a charlotte garden

Green Swamp Preserve

2015-06-17T15:56:00.000-04:00

Last week the weather was blessedly cooler than normal for mid-June, and my husband and I drove up to the Green Swamp Preserve from Ocean Isle Beach, just to see what we could see.

Brunswick County, North Carolina is home to more rare species (112) than any other county in the state, and a total of over 400 vascular plant species have been identified there.

The borrow pit pond you see here is ringed with our first exciting find...sundew!

See the reddish "grass?" That is the sundew. This is a spoonleaf type (Drosera intermedia?), but there are threadleaf sundews as well. (We missed those this time.)

Insects stick to the droplets on the "spoons" and then the plant rolls up around them. Inside these Drosera death cocoons, their guts are dissolved and absorbed, helping the plant satiate its appetite for nitrogen.

Sundew was so thick in some areas, it was hard to avoid stepping on it. Will they dissolve your toes? I'll never tell.

Speaking of which, do not wear flip-flops to the Green Swamp. I don't need to tell you that, do I? I saw someone hiking around a waterfall in high heels at Yosemite last summer, so I thought I would mention it, just in case. It's not wet in the savannas where you will likely spend most of your time, but you need good coverage because of the brush and insects. And the sundews.

~*~

The Green Swamp Preserve, Wildlife South - An excellent article about visiting the swamp. Wish I had read it before I went!

While we wait …

2015-03-06T11:06:00.000-05:00

I hope today is the last blast of winter around here, but while we all wait for warmer temperatures and time in our gardens, we can take a look at The Herb Lover's Spa Book, and maybe use the time indoors to make something special for ourselves or someone else.

This little book by Sue Goetz is subtitled, "Create a Luxury Spa Experience at Home with Fragrant Herbs from Your Yard." It might inspire you to plant more herbs this spring in addition to giving you something to make right now.

The simplicity of the recipes is a plus. Few call for more than three or four ingredients, or as many steps. This makes it easy to personalize and adapt the recipes in any number of ways to suit yourself.

I'll be making the Lavender Heat Pillow (above left) first thing. I have a drug store equivalent which gets daily use, but which doesn't look as pretty or smell as nice. I love the idea of making my own. Rice, lavender buds, and a towel or bit of fabric, and I can have as many as I want for very little money. Just pop into the microwave for a minute to warm it and make it release its soothing fragrance.

There are also body splashes and bath soaks and teas, foot scrubs and hand cream and body oils. But recipes are only about half of the book.

I enjoyed Sue Goetz' thoughtful observations about the spa experience, garden design, defining herbs, and the history of natural cosmetics. There are tips on selecting plants, and a list of 19 favorites with culture and use notes. She has packed a lot into this 8 1/2 x 6 inch, 172 page book—it's herb growing and crafting made relevant for today. And it's pretty, too.

~*~

The Herb Lover's Spa Book by Sue Goetz, St. Lynn's Press (2015), 172 pages, $18.95

I was given a copy to review if I wanted to, which I did, because I like it and think you will, too.

You're thinking about Spring, aren't you?

2015-02-07T11:36:00.000-05:00

The New Southern Living Garden Book
Oxmoor House, 768 pages, $34.95

Of course you are! It's so exciting when the days lengthen and we get a few warmish days in January and February. Gardening in the South definitely has its rewards, and an early Spring is one of them. While you're outside this weekend in the nearly 70 degree temperatures that are predicted (and we know the meteorologists are always right), think about where you might want to add some new plants to your garden.

To help you with that plant list, I have a recommendation: The New Southern Living Garden Book. There are more than 8,000 flowers, vegetables, trees, shrubs and vines in there! It's the kind of book you could get completely lost in once the temperatures plummet again and you're back inside waiting for another warm-up.

Besides the extensive list of plants, there are fabulous pictures of inspiring gardens all across our area.

Spider lilies underneath the pecan trees at the home of Virginia Sue Barr in Oak Ridge, Louisiana

Fall in the Asheville, NC garden of Peter and Jasmin Gentling

There are sections on gardening in containers, growing herbs, pruning, growing annuals, perennials, bulbs, and lawns.

I was excited to see that there are many excellent native plants in this guide, as well. Every two page spread seems to have one or more. Very cool.

Editor Steve Bender, whom you might know as "The Grumpy Gardener," explains in the book's introduction, "This revised book is bigger and showier than its predecessors, but its aim hasn't waivered – serve a wide range of both beginning and experienced gardeners. Its pages represent Southern Living's 50-years of gardening know-how plus the insights of an all-star roster of renowned horticulturalists who reviewed its pages for accuracy."

It would be hard to imagine a gardener in the South who wouldn't want The New Southern Living Garden Book. For reference or inspiration, this is a "can't go wrong" sort of purchase.

~*~

Southern Living provided a copy of The New Southern Living Garden Book to me, free of charge. I was not under obligation to review it. I have expressed my true opinion in the post above.

Summer Wrap-Up: Portland, Day 3, Part 1

2014-09-23T13:22:00.002-04:00

Portland Japanese Garden

The Japanese Garden in Portland is more than five acres of peace and tranquility. Pondering my lack of photos from there, I think I was just too absorbed in the experience to remember to get my camera out. The waterfall above might have been my favorite view (it's a cell shot). Trails meandered up the hill and through the woods. Water and the sounds it makes were a soothing backdrop…completely enchanting.

Some of us were fortunate enough to tour the garden with the garden curator, Sadafumi Uchiyama, who kept us enthralled with Japanese garden and design philosophy.

One of the more practical things he told us was that the hemlock hedges there are pinch-pruned—all of them!, by hand! Why? Because the plants can tell how you prune, and they respond differently depending on how you do it. Pruning with tools is harsher and causes a more dramatic, wayward regrowth response, he said.

This blinding white raked gravel (beautiful garden, bad photography—sorry!) symbolize Water and Summer in the Flat Garden. Plants and elements represent the four seasons, so it changes subtly as the year passes, but remains beautiful. The gourd-shaped bed in the photo, and the round one to its left, just out of view, represent enlightenment and happiness. The garden is meant to be viewed from a main viewing spot, as if it were a painting.

