Another Yankee

Hello to all. What a pleasure to find Dave's Garden.
I will be moving in to the Sanford area the first week in May and joining my husband who is currently renting in Carolina Trace. I am sad to leave family and friends here in the Rochester, NY area but very excited to leave WINTER behind forever. I look forward to beginning a whole new gardening experience but y'all (I'm practicing) are scaring me when you talk about the clay issue. We have clay here too but years of composting allowed me to have the gardens I desired. If I continue to compost in the manner I'm use to--will I win the red clay battle?
We will begin our search for a new home as soon as I arrive. In the mean time I plan to garden in containers. I love to use fresh herbs when I cook so I'll start there. I've picked up some very useful info from what I've read today...so keep it coming.

Welcome to you! I am also a transplant to the South. I grew up in Port. Jeff. Station so I can understand where you are coming from. I am sure you will love your new home and once you are established it won't be long before the rest of your family will follow you down....mine did! I love it down this way. I was just saying today that I am looking forward to wearing shorts and sandals for the next six months! As for clay soil, all I can say is amend,amend, amend.....and then amend some more!!! hahah!

-Tia

Good Morning, Tia. Thank you for the gracious welcome! I think you are right on track with the possibility of other family members following. Several family members and friends are already playing with the idea.
All the relocated northerners I've talked to love it and I'm sure I will too. Everyone is so very friendly and happy all the time...it must be all that sunshine!
How long have you been in SC?

Welcome from northeastern NC! You can always do raised beds, easier on the back.....

Thanks Rosykay. Yes, hoping to do vegetables in raised beds...that ole' back aint what she use to be! :)

Hi Eden, welcome , you will love the long gardening season. Where is Sanford?

Hello gardener! My husband is renting in Carolina Trace. He's been working in North Sanford for two months now. We'll be looking for a home in the area. Any suggestions as to "nice" areas would be appreciated. In fact any info is appreciated... :)


Sorry, thought you asked where "in" Sanford but you asked where "is" Sanford. Sanford is south of Raleigh about 40 minutes from RDU. It is in Lee County.

This message was edited Apr 4, 2006 11:13 AM

Welcome to the south. You will love it and you won't believe how many friends will be stopping by to visit on their way to FL. LOL

Sanford is the home of Big Bloomers nursery. That place is huge! Prices are not as good as they used to be but because of their size they have plenty of variety. You have to hunt around their greenhouses but there are gems hidden in there.

Thank you, Ardesia. Great info! I am going to see if Big Bloomers has a website right now. My inlaws will be stopping in Sanford the week following Easter on the return home from spending the winter in their Fla. condo...so being at the half way point we do expect to have a lot of "passing through" company. :)

I have a home in Carolina Trace (CT), but unfortunately don't live there yet. My husband, who also happened to grow up in PortJeff Station like Tia, has a few years until he can retire. We just got back from a week-long visit to Trace on 4/22. The flowers were beautiful. We are from northwest NJ so it was wonderful to see "green" and azaleas so early. It was actually in the upper 80s on Easter. We're used to snow, not azaleas on Easter. I hope you like the area. There are several gardening groups within Carolina Trace. Hopefully you'll like CT enough to stay and join one.
Meg

findingEden,
Moved here Fuquay in 11/2/05 from N.J.. Have worked like a dog planting all types of plants and trees in 1.4 acres.
Top 18" all sand then you hit the clay.
Soil as we know it is non existant.
Raised beds a must.
Have spent $thousands on Plants and amendments to no avail.
Plants do not show great promise, I am only hoping that lots of time will cure my dissapointing show.
The neighbors all say what a wonderful yard I have, but it does not compare in any way with N.J.
I wish you great luck.
Patience is a virtue, of which I have zero.




This message was edited Jun 19, 2006 3:49 AM

Dumb question:

Is the area around Raleigh considered still in the Piedmont, or are you getting into the coastal plain already when you travel eastward through that area?

Please, no dumb answers....

I am curious about this also.

findingEden, there are definitely lots of challenges to gardening in the South, but armed with some good information, there are also many stunning and famous gardens in our area. I highly recommend the Southern Living Garden Book as a basic resource.

