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!

On the road to Damascus

When the heat of summer has it's grip tight around the throat of my enthusiasm, it's time to get out, get away, get a cleaner slate in my head. That's when I head to a small corner of north west Georgia to transform myself.

The long mountain ridges stretch out before me, and the roads wind through the lush green valleys. I can feel my breathing slow and deepen. A slim smile replaces pursed lips. I am on the road to a place where nature and creativity join hands, and where I can let go of the lists behind my eyes, and just see. Carl (www.saultopaulstables.com) and Susan (www.susanseydelcofer.com) have made this working farm a work of art. Nature's crafts are honored and kept well tended. But even so, the vision of the artist, the builder, the entrepreneur add a flare, a touch, a surprise around the corner.

The passage to my new person begins with a walk. Closeup, a collage of cedar, poison ivy and resurrection fern.

In the distance, a freshly mowed field full of round hay bales and a single sentinel stone.



Further on we revisit the labyrinth. Joe and I were here for the beginning of this ever evolving creation. It is part of the cleansing to walk the labyrinth methodically, slowly, sincerely; shedding troubles and worries at every turn. The woods gently hold you throughout the journey, and upon turning from inward out, each tree gently lets you go. Wildflowers shout out from fence posts,



chapel bells peal across the pastures. It is not the organized religions of today, but the sacred spirituality of the ancient that calls me back to the beginning.




and the eye of the artist, the eye of the builder have framed it perfectly for me.



The angel trumpets the sound of renewal. I am feeling energized. I am ready to go back to the real world again, with a new level of energy, satisfaction and grace.
This poem by e.e. cummings was part of Katie and Will's wedding service. It most perfectly describes today.

e.e. cummings

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

Making Mud Pies

It's been hot. And it's been June! I think we had 90's for 19 or 20 days in a row, and most of that was 96, 97, 98. There was one morning when I left the house at 5:45 am and it was already 80 degrees!

Even in the mountains, where we watched our big girl and her groom "take the plunge", it was unusually warm and humid. And although there were loads of rain opportunities, we seemed to be getting only the windy, thundery, lightening-turns-the electricity-off part, and not the actual drops of water from the sky.

So, what happens at the nursery when it's so hot so soon? First of all, the weeds seem to go crazy. That means long days of bending over, sweat dripping off your face, as you try to take control back for the sake of the "good plants". Then since it's June, there's fertilizing and herbiciding that has to be done, also involving much bending over and sweating. So...we start early in the morning, we try to work methodically, we spend a lot of time watering.
And then I've just got to change the subject.

So last week we led up to the July 4th holiday with "hypertufa week".

Hypertufa is defined by Wikipedia as " an anthropic rock made from various aggregates bonded together using Portland cement.Hypertufa is intended as a manufactured substitute for natural tufa, which is a slowly precipitated limestone rock; being very porous, it is favorable for plant growth. Hypertufa is popular for making garden ornaments, pots and land forms. Hypertufa is relatively light compared with terracotta or concrete and can withstand harsh winters, at least down to −30 °C (−22 °F)Hypertufa was invented for use in alpine gardens. Alpine gardeners formerly used antique animal watering troughs, which became rare and expensive.

There are many recipes for hypertufa, but most include peat and perlite with the Portland cement. It's always a bit of an adventure to get the water just right. The mixture needs to be solid, but still workable. It needs to conform to the mold, but not ooze once placed. But really, it's like making mud pies with your friends out in the back yard. It was summer activity from our childhood, when we were so hard at play that we never noticed the temperature.

So Maggie Sullivan and Adam and I mixed and molded; chiseled and brushed and scraped. At the end of the week, we had figured the right formulas for perlite and water, we'd gotten "the feel" in our hands, and we'd made a trailer full of pretty cool pots. We even expanded into a few other ideas to be pursued next time.



Meanwhile, the sweltering continued, but the hit and miss thunderstorms actually hit us for an inch and a bit in the rain gauge.
At the end of the week the weather broke, and we fell miraculously back into the cool low 80's. We had played through the worst of it, and had a great time. Mary Poppins was right....."

