tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-114956582011-11-27T19:39:47.786-05:00a blog about gardens and a gardener who has relocated south from the snow zonekatynoreply@blogger.comBlogger621100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-73609737014983930942008-09-16T15:36:00.002-04:002008-09-16T15:39:42.104-04:00

Does anyone know how to get new links onto gardenweb blogs? My blog is moving and I really want to link the new one into gardenweb. The link to add your blog, at the bottom of the bloglist comes back undeliverable, questions via the 'contact us' are ignored and the whole list is turning into a shambles with multiple blog listings. Can anyone help here?

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-23263065908056041822008-09-16T15:09:00.002-04:002008-09-16T15:26:42.587-04:00

Oh my, the weather is ever so slightly cooler and the camellias are coming out! Camellias are one of the most delightful parts of cool weather in the south and make fall/winter something to look forward to. This guy, a Camellia Sasanqua, will not be in bloom fully for a few more weeks yet, and then he will be joined by the another pink one on the other side of the house. In january, I have a

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-20395337821026516202008-09-01T13:14:00.005-04:002008-09-16T15:36:54.141-04:00

For months now, in fact since we moved here, the front entrance has bugged me. We have a colonial looking southern house, complete with columns. That begs a formal entrance. Alas we inherited a rather scruffy country garden style. Ajuga, creeping phox, loriope and other things jumbled together and jostled for space. A royal mess that finally got the better of me. Thats the entrance at the top,

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-27061972794875270462008-08-09T08:45:00.000-04:002008-08-09T08:58:54.134-04:00

One of the delights of working in a public garden is the variety of plants that you get to grow. Many of the bulbs I use are heirlooms from Old House Gardens and they are virtually unknown to many of our visitors at Barrington Hall. One such plant that is causing alot of questions is the Abyssiniam gladiolus (see previous posts), but we also have lots of heirloom dahlias, roses and marigolds.

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-41058403538164246312008-08-04T21:41:00.000-04:002008-08-05T06:32:32.199-04:00

Although we are only at the start of August, the first 'fall' bugs have arrived. Bag worms have made themselves known on the pecan tree. I was going to trim the branch and flame them on Sunday, didn't get further than taking a picture! I am assuming that it is the humidity that has caused them to arrive earlier than last year, although the timing might well be my imagination. Just seeing all

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-47401149303763715262008-08-04T07:37:00.001-04:002008-08-04T07:50:43.245-04:00

This morning I will be giving a talk to a group of seniors. I am slated to do the Cottage Garden presentation. The last time I did this one, was about 3 yrs ago and it was in dire need of updating. Should have been a great job to do over the winter - right? Unfortunately that didn't happen. Last week I looked for the disk and could not locate it. The old computer that it was created on, has died

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-15258849896220832342008-08-02T16:54:00.000-04:002008-08-02T17:02:32.422-04:00

I love growing tomatoes. Each spring I put in about 6 plants of different varities and add some peppers as well. This year I had Green Zebra, Cherokee Purple and some yellow ones, plus some volunteers from last year that joined them. I have some little hot peppers and some almost ready green peppers. The problem is eating them all. My favorite way is to pick them straight from the vine, when and

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-60873663281981785632008-08-02T16:36:00.000-04:002008-08-02T16:53:59.181-04:00

My Guests: Deb (r) and Eve get Ready for the Radio Show. The show, talked about yesterday in the blog, turned out great! Larry Caplan has a great article through Purdue University on plants that are good for the senses - The Gardening for the Senses which Deb brought along to help us. So we started with sensual in the general way talking about plants that make us feel good and then we went

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-40735375387866250892008-08-01T18:12:00.000-04:002008-08-01T18:26:48.719-04:00

This title took me rather by surprise and it may get your attention too! Deb, my alternate host for the radio show is joining me for tomorrow's show and suggested Sensuous Plants as the topic. As the weather is steamy and hot, that seemed like a good topic. We could talk about rich luxurious leaves such as on Elephant Ears, seen in the picture above; we could do the romantic scents of roses

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-69977953704950828452008-08-01T18:00:00.001-04:002008-08-01T18:12:18.857-04:00

A few weeks ago I had a guest on the radio show (http://www.radiosandysprings.com ) and we were talking about water harvesting. After a full year of drought, I had to admit to not actually owning a water barrel, but it was on my to-do list. Well last weekend I purchased one and got it set up. The whole thing only took about 2 hours and would have been less than that if: 1) I could get the

