Dirt Therapy

I'm always reading about gardeners who will not hesitate to get rid of a plant that they don't like or one that is just not performing like it should. I really admire this trait because it is one that I do not possess. It takes an act of Congress for me to give a plant the heave-ho, especially one that is perfectly healthy. Case in point - the rambling rose, aptly named "Rambling Rector." I guess I've had this rose for about 10 tens years and every year I keep telling myself that it must go! It is a disease-free rose, very easy to grow but it has two drawbacks. The first one is that it is a once-bloomer, meaning that it blooms in the spring for a week or so and that's it. The second and most important deterrent is that it is a monster! The pergola that it adorns is a rather large one - about 20 feet in length - and this rose has rapidly devoured every inch of real estate. You can hardly see the other roses that share it. This is what it looks like in the sprin...

One of my presents this year was a new gardening journal. Ten years ago, it took a while to find the perfect one and fortunately the company that sells it still has it in stock. This one displays one day at a time so you can see a ten year history of that day on one page. I started my older one in 1997 and incredibly, I will finish it at the end of the month. Keeping a gardening journal is something that gardeners are always urged to do but you wonder if it is a worthwhile activity. Believe me when I say it is! It will become a goldmine of information for any gardener, reminding you where you obtained a particular plant, what plants have failed and survived in your garden, comparing bloom dates and general weather observations. It will become an indispensable educational tool and one created by yourself! It can sometimes be a depressing document as well (did I really kill that many plants?). Alas, I am not the best record keeper and I am often lax in keeping mine up to date. I still ...

Some bloggers are sharing their garden related Christmas ornaments and we have quite a few. This is just a small sampling. That last ornament is just one of many that Michael and I cross-stitched many years ago. I think we spent an entire winter doing those ornaments.

I almost didn't make Bloom Day today. Today's weather is a typical example of winter weather here in the South. It started out cloudy and almost warm (in the upper 50s). By the time I ran several errands and got home it was close to noon. I noted that the overcast skies would be perfect for photos so grabbed the camera and headed outside. After about 40 minutes, I noticed that the skies were looking ominous. All of a sudden, a big gust of wind came up and before I knew it, raindrops were falling. We've had a cold rainfall all afternoon and the temperatures keep falling. There is even a possibility for snow flurries overnight. How exciting! The only blooms I could find today were roses and camellias. I did note some interesting foliage so I'll include them as well. Camellia 'Mine-no-yuki' (aka 'Snow on the Mountain') - A promising bud on the shrub rose 'Erfurt' - A cluster of roses on 'Weeping China Doll' - More pink roses, this time ...

I promised to post photos of our house at Christmas earlier and here they are. We've had our decorations up for about three weeks now. We have to start early to get everything up in time. We have trees in almost every room and countless ornaments and other decorations. Michael is the Christmas fanatic, I'm afraid he suffers from OCD (Obsessive Christmas decorating). It is very beautiful though and magical at night. We always have a big party every year and share it with our friends and family.

We always go to Grenada, Mississippi for Thanksgiving. It is a three hour drive and the majority of it takes place on the Natchez Trace Parkway. Michael hates the Trace because of the 50 mile-per-hour speed limit and the monotony of the landscape. I, on the other hand, love it. I think it is calming and relaxing as well as beautiful. The Natchez Trace is a 444 mile stretch that goes through Mississippi, Tennessee and a very small portion of Alabama. It commemorates a path that was used by Native Americans and early European explorers as both a trade and transit route in the late 1700s and early 1800s. There are all kinds of trails, historic sites and Indian mounds along the way. The above photo was taken at one of these sites, one of the few stops that has a public restroom. If you look closely, you can see three Indian Mounds in the distance.

I'm a little late for Gardener's Bloom Day! The sasanqua camellias are blooming - 'Hana Jiman' 'Snow Flurry' 'Bonanza' Mexican Sage (Salvia leucantha) The colorful foliage of Sweet Shrub (Calycanthus floridus) Hyacinth Bean Mums Red Maple Lespedeza The brilliant crimson leaves of a pear tree hover over a group of hydrangeas This is Scudder, a new addition to the family. He appeared as a stray and has been around for the past several weeks. He was on top of the garden wall today. And here is the real Queen of the Roost - Isabella. She is fifteen years old and she's not too keen on Scudder.