cleaned up this weekend. I hate everything about gasoline leaf blowers, from the noise to the rattle-your-bones feeling to the horrible gasoline fumes; as a result, I spend much more time with my little electric blower or (better yet) a rake.

I did cave in this year, though, and get a chipper-shredder, mostly because it was a good deal and because I've never owned one. It is now my new favorite toy during leaf season. It is deafening loud and incredibly hard to maneuver around the back garden, but it makes short order of leaves that would otherwise be bagged or run over multiple times with the lawnmower to shred them. The plastic hose shown in this photo is about five feet long, and is a huge vaccuum tube, so the leaves can be sucked up, shredded, and blown right back out over the mulched areas. Pretty cool, huh?

Happy Birthday, Grampy!

2010-11-27T11:32:00.002-05:00

Today would have been my maternal grandfather's 100th birthday. I've have always felt very lucky that all of my grandparents lived at least until I was in college, so I had a close relationship with them.

This is a favorite photo of my grandfather, which I would guess was taken in the late 1920's, when he would have been in his late teens. It's a photo of him and his mother sitting next to her little vegetable garden. It's such an unusual photo because later in life he worked for a supermarket chain as the produce manager, and the last thing he wanted to do at home was grow vegetables!

This next one is a few years later when he was in the Coast Guard. Between the uniform and the car, is it any wonder my grandmother fell head-over-heels in love with him?

I find it ironic that he had four children and 12 grandchildren, but always made it clear that he had no use for children until they were at least eighteen years old. One of my strongest memories was of a day that he was somehow railroaded into babysitting my brother and me (I was in first grade, my brother in third). Imagine my mother's horror when she discovered we had spent the day sitting at a bar with my grandfather and his buddies, and that our lunch had consisted of pickled eggs, beer nuts and Coca Cola! Archie Bunker had nothing on my grandfather! He wasn't the most nurturing, but certainly one of the most fun!

Succession Planting in the Cutting Garden

2010-11-20T16:56:00.001-05:00

Since I've undertaken replanting the cutting garden/perennial bed at the Big House in earnest, I'm deferring to the creators of some of the wonderful gardens we visited in England (though I'm aware I'll need to make some specific plant changes to suit the Atlanta climate.) There are few gardeners in recent history who had the incredible sense of color (and the bravery to explore it) of Christopher Lloyd. His garden at Great Dixter is legendary, and for good reason.

I've just started reading Lloyd's Succession Planting for Year-Round Color, and am enthralled by the combinations he created in that garden. (Interestingly Lloyd wrote some incredibly good books, and some incredibly bad ones at different times of his life. You might want to read some reviews prior to automatically spending for a book just because it has his name on it. I found this one on Amazon for $7.50)

Here are some recommended combinations, just from the first few pages:

Byzantine Gladiola planted into a chartreuse striped low-growing bamboo. The contrast between the dark-stemmed hot fuschia glads and the bright chartreuse bamboo is just amazing! Since anyone in the Southeast knows that planting bamboo is right up there with planting kudzu, I'm going to use a chartreuse acorus as the base plant for that same effect.

Aucuba japonica underplanted with hellebores, a spring-summer blooming medium height blue annual, and Japanese anemones. Just go with this for a minute and let it digest. The aucuba will bear fruit in the winter/spring at the same time as the hellebores bloom; when the hellebores start to look messy, the blue-flowering annual will take your eye off the fading hellebore leaves. At the same time, the anemone leaves will grow up into the hellebores, fulling masking them in their "less attractive" time. (In the border at Great Dixter, this is right next to the bamboo/gladiola mentioned above.)

Crocosmia planted right at the base of dark-leaved cannas. The flowers of crocosmia are like little firecrackers in the perennial bed, but the strappy leaves are often a little ratty looking. Just picture the hot orange crocosmia flower against the dark burgundy canna leaves!

Also in the first chapter, there are two "method" points that Lloyd makes that I think are worth mentioning.

