Surprise! Look what I found!

YORKTOWN ONION This weekend while cutting back some shrubs and grasses I found what I thought was long gone..... one of my Yorktown Onions. For those of you unfamiliar with this particular onion, it is one named for this area. The onions on the park lands are protected and one is not allowed to pick, dig, or otherwise propagate. The county site has a fact sheet on the Allium ampeloprasum .

From The Queen of Seaford

If you have them growing on your property you may divide, share or otherwise propagate. There were some properties that had some construction and the onions were rescued, divided, potted, and sold at the Learning Garden Plant sale. I bought a small one at a plant sale a few years ago and the following year I couldn't find it. I was disappointed, but had forgotten about them until Saturday! What luck! Now if they will just mature a little more this year, maybe next year they will bloom.

From The Queen of Seaford

For those of you who aren't sure what it is that you are looking at, the onions are glaucous, narrow-bladed leaves coming up through the daffodils and sedum (and weeds).

From The Queen of Seaford

Deserted Island challenge

I am onboard for the Deserted Island Challenge from Shirl at Shirls Gardenwatch. For those who haven't seen the challenge- while simple, it is not easy. If stranded on a deserted island what three plants would you want to have with you? The food is available, so it is not critical to have plants that you need for survival. The growing climate is whatever you want/need it to be. So on that note....here are my three choices-


From The Queen of Seaford
The first is a childhood favorite, one that isn't easy to grow here in the south. Old fashioned lilac. Syringa vulgaris You may remember my bush was severely damaged by the vole population. Can't you just smell the fragrance?






The second choice is Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’ another one for fragrance. This late winter bloomer is so delicious. They are also rather delicate...lost one and not sure why. Sorry no picture here, but go to Defining Your Home to see a beautiful example. thanks Cameron.


The third plant would have to be another fragrant choice... Rosemary. I don't know about you, but I can't walk by a bush without stroking the foliage and embracing the scent. The tiny blue flowers are an added bonus.



So all my choices are about fragrance..... if I were to choose plants that encourage the birds and butterflies, it would be a different list. Most likely to include Echinacea purpurea, Rudbeckia sp., and Monarda didyma.


From The Queen of Seaford


The goldfinches go wild in my deck garden.....

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WORDLESS WEDNESDAY birthday flowers

From The Queen of Seaford

From The Queen of Seaford

From The Queen of Seaford

From The Queen of Seaford

Icy Creek

The creek always looks so interesting after a couple of days with freezing temperatures. Still trying the large photo thing. Everyone bundle up for some winter weather tonight.. ..southern Virginia is supposed to get enough snow to measure.....okay, maybe it is just an inch or two, but that is enough for us!

Front Porch Pots

From The Queen of Seaford

So this is my attempt at making big photo contributions to the blog. I chose this one because when I went to send the daffodil photos to this computer, once I opened the attach file, the ones I chose were no longer the fifth file-- so this was the fifth photo in the fifth file. Extra fun.

If this works, I will have to play some more with it. Not very adept on html...what goes or what stays in the alphabet soup.

I've Been Tagged!

First thing this morning I found out I was tagged by Racquel at Perennial Garden Lover. I had to go to the main computer to get to some photos to follow the 'rules'. So here goes-

The rules are: open a document or file folder,

click on the fifth folder
and then the fifth photo.
Post the photo and describe it.

Then tag 5 other bloggers.

So here’s my photo….

This is one of the daffodils from a mix I bought last March at the outlet store at Wayside Gardens/ Park Seed Company. I was pleasantly surprised that I had so many come up. It was late March when we got home and I planted them-- my friendly extension agent said to get them in the ground. This little grouping is one of the miniatures and lucky for me they were planted in the foreground of garden. I am crossing my fingers for a reappearance this spring....many of them were planted were there is sometimes high tidal waters that is a little brackish.

So that you can see the tiny size I am including another photo of these gems.

Here are the folks I am tagging--Have fun!!
lil sis at Army of Four
Cosmo at Cosmos Garden
Tina at In the Garden
Anne at Plant Slut's Garden
Larkspur at Garden Mother

January blooms and berries

The paperwhites always surprise me. The first couple years I had forgotten they were planted by the back garage door. This time of year the rain really takes its toll on this area as the downspout empties next to it. The mole made a few tunnels under this garden but as paperwhites are in the Narcissus family, the voles leave them alone.

The true show stopper in the corner garden is the Nandina domestica. The berries are plentiful and seem to just pop. I will transplant some of the more mature seedlings from under the bush to another location this spring.

Voles and the destruction of a garden

I didn't think I was going to write anything today until I took two of the dogs outside. Of course Skyler was chasing his ball while Newton just meandered about the yard. A couple of days ago I noticed my lilac bush leaning into the gardenia. I wiggled it a little and sure enough...the voles had struck. I had hoped a few floodings of the yard from storms (tidal) would have depleted the population, unfortunately I was wrong. Guess it is time to get the peanut butter on mouse traps and do my own depletion.

Anyway, Newton seemed to think that the pulled up remains of the lilac was his "stick". When he was a puppy he took out a few small shrubs, thinking they were good toys with which to play fetch. This is only taken with my phone, didn't have the camera with me. I should have kept track of all the plant loss due to voles, ROTTEN CREATURES!!

Foggy Morning

Foggy mornings are a bit magical and mysterious. I enjoy watching the changes in color as the sun comes up, slowly revealing the landscape as if it were wrapped in gossamer. On these misty mornings the Mother Goose poem pops into my head....one the girls used to enjoy when they were little.

One misty, moisty morning when cloudy was the weather,

I chanced to meet an old man, clothed all in leather.

He began to compliment and I began to grin.

"How do you do?" and "How do you do?"

And "How do you do?" again.

Funny the things that are stored in the old brain!

The Herd

I have had a couple of comments about the herd so I thought I would give a little background. Monroe was acquired shortly after we moved here from Germany with our first dog, Dawn and our kitty Miss Jax. I had read that if you have a dog who has good behavioral traits and it is getting on in years, don't wait for the death of the first to get a second dog. The older dog will 'train' the younger dog as to the 'rules of the road' so to speak. We didn't have to do much in the way of housebreaking nor manners with Monroe. She and Dawn were a pair for 7 more years. After she died we needed to get a friend for Monroe....Newton. He is the big black one. His brother was far more gregarious but Newton had the cocked ear like Dawn....my heart took over. Newton is a bit skittish, but once he likes you...he is a love. After Hurricane Isabel (sorry to keep bringing this up) Miss Jax died. We told the kids we would get another kitty after the house was put back together.

I asked one of the kids to go by the vet's office on her way home and pick up some meds. While there they asked if we knew of anyone who wanted an Aussie puppy. The family had moved and he needed a home. We looked at each other when the question was repeated at home..... another puppy? I guess I could say the rest is history. He was nine months old when he came here, so not the Roly-poly puppy stage. Skyler came to live with us and has been entertaining every step of the way. I do miss having a kitty, though three animals is enough for me.