Floral Friday: Countdown to Spring!

Hi, gardening friends! Have you found my new site yet? I hope you'll join the garden party at Garden Delights:

http://juliesgardendelights.com

Today, we're playing a fun game called "Floral Friday." The rules are simple: gather some items from your garden, and make something beautiful to enjoy. Stop by my new site to see what I found in the garden today, then share your own creations on the Garden Delights Facebook page! 

I hope you'll visit my new home. It feels lonely without you!

Happy Gardening!

XOXO ~

Julie

Feed the Monarchs!

Can gardeners save a species? Why yes. I think we can. To find out how, please come over to the new blog site, Garden Delights:

http://juliesgardendelights.com

I hope you'll join the garden party at my new home!

XOXO ~

Julie
 

Growing Autumn Bouquets.

Once upon a time, when I nervously signed the mortgage for my first house, I didn't rush to Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel. Drapes that puddled perfectly on the floor or bird cages filled with plastic plants or funky plates with funky linens weren't on my wish list to make my new house homey.

Instead, I spent every bit of disposable income supporting local nurseries.

For me, the happiness of becoming a homeowner meant that I'd finally, finally have a garden. Of course, I wanted a lovely, lushly landscaped garden--but its primary purpose was to fill my new home with fresh flowers. Never again would I wait for someone to bring me a sad, tired vase of ugly red roses. (Please note: this was pre-Peter. He possesses great taste in flowers.)

Honestly, is there anything nicer than a just-picked, fresh-from-the-garden, cheerful bouquet of flowers to make a home feel warm and vibrant? 

No. No, there's not. Well, OK, kids and significant others and furry babies are also high up on the list, too. The smell of apple pie baking also helps. Still, flowers will always be right up there in their ability to make a blah Wednesday feel like a celebration. Plus, as much as I love fresh flowers in our home, I love sharing them even more. It's pure happiness to watch a friend receive a bouquet, because flowers make every day a little brighter.  

Lately, though, I've spent more time obsessing about growing edibles to feed my family than remembering why I originally loved gardening. Plus, it's November. The garden looks...uninspiring. It's easy to snip some tulips in spring or arrange tea roses in summer. In fact, I planned a cutting garden for spring and fall blooms, which you can read about here. In fall, though, my attention turns to seed catalogs and bulb orders. I know it's trendy to proclaim fall as everyone's favorite season, but for me? Nope. No, thank you. Bring back my sunshine and pretty spring blooms, pronto.

So, when the fearless leader of You Can Grow That!, C.L. Fornari, challenged our group of garden bloggers to write about giveaway bouquets, I pushed aside my seasonal affective disorder and took a stroll around the garden to see if I could find anything--anything remotely attractive or alive--that would contribute to a bouquet.

Surprisingly, I returned with arms full of material. 

Our camellias, hidden on the south side of the house, are heavy with blooms right now. Sadly, I tend to forget about them, because they aren't along the path I normally take to the kitchen garden. I plan to propagate some of these beauties and plant them in a more visible section of the garden, because they are the perfect fall flower.

The viburnum, however, continues to produce a spectacular, eye-catching show all fall. During spring, these two bushes brighten the back garden with their enormous blooms. While fall blooms aren't nearly as prolific, I still found plenty of flowers, although they were beginning to look a bit tired.

Because blooms are scarce during November, foliage needed to play an important part of the bouquet design. Fortunately, we have lots of variegated vines, hostas, and ferns. Even 'Gold Dust' aucuba participated in the November bouquet project.

Herbs and berries also made an appearance in the bouquets. While I intended to use bronze fennel, some little creature had eaten most of it. Instead, the airy branches of Florence fennel added a frothy texture, as well as height, to an arrangement. Encore azaleas, a bloom that I never considered for bouquets prior to our assignment, was also added to the mix.

After I cleaned the foliage from the bottom portion of the stems and sorted the cuttings, I realized that I'd gathered enough materials to make not one but three bouquets.
 

Pale pink camellias, viburnum, autumn ferns and variegated ivy.

 

Seed heads from Japanese anemone, camellias, Hearts-A-Bustin' berries, 

and variegated potato vine.