First, he talks about using pruned branches from shrubs as discreet supports for tall-growing flowers that will come later in the season. I saw this everywhere in England, particularly at Nyman's to support dahlias and such. We always save the trimmings when pruning interesting plants like contorted filberts to use as plant supports that aren't covered with dark green plastic.

Second, he mentions the use of mushroom compost in the clay soil around Great Dixter (Kent has similar soil to Georgia, though not red.) According to Lloyd, the reaction between mushroom compost and clay soils results in a soil that is much more alkaline than normal, which is a problem for some plants that one would typically grow in this part of the world. I can't vouch for the validity of that statement, but I'm certainly not going to challenge Christoper Lloyd, dead or not! I'll let you know the results at the end of the season.

Anyway, all of that in just the first few pages of this book. I'm thinking it was $7.50 well spent!

Where is Elmer Fudd when We Need Him?

2010-11-18T06:57:00.000-05:00

No photos this morning, since I'm on a mission to have a face-to-face chat with a deer. This absolutely beautiful giant buck has been in the neighborhood for a couple of years, and has suddenly decided that "Antique Shades" pansies are his version of M & M's.

The problem, of course, is that I've only seen him very early in the morning, standing defiantly on the far side of the lawn, looking much like a $50,000 bronze garden ornament. He is like this mythical creature, emerging out of the mist.

I'm afraid he knows that I think he's an incredible garden accessory, and I would never dream of doing anything to harm him........I'm going to need to call on Elmer Fudd, since all I can do is smile, shake my head, and continue to put out more pansies on his buffet....

Too Late to Change My Mind!

2010-11-16T15:42:00.000-05:00

Since buying our house five years ago, I've hated the bathrooms. They are standard 1980's issue (in keeping with the house), and were given a fresh coat of paint and new accessories just before we bought the house. With lots of gardening and other projects to do, they've always just sort of been there, always on the "when I have a few thousand extra dollars I'll think about it" list. The only thing I have done in the guest bathroom in five years is hang the "Merman" shower curtain I bought at an arts festival a few years ago.

We have said for a long time that when we got back from England there would be no big trips for a couple of years, and we were going to do some work on the house. Well, we're back from England and it's time. I'm delighted to say that everything is gone from the old bathroom, and we're starting to put back together. Until you've owned a pinkish beige composite bathtub and surround for five years, you have no idea how exciting it is to be the owner of a simple white bathtub! The garage is filled with travertine tiles, and the sofa in the little sitting room downstairs is covered with faucets and such. Pinkish plastic tub is sitting in the trash pile, along with the "faux marble" sink (complete with cigarette burns from a former owner of years ago). So far it's a beautiful day in my bathroom.....

The Walled Garden "Re-do" Continues

2010-11-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

It hardly seems possible that a month ago this bed was literally overflowing with vegetation! The fact that it was mostly "vegetation" and not specifically "bloom" is why it's now been stripped down to the bones.

As I mentioned a few posts ago, we've reached the point at which the walled garden needs to be pulled apart, edited, and rearranged in order to continue its purpose as a cutting area. This first shot shows the first of the flower beds to be totally taken apart and put back together (really about as much as we can do with it until spring.) We'll fill in all of the blank spots in spring with other perennials and some strong annuals.

This photo also shows off some of the great details that make this such a beautiful garden. The brickwork has filled in beautifully with creeping fig (not nearly as high maintenance as it might look, but it does take a clipping once every couple of weeks in season). These white tuteurs get used for different things in different years (tomatoes, hyacinth bean, cypress vine), and are really most effective in winter when the beds are not brimming with produce.

In this other angle, you can see where those wretched banana shrubs got removed, and we've replaced them with tuteurs to support Rose Zepherine Drouhin. It's a thornless repeat bloomer that has brilliant cerise flowers in spring and then again in fall. We're refilling this bed with many of the same flowers that were there before (just majorly thinned), as well as some others to give a longer consistent bloom season. I've been working with Christopher Lloyd's "Succession Planting" book, trying to adapt the principles to plants that will tolerate Georgia's hot days AND hot nights. (For example, the back is being planted with delphiniums and then Ruellia in one area, and with foxgloves followed by tall white Nicotiana in another).

