The Queen of Seaford

Mulch, Mulch and More Mulch

2013-05-18T21:35:00.000-04:00

For the past week or so we have been moving mulch. Seemingly mountains of mulch. In reality it was 10 cubic yards of mulch.....but most of it was to be used in the back gardens. You know....around back and down the hill to the very sloped gardens.
Thankfully we bought the cart to go behind the lawn tractor last year when we put some rocks in the garden. Charlie loaded and loaded and loaded and dropped big piles of mulch all along the pathway in the back garden. I had some more weeding to do and lots of little baby plants emerging, so I didn't want mulch dropped into the garden bed directly.

I didn't have my camera in my pocket while all this was done...so no befores and middles of the work. I did walk around AFTER and am so happy with how the garden is shaping up. In July I will share a 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 progress report. For tonight, visions of a job well done.

This garden bed, above, Charlie lined the edge of the garden with newspaper and piled a lot of mulch throughout. It is mostly daylilies-- already up. Other plants in this very wet bed include Cardinal Lobelia and another cultivar Lobelia 'Queen Victoria'...red foliage and red blooms. Elephant ears are quite happy in this bed. Along the back of the bed are three Magnolia 'Little Gem' and a Cryptomeria japonica 'Black Dragon'.

This one is sort of a middle job photo....you can see some of the piles of mulch on the high part of the pathway.

The beds along the sides of the house just needed a little top dressing. The daffodils still have their foliage up in the garden, don't want to cut nor cover it. The Deutzia gracilis 'Nikko' is just about done blooming, just a few blossoms left. You can see that the yard slopes down toward the back of property.

The shed in the front yard shows the slope. Hopefully the shrubs will hide the cinder blocks in the next year or so.

Everything looks much better with a fresh layer of mulch doesn't it?

Part of this front garden got some edge dressing with the last of the mulch mountain. We also had to patch some areas of the grass where the dogs and the winter wet weather makes it so thin.

Most of the mulch went to the back. Thank goodness for the cart and tractor. Love the flagstone patio bordered by the Catmint, Rosemary and various goodies.

Looking back up to the house, you can make out the beds, now ready for this growing season. Now mulched the plants stand out and have a presence in the garden.

Lest you think I done with the mulching....there are still a dozen bales of pinestraw waiting, waiting since last year to be spread. ugh.

Once done, my gloves removed and my shoes taken off....I was in great need of a shower!!

Before showering I walked the yard and got some of these pictures and saw a new little friend.

He was on the wall by the side garden. I was worried about him falling off, it would be a three foot drop. It appears he has had a few bumps and bruises already, see the cut in his shell. Poor turtle. I moved him into the garden, under the Edgeworthia for him to forage.

One more exciting capture---

Mr. Gray Fox in my neighbor's driveway. I was walking the dogs and saw the fox. Lucky for me the dogs didn't see the fox and the fox didn't see the dogs.

Is your garden ready for the summer?

Couldn't Ask for A Nicer Day

2013-05-08T23:53:00.001-04:00

After many days of rain, drizzle, and the lack of sun, today started off with the sun shining brightly. We have a lot of bird activity in the morning and the evening...so I am always on the lookout for birds in the backyard as well as while walking the dogs. Monday I was out on the deck before dinner and saw a Scarlet Tanager. I had never seen one here before. Know where the camera was? Yes, in the house out of reach. Well, this morning I was looking out the window, enjoying the sunshine when I saw one again!!! Quick tell Charlie so he can see it and run for the camera. Today I was able to get a number of photos of Mr. Scarlet Tanager, though they are zoomed in of the trees, and then I had to crop the photos, so not as crisp as one might want, but successfully photographed nonetheless!

He flittered from one branch to another, hiding behind the leaves, making a clear shot almost impossible.

Isn't he a beauty? Last summer and the summer before we had Summer Tanagers in the garden, so this is a new sighting. Hope to see him and hopefully his mate more often.

Today's great weather was a stroke of luck because a few of my fellow garden bloggers had planned on getting together. Julie, from Growing Days and DJ from Meander Mountain and I met at Hatcher Gardens for a visit and a garden fix.
I had stopped at Hatcher Gardens with a couple Master Gardeners on our way back from SC Arbor Day celebration at USC Upstate. December it was still gorgeous, May it was thick and lush. You can see my posting on the December visit here.
Here are my fellow blogging buddies, under a huge pecan tree. I love the maturity of the trees in this garden, they certainly have been around for a long time.

The front area of the Hatcher Garden is nicely planted with colorful conifers, Japanese maples, and some ornamental shrubs that offered either texture or color to add to the landscape.

This longleaf pine, Pinus palustris, looks almost like a cactus or yucca.

Persicaria microcephala 'Red Dragon' adds some nice color interest to the front edge of this garden. Not sure what the shrub behind it might be, but to the right is an Oakleaf Hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia. This was a dominant plant in the forefront of the garden near the parking area.

This mixed bed has Heuchera...maybe 'Lime Rickey', Japanese painted ferns- Athyrium niponicum, another Heuchera, maybe 'Carmel', some nice full herbaceous Peonies, a sedum- probably 'Angelina' and some Pampas Grass, Cortaderia selloana. There is so much texture and color appeal, without any blooms...though the peonies are about to pop.

Doesn't this pathway draw your eye to follow the dominant yellow? One side had the Heuchera 'Lime Rickey' and the other was a color echo using hostas...not sure of the variety but it was a large leaf, maybe 'Guacamole'.

You could tell the Liriodendron tulipifera, Tulip Poplars, have bloomed, petals littered the walkway.

On the railing of one of the small bridges was a crab claw. Where did that come from???

On this 4 x 4 post there were twigs attached with a piece of hardware, why you might ask.... to give the Confederate Jasmine, Trachelospermum jasminoides, something to grab onto as it climbs up the post. Pretty clever if you ask me!

There were some blooms to see, love this yellow Iris. I don't know my Irises well enough to say what variety it might be....maybe a Louisiana Iris?

The last of the seedpods of the Fatsia japonica are providing some nice eye candy. You can see the pods forming in my post from the last visit.

These deciduous azaleas were still blooming, and nicely fragranced. What a great shade of pink.

See the pond beyond the azalea bloom? Look at the residents on the log! I love turtles.

Like I said, it couldn't have been a nicer day.....great time with DJ and Julie!

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Some Surprises

2013-04-30T11:00:00.000-04:00

Last spring at the Garden Bloggers Spring Fling we had Southern Living give us a presentation about new plants. It was fun to see new cultivars that have been developed. When the presentation was over, a list was sent around for us to sign up to possibly receive one of these plants -- sort of to test them in our gardens. Who wouldn't sign up for a free plant? Well, many (perhaps all) of us did receive four plants from Southern Living. I will do a full post about the progress of these plants after the growing season. My plants arrived in October, two of them were Mahonia eurybracteata 'Soft Caress'. I like the yellow blooms on Mahonia, but the sharp leaves of the M. aquifolium were a problem. Well, Soft Caress has SOFT foliage, not stiff and not spiny. I was thrilled to have a couple of these for my shady garden in the backyard.

Sadly the deer loved it as well. I send Aimee Coker an email (she is the contact person who emailed us for mailing address and garden conditions) and told her I was unable to give feedback on this Mahonia.

Then...... in the past week or so I was walking through the garden, checking on this spring's progress and look what I found!! This tiny growth is my Mahonia!!! My back garden is large enough that if something dies or is eaten, I leave it....mark it with a stick to remind myself of the location and wait. Well, it looks like the waiting has paid off. I will spray some deer deterrent on the new growth every week or so, telling those deer to feed elsewhere.

Speaking of eating in the garden....this was my Furfugium japonica, prior name- Ligularia tussilaginea. The hole was a lot larger than a typical vole hole. I was not happy about this!! Nor was I thrilled about some mysterious underground critter that was larger than a vole (rat???) eating my plants from below.

I stamped down the hole, pushing the remaining roots to have soil contact....put my stick in the soil to mark the spot and waited. I thought about getting some kind of trap, like a large mouse trap, but didn't want to deal with what it caught. Ignore it, that is good for now. Well, once again patience has paid off.

The hole has disappeared or rather has not reappeared and the Furfugium is putting out new spring foliage.
I love nice little surprises like this!
We have had a good amount of rain in the past few days, spurring on more spring growth. I like having the 'overhead' view of the garden. Slowly but surely the garden is filling in. I will do a yearly comparison in July but wanted to give you a fresh spring shot.

Yes, there are a lot of weeds out there....I still need to mulch and along the shoreline there are bales of pinestraw from last year. I got tired of getting chigger bites and quit spreading it.

Here is a pieced together photo of the backyard. This is the view that a certain blogger got to see.

