We Have Our Work Cut Out For Us

Today we went to the Landscape Supply Company and looked at the pallets of rock that they had available.    Now that my labor force (visiting kids) has gone back to NJ we bought two pallets.  It was so hot during July, I certainly didn't want to work toting big rocks down to the backyard....imagine the kids and Charlie didn't want to either.   Now we can do the work at our own pace, a little bit each morning, while it is cool.
Waiting for the delivery I had my camera and walked around the yard.

Right out the front door was this tiny little anole.... very young, but fast!!

It is on the wall up by the soffit.    These little lizards love the stonework on the front of the house for hiding spots.

I took the camera out because I saw some more daylilies were blooming.  This one is another Hemerocallis 'Stephanie Returns' 

And next to Stephanie is H. 'Scottish Fantasy' another very pretty ruffled bloom.

I saw some more buds, I really didn't think these new daylilies would bloom this year.  What a great surprise. 

Above the daylilies are three very large  Beautyberry bushes.  The berries are starting to turn to their fall lavender/purple color.  My bushes are Callicarpa dichotoma 'Issai' which is supposed to be a smaller variety than C. americana but it sure has gotten quite large in the few years we have been here.

As  I walked around the side of the Beautyberry bushes I heard a noise in the mulch.  Hard to tell what critter would be skittering under the bush except that I saw it.  It was another tiny lizard, a Fence Lizard.  These little guys look like little dinosaurs.

These leaves that he is standing near are from the Gardenia bush, about half an inch wide and two inches long.    Never know what you are going to see when you walk the garden.

Some of you have read about Clematis Wilt from other bloggers.  I have been watching one of my Clematis vines and unfortunately I determined it was suffering from this wilt.  It is a fungus that affects the stems, not the roots of the plant.  Treatment is to literally cut off the infected stems.  Since the roots are not infected, new growth will emerge... so be brave and cut!!  The leaves on the infected stems get brown and withered, finally dropping all foliage.  An attractive vine can go to ugly quite quickly.  When pruning the infected stems off, make sure to clean up all the leaves as the fungal spores will remain on the leaves and the soil.   As I was checking for more Fence Lizards, I saw a little bit of new growth, a bud, coming out on the sad little Clematis.  I saved some seeds from the spent flowers for this one as it is in my family garden, this is C. Rebecca.  I certainly don't want anything to happen to this pretty addition to the family garden.  

Thinking I heard the truck, I hurried up the hill to the front yard, stopping to take a quick picture of the pretty blue damselfly.  Randy to the ID rescue again-- a Blue-fronted Dancer.  

thanks Randy!!

Coming down the driveway was our first pallet of round medium river stones.  We chose this type of rock as it matches the ones we have for our riprap along the shoreline.  

Pretty cool forklift. 

Here is what we will be working on for the next week or so--

For those who aren't  sure why we are doing this... the big section of the backyard garden has had some serious washout from our gullywasher rain storms. 

On the left side of picture near the big stones we had a lot of washout which carried downhill to the rock edging the pathways.  From there, a large ravine has been created on the garden side of the rocks.  Once the new rocks are placed, creating little 'pockets' we will get mulch and see about keeping the soil dressed to prevent more runoff.  This slope is pretty steep, we are hoping to redirect the water and split it so ravines don't get created.  Stay tuned! 

Before the kids left they were able to see my Epiphyllum oxypetalum blooming.  It is always so exciting when this blooms... I must have thousands of pictures of the opening blooms.  Rachel took a picture of me taking a picture.   You can see the plant itself isn't very attractive.  Will be doing more pruning on it this fall.  If you are interested in having a cutting, let me know and I would be happy to send a couple pieces to you.  

Don't you want to have one of these blooming on a warm summer night?  The fragrance is wonderful.

Will post pictures of our progress.  This is my summer workout program.  

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

On Again, Off Again, On Again....

Sunrise from the airplane

How did this spring get to be so busy?  Will the early summer be just as busy?  Probably.  For those who are still around, reading my words, thanks!  With hope I will have you coming back again and again.
Just what has been going on over the last three (!) weeks? Covering a lot of ground!  Or should I say, air?
Very early in the morning, a few Fridays ago, we made our way to the airport in Greenville to fly to Oklahoma City for a family wedding celebration and baptism.  Would you believe on the way to the airport we saw an Armadillo??? Here, in South Carolina!  Right outside our back gate!!  I had heard that they were here, but this was my first sighting since we lived in Texas.


It was wonderful to see all the family members present in OKC.  There is a ten month old great-nephew, four year old great-nephew  and a 5 month old great-niece (the one getting baptized).  They grow so fast.  Since we had some time to kill Saturday afternoon, we went downtown to the Myriad Botanical Gardens.  What a beautiful place.  OKC has really done a lot of work in its downtown area.    This is the Crystal Bridge, spanning the water.  All around the grounds are beautiful garden areas.

As we walked around the grounds I had to keep reminding myself we were in downtown!  Just beautiful!

 The banks are richly planted with grasses, Oakleaf hydrangeas, Itea virginica Virginia Sweetspire, and azaleas.  Love how the grasses swayed in the breeze.

 The upper levels have walking paths lined with lots of blooms.  The pollinators were busy at every spot.

 From a distance you see the banks of the gardens, so inviting!

What about this Crystal Bridge you might ask?  It houses a large conservatory.  One end had very tropical plantings and at the other end, it was more arid.   There is a catwalk across the top, giving you a wonderful overview of this magical garden.

 

At the floor level there are so many beautiful plants to see, many colorful foliage plants.

