The Queen of Seaford

Monday, April 13, 2026

Spring has Sprung in South Carolina

Last week I returned home from a week-long trip, and my garden has exploded with spring blooms and fresh green foliage on the trees. My trip was to the beach and a visit to Brookgreen Garden, more about that in another post. First let's see my favorite views in my garden.

As you come down my driveway you will see six Spirea x vanhoutei in bloom. Beyond is a mature dogwood, Cornus florida. Closer to the house is a fringe tree, Chionanthus retusus. White flowers in many forms dot the driveway.

The view from the front door might be my favorite. The weeping redbud, Cercis canadensis 'Ruby Falls' is just starting to leaf out with its burgundy leaves. A little closer to the door is a Loropetalum chinese 'Purple Pixie' (I got it when I went to my first Fling in Asheville!!). Planted around the loropetalum are Bletilla striata 'Big Bob' and Dianthus- maybe Firewitch?. From left to right beyond the redbud is an unamed Japanese maple, a very large tea olive, Osmanthus fragrans, on the corner of the shed, an unknown Viburnum, a pink dogwood, a burgundy redbud, and another Japanese maple, Acer palmatum 'Butterfly'.

I was happy we got a little bit of rain, love the raindrops on the Dianthus. Their clove fragrance is wonderful!

In the lot where our bee hives are placed are a handful of Paw paws. This is not the Asimina triloba but Asimina parviflora, a small fruited Paw paw. See the tiny flowers?

In the backyard one of the native azaleas is blooming, this one is 'Admiral Semmes'. The deer have not totally eaten this one, thank goodness.

I think this is the first time this Barrenwort has bloomed. Epimedium x rubrum. The Epimedium x vericolor 'Sulphureum' bloomed earlier in March. There is a third one in the woodland garden, somewhere, but it may not be with us any longer.

The Solomon's Seal is up and blooming. I have some native ones that appear every so often, these are not native. Polygonatum odoratum var. pluriflorum 'Variegatum'

The Pieris japonica 'Cavatine' is doing well, at least two of the three. One had a limb fall on it, breaking a third of the shrub apart. The bumble bees love this shrub!

There are three different Serissa foetida in my garden, a double, a single, and a single with variegated leaves. Here are two of them. It is a nice small shrub, semi-evergreen. The blooms are about the size of my thumbnail.

Another Epimedium, Epimedium wushanense 'Caramel' is thriving in my side yard. Love those spidery blooms.

The Red Buckeye, Aesculus pavia, is blooming, making the hummingbirds happy as well as the Hummingbird moths. I brought two seedlings with me from Seaford when we moved here. One is doing better than the other, though both are about ten feet tall.

Finally, Amsonia x 'Seaford Skies' is blooming and it is before I was able to cut back last year's stems, so it will be a little messy this year. Oh well.

This is just a portion of what was open in my garden when I came home. It has been an explosion of spring. I am enjoying every corner of the garden as more and more plants come alive. How's your garden? Are you under snow or well into spring?

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Fling, this time in Buffalo!

Every year when it is time to register for the Fling, I reflect on the first Fling I attended. It was in 2012, in Asheville, NC. I had been blogging since 2008 and followed (*read their blog posts) a number of garden bloggers, many from Texas. I read about the Flings over the years, and hoped that one day I could attend. The first Fling was in Austin, TX.

After we moved to South Carolina in 2010, the first one that was easy for me to go to was Asheville. The garden bloggers I had followed for years were there! I felt a little star struck! Years ago there was a garden blogger website called Blotanical, a collection of garden blogs from around the world. You could zero in on an area, perhaps find fellow bloggers in your town or a favorite place you've visited. It was here I found those Texas bloggers. We had lived in Texas years ago and it was a little connection to a former home. I also found fellow bloggers in my area of Virginia. New friends with common interests, right at my fingertips and my backyard.

Dixon Gallery and Gardens

I tell you this because going to the Fling, now every year since my first (minus COVID years), is getting reacquainted with old friends and finding new ones. The gardens we visit are outstanding, ranging from private gardens of all sizes to public gardens that are bucket-list destinations. Pictured through this post are a small sample of gardens from our Fling last year in Memphis, TN. The year before we were hosted in Tacoma, Washington. Each Fling is hosted by a local gardener. In the early years it was all garden bloggers, and the Fling was called Garden Bloggers Spring Fling.

Note the color contrast with foliage

As social media grew, we, the Fling attendees, grew as well. We now include Instagram posters, YouTubes videographers, podcasters, TikTok-ers, and even those who post garden-related subject matter on Facebook. The name now is just The Fling. The website where you can find posts of past Flings and tempting posts of the upcoming Fling is gardenfling.org

Memphis host's garden

To attend the Fling, you need to have an active garden-related social presence that is at least six months old. Additionally, you should have posted garden-related topics, at least once within the six months before the registration opens.