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-71365595611962813242008-07-22T07:47:00.000-04:002008-07-22T07:56:51.139-04:00

I turned my back for a little while, and came to these beautiful gladiolus! They are the Absynnian gladiolus, from Old House Gardens, and real delight. The blossoms are slightly scented and come several to a stem, opening in random order. At Barrington Hall we planted them in groups of ten to fifteen and they are getting lots of questions from visitors. I think I will dig some bulbs in fall to

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-51403249904171598512008-07-19T16:49:00.000-04:002008-07-19T17:13:13.532-04:00

Compton Acres: The Italian Garden Taking kids on holiday with you requires some give and take. This is even more crucial when you want to see pretty gardens and they are adamant that you should do something else. So we did the usual English castles (both fallen down remnants and museum type) and we did some gardens. We also did some 'landscapes' such as Trevarno Gardens (which also has the

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-49938546498280676962008-07-19T07:01:00.000-04:002008-07-19T07:15:14.051-04:00

The problem with vacations is that the garden goes on growing behind your back. Give it 90 degree days and a whole 3" of rain over the three weeks and you get a jungle! My tropical look definately looks jungle like with a banana tree towing above the fenceline and the cannas. The banana trees are described as hardy and as yet have not produced any fruit. This could be because they are not real

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-10643617047979104122008-06-22T15:38:00.001-04:002008-06-22T15:57:15.084-04:00

Looking at this poor blog means that spring was definately busy! From wonderful daffodils and great blossom, the season was terrific. I even got to identify one of the last shrubs in the garden. This spring I was at the Southern Garden History conference in Athens GA, which is were the state botanical garden is. They had my shrub. Turns out this little fella is a native loropetulum. The

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-41104087163273366032008-02-19T08:12:00.000-05:002008-02-25T22:34:50.114-05:00

An email came into my mailbox this morning about the funding cuts at the National Arboretum. As with many government programs, budget cuts seem to hit those areas that serve the public rather than business and this attempt is no exception. Of the cuts, the Garden Unit and Education and Visitor Unit funding is being told specifically to bear the brunt of the cuts while the reasearch groups get to

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-68472610461985533132008-02-18T11:48:00.000-05:002008-02-18T12:03:38.219-05:00

This is one of those shrubs that obviously has two spellings of the name - one perhaps an Americanization of the true latin but with constant use it has been taken as a legitimate alternate spelling. Now that it is in flower I am noticing the shrub in many older gardens and along a few hedgerows. Clearly it was popular in the early part of the 20th century and hasn't really come back into vogue

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-29451147826209135052008-02-18T11:23:00.000-05:002008-02-18T11:36:24.411-05:00

Yesterday we went over to Stone Mountain in Georgia - a wonderful piece of granite that sticks straight out of the ground. Usually you can go up the mountain in the cable car but it was out of service yesterday. At the top of the mountain you can see plants and trees that have managed to germinate and grow in the tiniest crack in the rock - well probably not too many of them in February. We did

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-82862615056942185312008-02-15T16:45:00.000-05:002008-02-17T09:18:57.609-05:00

This winter seems to be the year of finding scent in the garden - in February! I mentioned the scented winter honeysuckle which is still in bloom. The daphne has also come out into full bloom. This little guy was purchased last year at Home depot and I lost the tag. Someone posted their daphne inn a blog the other week though, and I was able to identify it that way. The little blooms were

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-38369173241095452062008-02-09T22:07:00.000-05:002008-02-09T22:28:34.648-05:00

The first daffodils came out today. These were early last year, but this year I was ready for them. It is still a delight though when they arrive. The shrub above it was a new one to me. It really shouldn't have been as the data says it is hardy well into 6 or even zone 5. Its generally called a winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima). One of those not particularly attractive shrubs if

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-30867433654761207742008-02-09T11:48:00.000-05:002008-02-09T12:16:27.090-05:00

The Tree Going Down It was a sad day at the Barrington Hall garden today. The almost 2-century old oak that was as old as the city itself had died and needed to be taken down. In the 150 to 200 years that the tree stood, the land went from slavery to computers; the economy went thru the dust bowl and into the morgage crisis; and it was around for 2 world wars, 1 civil war and the dropping of

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-31370322598646202442008-01-27T17:01:00.000-05:002008-01-27T17:24:25.474-05:00

The citrus really did bloom, and as they are inside I decided that the only way to polinate them was to 'tickle' them. My dad many years ago would tickle the greenhouse tomatoes. One cotton wool ball dabbed on each of the blooms carries pollen from one to another just as effectively, I hope as the traditional insect would.

