What To Do and Not To Do on The 4th of July

On 4th of July there are certain things one must remember to have a great evening! First ---arrive to the monument grounds in enough time to get a good spot.


Second ---find some friends to share the evening with....

Third--- enjoy the band concert, courtesy of the US Air Force Heritage of America Band.



Fourth--- sit back and enjoy the best fireworks ever... ....

Finally trek back across the battlefield, over the redoubts back to the car. (refer to item #1) We didn't arrive early enough for a great parking spot. Some years it has been so crowded that we couldn't even get to the battlefield and everything was closed down. We felt like we had an OK spot until it was time to leave. We were in the middle of this very very large field (battlefield). Half the rows were to exit to the left and half to the right. To the left took you deeper into Yorktown National Park, to the right- the road we wanted to get to.

Given the choice, when our row (one of the last to move) finally emptied out..we chose to go right. We turned right then inched along the edge of the field to get to Cook Road, where we would turn left to go home, we felt better about not going deeper into the Park. As we reached Cook Road, the deputies directed us to turn right not LEFT!!! WHAT?!!?!? We were routed out to the Colonial Parkway to then get on Rt. 17. (The longest way home possible). Since my daughter was a few cars back, I called her to tell her we were having to get onto the parkway to get to Rt. 17.

**HERE'S WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO ON 4TH OF JULY AT 11:00 PM **

To call her I opened my contacts in the cell phone and scrolled down to her name....and dialed...WITHOUT MY READING GLASSES ON!! I accidentally called Racquel of Perennial Garden Lover, instead of called Rachel...one of my two lovely daughters. OOOPSSS! I think Racquel thinks I was 'having a real good time' at the 4th when I just didn't have on my reading glasses. (I mean--who wears their reading glasses while watching the fireworks??) So sorry Racquel! It took us an hour and a half to get home that should have taken us about 10 minutes. The detour at the last minute on Cook Road turned out to be a woman went into labor down on Cook Road!!! What an evening!

Hope everyone had a great and safe 4th!!

Tonight's the Night!

For those of us who have Epiphyllum oxypetalum, it is exciting to watch as one of the giant white flowers opens up as evening rolls in. These flowers only remain open for one night. If in the morning you see a limp bud hanging on the stem, you missed it!! Last year's first bloom opened on July 11th. This afternoon I saw the bud and thought that it may be opening tonight.....so glad I caught it! There are three more buds ready to bloom, perhaps in about three days. Carol at May Dreams Gardens had one open earlier this week. I believe this is one plant I will be bringing to South Carolina!




UPDATE----Three blooms opened the next night!!!! Guess my estimate of a couple of days was off.

Laissez-faire Isn't French for Lazy Gardener

When Helen visited last week she asked about what kind of gardener I was and I didn't have a concise answer. While posting about the visit I said I had a bit of a laissez faire approach to my garden. I think of it as working WITH Mother Nature instead of trying to grow and manage things that do not do well in my garden. I want less work, not more!

While trying to compose this posting I looked out the door noticing some movement on the deck. At first it was a little Carolina Wren. These little birds are so cute...so I got my camera. ready set.....he flew away. Why? Because someone else was also on the deck!!!! Rotten little bugger!




Back to the epistle on being a laissez faire gardener............hand me a BB gun. (I don't have a BB gun).
The deck garden is the main subject of my posting. I have a large side deck 18 feet by 12 feet (?) and the garden is next to the deck along the house. When we built the addition to the house and replaced the old deck, I redid this garden. That was 1999. In 2003 we had Hurricane Isabel flood the area. There have been numerous Nor'easters that bring in high water as well. Here is a photo from before we had the bulkhead replaced. (that is another story unto itself)

This bed is packed full with blooms...and a few weeds. Here it is lush and full with Echinacea purpurea, Rudbeckia ssp., Tradescantia 'Purple Heart', Kalimeris pinnatifida- Japanese Aster, Belamcanda chinensis- Blackberry lily, and two Crape Myrtle- Chickasaw which is a small one and Peppermint Lace.

After the bulkhead was replaced the Purple Heart disappeared...something about having heavy equipment rolling over it...?
Last summer...you can see the Blackeyed Susans are taking over...

I won a Bluebird box --currently being used by a House Wren. Not super attractive, but the birds don't mind.

Here is what the garden looks like now...with a reluctant Newton sitting next to it for scale.


The Japanese Asters are always first to bloom and will bloom all season, a really nice white filler in any garden.

Way in the back, against the house there are some Elephant Ears that could stand some attention... along with a myriad of weeds. I am only showing you this for educational purposes... not an area one wants people to see.......
but here you go--
lots of weeds with tiny Elephant Ears.
You may ask why there are so many weeds allowed back there?
Once the garden starts growing in April I do not go in there............

Viva the laissez faire approach!! Does anyone see the snake????