Winter Walk-off 2013

For the last couple years Les has hosted a Winter Walk-off, where you have to get out of your garden and take your camera with you.   The rules are pretty simple, you have to travel on your own two feet and share what interests you along your walk.  After you post, you are to give Les a link to your post so he can share it.
My walks are always accompanied by Newton and Skyler....my four-legged buddies.  Last year I had Monroe as well but she has since passed away.  Hers was a good long life, she made it to 18.  You can see last year's post here, and the year before's post here.
On with our walk--- Newton is the black dog and Skyler is the Aussie, he hears the wind which can sound like a car coming.

For those who are new here, we live in the country, sort of.  The development isn't built out yet, which we love.  It feels like we have it to ourselves.    Our walk today is out the driveway and to the right.

Looking back toward my house.... there is one house that is a second home, so most of the time we are by ourselves in this direction.   Their house is at the turn, you can sort of see their driveway marker.  

My walks are constant observation of nature, no gardens or plantings can be seen for most of the walk.   At one point in the walk you can look through the woods to the lake.  There is a cove that we are looking across.   A few years ago you could see the next neighbor's house across the cove through the trees, but now there is too much growth.  Do you see the bird?  Bird watching is always part of my walks.

 
Ok, how about if I zoom in a bit?  Still kind of hard to see, it is a Red-tailed Hawk.

I noticed a strange growth on some of the stalks of some Goldenrod blooms.  I had to search for these to get a good photo again....some stretches of the road seem to run together.    Have you ever seen anything like this before?  My first thought was some kind of gall where the insect has entered the plant material and the plant builds up some growth around it as a defensive mechanism.  I had to pick one and bring it back home to see what I could find out.

I snapped it off and took it home to further investigate.  

I decided to cut it in half and see what I could find.

It is some kind of larvae, anyone know what it might be?  I am stumped. 

Back to the walk, lots of grasses and spent flower heads, sparkling in the sun.  

This time of year I really enjoy the pines that grow close to the road as they put off a wonderfully fresh scent of pine.  I think it is really refreshing and clean smelling.  This one especially is fragrant, maybe it is close to the road, whatever the reason, I look forward to walking past it.  

Along the edge of the road are lots of small Winged Elm, Ulmus alata.  You can read more about them here, one of my tree posts.  They are so sculptural.   Like all the corky appendages along the small trunk?

As we end our walk I am able to capture a good picture of Mr. Eastern Bluebird.  I have a lot of bird activity along the walks, love having the chance to get a good picture of one.

Be sure to head over to Les' blog and see other Winter Walk-off posts.  Spring is just around the corner!!!



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

Sparkles and Other Interesting Sights in the Garden

This time of year in the garden I find interesting items.  This is a seed pod from one of the vine-y pea wildflowers that we have all over the woods.  I saw the long pods earlier, but now, it is a  spiral open pod with the seeds ready to drop.  

About this time of year the Euonymus americana, 'Heart's A-Bustin' is only green stems --except for a few uneaten 'hearts'.   The edged green stems are an easy ID for this plant.  I like having those absolutely certain indicators.  

Love these bright red seeds.  Apparently so do the little critters in the garden. 

In the front yard is my Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide', a very young and new plant for me.  I am thrilled to have it blooming so profusely in its first year in my garden.  I love Camellias and have a couple others in the back garden, one along the side, one waiting to be planted (impulse buy at Lowe's) and an offer of one I LOVE 'Pink Perfection' from a fellow blogger.  (He has propagated some of his!)

Don't you just love all that pollen?  The bloom looks like it was dusted with gold. 

My little Sassafras tree is finally starting to change to its fall colors.  I think that is one of the reasons I like Sassafras so much, the fall colors of oranges and corals and salmons.....ohhhhhh my.

It is hard not to again showcase the Sumacs in the front yard, their red colors are just sparkling. 

Lots of seeds are ready to be disbursed in the wind, these are some of the Goldenrod that are native to my area.   These delicate little seeds, each with their own bit of feathery fluff, help to carry them to new locations.  