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-77976939329768910002008-01-21T20:51:00.000-05:002008-01-21T21:02:08.000-05:00

Well you didn't think I would just take one photo did you? The streaks were the snow falling at a rate of about 1" per hour - big fluffy wet type flakes.This much snow I can cope with. You guys in the north can keep the 3 months of snow, but 48 hours is not a problem. Kids were peeved that it hit on a Saturday though.

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-24590892735885666292008-01-21T20:32:00.000-05:002008-01-21T20:40:29.032-05:00

OH My! I had heard rumors about panic when snow arrives and when the white stuff hit Saturday, all of an inch accumulation, it was all day coverage on the news. My poor southern garden looked lovely, but it will survive. This Mahonia is just about to bloom and is hardy well north of here, so will go on uninterupted. Its Monday now and the temperatures are still cold, so a good portion of

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-2048235311842260732008-01-13T11:22:00.000-05:002008-01-13T11:30:01.720-05:00

Bringing plants inside for a few days is always a chore, but worth it because it extends the amount of time they have outside by several weeks. For those first few weeks while the weather is still mild I just drag them inside to the hallway and let them stay there for a night or two then they go back outside. Outside they can be watered with ease, and slops are not important, plus they get

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-91782720006931278222008-01-13T08:15:00.000-05:002008-01-13T08:38:51.274-05:00

Christmas and the silly season have kept me busy for the past month. The plants received a bucket of water now and then, recycled from the shower, and that was all the attention they got. With all the guests gone now, I was able to take the time to actually survey for problems. The citrus looks like it is going to bloom soon! Not sure if I will have to pollinate it myself or if it will hold off

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-91350246404054769942007-12-14T21:25:00.000-05:002007-12-14T22:01:19.494-05:00

Barrington Hall, Roswell: The Front Driveway. The south is still rather balmy, but even by Atlanta standards, I am behind with the 'plant the bulbs' schedule. Today though I finished the final 200 bulbs. They are to form a 'jonquil hedge' that was mentioned in 1852, by a resident of the historic house where I work. He did not honor us with specifying where his hedge was, so we had to make

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-20954438361279578702007-12-12T22:02:00.000-05:002007-12-12T22:19:51.739-05:00

We seem to have had a few false starts to winter in the south. This week's forecast though is rather chilly, particularly after the very balmy weather of the past week.It may even be time to bring the plants in and find a permanent winter home for them. Unfortunate timing really as the Christmas trees are also inside right now, and taking up much of the available window space. I really like to

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-43296345914925319812007-12-10T20:58:00.000-05:002007-12-10T21:08:44.044-05:00

When we were in the north, all tender plants were brought inside at first frost. This was somewhere around October, depending on where we were living. They stayed there until the spring weather settled in April or May. Now we are in the south, things have changed. I have had to bring them in for a night or two, but I found last year, that mild weather can persist well into December and start

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-61610636288375965842007-11-04T09:14:00.000-05:002007-11-04T13:59:51.002-05:00

The camellias are blooming! This is the fall blooming Camellia sasanqua. I think the drought must have something to do with these wonderful shrubs blooming in October/November, but they are beautiful. The camellia sasanqua is a few weeks before last year, but the red japonica did not bloom last year until January. Clearly they are both healthy and have lots of blooms on them. The

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-59515274248510002532007-11-01T19:02:00.000-04:002007-11-01T19:23:59.345-04:00

We decided to place a vine over the trellis last spring. The little grapes were not going to grow much this year, so an annual vine would be great. Someone picked up a packet of hyacinth bean seeds from the horticulturally challenged Lowes. We were happy with the way the vine covered the trellis - for a month or so, then realised that this kudzu-like thing was rather more aggressive than

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-56002914227214791702007-10-31T21:22:00.000-04:002007-10-31T21:27:46.282-04:00

Well we did get a little bit of frost yesterday morning. Just a dusting on the grass and nothing too serious, but enough to know that fall is finally here. I think as it is halloween I am ready for a cool down in temperatures and some damp days. Alas the damp and rain are not in the forecast just cooler days. In the garden I look after, i took out all the marigolds and cleomes so that the