At this point I had to stop taking plant pictures, forgot my battery charger and still had family events to photograph.

Our trip home was longer than expected, flight got cancelled and lines were long to get re-booked.  So very glad to be home!!
It was good to walk through my own garden as many blooms had opened in my absence.

Amaryllis, first time blooming outside

Amaryllis, from one of my York County Master
Gardener friends.  Thanks John!

Kalmia latifolia 'Carol', moved from the front last fall as it
was almost dead.  She lives!!

Kalmia latifolia 'Sarah', had two tags on it, 'Sarah' and 'Carousel'.  Had
to wait until this year's bloom to know which it was.

Off in the woods the Blue-Eyed Grass is blooming.  

Sisyrunchium sp.

 Spring is the time that Spirea 'Goldmound' shines.  The yellow foliage accented with the bright pink blooms.

Home on Monday from OKC and then off again to Seaford and parts north on Friday.  Was able to make a quick stop at Freda's house for a wonderful visit and a nice lunch.  Her driveway curves around to the far side of her yard, so the mailbox with the house number wasn't seen yet, but as I drove by her house, I saw a very familiar garden....just like in the pictures on her blog.  Beautiful.
I was up in Virginia for my daughter's bridal shower in Manassas.  Drove my mom and Charlie's mom to the shower.  Great day!

A few shots from the shower, was too busy having a good
time to take a lot of pictures.

Came home with a few plants, courtesy of my mom and my friend Linda.  From my mom's yard I collected a few ferns, Woodwordia virginica 'Virginia Chain Fern' and some hostas that my mom had collected years ago from her mother's garden in Pittsburgh.  A few Lily of the Valley, Convallaria majalis, were tossed in.

Once the shed is painted (primer coat on now) I will plant most of these babies in the shed garden.

My dear friend Linda gave me a couple of her Yorktown Onions from her yard.  Mine are missing after a hard rain, tiny foliage was covered with silt.

How lucky am I??
Allium amperloprasum

 I brought my mother in law home with me for a visit.   Since the weather has been so nice we went over to Park Seed for a look around.  Well, yes, I did buy a couple plants.   We looked at the gardens in the front area.  Love the purples all together.

Pretty Clematis in the Rose garden area, no label.

 I love the blooms on Borage, had some last year, but the bunnies ate it. So I bought this one!  Will sow some more seeds around the plant I bought.....hoping to have lots next year!  Doesn't the bloom look like a tomato bloom or a Shooting Star bloom?  Same shape. .....except BLUE!!

 In addition to the Borage I bought a couple Foxgloves.  Last year I bought a purple one, so this year, a couple 'Camelot Cream'.

Digitalis purpurea 'Camelot Cream'

 Charlie took his mom home this week and I took another stroll through my garden, the Mountain Laurel blooms are pretty even when they are on the ground with a bed of lichen.

Finally, in the family garden Clematis 'Prince Charles' is in full bloom.  He has grown past the trellis and is nestled in the Gardenia shrubs.

I will be around your blogs to get caught up with what you have been doing.  Sorry for the absence....life, it has a way of getting in the way of things.


©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

The Family Bed---I Mean Garden Bed

Ever since we started planning our new house and new garden, I wanted to plant a family garden.  I already had a family name plant-- Ledebouria cooperi.  Our last name is Ledebuhr, very close to Ledebouria.  I bought it years ago and brought it with me to our new home.   I was worried it wouldn't come up this spring but my fears were dashed when all of a sudden there it was!  Hooray---

Now we wait for it to bloom. 

After reading some of the blogs I decided on a David Austin order for my namesake plant--  David Austin Rose 'Janet'.  It came bare-rooted and dormant but quickly started to sprout. 

'Janet' is a light pink mixed with copper color, with a strong Tea Rose fragrance.  I can't wait! 

My husband's plant is due to be delivered in October....Paeonia 'Charlie's White'.   This was a tough one to find in stock.  Will post about its arrival this fall. 

Our daughters, Rachel's and Rebecca's plants have been planted close by 'Janet'.  Clematis 'Rebecca' is a repeat bloomer.  First blooming in May-June time frame and then later it will bloom again in August.  It is Pruning Group 2...prune lightly in early spring just above new leaves.  Remove dead or broken branches.    It is a gorgeous red bloom.

Rachel's plant is a peony, another tough to find plant....but I finally was able to buy one and it is now in the ground.  Paeonia officinalis 'Rachel' is another red bloom--a big, double crimson slightly fragrant bloom.  I will have to wait until next year for it to bloom....this one is still pretty immature.  This season will be root and foliage production.  

I found a few other Rachels and Rebeccas, might add them as the years go by....The Rebecca Dahlia is really pretty and Rachel Dianthus is a sweet little fragrant bloom. 

We will be having a wedding next summer, welcoming Alex to the family as Rachel's husband-- and will need to find a proper Alex plant.  There is an Alexander Fleming peony...a possibility.  Anyone have suggestions?   I have been looking around to see if I can find a good Alex to add to the family garden. 

If you are thinking of doing a family garden there is a nice website that can get you started on some of the plants with 'people' names.  The downside of the website is that it is an English site and not all the plant material is available in the States.  Royal Horticultural Society.
Have fun with it!! 

A little follow up on the cicadas... the ones in my neck of the woods are the 13 year cycle species -- in the northern part of the United States there are the 17 year cycle species.  There was a question about the size of these ugly bugs-

And an interesting photo-- one of the cicadas emerging from its exoskeleton. 

©Copyright 2011 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.