Saturday I got a Facebook message from Skeeter asking if we were going to be home on Sunday afternoon.
Yes, Skeeter and her husband Mark stopped by on their way home from Asheville on Sunday afternoon! They had a nice trip to Asheville and Biltmore but the rains and thunder here were kind of limiting garden tours. I know she and Mark will come back, we live pretty close. Garden blogger visits are lots of fun!

Skeeter brought a couple cute garden items ---they are already in place. Really cute. Thanks so much! I will think of you every time I see them.

Both are by the front door, welcoming visitors with a splash of color. Thanks so much Skeeter!! What a nice surprise to have them visit.

I have a few new 'visitors' in the parsley. This year it looks like I will have to share my parsley with these caterpillars to the Black Swallowtail.

As they grow (and eat my parsley) will they be around long enough to become Black Swallowtails ......

.....or will they be bird food?? Here is Mr. Eastern Towhee.. hanging out in the backyard.

And a newly identified bird, Mr. Yellow-breasted Chat, seen on a walk with the dogs. Pays to keep your camera with you!!

Do you have some nice surprises in your garden?

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Wildflowers - Some Found, Some Purchased

2013-04-24T20:25:00.001-04:00

Earlier this month I was able to go up to the SC Native Plant Society plant sale. There were lots of great plants to be purchased. I missed the sale last year, so I was ready this year....I even brought my wagon with me.

The haul included two Ilex verticillata- deciduous hollies- one male one female, two Lindera benzoin- Spicebush, a native azalea, a green coneflower- Rudbeckia laciniata, Vernonia noveboracensis- Ironweed, and a pitcher plant- Sarracenia rubra.
Last year when we were at the North Carolina Arboretum I was drooling over the beautiful pitcher plants. One might even say I coveted those beauties. As I made my first lap at the native plant sale, it was the first thing I put in my wagon. Hot dog. I had been thinking about a spot for it since last year...before I knew I could find one for sale. It seems to be quite happy in a low spot in the full sun in my backyard. Cross your fingers that it stays as happy as it seems to be so far!

Planting native plants makes such good sense to me. These are the plants that need no extra coddling once established. They are beneficial to the animals or insects in your garden. For example, the Lindera benzoin, spicebush, is a host plant for the Spicebush butterfly...who wouldn't want more butterflies in their garden? The hollies will be a food source for birds in the winter and who doesn't love those red berries? Great color in the winter landscape.
More updates on the other newbies as they grow and flourish in the garden.

The first spring we lived here I found some Leucothoe Doghobble, growing in the lowlands by the lake. I moved some into the garden part of the backyard and hoped it would take hold. There are three different Leucothoe... L. fontanesiana, L. axillaris, L. racemosa....all of them native. I am not sure which one mine might be, but sure love the delicate white blooms. They are similar to the little bells of the native Vaccinium and Pieris japonica.

The leaves are arranged alternately along a crooked stem, hobbled...hence the name Doghobble. Sometimes common names are so unflattering.

You might remember the Aesculus pavia Red Buckeye trees (six inch tall) I brought with me from Virginia. I have nurtured these little guys for the last three years....this year one of them put forth a flower stalk. This is a great tree to have in your garden as it is one of the early bloomers that attract hummingbirds.

Hoping next year that the second one will put up a flower stalk as well.
Another red trumpet flower that attracts the hummingbirds this time of year is the native honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens. I cut this one back hard last year to replace the support it was growing on with a larger one. Didn't seem to bother it too much, there are lots of flowers.

Two deciduous azaleas in the garden have been blooming in the last few weeks. This one is Rhododendron x 'Tallulah Sunrise'

A new one this year is Rhododendron x 'Lemon Lights' Sure glad this one bloomed, my other yellow one, 'Admiral Semmes' hasn't bloomed this year....looks like the flower buds were nibbled.

This time of year in the South the non-native Wisteria are blooming...those that are taking over the landscape... can you say invasive? I am a sucker for purple blooms....so when I found this native Wisteria, I tried to figure out where I could plant it, finally deciding along the driveway. Meet Wisteria frutescens 'Amethyst Falls'. More on this one when these buds open!

There are other vines blooming in the woods now, this is one I had hoped to find on my property, but so far no luck. This one is on the property a couple lots over. Bignonia capreolata, Crossvine...another trumpet shaped bloom frequented by those cute little hummingbirds.

This find in my front woods is a nice surprise...I believe it to be Amelanchier arborea, Serviceberry. Maybe it is not... but for now that is my ID. Any other ideas as to its identification?

When taking the dogs for a walk I always have my eyes open-- never know what little blooms will come into view. This is a Sisyrinchium albidum, White blue-eyed grass. We have the Blue-eyed grass growing here as well, though right now it is the white one blooming.

Today before we went out on the boat I was pulling weeds (lots of them!) along the bank. I came upon a new flower, a mystery. I have never seen this blooming in my yard before. The petals are shiny and the foliage looks like flat leaf parsley. Any ideas? I like these little surprises. Hope it comes back again next year.

For those of you who are interested in more native plants and wildflowers, head over to Gail's blog- Clay and Limestone for Wildflower Wednesday. I know I have learned a lot from her posts....and those who also participate in the Wildflower postings.

You never know who is eating bugs in your garden.....Eastern Fence Lizard-- make sure you don't use pesticides.

From Albino to Thunder and Waiting on Chocolate

2013-04-16T21:39:00.000-04:00

It is that time of year again, Albino Skunk Music Festival! This is the spring festival (rather FEST---TUU-- VAAAAAAAAALL) for Albino Skunk. You might remember we have gone a few other times, each one a wonderful experience. I didn't post the first one (for some reason!?!) and the second time we went the post is here. As in the past, the directional signs were professionally done and easy to read.

This is Mr. Albino Skunk.

Music is what we are here for!!

We went on Friday, music started about 2:00 PM. First up was Darby Wilcox and her band....called Darby and the Peepshow. Darby is a local gal from Greenville, SC. I would call her singing sassy and spunky. Great band to open the festival.

Some random folks enjoying the festival. It was a beautiful day.

After Darby was a band called Brushfire Stankgrass from Asheville. They claim it isn't bluegrass, but stankgrass. According to their website stankgrass is mixing their bluegrass chops with a pinch of jazz, reggae, rock and punk.

The venue is comfortable under mature oaks on nicely sloping land making for a great view of the bandstand. On the backside of the stage area is the camping area. Behind the camera are the vendors, the kid's area, food and drinks, and the merchandise table.

The band we were looking forward to seeing was next. Hurray for the Riff Raff is great. A folk/country band from New Orleans is their description, but only scratches the surface of the band. Lead singer and songwriter is Alynda lee Segarra. Her voice is amazing.

After Hurray for the Riff Raff came Rayna Gellert and Scott Miller. I enjoyed Rayna's smile...and her singing and her fiddle playing ...but boy -- great smile. Scott Miller, songwriter from Virginia/Tennessee, had a lot of fun narrative to go along with his music. Love his song 'Lo Siento Spanishburg West Virginia'

The Brushfire Stankgrass guys came back for another set around dinner time.

Hurray for the Riff Raff also came back for another set. Junebug Waltz was one of the numbers they did.

A repeat to the Albino Skunk Music Festival was next-- Town Mountain, a bluegrass band. Great musicianship with these guys. The finale for their set was Orange Blossom Special....out of this world.

Town Mountain finished about 10:30 PM and we decided it was time to head home even though there was more music to be played. Looking forward to the fall festival...not sure who is coming yet but I know it will be a great time. The Albino Skunk Music Festival goes for a couple days, but we had other plans for Saturday.

Saturday found us heading to one of our other music spots...Newberry Opera House to see Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. Last year we saw Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder perform their bluegrass show. This year they combined bluegrass and country, pure bluegrass has no drums, usually just mandolin, banjo, fiddle and guitar. Look at Ricky's hand....he is an outstanding mandolin player.

This is the full set when additional players came out for the country numbers. What a great library of hits.

Oh, did I mention Chocolate? Well this is the best chocolate money can buy.... plain and simple. (this is a lovely surprise from my husband)

This isn't the kind of Chocolate I was talking about.... though I am enjoying every last bite!

Coming up in May is a concert I am really excited about....Carolina Chocolate Drops!! We will see them at the Handlebar in Greenville. We saw them last July at the Handlebar and look forward to seeing them again!!

It has been and will continue to be a musical spring.

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Pink and White and Pink and White and....

2013-04-12T10:12:00.000-04:00

My front garden wasn't what I wanted it to be last year. I moved some of the Phlox subulata to the backyard where I had some erosion issues. This allowed me to add some new plantings to the front garden. This spring I find I had a color theme going on.
I like having white in the garden as it really is a nice bright spot. From the house forward the white plants are- Iberis sempervirens, Candytuft, Phlox subulata, a white variety, and finally a white Iceplant, Delosperma 'Jewel of Desert Moonstone'. The phlox will fade into the summer as will the Iberis so other color will dominate the garden later in the season.

