GARDENING BEGINS IN JANUARY

One positive thing that the dreadful pandemic that has so profoundly impacted our nation and the world, is a renewed interest in gardening.  Walking about my neighborhood I witnessed so many homeowners doing gardening projects and starting their own vegetable gardens.  As a landscape designer I was also  kept busy with consultations and installations.  

As Elizabeth Lawrence declared in her  A SOUTHERN GARDEN book, there are two months of winter here in central North Carolina -January and February and that even during those months there are many pleasant days to enjoy.  This winter has been mild with no appreciable amounts of snow, but ample rainfall.

My daffodils are already up this year and I've seen some older established ones in bloom in neighbor's gardens.   The blooms on my Prunus mume 'Peggy Clarke ' have formed but several below freezing nights have given them pause.  Edgeworthia, aka, Chinese paperbush is in full bloom and the blooms of the Chinese Snowball Viburnum still linger on the bush .  

Last Fall I edited my backyard boulder garden, removing shrubs that had overwhelmed their space and replacing them with lower-growing evergreens  and long-blooming perennials that give more structure to the garden.  

                            

  A few of my long-blooming perennial  favorites -'purple knight ',  lambs ear, autumn sage, sedum, euphorbia, Japanese roof iris and perennial mums.

I'm pleased to say that my garden now has year round interest with something blooming or evergreen each month of the year.  My plan for this New Year is to plant more wildflowers in the roadside garden, replace a grapevine with an evergreen flowering one  ( Carolina Jessamine ? ) and start vegetables early from seed.  

I also need to work on my frontyard rose garden .  I have tried various cultivars but none have done that well despite planting them in a raised bed with recommended soil preparations.  The Camellias in that bed have done very well and I know there's enough sun for roses .  I have avoided planting the sensational 'Knockout ' roses that are so widely popular because I prefer something out of the ordinary.  Oh well, I haven't given up yet and will attempt once again this New Year with different varieties in my search to find the right one.  

Here's to hopes for a better, brighter New Year in which we defeat and put behind us the devastating  plague of last year.  I wish you good health and happiness.

DECEMBER'S BARENESS EVERYWHERE

 "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

Despite the bareness of December there is still joy to be found in the garden -the fat buds of the Chinese Paper Bush, the Camellias and the Hellebores.  The sedges are still green with life as are the hollies and the ferns.  

                         Edgeworthia chrysantha

                      A most welcome sight in the deep of                                     December

My boulder garden is still filled with textures from the Evergreens and other hardy perennials.

                        Lots of green in December.  The Autumn Sage still has blooms on it .

This last month of the year is time to reflect on the terrible pandemic that affected not only our country but the entire world.   My garden and art have kept me sane and occupied and I am grateful for my children living nearby.

I hope that the New year will bring peace and prosperity for everyone.

A MOST WONDERFUL NOVEMBER

 "November comes And November goes,

With the last red berries

And the first white snows.

With night coming early,

And dawn coming late,

And ice in the bucket

And frost by the gate.

The fires burn

And the kettles sing,

And earth sinks to rest

Until next spring."

-  Elizabeth Coatsworth

A most wonderful November in which summer hung on and the garden flourished with ample rainfall and sunshine.  I believe the weatherman said its one of the warmest on record.

I cleaned up overgrown perennials among my boulders.  I love the purple/chartreuse /red combination of euphorbia, purple heart , yellow mums and red autumn sage.

Of course it's Fall and while it takes the poets to write about the glory of autumn the rest of us have to rake them.   A big THANK YOU to the inventor of the leaf blower !

November also marks my 57th wedding anniversary. It seems only yesterday that we wed and yet here we are, surviving through thick and thin.  We certainly proved the old adage wrong that " East is east and West is west and never the twain shall meet. "

This thanksgiving we were blessed to have it outdoors on a farm in the beautiful countryside.  So happy that all my children and my younger sister live nearby and gathered to celebrate our blessings .

Here in the depth of November and near the end of the year I pray for an end to this plaque that has befallen the entire world.  Will we ever be the same again ?  

Thank goodness for my garden where I can find peace of mind and tranquilty in this topsy-turvey world  !

OCTOBER GOLD

 "The stillness of October gold

Went out like beauty from a face." --  

 E. A. Robinson

My 'Appalachian Spring ' dogwood in her October gold coat.

I love the month of October here in central North Carolina.   There's still a lot of life left in the garden -late blooming asters, mums, viburnum, autumn sage, goldenrod and brazilian verbena .  This year it's so mild that the Lantana is hanging on and the bees and butterflies appreciate that.

 Among the boulders -red autumn sage, golden mums, euphorbia and japanese roof iris.

Unlike the dry, hot , scarce rainfall of last summer we were blessed with ample rainfall and the garden was lusher than usual.  The downside of course is that the weeds also thrive and I've spent many a day trying to eliminate them before they get a foothold.  Creeping Charlie-arggggggh !   Trying to plant everything close together to shade out the weeds and eliminate mulching as much as possible.

This may appear to be a natural forest but everything in front was added by me -viburnums, dogwood, elephant ears, carex , and ajuga add color and texture to my front woodland garden.

