back40bean, Lake Toxaway is about 10 miles east of Cashiers along U.S. 64. I don't live on the lake (super expensive), but only a mile or so away. We live on the side of a hill so all our gardening is done on terraced land. 55 steps from the bottom to the top. Because I have hip problems, I only go down once a day, do all the work I can do in about 1/2 hour and drag myself back up to the house. All my gardens are below this shot, down to the right.
BTY, I used to live in Avondale Estates.
oops, wrong view. And the terraces fall away to the left, not right. The small building in front of our house is my tiny greenhose.
Ooo, pretty!
Yes, very pretty. Well done!
Thanks. I wish every thing I grow was this easy.
Wow, woodspirit1, your phlox look beautiful. We have some around our cabin but we really don't get enough sun for a show as spectacular as you have. On the other hand we are surrounded by rhododendron so I don't complain. I've only been gardening seriously for the past 6 or 7 years so I continue to learn of 'new' (to me) plants that have been around forever. I bought a Viburnum acerfolium a couple of years ago and when I went to plant it I discovered one growing nearby. I've since found more. We love our NC place so much. Our part of Decatur is between Clarkston and the Farmer's Market and right next door to Avondale Estates.
Thanks. I wish every thing I grow was this easy.
Lily_love, the flowering quince is beautiful. They like sun if they can get it but will do all right in part shade too. I should go out and get some twigs to force -- I have that and Abeliophyllum distichum, which may be blooming now for all I know.
Hi Dawn, or is that Sharon?. I like your moniker. :) Indeed, the flowering quince is beautiful. A welcoming different color than the usual yellow of forsythias and other early season-blooms. I've been cutting those branch and force them to bloom indoor. I've a quince that first open white, then gradually turn pink. Those are fun to watch unfurl indoor. Abeliophyllum distinchum? I'll have to look that up. :)
Yes, they have been easy but by chance. Our lot is very shady, but this bank is right along the driveway and so there is sun there. They are my spousal unit's babies. I think this year he is going to have to trim some as the branching is getting dark and spare in place or two. It's quite rainy here so that may have something to do with how well they grow here.
Hi KYwoods! I found the new thread right after I posted on the old one. I didn't go into shade gardens much before, but now that I have a shade garden to create, I need an education.
Hi KYwoods! I found the new thread right after I posted on the old one. I didn't go into shade gardens much before, but now that I have a shade garden to create, I need an education.
I have been doing research on shade gardens all morning...between chores and watching the rain come down. No garden work for me today. Already got an inch and a half, and more on the way.
Oh dear, that means that your rain will be coming my way soon. Eewww! =)
Well, indoor garden planning is the thing to be doing then. maybe you could sit down with some graph paper and draw out fun ideas of what you want your beds to look like? =)
I've moved from mostly sun to mostly shade, and it's amazing how many plants I have that can make the transition, like epimedium, oakleaf hydrangeas, heuchera and bergenia. I even have an early blooming peony that works.
But Moxie and Speedie (you are really fun, Speedie) I'd love the rain. We got 5 inches of snow. The heavy wet kind! Pretty to look at, as it clings to trees. But a pain to shovel!
Oh boy, you have some wonderful plants that love the shade!! Those hydrangeas and heuchera and bergenia (oh my!) really like the shade, and if your heuchera are light-leafed, then they probably prefer the increase in shade. (their tender little delicate bodies don't like too much sun).
Aaaw, thank you! I'm just a goofball, I can't seem to help it. There's too much in life to love and give one joy, ya know?
Hmm, well then, HOORAY for the rain! Maybe it'll wash some of that snow away so you won't have to shovel it! =)
You're the best!
My coral bells are all Heuchera Firefly. I have seven of them, grown from seed. I spent a fortune buying different ones - they would just peter out. I loved Cherries Jubilee. They would last a couple of years and I would replace them. That was OK when they were $7.99, then $9.99, and then they hit $11.99 and $13.99 (don't you love the .99?) Then JL Hudson came out with seeds for Firefly. I figured, what the heck. Not only did they germinate, grow and bloom really fast, but they have lasted for years.
I popped them in front of a peony on the west side of my house, with a little shade from a pagoda dogwood.
I had so many that I added them on the north side of my house, next to ladies mantle. I haven't lost any. All seven cost me perhaps $2.00. Talk about cheap thrills!
Ohhh, what beautiful gardens!!!
Donna - I'm with you on pricey Heucheras. Now if I absolutely HAVE to have one, I make sure that there's some H. americana or villosa in the parentage. Some of the now departed would survive the first year, come back in the spring and then promptly decline once the weather got warm. I like the eye-catching color of your 'Firefly' flowers - a nice change from all of the nondescript colors of a lot of the current Heucheras.
