Currently showing

Iris are the stars of the gardens right now.  I don't have that many.  I had more, but over the years, they were lost or something.  It happens.  Here's the ones that are blooming right now.

Siberian Iris

Bearded Iris 'Stairway to Heaven'

"Heritage" and Siberian Iris.  I call this "heritage" because in a way, it is just that.  This was one of several iris that were already there when I bought my place in Michigan circa 1995.  I brought some with me when I moved down here, and this is the only one still in residence.  I don't know what the variety is called, but I assume it's an old-fashioned cultivar.  This photo doesn't really do it justice (cloudy day).  I'm not crazy about yellow and red combos, but here I like the gold and burgandy look.  I call it "Brandywine" for lack of a known name.

I captured some wildthings in the last few weeks.

Bumble Bee on Chive flower.  I think she was watching me as I snapped her closeup.  She became very still, and when she did move she faced me.  I'm sure the big black camera lens so close was off-putting.  After a few moments, she seemed to relax and went on about her business.

Brown Thrasher.  Taken through window screen.  Don't see these very often.

Male Ruby-Throated Hummingbird.  Yes, Virginia, hummingbirds have feet.  Someone asked me that once. This guy was very close to me.  The feeder is hanging from the porch roof so I have a great vantage point for captures.  I just sit in my chair with camera in hand and wait.  I just wish I could have caught him with the sun shining on his throat.  As you can see, without sunlight hitting it just right, he's actually black-throated.  That's the tip of his tongue sticking out the end of his beak.

I wonder how that unusual feature came about on the evolutionary plain.  I believe almost all hummingbirds have that ability to "turn it off and on".  How did the birds learn that facing a certain way made their colors shine?  Did they notice how their adversaries reacted to it?  Hummers are notoriously territorial so anything that gave them an advantage against usurpers would be an asset. Or was it attractive to the females?  That's usually the reason male birds are the more colorful sex.  I can't say I've seen a male sit and flash his intended.  They have an amazing mating dance flight which wouldn't show off that color.  At least I can't see how since it's such a fast dance.  They swing wide loops in front of the female.

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.  I only see these for a short time in the spring.

Indigo Bunting.  I began to see these when I let more and more of the property revert to natural habitat.  They appear in spring and summer when those grassy weedy areas are well grown.

I doubt I'll have a vegetable garden this year.  I'm thinking about moving the garden boxes to where the old shed used to be.  Closer to the house and water tap.  So, until I make up my mind about that, I'm not doing anything there.  I might try some tomatoes in containers.  Got some plastic bins kicking around here that would be good for that.  Wonder if I could grow cukes that way.  Might try.

Nice days finally.  It could be like this all the time.  No hotter, no colder.  Dream on.

tnt

Natureschild

Spring 2013

Wow, it has REALLY been a long time (3 years!?!) since I touched this blog.  This post is just a quicky to update.

Out of sheer laziness, I began to do all the garden/nature blogging at the other blog, Spring Creek Gems.  It was laziness because there's 2 different logins.  I was usually logged in (or half logged in) at the other so I just stayed there.  I decided today that I should use this one for garden and nature stuff again.  So that's what will be happening here from now on.  In the meantime, you can read past posts about all that at the other one.  I'll probably begin transferring some of it from there to here as time permits.  I might create some pages as well.

tnt

Daylily Daydream

I wrote this one lazy hazy day in the garden during daylily season. I just came across it in my archives. Anyone with a large daylily collection might appreciate the sentiment.

Daylily Daydream

Daylilies like fireworks
Bursting on high.
Daylilies like starbursts
In the summer sky.

Starting out slowly,
One bloom at a time.
Charming me, teasing me,
One day at a time.

Then the Grand Finale,
Building in tempo.
Filling my senses
With the final cresendo.

Alas, the Grand Finale,
It comes much too soon.
The last sparks fall and fade,
And leave me wishing for June.
~ Natureschild ~

May

What's in bloom:

Scotch Broom is nearly finished. I'll cut those back pretty soon to get them in bounds. They get pretty sloppy as they grow older.

Korean Lilac "Miss Kim". The Persian Lilac finished about a week and a half ago. I prefer the Persian to the Korean. It's closer to the old-fashioned lilacs that I miss from the north in both scent and flower form.

Siberian and Bearded Iris. Don't have as many Bearded Iris as I'd like. I think I'm down to just the two varieties. Blue/white and yellow/burgundy bi-colors. The blue/white is called "Stairway To Heaven". The yellow/burgundy is an unknown heritage variety that I brought with me from MI.


Daylily "Stella D'Oro" is just starting.

Weigela. There's one mature shrub, and some smaller ones that were added last year. I've come to appreciate this pink shrub for its fairly long bloom period that fills in the late spring niche.