October is the month when I  look forward to my camellias blooming.

This is the gorgeous 'hana jiman ' in all her glory.  

Call me picky but I only like white or white with pink tinged Camellias.  They really show up well against their shiny dark green leaves.

Now on to November and usually a month when Fall/Winter really begin.

September's Song

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

Ah September and the days grow shorter and cooler. The birds sing loudly outside my window and  I arise early to begin editing my boulder garden which had become overgrown with exuberant Lantana . 

Since we have such a long growing season here I added more evergreens -Mahonia, Japanese  Ligustrum, Lorepetalum, Mugo Pine and golden privet, to name a few. I also want to be able to see the boulders which are native to this area.

The many birds that visit my garden love the bubbling solar fountain.  I don't feed the birds in the summer but providing water is more important as they are able to easily find lots of insects. I just wish they would devour the Japanese beetles.

I ordered a truckload of compost and topsoil to spread over my newly dug garden bed then I topped it with the leaf and pine needle mulch that had been aging over the winter in my front yard forest.

Rainfall has been abundant this growing season and the roadside meadow garden has flourished without much help from me.

            

              Above :  Brazil Verbena in the background, daisies and artemisia ,

               three prolific colonizers in the meadow garden.

I dislike the roundy/moundy mums sold each Fall at the Garden Center and last season I planted hardy garden mums that are now blooming and  brightening up the garden with their lovely yellow color.  I'm going to add some spider mums this Fall but will have to special order then since they're not available at local garden centers.

'Bolero' hardy garden mum , a prolific bloomer and spreading perennial.

Another Fall favorite is Goldenrod which I combine with purple Asters.

In the vegetable garden I sowed seeds of 5 types of Kale, spinach and Chinese broccoli.  I'm going to add some cabbages and leeks as well.  With the occasional use of row covers the winter veggie garden will thrive.  

I used to dread the coming of October in my Chicago garden as it meant the end of the gardening season but here I look forward to it.

 

AUGUST BRINGS A SAD FAREWELL

 "August rushes by like desert rainfall,

A flood of frenzied upheaval,

Expected,

But still catching me unprepared.

Like a matchflame

Bursting on the scene,

Heat and haze of crimson sunsets.

Like a dream

Of moon and dark barely recalled,

A moment,

Shadows caught in a blink.

Like a quick kiss;

One wishes for more

But it suddenly turns to leave,

Dragging summer away."

-  Elizabeth Maua Taylor 

For five months my sweet gardening companion Duke fought valiantly against the lymphoma that finally took over his tired body.  He went from a super energetic Aussie to barely being able to walk.  He was only 5 years old which makes the loss even greater.  And so on August 26 he crossed the rainbow bridge and I can imagine how he  now runs free and easy through the hills and meadows of  doggie heaven.  He will be greatly missed.

          

       Duke with one of his favorite humans,  Lea.  They grew up together.

This August was very hot but we were blessed with plenty of rain.  Just keeping up with weeding was a chore by itself. 

I enjoy sitting on the deck in the evening and watching the hummingbirds fly around the Lantana they love so much.  Bees are also attracted to this colorful shrub that blooms all summer.

Although August brought a sad farewell to my beloved Duke , I  count my many blessings.  All of my children now live close by and my dear younger sister as well.   It is a great comfort to have them here, especially during this horrible year of the pandemic.

Now that August is "dragging summer away " I look forward to the pleasant days of September.

The Ruby Glow of July

"Loud is the summer's busy song
The smallest breeze can find a tongue,
While insects of each tiny size
Grow teasing with their melodies,
Till noon burns with its blistering breath
Around, and day lies still as death."
-  John Clare, July 

I love the sound of  running water in the garden.  I have three frolicking goldfish in my stock tank pond which is surrounded by banana palms and elephant years that provide much needed shade.

Even though July is suppose to be the rainiest month of the year in North Carolina it has seldom lived up to that label since I've been here.  Last July was one of the hottest and driest on record, but this month I was surprised and pleased that we had ample rainfall, despite 25 consecutive days of above 90.  I only had to water a few times and even then the hot temperatures dried it up.

I have planted several different varieties of azaleas and rhododendrons with no luck.   The intense heat is just too much for many of them even though I planted them in the right conditions.  Finally, I have a winner -I was so delighted to see new growth on my 'Formosa ' azalea.  

The 'formosa' azalea can reach heights of 6-10 feet but can be pruned to the desired size.  It's a very hardy specimen that can take the Southern heat.

Another thing that can't take the Southern heat is my Sweet Aussie Duke, my constant gardening companion who follows me about the garden and inspects every new addition.   This month he reached his 5th birthday but his chances of having another one are very slim due to his lymphoma diagnosis.  I am spending a lot of time making him happy and comfortable and it's very difficult to watch this spirited young one decline before my eyes.

Some good news -my eldest daughter and her hubby have relocated here and live only 6 miles away.  Like her mother, Cathy is an artist and amazing gardener.  The acorn doesn't fall far from the Oak.  Our family is now complete -there's 10 of us for Sunday dinners at my house.  I had to buy a second dining table.