For instance, you're probably used to planting pansies in the early spring, but here you'll want to plant them in the fall for winter bloom. In fact, I recently checked out Tom Peace's Sunbelt Gardening: Sucess in Hot-Weather Climates and found it very helpful. I absolutely adore anything written by Pamela Harper who lives in Tidewater, Virginia. If you're not already familiar with the concept of lasagna gardening, you might want to read about that, too, because it's an easy way to amend soil -- although it does take time.

When you're battling your clay soil, thank your stars you don't have the sand in my yard -- it requires constant watering and fertilizing. And I wouldn't want to try to work the very rocky soil folks in the Northeast have.

I often feel sorry for myself for having the misfortune of being on a deer grazing path, but then I realize how awful the damage beavers can do. Or at least I try to. When the heat and humidity make you feel as if you're wrapped in a wet blanket, hang on to the fact that our Autumns and Winters are wonderful times to work in the garden.

Hello...I am now a North Carolina resident. I have been here at the Trace now for five weeks. We found a home one week to the day after I arrived. I was amazed at how lovely it is here at Carolina Trace and within days decided that I didn't want to look anywhere else for a home but right here. It is a new home on a virgin lot with lots and lots of sand and red clay.
I miss gardening very much. I've wandered through Big Bloomers a few times, just itching to get started. We don't close until July 14th so I have some time to paper plan our new yard. Here at the Trace it seems naturalizing is the best way to go. There are many beautiful yards in this community but what inspires me the most is natural wooded areas, the song of many happy birds and the wonderful woodsy aroma...best after the good, soaking rain.

findingEden, sounds like you really have found a wonderful place to live. I can imagine how eager you are to begin gardening!

You already know this, I'm sure, but it might be very helpful to watch the patterns of sun and shade and don't forget that with our summer heat, plants appreciate more shade and more water than you might be used to giving certain plants.

findingEden -- guess you did! As a fellow resident of Carolina Trace, I can appreciate what you said about not looking anywhere else. Just wish we were there permanently so I can see what grows in our yard.

When we do get down there permanently we are going to be putting in a garden railroad, so the plant selection is going to be a challenge. Not only because of not being familar with what grows in the area (aside from our azaleas), but what will grow in the soil and in shade, which is most of what we have, plus getting plants that are in scale to the trains (G-scale). We are sooooo looking forward to it.
Meg
ps - findingEden - sent you a D-mail.

A couple of days ago I was finally able to get my green thumb dirty again. I purchased two large pots and a slew of colorful plants (among which are caladiums...a long time favorite of mine that are not easily grown in Rochester, NY) and put together a couple of container gardens.
It seems to rain almost daily lately. The local weatherman stated yesterday that the rainy season begins right now. Can somebody explain rainy season in Lee County, NC to me?

CarolinaTracer: I'm just around the corner and I sent you a d-mail.

This message was edited Jun 13, 2006 10:13 PM

Well folks,

Sounds like a class on NC 101 is in order... First of all Welcome to NC...

missgarney, You are correct in that Raleigh eastward is getting into Coastal Plain region and that extends almost to the wetlands area near New Bern. findingeden is still in Piedmont with that red clay, but it runs out pretty soon past her area and starts to become sandier.

Rainy season in NC used to be called "Dog Days" where I grew up on the coast. With the heat building up and the humidity constant, thundershowers form frequently, often in the afternoon. It dumps enough rain to make the humidity go up further and the roadways to put off steam.. Great stuff for your pores.. It also makes the grass and weeds grow right before your eyes. Temps this weekend are due to make it into the 90's. Typical summer pattern will be getting hot early in the morning and thunderstorms in the afternoon or evening.

"Summertime, an the livin is easy...., fish are a jumpin an da cotton is high..."

Now we need to find someone to teach you how to make lemonade and ice tea.... Hope you enjoy it in the South!

Swoz

Swoz,
I have the sweet tea recipe down real good, but the lemonade I am going to have to work on. I am the only one in the house that cares for it so making it from scratch is not time or cost efficient for me.

Thanks for the info on the Piedmont area. Although I am in SC on the border of NC I have heard several people call the area I am in Piedmont. At first I though it was just a generalization of the county or such but later realized most were referring to soil, altitude and/or climate.

PIEDMONT
The word itself comes from the French "pied" (pronounced "pee-AY), meaning "foot", combined with "mont" which refers to hills or mountains.