International Rose Test Garden

Down the hill and across the street is the International Rose Test Garden. There are 7000 plants here and nearly 500 varieties. One could easily photograph roses here all day long, but this sunny day made it more pleasant to stroll and sniff.

Ferns, and hostas in full bloom, made for a nice gathering spot in a welcome bit of shade. In a few minutes we would go to our next stop, Tamara Paulat's Chickadee Gardens.

Chickadee Gardens

What are all those garden bloggers looking at?

This Pesticide Free Zone sign! (And that photo-bombing foxglove.)

Chickadee Gardens has approximately 200 Pacific Northwest native plants, and is all organic. Creating such an environment provides a safe haven and habitat for wildlife, as well as the people who visit.

How cute (and wonderfully practical) is this vegetable garden tucked into the backyard. This was my kind of garden…lots of interesting plants and ornament, but with a sense of responsibility to the creatures that live with us here.

The "hellstrip" out front was so lushly planted! It added another layer of beauty to the garden and the neighborhood around it. The homeowner is completely charming too. Thank you for allowing us to see your garden, Tamara!

~*~

Summer Wrap-Up: Portland, Day 2, Part 2

2014-09-16T19:53:00.000-04:00

After lunch at Joy Creek Nursery (Day 2, Part 1), our group of Flinging garden bloggers headed to Old Germantown Gardens, the two acre property of Bruce Wakefield and Jerry Grossnickle.

As soon as I took one look down this inviting slope, deja vu hit.

But then as quickly, a flash of recall—I turned to Bruce and asked him if his garden had ever been on the HGTV program, "A Gardener's Diary."*

His look of total disbelief reminded me just what a garden nerd I am! I had recorded and saved several of those shows and watched them over and over—and in fact, yes, theirs was one of them!

Bruce and Jerry are enthusiastic gardeners who have created, or developed, lots of niche environments on their slope. This allows them to have all sorts of fun with an incredible array of plants. Dry areas, wet areas, hot spots, cool, sunny, shady—there's a good place for nearly anything. It was so much fun to get to see this garden in person after seeing it on TV so many times.

Panoramic views from the house and driveway show off the lovely conifer collection.

A greenhouse adjacent to the stone patio is home to lots of container plants and makes a good place to overwinter tender perennials.

Do you feel drawn in? It's hard not to want to descend into the green wonderland these two gardeners have created. They have done all the work themselves (for 23 years!)…it's hard to fathom, isn't it? And Jerry bakes, too! Pinwheel cookies and mango lemonade were served in the cool of the kitchen as we wound up our delightful tour.

~*~

We stepped off the bus into a field of lavender at our next stop, Westwind Farm Studio. It was a treat to be given scissors to cut a bunch to take home. Mine is now in a vase on my desk so I can reach over and touch it to release the fragrance every so often.

Westwind Farm Studio is about four acres of garden and 40 acres of meadow, designed to be a refuge for both people and wildlife. Naturalistic plantings like these are my personal favorites. What a pretty view from this slope.

Down the hill and through the poppies is where the house and pool are.

Drinks and cool feet were a refreshing way to end the day.

Crocosmia, Russian sage, and a peaceful view beyond

Do you see the perky little blur above this great stand of Jacob Cline beebalm? It's a hummingbird! These flowers drew so many hummers it was like standing near a bee hive. They created quite a buzz! I did the best I could to catch their antics, but, well, this was the best I could do—it was time to hike back up the hill to the bus!

~*~

Still to come: Portland Japanese Garden, International Rose Test Garden, and McMenamins Kennedy School

~*~

*If you enjoyed HGTV's "A Gardener's Diary" as much as I did, you might like catching up with the host, Erica Glasener. John Markowski interviewed her last spring for his podcast, Gardening Talk with ONG:

Check Out Gardening Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Gardening talk with ONG on BlogTalkRadio

Happy Bloom Day!

2014-09-15T20:13:00.000-04:00

Yellow Wood Sage (Salvia koyame)

If you look into my garden from next door or across the street, you will see a lot of green but maybe nothing blooming. It's been an unusual year, starting with a very slow spring—cool and wet. Everything grew very tall and then flopped until I tied it up or cut it back. Then it got hot and dry and everything bloomed out early, or else the deer pruned all the flowers off.

Even so, there is more than might appear, and if you take a stroll through, these are some of the blooms still hanging on.

Yellow wood sage is blooming and spreading and I couldn't be more pleased.

Pink zinnias attract more butterflies than almost anything in my garden, but I haven't seen very many at all this year, unfortunately.

Toothache Cress (Spilanthes acmella)

I got seeds for toothache cress several years ago and planted them outside, which was the recommendation, but they never sprouted. So I ordered them again this year and started them inside, and I got so many I didn't know what to do with them all! Toothache cress has been one of my favorite new plants this year. I like the olive colored leaves and the goofy eyeball blooms. If you chew the flower heads, your mouth will go numb, which is why it is used for toothaches.

Cypress Vine (Ipomoea quamoclit)

Cypress vine is one of those plants you have whether you want it or not after it gets its foot in the garden gate. I let it shade out my Berggarten sage without realizing it and now the sage is struggling to return from a moldy mass of stems. But I love the spots of red climbing anything vertical, and hummingbirds do, too.

Phlox paniculata

It was a very good year for phlox. A very very good year. P. stolonifera, P. pilosa, P. divaricata and P. paniculata all grew by leaps and bounds.

A white-eyed Phlox paniculata

Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)

I have a sloppy habit of sticking cuttings in pots of other things and then forgetting about them. This beautyberry is one of those. It took my husband and me quite a while to figure out what it was, but then it bloomed…and now look at it! It's still in the pot with a pathetic rose. Poor rose, you've been overshadowed.