 

Encore azalea blooms, 'Gold Dust' aucuba, and Florence fennel.

My bouquet making skills need more practice, but it inspired me to remember my first garden and the passion I had--for flowers. Of course, I'll continue obsessing about our edible gardens and native plants, but I'll also keep searching throughout all seasons to bring the garden inside and share it with friends.

What flowers do you enjoy receiving in your favorite bouquets?

XOXO ~

Julie

Fall's Fading Blooms.

Today felt like autumn. A gray dreariness hung low in the sky. I waited for a bit of sun to peek through the clouds before I headed out to the garden with my camera for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by May Dreams Gardens. At 6 p.m., though, I decided that waiting any longer would mean that I'd need a flashlight to photograph the flowers. So out into the grayness I went, hoping to find a few blooms to share.

My bargain tropical hibiscus continue to add a splash of color to the front garden. At the low, low price of $5 for two, lovely huge hibiscus, how could I pass them up? Granted, I have greenhouses to tuck them into for the winter, otherwise they wouldn't be very happy in our zone 7b frosty temperatures. I love a good flowering bargain!

Yes, I'm once again singing the praises of fraise des bois. The plants are still covered in their darling little blooms, and even better--they're producing another nice showing of their incredibly sweet fruit. What's not to love about these little edible beauties? They are darling in a pot, plus they make a lovely, non-creeping boarder in shady beds. Truly, they will always be one of my favorite plants.

The Japanese anemones put on quite a show for the past month. Now, they're slowly winding down, with a few dozen blooms remaining. It's definitely time to thin and transplant these beauties.

If it's fall, then you know it's time for pansies and violas--hooray! Just as I'm beginning to feel blue about the lack of blooms in the garden, the cheerfulness of pansies erases my grumpiness. The violas found their home in the potager this weekend, but the many, many flats of pansies are anxiously awaiting the blister on my palm to heal so that they, too, can get tucked into their new garden home.

One of the best things about photographing the garden is that you never know what you might find, like this katydid hiding in the hardy hibiscus...

...or the praying mantis egg case on the lemon tree. We're anxiously awaiting our new beneficial arrivals to the garden.

Also surprising are the camellias. Years ago, I planted half a dozen camellias along the south side of the house, an area we rarely pass on our way to the forest or the kitchen garden. It's a shame, because the camellias are spectacular right now. We need to add something to the area to make it a destination instead of an after-thought. The blooms shouldn't be missed, but often I do.

 

I'm not typically a mum fan, but somehow it doesn't seem like fall without a few bursts of bright cheerfulness. The tired garden certainly benefits from the mums' overwhelming sunniness.

The microclimate by the pool garden continues to encourage blooms. The tea olives smell divine...

...the Encore azaleas provide a great burst of showy color...

...and the peach Drift roses burst with new blooms. 
 

The containers by the pool continue to send out new blooms. I keep searching for seeds from my favorite heirloom, snail flower. At $1 per seed, I'm hoping to harvest a few seeds for next year. Nothing yet, but I'm crossing my fingers.

The mandevilla seems to enjoy the cooler temperatures, which seems counter-intuitive to its nature. Soon, I'll be keeping a close eye on the weather for freeze warnings to make certain these babies and my other warm-natured plants are safely nestled into the greenhouses before it becomes too chilly.

Ah, the crazy viburnum. How can you not love a plant that blooms...and blooms...and blooms some more? What an incredible workhorse of a plant. We've trimmed and pruned, and still this shrub is heavy with blooms.
 

Talking about workhorses...holy marigolds! What began as a few plants tucked into the kitchen garden beds to repel pests turned into a sea of orange and red as the weather cooled. The butterflies and bees adore the blooms. I've never been a fan of marigolds, but how can you argue with a profusion of blooms like that? I may need to show marigolds more respect!
 

The herbs provide blooms for several pollinators. Tiny wasps and bees enjoy the basil flowers. Our basil struggled this summer. I think the enormous amounts of rain caused it to suffer from a fungus, although it's looking better now that it's cooler. Again, for a heat loving plant, I'm perplexed.

While I've cleared most of the kitchen garden beds for fall crops, I left the scarlet runner beans. The multicolored blooms add a bit of color to the beds, and the vines continue to produce.

