I Knew It Would Fit

Yesterday Charlie and I went up to Greenville to the Remodeling Home Expo.  We aren't remodeling anything but neighbors had a booth and shared some tickets with us, so we figured it would be fun to go and see what was there.  I miss the Home and GARDEN  shows.  We found a garden art booth and bought a couple items.  Oh, did I tell you?  We drove to Greenville in my car, not the truck.

You see it is about five feet tall and tree shaped.  Nice right?  I imagine we were great entertainment in the parking lot of the convention center.   Well those graceful reaching branches are about four feet across, my trunk?  Not very large.    We tried top end in first, bottom end in first.  Now remember, we are in a parking lot, of course there was a big truck parked right next to the car....hard to open the doors very wide.

See how the prongs hit the top of the back window shelf?   Good thing the back seats fold down, that helped.  

Nice scaffolding of the branches, don't you agree?  It was a puzzle to get it in, moving the seats up and back, removing the headrest, easing it in, backing it out, over the front seat, then getting the seats to a drive-able position.  What fun!

 
Once we got home the puzzle had to be done in reverse.  Oh, the dogs helped a lot too.  At least at home we could open the doors wide enough to maneuver.  

Also bought a cute little hummingbird piece that has a hook on the front.  Haven't figured out what to hang on it yet.  This one was easy to get in and out of the car.

Birds?  Yes, always a bird picture or two to share---  Mr. Mockingbird.

This is my holly.

You want to take my picture?? Wait, let me pose.

Is this my best side?  

 I will share pictures of the tree art in the garden as soon as I decide where to place it.  Stay tuned!



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

Trying Out the New Camera

 Like many of you, I was lucky enough to get a new camera for Christmas.  This is a replacement for my 'pocket' camera.  Like my old pocket camera, this one is a Panasonic Lumix.  Unlike my old one this new one has 20 x optical zoom.  My hope is to get some really good closer photos of my feathered friends who frequent the feeders on our deck.   The photo above was taken on New Year's Day, as the sun was setting. I love foggy days, though getting a great photo isn't always easy.

The feeders that hang on the deck will get lots of visitors (though last year the Great Backyard Bird Count Day nary a bird was to be sighted)   Make a note to yourself right now, February 15- 18 is this year's Backyard Bird Count.  You can click on the link or the button with the bluebird on the sidebar and go to the webpage for how and where to submit your bird count.

The thistle or niger seed is quite popular with the Goldfinches.  With their winter colors they seem rather muted.

The perches on the feeder and the seed sack are always full!

On the other feeder is a seed mix that includes nuts, seeds, and pieces of dried fruit.  This is favored by a great variety of birds.  The one who gets ornery when the feeder is empty is this one--- a Red-bellied Woodpecker!  Sorry for the green on the glass, reflections of greenery.

Only the Red-bellied woodpecker visits this feeder, think it is always the same one.  I have tried to capture the other visitor who more than once is on the other side of the feeder with the woodpecker....a Brownheaded Nuthatch.   The Nuthatch finds one seed or nut and flies off to eat it so his time on the feeder is short.

More photos of different visitors to come!



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

Fragrant on the First - January '13

Happy New Year to all my fellow bloggers and readers.  Without planning to do so, I took off most of December.  It was a nice break to get ready for Christmas.  Before taking the break I was reading Carolyn's Shade Garden post about Edgeworthia chrysantha, one of my favorite winter shrubs.  My comment to Carolyn was about how happy my Edgeworthia shrubs have been in my garden.

I am the editor for our Master Gardener group's newsletter.  Each general meeting I ask for ideas of something to add to the newsletter.  One idea was to share what is blooming and fragrant each month.  I love this idea and am going to share what is blooming and fragrant in my garden on the first of each month with you.   Our first of the "Fragrant on the First" will be a combination of my follow-up on my Edgeworthia and sharing what is fragrant in Upstate South Carolina on the first of each month.

When we moved here in July 2010, I brought a lot of plants with me.  One carried from Virginia plant was a Valentine's Day gift from my husband, an Edgeworthia chrysantha.  I had to figure out where to plant this shrub.  In Virginia it was on the front porch, full morning sun until about noon, then in full shade of the house. I knew it could take some sun, but would like afternoon shade in this zone 7b/ 8 garden.    I found a great spot.  The Edgeworthia would also serve as a shade provider for some Sarcoccoca hookeriana, Sweet shrub that could benefit from more shade.   The photo below was taken in March of 2011, there are a couple Edgeworthia in the garden, look like naked sticks.   The one from VA is the one furthest from the camera.

You can see the VA Edgeworthia better in this photo.   This was taken in January 2012.  See it is full of blooms.  January 2012, a year ago!

Over the next few months I had fragrant blooms.  It is wonderful to stand on the deck and have the heavenly fragrance float on the breeze.  The photo below was taken on February 15, 2011, full bloom for Valentine's Day.  Perfect plant.

Same plants, same day, different angle.  February in SC.  

It continued to bloom well into March.  The velvety foliage is just starting to emerge as the flowers drop.  You can see I have added some ferns, a hellebore and some Bleeding Hearts under the spreading branches.

I posted a nice photo of the foliage with raindrops way back in 2009.

Fast forward to this winter.  I wanted to share how fast these Edgeworthia have filled in.  The two photos below were taken December 15th, 2012.  Yesterday the blooms were just starting to open, and yes, they are fragrant.

Two shrubs, filling in and branching out, making this spot one of the most fragrant spots in my garden in January.

Think I will try my hand at  propagating one of them this year, a perfect plant for a winter garden.   What is fragrant in your garden in January?

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