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-38931392386964355252007-10-29T21:55:00.000-04:002007-10-29T22:22:22.509-04:00

Ok so its been a while since I posted but summer and drought really puts an end to gardening unless you count the things that died on me. Yesterday though came that time in every gardener's year that you have to make the decision as to what frost free things are worth keeping over the winter and what to treat as an annual. Yes, indeed the frost warnings are out for northern Georgia, and

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-31817529441100156632007-06-01T20:20:00.001-04:002007-06-01T20:33:22.916-04:00

I got word today that one or both of the samples has phytophthora virus. This is a root rot thing. I am still figuring out the ramifications of what this really means and how it affects what we are doing there. I hope to get more information over the weekend, on the net, and then call the agent for contacts on Monday. What made me take the samples in originally was that several of the

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-22123350088202692832007-05-14T22:09:00.000-04:002007-05-14T22:24:24.348-04:00

Over the past few weeks I have been on a project that involved boxwoods - moving them, relocating them to a holding bed and replanting some for a formal,historic garden. We thought we were home free (ish) - all of them seem to be surviving. The last Friday I went down and -eek - one had red leaves on it. This is not good. The next one had gooey gunk on the internal stems. I took some samples and

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-49593571543215054792007-01-19T20:22:00.000-05:002007-01-19T20:34:19.023-05:00

I suppose even in the south we get cool days, but today was one of those cannot get warm days - damp and bone chilly. Not cold by continental standards perhaps, but cold enough to pull out the duffle coat. Outside there are daffodils bravely blooming under a tree and inside, the plants are surviving, waiting patiently for spring to appear. I am a disaster with indoor plants - they really need

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-65784701989188044592007-01-14T13:18:00.000-05:002007-01-14T13:27:39.113-05:00

This morning was another mild morning. With temperatures way above normal and an optimistic attitude, I decided to riffle through boxes of seeds and do some planting. I threw some parsley into the garden bed by the kitchen, and put some borage there too. Then I sowed a few basil and basic salad greens into containers and sat them on the potting bench for now. If the weather turns yukky they are

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-47564621380959202982007-01-13T20:32:00.000-05:002007-01-14T13:17:18.267-05:00

Well the mild winter continues. Some say its global warming, others the El Nino effect, but my guess is that those poor souls in Denver would rather like some continental warming right now! Little cherry trees are out in bloom here, and today I think I saw a dogwood, but rather than impede traffic I decided to return another day to see what it was. One of the best things about winter down here

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1160057706221658122006-10-05T10:09:00.000-04:002006-10-05T10:17:38.376-04:00

We all get confused sometimes, but this little dogwood seems to show that confusion is not restricted mammals! I came across the tree, which looks rather old and heading towards decay, just outside an office block. It took me by such surprise, that I stopped the car - much to the surprise of the car behind. I went home and grabbed the camera. Keep in mind this is October, when all the other

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1158974239131571782006-09-22T21:17:00.000-04:002006-09-22T21:21:52.873-04:00

One of the unknown shrubs that had not identified itself had created a small bud. At first I thought this nob like thing was a fruit, but as we have been here 3 months and had no sign of flowers, this seemed unlikely. Slowly the bud started to look like a flower bud - but this is September, I thought - how strange. Even the south gets some winter so why did something start to put out a bud in

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1158192146916637972006-09-13T19:32:00.000-04:002006-09-13T20:22:33.830-04:00

As I was traveling up and down the town roads this past week I came across two shrubs, or rather the same shrub being grown in totally different ways. The shrub is the delightful Glossy Abelia (Abelia grandiflora). This graceful, country garden shrub grows to around 8 ft in height and the same in girth, although smaller ones are also on the market. It is generally hardy to zone 5. On

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1157595234372322372006-09-06T21:37:00.000-04:002006-09-06T22:15:35.560-04:00

I am not sure how this happened but I am rapidly swimming in disc. The problem??? I read an article. The article, written by a photographer said ' back up first'. So all the cards that I used at the conference (all 2) I copied onto discs - that took 6 discs. Verifying that I had everything was the problem. Plonking disc from camera into machine required something that read RAW. Ok got that

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1157056849230056552006-08-31T16:39:00.000-04:002006-09-06T21:37:23.496-04:00