Greetings all, thanks for the interesting rainy season info. How long does this pattern last? No wonder the pines are so tall!
I happen to love lemonade and do make it from scratch sometimes, and I'm really lovin' the sweet tea that every restaurant in the area has to offer. When you order ice tea in Rochester you never know what you'll get...it surely isn't made from scratch!
I am curious about the many oak trees I've seen with what seems to be the same diseased brownish/white leaves. The other trees near by appear fine. Are all the oaks in danger?

The fun thing about visiting our place in Sanford NC is discovering the different varieties of plants. I was down last week (got in the day after Alberto) and was talking to my husband, who was still in NJ. I mentioned I noticed a bush with white flowers on the other side of the property. Thought they were roses. When I went over to investigate closer, I was ecstatic to discover we had a gardenia bush (actually two -- found another on the other side of the house). They are my most favorite flower. I've only had them as houseplants. I was overjoyed to find them in the yard. Wish I was there all the time to see what blooms and when.

findingEden!

I am a transplanted Yankee but am so fully acclimated that I could never leave. I moved from the rich loamy, humus soil of the Midwest to the rock hard red clay of the Piedmont. Maybe I can save you some money, time, and grief. I spent 10 years trying to duplicate my northern gardens. I had large flower gardens up north and could easily find the same plants here so I happily bought them year after year and watched them die. Forget what you grew up north. Don't assume that because your garden center has it that it will grow here. Hey! They know we are dumb Yankees! Yes, you will probably have to add some compost to help break up the clay but not nearly as much if you don't fight the type soil. If you Google Clemson Extension it has an excellent landscaping and gardening site. I found that hundreds of beautiful flowers and shrubs I had never heard of up north that are native to the region. Go with that. I spend more time cutting things and thinning out now that I have quit fighting the soil. Just a few quick suggestions - full sun: black-eyed Susan’s, purplecone flowers, daisies, coreopsis, Blanket flower, azaleas (full sun to shade) fairy rose bushes, lambs ear, cosmos (annual) flax, balloon flower, and a ton more I can't think of but those come to mind since I just thinned out a bunch of them. For the shade there is bleeding heart, all kinds of wonderful ferns and hostas, astilbes, Japanese Acuba, Columbine. Again - an endless list. If you like herbs I planted a very small Rosemary about 6 years ago and have to cut it down regularly or it looks like a tree in my garden, oregano, thyme, English lavender. I have only mentioned the ones that basically I plopped into rock hard clay, threw a little bit of fertilizer on them, remember to mulch every couple of years. There are a lot of others that will take more soil treatment. Drive around your neighborhood and see what you like. Then ask what it is. I found out people loved to brag about their gardens to the dumb Yankee and I quit trying to grow a northern flower garden. I don't plant veggies but have learned that different types grown down here and I never have found any that tasted as good as my Dad's. But the sweet corn and peaches can't be beat! And check out how invasive a plant can be. They have some really invasive native vines here that you have to nip in the bud. And if you don't know about Kudzu you soon will! But you will love your area and your gardens!

finding Eden --
You'll see Kudzu growing along Rt. 87 N going back into Sanford. Once you recognize this invasive vine, you'll start spotting it all over the place.

Hope your place over in GN has more sun than we have in MC.

Sent you a D-mail.

Meg
(who's back up North unfortunately)

Another welcome. I'm not sure if you're piedmont or sandhills but,I do know
you'd have another set of problems if you were a little further east. Flat
and sandy. We just moved from the Lake Norman area of N.C. just
north of Charlotte. We lived on the lake and I loved it - wasn't sure
how I'd feel moving but we're on a small farm that has been in my husbands
family a long while. We're in the New Hope area of N.C. not too far
from Asheboro which is not far from Raleigh which is not too far from
Sanford. In fact our daughter lives in Fuquay Varina. I've never been
too good about gardening. I seem to lose interest and then everything
I've planted seems to go to the "plant recycling heaven" I'm hoping
that now I'll have a little more time to spend on gardening. I want to
plant some unusual things along with flowers. Look forward to being
able to ask questions from you knowledgeable folks.

LOL Welcome I work with 6 Nurse's all from NY.
Hope you like it here. Its a bit different but we welcome all new commers.

Lavina/Raleigh

lindacran: if you don't garden, what else is there to do in Denton? I'm not joking, I'm sincerely curious.