In ev'ry job that must be done
There is an element of fun
You find the fun and snap!
The job's a game
And ev'ry task you undertake
Becomes a piece of cake
A lark! A spree! It's very clear to see that

A Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-wown...." *

* Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman

Spring's Successes

We've just finished up another spring season. I'd have to say that I was pleased with the spring, and have been reviewing some of the best of it.
Perhaps the best of the spring propagation was the first time germination of seed from the Euscaphis japonica. It was 18 or so years ago, on a visit to the NC State Arboretum, that JC Raulston gave me a handful of seed from this very special tree at the Arboretum. The tree was a seedling from seed he had collected on Paengnyong Island off the N. Korean coast in an expedition to Korea with Barry Yinger. JC's own notes:

"9511 Euscaphis japonica (Thunb.) Kantiz - "Euscaphis" (Staphylaceae). A deciduous tree to 30' from Japan, China and Korea of great beauty with multi-season interest. The compound foliage is glossy and handsome all summer; fruiting panicles up to a foot in diameter are produced with red fleshy pulp highlighted by shiny black seeds that are showy for 3-4 months in late summer and fall, and in the winter the bark is deep purple with white striping. They have grown well in our poorly drained clay nursery field and seem extremely stress tolerant. Cuttings can be rooted from softwood growth but have proven hard to keep alive through the first winter. Ample seed is now being produced by trees in The NCSU Arboretum (now the JC Raulston Arboretum) nursery. They seem to have double dormancy - requiring a cold period, followed by a warm period, and a second cold period before germinating in high percentages. We have also had more than average difficulty in transplanting and establishing young seedlings - with a very high damping off rate on seedling transplants. The plants are spectacularly beautiful and have commercial potential - but it will take time to develop seed blocks, and master the varied cultural requirements to get the crop to market. Likely adaptable for use in USDA Zones 6-9. Our best plants are unfortunately in the field nursery out of public view, and unfortunately the plant in the east arboretum (Hamamelis collection area near the Crepe Myrtles) is not as showy in fruit as many are. If one is visiting Wilmington, it is worth a trip to the New Hanover County Arboretum to see their very fine plants in the fall."



Of the handful of these gift seed, two germinated. One of them now grows happily at Specialty Ornamentals. I have collected and sowed Euscaphis seed from this tree for at least the last ten years without one successful seedling. This year's collected seed were sowed in fall, and germinated seemingly all together in late February. Today, after one transplanting, there are perhaps 100 seedlings doing very well and growing on. It is noteworthy that I finished reading the biography of JC Raulston Chlorophyll in his Veins by Bobby Ward in early February. Coincidence? Certainly. But a very sweet reminder of a wonderful man who was a gift to the world of horticulture. His legacy lives on in all of us, and now, happily, his Sweetheart Tree lives on here. (http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/trees-new/euscaphis_japonica.html)

I've been particularly happy with the performance of some of the Hypericums I've been growing. They were great when we had total drought. But after the year of rain, I wondered how they would do. Two of the best are H. kalmianum
and H. pseudohenryi.

Hypericum kalmianum is native to the upper midwest, but grows easily from zones 4-7. It has lovely bluegreen evergreen foliage, flowers profusely, and makes a lovely low border shrub that looks good in masses. Sun to part shade and relatively poor soil tolerance also makes it a good choice for foundation planting.




Hypericum pseudohenryi is a native of China, has deep green evergreen foliage and masses of bright yellow sunburst flowers. In addition to the green foliage of the warm season, the foliage in fall has a magnificent crimson that holds thru the winter. It is every bit as tough and tolerant as kalmianum. Both species, in fact all species of Hypericum, are deer proof.