The pink color, again coming from the house forward, Loropetalum 'Daruma', Dianthus 'Sunflor Margarita', Loropetalum 'Purple Pixie' a weeping form of Loropetalum, Delosperma 'Jewel of Desert Garnet', and a a weeping Redbud, Cercis canadensis 'Ruby Falls'.

Here are the close-ups of the Delospermas and Dianthus--

Delosperma 'Jewel of Desert Garnet'

Delosperma 'Jewel of Desert Moonstone'

Dianthus 'Sunflor Margarita'

Apparently I have an affection for pink blooms. This time of year a pretty pink in the garden makes me smile!
Still working my way through blog posts, with Google Reader going away in July I have been trying out a few other readers. Feedly from Google is ok, though not perfect and Bloglovin' also not a favorite. I don't know which one I will use in the future, do you have a favorite?

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Garden Bloggers are The Best

2013-03-31T22:03:00.000-04:00

Marian's Prunus mume 'Hokkai Bungo'
lovely cinnamon fragrance!

Hi! Remember me? Yes, I know it has been a while since posting my last missive. Besides having had company for the last two weeks, I have been busy with driving (riding) to various military installations for a new ID card, organizing volunteers for our Home and Garden Show, and learning to play bridge. One of the ladies in our neighborhood is teaching many of our neighborhood residents. It has been fun so far.
Before life got all crazy busy I had the pleasure of visiting Marian, Hortiopia, who lives in Greenville, a short hour away.
Her front garden is on a slope and in the shade, quite lovely and full of many shade loving plants. Marian, ever the generous garden, shared a big clump of Hellebores with me. Wow! Her back yard borders the Reedy River and has a lot of great wildlife. Visit her blog to see more of her wonderful garden.

My visit was to talk about blogging as Marian is relatively new in the blogging world. It was a nice visit, just like two friends getting together for lunch and a walk about the garden. We talked gardens, birds (both love watching the birds), blogging, books, and the water we each live on.
Marian has the loveliest collection of gardening books. Here she is next to the best collection of gardening books I have seen. Again, this generous lady gave me a book by a friend of hers. She was down to a precious few copies, and she shared one with me.

Down to Earth a book by Margot Rochester, written and published not too long before she passed away. I have enjoyed reading through her book, wanting each plant she mentions. I have added some Mexican Sunflowers to my garden -- ordered some seeds last month-- thanks to Marian and Margot.

We hope to get together often --love having more garden bloggers close by!

As you can see there are two books in the above photo. Low Impact Low Carbon Gardening, a winning from Donna at Gardens Eye View. Donna lives in Central New York, so her garden zone is quite different than mine, I thoroughly enjoy reading her blog. Thanks Donna!

Since my last post spring has come and then stalled here in South Carolina. Many blooms have opened. My Pieris japonica 'Valley Rose' has lovely pink buds and light pink blooms. What a great shrub, while it is only about 8 inches tall, I have grand hopes for it in future years.

Lots of daffodils are blooming, many of the white ones are blooming now. Below is Narcissus 'White Marvel' -- I was hoping I had it timed to bloom the same time the white fringe tree, Chionanthus retusus is blooming. If the tree blooms soon I will have succeeded...though it doesn't look close to bloom time.

The banished to the garage Clivia miniata is in full bloom now. Soon the warmer weather will allow me to repot it minus the nest of ants that caused it to be banished.

This is the time of year that the Loropetalum shrubs are blooming. I wanted to share the difference of the two colors I have in the garden. The one on the left is L. 'Ever Red' with its red blooms and burgundy foliage, love it! The one on the right is L. Daruma, pink blooms and a green/red foliage, depending on how mature the leaf.

A spring post wouldn't be complete without the glorious Crocus blooming with the sun shining down, making them glow. Crocus tommasinianus 'Ruby Giant'

Oh, remember the Home and Garden Show I mentioned earlier? Well, I met another garden blogger at the show. David from Pinewood Cottage Garden stopped by our Master Gardener booth and introduced himself. What fun!! We had talked of getting together, but I was surprised when he walked up and asked if I was the Queen of Seaford! After a short conversation we agreed to visit each other's gardens once the weather allows spring to come into full swing.
I am sure spring is here...or very close. I have found a number of ferns starting to emerge. I believe this one is Woodwardia virginica, Virginia Chainfern.

Speaking of Virginia, below is one of the two Red Buckeye's I brought with me from Seaford. Both are doing well though this one looks as though it is going to bloom! I await its bloom -- think it is going to be a hummingbird magnet! Aesculus pavia

A new bulb in my garden is a miniature tulip.... Tulipa turkestanica, is blooming now.

Another garden blogger I have been planning to meet in Spartanburg is DJ from Meander Mountain. DJ and Julie (Growing Days) and I have talked about a visit to Hatcher Gardens. Garden blogging friends from the last fling getting together sounds like a good time doesn't it?

Our Red headed Woodpecker is a frequent visitor this winter. Lately there are two.....doing a lot of fluttering around. Could baby woodpeckers be coming?

On my way home from Marian's house I saw this ugly guy at the stop sign. You will be happy that I cropped the photo to eliminate the road kill he and his buddy were working on. These birds do a good job of cleaning up along the roadways.

As I said in an earlier post, I will be working by way around to your blogs, catching up on my reading. Time to get back into the routine of posting and reading. I have missed you all.

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

A Second Flush And Other Tidbits

2013-03-10T10:49:00.000-04:00

My Amaryllis 'Blossom Peacock' bulb that bloomed back in January is blooming again. It is not in good shape. I put the bulb in a tall glass vase, suspending it above the water by virtue of the curves of the glass and the size of the bulb. I guess the energy used to put out the first flower stalk depleted the size of the bulb just enough to let it slip into the water. I didn't see that is slipped at first so the bulb sat in the water, rotting.

Once I saw it, I dumped the water to well below the bulb. I was about to give it the old 'heave ho' after the first bloom was finished as the bulb didn't look very healthy. When I was about to get rid of it I saw new leaves emerging from the soggy looking bulb. I decided to wait and see what happened. Perhaps in survival mode it put up two flower stalks!
I like the picture above as the sunlight shines through the window and illuminates the blooms. Photographing this beauty is and was a challenge. The first round of bloom I used a black apron as a backdrop to give a very plain background. Great effect isn't it?

This round of blooms I tried the black apron again, but with two flower stalks it was too large of a space. Well, if you can't use dark, use light. I put the vase on the floor in the laundry room where there is a blank wall. It was a great 'photo shoot'!! Front --

A little off set --

Side by side-

Which is your favorite background, light or dark? Amazing how differently it sets off the flower.

Around here spring is in the air, teasing us with one tiny bloom at a time. The Loropetalum 'Ever Red' is just starting to bloom, its blooms are such a rich red color, I really enjoy this plant.

The crocuses I planted all over the yard are finally starting to bloom. C. 'Advance' had bloomed starting weeks ago, the others were in suspended animation. Here is Crocus chrysanthus 'Ladykiller' finally opened yesterday. Hooray!!!

Another second flush is my Clivia miniata, who has been banished to the garage. Why? Apparently a nest of ants had taken up residence in the soil during the summer. I thought I had gotten rid of the ants, but found a trail from the container to the dog's dish....ick. The garage seems to be a good place for it.

The Edgeworthia chrysantha is at its peak now, the blooms look like huge pompoms hanging on each branch.

Also in the backyard is/was a Farfugium japonica, old name Ligularia. I bought it in October and it was quite happy in a semi-dry shady area... love the large green leaves.

This is what I found last week-- makes you want to cry doesn't it? This hole is larger than an inch, so something other than a vole has eaten the majority of my plant. Think a rat trap is in my future.

Before I end this I wanted to share a few more birds....

Dark-eyed Junco

Goldfinch and Downy Woodpecker

Full house on the feeder

How is your garden shaping up for the beginning of spring?

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Fragrant on The First-- March

2013-03-01T20:33:00.000-05:00

How did it get to be the first of the month already?? Wow, guess all the wishing for spring to come helps. The blooming fragrant plants in my garden are similar to what was fragrant last month with a few additions. Walk with me around the yard as we see what is fragrant in my garden.

First, along the driveway, still blooming, Narcissus 'Grand Soleil d'Or', the yellow paperwhite. What a nice long bloom period!

Walking toward the house the next fragrant (though only slightly) is my yellow crocus, Crocus chrysanthus 'Advance'. None of my other crocuses have bloomed, yet.

My poor little Hyacinths are still holding on, some have been eaten from below, so I enjoy the ones remaining. Hyacinth 'Jan Bos'

As we head past the house and walk toward the backyard, the fragrance of the Edgeworthia is heavy on the breeze. This is the prime time for Edgeworthia chrysantha. You can smell the scent from up on the deck all the way down to the water. How many of you have purchased an Edgeworthia this year?? My work here is done.

