The Garden Buzz

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: June 15, 2012

You don't know what you got till it's gone. Looking for likely subjects for GBBD has become a shorter process since moving. Without my large gardens and living in a rental home temporarily it makes for quick work.

Although I think about my "old" garden, I haven't been too sad. You see our new neighborhood is a community of kindred gardening spirits. You might even say, that around here everyday is Bloom Day. Each time I take a different way home I'm treated to the sight of more and more lovely gardens filled to the brim with beautiful blooms.

Meanwhile in this yard I find myself grateful for flowers I might have dismissed before. Suddenly I appreciate the ordinary orange lilies growing alongside the yellow siding. A few of the plants I brought with me are blooming too. And on a side note, the tree peonies ("How Not to Transplant a Tree Peony")  I blogged about last week are showing signs of recovery with a flush of new growth.

Here's my small contribution to this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, a wonderful creation of Carol's at May Dreams Gardens. And also Happy Anniversary to my husband of 27 years.

Anything but ordinary in their beauty.

Small landscape roses I brought along, whose name has escaped me.

The taxi-cab yellow blooms of Coreopsis 'Jethro Tull'.

Dill blossoms in my "make-do" kitchen garden.

Pink veronica, some of the few survivors of the builder's heavy wood mulch here at the rental house.

And for my grand finale...pink crinums growing in my favorite Charleston graveyard (from last week's trip), bejeweled with raindrops after an afternoon shower.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: May 15, 2012

Those of you used to my lush gardens and luscious photos may be disappointed this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

It's been a week since we moved into our temporary abode. Back at our old house (and gardens) I bet there are blooms in abundance; purple lollipops of alliums, bright shades of Mandarin Lights azaleas and fragrant rugosa roses to name a few. But that's in the past. I am officially in limbo, a horticultural lull I'm still getting used to.

As is the case with rental houses, there are few flowers, a couple of May Night salvias are struggling to bloom in the shady front yard. Two troughs of pansies leftover from the "house staging" are all that's going on this GBBD.

Pansies on the front porch                               The Garden Buzz

Did I bring some plants with me besides the pansies?

Well that's a sore subject. Sometime this week I'll be doing a blog post on "How Not to Transplant Tree Peonies". Otherwise I dug up a few small shrubs, roses and hydrangeas with permission from the new owners.  (I hope to place them in the new gardens once our house is built.) Two clumps of the irreplaceable mystery alliums followed me here. And last but not least a half dozen alpine strawberry plants are now edging what I'm calling the "Make-Do Kitchen Garden". More on that soon as well.

The good news is that my new neighborhood is chock full of gardeners. And if I ever finish unpacking boxes I'll be once again "borrowing" blooms for GBBD. In fact there might be a late installment of bloom day since a short walk down the street today revealed some irresistible irises.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: February 15

Once again while I'm down south for winter, I am "borrowing" blooms for GBBD. Hope you don't mind. 

One of my favorite past times is poking around old cemeteries. It's more about history and heart than the macabre. My daughter found this secluded cemetery when we made a quick return trip to Charleston for some J. Crew and another round of shrimp and grits at the Hominy Grill.

Down a shady, narrow path, tucked among the shops on King Street, you enter a cemetery much different than many in the low country. Often the graveyards here are a contrast of bare dirt and billowing azaleas; draped in gray Spanish moss with hot pink flowers popping against aging stone.

The Unitarian Cemetery at Archdale Street is lush with flowers and vegetation, the greenery knitted together almost as if to hold the leaning stones and crumbling tombs together against the slow passage of time. What a hidden gem.

Cemeteries are known to be the repository not only of souls but that of tough and sometimes long-forgotten plants. I would love nothing more than to spend a year researching all the species thriving in this intimate space. With only a few hours, I settled for a stroll among the late-winter and early-spring flowers.

Spring snowflakes, (Leucojum vernum) , the "poor cousin" to Snowdrops (Galanthus)

As I find so many southern plants I can't grow up north, I made a mental note to plant some of these delightful little bulbs next fall. Hardy to Zone 3! The little white petals on these bell-shaped blooms are tipped with a spot of green, resembling little fairy hats.

These old-timey narcissus literally glow in the soft golden light of late afternoon.

I did do a little research later, coming to the conclusion this variety of daffodil is a southern heirloom called Grand Primo, harking from the 1800's.

