Roadside Orange

For as unromantic of a name as 'Roadside Orange' is, I have come to love and look forward to this hardy Hemerocallis. It is also called 'common' and 'original' orange but they grow hardy in masses along the highway here so I call them my Roadside Orange. These daylilies bloom in late May and early June atop noticeable 3' stalks. The vibrant orange against the red carpet of groundcover roses makes me look forward to summer.

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Eradicating Invasives

Sometimes it's necessary to just focus on maintenance and not spend all spring buying new plants!

This is the year I eradicate invasives. It's a convenient year to focus on maintenance since I'm an unemployed student. I'll get to the Pachysandra and Akebia later, but I've started with the lovely variegated Chameleon plant (Houttuynia cordata). It seems it was just a small clump when we moved in seven years ago. I admired the heart-shaped leaves, ablaze in yellows, greens, and reds with a delicate white and noticeable flower atop. Just a lovely multi-colored ground cover. Now it's coming up everywhere, including in the lawn. The narrow bed areas just can't withstand it's growth habit so I am getting rid of it altogether.

Chameleon plant is impossible to dig up. It breaks easily just under the surface of the dirt and the tiny roots and runners are left. I began pulling it up and spraying it with Roundup as soon as it started to emerge in March. I pray one year will be enough to be rid of it forever. As sad as I am to see it go, I am already getting anxious for new plantings in that highly visible spot.

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Confederate Jasmine

The lovely Trachelospermum jasminoides is in full bloom and fragrance on the back deck railing. I adore this evergreen spreader. It needs plenty of room to grow or it will require annual pruning. Otherwise, it's a wonderfully low maintenance plant. Very resistant to drought, pests, and diseases. A must in the garden.

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Sweetspire

Oh Boy! An idea for my little island bed is finally starting to formulate. Sometimes it just takes patience and a few trips to the nurseries.

I stumbled across the Itea Virginica today at the Raleigh Farmers Market and decided that was the little beauty I wanted. I got 3 1-gallon pots for $5 each. Needless to say, I am thrilled with my prizes and the beginnings of my new planting bed.

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A Dixie Dew Morning

The place to be at dawn is in the garden. The world still sleeps. There is only you and the birds. Just sit, sip your coffee, and listen.

I take my coffee to the glider on the front deck. I am protected from the weather there. I don't have to sit there long before the front yard birds revisit. This morning there is a lovely blanket of dew. So calm. It's the only place I want to be. The fog starts to lift slowly. The longer I sit, the more I sip my coffee, the more the fog lifts. We rise together. Me, the dew, this new day. Creatures become active, photosynthesis resumes, but the garden is never more whole than the wee hours of a dewy morning.

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Louisiana Surprise

I am sad to say I do not know where I got this plant. It's been in the garden for at least four years, in the most random spot, and beginning to be encroached upon by the liriope spicata. The spiky foliage stays, but this is the first time I've seen it bloom. I knew it was an Iris but it was more a mystery plant to me. It's an absolutely lovely Louisiana Iris, cool blue atop the strong 3' stems. I will need to transplant her soon.

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Gardener's Gold

Ah leaf mulch. How did I garden before it? We live in zone 7b, the Piedmont of NC. Amending clay soil by tilling in bagged soil conditioner and mushroom compost just seemed so unnatural, although commonplace.

A fellow Raleigh landscaper introduced me to leaf mulch some time around 2000. The city of Raleigh collects leaves from the curb, churns it through three heats, and sells it back to us as this heavy nutrient-rich mulch. It's very affordable but you have to move the pile one wheel barrow at a time. We spread it 6" deep on top of clay, with a dusting of lime to regulate the pH. It breaks down the clay and works it's way down in to the earth, taking roots with it, making for stronger and healthier plants. After a year, the mulch seems to have disappeared like most mulches, but this one has changed the composition of the soil. Clay is becoming good dark soil, a few inches at a time. New applications several years in a row and I'm left with fantastic dark gardening soil, as deep as my shovel will ever need to go. I plant my own trees now, without the help of my stronger half. How did I garden before it?

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Voodoo Lily

Amorphophallus konjac. This voodoo lily is about 4 years old. It first bloomed for me the 2nd year and every year since. It is in bloom right now, and my husband describes its' fragrance as 'dead animal'.

What a fabulous show. The flower will die back completely pretty quickly, and the leaves emerge in late June even more showy and unique than the flower. This is one of the plants I bought from Tony Avent that is thriving in my yard. I love it and always look forward to it!

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The Untended Flowers Bloom

It is so nice to come home weary after dark to find the plants taking care of themselves.

Our first rose bud opened today while I was away. Seeing the little red beauty brought me happiness. It will be a gardening-perfect 80 degrees this weekend, but my studies will keep me from the flowers. It is good to know everything will be happy and bloom while I am away.

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