End of Month View (from my windows), October 2013

Shade-making trees enrich the experience of every season. In summer, their cloak of green gives us privacy from our neighbors and provides valuable habitat for wildlife. In winter, their bare branches open our view to the heavens, as well as distant spots on the horizon, and they etch a lacy pattern across the earth as the sun sweeps across the sky. During seasons of transition, they are the most notable indicator of change, with spring’s chartreuse buds heralding a return of life and growth, and autumn’s colorful foliage forecasting decline and completion. Best of all, however, is the simple fact that they make the garden a place to linger and enjoy.

Today, here are my windows on the world…

From the living room at the front of the house, a pink dogwood in a salmon frock and a neighbor’s dashing yellow maple.

From the bedroom, a mass of golden-leaved Carolina silverbell under towering tulip poplars and oaks.

From the kitchen, the long view across the river.

From the kitchen sink, a colorful array of dogwoods, sweetgums, and hickories above the evergreen foliage of winter-blooming camellias.

Visit Helen at The Patient Gardener’s Weblog, to see how other gardens are strutting their stuff on October 31st.

Starting Over

I’ve promised a look at the new garden and we’ll get to it, but I want to begin with the house, affectionately dubbed ‘Chateau Tiebreaker.’ If you suspect a story behind this name, you’re right. Although we had long planned to move out of the suburbs, Tim and I soon found ourselves at a stalemate. Like Oliver and Lisa of Hooterville, Tim wanted green acres and I had my heart set on living downtown.

September 2010, before work in the garden began.

View from kitchen window, autumn 2010.

Another kitchen view, winter 2010-2011.

Front garden, before clean-up began.

Back garden and woodland adjacent to river, before clean-up began.

After vetoing each other’s initial choices, house hunting became testy until our real estate agent, Margaret Marcum, found the perfect solution in a 50’s ranch home in a country-like setting just a few miles from Greenville’s Main Street.

Within minutes of stepping across the threshold, both Tim and I knew we would make this house our home if we possibly could. Hoping to downsize, the house is bigger than we planned, but it offered two compelling features—a comfortably updated interior and fabulous views from nearly every window.

There were also compromises, however, and the garden was one. Located adjacent to the Reedy River, the lot is steeply sloped and heavily shaded by towering hardwood trees such as tulip popular and red and white oak. For a gardener who favors sun-loving plants and direct-line focal points, these are tough conditions, to say the least.

So, here I am, trying to embrace the shade and learn the art of the curve. I keep telling myself “new is fun” and “look how much you’re learning,” but these tricks don’t always work. Nonetheless, I’m committed to finding my way and making this garden something special.

It has its good points to be sure. Over the years, many gardeners have had a hand in shaping the landscape and one or more had a keen love of plants. There are a number of pleasing evergreens including hemlock, holly, and aucuba. And flowering ornamentals such dogwoods, camellias, gardenias, and azaleas are plentiful, as are a handful of herbaceous perennials.

The small front yard is bisected by a sweeping driveway and one side yard is also devoted to an asphalt drive and parking pad, while the second side yard offers the best potential for a dig-in-the-dirt informal planting space. Just behind the house is a wide but shallow garden created by a retaining wall, followed by a series of steep terraces that reach down to the water.

In my next post, I’ll begin to show each of these spaces in turn, the progress made, and pick your brain for ideas on the best way forward.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

On the Road Again

After managing to spend all but one night at home since the beginning of the year, I kicked off 2013 travel with relish by visiting Camellia Forest Nursery in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on my way to a family weekend in Virginia. Only a few miles off my usual route, I was eager to examine the camellias and other winter-blooming ornamentals offered by this highly-regarded plant nursery.

Camellia Forest Nursery is considered a “gem” by gardeners and industry experts alike.

Camellia Forest, along with Plant Delights and Pine Knot Farms, are opening their doors for winter visitors over the next two weekends (Feb 22-24 and March 1-3) and are expecting the usual deluge of gardeners from the Southeast, from Maryland to Georgia, and even points further afield. (Please check nursery websites to confirm days and times.)

Choisya ternata ‘Sundance’

Ardisia japonica

Priula vulgaris ‘Drumcliff’

Lucky for me, I had the opportunity sneak in before the crowds. With the help of Brie Gluvna, Cam Forest’s knowledgeable and vivacious propagator and grower, I chose three plants for my (mostly shady) Greenville garden: Choisya ternata Sundance (Mexican orange), Ardesia japonica (Marlberry), and Primula vulgaris ‘Drumcliff’ (primrose) from the Kennedy Irish Primrose collection.

I wrote a profile on Choisya termata recently for The Greenville News after seeing the eye-catching shrub at the SC Botanical Garden in Clemson. The young leaves of Sundance are a brilliant yellow, and since they are arranged at branch tips, the brightly-colored foliage is as decorative as flowers.

The Ardesia japonica with its cheerful berries was selected as a ground cover for dry shade, while the Primula was picked for its handsome dark foliage.

I’ll be on the road again this week and next for top-notch gardening events, so stay tuned to see where I land next. You won’t be disappointed, I promise.