A new plant to add to the list of the fragrant blooms is Daphne genkwa, Lilac daphne. I read a number of reports that this pretty little shrub is slightly fragrant, though, I don't get any fragrance from it. I will include it in my monthly post, but can't vouch for its scent.

This is an unknown Narcissus from a multi-pack of daffodils. It has a slight fragrance and really not very appealing. I can't wait for some of my really fragrant daffodils to bloom.

Coming back around the house and heading back toward the front, I have a number of Viburnum tinus compacta 'Spring Bouquet'. This pretty bloom's fragrance is fleeting. I remember last year finally getting a chance to experience the fragrance. Some plants give off more fragrance at certain times during the day. Maybe I miss this one more than I catch its scent.

In the front yard by the shed is one of the Daphne odora aureomarginata, Winter daphne. It has a lemony fragrance, another great winter fragrance that keeps on blooming. So glad both my Winter daphne are doing well.

Finally, Osmanthus fragrans, Tea Olive, is still blooming and super fragrant. This evergreen shrub blooms from late summer through fall and winter into early spring. I have eight of them around my garden. They can reach heights of 20 feet or more. Imagine a shrub that size full of blooms -- heavenly!!

What do you have fragrant in your garden?

Winter Walk-off 2013

2013-02-25T21:06:00.000-05:00

For the last couple years Les has hosted a Winter Walk-off, where you have to get out of your garden and take your camera with you. The rules are pretty simple, you have to travel on your own two feet and share what interests you along your walk. After you post, you are to give Les a link to your post so he can share it.
My walks are always accompanied by Newton and Skyler....my four-legged buddies. Last year I had Monroe as well but she has since passed away. Hers was a good long life, she made it to 18. You can see last year's post here, and the year before's post here.
On with our walk--- Newton is the black dog and Skyler is the Aussie, he hears the wind which can sound like a car coming.

For those who are new here, we live in the country, sort of. The development isn't built out yet, which we love. It feels like we have it to ourselves. Our walk today is out the driveway and to the right.

Looking back toward my house.... there is one house that is a second home, so most of the time we are by ourselves in this direction. Their house is at the turn, you can sort of see their driveway marker.

My walks are constant observation of nature, no gardens or plantings can be seen for most of the walk. At one point in the walk you can look through the woods to the lake. There is a cove that we are looking across. A few years ago you could see the next neighbor's house across the cove through the trees, but now there is too much growth. Do you see the bird? Bird watching is always part of my walks.

Ok, how about if I zoom in a bit? Still kind of hard to see, it is a Red-tailed Hawk.

I noticed a strange growth on some of the stalks of some Goldenrod blooms. I had to search for these to get a good photo again....some stretches of the road seem to run together. Have you ever seen anything like this before? My first thought was some kind of gall where the insect has entered the plant material and the plant builds up some growth around it as a defensive mechanism. I had to pick one and bring it back home to see what I could find out.

I snapped it off and took it home to further investigate.

I decided to cut it in half and see what I could find.

It is some kind of larvae, anyone know what it might be? I am stumped.

Back to the walk, lots of grasses and spent flower heads, sparkling in the sun.

This time of year I really enjoy the pines that grow close to the road as they put off a wonderfully fresh scent of pine. I think it is really refreshing and clean smelling. This one especially is fragrant, maybe it is close to the road, whatever the reason, I look forward to walking past it.

Along the edge of the road are lots of small Winged Elm, Ulmus alata. You can read more about them here, one of my tree posts. They are so sculptural. Like all the corky appendages along the small trunk?

As we end our walk I am able to capture a good picture of Mr. Eastern Bluebird. I have a lot of bird activity along the walks, love having the chance to get a good picture of one.

Be sure to head over to Les' blog and see other Winter Walk-off posts. Spring is just around the corner!!!

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Spring is Just Around The Corner, 'Jane' Said So

2013-02-19T20:41:00.002-05:00

We have had such a mild winter this year. Some of my daffodils are blooming a month earlier than they have for the past couple years. I know it is getting close to Spring because my Magnolia x 'Jane' is starting to open. 'Jane' is one of the Little Girl Series of Magnolias. She is a hybrid cross between M. liliiflora' Nigra' and M. stellate 'Rosea'. These 'girls' tend to bloom later in the spring, missing that late frost that causes damage to the delicate petals.

She isn't open fully, just a tease of color. Love this tree. She will be a show stopper in a few weeks...and in years to come, wow!!

For those of us in the South who love lilacs but don't have a lot of luck with them, here is a nice color substitute. Sadly it is not very fragrant. Daphne genkwa is a sweet little shrub that blooms before its leaves come out. Right now mine is full of light lavender tubular blooms. This time of year I welcome all color!!

A little more color this time of year is the Pulmonaria, this one is P. 'Raspberry Splash' with its foliage sporting white polka dots.

and here is P. 'Diana Clare' whose leaves are silver with a green edge. Will have to share the foliage later in the season. Right now it is pretty ratty, but the blooms are great. Pulmonarias bloom pink and age to a lovely dark purple blue.

A new plant in the lower part of the garden is a variegated Pieris. This one is P. japonica 'Passion Frost'. I bought three, one looks a little stressed. Hoping these colorful beauties will do well and grow to their 4-5 feet tall mature size. Pink blooms and variegated foliage....perfect!! Another month or so and these pink buds will be open.

Like a new parent or a new puppy owner who is camera happy, I can't stop taking pictures of the Edgeworthia chrysantha. She is in full bloom now and ever so fragrant. If you live in zones 7b- 10 and don't have one of these babies, time is wasting! Get one now!!!

Wanted to give you a wrap-up of the Great Backyard Bird Count-- had a lot of bird activity!! My count was almost 180 birds in 45 minutes. I got some feedback on the high count of the Brown-headed Nuthatch. The seed mix in this feeder was popular with all sorts of birds. At some points during my count I had 5 Nuthatches at one time on this feeder.

See the Nuthatch below? Busy little guys. They take a seed and fly off to eat it and return to get another.

Will be making the rounds to all the blogs I like to read, only have 113 posting in my Google reader right now.

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

That's a Horse, I Mean Bird, Of a Different Color

2013-02-11T16:00:00.000-05:00

About a month ago my friend Donna from Garden Walk, Garden Talk and I were chatting about birds. She had a mysterious bird she needed help identifying. For some reason I thought I could help. Right away Donna sent me a couple pictures of this mystery bird. (All photos were taken by Donna)

Isn't this a cute little bird? What kind of bird was it?? When I Google a bird or a plant or a bug I try to use as many descriptive words as possible. What words would you use?

I chose color as my first descriptive word, not tan or beige, but blonde. To me it looked like a House Sparrow, so my Google search was 'Blonde Sparrow'. Now I got some interesting results, even some for Pirates of the Caribbean and Jack Sparrow. Pretty certain it wasn't Jack Sparrow.

One of the results was for another blog, Project Noah. He had a picture of a bird that was similar to the ones that Donna sent me. I love all my blogging buddies, but I needed another source, a scientific research source. Donna contacted some folks from Cornell and was waiting to hear back from them. In the meanwhile, she did hear from a friend who is a member of Buffalo Audubon Society, who said he believed it to be a House Sparrow, a Leucistic House Sparrow. His determination was the clear coloring of its breast.

Ok, time for some new scientific words, reference-Cornell color, and color abnormality

Leucistic-genetic mutation that prevents the melanin from coloring the feathers
Albinism- genetic mutation where there is no melanin is produced in the body
melanin- one of three natural pigments that are found in organisms
carotenoid- pigments not affected by albinism
porphyrins- third pigment group, gives fluoresce, a form of luminescence, to colors

Definitions aside, just how does one tell a leucistic bird from an albino bird? Leucism is a pale coloring, where the melanin pigments, while present in the body do not color the feathers. A bird with leucistic mutations can be blonde as in our bird, or have white coloring, or splotchy white blocks of feathers, which is called pied. The one sure way to know if it is leucistic or albino, is to check the eyes. Albino birds have no melanin in their body, so the only coloring in their eyes will be the blood behind the eye. That is why they seem to have red eyes. Since not all pigments are affected by the mutations, you can have an all white bird with a red peaked head as in this Pileated Woodpecker and here. Make sure to check these links, most incredible photos.

Here is the blonde sparrow during the summer, you can see the coloring difference from other female House Sparrows. Some of the reports on the leucistic and albino birds don't fair well as they stand out to predators. There is also information stating these birds have a hard time attracting a mate. Donna has seen this bird and one of its relatives who is paler, with other birds. She says that the paler bird has been seen feeding some fledglings, so this one could be related and they do produce offspring. Be sure to visit Donna's blog as she is doing a post on the whiter bird on the 14th of February.

