Dirt Therapy

The Huntsville Master Gardeners visited our garden yesterday (unfortunately there is no fall color yet and very few blooms but aside from that, I hope they had a good time) and then Michael and I headed to Huntsville for the Fall Plant Sale. Of course, I had only planned on getting a "few things". Ha! Famous last words. Just last week, Michael had to trade in his Pathfinder for a new one due to electrical problems so here I go dirtying it up. He read somewhere to keep a shower liner for such purposes. It worked great and I don't think we got a speck of dirt anywhere.   We came home with: Cherrybark Oak (Quercus pagodifolia) Chinese Chestnut (Castanea species) Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica) Cypress "Carolina Sapphire" Winterberry Holly  Yellow-berried Holly American Beauty Berry Sourwood Azalea - Flame (R. calendulaceum)  Azalea - Confederate series Azalea - Aromi hybrid Virginia Sweetspire Sunflower Helianthus maximum) Fire Pink (Silene virginic...

It is time for the fall camellias. These are the "sasanqua" camellias (the ones that bloom in late winter through spring are "japonica"). The first sasanqua to bloom for me is "Hana Jiman". It is covered with lovely blooms right now. The blooms of the sasanqua camellias are not as showy as the Japonicas but shine in their own delicate charm. I absolutely love camellias and if we ever move to the woods, I plan on having a lot of them.   Another great sasanqua is "Bonanza" which grows next to our back door steps. For some reason, it has always been hard to photograph. It is pure red and just beginning to bloom. I regret that I did not plant one on the opposite side of the steps. "Yuletide", a Christmas blooming camellia is there and it is rather puny. This could be because the poor thing was moved 3 times before I put it in its present location.  Other sasanquas that will hopefully bloom soon are "Cleopatra" and "Cha...

First of all, thanks to everyone who left a comment on my previous post. I enjoyed reading each and every one of them. The Redwing Blackbirds are back at the feeders. I only see them at the feeders at certain times of the year. The beginning of Fall seems to be one of those times. This is probably a migration time for them and they are passing through. Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy