Glass Half Full

It is on days like this I remember why I chose the name for my blog. It has continued to be really hot, and really dry. Each morning the weather lady tells me that the heat advisory includes my county, and that the chance for shower relief is 20%. Each afternoon the field turns another notch towards the right on the green to brown color continuum. Each night I fall into bed exhausted, having done little actual work besides watering and weeding.
 While wandering around the nursery trying to figure out where to start today, I am also reminded that there are a really good handful of plants that actually like this hot dry weather (besides crabgrass, that is....) So today I am applauding these durable woodies which perform in spite of my negligence. Let's take a look:

Rosmarinus 'Anna Hulke'

 Rosemary is a no-brainer. And comes in many sizes, forms, and textures. This picture is of a large sturdy shrub form called Anna Hulke. I don't do anything to it, but this big upright takes pruning very easily, and could be a very formal hedge. As far as I know, nothing can kill it.....maybe the combination of bad drainage and irrigation.

Abelia 'Rose Creek' and Lantana 'Apricot Sunrise'

Lantanas and Margarita

 Nothing in the summer really beats
Lantana.
There are many coming on the market that are cold hardier than they used to be, and can now be considered perennial in many areas. In addition to profuse flowering in a wide range of colors and habits, these plants are deer proof, and maintenance free. That's my kind of plant!

Buddleia x 'Silver Anniversary'

Anisacanthus wrighti

A couple of easy, tough shrubs are Buddleia "Silver Anniversary' and Anisacanthus wrightii. Each of these loves hot weather, grows to about 3'x3', and they are also deerproof.

Caryopteris 'Longwood Blue'

 Another group of plants that are a joy in mid to late summer are Caryopteris (Blue Mist Shrub) There's 'Longwood Blue', Summer Sorbet', Worchester Gold' and 'Snow fairy' just to name a very few. Deer Proof, tough, and a bumble bee magnet!

Caryopteris 'Snow Fairy'

Caryopteris 'Worchester Gold'

Cupressu glabra 'Chapparal' behind Caryopteris 'Summer Sorbet'

Here's a photo of an old fashioned southern
garden plant : Cestrum parqui. It blooms from about May thru till frost. We usually prefer botanical names, but this plant is often referred to as the "peanut butter plant" because of that distinct foliage smell.

Cestrum parqui

Another very aromatic plant that shines in the heat is this green santolina. It will make a fantastic dark green mound that will not melt out no matter how hot or dry it gets.

Santolina virens

Another great group of plants that I like more and more each day is the shrub Hypericums. They are evergreen, deer proof, heat and drought tolerant. They have large starburst yellow flowers in mid summer, and maintain a nice neat habit of about 3-4' x3-4' with absolutely no maintenance. These are not easily found in the retail market, but certainly should be. Go look for them in gardens around your area.

Hypericum densiflorum

Hypericum pseudohenryi

Hypericum kalmianum

 I will throw a few plant combos in here. I am sure there are many possibilities, but these turned up in my early August garden as examples: From herbaceous perennials to evergreen shrubs to magnificent large conifers, there are many plants that can spice up your summer garden. Now is the time to find them, take note, and make plans to put them in your garden as soon as it cools off and starts raining again. "For myself I am an optimist – it does not seem to be much use being anything else "- Sir Winston Churchill

Agave, Euphorbia, Juniperus deppeana

Amsonia hubrechtii and Colocasia 'Black Magic'

Conifer display

Opuntia and Artemisia

Old Dog, New Tricks

I often say that I don't know how to do anything right until I've done it wrong every possible way. That's almost true, but not quite. Every now and then I get out to visit, and find that other people know how to do things, and I can just learn from them!
So, let me share some of the things I learned on my trip to Tennessee last week, and some of the great ideas and methods I will borrow to save myself some time:

Conifers are a passion of mine. Here are some examples of how to grow them right in the SE.

Duane's conifer hill

Donny Corleone himself


Ponds 'N Plants

Carol and one of her favorites- Cupressus glabra 'Limelight'


A recent blog talked about "Making Mudpies" out of hypertufa. Well, I had no clue about how sophisticated hypertufa can be when made by seasoned artists instead of grownup kids. Take a look! They know their concrete in Tennessee!


                        David's alligator concrete casting

Mike's pots



Helen and Kayo's leaf print paver


Jimmy's rock construction
Jimmy's troughs

hypertufa leaf birdbath


old concrete culvert pot



The range of display beds from east to west Tennessee amazed and inspired me. Color, texture, and size combos not only scratched the surface of possibilities, but blew way past. Turns out, plants can be grown in an explosion of conditions and combinations. The experts from Jacksboro to Jackson tried cheerfully to fill in the huge gaps in my knowledge, and made it fun!

Jason's front border



UT's new scree border

Helen and Kayo's color combos

pot at Western TN Research and Extension

Faye's incredible garden,


water feature, design genius.

Even garden ornaments can be creative, playful, artistic, and LARGE!
Ron's big bug at the UT trial gardens

We went on to Alabama on our way home to visit fellow nursery woman and friend Eleanor - "the fern lady". (www.fernridgefarms.com) We met at the Huntsville Botanical Garden for a quick look, and continued on our path of borrowed ideas:

Dinosaur display- Huntsville BG children's garden

We see examples of homemade bird houses from time to time, and they have tweeked Joe's interest more than once as a project for his spare time......

Check THIS one out!


Model RR layout in Huntsville Botanical Garden- great use of conifers here, too!

The three very hot bears.

There is a saying that" imitation is the most serious form of flattery". Well, I am serious. And I am just getting started on making you all blush!

A Breath of Fresh Mountain Air

In the southeast, we have this period of time during the middle summer we call "the dog days". What I didn't know about dog days I found at Wikipedia: "In the northern hemisphere they usually fall between early July and early September ...Dog Days can also define a time period or event that is very hot or stagnant, or marked by dull lack of progress. The term "Dog Days" was used by the Greeks, as well as the ancient Romans (who called these days caniculares dies (days of the dogs)) after Sirius (the "Dog Star) ". What I do know is that this term represents the long sultry days of no relief from heat and humidity.
Luckily, Joe and I found our relief in the mountains of North Carolina the last two weekends. July 11th we went to Waynesville to visit our friends Trish and Greg at Rux Gardens (www.ruxgardens.com)
They hosted a meeting of the NC Hosta Society, and I was invited to speak to the group on Conifers for Shade Gardens. We also sold plants as visiting vendors. The weather was crystal clear and cool. The meeting drew a good gathering of really good plantsmen. We also had a wonderful opportunity to meet and talk with Bob and Nancy Solberg from Green Hill Hostas(www.HostaHosta.com) in Chapel Hill, NC. Nothing stagnant or dull about that weekend!

This last weekend, starting Thursday, we drove up to Cashiers, NC, to participate in the Garden Shop associated with the Joy Garden Tour there. This is a fantastic event, sold out well in advance, with a huge catered gala Thursday night, and a tour of some incredible showplace gardens sprinkled across the mountains. (www.villagegreencashiersnc.com/joy_garden_tour.htm) As it turns out, this is also an event that gathers really savvy gardeners and funloving people who breathe a breath of fresh air into midsummer. Mother nature did the same! We went from sauna to cool blue overnight. We also sold a LOT of plants at a time in the season that is usually a "dry spell". What a difference a mountain rain makes!