Life and Death in November

 

...   "

And then I think of one who in her youthful beauty died 

The fair meek blossom that grew up and faded by my side.

In the cold moist earth we laid her 

down when the forests cast the last leaf And we wept that one so lovely should have a life so brief: 

Yet not unmeet it was that one like that young friend of ours 

So gentle and so beautiful should perish with the flowers. " William cullens Bryant 

November 1st was to be a day of celebration as my husband and I marked our 61st wedding anniversary.  To our deep regret it was also a day of sadness as our beautiful niece Cindy who was more like our 3rd daughter, passed away from a long, arduous battle with cancer. 

In Cindy's memory I am going to plant a butterfly garden in the Spring.  A butterfly symbolizes transformation and beauty in such a short-lived life. Their brief appearances and delicate nature also represent the fleeting nature of life.

In my butterfly garden I am going to plant a deer and rabbit resistant mixture of wildflowers as well as long-blooming, tall zinnias, agastache, butterfly bush, goldenrod, and butterfly weed. I already have one of the best butterfly attracting flowers -Lantana.  

Each time I see a butterfly I will think of you, Cindy, and the beauty you brought to us in your short life.

The Second Driest October on Record

 "October is nature's funeral month.  Nature glories in death more than in life.  The month of departure is more beautiful than the month of coming - October than May.  Every green thing loves to die in bright colors."

-   Henry Ward Beecher  

Despite the lack of rain this month my drought-tolerant autumn sage and Korean mums are thriving.  This season has been feast or famine -the terrible floods that struck disaster to Western North Carolina and now, the second driest October on record.  I've lost count of how many notices I've received from the water department on my unusually high use of water.  

Summer-like weather has continued and the lack of rain prevents me from adding plants to the garden.  I miss my purple asters which were eaten by my neighbor's rabbit.  I purchased some netting and sealed off it's entry in the chain-link fence that separates our yards.  

I'm praying for rain and a cooler November.

  

    My 'sheffield ' mums attract many types of bees and will continue their blooms into November.

A September to Remember

 "By all these lovely tokens 

September days are here,

With summer’s best of weather

And autumn’s best of cheer."

-   

Helen Hunt Jackson, September, 1830-1885

After a very hot, dry August we were bless with ample rainfall.   In September I review  the garden and make notes of what I want to grow for the next season.  The plants have really struggled with the summer drought but the hardy ones made it through.  First we had too much rain, followed by very little rain and extreme temperatures.  My beautiful Daphne 'odoro ' succumbed to sudden death  syndrome which I think was from the excess rain.

Disaster struck North Carolina's western area with Hurricane Helene's floods destroying entire towns and killing many poor, rural area residents.   It's so heartbreaking to look at the damage that was done.  This is a very unusual event as hurricanes are not common in the mountains.  Thankfully many people and organizations through out the country have come to the aid of the flood victims.

On a visit to the garden center I spied an unusual variegated Lorepetalum, aka, Chinese fringe flower , and decided to get it for a partly sunny area.

     

       'Jazz Hands ' Lorepetalum has gorgeous variegated foilage that's evergreen.  In the Spring the bright red fringe flowers appear.  It is a hardy carefree shrub.

Since my backyard garden has matured I can now turn my attention to the roadside garden that fronts my driveway.  I've already planted it with deer and rabbit-resistant plantings but want to add more bee and butterfly perennials with a long-blooming season.

Just a few of my deer and rabbit-resistant  perennials in the roadside borders-Shasta daisies, wormwood and Brazilian verbena.  

In addition , yarrow, autumn sage, little bluestem, lantana, rosemary, oregano, goldenrod, black and blue salvia,  mums, carex, japanese roof iris and catmint have survived with little attention.

I ordered one thousand seeds of 'Robinson's red ' mum, picture above, and will sow them in late April/early May.  This is a long-blooming, stunning perennial.

Looking forward to the cooler days of October, a wonderful month in the garden.

The Song of August

 "The brilliant poppy flaunts her head

Amidst the ripening grain,

And adds her voice to sell the song

That August's here again."

-  Helen Winslow

               

 A corner of my boulder garden with Autumn Sage, Korean mums and Euphorbia.