Fireworks Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks')

I've posted about Fireworks goldenrod plenty of times but it's such a star of the garden when it blooms that I have to mention it again. It's unbeatable for gardens in this area. I have several clumps in varying amounts of sun and it does fine in all of them. It also takes very dry and compacted soils.

Peach Melba Nasturtium (seeds from Botanical Interests)

I thought the nasturtiums would love the extra cool we had this year, but they didn't seem to. Or maybe they like a hefty dose of sun with their cool temperatures. At any rate, they are still throwing a few blooms. This one was kind of unusual and pretty.

Hardy Begonia (Begonia grandis)

Hardy begonia didn't do so well in the garden, but in the cracks between patio stones, and against this wall, they are beautiful!

Viola tricolor

Can you believe the violas never stopped blooming all summer? I didn't mind at all.

Dianthus plumarius 'Sweetness'

This pink bloomed off and on all summer, too.

I took my orchids outside maybe six weeks ago and this one quickly made a few buds and just a day or two ago started to bloom! I can see that slugs are getting to it, so I'll have to bring it in soon.

White Wood Aster (Eurybia divaricata)

White wood aster is beginning to spread around the woodland garden.

Collinsonia canadensis (or possibly C. verticillata)

Collinsonia has odd little blooms with some fragrance, though I don't think mine smells lemony as most descriptions say. Collinsonia is a large, kind of loose and lush wildflower, also known as horsebalm or stoneroot. It's really nice in the wildflower or native garden.

Symphyotrichum laeve 'Bluebird'

Symphyotricum ericoides 'Snow Flurry'

The asters (Symphyotrichum) started blooming early this year, in fact the New England asters (S. novae-angliae) have bloomed most of the summer.

Symphyotrichum oblongifolium 'Fanny's Aster' with Goldenrod

Sedum 'Matrona'

I only get blooms every other year or so on my sedum because our deer love it so much, so I'm excited about this dusty pink clump. Honeydew melon sage and Ryan's Yellow mums are beside it. I hope to have blooms on those for October's bloom day.

See what's blooming in other bloggers' gardens around the world today at May Dreams Gardens: Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

I'm glad you stopped by!

Daricia

Windowsill Art

2014-09-15T13:35:00.000-04:00

At any given moment the windowsill over my kitchen sink will have a wildflower, an acorn, a piece of something or other rooting, maybe a sprig that smells nice—one or all of these. I like to keep natural things close by to enjoy them, but also to observe them for a while, maybe notice how they change over time, or sometimes just appreciate their daintiness up close. Whatever the reason, I know there are others of you who do this too (or your children do), and your windowsills and tabletops look a lot like mine.

Windowsill Art—Creating one-of-a-kind
natural arrangements to celebrate the seasons
by Nancy Ross Hugo
St. Lynn's Press, 2014
Hardcover, 192 pages, $18.95

I'm happy to let you know that we have a kindred spirit in author Nancy Ross Hugo. Her new book, Windowsill Art is all about nature on the windowsill and—here's the important part—how to arrange it artfully. I've gotten inspiration and some great ideas from this little book.

For example, have you ever thought about arranging with henbit or gumballs? How about fresh curly kale with honeysuckle and a rose, or snapdragons and tomatoes? Have you ever made arrangements for your hotel room using your paper drink cup from Subway as a container? Or here's a cute one: use trumpet vine blooms as floral vases for other tiny springs! I could go on with examples…there are many arrangements highlighted, most of them very simple to do.

Windowsill Art begins with a Getting Started chapter which includes choosing containers and finding plant material. (Narrow sills at your house? Save your vanilla extract bottles…they will fit fine!) The next section pertains to practicing and letting your arrangements evolve (and also knowing when they are finished). Getting creative with materials and techniques makes up the next section, and last is an inspiring photo gallery arranged seasonally, with a list of resources.

Besides the creative inspiration in this book, the thoughtful writing is a joy to read. From page 76:

"As I write this, it is not just fall, it is a day in the second week of November when mulberry leaves have just fallen, gumballs are still green, daylily foliage is yellowing, roses are still throwing a few blooms, and white oak acorns are on the ground. Tomorrow there will be a different suite of phenomena to notice, but next year I'll probably see the same things again (and more!) in the same order.
If you are using materials from the surrounding landscape, your windowsill arrangements will always be a rendering of what's going on outside, and you can't help noticing patterns as you repeat the process over and over."

And this encouraging note:

"Windowsill arranging is accretive in the sense that it gradually increases your sensitivity to natural beauty. When adopted as a routine, this personal, creative practice also builds creative muscle, because the more you experiment, the wider the universe of arranging possibilities becomes."

You may know Nancy Ross Hugo from the book, Seeing Trees, her gorgeous collaboration with photographer Robert Llewellyn (Timber Press, 2011). You're going to enjoy reading this one too, and giving it as a welcome gift.

~*~

All photos in this post copyrighted to Nancy Ross Hugo, used by permission of St. Lynn's Press.

Summer Wrap-Up: Portland, Day 2, Part 1

2014-09-09T12:38:00.000-04:00

Taking a peek into Lan Su Chinese Garden

After a day to acclimate and attend the pre-Fling cocktail party, the Garden Blogger's Fling officially started on my second day in Portland with a breakfast reception at Timber Press. Timber Press is my favorite source for gardening/natural history books, and I've enjoyed doing occasional reviews and giveaways for them. It was exciting to finally meet the staff and see where they work.

Breakfast at Timber Press — books and bagels, what could be better?
Oh, how about coffee and mimosas!

Breakfast was thoughtfully planned and delicious…just like their books. I was especially grateful for the lovely selection of edible plants available. :)

Carefully groomed plants and distinctive architecture combine to create the Chinese garden experience

Next was the Lan Su Chinese Garden, a short walk away. Lan Su is considered the most authentic Chinese garden outside of China with hundreds of Chinese native plants on display. My favorite was a tree. Can you guess what it is by this photo?

It has a tropical air, doesn't it? But if you look closer…

…maybe you can tell…

…is it looking oak-y to you? That's what it is—emperor oak (Quercus dentata 'Pinnatifida')!