This is a poll question for everyone.....do you like the photo as it is above or lighting/shadows adjusted and polariod tool used in the one below.  Above or below?

More of the Goldenrod seeds, different variety, ready to fly.

or be carried--- when the dogs go out, they like checking out the woods and come back in with all sorts of seeds all over their coats.

From the sparkles of ornamental grasses--- here in the backlit setting sun

To a close up of the seeds--

To gorgeous fall color of a Crepe Myrtle, I love the offerings of fall in my garden.

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

Grasses and Blooms in October

We continue to have some gorgeous days in October.  The garden is still growing, fall is the best time to plant and transplant in our area.  My native grasses, Schizachyrium scoparium, Little Bluestem,  have started to reseed a little and I am happy to move the babies to spots that need filled in.

These grasses were planted along the driveway to help slow water runoff.  Some of the grasses have done very well, others, not so much.   I love the no care attitude with these grasses.  I have a soaker hose that sits on the top of the ridge where I have some trees and shrubs planted, but these grasses are on their own, subject to whatever Mother Nature has to offer. 

Another native grass I have in the yard is Panicum virgatum, 'Dallas Blues'.  The idea initially was to put this blue grass along the side of the yard where I have Callitropsis glabra 'Blue Ice' and Cupressus arizonica 'Carolina Sapphire', repeating the blue color.  Well, as you can see in the photo below, it got lost.  

I decided to move them from along the right side of the yard to the left side, up on the ridge.   We had a tree go down last year, almost on the property line.  It doesn't bother me so I am leaving it down.  There had been a redtwig dogwood shrub in this open spot, it didn't do well (that is code for it died).  

Adding the three blue Panicum was a good idea, they will do well with minimal care....less water needs than the shrub.  Here they stand out better, showing off their great blue color.

Also along the driveway, closer to the Bluestem grasses, is a little gully.  In that gully is where I found the Cranefly Orchid, Tipularia discolor, growing a couple years ago.   I looked for the blooms this fall, none were found.  I thought perhaps the plant had disappeared, but look what I found the other day.

 The winter foliage of the orchid emerging through the pinestraw!  Hooray.


Some more happy findings-- my Snail flower Vigna cararalla is blooming, oh so fragrant!!  I got this plant from Julie at Growing Days.  It took so long for it to bloom, I thought it may never happen.  So happy it bloomed!!  It is an heirloom vine, seeds from Monticello, a lovely vine grown by Jefferson.  It is a tender perennial in the South, crossing my fingers it makes it through the winter for another year!!

 

The cooler temperatures have spurred my Janet rose to bloom again.  Love the hint of yellow/coral in the center of this delicate pink bloom.

The buds are so pale pink with a hint of peachy yellow.

Wonder how long I will continue to have blooms?  Wow.

 Another fall bloomer is the Mexican Sage, Salvia leucantha.  Love these purple blooms on long stalks!!  There are four of these subshrubs in the yard, each full of blooms. 

The Gerbera daisies are coming back into bloom again.  Really had wanted red ones, these are more tomato soup red.

Finally, the Coca-cola box I got from my mom is planted with succulents and ajuga, making a nice addition to the area where my planted Croc is .  It is really dry in this area and there are some tunnels -- voles?  Maybe, who knows, but they do leave the Euphorbia alone.  This is  Euphorbia x martinii 'Ascot Rainbow'.

How is your fall garden?


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

Heavenly Sightings. Or Not

Hemerocallis 'Raspberry Suede'

As many of you know this past weekend was the Perseid Meteor Showers.   This meteor show occurs every August.  We watched them one time when we lived in Virginia.  We used to live on a cul-de-sac.  Since there were no worries for traffic, we brought out lawn furniture cushions and put them in the street and watched from the middle of the cul-de-sac.  We saw a few meteors, but nothing to be excited about.  Now I live in an area where there is little ambient light, a perfect spot for star gazing.   Perfect unless there is cloud cover.