Memphis Botanical Garden kaleidoscope

Do you want to meet "your people"? At the Fling, you will find garden enthusiasts from far and wide. Over the years, there have been Flingers from the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, and Canada, in addition to states from coast to coast.

Japanese bridge Memphis Botanical Garden

Interested in the Fling? The destination is Buffalo, NY, a city where the garden walk is known far and wide. It is July 9 - 12. Information on registration can be found here- Buffalo Fling

New Hope Community Garden

Sign up and tour some fabulous gardens with new friends. You can thank me in Buffalo. You will see amazing gardens and make great friends.

Wall art, a nice garden addition

You will dazzled by whimsical garden art, amazed by plantings, and exhilarated by great garden conversation. What are you waiting for? Sign up today!!

Memphis host's garden

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Another Dry Creek Bed

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you may recall that in 2016, we had a dry creek bed installed in the backyard. You can read about the first dry creek bed here. The left side yard, as you face the house, had a lot of run-off from the driveway during heavy rains in the winter. After replacing the sod four times, we decided that another dry creek bed was needed.

As you can see in these first two photos, there was no grass, just bare clay/soil and tree roots that were exposed by erosion. Around our BBQ pad the water was cutting away the soil. We were worried that the water would go under the pad and compromise it.

We hired the same company that did our first dry creek bed. They came and marked the new path of a stone creek bed.

Equipment arrived, and the already-washed-out area was excavated a little deeper. The work went pretty quickly. It is amazing what the correct tools (or machinery) can do to make the job go smoothly. The yard is narrow, and the property line is pretty close, so there's not much room to work. If you look at the bend in the arm of the excavator there is a ribbon hanging on a tree limb. That is the property line!

After the trench was dug, landscape fabric was pinned into place. Next step is the rocks.

Dormant sod was placed next to the rocks and stone steps were placed through the new mulch bed. So far, I have planted some peonies in between the steps and the rock creek bed. You can see in the photo below where the grill is, then look at the following photo, where you see a little of the mulch bed along the downhill side of the concrete pad. From the driveway to where this newly installed creek bed meets the existing one is a drop of elevation of about 15 feet in approximately 75 feet.

I can't wait for the spring for the grass to get green. We are also waiting for some rain to see how well the dry creek bed works.

Views from downhill and uphill to see how nice it looks.

The tail end of the new dry creek bed feeds into the existing one. It will be an effort to keep the leaves out of the creek bed, but not having to reinstall sod year after year will be wonderful!

The view from the deck shows the dry creek bed, the mulch bed, and the gravel path through the garden. Once we have green grass and foliage on the shrubs, I will share a photo that highlights the new addition.

Wednesday, December 31, 2025

The last three photos of the Photo-a-Day challenge and a wrap-up

Welcome to the last post of the year, the last of the daily photo challenge, and a little write-up of my thoughts on this year-long challenge.

Day 363-

I have inadvertently had dog hair on many of my posts. We have two long-haired dogs and they shed a lot. With our dining room table open with a leaf in it, the passage between the tree and the table is a little tight. One white dog doesn't seem to mind knocking into the tree to get to the sliding glass door to watch for squirrels or birds. Consequently, her fur is adorning the ends of the branches of the Christmas tree. Last time the vacuum cleaner was out, the branches were vacuumed.

More dog hair

Day 364-

The kids, grandkids, and I took a walk along the shoreline of our lake since the lake level is down for the winter. The wind was blustery, and waves crashed on the sand. Our lake is a man-made lake, so there are remains of trees where there had once been dry land. During the summer this stump is under about four or five feet of water. That is our dock in the background. The little ones had a great time finding shells, rocks, and sticks. They jumped on rocks and had a great time.

Tree stump

Day 365-

I wanted to have a special photo for the closeout of this year-long event. The moon was close to setting as the clock passed the midnight position into the last day of the year. On the left you can see the constellation Orion. It will be a full moon on the 3rd of January. It will also be a Super Moon. If you have a clear night, be sure to check it out.

12:09 AM 12/31/2025

Thoughts on this challenge-

I think my photography has improved a bit over this year. I know I take a lot of photos, but to be critical of subject matter and composition is a work in progress. Almost all of the photos were taken with my cellphone. It isn't a new one, Google Pixel 7- think Pixel 10 is the newest version now. Editing the photos was limited to what the phone app offered. There was one Prisma app photo used of Fiona, my fluffy Border Collie.

There are a few photos that were never taken. I drive by a small cemetery, near the Gnome house, that I kept meaning to stop and get a photo of some of the older headstones. It just didn't happen. Driving up to the airport the other day I saw a field of tall browned grass. Sitting in the field was a black cat, grasses covering up to her shoulders, watching something. The contrast of the shiny black fur and the brown grasses would have been a great photo. I was driving on a rural highway, not a place to stop. Also on the trip to the airport is a row of rusty old tractors. Another missed opportunity for a photo. I did take a few photos of church steeples; there could have been so many more!

