Why Here and Not There? Why There and Not Here?

Last night was a Blue Moon.  I am sure many of you were able to get fantastic photos of the moon as it rose in the sky.  We saw it on our way home from dinner, but because of our location, it wasn't until it was higher in the sky that we were able to see it from our property.    A grainy but interesting photo of said Blue Moon. I do like the jet trails in the sky.  

That photo was taken at the top of the driveway, some of the neighbors had a much better view of the rising moon.  Their views over the lake face east....ours is north.  I am glad I don't have the rising sun shining in my bedroom windows.  

At the top of our yard, by the street is pretty untamed.  I find interesting plant material up there.  The newest find is a Liatris, probably possibly  Liatris graminifolia  or perhaps something else.  My books say the Liatris in SC are difficult to distinguish.  I thought it might be a Carphephorus bellidifolius, but don't think so.   There are two plants at the edge of the woods.  I haven't seen this anywhere else in my woods, yard, garden, or along the street as I walk the dogs.  Hope it reseeds and there are more next summer!

Everywhere in the woods, I find this little Euphorbia.  This one was previously IDed for me by Daricia.  E. corollata or E. pubentissima.  Either way, it is cute scattered among the other wild things.  

Curiously, I have two Helianthus sp. in the woods outside my dining room window.   I see it blooming along the roadways all through the area, except in our neighborhood.  These two are the only ones I have seen.  Curious.  I love the bright yellow in the woods, the color just pops.  

When I take the dogs for a walk I keep my eyes open for something other than chinese lespedesa or blackberry brambles....the two most commonly growing things on vacant lots.  

Both last year and this year I have seen this plant in the photo below, in ONE location.  To me it looks like Mountain Mint, Pycnanthemum pycnanthemoides.   This is as close as I got to it,  about 6- 8 feet away.  Perhaps in the later fall, if there is still some vegetation left, I might venture in to see if I can find a squared stem or leaf arrangement.  Currently I am in my fifth consecutive day since May without a bug bite needing 'After Bite' or Cortisone Cream or Benedryl Cream.  I would like to make at least make it a week!!  I have had more bug bites this year, mostly chiggers, though some might be spider bites.  

Funny this is nowhere else in the wooden lots along our street.  Believe me, I am always on the lookout!!  

The Passiflora incarnata mentioned in past posts, growing near my tiny Sassafras tree is another mystery.  For those who know this vine, it has amazing underground rhizomes  that travel great distances.  There should be a lot of these vines in my location, if there is one, there must be a lot.  I have many other vines that fill the woods, surely there must be some other Passion vines.  Haven't seen any, zero, nada.  Maybe this one is the pioneer seedling, dropped by a bird, left to germinate and grow in my yard along the driveway.  Again, very interesting. 

  Finally, I leave you with a picture of the sunset last night.  If we go down to the water, out on the dock, we get beautiful evening skies.  I suppose it all comes down to location, location, location....and we sure love ours!!  Happy Labor Day weekend to all!

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

Wildflower Wed...Thursday

I don't always remember the postings for special memes -- Bloom Day is always on the 15th, Foliage Follow-up is the 16th and Wildflower Wednesday is the fourth Wednesday of the month.  If I am lucky I remember to do the Bloom Day posting. Yesterday was Wildflower Wednesday...oops.   Well Gail, the hostess of Wildflower Wednesday said the post is up all week, meaning I could still add my post to the list.
This morning I went out in my bathrobe to get some morning light photos of some of my native wildflowers/ plants.  We live out in the boonies, I could go out in my birthday suit and nobody would notice.  In my front yard are some of my wonderful native grasses, some of which are starting to bloom.  I love these seed heads.  In front of my well is Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah'.  It has been a great performer, this year the red stems are more vibrant.

The seed heads are just starting to emerge.

This is a clump of three.  Nice soft edge of the rocks that line the driveway.

On the other side of the driveway was a compacted, graveled, soil-scraped mess.  We added some grasses to help slow the water as it rolled down the hill.   These native grasses have survived nicely, though some spots are doing better than others.  I originally bought 7 Schizachyrium scoparium 'The Blues' and divided them as I planted, going for bonus plantings.  I think last time I counted there were a dozen still growing.

I like the blue tones of this grass, wonderful soft hues.  Along the bank I have some junipers planted, this is the year they should 'leap'.

Along the driveway up closer to the street is one of my Hydrangea quercifolia shrubs.  This is such a super plant.  I have this one in a spot that it will be able to grow to it's full potential.

For those who were cheering for the Passion vine, it has popped up a few feet from where the other one had  been.   The Sassafras tiny tree is still doing well, so this is a win-win.