Azaleas are going strong.

Creeping Phlox is winding down.

I'm making some changes. Again. The round garden in back has strayed from the original plan. It started out as the "White Room (with black curtains)". Then I planted red and purple clematis on the 3-sided domed trellis over it. Turns out the red and purples were transient. They bloom heavily in late spring and die completely back when finished. So the trellis is bare for most of the year. Added pale pink and white clematis to fill it in, but they've been slow to do so. Added scent with lavender and rosemary, and some other scented plants that weren't white or black. This photo was taken in 2007.



The rocky area was added later. It serves a couple purposes. It adds some architectural interest, and it's a place to toss the rocks I always find wherever I dig. After the fence was installed, I expanded the backside to the fence. I've filled the space between the garden and fence with flowering trees and shrubs, and big ornamental grasses. The whole thing is just a mess right now.

I got to thinking about a trend that includes food crops in landscaping. It's a design for suburban yards that have to display curb appeal, and may not have room for a food garden. Food plants can be included without taking away from the landscaping.

I don't grow a big veggie garden anyways. Just some salad stuff. Tomatoes, cukes, onions, and maybe some herbs. I have the raised beds I built for this purpose, but realized I could include these things in this garden. The tomatoes can grow on the trellis. The cukes can ramble through the larger perennials. Strawberries can be included in the groundcovers. I can add some blueberry bushes, and tuck onions in wherever they'll fit. I can still have the flowers and scents.

So that's the new plan. I'll be in the garden if you need me.

tnt
Natureschild

April

Happy Spring.

It was such a rough winter. Cold, snowy, cold. I don't think I was able to open windows more than once or twice. Even then it was only on the south side. But all is well now, and spring has sprung. Weather has been wonderful.

I'm in a rather bad place right now. I need to repair some things but money is tight. I can only do so much myself and have to hire someone. As a result, I'm a bit depressed and lacking much interest in the gardens. Good thing most are fairly mature and don't need a lot of work once I get them cleaned up.

The first tasks are cleaning out the winter weeds and cutting back the ornamental grasses. I've started on that. The cutting down of the grasses is a big job. I've got a lot of them! I haven't figured out the best way to do it. My hedge shears aren't very effective. I end up on my knees with a pair of large scissors. That puts the least strain on my old body. I bought a new higher end pair of grass shears and will see how that works. The nice thing about the grass cuttings is that I can just leave them in the garden. It's a great weed barrier mulch.

For the first time in over 20 years, I spent nothing on mail orders. I usually spend way too much on plants and seeds. I think my daylily sources miss me. The one sent the catalog 3 times. I had made the usual wish list out of the catalogs, but never sent it. I decided to just let it go this year. I still have daylilies sitting in the nursery bed from 2 years ago! I have a pile of seed packs that were never planted. I should take care of what I've got, and save some money. I usually spend just as much at local nurseries and I'll cut back on that, too. Like I said, my heart isn't in creating new gardens or revamping others right now. I've wasted money on plants and then lost them because they sat around waiting for me to put them somewhere.

I think one of the reasons for my lack of interest is that the 2 year drought took such a toll. I tried to plant trees and shrubs and lost many of them. I may try again now that the weather pattern has come around and it's more like it was when I first moved here. We are getting enough rain, and I have a reliable source of water now.

I might try some Dogwoods again. I've only got the 2 originals left, and they are behind in development. All the rest were lost to the drought. It's rather odd that this southern native is so wimpy. I so admire the mature Dogwoods I see around the area.

What's in bloom:

Daffodils
Okame Cherry
Red Dead Nettle
Bird's Eye Speedwell

The last 2 are wild flowers that I've finally identified. I recently bought a new book - WildFlowers of Tennessee and Ohio Valley and Southern Appalachians. I found it at the welcome center in the Smoky Mts Park. I find a lot of cool things there. Excellent field guide!

I've been trying ID the Dead Nettle since I moved here. It's a low mat of reddish- purple growing here and there. I'd been pulling it out of the gardens as a weed, but after learning more about it, I decided it was a nice groundcover. The book says it's an annual, and I had noticed it disappeared after setting seed. It also says it's invasive which is true, but since it does die back, I think I'll leave it from now on. These kinds of early "weeds" often help keep other weeds down.

The Speedwell appeared in the lawn as lovely patches of tiny pale blue flowers. I wanted to transplant it but the book says this is also an annual. Not sure if there's a way to preserve it in a garden if I might pull out pre-bloom plants thinking it's just a weed. I should try. It's that pretty.

I like "messy" groundcovers. Since most of the plants in the perennial gardens are large, they fill in the spaces around them and keep weeds down. Other things I use are creeping sedum, creeping thyme, creeping jenny, creeping phlox. Whew, that's a mouthful of creeping!

