DECEMBER'S FINAL CALL

December is the beginning of the end in my garden.  I've shredded all the fallen leaves and pine needles and applied them to all the beds.

The roadside wildflower garden continues to bloom despite some cold nights and lots of rain.

My mahonia , aka, Oregon grape is blooming.

I love its cheerful yellow blooms and artistic sculpture like structure.

On warm days I sit and enjoy what I have created.

On this last month of the year the garden still looks very much alive but I know that it can change in the blink of an eye.  Meanwhile I have cabbage, kale and mustard greens growing in my veggie garden.  My camellia japonica has buds on it and my flowering apricot will bloom sometime in February .  

While I tend to hang up the trowel this month there's always the possibility that this will be a mild winter.  One can only hope.   

NOVEMBER IN THE SWEET GARDEN

The roadside garden is still going strong this November.  The Muhly grass has finally begun its show with the pink plumes and the Robinson red mums added a much needed spot of red color to the  yellows, oranges, purples and white .

These zinnias performed beautifully through the summer drought and flood and are still showing off their beautiful orange blooms.

Lavender 'provence ' also took the drought well and bloomed several times.  THe lovely light purple asters are late bloomers in the Fall garden.  

Painted a dead tree turquoise and installed it by my new birdhouse.

Delighted to see Rodgersia , aka, Rodger's Flower is thriving and sent up a stalk with a bud as if it couldn't wait to bloom.

Added Lorepetalum, a brilliant purple leafed evergreen, an Asian pear '20th century ', oakleaf hydrangeas, Southern wax myrtle,  two blueberries, anemones, ferns, hostas, kerria japonica and bear's britches to the back garden.  Added some sage and bay leaf to the herb garden and kale in the vegetable garden.

It's too warm now but I am thinking of adding more bulbs such as tulips, alliums and daffodils .  Meanwhile I am just going to relax and enjoy this mild November weather that we've been blessed with.

SEPTEMBER'S SONG

Finally my new deer proof fence is installed and I'm a happy gardener.  I just planted 9 savoy cabbages and will continue to develop my Fall / Winter veggie garden.  

Another new addition to the Sweet Garden is my sweet puppy.  Duke, 8 weeks old, is a Miniature Australian Shepherd.  He is a little fluffy bear cub with a sweet personality.

Of course having a new puppy is not much different than having an infant in the house but before you know it he'll be tagging along with me in the newly fenced in garden where he'll be taught a flower from a weed.

The 'Miss Huff " Lantana was spectacular as usual despite the hot dry summer and many swallowtails and hummers found them delightfully delicious as well.    The roadside wildflower garden flourished with coreopsis, milkweed, blanket flowers, sages, Joe Pye weed, goldenrod and ornamental grasses, to name a few.

 Monarch butterflies found their way to my garden to lay their eggs on my milkweed.  

The boulder garden is filling in nicely as well.  I had to bring in 5 yards of fill dirt to grade some low areas in the backyard where my veggie garden will be.

Fall has arrived and September is departing.  Where did the time go ?   Looking forward to October and cooler weather to garden in .

AWFUL AUGUST IN THE SWEET GARDEN

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August

When my eyes are weeds,

And my lips are petals, spinning

Down the wind that has beginning

Where the crumpled beeches start

In a fringe of salty reeds;

When my arms are elder-bushes,

And the rangy lilac pushes

Upward, upward through my heart;

Summer, do your worst!

Light your tinsel moon, and call on

Your performing stars to fall on

Headlong through your paper sky;

Nevermore shall I be cursed

By a flushed and amorous slattern,

With her dusty laces' pattern

Trailing, as she straggles by

-Dorothy Parker

August was dry, dry, dry and the temperatures were high so whatever watering I did was quickly absorbed.  To conserve water I added compost with biochar which is supposed to cut down on moisture loss.  I also covered the beds with a layer of pine needles and leaf mulch.

Meanwhile much to my delight I discovered that the endangered Monarch butterfly had discovered my milkweed that I planted last year.  I counted at least 8 caterpillars.

I started laying out the herb garden even though my backyard fence is not going to be installed until early September.  The deer and rabbits don't seem to like the herbs but they have devastated my tomatoes .

Despite the lack of rain this month the woodland garden which is partly shady has continued to thrive.  I added some colorful birds from a local artisan to provide some much needed color and whimsy.

The last day of August brought relief in a drenching overnight rain that saturated the garden and filled the rain barrels.

Farewell to August and welcome September !

A BLUE JULY IN THE SWEET HOME AND GARDEN

The roadside garden with a mixture of coreopsis, lavender, cosmos, lantana, allysum, yarrow, lambs ear, marigolds, salvia , rose campion, sneezeweed, goldenrod, cardinal flower, delpheniums, gaura, muhly grass , and milkweed, to name a few, continued to thrive  and garner so many compliments from passersby.

Tragedy struck  in mid-July when my little canine companion of 14 years, Mini-Schnauzer Jojo had to be put to sleep due to an inoperable brain tumor that caused her to have constant seizures.    Below is a picture of her in our Chicago home, in her favorite chair, checking out the action on our busy street and barking selectively at people she didn't like.  She is gone from our side but never from our heart. I spent the last day of her life consoling and soothing her, giving her favorite treats .  The vet told me that I took such good care of her that she lived 2 years longer than most of her breed .  Farewell my faithful companion.  We shall meet again.

 I was fortunate to find a piece of whimsical art for my garden produced from recycled materials by a local  artist. Birds are a common theme in my woodland garden with many birdhouses, feeders and birdbaths.  