Thank you KyWoods. That's sweet.
Dare I say it - I think nondescript completely describes it. I see Heucheras that would barely be visible in a yard, with very high prices. I went through about 15 heucheras that keeled. And you know the ones that keeled the fastest? The designer ones from the big names. At $15 or $18 dollars a pop. And they scare you by looking like they are gasping for air even in the fall.
You are clearly more knowledgable than I am about the hybridization. Jl Hudson describes is as sanguinea.
I always thought it was my fault. Are they planted too low? Too high? Do they need mulch? What kind?
And don't get me started on heucherella!
Garsh Donna, you're gonna make my head all swelled up, you're such a sweetheart! =D
And, my GOODNESS, what gorgeous Heucheras you have!! That colour is fabulous, now I'd like 10 of 'em... oops, wait, not an even number.. OK, I'll need 15. =) We've got Heucheras at work but I don't remember any of 'em with bloom colours like that. We do have some neato foliage colours though, like Lime Rickey. That one looks like lettuce, every time I water it I wanna eat it! =P
Note to self: When it's time to get Heucheras, talk to CindyM first.
A lot of the current Heucheras coming out of the Pacific Northwest can't take our hot summers and I learned from the folks here at DG what to look for in plant breeding for a variety that will survive here. Um, I've killed two 'Lime Rickey's. If your summers are hot, look for 'Citronell' instead.
I did manage to start 'Palace Purple' from seed years ago and now it self-sows in the garden, a couple of new babies every year that I just move around as needed. The colors vary a lot though but that's fine by me. I've got some nice trendy look-alikes.
I killed Monet, which had variegated leaves and red flowers. I also killed Bridal Veil, which never bloomed. And the aforementioned Cherries Jubilee.
Cindy, I find it interesting that our grown from seed varieties are the ones that worked. JL Hudson, from whom I got my seed, lists several, and a friend of mine successfully grew Dale's Strain.
When I first started gardening, I was buying books by people gardening in Colorado (sharply drained soil), the Pacific Northwest (much cooler and damper) and England (don't get me started). They dominated the book selections then. Many of their recommendations bit the dust before season 2. Then books started coming out that addresses conditions more like ours. Michael Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs was a great help. He would discuss positives, negatives, and care. I bought 100% of my trees and shrubs after reading his books and taking his suggestions. I started reading gardening books produced by and for midwesterners, and I found, interestingly, that they were very conservative, and I had to stretch their boundaries. The best thing I did was get Milaegers Nursery's catalogs, which they used to mail. Similar soil and climate, and lots of care instructions, many of which pointed out to me what I could grow. He has separate catalogs for nursery stock, perennials, annuals and roses. I'm driving up there this spring to get a viburnum trilobum.
Here is the page in JL Hudson's catalog on which his heucheras are displayed.
I killed 'Bridal Veil' too. Or rather, it chose not to grow in my garden. I have a Dirr book as well and regard him as one of the big authorities but, in my landscape, I haven't had to purchase many trees or shrubs. And Mileager's - I used to get their catalog but haven't for a long time. It is nice to know that they don't use growth regulators on their stock. I did spy a very pretty salmon rose columbine in their on-line catalog (which is coming up with a 2011 plant list).
Yes, I am surprised that the 2012 list is not on line. I keep checking for it.
They stopped mailing them because of the cost. I collected the old ones for years but finally tossed them. I wish I had them now.
If you're old fashioned and paper wasteful I am too. I contacted every company I did business with when I moved, and let them know I wanted a catalog. The Lily Garden petitioned its customers and asked whether they wanted a paper catalog or whether they would prefer one on line. Overwhelmingly the response was paper. My thickest catalog is from Forest Farm. There is NOTHING quite like curling up and looking at the pictures and dreaming!
And Milaegers DOES have four catalogs for their categories. I drive up and pick up one of each every spring!
Hey, paper is recyclable, and makes good compost!
Excellent point! And I do recycle mine (the few I throw away)
I do hang on to mine for a year and then the old ones go into the recycle bin when the new ones come out.
I do get the ForestFarm catalog and I remember them taking a survey a couple of years back re: hard copy vs. online. With their huge catalog, I can't imagine myself sitting at the computer for that length of time just to get through the whole thing. Yeah, there's laptops and tablets but I'm not one for being "plugged in" for hours a day.
I blush to disclose that before I moved I had all The WFF , THe Lily Garden, B&D Lilies and Brent and Becky catalogues, some going back to 1998, when we bought the house. That's when I realized how crazy it was. Now I just have the last two years of about 20 catalogs. I get at least 5 that specialize in seeds. Great reading.
I just like the feeling of paper in my hands. And turning the pages.
You're getting the Kindle push too? I just don't want another electronic device. And I love reading things with pages you can turn.