As I was looking at Diana Kirby's blog, Sharing Nature's Garden, I saw that she got a photo of me taking this photo below). I realized when I added this one to my post that I got her, too! Her photos of this garden are the ones I wish I had taken.

Several bloggers took advantage of the teahouse or the giftshop at Lan Su before hopping on the buses for the ride to Cistus Design Nursery on nearby Sauvie Island.

Delosperma is one of my favorite plants and dozens of them greeted us as we walked in.

The sun was out, so they were open wide and showing their true colors.

Chubby little leaves and a dainty pink flower made me want to adopt this one. Delosperma 'Beaufort West' never gets more than about an inch tall. Charming!

Did you know that most wine bottles come with these handy agave spine protectors? So don't forget to use protection if you're going to be drinking in the garden.

This plume poppy (Macleaya cordata) was familiar to many of the other bloggers, but is not a plant I recall ever seeing before. I've since learned that it is invasive in many parts of eastern North America, but it certainly looks glorious in this border along the outer edge of the nursery.

Waiting to board the bus to Joy Creek

Don't you want to pet him? What a sweetie he was lying there on the sidewalk taking pats and scratches from everyone as we left for our lunch and shop stop, Joy Creek Nursery.

You've seen some of the Clematis collection at Joy Creek, but there was so much more. For example, this fabulous perennial border anchored by an equally fabulous deciduous magnolia.

Tree poppy (Romneya coulteri) was common in San Francisco and we saw it here, too.

Have you ever seen such a display of Rudbeckia hirta? Orange is kind of like caffeine for the garden, and perfect with grey-white skies.

Joy Creek has so many fuchsias that I'll have to save my photos of those for another post sometime. There are multiple varieties and cultivars of many of the plant species here. What to do? Hmm…just buy one of everything, I suppose.

Santolina (species, top; 'Lemon Queen', bottom)

In another part of the garden, beautifully weathered barn wood makes the perfect backdrop for container plants.

Note the fuchsias. I would almost move to Portland for the fuchsias. Fuchsias and Powell's.

Portland is very green. Even the birdhouses have green roofs.
(Incidentally, didn't it used to be rooves?)

The gardens at Joy Creek fan out from this house. A shade garden alongside the house has a lush mix of plants—viburnum, hydrangea, delphinium, acanthus, astilbe, and more. I especially like the tiny spots of orange (Escholzia) and the limbed up trunks full of lichens.

Garden envy is inevitable if you go to Portland from almost anywhere…it seems anything will grow there. I was a little surprised to see so many plants I recognized from home—magnolias, gardenias, viburnums, azaleas—and a little annoyed to see just how well they grow there!

I doubt this Viburnum looked any better in flower than it does fruiting like this.

The long view from this and many other Portland gardens includes giant conifers. It's a soothing backdrop and a fragrant one.

I could have stayed much longer at Joy Creek, but we were just getting started!

~*~

Timber Press
Lan Su Chinese Garden
Cistus Nursery
Joy Creek Nursery

Day 2, Part 2—Old Germantown Gardens and Westwind Farm Studio still to come.

~*~

Summer Wrap-Up: Portland, Day 1

2014-09-05T21:04:00.002-04:00

Even if I’m not all that keen on saying goodbye to Summer, after Labor Day is past, it seems like time to wrap up any loose ends and get geared up for the Fall back-to-school/holiday rush that lasts from now until about January 1.

A couple of those loose ends include the pictures I took over the summer and the posts I never wrote! I showed you pictures from Joy Creek Nursery near Portland recently, but that was only one tiny bit of the Garden Bloggers Fling I attended in July. I thought you might like to see more about that? Well, I hope so.

Flying to Portland in the evening made for an interesting fade to the end of the day out the airplane window. Going west meant it got dark behind us first. I'm not sure which mountains the two peaks are—Mount Hood, Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier are all visible from the air near Portland.

Since I arrived the night before the Fling started, I had most of the next day by myself. While I waited for the others to arrive, I went for a walk around Portland.

Powell's Bookstore was at the top of my list of places to see, and it was an easy walk from the hotel. This bookstore is hard to describe. Huge is the first word that comes to mind, but it's friendly, comfortable, and even cozy, too. There was an entire building devoted to science books, which is where I found this wall full of botanically-themed books. I could have stayed all day in just that spot, but there were more floors, more buildings—I had to keep moving!

I was excited to find this "staff pick" for Plant by Numbers,

written by fellow blogger, Steve Asbell (The Rainforest Garden)

along one of the rows of gardening books

There are used books mixed in with the new ones at Powell's. I loved that! You could choose between hardcover or paperback, old edition/new edition, high price/low price, for so many books! I had never seen anything quite like it before. I'm thinking Powell's is awesome enough to move to Portland for. I guess it might help if you're a single, young nerd. ;)

After looking at books all morning, it was time to find the food carts. There are several streets full of these, making choosing lunch a little difficult. I finally decided on dumplings from The Dump Truck, and went to a nearby park to eat—such a treat! Food always tastes better outside for some reason, doesn't it?

My (thoughtful, smart, incredibly well-traveled) cousin had told me about Voodoo Donuts just before I left home, so after lunch I went by, waited in this long line of curious tourists, and picked up a box to take back to the hotel with me. I know what you're thinking, but I didn't eat them all! Still, I couldn't pass up a chance to try several, could I? I might never get to go back!

Voodoo donuts are homemade, fresh every day, and they come in an unbelievable array of flavors. Or should I say, an array of unbelievable flavors? I'm not sure whether it's true, but I heard that they used to make Nyquil-iced donuts until the FDA made them stop. Just so you have an idea.

I wasn't particularly adventurous with my choices, but what I got was really good: Portland Cream, with chocolate glaze and vanilla cream inside; Mango Tango, mango jelly inside, vanilla iced outside, with Tang sprinkled on top; and Maple Glazed (no bacon, but don't be disappointed…it was so good even without!).

The nursery smelled of gardenia…I felt right at home!