Reports on Cornell's website say that leucistc birds are unusual and albino are rare. If you see either, you should consider yourself quite lucky.

Donna is quite lucky to be sure, you can see this bird is still hanging with the other House Sparrows-

This really shows the contrast between the normal sparrow coloring and leucistic. This little leucistic female is seen with male House Sparrows.

Moral of the story? Keep your eyes peeled for a lucky bird! Make sure to watch and record your bird sightings this weekend, February 15- 18 for the Great Backyard Bird Count. Maybe you too will see an unusually colored bird.

Fragrant on the First- February

2013-01-31T21:25:00.000-05:00

I know many of you have had freezing temps, snow, and plain ugly weather. Here in the Upstate of South Carolina this winter has been really mild. Fragrant blooms in the garden are continuing to shine, so without further adieu, here is my presentation of February's fragrant blooms.

Daphne odora aureomarginata

Close up of the VERY fragrant blooms, Daphne odora aureomarginata

I have two Daphnes, both were the small size when I bought them....now the one in the top photo is about a third larger than the one in the second photo.

Hamamelis vernalis, Ozark witch hazel

This witch hazel is a new plant, only about 24 inches or so tall. Can't wait for future years to have a nice large clove-y fragrant shrub along the driveway.

Narcissus 'Grand Soleil d'Or' yellow paperwhites, now along the driveway, happy after the recent rainfall

Osmanthus fragrans, Tea Olive, has been blooming since early fall

Rosmarinus officinalis, Rosemary, great shrub if you have the room

Now for some photos of last month's bloom -- it is growing more and more fragrant as more of these little tubular blossoms open. Oh how I wish there was Smell-O-Vision. I love this plant so much I bought another for an area by the front door in a large container. The front door has a small alcove, the fragrance greets you as you go in or out....heavenly.

Edgeworthia chrysantha

And finally, some of my Hyacinths are starting to bloom. In one area the Hyacinths have multiplied to a nice clump, can't wait for them to bloom!

Hyacinth 'Jan Bos'

What do you have blooming on February 1st?
©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That

2013-01-28T21:16:00.000-05:00

This time of year there are some gardening days and some days to stay in and enjoy a warm fire. Since we moved here in the summer of 2010 I have been buying plants from the Abbeville Extension Office. Here is 2012 The order is due in November and usually is delivered in mid-December. This year the weather has been so warm that the plants didn't go dormant on the usual schedule. The delivery date was pushed back to mid-January. This year I ordered two crabapples, one Malus 'Red Silver' and one M. 'Golden Hornet'. Both are semi-weeping. The Red Silver has bronzy purple leaves and wine red flowers and purple red fruit while the Golden Hornet has white flowers with yellow fruit and green leaves.
Apparently I also ordered two Spirea x vanhouttei. I forgot I had added those to the order form...think I did it on our way over to turn in the order form. I couldn't remember where I had planned on planting the spirea. Oh well, we gardeners love a challenge don't we?

The flowering crabapples were to be planted up by the street along the front of the woods. In early November I was emptying out one of my worm bins and used some of the castings in the predetermined spots for my future crabs. To remind myself where I had worked the soil and added the worm castings, I got a big stick and stuck it in the ground when the amending was done. Yes, in the photo below is my stick. The neighbors wondered if I was "planting" sticks....oh that crazy Janet.

The holes were pretty easy to dig in January after my earlier preparation. The spirea found a spot along the driveway and in front of the woods. Not bad for a quick planting day!! My newly planted tree is just above the 'h' in my web link on the picture. With hope and a little water (and no deer) I will be sharing some nice flower photos in the spring.

And a little fun-- when finally taking down my Christmas wreath I found there were about five anole hiding in the browning greenery. They were just about as startled as I was!

Some were really tiny and their colors ranged from brown to green.

When I shooed away all the anoles, I was able to take down the wreath and remove the dead branches, save the decoration and put it away for another year.

These little guys live in and around the stones on the front of our house. You can tell it is a warm day if the anoles emerge.

These are the yellow paperwhites, Narcissus 'Grand Soleil d'Or'. I planted 50 of them in the septic field across the street from the house. The plan was to disperse them mid-way through the half acre. Bad idea. These are sweet little blooms, blooming in December/ January. Since this is the septic field we bushhog the field in the late fall, after the first frost. Well, the first frost is also when these little blooms are about 12 to 18 inches tall. That is not a good time to cut the field. Luckily they were not damaged from the cutting...but I didn't want to worry each year, so I dug them up and moved them last week.

I planted them along the edge of the driveway, so you could see and enjoy them. See how tiny they are?

The Edgeworthia chrysantha is still going strong, and will for another month and a half at least.

Also growing in the backyard is a lot of moss. Moss is really an interesting plant and very pretty.

Next time you see some moss growing, give it a closer look.

Also continuing to bloom is the Hamamelis vernalis, Ozark Witch hazel. What a great plant!!

A new addition to my garden is a Candytuft, Iberis sempervirens 'Purity'. I had other Candytufts, but just two and wanted to get a third. The one I bought was blooming already!! I wonder if it will continue to bloom all through the season?

Now for your bird fix-- first a couple Goldfinches..one with more of its summer coloring than the other.

The first time I saw this next bird, I thought it was a mutant Robin. It is about the same size, same colors, but very different. Turned out to be an Eastern Towhee. We rarely see them unless we are outside as they are ground feeders. This one was scratching around in the leaves in the next lot until I walked along the side of the house. This male Towhee flew up to a branch to keep an eye on me.

Don't forget the Great Backyard Bird Count on February 15- 18th weekend. You keeping an eye on your birds?

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

CoCoRaHS Follow Up

2013-01-19T10:23:00.000-05:00

Wanted to share some 'after the rain' information. Some of you had asked about reporting to CoCoRaHS and your work schedule conflicting. I went back and reread the 'Getting Started' info. Here is where my selective memory kicked in, you can report BEFORE 7 AM. I must have blocked that part out. You can report the reading anywhere from 5 AM - 9AM for it to be recorded on the map. (So you early birds can get it done bright and early) If you report by 7 AM the amounts will be included in local weather report totals for the news. Reports by 9 AM will be shown on the maps. For those who might be away for a few days you also have the option of reports a multiple day accumulation of precipitation.

Our rainfall total for the rain from two days ago was less than I thought. My rainfall total was 1.66 inches. Further north, Greenville to Asheville and further west got a lot more... averaging about 3 inches. Rainfall in Greenville affects us. The lake levels have been crazy. Here is a picture of our dock before it rained on the 15th.

Lots and lots of shoreline. This is typical in the winter. Our lake management brings the lake level down in the winter for the health of the lake. The winter's lake level also allows us to clean up trash, repair docks, and explore the shoreline. By sea level elevation the winter's low is supposed to be 434.5 feet above sea level. The photo above is 434.5 ft. Beginning January 31st the lake level is brought back up, slowly to what they call full pool, 439 feet.
Here is the lake yesterday-- at 437 ft.

Today the lake level is another foot higher!! So rainfall upstream was enough to raise the level of the lake by three and a half feet! We know the exact level because of the US Geological Survey website. Check out the rise in water level in just a couple days!!

Not sure if they will lower the level much between now and January 31 when the level is supposed to come back up. If it wasn't so cold we might be tempted to uncover the boat and go for a ride.
Was outside walking the yard and thought I would share an additional picture of the water.....water is real muddy but also quite high.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

What To Do On A Rainy Day

2013-01-17T21:21:00.000-05:00

This past fall one of my fellow Master Gardeners, Ann, asked if I wanted to record rainfall. Well, being the gardener that I am, I said that I already measured rainfall and kept track on the calendar function of my Google account. She was talking about a volunteer group where you record your rainfall online. I said, "Sure!". This organization wants you to use a specific rain gauge, so if I was to join forces with this group I needed to buy said rain gauge. This organization is CoCoRaHS, Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, & Snow Network.

CoCoRaHS is a non-profit citizen based organization of folks across the country who keep track of precipitation and report it to their data log page on the CoCoRaHS website. The only cost in joining is the rain gauge. You send in your address and tell them where on your property you are going to place the gauge....roughly place it. You will receive a password and a station number and your location coordinates. It is important to make sure you are away from structures (house) and trees. During the winter placing ours in the middle of the yard wouldn't be an issue, but in the summer it would be a bother to remove it every time you needed to move or when the irrigation system came on.

The data that is collected is used by National Weather Service, emergency services organizations, USDA, city utilities, teachers and students, hydrologists, and many others. It is nice to be a part of a much bigger volunteer group. You can read more about it on their site.

