The Garden Buzz

Squares of Savannah: Sometimes It's Hip to Be Square

I'm not getting around to as many blog posts down here as I'd hoped for during my stay in Savannah. I expected time for exploring and writing, unfortunately health issues for myself and some family members have taken necessary time away. And then my car was smashed the other night while parked along the street. Even though I don't drive as much here, it's always something, isn't it?

I'll be busy this week too since I have a friend coming to visit, so I thought I would at least link to my Star Tribune post where I temporarily leave off my obsession with courtyard gardens and talk about the lovely squares of Savannah. It's not quite gardening but it is all about making beautiful spaces.

Here's hoping things calm down and next week I'll be back to my usual garden espionage!

The fountain on Lafayette Square                                         The Garden Buzz

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. 

Forbidden Fruit: Seduction in the Garden

From the kitchen window of this little "mouse house" I'm renting for the winter, I can see them, huge golden lemons; they hang heavy from the limbs of not one but two potted trees sitting in the courtyard of a grand home behind my little cottage. A stout iron gate protects this citrus from my impulsive need to harvest unappreciated fruit.

The entry courtyard to yet another inner courtyard

In this case the idea of forbidden fruit is twofold. The entire idea of the courtyard here in Savannah is to cordon off a little privacy from the bustling street scene. Life here is a mix of the gritty and the genteel.

This green gecko figure appears to guard the gate

 At this moment, lamplight burnishes the red-papered parlor of the posh inn across the square, while at the other end of the street, revelers at Pinkie Master's bar loiter outside on smoke breaks shouting and cursing, the sound reverberating through the high walls on this short street off Lafayette Square. In between and in perfect counterpoint sits a soaring cathedral whose punctual bells contribute to the cacophony.

St John the Baptist Church, a few days ago on 12th day of Christmas 

I can understand the need for an oasis, a safe island within the fray. And yet I find all these courtyards so frustrating. I want to see inside them. I want to sit inside them. I want to pick those darn lemons!

Ripe lemons dangling just beyond my reach. For goodness sakes, someone, pick them!

There are a few courtyards with solid, shuttered doors, with no possibility of entry or even a peek. Those people will pay for that privacy with a lack of air circulation on hot, humid days. But most of the courtyards are screened with see-thru hedges and iron filgree fences, allowing for a quick glom here and there. Gates otherwise are the best chance for a lingering glimpse.

Given this idea of a patio peep show, it's hard not to write about the concept of the courtyard in such terms as flirtatious, titllating and seductive. A courtyard is nothing more than a coquette that leaves the outsider wanting more.

The locked courtyard through the screen of my kitchen window

The idea of sitting in the cool shadows beneath umbrella-like banana leaves, while glinty water trickles from a fountain shaped like a fantail fish or some Roman goddess. It all seems very otherworldly and exotic and wonderful.

For now I'll just walk the streets and try to be discreet while I gawk at these little almost secret gardens. As I tell my kids, it's good to have something to wish for.

Escaping Winter, Almost: Savannah Getaway

If you're a regular reader you know my daughter's a grad student at Savannah College of Art and Design, otherwise known as SCAD, and that I visit whenever I can. This winter I count myself very lucky to spend two months here in beautiful Savannah, escaping the Minnesota winter and all that entails.

The often-photographed fountain in Forsyth Park                       The Garden Buzz

I guess it's ironic that this Minnesota winter, unlike last year's record-breaking one, has been relatively mild and pretty much snow-free! And in the past few days, it's already been summer and winter here with me walking in a 13 degree wind chill this morning. It's so funny to see Savannahians in Ugg boots and parkas.

Still I'm excited to be "living like a local" down south. I'll be back to my usual courtyard-snooping and square-sitting, and sharing my photos soon.

I hope to explore and share more pictures of nurseries and historical gardens too. Can you believe it, the camellias are already blooming! 

I've got lots of garden writing work to do while I'm here. And my daughter is starting her thesis. Let's hope we can be disciplined enough to get our work done and a little fun too.

The journey down here included Henry-dog and the trip was not without it's moments. My car decided it needed a new differential the same week we were leaving. With winter weather to avoid and a wedding to make too, we went with plan b and drove my husband's smaller car, mailing our clothes ahead.

It's a two-ish day trip if you push it, but with the dog, we made it in three, with time for Hannah to visit friends at Mizzou and then a little time for good food in picturesque Franklin TN, where you never know if you might run into Jack White or Ryan Gosling. We didn't, but it's fun to imagine them hanging around in this cute little country-western village just outside of Nashville.

Henry-dog isn't the best car tripper. He likes to whine about not getting to sit in the front, bark at strangers and stand up the entire time so as not to miss a single thing. The rest of the family insisted he would settle down, but two days in, we braked at a pet store and bought a little something called Comfort Zone. It's a spray that mimics the pheromones produced by nursing mother dogs. Miraculously, it calmed Henry down quite a bit. Not enough to lay down for more than 30 seconds, but enough.

I am pleased to say that Henry's recent stay at "boarding school" has helped him to control his enthusiasm and contain, as Hannah describes it, his "zest for life", in order to be a proper Savannah-walking-dog now that's he out of the car. This is important since Savannah is extremely dog-centric and you'll learn the locals not by their name but more than likely by their dog's. 

Meanwhile here's what I saw in the rear view mirror for 3 days.

Poor baby.