 

Surprisingly August brought much needed rain after a very dry July.   To my dismay I discovered all of my asters were chomped down to the ground by a neighbor's rabbit.  I had to teach my gardening buddy the Schnoodle Odie the word "rabbit " and now he dives among all the plants to try to catch it.   The rabbits from the neighbor's yard can squeeze through the tiny openings in a chain-link fence !  Now I need to come up with a more effective strategy to deter them.  This is war !

We are still having one of the hottest summers on record with daily temperatures in the upper 90's.  Although I water deeply but not frequently some plants just can't take the Southern summer heat.  The hellebores that line my driveway beds had many leaves turn brown and die but as they were already thick and needed thinning out.

I also lost a dogwood and an azalea to the heat but overall most of my plants survived.

The hummingbirds continue to seek out their favorite flowers -autumn sage is their choice and it is very long-blooming .  I decided to add two nectar feeders for them and they are now swarming around their new found source.

Another pest I discovered in the garden is voles.  I'm spraying with a mixture of castor oil and cayenne in an effort to stop these destructive varmints.

I see that the extended forecast for this September is quite delightful with a lot of cooler days and nights which will give me a chance to replace lost plants and add new ones.

FEAST AND FAMINE IN THE JULY GARDEN

 

"The Summer looks out from her brazen tower,
Through the flashing bars of July."
-  Francis Thompson, A Corymbus for Autumn  

Record-setting heat in June with little to no rain.  Prayers for rain this July, which is usually the rainest month here in central North Carolina, were finally answered . We had so much rain that many areas were flooded, but the thirsty garden was glad to have it.

The many coneflowers and Black-eyed Susans sprung forth with their cheerful colors.

My roadside garden flourished despite the excessive heat followed by drenching rain.

This will be an expensive month when the bills come in for irrigation and air conditioning !

On a more positive note, for the second year in a row I've noticed fewer Japanese beetles. Unfortunately there's a new pest in the Sweet Garden -rabbits from the neighbors yard.  I've taught my mini-schoodle the word squirrel and now I need to introduce rabbit to his vocabulary of pests to chase.  

THE ROSY MONTH OF JUNE

 

 June is the month of roses, often called, the " queen of flowers . "  I planted roses in memory of my dear departed mother who loved them.  Above is the famous 'Knockout ' that was sensational when it made its debut some years ago, due to its continuous bloom and these do, indeed live up to their reputation.

Saw this new purple colored candytuft ( they are usually white only ) and of course I had to have it.  It seems to love my boulder garden and has spread it's beauty quite rapidly.

June is usually a lovely month, weather-wise, but we broke a number of records for hottest temperatures on record.  Many 100 degree days !  In addition, rain was very scarce.  I've spent a great deal of time just watering and I know I'll probably get the largest water bill ever !

Needed a little punch of color in a corner and added this redhot poker plant.  I've seen it in a lot of gardens but its the first time I'm planting it in mine. 

Praying for rain as this very hot dry June ends.

 

MAY DAY

 May Day

• 
• 
• 
• 

A delicate fabric of bird song
  Floats in the air,
The smell of wet wild earth
  Is everywhere.

Red small leaves of the maple
  Are clenched like a hand,
Like girls at their first communion
  The pear trees stand.

Oh I must pass nothing by
  Without loving it much,
The raindrop try with my lips,
  The grass with my touch;

For how can I be sure
  I shall see again
The world on the first of May
  Shining after the rain?

-Sara Teasdale

 How did it happen that this first day of May finds me celebrating my 80th year of living on God's green earth?!   I thank God for allowing me to continue tending  my little piece of Eden in good health, surrounded by my family and friends.  My older sister Wilma  ( below, center) came down from Chicago to join the celebration.  My younger sister Linda  ( right ) moved from Chicago to Chapel Hill several years ago.

May is a very eventful month with my birthday, two of my children's as well and Mother's day.  It's also a great month to begin the gardening year in earnest.

In our mild climate the garden actually begins to wake up in March and due to the ample rainfall we've had this year it is especially lush.  Early blooming perennials are dianthus, Japanese iris, daffodils, tulips, and phlox.

80 is the new 60 and I plan to continue both gardening and painting 'til I no longer can.  

Looking forward to June and the beginning of Summer.

A DANCING APRIL

"How many million Aprils came

before I ever knew

how white a cherry bough could be,

a bed of squills, how blue

And many a dancing April

when life is done with me,

will lift the blue flame of the flower

and the white flame of the tree

Oh burn me with your beauty then,

oh hurt me tree and flower,

lest in the end death try to take

even this glistening hour..."