For the first time, I found small red morning glory, a native wildflower, in the clearing near the river. 

I also don't recall finding goldenrod in previous years. This year, however, we have several patches of it, which I love.
 

Our heavy rains led to an amazing season for mushrooms. The shiitake logs are producing like mad. We ate delicious risotto ai funghi a few nights ago, and I'm frantically searching my cookbooks for more recipes that can include shiitakes. The mushroom logs are truly one of my greatest garden success stories. Growing mushrooms is so easy that I'm not sure why more people don't do it. Shiitakes and fraise des bois--I'm equally enamored. 

Tomorrow, I must finished planting the potager and work on the large kitchen garden. What are you planting in your fall garden? What's your favorite fall flower or vegetable?

Happy October Bloom Day to you!

XOXO ~

Julie

Social Studies and Seed Saving.

As a gardener, I sometimes wonder why. Why am I so driven to tackle weeds, battle squash bugs, and fight the forest in its effort to reclaim our asparagus bed? As a mom, there are days when I wonder why I dragged the kids out to the garden, invading my garden zen with their complaints and fussing as they weed the strawberry bed. What's the point? We have an absolutely fabulous Farmers' Market nearby if I'm so determined to feed the family vegetables. 

Then, once in awhile, it all makes sense.

In South Carolina, third grade students study our state's history. Incorporated into social studies lessons is a student project about Native Americans of the Carolinas. Kids can choose to create a model of a tribe's home, draw a poster, or write an essay. (Truthfully, the term "student" should probably be substituted with "parent." Many overzealous parents build architecturally correct renderings of Cherokee, Catawba, or Yamasee homes. In fact, one student in Mikey's class grumbled that his mom only let him make the campfire for his model. Seriously.)

Thankfully, Mikey chose the essay. Sure, building the model seems like fun, but since he recently broke his arm on the soccer field, a one-handed model-making fest did not appeal to either of us. 

So, he researched and wrote the rough draft of his essay.  Then, I made him go back and write more. Let's just say, it was pretty obvious that he rushed his research and writing to play Minecraft.

Much grumbling ensued.

To top it off, I sat with him while he typed it one-handed. I know, I know...I'm such a mean mom. The reality is that even without a broken arm, he still would type with one hand. He's in third grade, after all.

As he finished the paragraph about the vegetables planted by the Cherokee--including squash, beans, and corn--I reminded him about our garden. 

Our "Three Sisters" garden, based on the companion planting techniques of Native Americans.

Suddenly, something clicks--there's history right in his backyard! He helped shuck corn from the "Three Sisters" garden. We're still eating beans from the garden, much to his dismay. (I think everyone is a little tired of beans. We've harvested a lot of beans.) Sadly, our squash succumbed to the overly wet summer, but we talked about how and why the plants work together.

Luckily, as a garden blogger, I had a photo of the "Three Sisters" garden. He took the photo  to share with his class to show the Native American's farming techniques.

As he finished writing about the discovery of gold on the Cherokee's land and their subsequent death march to Oklahoma, I realized something else.

We planted several heirloom varieties of beans in the garden, including 'Cherokee Trail of Tears,' a bean reportedly carried by the Cherokee on the march, which survived and passed to following generations.

Mikey realized that not only did he help grow an historical garden, he ate beans rich in history. (He may not have liked it--but he did.)

Watching how history came alive for Mikey through our garden, I decided to share Native American history with his friends, too. I sent in 20 envelopes with 'Cherokee Trail of Tears' beans and 'Cherokee Purple' tomato seeds.

Hopefully, history will come alive for other kids in the garden. You can grow a love of learning through a garden, don't you think?

Do you grow anything historical in your garden? Please share!

XOXO ~

Julie

Each month on the 4th, You Can Grow That! features garden advice and tips for growing great gardens.

Meetings, Marketing, and Mosaiculture.

Garden blogging tends to be a solitary life. You start seeds, pull weeds, write about what's working and what's not. And, if you're like me, you fret, wondering if anyone reads what you're writing. 

Helloooo? Is anyone out there? 

A comment left on a post incites a happy dance. So, armed with this positive reinforcement, you go back and do it again.