Of course, I'm a dinosaur. I think I'm the only person left who doesn't have an i-phone, and isn't in Facebook (I detest Jeffrey Zuckerberg).
No facebook, twitter, whatever here either. I do have a cell phone (that I only turn on about 2% of the time) and an MP3 player but that's about it. Had to debate with DH about carrying a road atlas in the car rather than put 100% of my trust in a GPS. Went to a restaurant a month back, saw a family of 4 there at a table and everyone of them had a cell phone out, texting away. I guess that's the new version of "family time". I just don't want to be that "connected".
I stole this picture but I thought it was apropriate to the conversation. I hope you like it.
Kiseta, it's perfect!
I simply don't use any of the social networks, and I think twittering is odd. Why does anyone want to know what I am doing every moment? But I see it everywhere. People walking into each other on the street networking. I have a cell phone because I used to travel a lot on business. I am geographically impaired so having a GPS actually freed me to drive without panic (yes, panic) but I waited until the prices went down and bought a $90 Tom Tom. I can keep my eyes on the road and not fear getting lost. I was in North Carolina last year and it was wonderful feeling that I could drive from arboretum to arboretum (yes! that's what I did) without getting lost.
I do love Skype because I have sister and friends who live overseas, and it is lovely to be able to see and talk to them at no cost. And my Mp3 player is wonderful, because I can put it on to block out everyone else on their cellphones! And I politely decline invitations to "like" people on facebook.
I knew a man with four children. So he had to have a five bedroom house. Each child had a television in his or her room. And a computer. How's that for family time?
But, back on topic, I love the seed catalogs. Select Seeds, the eye candy of Scheepers/Van Engelen.. irresistable!
I was talking to a recent college grad who was bemoaning her debts and inability to get a job. But her debts included a $200 cable bill and phone bill. Can you imagine?
I drive 8 hours to NC to see the son's family, 2 grandboys 9 and 11. When I get there they greet me and then desappear to they room, each one have a computer, they text to friends and keep bussy that way. My son is playing the computer games and the DIL is playing soduku. I am sitting on the sofa and peting the dog. I travel less and less, I can pet my own dog and don't have to drive 8 hours.
Many of my fondest memories relate to being at my two great aunt's home (my maternal grandma died of spinal meningitis when my mother was 3, and she and her brothers were raised by my great aunts) and sitting in the living room with them listening to stories and talking and laughing. We would roar around outside for a while and come back in to good food and the fascination of adult conversation, and then telling our aunts about school and friends.
When we watched television we watched it together, with my parents making funny comments that I still remember. My parents bought us a small record player, and a collection of records, but mostly we listened to music together.
I'm sorry your grandsons won't have those wonderful memories. Pardon me, but from here I am giving your son a smack!
I got into the habit then of getting lots of books from libraries. I own a ton of books, but my four libraries (three reciprical) keep me in the habit of reading hard cover books. From which came the habit of reading garden catalogues with a cup of tea.
kiseta - love the picture! Sorry about the 8-hour drive to pet the dog! Until last fall, we had to drive 8 hrs to see DD and granddaughter in TN (now in MI - 2 hours away). While they all have the latest in electronics (SIL in IT), everybody preferred to be outdoors chasing chickens or picking veggies or lounging in the warm weather.
I've always been a reader and have had to give a lot of books away with not enough space to keep them all. Staring at a computer screen is too much like being at work. Only reason I got a cell phone was for emergencies. Still haven't memorized my cell phone number. Our old "bag" phone in the car was phased out (analog).
It's so nice to see that I'm not the only one who just simply isn't into the (as I call 'em) DUMB PHONES. I do not need an app to tell me how to live my life. DH just recently had a Garmen (sp?) installed on his work van, but that's because the company had 'em installed on the whole fleet due to insurance cost cuts. He has said that it *would be* helpful getting him from point-A to point-B if he hadn't already been doing it for the last 15 years, but many of the other features are quite helpful. Me? I like maps. =) And, I have to admit, I do love my Kindle. DH got it for me a few years ago for my birthday and, as an avid reader, it's been worth a FORTUNE. Otherwise, I don't think I would ever have enjoyed so many classics as I have on my Kindle. (The d'Artagnan series, all the Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer treats, so many from Alexandre Dumas..the list goes on and on). That being said, I *do* still have quite a collection of 'real' books as well, mostly of the Cookbook and Stephen King variety. =) But ya know what's funny? I still do not have any seed/plant catalogs! I think it's mostly because of where I work; I can get seeds and plants that I KNOW are either native or hardy in my area right from work, and I'm still a bit too much of a chicken to try stuff that I'm unsure of. ;) (not to mention, when I get 'em from work, I get a pretty discount!) =)
