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.  

A HUSHED OCTOBER

 "O hushed October morning mild, Thy leaves have ripened to the fall; 

Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,Should waste them all. 

The crows above the forest call; 

Tomorrow they may form and go. 

O hushed October morning mild, 

Begin the hours of this day slow. 

Make the day seem to us less brief. 

Hearts not averse to being beguiled, 

Beguile us in the way you know. 

Release one leaf at break of day; 

At noon release another leaf; 

One from our trees, one far away."

-   Robert Frost, October

Left to right , stalwarts in my October garden :  Autumn Sage, Japanese roof iris, Hardy mums, euphorbia.

After a long hot dry summer the cooler days of October are most welcome.  Rainfall has been scarce so my watering tasks have increased.

In pursuit of my strategy to have a living mulch I  continued to purchase new perennials to add to the garden.   I especially love the various shades of euphorbia -the 'ascot rainbow ' and 'merlot ' colors are my favorites. I've also planted several varieties of hyssop or "hummingbird mint " which has really done well as have the coneflowers which I have in every color.  An outstanding perennial, "wood's blue aster " has been in continuous bloom since early summer.   I continue to love and plant Dianthus which is sold as an annual but acts like a perennial here in this mild climate.

I have failed, for the third time, to grow a gardenia, despite having  tried 3 different varieties, 3 different locations and suggested soil preparations.  I have given up.  The same with Rhododendrons.  I just tossed out my third failure and planted an azalea instead.

The days grow shorter and there is definitely a hushed October feeling in the Sweet garden.

A SONG OF SEPTEMBER

  

"Try to remember the kind of September

When life was slow and oh so mellow

Try to remember the kind of September

When grass was green and grain so yellow

Try to remember the kind of September

When you were a young and a callow fellow

Try to remember and if you remember

Then follow--follow, oh-oh." 

 In Chicago September was the beginning of the end of summer but here in Central N.C. it is still warm although the nights are getting cooler.  The ample rainfall of July has long past and it has been a long, dry, hot summer.

I have turned my attention to the neglected vegetable garden to prepare it for the Fall planting.  Tomatoes are long gone and all that remain is green peppers.  Below are seeds that I'm planting for cool season crops.  In addition I have also planted some collard greens.  I haven't been able to find my favorite savoy cabbage yet, but its a favorite.

In the perennial garden I've found some unusual flowers to add :  'matchstick' mum, long-blooming pink wood asters to go with my blues, aralia, brazilian verbena,  'goldrush' blackeyed susans, and more dianthus.  

I've tried to get coral bells to bloom in a semi-shady area but they just don't seem to like our southern heat.  Only one cultivar -'caramel ' has survived and thrived.  I love it's color.

I'm a middle child so giving up is not something I easily do -I'm on my third attempt to grow a gardenia, something that many other gardeners find very simple.   My local garden center advised that I try adding a bio-starter when planting and so far, fingers crossed, it seems to be working.   Hoping to see some blooms next season.

Onward and upward to Fall -the real Fall of the leaves and those of us  who rake them !

 

THE SILENCE OF AUGUST

 

August

• 
• 
• 
• 

Helen Hunt Jackson

Silence again. The glorious symphony
Hath need of pause and interval of peace.
Some subtle signal bids all sweet sounds cease,
Save hum of insects’ aimless industry.
Pathetic summer seeks by blazonry
Of color to conceal her swift decrease.
Weak subterfuge! Each mocking day doth fleece
A blossom, and lay bare her poverty.
Poor middle-agèd summer! Vain this show!
Whole fields of golden-rod cannot offset
One meadow with a single violet;
And well the singing thrush and lily know,
Spite of all artifice which her regret
Can deck in splendid guise, their time to go!

       August superstars :  Korean mums and Autumn Joy sedum.  Dianthus has been in continuous bloom since Spring.

As usual August was hot and dry and the rains of July are a mere memory.  Judicious watering of thirsty plants that demanded it occupied much of my time.  I have strived to plant drought-tolerant perennials and annuals but even they had much to complain about.

The first one to fold her dropping leaves is the Chinese paperbush Edgeworthia, closely followed by the azaleas and rhododendrons.  

The only fruit ripening now is the trusty Japanese persimmon 'fuyu', shown below.   This little dwarf tree is full of fruit that will need another month to harvest.

The perennial Korean mums are starting to bud and the second blooming of the Autumn sage which hummingbirds visit daily.

Soon it will be September and time for adding and subtracting in the garden.  I want to add more pollinator's favorites such as Salvias,  Goldenrod and Agastache to the roadside garden.    

MUMS IN JULY , OH MY !

 

The gardening season this year began in February and since then many plants have bloomed much earlier than usual.  The asters were very early as were the mums, pictured above.   The red autumn sage bloomed in early March and has been in continuous bloom all summer.  The hummers, of course, love them.

I love blackeyed Susans but the variety 'goldstrum' gets too leggy by the time it blooms in July.  I found two new varieties -one petite and the other named 'American goldrush ' at the local garden center.  I'm going to dig out all the blackeyed Susans and transplant them to the roadside meadow garden this Fall.

The coneflowers I planted last year are blooming beautifully and need little attention.  I have them in pink, yellow and orange.

When I planted 'sunshine' privet a few years ago it was hardly noticeable.  I love the way it has grown rather quickly and the color it keeps year round adds lots of color and cheer all season.

I'm trying to add more silver accents and the Spanish lavender ( foreground ) seems to like it on my rocky slope as the soil is well -drained.

For reasons unknown the Japanese beetles seem to be less this year , which is a miracle as I'm usually fighting them for most of the summer.

July is the rainest month of the year here in central North Carolina but this year not so much.  A few days ago we had a deluge of 2 "  !   

I have a lot of birdhouses throughout my front forest and backyard garden and love watching them build their nests and raise their young.  Some of the birds are on their 3rd family.