We didn't want to have our rain gauge mounted on a 4x4 -- too big, so our idea was to mount a board on a fence stake and attach the rain gauge on that. Seems to work. It is important to make sure the gauge is level. We do have a large area across the street that we could place it, but the reporting time window is between 7 AM and 9 AM. Hi, my name is Janet and I don't get up that early. I am lucky to get my rainfall amount by 9 AM, certainly don't want to have to go up to the street in my jammies to read the gauge. So here it sits, along our driveway...easy to reach and empty.

The rain gauge has a cylinder inside the outer container. The cylinder is marked with 1/100th of an inch increments. The inner cylinder holds one inch. When we have rain like today -- well over an inch-- it overflows into the outer container. To read the measurement you take the inner cylinder out of the container and read the inner cylinder's water height. If there is overflow into the outer container OR the water level is above your one inch line, pour it all into the outer container. Then fill to the one inch measurement into the cylinder, pour it out, repeat until all the water is gone from the outer container. The large outer container can hold up to eleven inches of rain, hopefully we don't get more than that in one 24 hour period!

After taking the measurement, you log onto your account and go to your data page. The date is already on the form, you just add the time and the amount of recorded rainfall. Hit submit data and you are done for the day.

From this form I like to go to the maps to see how varied the rainfall is in my area. I am in Greenwood county, along the northern border of Greenwood and Laurens counties.

You can see the measurements vary. It is fun to see just how much it does vary. You can see the entire country....

When the weather is dry, I am not as pressed to submit a zero amount of rainfall as I am when we do have rain. Tomorrow I am going to need my rubber boots to go out in the yard, today we have had more rain than we have had all month...

Are you a rainfall data recorder?? Do you want to be? CoCoRaHS is always looking for more citizens to measure and record the precipitation in their area. You can see from my map that there are places where more observers are needed.

Bird photo share time--- This is the little Brown-headed Nuthatch who was being so elusive last week. He stayed on the suet feeder for quite a while for a nice long photo shoot.

He kept staring at me, I went to various windows to try and get a different angle.

Stay tuned and I will report our rain total for today....it is raining really hard, has been for the last couple hours, since it got dark. Before it got dark I saw the cylinder was full, one inch of rain. I am guessing a couple inches by the morning.
Just checked and CoCoRaHS has a blog-- http://cocorahs.blogspot.com/2013/01/winter-comes-to-southern-applachians.html and a Facebook page--http://www.facebook.com/groups/2433443789/?fref=ts

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

A Warm and Balmy January Bloom Day

2013-01-15T17:50:00.001-05:00

This winter has been so mild for those of us in the Upstate of SC. Today I was able to plant two crabapple trees, Malus 'Red Silver' and M. 'Golden Hornet' and two Spirea van houttei that I ordered in November. While working in the yard I was happy to see my Daphne odora 'aureomarginata' was starting to bloom. I thought I would walk around the yard and get a few photos of all that is blooming today. Carol from May Dreams Gardens has the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day each month on the 15th. Be sure to check out what is blooming from other bloggers.

Ozark witch hazel -- fragrance of cloves
Hamamelis vernalis

This is the first year to have this one in my garden (note the dog hair!)

Osmanthus fragrans still blooming and fragrant

Drain field- see the Paperwhites?

Here they are, Narcissus 'Grand Soleil d'Or'
They are so small, will move them along the driveway soon.

Distyllium myricoides is starting to open, a member of the witch hazel family

Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide' has been blooming since October!

Daphne odora 'aureomarginata' Heavenly scent

Helleborus x ballardiae 'HGC Pink Frost'

Edgeworthia chrysantha with a visitor

Bee in midflight

See those orange bundles of pollen?

Paperwhites with Ajuga 'Black Scallop'

Rosemarinus officinalis in bloom

My new garden art with blue bottles, adding a little color to the shady part of the garden.

From another view.

Thanks for joining me to see what is blooming in my garden.

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

I Knew It Would Fit

2013-01-13T10:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Charlie and I went up to Greenville to the Remodeling Home Expo. We aren't remodeling anything but neighbors had a booth and shared some tickets with us, so we figured it would be fun to go and see what was there. I miss the Home and GARDEN shows. We found a garden art booth and bought a couple items. Oh, did I tell you? We drove to Greenville in my car, not the truck.

You see it is about five feet tall and tree shaped. Nice right? I imagine we were great entertainment in the parking lot of the convention center. Well those graceful reaching branches are about four feet across, my trunk? Not very large. We tried top end in first, bottom end in first. Now remember, we are in a parking lot, of course there was a big truck parked right next to the car....hard to open the doors very wide.

See how the prongs hit the top of the back window shelf? Good thing the back seats fold down, that helped.

Nice scaffolding of the branches, don't you agree? It was a puzzle to get it in, moving the seats up and back, removing the headrest, easing it in, backing it out, over the front seat, then getting the seats to a drive-able position. What fun!

Once we got home the puzzle had to be done in reverse. Oh, the dogs helped a lot too. At least at home we could open the doors wide enough to maneuver.

Also bought a cute little hummingbird piece that has a hook on the front. Haven't figured out what to hang on it yet. This one was easy to get in and out of the car.

Birds? Yes, always a bird picture or two to share--- Mr. Mockingbird.

This is my holly.

You want to take my picture?? Wait, let me pose.

Is this my best side?

I will share pictures of the tree art in the garden as soon as I decide where to place it. Stay tuned!

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Trying Out the New Camera

2013-01-09T19:31:00.000-05:00

Like many of you, I was lucky enough to get a new camera for Christmas. This is a replacement for my 'pocket' camera. Like my old pocket camera, this one is a Panasonic Lumix. Unlike my old one this new one has 20 x optical zoom. My hope is to get some really good closer photos of my feathered friends who frequent the feeders on our deck. The photo above was taken on New Year's Day, as the sun was setting. I love foggy days, though getting a great photo isn't always easy.

The feeders that hang on the deck will get lots of visitors (though last year the Great Backyard Bird Count Day nary a bird was to be sighted) Make a note to yourself right now, February 15- 18 is this year's Backyard Bird Count. You can click on the link or the button with the bluebird on the sidebar and go to the webpage for how and where to submit your bird count.

The thistle or niger seed is quite popular with the Goldfinches. With their winter colors they seem rather muted.

The perches on the feeder and the seed sack are always full!

On the other feeder is a seed mix that includes nuts, seeds, and pieces of dried fruit. This is favored by a great variety of birds. The one who gets ornery when the feeder is empty is this one--- a Red-bellied Woodpecker! Sorry for the green on the glass, reflections of greenery.

Only the Red-bellied woodpecker visits this feeder, think it is always the same one. I have tried to capture the other visitor who more than once is on the other side of the feeder with the woodpecker....a Brownheaded Nuthatch. The Nuthatch finds one seed or nut and flies off to eat it so his time on the feeder is short.

Fragrant on the First - January '13

2013-01-01T18:42:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year to all my fellow bloggers and readers. Without planning to do so, I took off most of December. It was a nice break to get ready for Christmas. Before taking the break I was reading Carolyn's Shade Garden post about Edgeworthia chrysantha, one of my favorite winter shrubs. My comment to Carolyn was about how happy my Edgeworthia shrubs have been in my garden.

I am the editor for our Master Gardener group's newsletter. Each general meeting I ask for ideas of something to add to the newsletter. One idea was to share what is blooming and fragrant each month. I love this idea and am going to share what is blooming and fragrant in my garden on the first of each month with you. Our first of the "Fragrant on the First" will be a combination of my follow-up on my Edgeworthia and sharing what is fragrant in Upstate South Carolina on the first of each month.

When we moved here in July 2010, I brought a lot of plants with me. One carried from Virginia plant was a Valentine's Day gift from my husband, an Edgeworthia chrysantha. I had to figure out where to plant this shrub. In Virginia it was on the front porch, full morning sun until about noon, then in full shade of the house. I knew it could take some sun, but would like afternoon shade in this zone 7b/ 8 garden. I found a great spot. The Edgeworthia would also serve as a shade provider for some Sarcoccoca hookeriana, Sweet shrub that could benefit from more shade. The photo below was taken in March of 2011, there are a couple Edgeworthia in the garden, look like naked sticks. The one from VA is the one furthest from the camera.

You can see the VA Edgeworthia better in this photo. This was taken in January 2012. See it is full of blooms. January 2012, a year ago!

Over the next few months I had fragrant blooms. It is wonderful to stand on the deck and have the heavenly fragrance float on the breeze. The photo below was taken on February 15, 2011, full bloom for Valentine's Day. Perfect plant.

Same plants, same day, different angle. February in SC.

It continued to bloom well into March. The velvety foliage is just starting to emerge as the flowers drop. You can see I have added some ferns, a hellebore and some Bleeding Hearts under the spreading branches.

I posted a nice photo of the foliage with raindrops way back in 2009.

