The Queen of Seaford

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Plant Profile- Clethra alnifolia 'Vanilla Spice'

I thought I would take a break from the Photo-a-Day posts to profile an amazing shrub that I have in my garden. Clethra alnifolia 'Vanilla Spice' is currently filling the air with its fragrance, and it is delightful. I have it planted in a few spots in my backyard gardens and I can tell you, it likes moist soil. Two of the spots I have it planted in semi-shade and a rather dry area, it is not doing as well as the clump in more sun and a wetter area.

This shrub is deer resistant, though many of the flower stalks get sampled. Clethra alnifolia is native to swampy woodlands, stream shorelines, wetlands, and can be found from Maine to Florida. The common name is Summersweet, probably for its fragrant blooms. Reading about it on the Missouri Botanical Garden site it says it can tolerate clay soils (which I have) but the soil should not dry out completely. Think I might move the struggling ones to a wetter area in my yard. The light requirements are full sun to part shade. So, more sun and more water areas for those that will get moved in the fall/winter.

The shrub grows to about 6 feet tall and creates a colony of suckers, making a wide shrub, spreading at will. Given my backyard is more of a woodland garden, I like when a shrub is thriving and spreading.

When in bloom, these shrubs are covered with pollinators. It makes me happy to see so many pollinators in my garden.

When I first purchased this shrub, I really wanted C. alnifolia 'Ruby Spice', but only 'Vanilla Spice' was available. Like I said above, the fragrance from the 'Vanilla Spice' fills the backyard.

A neighbor had some 'Ruby Spice' that they were dividing, and shared some with me. It is not quite open yet, but I can tell you from previous years it isn't nearly as fragrant as 'Vanilla Spice'. As the 'Ruby Spice' bloom opens the pink color fades quite a bit. These 'Ruby Spice' also need to be moved, not nearly enough water for them to flourish.

Clethra alnifolia 'Ruby Spice'

I wrote about the Clethra alnifolia back in July 2011. While checking my previous post, I see I need to find my photos from the post. Not sure why, but some of my older posts have the photos disappear. I know I thought I was culling excess photos from my Google photos, and inadvertently deleted some that were used for a blog post. As I find posts that are missing photos, I go back through the archives and replace them.

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Photo-a-Day Week 28

Boy, where does the time go? Seems like I just did a post on last week's photos and here we are again! After looking at this week's photos, I realized I did more black and white images than usual. Let's look at each photo and see if I can share a little detail on each.

Day 188-

Along the driveway, I have a couple of pieces of rusted front porch railing. I love the rust and have been trying to get a native wisteria to grow up the railing like a trellis. A couple years ago, I installed irrigation pipe and heads on this side of the driveway. I had installed irrigation on the other side years before and decided that if the wisteria was going to grow, it also needed water. Hoping next year to have blooms on the Wisteria frutescens 'Amethyst Falls'.

Rust and Vine

Day 189-

Liebling is the champion of the rings! She likes chasing and catching these rubber rings. This photo may look like I am holding the ring high above her, to get her attention, but it is sailing through the air. She is focused!

Queen of the Rings

Day 190-

As I was looking at the garden up by the road, I noticed there was a Cicada exoskeleton on the Russian sage. Russian sage, Perovskia atriplicifolia, has been reclassified as Salvia yangii. I get frustrated when botanical names get changed. The Cicada is the annual one, opposed to the 13-year cycle brood that emerged earlier this year. At night, when I take the dogs out, it sounds like a jungle with all the insects singing their songs. Add in the frogs and toads singing, it can be quite loud!

Cicada Time

Day 191-

We drove to a political event this past week and took the backroads to get there. I noticed this rusted-out pickup truck and tractor on our way there. There was construction a little further down the road, and I wondered if we were going to take a different route home. I was glad when my husband took the same route home. I told him I wanted to get a picture for my photo of the day. The nice thing about driving backroads, you can drive slowly or even stop to take my photos.

Hay bales and rust

Day 192-

Wild morning glories, Ipomoea lacunosa, were blooming, and the white blooms really stood out in the shade of the trees along the road. In the photo with color, the white didn't "pop" so I tried some filters and decided the black and white was the best option. To get closer to the blooms for a photo, I had to watch out for a lot of poison ivy!

Black and White

Day 193-

My Monarda fistulosa, Wild bergamot, is blooming and the bees are loving it! There have been some Skipper butterflies on it as well, but they fly off quickly when I approach with my cellphone camera. The bumblebees ignore me, so they are the stars of the photo.

Bumbles and Monarda

Day 194-

When we first moved here, we planted a red crepe myrtle along the driveway. As it has grown, so have the pines around them. The crepe myrtle is quite tall, looks like it is leaning because it is reaching for a small amount of sunlight. This crepe myrtle, Lagerstroemia indica, is most likely 'Dynamite'. In addition to the lovely flowers, crepe myrtle has the most amazing exfoliated bark.

Exfoliating bark

I thank you for stopping by again this week. This coming week, I will try not to do so many black and white photos.

Sunday, July 6, 2025

Photo-a-Day Week 27

Week 27 marks the halfway point of the year! Welcome back to another wrap-up for the week.

Day 181-

My friend David Sullivan, from whom I accepted this challenge, said it was National Camera Day. I have a shelf of old cameras, so it was appropriate to get a photo of them to celebrate. A couple of the cameras came from my folks, and one from my husband's childhood.

Yesterday was National Camera Day

Day 182-

Just outside our neighborhood, we have friends who have a gnome house. It was in an old tree stump. Over the years the stump deteriorated. Because there were so many tree stumps uprooted from Hurricane Helene, they were able to acquire a new stump. Many of us have been waiting to see the new reveal. It is as charming as ever! In the photo below, you can see a hammock and a swing on one side of the house. Around back there is a campfire where marshmallows are being toasted. I love the little window boxes. I am sure there will be more added over time. It is always fun to check out the gnomes.

New Stump Remodel

Day 183-

We have had a good number of Swallowtail butterflies this year. Some years, I only see a few, and they have tattered wings. This one is in beautiful shape and enjoying the Hyssop blooms.

Swallowtail on Hyssop

Day 184-

While looking for a Yellow-billed Cuckoo high in the trees in my backyard, I found a nest. It took a long time to finally see a little head pop up. It is a female Summer Tanager sitting on her nest. It is pretty high up in the tree, so getting a better photo isn't possible. I will keep an eye out for more activity as time goes by.

Summer Tanager nest

Day 185-

On the morning of the 4th of July, I looked out to the lake to see if there was a lot of traffic. We are on the northern end of the lake, so most of the boating in our backyard has someone teaching someone to water ski or taking some children on a tube. It is quieter and we like it that way!

Quiet on the Lake, Happy 4th

Day 186-

Every day, multiple times a day, we are outside playing. Fiona loves to play with the disc. Liebling likes the rubber rings. Fiona jumps pretty high to catch the disc. I used to play with a Frisbee with her, but the edges would get cut up and then cut up her gums. I like this fabric one, it sails nicely and is easy for her to catch.

Got it!

Day 187-

While looking for inspiration for today's photo, I noticed a dusky moth on the garage door. I think it is a Decorated Owlet. If it isn't one, I will correct the name.

Decorated Owlet

Like I said at the top, we have reached the halfway point of the year! More interesting photos to follow each day. Hope you keep coming back.

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