Creating a natural garden

As my gardening companion and I prepare to leave a garden (really a low-maintenance native plant-dominated landscape) that we've created over the last 22 years, it's interesting to reflect on the changes that we've made -- all to the good, certainly, from the perspective of being good stewards of our...

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Hmm, snow....

 Waking up to a lovely snowy scene is not what I usually expect to see in late February, but that's what I saw out the windows this morning.  Cool-season greens and window boxes will still have to wait for warmer weath...

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A warmer day (and vegetable musings)

Finally, the last bit of accumulated ice has melted and it was a "normal" temperature day, with highs ~ 58°F.I'm itching to plant cool-season greens - I've missed having homegrown greens (kale, collards, mustard, etc.) over the last two winters, even though I've felt we've eaten nothing but homegrown greens in years past.So, we're enjoying broccoli, collards, red cabbage, and kale from the grocery...

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Brown thrashers and cardinals

Even if the weather doesn't seem like spring, and is unusual for late February, plants and animals mark and take notice of lengthening days.The male cardinals are singing now, the robins are flocking, and a brown thrasher is pronouncing loudly (very early in the morning) that his territory consists of the hollies outside the kitchen door.  (We've had thrashers nesting there for years).We've had...

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Winter: a good time to remove invasive plants

Wedelia or creeping oxeye daisy (Sphagneticola trilobata): a beautiful invader. Less lawn...When we moved into our house here in North Florida, we let several areas of lawn grow out. I've written about this several times. See From lawn to woods: a retrospective, for what has happened out front.Here's...

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Global weirding

I wrote a piece ~ seven years ago about what North American gardeners (and botanists) thought about climate change for The Public Garden (at that time, the journal of the American Association of Public Gardens and Arboreta --AABGA, now APGA). It didn't end up being published, probably because it was too telling. American botanical gardens are in denial about what they need to do around conservation...

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Icicles!

This morning, icicles hung from the curled-up rhododendron leaves in front of the house and ice weighted down the hemlock branches.The dogwood beyond the porch was coated with ice, too, with a silvery shimmer in the dull wintry light. Outside my study window, the ice on the Carolina jessamine is...

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Sleet and ice

There's sleet falling outside the window, and when it was still light, evidence of significant accumulation.  Strange weather, to be sure. It's mid-February.  In the Southeast.  Daffodils have popped up, with flowers, blueberry buds are swelling, and the quince has a few tentative flowers, too.But we're presented with another blast of frigid arctic air this week -- on Wednesday...

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Queulat National Park (another hike)

A magical park in Chilean Patagonia, along the Carretera Austral, is Queulat National Park.  The hikes, views, etc. were all wonderful: the link takes you to previous posts.Here are a few images and thoughts around our last hike before we moved south.We had looked for this trail before, and hadn't...

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A lovely Ozark witch hazel

 Our Ozark witch hazel, planted by the previous owner, is lovely right now.The flowers are luminous towards sunset, as the light filters through the flowers.I had thought originally that it was a Chinese witch hazel, but thanks to my blogging friend Janet (and now friend in person), have corrected...

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Howling winds and cold

We've had a lovely roll of pre-spring-like conditions, normal for us this time of the year.But a huge cold front, bringing arctic air down into the Carolinas, has changed that.  It's now really cold -- into the teens (F°) tonight, with a high in the 30° F zone.  That's cold for February.I'm glad I didn't think that last weekend's weather meant it was time to plant peas.  It definitely...

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Spring is coming

Another spell of warm weather always reminds me that, here, in the Southern U.S., spring comes early.February often brings lovely bright days -- we've have a row of them -- with temperatures up in the mid 60°'s F.  Balmy, really.So spring is just around the corner.  Even the native plants...

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