Fast forward to this winter. I wanted to share how fast these Edgeworthia have filled in. The two photos below were taken December 15th, 2012. Yesterday the blooms were just starting to open, and yes, they are fragrant.

Two shrubs, filling in and branching out, making this spot one of the most fragrant spots in my garden in January.

Think I will try my hand at propagating one of them this year, a perfect plant for a winter garden. What is fragrant in your garden in January?

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Four And Counting!

2012-12-08T22:39:00.002-05:00

Yesterday marked my four year anniversary in the blogging world.!! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. It has been a wonderful experience and I have been lucky enough to meet many of you over the past few years. To all my electronic pen pals I want to thank you for reading over the years. It was funny to go back and read through some of the first posts, what a difference four years makes.

Yesterday was South Carolina's Arbor Day. Last year I went up to USC Upstate's campus in Spartanburg for their celebration, the speaker was Dr. Michael Dirr. I enjoyed it and decided to come back each year!! I went up this year with a couple Master Gardeners from my area. This year's speaker was Tracy DiSabato-Aust. I know her books from reading many of your posts about her recommendations for tending to the perennial garden. Her program topic was "The Well-Designed Mixed Garden".

Tracy started off with some very clear expectations... first and foremost, no zone denial! What? Not me, I live in zone ~~8a,~~ ok, 7b. I may have been known to stretch the zones, but sometimes I stretch it the other direction...try to baby some plants that are marginally zone 7 and my 7b/8a could stress it. Micro climates!!!
After getting us on board to work within our zonal limits, Tracy took us through the steps in the design process.
Site evaluation seems pretty straight forward, check how many hours of sunlight you have, soil test, and of course, know your hardiness zone. You must then determine your objectives for this garden spot. Points to consider include

maintenance- how much work do you do in the garden?
budget- how much are you going to spend?
location of the garden-private or public spaces?
function- how are you going to enjoy your garden?
peak season of interest-- I am working on getting more seasons of interest
what is your style? What inspires you?

She spoke of scale and proportion. Scale is the size of an element or area and proportion is the relationship of the elements' size to each other -- a ratio of one dimension to another. (I didn't know we were going to have math!) She spoke of the Golden Mean, which is 1:1.618, also called the proportion of divine beauty. I understand using odd numbers of plants and when picturing a space that you don't want to divide it in half, use 1/3 2/3. This takes it a little further. When graphed, a series of numbers that have the Golden Mean ratio, form a perfect spiral. It is found in nature, a spiral shell, the arrangement of sunflower seeds, the way rose petals shape a bud. Read more about this here. Wow, more math than I have done in a long time. Tracy says to use the ratio in size, plant choice, color selection, textures and placement of plants. It will be more pleasing to the eye.
Color is another focus of design. She covered hue, value and intensity of color. Hue is pure color. Value is degree of luminosity (how much light is reflected back) and intensity is colorfulness or grayness or a color. Choosing colors takes control, I love so many colors. My last post shows how I needed to have a better plan for the colors in the front garden. Colors next to each other on the color wheel, analogous colors and colors opposite each other, complementary colors work can create harmony or cause the eye to stop. You can choose color schemes that are analogous, complementary monochromatic (one basic color in various shades and tones) or polychromatic- many colored.
Other elements of design include form-- you know, all those shapes (more math- Geometry) and texture-- fine, average and bold. One technique for seeing form in your garden is digital photography...using the black and white feature or the pencil line drawing feature. It eliminates the color your eye is drawn to, seeing form. The Golden Mean is used with texture, keeping that balance. I remember in my Virginia garden I ended up with too many spikey plants, too many spires. It was out of balance.
The design principles Tracy follows are Order, Unity, and Rhythm. Order in balance and mass plantings. Unity with dominance, repetition and interconnection- plants that mingle. Rhythm in color, textures, plantings... repetition, alternating, and gradation (color or size).
Color, form or texture can be achieved using art in the garden. Tracy likes to add some art to bring in a color or create a focal point or repeat a shape. You can personalize your garden with art.
I hope to keep and use some of these principles in my garden. It was such an informative program. I have barely covered all that Tracy shared.
Immediately after the program I met up with my buddy Julie from Growing Days. Julie lives close by but this is the first we have seen each other since the Spring Fling. It was great to visit over lunch. Julie suggested that my Master Gardener buddies and I stop by Hatcher Gardens on our way home. What a great recommendation. It is a 10 acre garden and Woodland Preserve. The Hatchers worked this garden, adding acreage over the years, making a slice of heaven out of a weedy trashy portion of land. I hope to get back to this garden many times over the seasons. It was truly a labor of love.
I will leave you with photos of our short time in the garden. Thanks for sticking around for these four years.

Pitcher plants in clay chimney inserts

See the little hairs on the throat of the flower?

Hillside of Oakleaf Hydrangeas

Hand made bird feeders adorned the trees

Various conifers created a beautiful setting

Honey bees on Fatsia blooms

Water features throughout the garden, filtering storm water

Pretty pink Camellia

Honey bees were all over the Mahonia blooms

More pathways to explore next time. What a tranquil setting.

Thanks for giving us directions to this wonderful garden Julie. I look forward to seeing it in all seasons.
I bought Tracy's book "The Well Tended Perennial Garden". Will share what I learn once I read through it. Stay tuned!

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford.

words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Geraniums, Love 'em or Hate 'em

2012-12-04T22:16:00.001-05:00

I occasionally buy zonal geraniums for my garden. They offer a good deal of color all summer long with minimal care. I really don't care for geraniums. They bring back memories of Mrs. Blackett's eighth grade English class. She loved Pelargonium zonale, Zonal Geraniums. Our classroom was an old school building, the outside wall was full of windows. She lined those windowsills with various geraniums --- ugh. The smell of them made me sneeze, my nose itch, and my eyes water. So in that condition, I diagrammed sentences. Do you remember diagramming sentences? Double whammy.... diagramming and geraniums.

This summer I bought red geraniums for our front garden. I didn't buy enough to really fill the area, so I bought more red ones. Not a good idea, one was a nice true red, the other, kind of tomato soupy red. Even the foliage was a different shade of green. I wasn't happy with how the front looked for most of the summer. When I was looking for photos to share here, there were few to be found. The photo above was from the end of June. The one below was taken the beginning of November. Yes, I know, the geraniums and the mums are not good together. Don't get me started on mums.

Over Thanksgiving weekend we had a couple frosts so it was time to cut back, pull out and do some clean up around the garden. I needed to decide what to do with the geraniums. I don't like geraniums much, but I hate buying new plants if I can save the ones I have. Time for a Google search. I was NOT keeping these geraniums in the house.....visions of eighth grade English revisited.

The frost kissed geraniums did have some nice fall colors.

http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/overwinter-geraniums/
Garden Gate magazine had a short video one way to overwinter geraniums without too much muss or fuss. In short, get a box and put the plants (minus the soil around the roots) in the box. The first box I got out of the garage wasn't large enough. The box keeps the light off the plants while they are resting in a dormant state. In the video she was putting the box in an unheated basement. Our lower level is built into the earth, so it isn't that cold. I decided to keep mine in the garage, up against against the house wall. After finding a larger box, the geranium experiment has begun.

The box is closed, facing the wall and should be fine.

Accessing more of the yard, I found some bunny was hungry-- these are my gladiolus. All eaten back to a nub. Foliage left to 'mulch' the garden. Rotten critter!!

Do you overwinter any plants? What about nasty Pelargoniums?

Tree posts will continue, having to go back through many of my photos to get a full season's photo profile.

Tuesday's Trees- Fall Color

2012-11-18T14:45:00.002-05:00

Yes, I know it isn't Tuesday. This week will go by pretty quickly, so I thought I would share this post now. Fall color. Many of us in the blogging world are sharing our gorgeous fall color. Dave's Growing the Home Garden shares a link for many to share their fall colors. It is great to see the various fall foliage across the country.

I like seeing the various colors in the landscape as a way of identifying what trees are in our woods. Leaf shape another method of identification. The tree in the photo above is also the tree in the next few photos. The large yellow statement in the woods might lead you to think it is a hickory or maple of some variety. No, closer investigation tell us it is Sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua. See the palmated leaf? What a wide range of colors. Love the red shades.

In addition to yellows and reds, Sweetgum also has dark burgundy colors. This one stands out nicely against the yellow of another Sweetgum sapling.

Now we do have Hickories in our woods. There are a few varieties of Hickory, Carya, each showing its bold yellow foliage.

Love how the yellow stands out against the water.

Multiple colors in the woods, showing us that there is bio-diversity in our woods.

Another yellow in the forest is Beech, Fagus grandifolia, with its golds, yellows, bronzes, and soon --beiges. I love the way Beeches seem to glow as they start to lose their green color. It is another tree that you can identify in the fall as it has its multiple shades of yellows. Winter its foliage will be the beigey tan color, remaining on the branches, another identifying feature of the Beech.