A quick rest in the afternoon and then it was time for the pre-Fling cocktail party at Pomarius Nursery. Catching up with friends and meeting new ones was too distracting to get many photos, but there was delicious food, wine, and plenty of interesting plants to look at and chat about. It was a lovely place for a party and a perfect start to the Portland Fling.

Conifers and patinaed terra cotta pots defined one of several garden rooms at
Pomarius Nursery in Portland, OR

Powell's Bookstore
Food Carts Portland
Voodoo Donuts
Pomarius Nursery

Hungry Writing Spiders

2014-08-27T15:09:00.002-04:00

Writing spiders (Argiope aurantia) seem to be active in everyone's gardens right now. Are you finding them in yours? I've seen several posts identifying or otherwise mentioning them on Facebook.

There was a time when I would have killed spiders like these if they got in the house, but now I just catch and relocate them.

It's amazing, isn't it, how observing and becoming familiar with the wild creatures around you makes you more compassionate toward them. It's one of the great benefits of having a garden.

~*~

Clematis at Joy Creek

2014-08-15T20:31:00.000-04:00

A Garden Blogger's Fling* is a fast and furious affair, with lots of new people to meet, things to do, places to see—everything is fun and exciting and lovely…and over in the blink of an eye!

Since some of us might have a little bit of jet lag to deal with, or motion sickness, or some worries from home that came along, or maybe simply a touch of introvert's overwhelm (IO), we tend to lag behind the crowd, at least for a while. **

The wonderful thing about a Fling is that there is Fabulous to spare, so even if you're slow coming up to speed, thanks to wonderful hosts and superb planning***, there are always beautiful, photoworthy subjects waiting for you.

Just look at this beautiful collection of Clematis at Joy Creek Nursery in Scappoose, Oregon!

Almost as soon as we started meandering at this memorable nursery garden, I was off among the far-flung flowers at the edges of the crowd, clicking away at these vines.

As it turns out, the clematis collection is one of the best parts of this beautiful nursery and garden. (How lucky for me to not miss it!) Clematis is a specialty at Joy Creek and there are dozens of beautiful cultivars.

Grown on supports, in full sun, the sight of these dreamy vines will really get your gardening imagination going.

The feathery balls of stigmas and stamens at the centers of the flowers are an attractive feature, aren't they?

I bet this pretty bright pink flower would be a welcome contrast to Oregon's frequently gray weather. You can have your Clematis saluting the sky as these do, or ...

…bowing toward the ground like these.

The bell-shaped Clematis are probably my favorites. That dark purple interior is velvety and luscious.

Fortunately for all of us, Joy Creek sells Clematis by mail order. Take a look at their large collection. And if you're ever in the Portland area, don't miss the garden there.****

~*~

*The Garden Blogger's Fling is an annual affair where several dozen bloggers from all over the United States and Canada (and England and Spain this year as well) get together to tour gardens and enjoy each others' company. There is more information here if you're a garden blogger and you're interested in going. Next year's Fling will convene in Toronto. Note to self (and to you too if you get motion sick): Sit beside Janet on the bus…she has ginger chews. (Ha! Just teasing Janet…and thank you!) I remembered to bring my own this year. It helps!

**Okay, I admit it, "some of us" is me. I'm a wuss. But I know I wasn't the only one with a few of these "issues." Just keeping it real. :)

***Loree, Scott, Jane, Ann and Heather—Thanks again, all of you!

****I see now that Joy Creek has sold out of many varieties of Clematis for this year…we'll have to bookmark them for next year. Meanwhile, if you haven't shopped at PlantLust.com yet, you'll love it! Head over there and type in "clematis." 431 results!

Away we go!!!

2014-07-09T15:10:00.000-04:00

Well hello readers, old and new! I wanted to drop by to say hello quickly before leaving for the airport to join the other garden bloggers "flinging" in Portland, Oregon. I've been terrible in the past about getting up pictures from these whirlwind trips, so this time I'm going to try tweeting them as I'm seeing them. Follow me on Twitter (@aCLTgarden) and see the beautiful PNW gardens as I do!

I hear thunder just now which is normally welcome when it's so dry outside, but since I'm about to board a plane, not so much! Prayers and good thoughts for an event-free flight appreciated! See you on Twitter soon!

<3

Daricia

PS Up top is the Phlox paniculata we call Birthday Phlox at our house because it blooms reliably for a certain sweet girl's birthday every year. It's been the table arrangement alongside the birthday cake for many years.

PPS Google appears to have "awesomed" the photo. They're always doing something to your photos. I like this one, though.

PPPS By request, the birthday cake is banana pudding this year.

Okay I'm leaving now for real. :)

Intense Cherry

2014-04-04T09:41:00.000-04:00

April cherry blossoms in Charlotte, NC

~*~

A little too saturated, huh? It's just hard to get the petal edges to show up, and I wanted to keep the photo as bright as possible, so this is the way I decided to go with it. Sometimes the feeling you get from a plant is better represented with these tweaks added than from the photo straight out of the camera. Especially my camera. ;)

Happy Friday!

~ Daricia

Beautiful Bulbs

2014-03-27T19:58:00.000-04:00

During some of the coldest, most miserable days of winter this year, I had this little bulb garden to keep an eye on, and all these beautiful blooms to look forward to.

Living Gardens sent it to me with instructions to water it and keep it in a cool room. I had just the place, I thought, and put it on my enclosed porch. The temperatures there are always above freezing, but sometimes not much—it took weeks longer to bloom than had been indicated.

Maybe 45 degrees was a little cooler room than they had in mind, but it has helped the blooms last a long time and kept the heavy scent of the hyacinths from overpowering us inside.

I adore catching just a whiff as I walk through the porch to my car— the nose-tingly fragrance of Spring.

My basket came already planted and with a layer of Spanish moss on top. The soil was even moist so I didn't need to water it or do anything to it at all.

The leaves pushed the moss up as they grew, so I kind of wish I had taken it off to begin with and maybe added it back around the edges after the leaves were taller. I broke a little piece of something when I tried to keep it pushed down.