The long hot dry summer has done great things for this little island bed, where the Mission olive seems quite happy underplanted with Mother of Thyme. The edge is Buxus "Grace Hendicks Phillips," which is a true dwarf; it is painfully slow growing, but hopefully during my lifetime as the Big House gardener it will grow into a solid hedge.

The photo below shows the beatiful color from Blueberries (after all, this is also the vegetable garden).

Lastly, here's the second of the flower beds to get tackled; we've finished most of the stripping, and will hopefully start on the new plantings one this rain stops.

Autumn Color, Part Deux

2010-11-15T08:37:00.000-05:00

It's raining like crazy at the moment, and is expected to continue this way through tomorrow, so I'm sure all of the beautiful autumn leaves will be lying on the ground by Wednesday morning. For the time being, though, it's still looking great outside the window.

Here's one of Japanese Maple "Crimson Queen" yesterday at the Big House. The laceleaf is really fabulous against the very sharp angles of that stone pillar.

Here is that same Crimson Queen next to another (obviously much larger) Japanese Maple. The contrast in color is pretty awesome in my mind.

Plain old Nandina is showing off her stuff at this time of year, as well!

The fruits of Crataegus "Winter King" against the brown of a Dawn Redwood ready to drop it's summer outfit.

This container has three different examples of the same plant. Used to be called "Korean Mum," with "Sheffield" being the most commonly available cultivar. For some reason it is now Dendrathema rubella, and tends to cross-pollinate like crazy. What I love about this is that all of the offspring tend to be different shades of the same color family, so they blend together beautifully. When they go out of bloom, I'll put them into the garden, where they usually live happily for years, and continue to develop into larger mounds. They are very drought tolerant and bloom for several weeks in the fall.

Ivy topiary with "Antique Shades" pansies. In this particular case, it's really all about the Italian terra cotta container.

So far I am loving Camellia x "Winter's Star," which is going bonkers right now. What I find most impressive is that this hedge is in full Western sun, and seems to be just fine! Since it was such a long hot summer this year, I can't wait to see it mature and fill in more.

Autumn Color

2010-11-14T19:27:00.000-05:00

Seasonal color is never really consistent in Atlanta from one year to the next. This year has been better than many of the past few, since it's been really dry. Not all of these photos are autumn foliage, but some interesting things I saw while walking through the garden this morning.

The blooms of Autumn Cherry always seem particularly beautiful to me. (In fact, this is the tree that "Mr" always says "only Tim could love" because it's elderly, covered with lichens, and looks like it has leprosy most of the time.)

Burning Bush off in the distance above the waterfall.

I just love the flowers of Fatsia japonica!

The Festival Grass is now completely dead (it's an annual), but I really like the contrast against the vibrant new pansies. Tomorrow's rain will probably finish it off, and it will need to come out.

The berries of Pyracantha "Mojave" against those of Parneyii Cotoneater.

Tearing out the Perennial Bed

2010-11-10T15:39:00.000-05:00

After a miserably long and hot summer in Atlanta and a delightful trip to see a gazillion gardens in England during September, it became clear to me that it was time to tear out some of the beds at the Big House and revamp them.

The walled garden that surrounds the greenhouse was redesigned and planted by my predecessor about five years ago, and served its purpose well for a few years. The problem, as with many gardens, was that it was planted with lots of "bulletproof" plants that would give the homeowner instant satisfaction. Over the course of a few years, that means that we were overrun with asters, rudbekia, and a few other plants. Another factor was that "Mrs." really likes fine textured foliage, so by late June each year, the garden has been a mass of green stems with fine leaves. Hence the "ruthless thinning" that we are now undertaking.

I'm afraid neither of these photos is great, but it will give you the idea. Since they are also taken at very different times of year, I trust you can use your imagination. I'll post more photos as we progress with this project.