- Sara Teasdale, Blue Squills, 1920

Each year my garden amazes me as it , like me, grows older. This April has brought forth many blooms due to an unusually warm Spring.  

We had a week of below freezing weather in late December/early January and many plants were nipped in the bud.  I thought my Lady Banks rose was dead but the warmth of April brought forth its lovely blooms.  This is an old Southern favorite that actually originates from China, and the only evergreen, thornless rose.

This April has not lived up to its reputation of being the rainy month.  

Another plant I thought was dead made a late appearance in a shady corner of my garden :  Kerria japonica, or Chinese rose.  It's cheerful yellow color is a Spring delight.

March and April are filled with dancing daffodils and tulips.  Colorful creeping phlox and dianthus add cheerful color to the Spring show as do the prolific Japanese roof iris.

And now onward and upward to the merry month of May and its many delights !

MARCH MADNESS

Dear March, come in!

How glad I am!

I looked for you before.

Put down your hat —

You must have walked —

How out of breath you are!

Dear March, how are you?

And the rest?

Did you leave Nature well?

Oh, March, come right upstairs with me,

I have so much to tell!

I got your letter, and the birds';

The maples never knew

That you were coming, — I declare,

How red their faces grew!

But, March, forgive me —

And all those hills

You left for me to hue;

There was no purple suitable,

You took it all with you.

Who knocks? That April!

Lock the door!

I will not be pursued!

He stayed away a year, to call

When I am occupied.

But trifles look so trivial

As soon as you have come,

That blame is just as dear as praise

                            And praise as mere as blame.

                                           -Emily Dickinson

Spring arrived very early and well before its official calendar date  thus many plants awoke from their winter  rest.   Daffodils,  Japanese iris, hellebores, edgeworthia, azaleas and dianthus added their beautiful colors to the sea of green.  

March rain was ample and I didn't have to water even once.

                     

I love this early-blooming,  low-growing Japanese iris that appears in March and spreads its beauty through-out the garden.  After it blooms, I divide and share them with family and friends.

The fragrant yellow blooms of Edgeworthia are a welcome Spring sight.

I am so thankful to be living where I can garden all year.

February Flowers

 

"The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size."

-  Gertrude S. Wister

Daffodils are the first  perennial flowers of February to appear. I need to plant different variety of bulbs such as early tulips and some purple hyacinth to compliment them.  Plans for Fall !  

Thus far the weatherman was right - a milder than usual winter with no snow and only a few days of below freezing weather in January.  Some of my early blooming shrubs were affected but should recover with time.  My evergreen 'Lady Banks' rose did not appreciate the cold temperatures and reacted by losing its leaves.  I doubt that it will bloom this year.

This beautiful winter flowering Daphne 'odora ' has a very fragrant smell and is a welcome sight this time of year.

Viburnum 'spring bouquet ' is another amazing evergreen shrub in bloom this month.  It is both drought resistant and blooms several times during the season.

Although they don't bloom until March/April the year-round colorful foliage of my Euphorbias are a welcome sight.  I have two varieties .

'ascot rainbow ' above

                                     

                                    'blackbird ' above

As Spring officially begins next month I am eager to greet it in my garden.   I'm so lucky to be living in this mild climate where its possible to garden year round.

JANUARY AND BIG DREAMS FOR THE GARDEN YEAR

 He Knows No Winter

By Sudie Stuart Hager

He knows no winter, he who loves the soil,

For, stormy days, when he is free from toil,

He plans his summer crops, selects his seeds

From bright-paged catalogues for garden needs.

When looking out upon frost-silvered fields,

He visualizes autumn's golden yields;

He sees in snow and sleet and icy rain

Precious moisture for his early grain;

He hears spring-heralds in the storm's turmoil­

He knows no winter, he who loves the soil.

The sweet smelling blooms of Prunus mume 'peggy clarke ' is the first pollinator that attracts many honey bees and is a welcome sight in the midst of January.

January, in keeping with the weatherman's prediction for an El Nino winter, has been very mild.    We had a week of freezing temperatures and I worried that my 'Peggy Clarke ' blooms would be nipped in the bud, but it survived.

Another welcome sight in January are the many hellebores that I planted in my frontyard forest.