Post conference is always a strange time. Going from the whirlwind activity and the excitement of the conference to domestic life, kids, laundry and close to 500 emails! Among the emails was one declaring that my God daughter got engaged this past weekend - look for another England trip for that wedding!!! The conference was terrific. Gardening people are friendly people with sharing

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1156176223711737572006-08-21T11:06:00.000-04:002006-08-21T12:19:20.100-04:00

What I nice suprise I had last week. After a few days that were slightly cooler, and some much needed rain - things started to put out new buds. Things that don't normally bloom in the fall are blooming. An azalea is in near full bloom! Not sure what it did in the spring as we moved in past its spring bloom period, but if this is what fall in the south does - I'm going to really enjoy it.

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1156125074654179302006-08-20T21:35:00.000-04:002006-08-20T21:56:28.976-04:00

Today we got rain. Really I shouldn't be that surprised as we have had rain several times this week - generally in the late afternoon as one would expect. It was too early in the afternoon for a dramatic light show, and not one of the strong storms worthy of the town sirens blaring, but a nice one for all that. The thunder started about 30 minutes before the rain, so gave us plenty of time to

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1154956465373752522006-08-07T09:06:00.000-04:002006-08-11T22:05:08.926-04:00

I got roots!! Well not me personally but a few of my little boxwood cuttings that I set almost three months ago are starting to put down roots. They were very dry when we got back from England, so I thought I had lost them, but between watering them yesterday and the storm yesterday evening, I chanced to pull one out. Yep one of the little fellas has two roots almost ¼ long and very white.

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1154908032446451822006-08-06T17:10:00.000-04:002006-08-11T22:17:17.363-04:00

The vines are advancing, the war has begun! These innocent little growths across the path between the hedgerow and the shrubs, grew 3 feet in just 2 weeks. I have always wanted to have a wysteria vine, but this is ridiculous. It appears that it was first planted about thirty years ago, perhaps as a screen between the houses (this according to the utility company gentleman who came to trim it

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1154738912826578982006-08-04T20:31:00.000-04:002006-08-04T20:48:32.846-04:00

Well, after a two week holiday in England visiting family we are now back stateside in the heatwave. This of course comes just before Atlanta area schools start and one little charmer starts next week so we did the New Student stuff today. It is tough for kids moving but starting a new school where you know no one is really tough for a kid. The best a mother can do is to be there for a hug

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1153151150268608042006-07-17T11:32:00.000-04:002006-07-17T12:19:13.483-04:00

Cannas are fast becoming my favorite annual, though ehre they may well be perennial. Apart from the great way that they hold up to droughts, they are easy to grow and generally pest free. Having said that I do have one that has some sort of web on it from little black things, and that is causing the leaves to curl into a tube. I took the whole stem off and disposed of that one so that it

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1153063694670113632006-07-16T11:13:00.000-04:002006-07-16T11:31:02.366-04:00

This Crape Myrtle was planted too close to the house and brushing the gutter. A close up of the flower (which makes it worth keeping). The morning is quiet and warm with a gentle breeze - perfect for puttering around the garden. What I thought was a mildew ridden boring shrub has bloomed to redeem itself and turned out to be a poorly situated, but large Crape Myrtle (Lagarstroemia indica).

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1152911835920034212006-07-14T17:02:00.000-04:002006-07-14T17:20:25.426-04:00

Yesterday I went into town, just a mile away and the heavens opened on me as I went from the car to the shop. I got home an hour later and asked if it had rained. Nope, not a drop. There was an ugly black cloud but that apparently did nothing. Today was the real thing. Only an hour or less, and the sort of heavy rain that bounces on the garden rather than actually sinks in, but I have hopes

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1152754118142765532006-07-12T21:18:00.000-04:002006-07-12T21:28:38.153-04:00

I was not sure what to make of this rather inelegant thing that was growing by the fence. It was growing a mile a minute and straight up. The leaves were dark green and with the rapid upward growth were sparse - all the energy going to the upward growing bit. The it put out buds and finally it has put out a few flowers - and what a beauty it is! Delicate green inside and bright red outside.