There's a nice variety of bulbs in this particular basket—the Deluxe Dutch Garden—five red Seadov tulips, two Delft and one China Pink hyacinth, three Jenny daffodils, two Blue Magic grape hyacinths, and six Star of Bethlehem.

I think the price is great for these at less than $30. And what a nice gift to send to someone. If you ordered one now, it would probably be blooming by Easter (April 20 this year).

I'll be ordering these again for myself. There's a pink daffodil and pale yellow tulip basket I have my eye on ($25). Gorgeous! I was really pleased with the less common varieties and combinations in many of the basket gardens, not to mention the prices.

Paperwhites and lots of varieties of amaryllis are on sale right now, and pre-orders for Fall planting bulbs will start April 1. Can you believe it's almost time for that? But early is when you get the best selection.

Thank you to Living Gardens for bringing these lovely little basket gardens to my attention, and especially for giving me one!

Remember This Next Fall

2014-03-11T21:00:00.000-04:00

Ruby Giant Crocus
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My yard is abloom. You would think it's spring already! It did feel like it today with temperatures in the 70s.

This year the daffodils all bloomed at once and the King Alfreds are larger and more floriferous than ever before. Maybe it was the extra cold period we had? Or the abundant rain last spring? Whatever it was, it's time to appreciate them, and all the other blooming bulbs.

I added pink daffodils to my garden a few years ago and I love them! One day I'll have as many of those as the yellow ones I hope.

Pink Charm Daffodil

Conjoined twins!

Delnashaugh Daffodil

Delnashaugh matures beautifully.

Pale yellow and white daffodils are very pretty with the pink ones and later on with the azaleas, too.

Mount Hood Daffodil

A highly scented daff with cold-burned leaves. It usually has much longer stems.
I inherited it so i don't know the name.

Fall is such a busy season that it's hard to work in time to plant bulbs, but now is when you get to celebrate the fact that you did. It's such a small investment for so much enjoyment in return. Wood hyacinths and species tulips still to come. Joy!

Native Plants of the Southeast—We have a winner!

2014-02-18T14:30:00.001-05:00

Coastal plain Joe-pye weed (Eutrochium dubium) with yellow swallowtail butterfly.
Taken from Native Plants of the Southeast(c) Copyright 2014 by Larry Mellichamp. Photo by Will Stuart.
Published by Timber Press, Portland, OR. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

By random number generator, our winner for Native Plants of the Southeast is #1—Roseann Blacher!

Congratulations, Roseann!

Roseann's favorite place to visit native plants is The Pocket, north of Rome, Georgia. She also mentioned the Berry College campus which I just happen to have a lovely picture of! My daughter has visited her friend there several times.

So gorgeous it's hard to believe it's real! Berry has one of the largest college campuses in the world I'm told, set on 27,000 mostly wild acres. Native plant enthusiasts would no doubt find plenty to marvel at! Anyway, I couldn't pass up the chance to show you a tiny slice of it (and this sweet photo!).

Favorite outdoor places of other giveaway participants include the following:

The North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, NC
The Vanlandingham Glen at UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, VA
George Washington National Forest, Virginia
Jacob's Ladder in the Savage River State Forest, Maryland
Cylburn Arboretum, Baltimore MD
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, Virginia
Mineral Springs Greenway, Mineral Springs, NC
Westmoreland State Park, Montross, VA
Maydale Nature Center, Colesville, MD
Merchants Mill Pond State Park, Gatesville, NC
North Carolina Arboretum, Asheville, NC

The top three favorites of this group of responders, all mentioned several times, were the North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Virginia, and the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville.

Several participants suggested informal favorites such as, "the woods," "the mountains," "my grandmother's garden," or "my own backyard."

I liked reading about these special nature spots and thought the rest of you might, too. As we anticipate Spring, it's nice to be reminded that there are lots of beautiful and varied places to explore out there, and many interesting new plants to encounter along the way.

Thanks again to all of you who joined in! I wish I could give a copy of the book to each of you!

~Daricia

~*~

Native Plants of the Southeast is available from Timber Press, or your favorite bookstore!

Original Native Plants of the Southeast giveaway post

Join the Native Plant Society today!

Outside, Snow

2014-02-12T14:54:00.000-05:00

Here's what it looked like in Charlotte yesterday afternoon. Today the second round of snow has come with a prediction of 5–10 inches. All the tracks from yesterday are covered and the air is thick with flying flakes as I write this.

One of my favorite trees is the hemlock in my front yard. Don't these trees look especially beautiful in snow? They're so graceful. That's my Alice oakleaf hydrangea to the left of the hemlock, another favorite.

A couple of days ago it was over 60 degrees and look what suddenly showed its face:

Now this:

The first snowdrops two days ago:

And now this:

Kinda gives new meaning to "snowdrop."

I love the Jelena witch hazel blooms fringing out from under their puffy white coat.

The hellebores were almost completely hidden by a thick snow cave. I had to put my camera on the ground to get this shot. Mine seem to be slow blooming this year. Others in our area have had them for weeks already.

It's hard to wait, but Spring is coming.

Winter just makes it sweeter when it gets here.

~*~

Forget Winter for a minute and take a virtual trip to the tropics at the McMillan Greenhouse. (Orchids!)

There's still time to enter for your chance to win a hardcover copy of Native Plants of the Southeast by Larry Mellichamp!

Inside, Orchids

2014-02-11T16:13:00.002-05:00

This is the week of the yearly Valentine's Orchid Sale at the UNC Charlotte Botanical Garden. I'm disappointed to be unable to make it to the sale this year, but I was there last week and got a few photos to show you. Hopefully the winter weather won't stop some of you from stopping by the sale. The greenhouses are full of exotic blooms.

No blooms in this shot, but aren't these the coolest roots?

What's the sweet smell? It always makes me happy when a plant has good fragrance. Many of the orchids do.