And speaking of deer.....The rain this winter made all the oakleaf hydrangeas absolutely lush and loaded with flowers. Hydrangea quercifolia 'Harmony' and 'Amethyst' are both fabulous selections. 'Harmony' has a flower that is extra fat and full. Hydrangea quercifolia 'Amethyst' seems like it might be your standard oakleaf panicle.....until it turns an amazing crimson and holds that color till November!



 But my favorite by far is Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snowflake'- the double hose-in-hose flower that keeps unfolding one inner flower after another. Below is my beautiful stand of 'Snowflake' before ......here are my gorgeous flowers after the deer made a tapas evening out of them.

As Confucius said...... "When prosperity comes, do not use all of it"

This spring, the deer have made sure of that.

Our Proper Work

I've been thinking a lot lately about my grandparents. My grandmother was one of my favorite people, and I've missed her often over the last 25 years. She died at 99, so I had a plenty of good time with her, and lots of lessons. My grandfather died much earlier- maybe 20 years before. But I also have a good handful of memories with him, too.

I guess it's a matter of getting older. Or maybe it's more a matter of my oldest getting married in a few weeks. It's all good, and happy, and the way it's supposed to be. But what's sneaking up on me in quiet times are the swelling emotions, the threads of time, the ties that bind.

So, why my grandparents? Well, I've been getting up very early to try to get all my work done. I remember visiting my grandparents in summer when I was a kid. My grandmother got up before light to collect eggs, to pour the cream off the milk the dairyman had left in the bin on the back porch, and to cook breakfast. But the first thing she did was to go thru the whole house and open all the windows to let the cool morning air in. And after breakfast, before the sun was much above the horizon, she'd go back around and close them all, and pull down the shades to keep the hot sun out. Seemed like a lot of work to me.


This last month or so I've been doing just that, and enjoying the sweet smell of fresh air and the sweet soft colors as the morning comes. Nothing like it, and worth all the trouble.

Getting to work very early also allows me early quiet time to look before the busy spring day begins. Maybe I should say time to see....Like the picture perfect field next door with corn coming up in even rows and the old farm house tucked back under the oaks.



I've planted some vegetables in front of the office, and spend a little time watering them each morning before the sun comes up. I've been keeping an eye on my potatoes, planted in big black containers. They've been reminding me of my grandfather's huge garden out back. After supper, he and I would walk to the potato rows and survey the plants. He'd pick one, and with his digging fork, he'd dig and lift one side. My job was to crawl down under and claw around for the new potatoes hidden underneath. It was like finding buried treasure, or panning for gold. Sitting here, I'd swear I can still smell the soil, and feel the smile grow on my grandfather's face as I pulled up one perfect red oval after another.

It's also a good time to walk around the garden and see what's new. Fothergilla gardenii

It's a way to appreciate every day, and to make every day special. It took me a long time and a crazy course to get here. But I see that in some very basic way, I am right back in Ameila Courthouse, VA in early summer, when the city life of a busy girl was replaced by walks to town for groceries at Bill Stengel's store, picking ripe tomatoes, and listening to my grandfather call back and forth to the bird out back.

My big girl, almost married, introduced me to Mary Oliver's poetry some time ago. Once again, maybe Mary says what I'm feeling best.

Yes! No! by Mary Oliver

How necessary it is to have opinions! I think the spotted trout
lilies are satisfied, standing a few inches above the earth. I
think serenity is not something you just find in the world,
like a plum tree, holding up its white petals.

The violets, along the river, are opening their blue faces, like
small dark lanterns.

The green mosses, being so many, are as good as brawny.

How important it is to walk along, not in haste but slowly,
looking at everything and calling out

Yes! No! 

The swan, for all his pomp, his robes of grass and petals, wants
only to be allowed to live on the nameless pond. The catbrier
is without fault. The water thrushes, down among the sloppy
rocks, are going crazy with happiness. Imagination is better
than a sharp instrument. 
To pay attention, this is our endless
and proper work.

George Bernard Shaw said "Youth is wasted on the young". 

I'm not sure that's totally true, if you can find a way back to it on a cool morning, with the sun still below the horizon.