Second blooming of Resurrection Lily, Lycoris radiata

The meteor showers are best viewed from August 10- 13th.  There may be some stragglers on the 14th or some early birds on the evening of the 9/10th...but the optimum time is 10- 13.  Each night I went out around 11:30 PM, the last evening outing for the dogs.   
The first evening I was able to see a couple very faint meteors, I think.  There was a lot of heat lightening off in the western sky, but a few of those streaks were probably meteors.  I did see one big bright one streak across the sky....most definitely a meteor.  Then the clouds rolled in with more lightening, time to go inside!

Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal'

The second evening, same scenario.  Cloud cover and a couple very faint meteors going across my sky.
Third evening there was an added feature...a bat swooped down near my face as my neck was craned back as I scoped the sky for those fleeting streaks of light!  Time to go in.  Freaked me out.  I like bats, they eat bugs, but not by my face.






Last night was the cusp of being too late for any viewing and again the clouds were light and wispy, just enough to blur your view.  I saw one meteor zoom across the sky and last night, the added feature was an owl off in the distance, Who cooks for you, who cooks for you....a Barred Owl.
So until next August I will be outside every evening, hoping to take in some part of nature...and maybe in October, I will see a meteor!!!
The photos have nothing to do with the subject of the post, other than they were taken in the early evening of these nights.  


©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 Start of Year Three

Hard to believe that this 4th of July marks the beginning of our third year here on Lake Greenwood.   I walked around today in this unbelievable heat and tried to get some good comparison photos to see the changes.  The post last year had these collage photos, I apologize for the repeat of photos, but it is easier for showing progress.  The photos all look better when you click on them and enlarge them a bit.  

2010 & 2011

2012 Added some colorful chairs on the flagstone patio

You can see the grasses on the right side of the stone steps Muhlenbergia capillaris will be a pink cloud come fall.  The steps are lined with Nandina domestica 'Ruby', Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Gold Threads', and Abelia x 'Kalidescope'  Behind the chairs are five Catmint, Nepeta faassenii 'Walkers Low'-- the bees love it!!!

2010 & 2011

Looking from the front door you see plantings have filled in a bit and I moved to mulch instead of pine straw.  Added the weeping redbud this spring.   The shed has been painted but I have to paint the shutters and window boxes still.  

New shed, new little redbud Cercis canadensis 'Ruby Falls'

 These two collages are looking at the front of the house.  I forgot to prune back the Acorus this winter/ spring.  

2010 & 2011

2010 & 2011 Blue Fescues moved out now as well as the Pennisetum from the first year

Turning around you see the front gardens filled out.  You can see the Gardenias have gotten larger.  

2012

As we move around back the changes continue to amaze me.

2010 & 2011

Plants have grown & more added  

2012

 Looking to our left to the shadier part of the yard, again, what a difference---

2010 & 2011  Pathway added 

Specific plant material hard to identify, but the garden is filling in!

2012
 More rocks added around Japanese maple at top of the pathway,
 more to come to assist with the washout

If you walk down the path through the garden and turn to look back at  the house, you will see this lower part of the garden is still filling in

2010 & 2011

This is a really dry area and many of the shrubs and trees are struggling down here.  Have another hose to water this lower part.  Hoping that will help them get established.

2012

From the deck steps you come to the side yard, semi shady garden.

2010 & 2011 Hellebores moved to shade, Acorus getting larger

A variegated Hydrangea that was added is going strong.  It just finished blooming.  You can see these Acorus needed to be trimmed as well as the ones by the front door!

2012

 Walking toward the street we see how the grass, Miscanthus sinensis 'Little Zebra', and Artemesia 'Powis Castle' have grown from the beginning ---

2011 

2012

 And facing back to the house---from rough construction gravel mess .......

2010 just after moving in & 2011

......To this easy to maintain garden.

2012

 I am glad you came along with me on  this yearly assessment of the growth of my gardens.  Since this is the third year for many plants, we should see a leap in growth!  For more photos of last year, here is the link to last year's post.

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