Of course there's Amorphophallus in these greenhouses, too. If you walk in and smell a dead rat, it just might be that the titan arum is blooming.

What beautiful eye candy, huh? Saturated color gives such a mood boost this time of year.

Besides orchids, amaryllis is blooming now, passion flower is starting to bud and there are lots of interesting begonias.

The tiny orchids in my windowsills have a long way to go to look so impressive, but what a treat to visit these.

Greenhouse hours are Monday through Saturday 10–3 and Sunday 1–4.
The outdoor gardens are open 7 days a week during daylight hours.

~*~

Native Plants of the Southeast—It's Here! And you can win one!

2014-02-10T13:52:00.000-05:00

This giveaway is now CLOSED. Find out who won here.

Thank you to all who participated!

Prunus serotina with summer tanager, pg. 32
.

For those of us who love plants, it's time to celebrate! Native Plants of the Southeast — A Comprehensive Guide to the Best 460 Species for the Garden is now available! I've had a hard time waiting for this book, especially since the cover shot debuted a while ago. Isn't it enticing?!

Native Plants of the Southeast -
A Comprehensive Guide to the Best 460 Species
For the Garden
Author: Larry Mellichamp
Photographer: Will Stuart
Publisher: Timber Press
Hardcover, 367 pages

The inside is just as good as the beautiful cover. Do you wonder, "What is a native plant? Why grow them?" You'll find out! One reason: Native plants bring native birds, bees, butterflies and other wildlife into your garden. If you've never considered native plants before, this is the book to convince you to try them.

If you're already a native plant fan, you'll be itching to read about the 460 plants included in the profiles. Besides that rainbow of wildflowers on the cover, ferns and grasses, aquatic plants, vines, shrubs, conifers, and trees are all covered and rated with regard to their usefulness in the home garden.

Each profile begins with where you are likely to see the plant in the wild and a description of the plant that includes any unusual identifying characteristics. How it can be propagated, how it might be used in the landscape, ease of cultivation and availability of the plant in local nurseries are all noted—along with some fun facts or interesting tidbits about particular species.

Echinacea purpurea and goldfinch, pg. 122
.

You'll see old favorites like beautyberry, white oak, and coneflower, but also ones you've probably never considered for your garden before, such as Allium cuthbertii (pictured below with orange butterfly weed), Indian cucumber-root, or pale Indian-plantain. You'll get plenty of "plant appreciation" as well, learning about native orchids, carnivorous plants, and some unique and valuable plant communities of the Southeast.

Allium cuthbertii and butterflyweed.
Photo: Larry Mellichamp

I should tell you that I am not unbiased when it comes to this book. Author Larry Mellichamp (Dr. M to me), and photographer Will Stuart, have both been my teachers and friends-in-plants for years. I have attended so many of Dr M's lectures that I can hear his voice when I read his personal notes on each plant! This only makes me especially happy to be able to say without reservation: If you like plants, wildlife, nature, you'll love the book. If native plants are already your thing, you'll flip!

Merchants Millpond, Gates County, North Carolina
.

Photos taken from Native Plants of the Southeast(c) Copyright 2014 by Larry Mellichamp. Photos by Will Stuart. Published by Timber Press, Portland, OR. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

~*~

Timber Press has offered to send a free copy of

Native Plants of the Southeast to one of you!

For your chance to win, do ONE or ALL of the following. You get one entry for each numbered item!

1) Leave a comment below telling me your favorite place to visit native plants. It could be a favorite hiking spot, a public garden or park, your own yard, or even a garden center. You will need a Google account to comment. If you prefer, leave your comment on Facebook---> A Charlotte Garden <--, or send an email to acltgarden@gmail.com.

2) Share this post on Facebook. Please tag A Charlotte Garden in your post.

3) Share this post on Twitter. Please add #aCLTgarden to your post.

I will take entries for one week, until noon on February 17, 2014. Winner will be announced the next day! Good luck…I hope you win!!!

~*~

Native Plants of the Southeast is dedicated to "The North Carolina Native Plant Society, the second oldest native plant society in North America, which is committed to promoting education, appreciation, and preservation of our native flora, and which has provided generous financial support for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Botanical Gardens public projects with native plants, and whose members have provided countless hours of camaraderie and information exchange at meetings and field trips;

and

To all native plant societies in the Southeast that seek to provide educational outreach to all people in support of understanding and enjoying native plants."

Join the NCNPS today! (PS It's fun!)
Follow on Twitter or Facebook

First dandelion of the season and other signs of life

2014-01-22T17:18:00.003-05:00

I took advantage of the mild weather Monday and assessed the garden for the first time in a while.

I've been afraid to look at the bog garden since our record low of 6 degrees a couple of weeks ago. I know these plants to be quite hardy, but they don't ever expect temperatures like that. You can see how brown and pathetic the pitchers look right now, but look closer and you can see life! See the little traps on this flytrap?

The sarracenias have tiny new pitchers sprouting up, too. I think they're all going to bounce back. Hopefully the sabatia comes back too.

But wait…did I just see a skeleton in my butterfly puddle dish? Yes, I did! I have no idea whose that is or how it got there. <shiver>

The daffies are back. They are so reliable. Cold doesn't bother them at all.

A leafy promise for cranefly orchids this spring.

I see the woodpeckers have been molesting the apple tree. We get to enjoy blooms on this tree, but the wildlife take care of any fruit it produces…which is fine. We don't mind.

Our woodpile is my husband's pride and joy. Anoles and insects love it too.

Cilantro! If you don't grow that herb, start some this year. Unless you're one of those people who hates it and thinks it tastes soapy. I'm not. I love it. How can you eat Mexican or Thai without it? Mmmm.

Bittercress starts showing up this time of year and it's a nice, harvestable green. Tastes like nasturtium or cabbage with a bite. Put some on your sandwich! It's good for you.

Lots of rain, then cold/ warm/ cold weather means lots of bulbs are sitting on top of the ground instead of where they're supposed to be. These are some of my favorite mini-daffodils.

Unplanted pansy flats. I'm ashamed.