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1152497579062960742006-07-09T22:00:00.000-04:002006-07-09T22:16:19.276-04:00

Well I did it - I bought a new camera and after many months of pondering and saving. It really wasn't that I absolutely needed a better one, but rather that I wanted that one and it was on special and what the heck, I went for it. The difference in the final product is subtle, but the difference in the use it incredible. The Nikon, which I fully intend to keep using shoots at 5 mpxl and has

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1152495187813887612006-07-09T21:20:00.000-04:002006-07-09T21:42:55.980-04:00

It has been almost a 3 weeks since I posted - goodness that is a long time. I would like to put it down to the new camera I purchased to photograph the garden. It really was not a necessity but is a great asset anyway (if I can get them to load onto the web). Today we went to the local botanical garden. Two preteen boys plus garden equal misery. Well not quite that bad, but definately a test of

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1151119141614191892006-06-23T23:09:00.000-04:002006-06-23T23:21:12.863-04:00

Well we finally got some rain after 4 weeks of 90 degree weather. It really was not much but at least it moistened the ground alittle. It was the kind of rain that starts with a few really big blobs of raindrops that splatter onto the concrete. If you are lucky the rain is sufficient to fill in the drops. Last night that barely happened and the sauna afterwards dried up fast. Tonight it was

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1149519529276227712006-06-05T10:55:00.000-04:002006-06-05T11:18:37.783-04:00

The move is finally over. Last week we undid the boxes in the main part of the house. This week I was able to find homes for the ‘stuff’ that came out of the boxes and clean the place. Of course the plants were unpacked the first day. Most survived the trip, but getting them to survive here is a challenge. The first things to go in were the smaller plants. I watered three times a day and

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1148003487685059852006-05-18T21:42:00.000-04:002006-05-18T21:54:38.143-04:00

So far the move has gone really well. The weather has been a pain though- four days of constant rain! Makes the garden look over green and the relocating plants can not have moisture for the trip. Tomorrow is the last day and they should be through by midday. I am waiting to see if we get the 'its too full' routine. The plants are part of the shipment regardless and it is much better for all

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1147829032239876032006-05-16T21:18:00.000-04:002006-05-16T21:25:12.280-04:00

Well the plants look like they are are coping with the move. Even the black leaf on the elderberry is perking up. The weather was gloomy to say the least - rainy, cool and perfect for plants and fish, a real pain for humans.Don't know where the sun went but the forecast is for rain, rain and more rain until the weekend. I am barely holding onto the computer, they are packing everything that is

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1147707895256199682006-05-15T11:41:00.000-04:002006-05-16T21:18:15.480-04:00

This weekend, I was wandering round the garden and realised that the lilac was now in full bloom. It is an old lilac that has pale flowers, but very fragrant. I couldn't resist picking some of the blooms to bring inside. Lilacs do not survive well in the south, so I am told, so I didn't take cuttings from it. The bare rooted plants are still surviving, though I have some concerns about a Black

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1147571731176149602006-05-13T21:40:00.000-04:002006-05-13T21:55:31.190-04:00

Well the results are in. Most of the plants did fine, a few failed. Out of forty plus plants the ones that didn't make it were 6 in total - all because of a few white fly and some remnant scale problems that still persisted. They say that is takes an infection to be on 70% of the plant before we notice it - I think that may be true now. While we were washing roots off everything we saw no

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1147190658565820742006-05-09T12:00:00.000-04:002006-05-09T12:04:18.583-04:00

The pre move flurry of activity hit this past weekend. The biggest job was to get all the items out of the shed and bring them down to the house for checking and rinsing. 95% of the load was gardening related so the chore defaulted to me (the gardener). Everything was covered with empty acorn ‘caps’ apparently from a squirrel who rather liked the inside of the shed for storage. He hid them in

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1146793907109053752006-05-04T21:32:00.000-04:002006-05-04T21:51:47.123-04:00

One of the things that the kids will miss about this garden is the trees. Most are large mature tulip and maples but the shrub bed has three Carolina Silverbells. These are great trees for the boys to climb. They do not get too hight and branch out quite low down so kids can easilty climb up. They are, however, breaking some of the branches! I hope it is one of the good memories that they will

katynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11495658.post-1146671062678955332006-05-03T11:30:00.000-04:002006-05-03T11:45:35.856-04:00

Today the sun went in and the clouds returned followed by a dreary drizzle. From my computer I can see the beautiful blooms of a pink azalea and the pulmunaria that is nestled near it. These are on the list of plants that I will not be taking with me. The state inspection is next week and I am making a list of the plants I am taking. Some because they are new and not very large, others because

katynoreply@blogger.com0