The planters I started last year are successful so far. These are the ones under the porch roof. Instead of the usual and boring impatiens, I tried some shade-loving perennials. All the plants except one of the fancier coral bells have emerged. I haven't seen the ferns yet, but I hope they are just later to break dormancy. I gave the planters a shot of water during the winter since it doesn't rain there. I'll give them more time before I change anything. I should have stuck some small spring bulbs in there. I'll do that this fall. Hmmm, maybe I'll try some lily bulbs, too. I can buy those now. I love the lilies but they are often damaged as I'm spring-weeding. Might work better in the planters, and the heady scent on the porch would be wonderful.

tnt
Natureschild

December

Boy, did I drop this blog! I usually have so much to talk about in the garden. Things just kinda got away from me this year. I didn't get as much done as I wanted, didn't even get the things that needed doing done.

I have a bag of daffodil bulbs that never went in the ground. Now the ground is freezing. I might just pop them in the perennial pots on the porch.

We got the first real snow of the season yesterday. A good 4" or more that piled up so prettily on everything. I think this is the most snow I've seen since I've been here.

I've been indoor gardening so I can talk about that. A pot of paperwhites is blooming on the table. These smell so sweet, it's almost sickening sweet. Definitely would be overpowering en masse. I've created a garden in the corner by the computer desk. I'll get pix and talk about that next time.

tnt
Natureschild

Hydrangeas

The hydrangeas are blooming so I'll talk about them today.

Up north, about the only hydrangeas you'll see are the white "snowball bushes". I don't know for sure what species they are. Pink or blue hydrangeas just don't happen.

Hydrangeas change color in response to soil ph. You can prove your soil ph with them. Acidic soil makes them blue. Alkaline makes them pink. In Tennesse, it's nearly impossible to have pink hydrangeas. Even if a hydrangea is pink when you buy it, it will surely turn blue in the TN soil. I currently have 3 hydrangeas.

"Endless Summer" is a large mophead with rich color. It's a reblooming cultivar that blooms on both old and new growth.

"Lady In Red" has a smaller lacier and paler flower. It gets its name from the red stems and leaf veins.

"Blushing Bride" is the newest one, and I think the most beautiful. It's creamy white with a blush of color.

I should mention the Rhododendrons while I'm here. The forest around me is full of them and they are blooming now. The plants are very large and the flowers start with a pink blush and then turn pure white.

I have a few dwarf rhodies, and azaleas, which are related. These are also plants you won't see much up north.

tnt
Natureschild

June

Where have I been? I'm so bad about keeping up a journal! I start out with the best of intensions, but then I let it go.

If you go to the rabbitry blog, you can catch up on the animal happenings.

We've been getting plenty of rain and the gardens are lush and blooming. It's so good to see after the 2 yr drought! I've been sick, and some things have been neglected. Just now getting my wind back and plan to get real in the yard and garden.

I've got some new things sitting in their pots waiting for me to get to it. Some new grasses, butterfly bushes, and other perennials. I'm expanding the garden at the east side of the porch, and have some shade things for that.

Have a lot of transplanting to do as well. It's high time I got the daylilies that have been in the nursery bed for 2 yrs to go to their permenant place. Good thing daylilies can be transplanted anytime.

What's in Bloom:

Daylilies
Lilies
Lavendar
Coneflower "Razzle Dazzle"
Husker's Red Beardtongue
Roses ("Fairy", "Knockout Pink")
Hydrangea ("Endless Summer", "Lady In Red")
Sidalcea
Spiderwort
Coral Bells
Honeysuckle

The coneflower is a pleasant surprise and blooming before the other coneflowers. It's a double that I didn't really expect to make it back from winter. I haven't had any luck with other specialty coneflowers. But it's doing great and quite impressive! * Note to self...get photo.

The veggie garden is coming right along. The cuke plants are nice and healthy. Onions can be dug anytime. The patio tomato has some green fruit already. I always put one of those in because they produce so early.

I was sooo MAD! The strawberry patch is doing great this year. Finally. I got a handful of berries to eat (like 4). And then the guineas discovered them! They eat every single berry, even the green ones! Grrrr! I will be putting a better fence around it next year.

At least it looks like a nice wild blackberry crop this year. There's been enough rain, the berries should be juicy and sweet. The drought ruined them the last 2 yrs. They were as hard and dry as nuts.

Well, all for now. I'm going to try and get something done out there today and this week and here on in.

tnt
Natureschild

Just checking in

Not a lot new to report. I've been waylaid by other things and haven't spent as much time in the garden as I'd like.