In spite of my gardening transgressions, the Universe sees fit to gift me with lucky clovers regularly, even in the worst of weather.

Are you seeing signs of green life around you yet?

#gardenwalk

Blue Poppy

2014-01-18T15:47:00.002-05:00

Just playing around with PicMonkey on this windy winter day…

I asked my daughter if she thought my masterpiece would make a good desktop wallpaper. She said "sure," which I'm sure you know means, "whatever, who cares?"

"I'll have to flip it because all my icons are on the right side of the screen," I added.

"Well, flip it," she said. And then with an unexpected perkiness— "Flip it good!"

I don't know if Devo would appreciate it, but I did!

Twinkle Twinkle

2013-12-21T11:59:00.000-05:00

Just in time for Christmas, my Twinkle orchids (Oncidium) are blooming! Appropriate, don't you think? I'm all for a little twinkle at Christmas!

I have two, a white (or would you call this yellow?) and a red (pink?). The white-flowered one is more floriferous and scented. Some say the scent is like chocolate, and others say vanilla. I'm sure if you smelled it, you would have your own description. It smells a little like carob to me—not like real chocolate, and not like good vanilla, but sweet and pleasant all the same.

These scent distinctions really don't matter much—I'm just so excited to see them rebloom! I have a moth orchid budding up for the first time this year, too. Persistence seems to be paying off. I've only killed a half dozen or so Phalaenopsis over the years.

Besides showing off my rebloom, I wanted you to see this cute little trick: candlestick plant pedestals!

I needed to elevate some of the plants in my plant window so they could be seen, and also so I could fit a few more plants in there. I noticed some plant pedestals in an old issue of Mary Engelbreit magazine (Remember that one? I still miss it!) and thought they looked a little like really big candle sticks.

I was coming up with a way to make some of these when I remembered a pair of wood candlesticks I had in my closet. They are much smaller than the ones in the magazine—only about 12" tall—but a 4" clay pot fit perfectly on top! They even have metal liners which will keep moisture off of the wood. I think plants look better on them than candles, but then plants look better everywhere, don't they?

~*~

Winter solstice comes at around noon today (ET). You know what that means? Longer days starting tomorrow! Houseplants and people too will be getting happier and healthier.

Merry Christmas, dear readers. May you enjoy some time to reflect and renew.

Peace and love,
Daricia

And the winner is...

2013-12-09T11:20:00.000-05:00

It's time to see who wins this signed copy of The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert! Are you ready??

Let's put the entries on candy cane paper and put them in a sparkly bowl, shall we? It is Christmastime after all!

Now let's jumble those papers up and shake the bowl a little for good measure. Let's close our eyes...and reach in…

Have you been holding your breath? Do you have your fingers crossed? Oh, I hope you win!!! Here goes…

The winner is… Carol Michel!!!

Yay! I hope you love having this book, Carol! Please send your mailing address to acltgarden at gmail dot com and I will get it out to you right away!

Thank you to all who participated. May you all have a wonderful holiday season with visions of native plums dancing in your heads!

Merry Christmas!

The Signature of All Things

2013-11-25T11:54:00.001-05:00

******* This giveaway is now closed. Click here to see who won! *********

Set in times of botanical fervor, when adventurous young men boarded sailing ships and traveled the world in the search of orchids and exotic greenery, and doctors recommended botanizing to women as a remedy for the maladies associated with domestic leisure, Elizabeth Gilbert’s latest book, The Signature of All Things, catches the attention and stirs the imagination from the start.

The Signature of All Things spans the life of a woman named Alma who through the study of mosses and her relationship with an eccentric orchid painter named Ambrose, searches for truth and insight into the mysteries of life.

The botanically-minded will enjoy traveling the globe discovering the origins of such plant products as quinine and vanilla, and learning a bit about Alma's beloved mosses, but anyone interested in history (eighteenth and nineteenth centuries) or writing (Elizabeth Gilbert has a vigorous voice) will appreciate it as well.

Interesting settings, characters, and the verdant paths passion can take, make The Signature of All Things pure entertainment. I read my advance copy straight through—all 500 pages—in about a day and a half. (Just ask me how to irritate your family! :)

I do not want to say more, except that the book is full of surprises—Elizabeth Gilbert’s stunning imagination will keep you guessing and turning the pages ever faster.

Everyone seems to be talking about this book. If you haven’t read it yet, you must! (You too can irritate your family!) I liked it so much, I pre-ordered two copies: one for me and one for one of you—and now they're here! You'll have yours in time for Christmas if you win! And it’s SIGNED by Elizabeth Gilbert!!!

For a chance to win:

1) Leave a comment below.

—or—

2) Leave a comment on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/acharlottegarden.

—or—

3) Pin the orchid picture above on Pinterest.

—or—

4) Tweet about it! You can click here to use mine, or compose your own.

—Do all four for 4 chances to win!—

Please add hashtag #aCLTgarden to all your entries so I can find them easily!

Thank you for participating! I can’t wait to see who wins!!!

Winner will be randomly chosen on the morning of Monday, December 9th. Good luck!

___________________________

Read the first chapter here: The Signature of All Things

Last Leaves

2013-11-18T17:32:00.000-05:00

The brilliance of this dwarf witch alder (Fothergilla gardenii) took my breath away today. It may be the final burst of intense color in our landscape, but isn't it incredible?

Elsewhere in the garden, witch hazel is hanging on to a few orangey leaves and Alice oakleaf hydrangea is looking festive in burgundy and green. Paperwhite blades are beginning to show up here and there.

The weather has been warm for the past couple of days after some frosty ones, so it was perfect for planting bulbs yesterday. We planted species tulips: tiny Tulipa humilis 'Little Beauty', T. batalinii 'Bright Gem', and a 4–6" miniature daffodil, Narcissus canaliculatus. We still have some Crocus tommasinianus to go, but finally the fridge has room again! My husband is happy and so am I.

We're saying goodbye to Fall and looking toward the holidays with fond thoughts of the Spring just beyond.