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

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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.