This bottom photo shows us making some real progress with the "demo" stage of things. Gone are the banana shrubs, which have a unique and fragrant flower (as long as you stand on a stepladder on the right day in spring, and the wind is blowing in the right direction). The treehuggers of the group are probably cursing me at the moment, but there simply wasn't room to keep them. Our goal is to make this more of a cutting garden for house flowers, while also having it be an attractive display garden around the greenhouse.

The longer I garden professionally, the more comfortable I become at editing plants that don't produce. As much as I love old fashioned garden phlox, I'll not spend the rest of my summers fighting powdery mildew when there are lots of better cultivars out there. When six purple irises turn into 50, I'm comfortable donating them to a plant sale and don't feel obligated to keep nurturing them, moving them, grooming them, etc. I'm clear that not every plant needs an exquisite bloom.....Canna "Pretoria" adds incredibly to the garden bed and the floral arrangement with or without blooms. On the other hand, I'm happy to plant something to hide the late season peony foliage, because (in my opinion) there are very few flowers that are that beautiful.

We're up to the replanting phase in a couple of the sections, and I'll get photos on Friday. It has been a great project to have three experienced gardeners (including myself) honestly go through the different plant options and justify why a particular plant should be used in the beds. Hopefully it will be as incredible in reality next summer as it is in my mind right now.

Too Much of a Good Thing

2010-11-01T08:33:00.000-04:00

While checking email this morning, there was a photo from Fine Gardening, showing a bed chock full of Verbena bonariensis that a couple had installed in their garden in New York. It looks absolutely beautiful, particularly backed with Solidago. The combination is really pretty fabulous (you'll have to go to their website to see the photo, since it's copyrighted).

This photo is one I took at Merriments Garden Center while we were in England, which puts the infamous verbena in another (equally stunning) setting, playing off the white birches and white sculpture. I was chatting with one of the b & b owners there, and he said they sometimes have difficulty keeping it alive. To that, I say, "Come to Georgia!"

I have Verbena b. in the Stepchild Garden, as well as in the cutting garden at the Big House. Not only does it love being in beds, but it also loves being in cracks in pavement, in the lawn, in the gravel paths, etc. It is a plant that I love, so I'm happy to tolerate its wayward behavior, and just know that throughout the season, I will need to yank out a few seedlings every time I walk through the garden.

It's easy to fall in love with this one.....but make sure you're not thinking it's going to be a "one nighter," because this one is "til death do us part......"

Preparing for Winter

2010-10-31T15:31:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again when the tropicals need to come inside for the winter. Some of them will go back outside next summer in containers; others, like the banana above, are simply too big to (1) move without a crane, or (2) fit in any of the existing containers. This banana grew from a one gallon pot in May to its current size (about 6 feet) sitting at the pool. I put it directly into the ground in the greenhouse, where I'm hoping it will live permanently. In that particular spot, it's very sunny and it's directly under the peak of the roof, so there is about 20 feet of clearance.

All of those plastic containers behind the banana tree are floating plants that we took out of the koi ponds on Friday. They are really marginal for winter hardiness in Atlanta, so I'm going to try overwintering them inside. They multiply faster than hellebores or cleome, but for some reason the garden centers charge $4 to $6 per plant, and I need at least fifty of each (water lettuce and water hyacinth) to look like anything. We'll see what happens. They're going in a prettier container, with a water circulating pump, so hopefully we won't have bug issues.

The bourganvilla, above, also came out of one of the containers at the pool. They do beautifully here in summer, but aren't winter hardy for us. I'm hoping to leave this one in the greenhouse permanently, as well, and that it will start to climb up toward the ceiling. For anyone who hasn't had success with this plant blooming, the secret we learned this year is to keep it jammed in its original pot (from the garden center), and put that pot into the container you're using, along with any other plants. It likes to be rootbound, and fertilized at least once a month to bloom heavily.

Alocasia "Portadora," above, is a favorite of mine. I'm afraid it's at its ultimate height for a container plant here. I'd love to see it grow bigger, but I don't have any other convenient spots in the greenhouse where I can put it directly into the ground. This is one of three that I have from the original bulb purchased two years ago, so it's worth the $25 for the bulb.