Ready for the 4th of July

We love to decorate for the seasons. I got the bunting hung yesterday. Symmetry - it's good thing!

Back from the beach

My family has been going to the same condo at Garden City, SC since the 1980's. It is neat to now be taking my children to the same place where i went when i was younger. The Condos look better than they ever did. They survived hurricane Hugo and the whole area has really recovered nicely. The condos face Murrel's Inlet on the back side. This is a pristine ecosystem, where much of the seafood eaten locally comes from. My son spent most of his time fishing with buddies his age. I tried to empress on him how special this area of the state is and how terrible it would be if toxic oil were put into the oyster beds. Crabs and the fish are plentiful - it really is a beautiful alive area.

Since many of you are into architecture like i am i thought you might like to see the "spaceship" house that is next door to the condos. I've never seen anyone there - the local marina owner said that once the owner came and took him into the house. Said he made him take off his shoes - it was a time capsule back into the 70's - shag carpet avacado appliances, a real trip!

These birds are everywhere around the area. The bright tip of orange on their wing is the only nice thing about them - you can see that he is not the least bit worried about me.

A sego palm in bloom.

The camera really didn't do justice to the beautiful dark purple hydrangea plantings.

This close up looks blue - but was rich purple.

The landscaping is full of these oliander plants these are approximately 8 to 10 feet high.

This little flower is everywhere and grows and thrives wild. The camera really did capture the brightness of these flowers - they were just that bright.

I think i might have to get a hibiscus and give it a try - so beautiful!

We had a great relaxing time - I hope the area isn't transformed by oil the next time i get to go there. Forecasters have said that if the oil in the gulf gets around Florida it would head straight up the east coast to Ga, and SC. I really hope not.

Newspaper under the pinestraw

I save the Sunday paper each week. Colored coupons don't last - they turn to powdery dust, but the plain old newprint can last up to two or three years if covered and not exposed to sunlight. It's cheap and really does a great job of retaining moisture in this hot dry bed, as well as good weed control.

I clean the area of all weeds place the dry newprint in layers about 8 sheets of paper thick and spray lightly with the hose pipe (garden hose). Then I cover the wet newsprint with a thick layer of pinestraw. The final product makes me happy. Schools out - I get two months to destress and work in the yard.

I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny.

“I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny. But we can have lot's of good fun that is funny!” says the Cat in the Hat. Gardeners just say thank you Lord for all this good soaking rain. I have an update on the Sunny Border, and then i'm off to celebrate my birthday with my family - look out Outback - country come to town!

You can see that everything has come back and filled in nicely. It's been hot here and many things are pumped and doing good. This is an unnamed daylily from a old gentleman breder here in town. He sells his culled out trials once a year in the Spring.

Echinaciea have come back nicely and are really filling in. A new sea holly is tucked in behind it and will make a nice contrast to the pinks and yellows in this area.

The mandilla vines are loving the heat and now all the rain we have had here in the Upstate of SC. They should be grabbing their frameworks by next week or so.

The center of the bed features an Italian Cyprus Tree, Shasta Daisies, and yellow daylilies.

Sunny Border

 

My saved Mandevilla plants have successfully made in through the Winter, and have been placed back into the front Sunny Border. They grow about as fast as kudzu so - they are doin' fine! I'm so proud. 

Here's a close up shot showing how healthy they are -

i think the black cow will make them happy too.

  

The knockout Rose i got for my birthday last year is doing good - this one is a lighter pink that i got from the clearance rack at the end of Summer last year. I love the soft pink. I'll be curious to see how they like the hot sun this summer. 

    

Here's one of the new peonies we are trying out. I've never attempted to grow peonies - they seem so hard according to what conditions need to be prepared. I know one thing - they are loving the bright sun in the front bed. I hope they like hot and dry July.

  

This planter is at the bottom of the steps leading into the new White Garden in the Circle Yard.

This guara plant didn't do that great last year, this year it is singing loudly. Below is close up.

 Finally our newest addition, Hosta June. The bright green looks good in the White Garden, it really shines out from the shadows. I bought it downtown at our Spring Festival - i love to have memories attached to plants.

Air Layering Camelias

I had such good success last year Air Layering my favorite camelia Pink Perfection - i decided to try it again. I gathered the following supplies: sharp bladed knife, soaked spagnum moss, scissors, string, plastic wrap,and aluminum foil. I soaked the spagnum moss for several hours before i started working so it would be good and wet.