These are the quick spreading ones but there are new cultivars that are sterile and have more upward facing blooms.  I keep mine under control by dividing and giving many away to friends and neighbors.  The hellebores are prolific bloomers that last for at least two months and they are evergreen and deer proof.

The deer will eat tulips but leave daffodils and aliums alone ,  The cheerful yellow blooms of my early-blooming daffodils are another January delight and I love that they colonize and fill the forest with their golden flowers.

This first month of the year also inspires plans for adding new additions to the garden.  Last year I added coneflowers and some Euphorbias that did very well.  For more summer flowering perennials I plan to add a dwarf variety of blackeyed Susans that have a long bloom period as well as 'woods blue ' Asters that bloom from Summer to Fall.  

My goal is to continue to add enough perennials to cover the ground so that they shade out weeds and mulch is not needed.    The garden gets plenty of natural mulch with the fallen leaves and pine needles .

Even in January my garden has a lot of interest in both blooming plants and foliage and it makes my heart glad that I transitioned from the long, cold winters of Chicago to the warm sunny South.  To be able to garden year round is better than any medicine.  

OLD DECEMBER'S BARENESS

"How like a winter hath my absence been From thee,

 the pleasure of the fleeting year!

What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!

What old December’s bareness every where!

And yet this time remov’d was summer’s time;

The teeming autumn, big with rich increase,

Bearing the wanton burden of the prime,

Like widow’d wombs after their lords’ decease:

Yet this abundant issue seem’d to me

But hope of orphans and unfather’d fruit;

For summer and his pleasures wait on thee,

And, thou away, the very birds are mute:

Or, if they sing, ’tis with so dull a cheer,

That leaves look pale, dreading the winter’s near."

- William Shakespeare, How Like a Winter Hath my Absence Been (Sonnet 97)

The last month of the year has come so fast.  The leaves have all fallen and the trees and shrubs are bare .   I spend December going over the garden to check what bare spots need filling come Spring.   More Euphorbia is definitely on my list of 

" must haves ".   The newer colorful varieties are a challenge to grow but as they die I have replaced them with kind, hoping to find a spot they like.  So far they have endured the summer heat and Fall chill.

 

The remains of Autumn -Euphorbia 'ascot rainbow ', Japanese Iris, Autumn sage,  and hardy mums are the longest blooming flowers that often survive into early December, depending of course on the weather .  

I have all but given up on growing Gardenias and Rhododendrons .  I thought that my third attempt was charm but alas, it too sucumbed.  I have tried all varieties and different spots, soil, etc. to no avail.  Meanwhile my neighbor has a 10 year old 10 ' tall gardenia that I'm sure is taunting me.

Although the trees and shrubs are mostly bare there remains a lot of potential in the December garden -Edgeworthia has some buds, Euphorbias its colorful dress, Autumn sage decked out in red,  lavender is a beautiful silver and the late flowering Japanese mum has tiny yellow button shaped flowers.  

Advanced age has not detered me from gardening and as long as I can walk, bend and lift I will continue to do so.  I am looking forward to a new year filled with promise and new plants.  I'm also excited to seeing the rare appearance of a blooming tree in mid-January  ( below ) -Prunus mume 'peggy clarke '.  I love it so much I have two.  

Farewell December !

THE MUSIC OF NOVEMBER

"The wind that makes music in November corn is in a hurry. The stalks hum,the loose husks whisk skyward in half-playing swirls, and the wind hurries on....
A tree tries to argue, bare limbs waving, but there is no detaining the wind."

- Aldo Leopold

November is a busy month both in the garden and in my artists studio and I am behind in my blog posts. The first two weekends I host an open studio that has hundreds of visits from the entire county residents.  As visitors walk to the entrance of my studio through the garden they are awed by the view of November's rich colors and blooms.

       

           Above,  left to right :  Autumn sage, Japanese iris, Hardy mums and Euphorbia grace the November garden.

The long-blooming Coneflowers and Asters are gone but the lovely Dianthus is still flowering.  I  added more Euphorbias and Coreopsis in early Fall and some new varieties of Blackeyed Susan.

My  favorite  'hana jiman ' Camellia ( below ) was very prolific this year and the blooms lasted a long time.  One of the South's favorites, Camellias can be seen around town in so many different colors. 

The weather forecast is predicting a warm winter and thus far it seems to be rather mild.  A few days of below freezing but daytime temperatures are in the high 50's and 60's .

Now onward to the last month of the year.