Dirt Therapy

After a few weeks of sinus woes, trying to hook up a new tv and sound system and watching an ever expanding waistline, I decided that I had to get outside. Today was the perfect day. Sunny, 60s, wonderful. Moving plants is a good job for mid-winter. This is the best time to transplant most plants because they are now dormant. I have a long list of plants that I want to move this year. I started out with a rose called 'Lavender Pink Parfait.' According to the Antique Rose Emporium, this rose grows about 2 - 3'. Yeah right. Mine is at least 4 feet tall, positioned in the front of a border and looking totally out of place. I've wanted to move it for years. Sorry for the terrible photo - I forgot to set the camera to autofocus. The first thing to do is to prune it severely. I cut out all the dead wood and cut back the healthy canes within one foot of the ground. Pruning the plant will make it easier to deal with and also reduce stress on the plant when it starts to put out ...

The amaryllis I wrote about a few weeks ago is about to bloom!

It is almost 75 degrees here today with a balmy breeze and storms predicted for tonight. I spent some time out on the patio with the cats reading and enjoying the weather. And speaking of reading, I got some great gardening books for Christmas. Michael spoils me rotten by whittling down my Amazon Wish List every year (or maybe I've just been a really good boy). Here is my haul this year: The Gardens of Russell Page by Marina Schinz - I would hope that all avid gardeners will have read Russell Page's classic 1962 book The Education of a Gardener (if you haven't, shame on you!). The influential garden designer created fantastic gardens all over the world. Sadly, many of them are no longer in existence. This book profiles some of the ones that are still remaining. It is a gorgeous book and the photographs are fantastic. The Garden at Hidcote by Fred Whitsey. I've never been to Hidcote or even England for that matter but when my feet do touch English soil one day, this w...

I have a new camera lens, a wide angle Sigma 10-20mm, a lens that I've needed for a long time. I just can't get used to the idea that a good lens cost more than my camera did. You might take a look at these photos and think that I got myself a dud but it is just our weather. It has been foggy, dark and wet all week here and I just heard today that we are officially out of the drought. I love all this rain but I'm wondering - does it help the plants any during the winter? Probably. All of this rain and a head cold has kept me inside this week but I'm feeling better and couldn't wait to get out and try out the new lens.

This morning the news programs were talking about the crazy weather across the nation. New Orleans got snow as did other parts of the southeast. We got snow too. It arrived late and was brief but I had never seen it coming down so thick. I didn't pay much attention to the weather until I started gardening. In my observations, when we do get snow, it is usually in late January or February. Snow before Christmas is rare but our weather has been colder for the past month and it is usually mild this time of year. I personally love it! (Click on the images for larger views) Some of the trees and shrubs still have leaves so this made the snowfall different and more interesting.

Do you grow amaryllis during the holiday season? I always buy one or two and I really enjoy watching them grow. It amazes to see the big fat bulb sprout and start to grow rapidly before exploding into a massive bloom. Most amaryllis are sold with the advertisement of being in bloom by Christmas. This has never happened for me and my blooms are always late. This year I decided to order a bulb from the reputable John Scheepers Inc . I selected "Floris Hecker" which is supposed to be "velvety red" and very floriferous. The red ones are my favorite. The bulb arrived much later than I expected and there is no way it will be blooming by Christmas day. That doesn't really matter that much to me because flowers in January are always welcome. If you have never grown an amaryllis, they are very easy! You can buy them already in a pot or if you choose to pot it up yourself, choose a pot that is only an inch or two larger than the bulb. Plant it so that the neck of the bul...

Happy Thanksgiving! It is a sunny day with temperatures in the 60s here although it is still chilly inside the house (the disadvantage of living in a big old drafty house). Our Thanksgiving cactus is so beautiful this year that we placed it in the center of our kitchen island. These beautiful plants (Thanksgiving Cactus, Christmas Cactus and Easter cactus) are members of several closely related species in the genus Schlumbergera . Which one do you have? Take a look at the leaves for guidance. Thanksgiving cactus have sharp pointed notches on the edges of the leaves whereas the Christmas cactus has rounded notches. The Easter cactus also has sharp notches but also have tiny hairs as well. They originate from the mountains of Brazil where they grow as epiphytes. Despite being called "cactus," they are not treated as such. They require regular watering and consistent moisture levels. Good drainage is essential however as they will die from root rot if forced to endure soggy soil...

The bloggers at Gardening Gone Wild have asked their readers to submit their thoughts on roses for the month of November. Since the rose is my favorite flower, I am happy to oblige. Our first garden was a tiny plot behind a tiny apartment down the street from where we presently live. I’m guessing that it was about forty feet wide and twenty feet deep. It was our first home and my love of gardening began there. Browsing through catalogs, I was always drawn to roses. I made a bold notion to order a selection of ‘Europeana’ and ‘Iceburg’ roses from Wayside Gardens and alternate them around the back porch and patio area. Lo and behold, they lived and were absolutely beautiful the years we lived there. It is odd that I haven’t been able to grow a decent ‘Europeana’ or ‘Iceburg’ in our present garden. Hmmm I started out with hybrid tea roses because that is what our local nurseries sold. At the time, I knew little about old roses. I was drawn, however, to large displays of roses. I liked s...

The growing season is drawing to a close here in north Alabama. The temperatures have been dipping near the freezing mark all week and a frost is sure to come this week. Yesterday seemed like a January or February day with dark skies, wind and rain. Heavy black clouds made me think that it could snow. Today though was sunny but cold. We took advantage of the day to get the leaves up (we are amazed at how many there are), put away the fountain pumps and disconnect the urn fountain. A few flowers and bright autumn colors are still lingering - A shasta daisy (above) still looks fresh, oblivious of the cold weather. Hydrange blooms can take on interesting hues in cooler temperatures. This is "Charm" and "Blushing Bride" - The leaves of the oakleaf hydrangea are always spectacular in the fall months - The Japanese maples are still beautiful. I don't know the name of this one. It is only about two feet tall. This aster, named for garden designer Ryan Gainey, wasn'...