To begin, I chose branches of the camelia that were about the thickness of a wooden pencil that would yield a finished cutting about foot or a foot and half tall.

I stripped the lower leaves that were in the way. Take the sharp knife and make two cuts around the branch, cutting just the top layer of bark not cutting into the woody under layer.

Make one about inch below the other, then cut a straight cut from the top cut to the bottom cut. Take the knife and carefully open and peel the bark out of the cut area.

Next take a piece of plastic wrap - i used Press-and-Seal - place small fist sized clump of soaked spagnum moss on the plastic wrap and surround the cut area of the branch.

Carefully wrap the moss in the plastic, because i used Press-and Seal it sticks to itself so this part becomes very easy.

Once the soaked moss is wrapped tightly in its plastic wrap case i used string to tie the top and bottom of the package to help keep the moisture inside through next few months.

Notice that i tied bows and did not tie knots. Last year i tied knots. When i got ready to take the wrappings off the cuttings - i could hardly get the knots out because the branch kept growing and tightened up through out the summer. My suggestion to you is no knots!

Finally i took a piece of aluminum foil and wrapped the whole package to keep it safe from birds searching for nesting materials and to darken the area where the roots will be forming in the spagnum moss.

I am done for now - there is nothing that i can do until around Labor Day. Last year i checked one "package" every month to see how it was doing, to see if it was staying moist. To my surprise it did stay moist through the whole Summer. There was no activity until the weather started to cool off - here in zone 7b that's around late August or September. Once i saw roots, i clipped the branch below the new grown roots, and planted them into recycled black pots. This was one of the most successful projects i have tried unlike rooting clippings, or rooting in water.

This is definitely the way to go!

Of the 12 that I started last year one died on the bush, and one died after i planted them up. That's a good success rate compared to zero plants that survived as clippings. I hope this inspires some of you to try this easy method, i love it! As soon as school lets out in 16 days i'll be trying crepe myrtles.

Mystery Solved

Thanks to Heidi who knew this plant as Colchicum. Common name seems to be Sons-before-the Fathers. In the Spring this lush green foliage comes up and gives the promise of a bulb but nothing ever comes of it. I have watched this happen several years maybe a decade. I even remember commenting to my wife several different times in the fall "look at those crazy crocus blooming at the wrong time of the year'. I did a little research this plant seems to be more adapted to cold climates - maybe up North like Maine. We are not a cold climate area. Our house is the Lythgoe - Barnwell House. Mrs. Barnwell lived here from about 1901 - 1946. I think maybe this is a plant she brought here from her home place in Maine. It isn't anywhere else on the property. Thanks Heidi! What fun - happy gardening guys!

What is this mystery plant?

It comes up every Spring. It has beautiful leaves and i let it go until it completely dies back each year. We've been here at the house 16 years and i have never seen it bloom at all. I tried fertilizing once but it didn't make any difference. By June the follage will turn brown and die back. If anyone has any ideas about what this thing is or what i could do different let me know. I would dig it up and be done with it - but this is a historic house and it might be a something wonderful and old - yes, Jim another rescued plant.

I'll try to post again when i can pry the laptop from my daughter's hands. Happy Gardening guys!

I've been missing you

well...
apparently we caught a virus (dam Facebook!) i can read your posts - but i cannot post anything. I am currently on my daughter's laptop and she doesn't like it.

Here's what's been going on here at Pinewood Cottage Gardens.
Cleaned and moved some things around in the front sunny border. I like the knockout roses ...

we found some peonies and we're trying them for the first time. We have been working on turning the Circle Yard into a white garden - i put in some impatients. Winter was a little tough here in SC this year - we had freezing temperatures too many days. Daddy's little basket barrier sculpture didn't fair so good.

We have ordered some white peonies and some lavender from Wayside Gardens ( really just to support the local business ) they are only about 15 miles from us here. We went there - the parking lot is full of employees and they are landscaping the flower beds - i think they're going to be okay.

The azaleas are blooming... It did rain last week and the pollen took it hard - but it's back - and it's mad! The old black chairs that sit on the porch all the time are nasty as is the rest of the porch. We got some asparagus ferns and hanging baskets on the porch. Despite all of it - Life is good!