Dirt Therapy

I know that this is the time of year for the cold, flu, sinus infections, what have you, but...poison ivy? Well, you can add me to that list. I've always been highly sensitive to the stuff. My mother is too. Every year, for as long as I can remember, I've had a case, sometimes minor but often severe, and I don't wish to think about how many shots I've endured. However, I think having poison ivy at Christmas is a first. It is just a small area on my wrist and a few other spots here and there but it is very annoying and can make you feel bad. I know what happened. I ordered one hundred daffodils to plant along the creek in the woods that runs through my mother's property. I didn't have a chance to plant them until last week and while clearing out the pathway, I must have come in contact with the blasted stuff. Over the years, I've tried every ointment, cream, and salve known to man and I can testify that none of them work. One product that I can praise is call...

Thank goodness we have evergreens to help get us through the winter. Today was another mild day with temperatures close to 60. Very overcast though and rain is on the way. It looks like we will have a wet Christmas Eve. I took some photos of several plants that are as beautiful in the winter as any other time of year. O'Spring Chinese Holly ( Ilex cornuta 'O'Spring' ) is a variegated holly that is satisying any time of year. It is slow growing but I was alarmed a while back when I saw it in a garden on "Gardener's Diary" and it was the size of a small car. This one is three or four years old and it is still very small, less than 3' tall. Of course plants tend to conform to the space they have. Mahonia ( Mahonia bealei ) is a tough, durable shrub for shade gardens. Tall and narrow (about 6'x 3'), the multi-trunks are topped with thorny leaves similar to holly. Yellow flowers appear in January and February which are followed by...

Today we finally had a decent day for outdoor work. It was sunny, in the low 50s, and no wind. I took advantage of it and did some mulching and weeding. I got two big loads of pine straw at a nearby neighborhood that has lots of pine trees. As you can see, the Camellia Walk needed some attention. I did some weeding and spread a thick layer of pine straw throughout the border. Pine straw is one of my favorite mulches. I think it looks great but it does have to be replaced often. It stays where you put it and will stay in place even in heavy rains. We've used it on fairly steep banks with no problems. Pine straw is very acidic but you don't have to worry about it affecting your soil's ph level.

I think winter has arrived. It is sunny today but cold! Last night saw temperatures in the mid 20s and tonight it could go down to 20. Yesterday was one of the windiest days I can recall. I was driving around town doing errands and I felt certain that the wind was going to blow my truck off the road. Leaves and limbs were flying everywhere. Have you ever been struck by flying debris in a Target parking lot? It can happen! Surveying the garden today, I found limbs and overturned chairs - I should have dismantled the urn fountain weeks ago but the birds have been enjoying it so much in the mornings that I hated to take it from them. I'm not sure how cold it has to be for running water to freeze but I didn't want to take a chance for last night's freeze to harm the urn or the pump. Time for a clean-up job (does anyone have any tips for removing the algae gunk?) and storage. Until next spring - Some roses are refusing to give up the fight. "Mrs. B.R. Cant" is loaded ...

I’ve never been to New York City but if I ever do get there, one of the places I want to visit is Junior’s, home of the #1 New York cheesecake (at least that is their claim!). They now have a book, Junior's Cheesecake Cookbook: 50 To-Die-For Recipes for New York-Style Cheesecake . I got the book about a year ago when I joined a cookbook book club and I’m just now getting around to trying one of the recipes. I love cheesecake, especially chocolate cheesecake, so the first recipe I’ve attempted is the Rocky Road Cheesecake on page 125. This was a hard choice because all of the recipes look fantastic. A unique feature of this cheesecake is the crust – it is not the traditional graham cracker crust but a sponge cake crust. More time consuming to make but worth it in the end. Okay, so this entire recipe is time consuming! All the recipes in the book are very precise and the authors discuss every detail that goes into their world-famous cakes - from the type of pans they use to the i...