But there are a few times each year when we garden bloggers abandon our gardens and lonely desks.

This year, more than 80 bloggers gathered for the Garden Bloggers' Fling--an annual garden tour extravaganza. I've been remiss in writing about this garden love-fest, last held in San Francisco, simply because it's taken me three months to sort and edit the 2,000 photos I took over the course of three days.

Yes. The Fling is that good.

This week, however, I spent two days at the Garden Bloggers' Conference in Atlanta, hosted by Digital Sherpa. It was the antithesis of the Fling but in a positive way. For two solid days, we lovers of the outdoors sat sequestered in a windowless conference room, learning. Social media, SEO, technology, photography...plus, a healthy dose of star power inspiration from garden bloggers who've made it big.

It was exactly what this non-techie girl needed.

Not only did my brain nearly explode from so much information, my social network expanded. I adored meeting and chatting with garden bloggers whom I've followed online for years. 

Of course, one of my most memorable moments involved one of my favorite garden writers. 

Amy Stewart.

Garden-writer guru, I've always adored Amy's books and her collaborative blog, Garden Rant. So, like a 12-year-old with a crush on One Direction, I approached Ms. Stewart after her presentation to gush over one of my favorite books she's written, From the Ground Up: The Story of a First Garden. 

I promptly spilled red wine all over my peach silk blouse and slunk away.

OK, so maybe it was too much socializing for those of us who spend days alone and afternoons chauffeuring 8- and 12-year-olds.

While the conference was fabulous (I now have so much work to do!), what would a garden conference be without a trip to a garden?

Before driving home to resume mom-duty, I headed to the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Of course, mom-guilt kicked in after being away from the family, but it was worth the two-hour delayed return to reality.

 

You see, there was a special display I needed to visit.

Imaginary Worlds: Plants Larger than Life lived up to its name. 

A creative partnership between the Atlanta Botanical Garden and International Mosaiculture of Montreal, the living sculptures inspired awe, both in the enormity of the endeavor and the detailed care for each complex form. 

Incorporated throughout the garden, each sculpture showcases the art of "Mosaiculture"--a combination of art and gardening. First popular in 16th century Europe, where wealthy landowners commissioned three-dimensional "embroidery beds," mosaiculture became the term known in 19th century France for geometric, mosaic-like forms of planted sculptures.

International Mosaiculture of Montreal, a nonprofit organization created in 1998, launched the first international mosaiculture competition in 2000 to showcase gardening and horticulture as representative of "new millennium values." Many of the garden bloggers who attended the Garden Writers' Association's conference this fall visited Montreal's mosaiculture exhibition. However, Atlanta's exhibition is the first time Imaginary Worlds is on display in the U.S.

Personally, I think the Ogre would make an excellent statement in our front yard.

I'm rather enamored with these bunnies. I wonder if I can stretch my gardening expertise to make up for my lack of artistic ability and create these for our garden? A funny thing happened when Proven Winners ColorChoice Flowering Shrubs posted a photo of the mosaiculture bunnies on its Facebook page: they were inundated with queries from potential customers! I think, perhaps, they should add mosaiculture bunnies to their product line. (I know I would be first in line to purchase.)

Part of the fun involved discovering the mosaiculture sculptures throughout the gardens. Yes, you could cheat and look at the map, but it was more interesting to wander the paths, admiring anemones and art...

...then--BOOM! A bigger-than-life, rotating, dancing fish sculpture greets you.

Or, perhaps you're admiring camellia sinensis, reading a sign about its usefulness in making tea...

...and when you look up, you find a giant strawberry hovering over you.

In fact, while I was delighted with the mosaiculture, I also found myself impressed with the breadth and diversity of the edible garden. Most botanical gardens tuck a few tired tomatoes and perhaps some peppers into a tiny plot, just to join the edible trend.

(I will plant a living herb wall some day. I will.)

The Atlanta Botanical Garden appears to take edible gardening seriously. Bravo!

After wandering the woodland paths, I finally reached my goal: the Cascades Garden...

...and the Earth Goddess. Isn't she fabulous?

I headed home, filled with gardening inspiration.

Now, to put all of that knowledge and inspiration to use...

Happy Friday!

XOXO ~

Julie