 

 A soft pink, single-flowered camellia by this inviting bench

A recently planted, young Edgeworthia chrysantha, commonly known as paper bush, this may be the cultivar called 'Snow Cream'.

The unique blooms are cherished for their lovely fragrance.

Azaleas are just beginning to bloom

Not flowers, but still noteworthy, ferns of all sorts.

Toppled stems blanket these graves

The church and cemetery have survived a fire, an earthquake and hurricanes. The damage is still seen here and there. Large trees fell on many of the graves crushing stone and ironwork.

Even with all of that turbulent history, it seems a peaceful resting place. The kind of place where a gardener might want to turn in her trowel.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: January 15

I'm "borrowing" some blooms for this January Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. 

Camellia japonica on the square                                      The Garden Buzz

Without my own garden I've resorted to photographing a few of the flowers blooming here in Savannah while I sit out the coldest part of winter up north. I pass these beauties every day while walking so perhaps that gives me some small right to claim them. 

Lots of shoe leather                                                            The Garden Buzz

I have vague memories of camellias growing up in  California, as well as from my time living in Memphis, however I have never 'owned' one. They are most appreciated blooming now while everything else waits for another month to get started on spring.

Camellia buds ready to burst                                            The Garden Buzz

I pass a particular venerable camellia in one of the squares, Chippewa Square I believe, that has two distinct colors, one side is that soft warm pink almost coral, while the other side has a stripey pink and white, candy-like variegation. Grafting gone bad or perhaps intentional? One of those two-in-one specials from a catalog?

Meanwhile, there is a shrub, blooming all over Forsyth Park at the moment, that I feel I've seen before but am struggling to identify. It's probably a common one, but just out of my realm. Is it just a double, ruffly camellia? It's about 4x4 feet wide. Maybe a savvy southern gardener can clue me in?

Mystery shrub?

I'll repeat this photo of potted pansies, because they are just that cute.

Potted pansies on the steps of Fabrika, a darling fabric store in Savannah 

And I'll include these not very bloomy but very lovely containers of winter greenery southern style.

Large fern in windowbox with containers below
Urns with green motif

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A dog friendly town if there ever was!

 

I'll end with this sweet little rose bouquet from our bistro table at the Paris Market today.

Peach roses...my favorite.

I hope to have lots more to show come February, by then I'll have probably "adopted" a few more worthy specimens! Until then, Happy Bloom Day. And as always thanks to the lovely and talented Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

 And last but not least a birthday shout to DesaRee and Stella,my sweet nieces who share this birthday. 

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: October 15, 2011

This Bloom Day caught me by surprise! It's a chilly, breezy autumn day in Minnesota, feeling normal after a year of unseasonal, atypical (but, hey, what's typical anymore?) weather.

A quick and cold tour of the garden finds dribs and drabs of color and hangers-on sputtering out a final attempt at carrying on the species. 

Time to put our kayaks away. Long shadows and golden light.      The Garden Buzz

Pee Gee Hydrangeas take on that antique shade of rose               The Garden Buzz

Shasta Daisy "Becky" flutters in the breeze

The rugosas have recuperated from Japanese Beetle damage

A lone delphinium defies the windy weather                   The Garden Buzz

Last of the dahlias                        The Garden Buzz

Hydrangea "Incrediball" aging into vintage green

This snapdragon looks unfazed by anything

Backlit seedheads of Joe-Pye Weed shining bright

A sleepy bee clings to the last of the zinnias                               The Garden Buzz

Winterberry "Red Sprite" hints of holiday things to come               The Garden Buzz

Always a melancholy mood in the garden this time of year. 

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for the one and only original Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: September 15

There's not a lot blooming here in Savannah on my last day of this working vacation. Here and there you might see some blue plumbago or shrub sized lantana giving it a go. Of course it's still fun to go "courtyard snooping".

Hidden Savannah Courtyard                                                 The Garden Buzz

When I return to Minnesota there will be even less. Tonight there's a freeze, not a frost, warning. I know! Can you believe it?

My husband has been charged with bringing in houseplants and picking those tomatoes I planned to harvest next week. Oh well.

So Savannah is looking a little toasted after the long hot summer and it will be a few weeks before they start adorning it with all the fall regalia. 

Waning afternoon light at the Sorrell-Weed House                       The Garden Buzz

I did do a little gardening here. I helped my daughter pot up all her free sample plants from the Garden Writers Symposium in Indianapolis. Who knows she might be a gardener yet.