In addition to the yellows, there are many reds in the woods. I love the White Oak, Quercus alba, with its russet burgundy reds. It is like a beautifully tanned leather. Just gorgeous.

Remember my Sassafras albidum from a couple days ago? It continues to change, getting more orange and red and coral colored.

Many think of Crepe Myrtles, Lagerstroemia ssp. for their summer bloom color or perhaps its lovely exfoliating bark in the winter. I love its great fall colors.

Some are brighter and more brilliant than others, but, wow, what a presence in the landscape.

I love the colors of fall. The angle of the sun gives an extra warmth and glow to the myriad of color.

My front yard---

And my backyard--

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Enjoy the beauty of nature around you.

While writing this post we had the TV on. A fascinating show on CNN called 'The Next List'- this week's show is about Nalini Nadkarni, a professor and scientist doing tree canopy research. If you have a few minutes to watch it is very interesting.

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Tuesday's Trees- American Chestnut

2012-11-14T20:14:00.001-05:00

The mighty American Chestnut tree, the once grand giant tree is on the verge of disappearing. Many of us know of the Chestnut Blight, Cryphonectria parasitica, and its affect on the tree. At the turn of the last century the American Chestnut started dying in large numbers. This fast growing, large tree, was developing cankers. These cankers run around the cambium layer of tree, killing first the leaves, then branches, and finally all above ground plant material is dead.

The American Chestnut, Castanea dentata, once had a native range from Maine to Georgia and west to Ohio. It was approximately 25% of the forest. It is now either on endangered species list or special concern lists for many states.

It is a fast growing, straight tree that can achieve heights over 100 feet in good conditions. A mature tree can have a diameter of 17 feet. These were huge trees. Interestingly it was branch free on the lower part of the tree, sometimes up to 50 feet of trunk before branching.

It was called the cradle to coffin tree. From fine furniture to railroad ties, fuel to posts, this tree constituted more than 50% of the timber produced before the blight. The timber is decay resistant, making it a useful wood for many applications. Wildlife benefited from its nut production. Bears to raccoon to deer to humans, everyone found the nut a good food source. Trees will fruit 5- 7 years of age. It needs another Chestnut to cross pollinate even though it is monoecious. Much of the economy was based on the American Chestnut. The bark and the wood were a great source of tannic acid, used for tanning leather. After the blight killed a tree, the timber that remained was still used. Worms had bored into the wood, so timber harvested after the blight was called wormy wood (holes).

Chestnut blight was first discovered in the USA in 1904 on some trees newly planted in the New York Zoological Garden. Many Japanese Chestnuts, Castanea crenata were imported as early as 1876 by mail order. Chestnut blight, Cryphonectria parasitica, (known as Endothia parasitica - name changed 1978) spread as far north as Ontario. One attempt to stop the spread of the blight was to create a firewall, sadly eliminating many healthy trees. This practice was stopped after World War One. By the 1940's there were more than 3 1/2 BILLION Chestnuts lost to blight. Chinese Chestnut, Castenea mollissima, is resistant to blight, more on that in a little bit.

Blight is a fungus and is spread by airborne spores. The spores are dispersed by animals, including man, and insects. It can colonize on other plants, including oaks. Chinquapin Oaks, Quercus muehlenbergii and Live Oaks, Quercus virginiana, are affected by blight.

Sadly, blight is not the only thing that is killing American Chestnuts. Meet Dr. Joe James, adjunct professor of Forestry, Clemson University. Our Master Gardener group had Dr. James come and speak to us about his research with American Chestnuts.

On his farm in Upstate South Carolina, he used to have a number of Chestnuts. As they died he started doing some detective work. Calling on the Forestry Department of Clemson, it was discovered that the roots were dying from Phytophthera root rot. Phytophthera cinnamomi is a soil borne organism. It is another import from Asia. It is believed that it was imported by wealthy Charleston landowners in the late 1700's, bringing new plant material into the country. This is not a fungus but similar to red algae, it is a oomycete (also called a water mold), has its own phylum. It spreads through the soil, slowly. Water can carry it to new locations. It needs moist soil to live, dry conditions kill the oomycete but not the spores. Frozen conditions kill it. Here in the South, even if we have a cold winter, our soil does not freeze to the bedrock. Mountain tops and further north this is not an issue.

P.cinnamomii can remain dormant in the soil.. It is called Black Ink disease as the infected roots look as if black ink is being taken up through its cellular system. Many plants are susceptible to it, 100% lethal to American Chestnuts. The root rot girdles at the root collar, killing the tree. Chinese Chestnut is immune to Phytophthera cinnamomii. That is the good news.

Dr. James is part of a research program with cross breeding the American Chestnut with the Chinese Chestnut. This breeding has been going on for a number of years, breeding into the American Chestnut, the resistance to Blight. Each generation of this hybrid is tested by inoculating these new trees with blight spores. Successful resistant trees are then crossed again with another American Chestnut, breeding out the Chinese characteristics except for its resistance to blight. This is producing trees that have a fraction of Chinese Chestnut genes, the new American Chestnut hybrid. Dr. James receives nuts produced from these trees, now blight resistant, and runs trials with various family groups (different lineage tree families), testing them for resistance of Phytophthera root rot. One strain of Phytophthera is introduced to the roots after the seedlings start growing. Many die, but the survivors are transplanted into berms from the tubs they started in. Once the tree has survived three years in the test mode, it is transplanted into the wild. It will take many years for Chestnuts to return to the grand size that they once were. This fascinating research bringing back this beautiful tree.

The pictures of the small, understory trees at the top of the post were taken this past May, at the North Carolina Arboretum. While on our guided tour, Tim Spira pointed out these small trees. The blight keeps killing off the top growth. Blight is coppicing (pruning to the ground to encourage suckering) these trees. The new sucker growth will again be attacked by the blight, never allowing these trees to grow to their size of years ago.

I did a posting on the Chinese Chestnut. I have since learned more about the differences between American and Chinese Chestnuts. The leaves-- American-- longer than width, prominent teeth which curve like waves breaking, base of leaf tapers sharply, leaf is thin and papery. Chinese -- oval shaped, smaller teeth, base is rounded, leaf is waxy and thick. The nuts are different, American nut is smaller, sweet, has fine hairs on the bottom of the nut. Chinese nut is larger and less tasty.

There is also some genetic research being done with isolating the gene that has the resistance to blight and phytophthera. Many are working at bringing this tree back.

This has been an interesting post for me to write, truly a learning experience. My references online were

USDA Plant Profile, Duke, VA Tech, NC State, Appalachian Woods, and Columbia University. My notes from Dr. James' talk were also used as well as a copy of "The Journal of the American Chestnut Foundation" issue on 'Phytophthora- The Stealthy Killer that Attackes Southern Chestnuts' September /October 2011. I did double check my notes with online information.

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Sparkles and Other Interesting Sights in the Garden

2012-11-06T15:06:00.000-05:00

This time of year in the garden I find interesting items. This is a seed pod from one of the vine-y pea wildflowers that we have all over the woods. I saw the long pods earlier, but now, it is a spiral open pod with the seeds ready to drop.

About this time of year the Euonymus americana, 'Heart's A-Bustin' is only green stems --except for a few uneaten 'hearts'. The edged green stems are an easy ID for this plant. I like having those absolutely certain indicators.

Love these bright red seeds. Apparently so do the little critters in the garden.

In the front yard is my Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide', a very young and new plant for me. I am thrilled to have it blooming so profusely in its first year in my garden. I love Camellias and have a couple others in the back garden, one along the side, one waiting to be planted (impulse buy at Lowe's) and an offer of one I LOVE 'Pink Perfection' from a fellow blogger. (He has propagated some of his!)

Don't you just love all that pollen? The bloom looks like it was dusted with gold.

My little Sassafras tree is finally starting to change to its fall colors. I think that is one of the reasons I like Sassafras so much, the fall colors of oranges and corals and salmons.....ohhhhhh my.

It is hard not to again showcase the Sumacs in the front yard, their red colors are just sparkling.

Lots of seeds are ready to be disbursed in the wind, these are some of the Goldenrod that are native to my area. These delicate little seeds, each with their own bit of feathery fluff, help to carry them to new locations.

This is a poll question for everyone.....do you like the photo as it is above or lighting/shadows adjusted and polariod tool used in the one below. Above or below?

More of the Goldenrod seeds, different variety, ready to fly.

or be carried--- when the dogs go out, they like checking out the woods and come back in with all sorts of seeds all over their coats.

From the sparkles of ornamental grasses--- here in the backlit setting sun

To a close up of the seeds--

To gorgeous fall color of a Crepe Myrtle, I love the offerings of fall in my garden.