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day—February 15, 2013

I saw my first (and probably only) snowflakes this winter on Saturday, February 2, but the precipitation turned to rain within the hour. The Upstate has had plenty of gray days and moisture since January’s Bloom Day posting, with temperatures fluctuating from the 20s into the 70s. I’ve heard, but haven’t been able to confirm, our most recent cold weather destroyed much of this year’s peach crop. Fingers crossed the sad news isn’t true. More cold is on the way this weekend, however, as Saturday’s forcast predicts a low of 24 degrees F.

Even still, there are blooms in the garden. The vignette below is inspired by Ellen HoverKamp‘s stunning botanical photgraphs in Natural Companions: The Garden Lover’s Guide to Plant Combinations by Ken Druse, a favorite Christmas gift I simply can’t put down.

Vignette inspired by Ken Druse

Flowers include several Camellia japonica (top) and various Helleborus hybrids (bottom). The rosette of yellow near the center of the photo is Edgeworthia chrysantha (Chinese paper bush), and the yellow fringe at the bottom is Hamamelis mollis ‘Wisley Supreme’ (witch hazel). The pansy is ‘Dynamite Wine Flash’, while the smaller viola is ‘Sorbet Antique Shades.’ The early yellow daffodils draw attention to the ‘Gold Dust’ Aucuba japonica (aucuba), and the slightly smaller leaves of variegated Gardenia jasminoides (gardenia). The red-veined foliage is Rumex sanguineus (bloody dock), and the silver-veined is Saxifraga stolonifera (strawberry begonia).

Even better, here’s what’s blooming or almost blooming in the woodland.

Erythronium americanum (trout lily)

Trillium cuneatum (Sweet Betsy)

Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot)

To discover what’s blooming in gardens around the world, visit the host of Bloom Day at May Dreams Gardens.

Waxing Camellia Blooms

Nearly a lost art, waxing camellias is one of the first memorable things I learned when I moved from Virginia to the Deep South (eons ago) and joined a garden club. My instructor, a grande dame of the Columbia, South Carolina Garden Council, was a fun and vivacious flower-lover who was eager to share her knowledge. The gift of her tutelage was not lost on me; it is her enduring legacy.

Waxed camellia

Creating the porcelain-like bloom of a waxed camellia is relatively simple, but instructions must be followed to the letter to ensure success. Before you begin, note that pink, white, and variegated blooms are usually more successful than red, and that single and semi-double forms will produce a better result than double flowers.

Always collect flowers early in the morning when they are at their peak. If necessary, clean them with a dry, soft brush or gently blow away dirt and debris. Trim stems to 3 or 4-inches long and remove all but a couple of leaves. Keep stems in water while preparing the wax.

To begin the process, heat five pounds of paraffin wax with one and a half pints of mineral oil in a double boiler or a heavy, four-quart saucepan. Once melted, cool or heat the wax to exactly 138 degrees F. Temperature is critical. If too hot, the wax will scorch the bloom; if too cool, it will coat the flower too thickly.

When the temperature of the wax is correct, hold leaves away from the flower and dip the bloom into the mixture with a sweeping motion. Twirl the flower as you move it through the mix, being careful not to touch the hot pan, and then lift it sideways from the wax. Give the bloom a gentle shake or two before dipping the bloom into a bowl of ice-cold water. Again, plunge the flower with a sweeping sideways motion to preserve the natural shape of the flower. Hold the bloom in the cold water for a few seconds, and then place it aside to dry.

Hold leaves away from stem

Lift gently to preserve flower form

Twirl in cold water

Set aside to dry

Waxing a camellia bloom will preserve its beauty for several weeks. Handle flowers gently, however, as the petals will turn brown if the wax seal is broken. Other blooms can be preserved in a similar manner. As the weather warms and more plants flower, experiment with the branches of quince and forsythia and even stems of narcissus or other bulbs.

Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day—January 15, 2013

Today is my first post for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day and I’m excited to join a group of plant enthusiasts who share the excitement of what’s flowering in their gardens on the 15th day of each month.

After a cold start to 2013 in the Upstate, with nights dropping into the 20s, January has flip-flopped to provide a week of spring-like conditions with lots of rain and daytime temperatures reaching into the 60s and even 70s. The recent unseasonable weather, coupled with a milder-than-usual winter, has provoked many plants into early bloom.

I find the camellias, which predate me in this garden, to be especially cheerful this year. I’m only sorry I can’t provide their names.

Camellia japonica

Camellia japonica

Camellia japonica

Camellia japonica

Camellia sasanqua

The garden is sweetly scented thanks to this trio of fragrant woody plants.

Hamamelis mollis ‘Wisley Supreme’

Prunus mume ‘Peggy Clark’

Osmanthus fragrans

And wouldn’t winter be lackluster without these seasonal favorites?

Helleborus orientalis

Helleborus niger ‘Jacob’

Viola ‘Sorbet Antique Shades’

Mixed container including ornamental kale and pansy ‘Dynamite Wine Flash’

If you’d like to see what’s flowering today in other gardens, visit the site where Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day began—May Dreams Gardens.