I am enjoying watching my young garden mature .  Despite the many challenges of gardening here in the Piedmont - deer, rabbit, clay, drought, etc.  I love my woodland cottage garden .  A small house and a big garden is my dream come true.  

Now August approaches and I have many plans for the Sweet Garden.  A new fence will be installed in my backyard so that I can garden without worrying about critters eating everything.  I will start my vegetable garden and add plants that I love but couldn't have due to deer.  I used to dread Fall because I knew that a harsh Chicago winter was ahead, but here you can garden all year. The sight of  Camellias and Flowering Apricots in Winter cheer my very soul.   And , what I planted this year - 4 dogwoods, viburnums and magnolia will be wonderful in Spring.  

And to end this Blue July tonight  there will be a blue moon.  

JUNE AND SUMMER BEGINS

     
         Once school is out we head up to the Outer Banks on the Atlantic for a short vacation with our daughters and granddaughter.
         



June was a busy month in the garden and due to lackof rain and hot humid days I fussed over my new plantings with extra water and an added layer of mulch.

My roadside wildflower garden did well despite the lack of rain and most plants were drought-and-deer resistant.  I added a heavy layer of shredded leaves and pine needles to preserve moisture.

The birds were very busy building nests in the boxes and houses I put up.  This little wren laid five eggs.  A beautiful American Goldfinch occupied another house and had a small brood.  I supply them with food and water so it makes their parenthood easier.

Much to my delight the seeds of this Robinson's Red Mum not only sprouted but bloomed this month.  How great to have mums in the summer !  

I made of list of the plants that deer and rabbits have not browsed for the past two years :   Pink Astilibe, Bergenia, ajuga, daffodils, ferns, red buckeye, cannas, hellebores, coreopsis, Japanese iris, Florida anise, lavender,ornamental grasses, rosemary, salvia, yarrow, verbascum, zinnia, and other herbs.

This month I will finally have a fence installed in my backyard so that I can enjoy gardening without fighting the deer and rabbit.  I plan to construct a round flagstone patio near the boulder garden and plant an ornamental kitchen garden .

Farewell June.  You have been a brutal month to deal with in the garden but it appears that July's forecast is to be cooler than you were.  

The Merry Merry Month of May

 THE month of May, the merry month of May,
So frolic, so gay, and so green, so green, so green!
O, and then did I unto my true love say,
Sweet Peg, thou shalt be my Summer's Queen.

Now the nightingale, the pretty nightingale,
The sweetest singer in all the forest quire,
Entreats thee, sweet Peggy, to hear thy true love's tale:
Lo, yonder she sitteth, her breast against a brier.

But O, I spy the cuckoo, the cuckoo, the cuckoo;
See where she sitteth; come away, my joy:
Come away, I prithee, I do not like the cuckoo
Should sing where my Peggy and I kiss and toy.

O, the month of May, the merry month of May,
So frolic, so gay, and so green, so green, so green;
And then did I unto my true love say,
Sweet Peg, thou shalt be my Summer's Queen 

Oh how I love the month of May being a May Day girl and having two children with birthdays  this month .  And not to forget Mother's Day when there's no question as to what Momma would like and so more plants for the garden arrive .

May is also the month that summer comes full force with sunnier and drier days.

The blue blooms of Ajuga 'chocolate chip ' in the boulder garden.  I purchased dwarf rudbeckia  and gold profusion zinnia to add some yellow .  Soon the dianthus will bloom and add a rosy color.  The great thing about ajuga is how it spreads .  It can be easily divided and planted in other areas where a beautiful groundcover is desired.

The roadside garden plantings returned from last season and has started to fill in nicely.  I purchased 6 each of  red and yellow tomato twist supports to add a little whimsy .  I  also  planted 'redrocks' penstemons, lantana,  golden rod and some passalong canna lilies.

I know that dear love azaleas so I experimented with two 'nova zembla ' rhododendrons and they haven't touched them.  They bloomed beautifully .  Of course I sprayed them with deer repellent for extra insurance.

I have been struggling to dig in the hard rocky clay soil in my garden and decided to try the old fashioned pick axe as we used to call it.  It's officially know as a mattock.  After breaking several hoes and shovels I find this the best way to dig hardpan soil.  Now I can add my custom blend of topsoil to the native soil when I plant perennials , annuals and vegetables.

I am entertaining bids on a privacy deer deterrent wood fence around my backyard so I haven't planted many vegetables yet.  I have two tomatoes surrounded by spring onions and garlic chives and so far the deer and rabbits have avoided them.  According to the latest research the most effective deer and rabbit spray has dried blood and rotten eggs in it so I'm switching to Repels All by Bonide.  This tends to keep people away for a few hours as well .

In the woodland garden I am continuing to add my favorite Autumn fern and I found another one with burgundy stems and a chartruese frond called 'lady eared .'  At last count I have over 35 ferns .  I'm also collecting Hellebores as they are evergreen, beautiful, and the deer don't touch them or the ferns.

Have been looking for a rosy pink campanula and finally found one.  She's a beauty and her name is 'ringsabell mulberry rose. '  I've added her to the woodland garden.

Another find is Peacock Spikemoss which I added to my front rock garden .

Even though it was pricey at $12 for a tiny container I had to have the Chinese wild ginger for a shady nook in the woodland garden.  It spreads nicely and I love its colorful foliage.

As you can imagine May is a very busy month in the garden.  Millions of pine and box elder seedling have to be eradicated with a hoe , new plantings kept watered and shredded leaves and pine needles added as mulch .  

Tomorrow begins a new month , school will soon be out and it's time to hit the beaches of the beautiful Outer Banks along the Atlantic in Kitty Hawk where I look forward to spending time with my wonderful daughters and family.