Hannah accompanied me to the GWA Symposium for two reasons; she's a food blogger and she wanted to see how garden writers approach their work and second, we were traveling onward to see her brother in Cleveland. The valets at that hotel were probably wondering about the slightly musty-smelling mini-forest in the back seat.

Since I live in zone 4 and she lives in zone 8b, she took both of the Bikini Tini Elephant Ears. They'll be perennials at her little carriage house apartment. This cute little colocasia with dark stems and smaller cupped leaves is part of the Tropi-cool series from Plants Nouveau, hardy to zone 6. Gee, I remember zone 6 like it was yesterday and all I ever did was push that zone. That grass is always greener, no matter where we live. 

But the best part about this petite elephant ear is what happens with rain or even dew...

Raindrop in Colocasia Elephant Ears "Bikini Tini" from Plants Nouveau                     The Garden Buzz        

Can you imagine when there are multiple leaves on a more mature plant? I can't wait to get some of these for next year. Because after that freeze warning, that's all I have left. Next year. 

Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. And thanks as always to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for hosting this great event each and every month.

 

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: August 15, 2011

I'm going to go off the garden path this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and do it a little differently. Usually I'm guilty of the same game the garden catalogs play, lots of colorful closeups and no full length views of the subject at hand. It's tempting to go in tight for the beauty shot. Maybe get out the macro.

I thought you might appreciate it a little less edited this time. I won't show all the warts and weeds, but you'll get a better idea of this garden I'm trying to make my own out here in the water, woods and wetlands.

My "office chair" on the porch

Across from the porch, I watch butterflies and hummingbirds on these zinnias

 Pee Gee Hydrangea blooming with courtyard beds in the background

Oops, I couldn't resist, Zinnia "Cool Crayon Colors"

Looking back towards the porch, Nodding Onion blooms attract bees and butterflies

Alliums along the path looking out to docks

Pole bean tower in the "hot mess" garden; a freeform, oft self-seeded veggie potager including Italian parsley, nasturtiums, signet marigolds, kale, beets and strawberries.

Beyond the beans, Joe-Pye weed blooming

Over the fence, the blooms of aquatic Duck Potatoes

Purple elderberries on the path by the pond

Further along Rudbeckia "Herbstsonne", phlox, and fading blooms of Invincibelle Spirit hydrangea

 Hang in there, we're halfway through!
Lots of bees browsing native Culver's Root

Reliable beauties, Annabelle hydrangeas with Nepeta Souvenir D'Andre Chaudon

Clethra "Ruby Spice" smells sweet

Swallowtail on lily

 

Black swallowtail on Mexican Sunflower, "Torch"

Rudbeckia "Cappuccino" started from seed with ornamental millet

 Warm sunset colors 

Out front, the blank canvas where my pine trees stood before a violent windstorm felled them. Check out my funky new stone wall. I'm studying the spot while I wait for it to "speak" to me and tell me what to plant. Any ideas?

 

 Uncommon annual, Cerinthe with blue-green foliage and dangling blue-purple buds

Not blooms but a beautiful combo, maidenhair fern and coleus

(Note the large mosquitos on wall above the container, it is Minnesota after all)

And finally, the blooms of Persicaria "Firetail", Joe-Pye Weed and Rudbeckia planted just outside my son's bedroom so that he might glance up from his laptop and perhaps see a hummingbird or butterfly. What a nice mama he has.

Hope you enjoyed the tour!!!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: July 15, 2011

Whoosh! That's me shifting gears right now for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. From foliage to flowers, that is. I just spent the morning interviewing a talented landscape consultant and scouting photos in her incredibly clever garden. Rather than relying on bursts of bloom to carry her design through the season, she employs a wide variety of foliage from perennials, grasses, shrubs and even veggies that exert a steady and beautiful influence on her yard.

But back to blooms.

Bouncing between heat waves and thunderstorms, my garden is both suffering and thriving. Here's a smattering of what's happening...