In the backyard I have more color.  The morning light makes these Gaillardia sparkle.  Think I will encourage more of these babies in the coming years.

Just down the hill a little is another yellow/orange bloom.  Helenium 'Mardi Gras', I love how the blooms vary so much depending on how long they have been open.  I had to remove one of these plants last year as I found some Aster yellows had infected the plant.  So far I haven't seen any evidence on the others. I did buy one to replace the infected one.  I really like the fragrance on this bloom.

Aren't the petals beautiful?  The pollinators are wild about it too!

Speaking of fragrance......Clethra alnifolia 'Vanilla Spice' is just starting to bloom.  I have four of these shrubs in the garden,  bought five and can't for the life of me figure out from where the fifth one disappeared.  This moth was still napping.  Later in the afternoon the fragrance is a lot stronger.  Funny how the fragrance is different at different times during the day.   

This one is blooming more than the other three.  One of the others is sending out some new sprouts, forming a bit of a colony.  As the others bloom, the garden is filled with wonderful scents.  If you don't have a Clethra in your garden, you should!!

I have learned a lot from Gail's postings on native plants, as well as many of the participants in her Wildflower Wednesdays.    Be sure to stop by!


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

Multiple updates- prunings, transplants and blooms

Back in February I posted a dilemma as to whether I should prune my rose bush/ Clematis/ Passion Flower combination that is growing on the swing set. In this post I lamented about the birds having a place to perch and hide near the feeders. I was made aware of the Gulf Fritillary butterflies needing the Passiflora incarnata. Well, I trimmed down all the Passiflora but didn't Round up the cut ends. I will probably be sorry later in the season. I have nowhere else to put the vine that wouldn't get into the waterways.
So after many rose thorns and lots of tug-of-war struggles with the vines I went from this---



to this-




I didn't stop there- I have a Carolina Jasmine, Gelsemium sempervirens. I first put it on the side of the house, behind the elephant ears, Colocasia ssp. that grow very happily. The vine wanted more sunlight. As you can see, it moved around the corner of the house to reach for more light. Since it was going into the gutter, I needed to move it.





After looking around the yard, I found a great place for it to grow as large as it wants.





So now I will have more seasonal color on the wooden swing set.

Additional updates-- I bought seeds and some bulbs at the Maymont Home and Garden Show.. The lettuces are growing and the hyacinths and tulips are finally blooming. Here is the container I did of the tulips, hyacinth, crocus, and a Veronica repens. The tulip is Tulip "New Design" and is variegated and the hyacinth is Hyacinth "Chestnut Flower". Both flower colors are pinkish and quite sweet.


Last but not least is the lettuce crop-- Red Romaine and Red Sails. I have them in windowbox planters. For convience sake they are on the deck, also away from the bunnies as I have them perched on an upside down planter. I will thin them some more-- hard to do sometimes as I am happy for such germination.

To Prune or Not to Prune…..that is the question.

I have a multiple plant grouping on the old wooden swing set in our backyard. The first plant that comes into bloom is the shrub rose. It had been growing in the L** Memorial Butt Garden. The funny thing was it wasn’t planted… it just appeared. Since I didn’t need it in the “Butt” garden I moved it up to the swing set. It has thrived in this space. I have no idea what kind of rose it is other than it is not a rugosa, some kind of rambler. This blooms during the early summer and sporadically through the summer and a little again in the fall.




Fall blooms are from the Clematis paniculata, Sweet Autumn Clematis. As you all know, vines sleep, creep, then leap. I was worried about this one as the "leaping year" was also Hurricane Isabel. I was not sure about the survival of it after having been under water--salty water. She survived and flourished.




One day while I was upstairs on the main computer I looked outside and saw something blooming in the rose bush that wasn’t pink.


What was it you ask?

Look closely….



It was something I thought I had eradicated two years before. I pulled and sprayed Roundup and pulled and sprayed….well you get the idea.



Yes, a Passion Flower. Passiflora incarnata

It is a strangely beautiful flower but a real thug. It has been in place for two years …this time. I felt as though it was so interesting looking that I couldn’t get rid of it…. Well now the vine is larger than my thumb and there are multiple vines coming up from the soil. I want to get rid of it (again) and hope it doesn’t reappear.


The dilemma for me as a bird watcher is that the mass of vine/ shrub is next to my bird feeders. This is a perfect place for the birds to go for a little shelter or to hide from the hawks. The rose needs to be thinned and pruned back a bit. The Clematis has some dead branches that need to be removed. The Passion Flower needs to go away! I guess the birds will find a place to be safe….but it is really going to be a shock to them. I will have the truck to myself for about ten days next month, so it is the optimum time to prune and go to the dump. Watch out biridies!!!!