Dirt Therapy

In the midst of winter, there are buds. It was sleeting this morning when I ventured out and took this photo. This is Daphne Odora, commonly known as Winter Daphne. In a few weeks, it should be in full bloom. The blooms have a wonderful lemony fragrance.

It may have a funny name but Possumhaw ( Ilex decidua ) is a dazzling addition to the winter garden. A deciduous holly, the dark green leaves turn bright yellow in the fall and shed before brilliant red-orange berries appear in November or December. The berries persist throughout winter. They seem to be unappetizing to birds but I read that birds like them after they have frozen and thawed. Possums too are said to like the berries, so maybe that is where the name comes in. It may be a good thing if birds don't like to eat the Possumhaw berries because they do wonders to enhance a bleak grey garden. Only the female plants produce the berries and they must be pollinated. I only have one plant so I suspect that it is pollinated by Ilex opaca (American Holly) which reside on the opposide end of our property. The berries of possumhaw are toxic if ingested in large quantities to both humans and animals. However, animals do not like the taste of the plant and they would probably not...

J OIN THE GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT Count for Fun, Count for the Future February 13-16, 2009 Bird and nature fans throughout North America are invited to join tens of thousands of bird watchers for the 12th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), February 13-16, 2009. A joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, this free event is an opportunity for families, students, and people of all ages to discover the wonders of nature in backyards, schoolyards, and local parks, and, at the same time, make an important contribution to conservation. “Anyone who can identify even a few species can contribute to the body of knowledge that is used to inform conservation efforts to protect birds and biodiversity,” said Audubon Education Vice-President, Judy Braus. Volunteers take part by counting birds for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the event and reporting their sightings online at www.birdcount.org . The data help researchers underst...

The bloggers at Gardening Gone Wild ask the question "What movies have inspired your garden making?" I had to think about this for some time. I've seen a lot of movies in my lifetime. These days I find my movie watching to be tapering off a little. Maybe I'm getting older and my tastes for current movies is waning (it seems that the only movies out nowadays are either animated or based on a comic book). I also find that the older I get, I don't want to see a depressing film. In my college days, I was crazy about the film "Tess" . I saw it four times at the theater. Granted, I did write a research paper on the novel and that probably enhanced my interest but the movie enchanted me and yes, there are some nice landscapes to gaze upon. Recently, I started to watch this film again, and just could not go there again. The subject matter and outcome is is just too depressing! As far as movies about gardening go though, there's just not a lot to choose from...

The amaryllis 'Floris Hecker' started blooming on New Years Day and now has 3 gorgeous blooms. I've moved it to the living room where we can enjoy it.

I posted last week about transplanting. Winter is also a great time to plant hardy trees and shrubs. The weather was mild this past weekend and I knew that heavy rain was on the way, so I wanted to get some new plants in the ground. First, out with the old. It really kills me to discard a plant but this juniper is too big for this spot (it totally blocks and crowds the beautiful Japanese Maple behind it) and it keeps encroaching on the driveway. I decided to replace it with a low growing camellia. This looks rather sad but the new camellia ('Chansonette') is in place. The Japanese Maple can now be seen and the balance of this planting area should be more pleasing to the eye once the camellia takes off. This still leaves a large hole on the left side so I'll be looking for something to put there. Low growing shrub under a dogwood tree - any suggestions? Here is another new camellia that I bought - this one is "Showa No Sakae" This is Osmanthu...

May your new year be full of blue skies, ample rain, good health and cheer. Happy New Year to you and yours!