What's In Bloom:

Daffodils
Flowering Almond
Persian Lilac
Yoshino Cherry
Okame Cherry
Crabapple
Apple
Redbud
Moonlight Broom
Dogwood

Today I'll talk about some of the trees and shrubs that are in bloom now.

The Persian Lilac is at the front corner of the rabbitry. As I walked out of the barn the other day, the scent hit me. I've always loved lilacs for the fragrance. It's a small shrub, and the flowers are smaller than the Old-Fashioned Lilacs. I planted a few of the Old-Fashioneds, but they have yet to bloom. I had read that they don't do as well in the south, preferring very cold winters, but since they are available in local nurseries, I have to try.

Okame Cherry is also in front of the rabbitry and I am in love with this tree. The bloom time isn't real long, but so pretty in palest pink. It has the odd habit of throwing out a few blooms in the fall. I thought at first this was in response to unusual conditions, but now know it's just its nature. What I especially like is how fast it's grown. I've been pruning the lower branches to showcase the interesting bark and form.

I planted 3 apple trees last year. They were fair-sized, and 2 are in bloom. I'm not sure if the other one made it as I haven't seen much sign of life. My main reason for apple trees was the rabbits. They will enjoy the prunings for chewing wood. I plan to get a few more this year.

Moonlight Broom is a lovely pale yellow shrub. It's just kicking in. The flowers are like pea flowers, growing all along the branches, and have a rich scent. It's overpowering if you are close to it. I wasn't that impressed when I first planted them, but then they gave their first real show last year. The bloom time is quite long, as well. I also planted "Minstead", a purple, but it has failed. For some reason it kept falling over and uprooting itself. I moved it last year and have seen no sign of life this spring. The 3rd broom is "Paulette". This has red/yellow bi-color pea flowers that appear peach from a distance. It tends to grow taller than Moonlight and blooms a little later and not as profusely. One of the things that attracted me to the Brooms was the growth habit. The leaves are tiny along slender green branchs and it gives a sort of flowing grass look. It looks great next to the large grasses, giving a different texture in the similiar form.

The Dogwoods - Tennessee's signature tree. This is a native, but it defies the usual native directive of being easy and tough. I've been struggling to get some established and so far only 2 have made it. They apparently cannot handle drought. Due to my water situation (that's a whole nother story), and the drought, I was unable to keep things watered the last 2 yrs. I still tried to get trees going, and some are barely making it. The dogwoods bit the dust, except the 2 at the corners of the back deck. These were the first ones I planted, and closer to the water hose. They are blooming now (dark pink), but not greatly. The one's main leader died and broke off last year, but it had suckered. I figured the suckers would be white, but they are pink. I guess this one won't be the canopied tree form I had planned. I'm so jealous of the Dogwoods I see as I'm out and about, and I want in my yard.

In my last post, I mentioned the possible late freeze. Yay! It didn't happen. We've been getting quite a bit of rain. I have high hopes for a better gardening year.

tnt
Natureschild

Brrr

Ok what happened to spring? It snowed yesterday,and the cold snap is supposed to last through tomorrow. The snow didn't amount to much, but it stuck to the ground. It could be a hard freeze dipping into the 20s. This feels like MI in spring not getting here fast enough.

This is like the late April freeze we had in 2007. That was rough. It killed the dogwood bloom, and stunted everything else. The drought followed, and everything is still recovering from that. In MI, this would be normal, and plants wouldn't even be up much at this time. Here in the south, most things are going strong already. Global warming? Not from where I'm sitting. Could be another sad year in the garden.

What's In Bloom:

Daffodils
Flowering Almond
Persian Lilac
Yoshino Cherry
Okame Cherry
Crabapple
Apple
Newport Plum
Cistena Plum
Redbud
Moonlight Broom

I saw a mockingbird the other day. I wish they would stick around. I love their songs. I only see them rarely as they pass through. Hoping the apple trees will interest them someday. I want to get more apples and crabs this year. These types of trees seem most attractive to birds, and I like them, too.

Made a few visits to the nurseries, but haven't bought much yet. I picked up some new hostas that I found pretty cheap. I'm expanding the garden at the covered porch, and will fill it with shade lovers. That faces east and most shade lovers will be happy there.

I took some cuttings from the Dappled Willow I planted there last year. It's a really pretty shrub. It has varigated and pinkish leaves and likes the eastern exposure. I put the cuttings in a bottle of water, and there are roots now. Cool. I'm going to try getting a few other things to root that way like Forsythia and the hybrid willows. The Forsythias are just finishing their bloom so I'll take those soon. The willows I can take anytime. I might try just sticking a few in the ground to see what happens. We've been getting good rain so it might work.

So being too cold to work in the yard, I'm trying to catch up some things in the house.

tnt
Natureschild