Zinnias, the essence of summer bloom, with the frothy seedheads of Deschampsia "Hair Grass" in the background. Having fun with my iPhone camera for this shot.                    The Garden Buzz

Marigolds, old summer standbys, look fresh and new next to lemon thyme  The Garden Buzz

A little Martagon Lily peeking from out of the hydrangeas

Insects on False Spirea shrub.                   The Garden Buzz

Trial plant: Campanula "Viking", compact, non-invasive and hummingbird-friendly

Trial plant: Rose "Candy, Oh", a sweet rose bred by a sweet guy, Dr. David Zlesak       The Garden Buzz

A different sort of catmint, Nepeta "Souvenir D'Andre Chaubord with bigger, looser flower spikes that draw hummingbirds        The Garden Buzz

Hydrangea "Let's Dance Starlight" blooming big this year!

Bumblebee in the background of Asclepias incarnata, Swamp Milkweed, milkweeds are the sole larval plant of the Monarch butterfly

Alien pod, or macro shot of a blueberry?

A thick carpet of Chameleon Plant, Hottuynia cordata, attractive but aggressive to somewhat invasive in my garden.

Trial plant: Proven Winners Leucanthemum "Daisy May" emerging from where the mesclun bed is bolting. I'm a sucker for a good daisy.

On the other hand, invasive Oxeye daisies, that I allow to bloom on a limited basis in my garden, love the high meadow look.

Another macro shot, a painterly image of Dahlia "Mystic something or other"

And finally my little green visitor...

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: June 15, 2011

Just like the heart in that Titanic song, my garden will go on, without me or not. While I spent two weeks in Savannah GA helping my daughter close up her little college carriage house and generally larking around, my garden just kept going in my absence.

We visited family and meandered through the south on a mini-literary tour of sorts seeing the home of favorite writers; Harper Lee, Truman Capote and William Faulkner, on our way home to Minnesota. Imagine our surprise when we blew back into the Twin Cities on a hot wind soaring to 103 degrees. I pulled into the driveway and grabbed a hose.

The tree peonies dared to flaunt their ruffly skirts before I returned. I managed to salvage one bloom for a jelly-jar bouquet.

 

White peonies with yellow intersectional "Bartzella" peonies.

The white alliums are still blooming...

Along with the catmint (Up north's answer to "lavender")

But I missed the purple ones by the viburnums 

I am seeing the first flowers of Cosmos "Sunshine MIx" I started from seed

And the rabbit-chewed clematis have returned!

I'm pleased with the iris I planted to fill in bare spots for spring

More along the dock path...

Weigela blooming like crazy

Weigela "Wine and Roses" too

Honeysuckle climbing up to my bedroom window...hummingbirds I hope?

Amsonia shows its face after my great amsonia rant of 2010! I've made peace with it though.

Dianthus "Firewitch" is a bright spot in the landscape

I wish I could say this was my peony, but it's just down the road. Wow.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: May 15, 2011

 

Thanks as always to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day! After all this is the month she dreams about.

While I'm aware that today, the day before Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, is World Naked Gardening Day, I think I'll spare the neighbors and give it a pass. It's been cold, windy, rainy, miserable and damp up north. Most Minnesotans are too busy with the Fishing Opener today to give much thought to gardening, much less in the nude.

So I donned my light down coat and wrapped a wooly scarf twice around my neck before heading out to photograph the latest buds and blooms in my garden. Even with that my fingers were numb halfway through. Just when you think I've run out of ways to complain about the weather up here, I manage to find another. 

I can't get used to the compressed gardening season, daffodils blooming alongside tulips, well, it just seems wrong.

 

Just like Margaret Roach of A Way to Garden, I've lost the tags and can't remember the names of these beautiful varieties of narcissus. Although I do recognize the one here as probably "Poetica" from the pheasant-eye style daffodils. They possess a haunting clove-like scent. Any other help with ID? Is one possibly "February Gold"?

 

 

 

 

Then on to the more subtle signs of spring with lots of understated native plants.

 

Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum commutatum) The Garden Buzz

Large-Flowered Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) The Garden Buzz

Lovely shrub...Fothergilla major "Mt. Airy"    The Garden Buzz

Ground hugging blooms of Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense) The Garden Buzz

Serviceberry Tree (Almelanchier alnifolia) The Garden Buzz

Red Barrenwort (Epimedium x rubrum)  The Garden Buzz

River Birch catkin closeup (Betula nigra) The Garden Buzz

Ending up with a few fruit blossoms...

Buds of Blueberry "NorthSky"          The Garden Buzz

Cherry "North Star"    The Garden Buzz

"Red Lake" Currant blossoms     The Garden Buzz

Fragaria vesca, Alpine Strawberry      The Garden Buzz

 

And here I didn't think much was happening in the garden!