Catching a glimpse of the perfect bright pink blooms of camellia 'Debutante' among the frost-burnt foliage of most of the surrounding plants in the landscape is a soul-satisfying experience for me. We have a circular driveway behind our house and alongside this drive is what I call the "camellia walk" or it might better be referred to as the "woodland garden". It is a long narrow stretch situated under a row of the awful hackberry trees that were already there when we moved in. The soil here dries out during prolonged dry periods so I have a string of soaker hoses in place. Most of the plants that I've planted here are doing well. Camellias, roses, and a few azaleas dominate along with witch hazel, oakleaf hydrangea and climbing raspberry. 'Debutante' is one of my favorite camellias. I transplanted it here after it resided in the lower garden where the absence of leaves during the winter scorched the camellia leaves badly. It is about the same...

Update: The winner of the book is Rob ( Our French Garden )! Thanks for entering and stay tuned for future contests. Roughly translated, Flora Mirabilis means "a wonderful book of flowers" and National Geographic certainly doesn't disappoint with this beautifully designed and illustrated history of how plants have influenced our lives. The publishers have collaborated with the Missouri Botanical Garden Library to reproduce over 200 rare botanical prints and woodcuts, beautifully illustrated on heavy gloss paper. The narrative recounts the trecherous adventures of early plant hunters who sought plants from far reaches across the globe to modern-day scientists who use plants for molecular biology, genetics and biochemistry. Sprinkled throughout the book are illustrated timelines and individual profiles of significant plants in botanical history like wheat, rice, olive, tulip, tobacco, coffee, tomato, rose, grape, cotton, apple, potato, orchids and more. If you would like a...

Just a few more photos that I took earlier in the week. The first is Fothergilla ( Fothergilla gardenii x major 'Mount Airy' ) which is a fantastic shrub, beautiful in all seasons. The fall foliage is particularly colorful. Visit my website to see photos of fothergilla in the spring. I get more questions about Burning Bush ( Euonymus alata "Compactus" ) than any other plant. I have no idea why. This is Yucca 'Golden Sword' growing with Pineapple Sage ( Salvia elegans ).

Thanksgiving is just around the corner so let's turn our attention from gardening to another of my favorite subjects - food! Everyone loves my Pumpkin Cake Roll and I always make it at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Although it looks intimidating, it is not! Trust me, if I can do it, anybody can. Here are all the ingredients that you will need: 3 eggs 1 cup sugar 2/3 cup pumpkin 1 tsp. lemon juice 3/4 cup flour 1 tsp. baking powder 2 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. ginger 1/2 tsp. nutmeg 1/2 tsp. cloves 1/2 tsp. salt 1 cup finely chopped pecans Filling: 1 cup powdered sugar 6 oz. cream cheese, softened 4 TB. butter, softened 1/2 tsp. vanilla First, beat the eggs at high speed for about 5 minutes. Gradually add the sugar. The egg and sugar mixture should be lighter in color and look like this - Stir in the pumpkin and lemon juice. Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt together and FOLD it into the mixture. Spread the mixture into a greased 15 x 10 x 1 pan. Lini...

After blowing the leaves (again!), I took some photos yesterday of the garden. I mentioned earlier that fall seemed to arrive late this year and now it is lingering. Our first average frost date is November 4. It is now November 22 and we still haven't had a killer frost yet. The color is peaking now and the leaves are falling in a frenzy. The border alongside the driveway is planted with dogwood, oakleaf hydrangea, azalea, mahonia and rhododendron. Around the corner, another border with Encore azalea, hydrangeas and camellias. The Japanese maples are wonderful this time of year - The garden on the north side of the house lies under a yoshino cherry tree planted with hydrangea, camellias, cast iron plant and perennials. Around the corner to the front of the house with the new no-mow lawn. The Japanese Maple is "Boskoop Glory". Over to the south end of the house and the pathway alongside the patio which sits above the lower garden- I...