I will still look at my immediate surroundings to see if I can get 'that perfect shot', but without the pressure of having to get a photo to share.

I have a link to the entire year's photos. You are welcome to enjoy the whole year. I tried to vary the photos so that it wasn't all flowers or trees or my dogs, but there are a good number of those kinds of photos, it is who I am- a gardener with a camera and dogs.

TheQueenOfSeafordphotos2025 Let me know if you have a favorite or two. Thanks for coming by and seeing all my photos.

Happy New Year to you!!

Sunday, December 28, 2025

Photo-a-Day Week 52

We have reached week 52, but have 3 more days to complete the year's worth of daily photos. We still have kids and grandkids here, so tonight's summary will be brief. Come back Wednesday night for the year's conclusion.

Day 356-

This Christmas stocking has been with us since a year before we got married. This past June, we celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary, so it has been around just a few years. The names of us, our kids, their spouses, their kids, and all of our pets over the years cover this relic. Instead of a wreath on our front door, I like having this on the glass door so you can see both sides of the stocking.

A Stocking for Everyone

Day 357-

In the winter the views of intermittent creeks really stand out through the woods. On some of our warmer days you can hear chorus frogs singing in the wetlands.

Intermittent creek

Day 358-

The late afternoon's sun's ray shine through the woods. Our maple trees keep their leaves long into the winter. The leaves really glow, making for another long angle sunshine photo. The pine needles hang on the branches like tinsel on a Christmas tree.

Backlit Maple leaves

Day 359-

Turning the lights off and leaving the tree lights on a timer makes for a magical look. The lights from the tree reflect off all the windows, making it appear as though we have multiple trees.

Reflections

Day 360-

I know I have shared snails before, but this one being so dark looked different to me. Not sure what happened to its tail end. It is kind of cut up or scarred. Of course there is dog hair on the tail.

How I'm moving OR Snail with Dog Hair

Day 361-

Greenville-Spartanburg airport parking garage. Since I drove to pick up part of the family, I could only grab a photo once at the airport. Good angles and shadows of the parking levels made for a decent photo.

Stairwell

Day 362-

Our three little grands came the day after Christmas and we celebrated once they arrived. When we were at the beach this summer they had cousin crew beach towels, so it was perfect for the kids to have t-shirts for this gathering.

Cousins

Like I said at the top, come back Wednesday for the final installment of the 365-day Photo Challenge.

Sunday, December 21, 2025

Photo-a-Day Week 51

We are so close to the end of the year! My week count is off a little, but the daily numbers are on target. With Christmas in just a few short days, there will be more holiday items in the daily photos. Come along and read more about the photos.

Day 349-

We went to a concert in Honea Path last week, and I wanted to photograph the decorations on Main Street. The concert venue is called Fiddle and Bow, a small former storefront building that hosts intimate concerts. This week was a bluegrass show. Small-town America really does Christmas decorations well!

Honea Path

Day 350-

Another day playing with the dogs in the driveway. It made me laugh when Liebling had the ring caught on her ears. She was ready to run after the other ring, not noticing she still had one on her head.

I did drop it, throw the other one

Day 351-

We had another cold snap, and the water in the ditches froze in an interesting pattern. The curvy patterns caught my eye as I walked Fiona.

Curvy ice

Day 352-

The tree is up and decorated. Millie has found a safe spot to hide from the dogs and check out the ornaments that are within her reach. I chose not to put the icicles on this year, some of Millie's favorite ornaments. She loved to knock them off the tree and scoot them around and tuck them under the edge of the rug. Not this year, sweetie!

Quality control

Day 353-

If you could choose a rotten day to drive an hour to go to Costco, this would have been it. The traffic was crazy when we got up to Greenville, and the crowds were what you would expect right before Christmas. UGH!!

Rainy foggy day

Day 354-

This winter bloomer is one of my favorites. Prunus mume 'Hokkai-bungo' is blooming a little earlier than usual this year. I look for it to be blooming by New Year's Day, but never before Christmas. Our weather has been different than previous years. Some days were a lot colder and others a lot warmer. If you can find a Flowering apricot, they are really nice to have, especially loved by the honey bees.

Flowering apricot

Day 355-

I was spreading some wildflower seeds on our septic drain field and noticed the holly berries on the Possumhaw holly at the corner of the lot. It is a native holly and grows wild in our area. Ilex decidua, like other hollies has male and female flowers on separate plants.

Holly berries

The ones I didn't use-

While riding to Costco, I was taking a lot of rainy, foggy pictures. It was a toss-up whether to use this one or the one I chose.

Here's another picture of the curved ice. Because I was walking Fiona, it was a quick couple of photos. Sadly, this one was blurry. A better view, but blurry, of the curved ice formation.

I got out the kaleidoscope again to capture some Christmas magic. Do you see Santa?

Thanks for reading through another week's worth of photos.

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